>> this is "bbc world news america." funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, and kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. >> planning a vacation escape that is relaxing, inviting, and exciting is a lot easier than you think. you can find it here in aruba. families, couples, and friends can all find their escape on the island with warm, sunny days, cooling trade winds, and the crystal blue caribbean sea.

nonstop flights are available from most major airports. more information for your vacation planning is available at aruba.com. >> and now, "bbc world news." laura: this is "bbc world news america." reporting from washington, i am laura trevelyan. the worst mass shooting in modern american history. at least 58 people killed, and more than 500 injured at a music festival in las vegas. >> everybody thought it was like fireworks or something at first. and then people just started dropping around us. >> every time he stopped, he was reloading. we started making our way towards the fence. he started shooting again, and we hit the ground. laura: the fbi is trying to uncover the motive of gunman

stephen paddock. at the white house, a moment of silence has been held for the victims. [bell tolls] laura: and almost two weeks after hurricane maria, people in puerto rico still don't have power or clean water. president trump visits the island tomorrow after criticism of the aid efforts. laura: welcome to "world news america." in the deadliest mass shooting in modern u.s. history, a gunman killed more than 58 people and wounded over 500, as he fired at crowds enjoying a country music festival on the las vegas strip. stephen paddock, who had no criminal record, was found dead in his hotel room. he had at least 10 rifles with him. let's go straight to the bbc's

rajini vaidyanathan, who is in las vegas for us. of insanity of amendment shall not define us -- those other words from the mayor of las vegas, carolyn goodman, in the wake of last night's shooting. flags in the city are at half the whiteso, too, at house and across the country. reports of gunfire were heard after 10:00 last night at a country music festival. upcolleague james cook takes the story. james: in the cold nevada desert, country music is warming the throng. the time is eight minutes passed 10:00. the noise prompts confusion. the crowd, 22,000 strong, is uncertain. it takes a moment, a deadly moment, before they realize they are under attack. by now, a second round of bullets is raining down.

there is a pause. the gunman is reloading again. he is high above them in a the mandalay bay hotel. panic follows. it is a scramble to live. >> there were a few hiding underneath my car for cover. there was a gentleman that was shot, and he is like, can you help me? i had about six people in my car. people without shoes, running just to get away. >> we just hit the ground and laid there and hang onto each other. it was quite for a bit, and then fired another 30 rounds, then quiet. what we were doing was every time he had stopped, he was reloading, we had gotten up and started making our way towards the fence, and he started shooting again, and we hit the ground.

james: by now, the music fans are frantic. can, they run. like this woman, they hide. >> you could hear the bullets coming closer, and then it gets quiet, and they would reload, and he would start going again, and the girl standing right behind me, 2 feet, she got shot in the stomach. everybody thought at first it was just firecrackers. and then it just kept going more. >> we heard the shots, and then we ran. to the hangar, airport, and we kept running. >> once we got out the back, we started seeing people who were shot and the people who were dead. that is when it hit me that this was real. james: within half an hour,

officers knew the gunman was in the hotel. explosives ready, they prepared to go in. this radio recording captures the moment they stormed the room. >> we need to see if we can have a response from this guy. by now, it is nearly midnight, and the gun man is dead, apparently having killed himself. left a city in chaos, with hospitals overwhelmed and it too ambulancesances -- for 500 casualties. battling toe been save life after life. >> we had eight or nine trauma

surgeons alone in this city, operating rooms running simultaneously. it is what in trauma is referred to as damage control -- getting these patients on the table, stopping the process of them dying, stabilizing them. james: as for the gun man, he was stephen paddock, 64-year-old retired accountant from mesquite, an hour's drive from the vegas strip. he checked into the hotel on thursday. >> as far as his history and background, we have not completed that part of the investigation yet. but we located numerous firearms within the room he occupied. james: for a western democracy, the united states has seen an astonishing amount of horror like this. but even here, this is carnage on a different scale. james cook, bbc news, las vegas. rajini: as james is said, the

gunman has been named as 64-year-old stephen paddock from mesquite, nevada. more details have emerged about him. my colleague laura bicker is looking more into this. laura b.: stephen paddock, a retired accountant and turned aes gambler, country music concert into a killing field. he had been on the 32nd floor of the mandalay bay hotel for days, waiting with a cache of rifles and automatic weapons. his family cannot comprehend the horror of this crime. >> my brother did this. this is like it was done -- like he shot us. i mean, if he had killed my kids, i couldn't be more dumbfounded. i mean, it doesn't -- nothing. >> last communication? >> there is nothing. i can show you the text. "how's mom?" where the hell did he get automatic weapons? he has no military background.

when you find out about it -- like i said, he is a guy who lived in a house in mesquite. drove down and gambled in las vegas. he did stuff. i mean -- laura b.: the 64-year-old made few friends in his suburban retirement village in the quiet town of mesquite. police found more guns and ammunition when they raided his home. >> what is unique for us is that the gunman, the shooter, the person with him, we in the mesquite police department have not had any contact with these people in the past. we have not had law enforcement contacts, no arrests, nothing. laura b.: he would disappear for days to nearby las vegas to gamble, but he also made money from rental properties, and came across as odd to some of his tenants. >> he would roam around the apartment, talk to you, no real casual. >> they showed his picture and i was shocked.

i assumed he was a nice guy. strange but nice. laura b.: the question is, what would it lead a man with no criminal history and no known strong political views and no apparent motive to commit such relentless carnage? laura: that was laura bicker reporting. let's go back to the bbc's rajini vaidyanathan, in las vegas for us tonight. what is the mood in the city right now? rajini: laura, i'm at the level one trauma center, seeing the large majority of the victims of last night shooting. the focus of course, not just here, but across the city, is on the victims and making sure that as many of those who are injured , many seriously, can be treated. more than 500 people who were injured, and hundreds of people came here in the early hours of the morning. i'm talking to one of the surgeons, who spent more than 15 hours treating people.

he is a trauma surgeon. they say this all the time, but it really did look like a war zone there. he describes the range of ,njuries many gunshot wounds but some people also suffered injuries because they were trampled. this is the main trauma center, but there are a number of hospitals across las vegas who were dealing with the many people who were injured. laura: rajini vaidyanathan, thank you. for more on the story, let's go to a former official of the department of homeland security who joins me now. when you look at this tragedy that unfolded in las vegas, is this the kind of thing that when you were at homeland security, was your worst nightmare? >> we were always worried about soft targets. a soft target is a large public gathering -- whether it is a football game, stadium, a concert, these were the kind of things we worried about. laura: the las vegas strip,

22,000 people enjoying a country music festival. did you ever think about something like that? >> absolutely. las vegas was very much on our front burner because the 9/11 plotted there, there were many attends to think about attacking las vegas. believe thisrists is a city of sin, so they wanted it to be a target. it has always been on the forefront of our mind. laura: but realistically, how do you protect the public attending an event like last night's? >> well, it is very hard against an active shooter. it is very hard against anybody who wants to do harm in a public place. what we do is several things. we protect the public by putting put in screening for mental objects and things like that. but as a general principle, you cannot protect all public places. we have national security

events, fourth of july, super bowl. those have extra kinds of protections for this type of scenario. but this was not a security event like that. laura: the talk about the background of this shooter. he was a retired accountant who liked to gamble, nothing that would have raised a red flag. >> well, not that we know of now. the intelligence community and law enforcement community is scrubbing the back on a looking at the way he lived, social media, looking for evidence. they want to understand what happened -- he checked in on thursday, stayed there, and a couple days later he is doing this attack. laura: the focus is so often on the threat from international terrorism in the u.s. but it event like this, does it show the threat of domestic terror also? >> well, i think people don't realize that we have more of a threat of domestic terrorism and international terrorism. since 9/11, we have more domestic terrorist attacks or attempts, more law enforcement

action against a mystic that's been international ones. this is not being called terrorism. there was concern it might be nexus with isis. the news agency for isis reported earlier today that this was a soldier affairs. the intelligence community has knocked that down. laura: right, but let's look at the arsenal of weapons this shooter had. when you listen to the audio, it sounds like an automatic weapon. is it difficult or easy to get an automatic weapon in america? >> well, if you are a law-abiding citizen, it is not that difficult. the gunshot that sold him these shop that sold him these weapons said they went through the normal background checks and nothing came up. if i was at my desk at the homeland security apartment, we would check the databases to see if there was anything that connected him to cover some or anything that connected him to law enforcement, and see if we missed anything.

the other thing i would be doing right now is working with my partners in law enforcement across the country. we would get on a call to let all the operators of large public gathering sites, whether it is parks or stadiums are things like that, to let them know what we saw and what we learned and what steps they might be able to take to protect against a copycat. laura: thank you so much for joining us. today's attack is just the latest in a long list of mass shootings in america. with the debate over guns once again a divisive issue. speaking at the white house earlier, president trump described the shooting as pure tol, but made no reference terrorism or gun ownership in the speech. jon sopel looks at the response to what happened in las vegas. vegas last night, terror, fear, and mayhem. in the nation's capital this , 2500 miles away, a

brooding, reflective silence. [bell tolls] jon: there is shock as well as anguish, even though this country has been here so many times before. president trump: he brutally murdered more than 50 people, and wounded hundreds more. it was an act of pure evil. in moments of tragedy and horror, america comes together as one, and it always has. jon: until now, the worst shootings were the nightclub attack in orlando, where omar mateen killed 49 people in an act inspired by so-called islamic state. before that was the killings at virginia tech university, where 32 people were killed. but in terms of shock, nothing eclipses sandy hook in

connecticut, when 20 children aged five to seven and five teachers were killed other at their elementary school, an act of brutality so shocking that it moved the then-president to tears. president obama: they had their entire lives ahead of them -- birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own. jon: today, lawmakers from connecticut sought to reopen the age-old debate over gun control. senator chris murphy said, "it is positively infuriating that my colleagues in congress are so afraid of the gun industry. it is time for congress to get off its ass and do something." but gun control is unlikely to go anywhere. the industry in america is huge, and its lobbying organization has managed to see off any a attempts at reform. indeed, one of the ironies of previous mass shootings is that sales of weapons tend to increase, as gun owners fear that new controls will be introduced. but that is unlikely to happen

with president trump, who has allied himself with the national rifle association. president trump: as your president, i will never ever infringe on the right of the people to keep and bear arms. never ever. jon: it is estimated there are as many private guns in circulation as there are people, around 300 million. around 30,000 people die each year in gun-related incidents -- the figure includes suicides , accidents, and murders. which means in the last year, four times as many people in the u.s. died from guns than the total number of coalition forces killed in afghanistan and iraq during 16 years of war. in his address to the nation, donald trump says the american people would be seeking explanations. one issue he didn't touch upon was whether gun control could have played a part. the nra believes that the way you stop a bad man with a gun is to have a good man with a gun.

but how that would have helped in the circumstances of last night is anyone's guess. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. laura: we will have continuing coverage of this story on "bbc world news pure code teare in kenya have fired gas to disperse opposition protesters in the capital, nairobi, and several other towns. the demonstrators were responding to a call for alliance for weekly protests. before a rerun of the presidential poll later this month. bangladesh says myanmar has agreed to set up a joint working group to oversee the return of rohingya muslims who fled their homes. myanmar has not commented on the deal, and it is not clear if ingya who fled roh to bangladesh will want to return. you are watching "bbc world news america." still to come, the standoff

between puerto rico and washington for aid to victims of hurricane maria continues. 2 women have pleaded not guilty m therdering kim jong na half-brother of north korean leader of kim jong-un. the brazen nature of using the nerve agent at the kuala lumpur airport shocked the world. the women, both in their 20's, said they were tricked by north korean agents. here's jonathan head. grainy airports security video, you can just make out one of the most audacious assassinations in modern times. smearedmen who the nerve agent on the face of kim jong nam, half brother of the north korean leader, were identified. but other parts of the plot remain unknown. at their trial just outside

kuala lumpur, the 2 women face charges of murder, which carries the death penalty. but their lawyers say they were duped into believing they were taking part in a televised frank. -- televised prank. he intends to plead not guilty. the trial could shed light on who organized the assassination and how. it is widely presumed that kim jong nam, who is estranged from his half-brother kim jong-un, and at times critical of him, was killed on his orders. north koreans also charged by the malaysian police are still at large, and probably back in north korea. malaysiahis year, about to pressure from pyongyang and allowed three north korean suspects to return to their country, along, it is thought, with the body of kim jong nam. in return, nine malaysian embassy officials and the families were allowed to leave north korea. the once-cordial relationship between the two countries was

shattered. but it is not clear how much more of this extraordinary episode malaysia will want to make public. jonathan head, bbc news, bangkok. laura: well, the focus in the rightnd u.s. on las vegas now. the american territory of puerto rico is still struggling from the devastating effects of north korea. this weekend saw president trump castigate the mayor of san juan for her poor leadership after she called for the white house to speed up the response to the crisis. president trump applies to puerto rico tomorrow. aleem maqbool reports from the island's south coast. >> you see that tree? points out the

rooms of his home, because there would otherwise be little way of telling what was here before hurricane maria tore it to shreds. this is where you were. my goodness. explain what happened. >> we get down. aleem: what is incredible is that luciano and his wife were in the house at the time it was destroyed, trapped in their living room for several hours before they could escape, miraculously unharmed. >> when the wind and the water came in, woosh. aleem: they have lost everything, and while they heard that u.s. relief workers were on the island, no help has come their way yet. >> i think they started coming four days ago, but we have not seen american people to come to help. everything is stuck in san juan area, and the airport, i don't know what is going on. aleem: but on the other side of town, the americans had just arrived, on a mission to one particular building. the reason the u.s. military and emergency workers have come here

is because it is an old people's home two hours outside the capital, san juan. this is the first time people here have seen any help at all, and they have been living without power and water since the hurricane. struggling up the stairs, we found a woman who says she felt isolated since the hurricane, especially since communications are still down. >> nothing nothing nothing. to eat. no water. no light. no elevators. i live on the third floor. aleem: her neighbor is one of the few who has been visited by american relief workers in this town, but he was scathing about the u.s. response on this u.s. territory. >> i think if we are a u.s. state instead of a possession, i

we would be treated differently. no one has been here in the last 10 days. isn't this proof enough? aleem: after visiting the old people's home, americans left town. here it is neighbors and the church doing most of the work, providing clothes and food where people have none. "glory to god," says the pastor of this church, saying a prayer. "god, we are here to help." because for many, no one else has come to help. they are just waiting for life to get better. aleem maqbool, bbc news, puerto rico. laura: the long road to recovery there. a reminder of our main story tonight, the mass shooting at the country music festival in las vegas that left 58 people dead and more than 500 injured. the gun man, 64-year-old stephen

paddock, fired on a crowd of people from the window of his hotel bedroom. he was found dead in his room. you can find much more on that story and the rest of the day's news at our website. i am laura trevelyan. thanks for watching "world news america." >> with the bbc news app, our vertical videos are designed to work around your lifestyle, so you can swipe your way through the news of the day and stay up to date with the latest headlines you can trust. download now from selected app stores. >> funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, and kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. >> planning a vacation escape that is relaxing, inviting, and exciting is a lot easier than you think. you can find it here in aruba. families, couples, and friends can all find their escape on the island with warm, sunny days,

cooling trade winds, and the crystal blue caribbean sea. nonstop flights are available from most major airports. more information for your vacation planning is available at aruba.com. >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet, los angeles.

captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> sreenivasan: good evening, i'm hari sreenivasan. judy woodruff is away. on the newshour tonight... >> it was an act of pure evil. >> sreenivasan: a massacre in las vegas. more than 50 killed and 500 injured after a gunman opens fire on a concert crowd in the deadliest mass shooting in modern american history. also ahead, rebuilding from nothing-- millions of puerto ricans tackle the long road to recovery amid a political firestorm and little-to-no aid. plus, our series, "america addicted"-- tonight: we travel to west virginia where the opioid crisis has taken hold of one city, shattering its way of life. >> the level of addiction is beyond anyone's comprehension. i have never known anything that was so all-consuming.