Someones firing a gun up here. Exclusive recordings of the moment a las vegas gunman opened fire on a Security Guard inside the mandalay beay hotel. The hotel worker who was there to witness it all shares a harrowing story for a first time, in an exclusive live interview. Those stories, plus Harvey Weinsteins life walks out, as angelina low jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow join the stars saying they were harassed by the mogul. The nfls plan to eliminate protests. And of an embarrassing upset, wont be headed to the world cup, in more than three decades. Setting in like a sledgehammer on the u. S. Bench. Wednesday, october 11th, 2017. From nbc news, this is today, with matt lauer and savannah guthrie. Live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Good morning, everybody. Thanks for joining us on this wednesday morning. And at the top, the latest on the california wildfires. The death toll has climb ld to 17 people, making these fires among the fivedeadliest in that states history. The number of homes and businesses destroyed is up, as well. Now, more than 2,000. Overnight, officials added new evacuations in sonoma county. Heres another concern. 77 Cellular Sites have been damaged or destroyed. Authorities say thats making it impossible for some of the 200 people reported missing to check in with loved ones. Nbc National Correspondent miguel almaguer, is in fireravaged santa rosa. Good morning to you. Reporter the numbers you mentioned is staggering. The death toll and homes destroyed will rise. Thats in addition to 185 people who were injured. We were given rare access in the air over damaged neighborhoods. And neighborhood after neighborhood looks just like this, apocalyptic. This is now one of the most destructive wildfires in Northern Californias history. Still burning, still exploding, a swarm of small fires becoming an epic outofcontrol firestorm. Thousands of structures obliterated. Neighborhoods wiped off the map. This is the home of 100yearold charles and his 98yearold wife, sarah. The elderly couple married 75 years, killed in the inferno. All of the windows started to explode. And smoke and heat and all that. And she couldnt find him. Reporter from the air, these First Responders showing us the devastation firsthand. Firefighters tell us one of the most telling signs of how quickly these fires moved, you could see cars inside garages. Many had no time to leave. Our house is gone. Oh, my god. Our house is gone. Reporter this massive inferno driving out 20,000 people. This is what many will return to. You can feel heat coming off of the steps here. Everything is warm to touch. Reporter with rhotel and restaurants devastated in santa rosa. The wine country is in a state of emergency. Two wineries torched. The Silver Lining that the vineyard survived. Reporter winds are driving nearly 20 wildfires in california. They call him diablo. Devil winds. In the south, ant santa anas, fueling this fire. Weve seen firsthand how deadly the fires can get. In just a few days, so many lives have been lost. And an untold number of homes have burned to the ground. The pictures of the aftermath are just astonishing. This is the most devastating wildfire in Northern California in a quarter century. Cars were exploding. As sheriffs were evacuating, many of their cars were also only fire. Matt . Miguel, its just so scary and sad. A lot more to get to, including exclusive new information this morning about the events that led up to secretary of state Rex Tillerson calling the president a moron. Nbc white house correspondent, kristen welker, with the story this morning. Hi, kristen. Reporter good morning to you. Nbc news has learned from three officials at a wideranging pentagon meeting this summer, that the president called for a dramatic increase in the Nations Nuclear arsenal, rattling some of his own top advisers. An actual increase would violate Nuclear Arms Control treaties going back to ronald reagan. That meeting taking place right before the secretary of state called the president a moron. All this comes as the president is locked in a highstakes standoff with north korea. This morning, nbc news has learned striking new details about a july 20th meeting at the pentagon, that proceeded secretary of state Rex Tillerson calls the president a moron. At the time, the president said the meeting, which included the defense secretary and Vice President , cabinet members and top military advisers, was very good. Tremendous people. Pentagon, nothing like it. Reporter but three officials describe a meeting that was, at times, tense. One key moment when the president told his National Security team, he wanted to expand the u. S. Nuclear arsenal to what amounted to tentimes its current level. The current number of u. S. Nukes is 4,000. According to sources, the president was shown a chart of the history of the Nuclear Arsenal, which peaked in the 1960s at 43,000 weapons. While some in the meeting didnt take the president literally, according to officials in the room, briefers explained to mr. Trump why expanding nuclears Nuclear Stockpile isnt feasible. The u. S. Is not planning to alter the size of its Nuclear Arsenal. It could not only break with u. S. Doctrine, it would break a number of international treaties. Since his candidacy, mr. Trump has been inconsistent with record regards to his stance on Nuclear Weapons. In some instances, he seemed opened to the idea. You said, its fine, you get Nuclear Weapons. And saudi arabia says, we want them, too. Its going to happen anyway. Its only a question of time. Theyre going to start having them. Or we have to get rid of them entirely. Reporter shortly before his inauguration, mr. Trump tweeted, the United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability, until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nuclears. All this comes amid mounting tensions with north korea over its nuclear program. A show of force. U. S. Bombers flying near the sea of japan, alongside japanese and south korean aircraft. President trump meeting with his team to discuss the crisis. The defense secretary stressing diplomacy this week, while cautioning all options will be on the table. You have to be ready to ensure we have military options that our president can employ if needed. Reporter the white house wouldnt comment on the record for this story. One white house official downplayed any tension surrounding Nuclear Weapons at the july 20th meeting saying the Nuclear Arsenal was not a pry my primary topic of the meeting. The conversations with the president are privileged. T Trump Administration is modernizing its arsenal, that does not violate treaties. Were learning about the response to last weeks mass shooting in las vegas. New audio recordings obtained by nbc news, capture the moment a Security Guard was shot on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel. In a moment, another hotel worker who was there will share his story for the first time. Pete williams has the latest on the investigation. Pete, good morning to you. Reporter matt, these awe owe recordings and a revised Police Timeline have raised new questions about how quickly the Las Vegas Police learned that a man in the Mandalay Bay Hotel was armed and firing shots. Make sure youre out of the way. Copy. Reporter this is the sound of the actual first shots Stephen Paddock fired from his Las Vegas Hotel room. [ gunfire ] call the police. Someones firing a rifle on the 32nd floor down the hallway. Reporter before paddock sent down a hail of gunfire, he was shooting inside the hotel. A hotel Security Guard responding to a problem door was wounded when paddock fired 200 rounds at the guard. And police say a Hotel Engineer also outside the room, notifying superiors as paddock fired a barrage of gunshots. Its at the end of the hallway. Looked like he fired down the hallway. Reporter according to a revised Police Timeline, that was 9 59. Paddock started firing at the crowd at 10 05 and stopped at 10 15. A s. W. A. T. Team got to the floor at 10 17, and learned that the guard was shot and where the shots came from. That means it took Las Vegas Police to find out what the guard and the engineer already knew, where a man was firing a gun on the 32nd floor. If they had known about the Security Guard being wounded earlier, could they have been there even faster . It is always a race against a killer and the clock. Reporter Officials Say the guard told Hotel Security about the indoor shooting. But when were police notified. Mgm resorts says it cant comment was of the ongoing investigation. It says in a statement. We believe that what is currently being expressed may not be accurate. Las vegas, please join us reporter las vegas is in mourning. Overnight, the citys new nhl team, the vegas golden knights, in a 40game pregame ceremony, honored fir ee eed first respon. Mandalay bay security did report the indoor shooting to police. And he says the timeline may change again. And he commends the hotel staff for the response. Pete williams, thanks very much. Were glad to have steven chuck with us, the building engineer at the mandalay bay there that might, on the 32nd floor when the first shots were fired. Steven, good morning to you. Its good to see you. Good morning, thank you. We just learned about all that you went through in this experience. The first question is how are you doing right now . Im doing as well as expected. Better as the days pass. Take us through it, stephen. Theres been a lot of confusion about how this all transpired. What happened . My side. My story, i was on a higher floor. When i was called to check out a fire exit door that would not open. I came to the 32nd floor from a different wing. I was walking down. I didnt hear anything. Kept walking. I turned the corner from what we call the center court, into the 100 hallway. I thought i saw someone poke their head out. Nothing off set off my radar. Unusual yet. It was silent at this time. And as i walking down the heu hallway, i was a third of the way down the hallway. And i started to hear shots go off. They were not in the hallway yet. And as soon as they stopped, i saw him popped out because the doors are set back about a foot. He fpopped out and yelled at me to take cover. As soon as i went to a door in my left, a round came down the hallway. I could feel it. Something hit me in the back and i took cover. I wondered how i could get to jesus. He was shot in the leg. I told myself, he is going to have to stop shooting some time. It was kind of relentless. So, i called over the radio, what was going on. As soon as the shooting stopped, we made our way down the hallway and took cover again. And then, the shooting started again. Stephen, let me just say, weve heard this audio recording now. How did you remain so calm . Maybe your voice betrays what was going on inside of you. And second of all, if the reports are true there were 200 rounds fired by the gunman into the hall, you must feel incredibly lucky that you werent hit. Yeah. I am incredibly blessed that somehow i came out of there alive. When he first started shooting, you know, it was i was in disbelief. But i just had i told myself, remain calm. If i freak out right now, its only going to get me killed or injured. Remain calm. You know, call it over the radio, so we can get police on their way as soon as possible. Stephen, you mentioned jesus campos, who was the Security Guard that received a gunshot wound. He warned you. He said get down or get out. Do you feel he saved your life . Yes. My whole family and i, we all appreciate him. At first, when the first shooting started, i was kind of frozen, for a second. And he yelled at me, take cover, take cover. If he yelled a second too late, i would be shot. I owe him my life. What happened when the police arrived, stephen. Were you still there . I was still there, yes. We were directing them. Like, its this hallway. At the end of the hallway. Me and jesus, we never saw the door open. So, we thought he was shooting from the peephole in the door. We were telling police that. My supervisor was there. He handed me his master keys. And i ran down and shut off all the guest elevators and stopped guests on the basement floor. Let them know we have an incident upstairs. Stay down here. And i made my way back up to the 32nd floor to give him his keys so he could give them to the police to use them. After going through Something Like this, do you see yourself can you go back to work there . Can you ever feel the same way about going back to work at that hotel . Yeah. Its definitely difficult. But for someone to do something so cowardly and despicable, im not going to let that change my life. I mean, im going to go back to work. I like my career. And im not going to let that define me. Stephen, you were incredibly brave. The most unfathomable of circumstances. Give us our best to jesus. And thank you for your time. Youre welcome. It appears, in other news, that President Trump has scored a victory in his fight against nfl players protesting during the national anthem. The leagues commissioner has sent a letter to all 32 teams, making it clear, he wants players to stand. Roger goodell said, quote, while the league respects players opinions on social issues, the protest is dividing us and our players from many fans across the country. Goodell adding, we believe that everyone should stand for the national anthem. The nfl and team owners are set to tackle the issue during meetings next week. That brings us back to al. The fire story is a weather story. It really is. Theyre so intertwined. Normally, we dont see wildfire threats or red flag warnings put up for more than 24 hours at a time. Red flag warnings for gusts of 30 to 40 miles per hour. Dry conditions and rapid fire, through thursday. And you look down south, santa maria on north of los angeles. We have red flag warnings and fire watches, as well. This is the normal pattern, the cool, moist air coming off of the pacific. We have the High Pressure bringing in the drier air. That drops the humidity. And the winds pick up. Thats why we have a fire danger. This wind threat is going to exist right through saturday. And so, we have real problems as and so, we have real problems as far as those fires are to our fellow americans in puerto rico, we may be separated by an ocean but we are united. Good morning. Im first alert meteorologist krystal klei. Temperatures today cooler than weve been. 70s. Low 70s for the suburbs and lehigh valley. Notice all the icons showing at least scattered showers throughout the day. It will not be a washout forecast, but on and off rain. Mostly light, possible. Ocean city at 73. Looking at mid 70s for us in areas through delaware, wilmington, youre at 73. And and thats your latest weather. Al, thank you so much. Coming up, the Harvey Weinstein scandal growing. Disturbing new allegations from Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow. And his wife is speaking out for the first time. And roman fair rrrow is her with exclusive information. First,his is today on nbc. T after 8 years of chris christie, is kim guadagno the change new jersey really needs . Guadagno is christies handpicked successor. Says shes proud to be part of the christie administration. Guadagno was Chris Christies right hand as our schools came under attack, Critical Services were underfunded, and our Credit Rating was downgraded. 11 times. From the bridge to the beach, weve seen it all, and weve had enough. Kim guadagno isnt the change we need. Just ahead, should you really trust those calorie counts on the menus at your favorite restaurants . Youre going to be surprised what our rossen reports team has un hey grandpa. Hey, kid. Really good to see you. You too. You tell grandma you were going fishing again . Maybe. vo the best things in life keep going. Thats why i got a subaru, too. Introducing the allnew crosstrek. Love is out there. Find it in a subaru crosstrek. When food is good and clean and real, its ok to crave. And with panera catering, theres more to go around. 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