baldwin remembered her as his friend on a tight-knit crew. he and his family were in vermont when the paparazzi tracked them down. a visibly upset baldwin took their questions and called for new safety measures on film sets. >> would you ever work on another film set that involves firearms? >> i couldn't answer that question. i have no sense of it at all. i do know an ongoing effort to limit the use of firearms on film sets is something i'm extremely interested in. but remember, something that i think is important, that is, how many bullets have been fired in films and tv shows in the last 75 years? this is america, how many bullets have gone off in movies and on tv sets? probably billions in the last 75 years and nearly all of them without incident. so what has to happen now is we have to realize that when it does go wrong, and it's this horrible, catastrophic thing, some new measures have to take place. rubber guns, plastic guns, no live -- no real ammunition on set. that's not for me to decide. it's urgent that you understand, i'm not an e

alec baldwin's lawyer, if he's any good, i'm sure he is, has told baldwin you should not say anything at all. if you have to say something, don't say anything about the substance of the case. you can see alec baldwin struggling to find the right balance between wanting to address the situation but not saying anything of substance. >> he did say it was a freak occurrence, quote, one in a trillion. patrick, there were safety concerns on the set, and previous safety complaints against the film's assistant director david halls, who handed the gun to baldwin. do you think this tragedy will lead to reforms on movie sets? >> i think there is two really important factors here. one, as you mentioned, this assistant director had been pulled off of a set in 2019 for an eerily similar situation. so clearly there is an investigation here in this particular instance. but, yes, i do think this is already leading to reforms in so many different areas. we have seen multiple shows now, states they're no longer going to have live ammunition or gun -- real guns, they'll do everything in post. we're seein

now, alec baldwin was wearing western-style clothing. again, this is for an 1880s period piece film. police say the clothing was stained with blood. they confiscated it for the investigation. we know from sheriffs they were combing every inch of the film set. they have been interviewing witnesses, they gathered electronic material, any film from iphones, ipads, anything that could help them piece together exactly what took place that fateful thursday afternoon. lucy cavanaugh cnn, accan you recollect, new mexico. >> for more on the legal fallout from this tragedy, we want to bring in a former federal prosecutor and president of west coast trial lawyers. and he joins me now from los angeles. it's really good to have you weigh in on this. look, everybody understands this was obviously a tragic accident, but even so, at this point do authorities have to look at the fact that there may be some criminal liability here, and that charges are possible? >> no question, paula. even tragic accidents give rise to criminal liability when there is gro

now, alec baldwin was wearing western-style clothing. again, this was for an 1880 period piece film. police say the filming appeared to be stained with blood. they confiscated that as part of their investigation. and we know from sheriffs that authorities have been combing every inch of that location, that film set. they've been interviewing witnesses. they've gathered electronic material, any film of iphones, ipads. anything that could help them piece together exactly what took place that fateful thursday afternoon. lucy kafanov, cnn, albuquerque, new mexico. >> reporter: "rust" cast member hayes hargrove told cnn he had no direct knowledge of the events that led to halyna hutchins' death, but he said movie sets by nature are dangerous environments. he also said a bright, striking fierce mother was killed and alec baldwin's life is forever ruined. we've seen the photos of alec baldwin appearing distraught over the death of halyna hutchins, and although the shooting was an accident, one legal analyst says that he may face legal liability

baldwin distraught in the sheriff's parking lot after questioning. the investigation remains open and active. no charges have been filed. a prop firearm should shoot only blanks. >> with a blanch k round you ha everything that you have in a real round. you don't have the bullet at the end of it, you get the flash, the recall, the explosion, but you don't get the beauty flying out. that doesn't mean that a blank round is safe. >> reporter: hutchins posted this video the day before on the day of horse riding. one of the perks of shooting a western. born in ukraine, hutchins started out as a journalist and then moved to the u.s. to study and work in the movies. named a rising star in 2019 by "american cinematographer magazine." she was 42. >> she had this immediacy, this realism, as well as an eye for beauty. >> reporter: a sight like this rare but not unique. brandon lee was shot on the set of "the crow." after a live round stuck in the barrel. in 1984, actor john eric hexum jokingly put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger. the pressure and waddin

now, alec baldwin was wearing western-style clothing. this was, again, for an 1880s period piece film. police say the clothing appeared to be stained with blood. they confiscated that as part of their investigation. and we know from sheriffs that authorities have been combing every inch of that location, that film set. they've been interviewing witnesses. they've gathered electronic material, iphones, ipads, anything that could help them piece together exactly what took place that fateful thursday afternoon. lucy kafanov, cnn, albuquerque, new mexico. >> "rust" cast member hayes hargrove told cnn that he had no direct knowledge of the event that led to halyna hutchins' death, but said that movie sets are by nature dangerous environments. he also said a bright, talented, striking, fierce mother was killed and alec baldwin is forever ruined. meanwhile, dave hall is the assistant director on the film and said "rust" was the subject of complaints over safety during two other productions in 2019, according to maggie gal, a light maker and pro

and it was handed to alec baldwin. and then he discharged it. but the more concerning it really is. and while there is no bringing back halyna hutchins and alec baldwin has to live with what he tragically accidentally did, there is a real concern over liability and whether corners were cut and whether the camera crew that walked off in the morning was replaced by non-union workers. were the people who were being replaced as experienced, as knowledgeable and as careful as the people who were there beforehand? >> well, cnn has not been able to confirm this reporting. producers for baldwin for "rust" say they were not aware of any official complaints concerning gun safety on set. they will continue to cooperate with authorities in hutchins' death. meantime attention is turning to dave halls, the director of the film. josh campbell reports. >> reporter: we are learning new details about the person who handed alec baldwin the prop gun on the day of the fatal shooting here in santa fe. assistant director dave halls who was on set that day had been involved in another incident two years ag

." >>> breaking overnight, the actor alec baldwin accidentally shoots two people with a prop firearm on a movie set, killing one of them. new details this morning about what investigators found in a florida nature park while searching for brian laundrie. >>> and as nicaragua soon heads to the polls for election, the critics and opposition leaders are being thrown to jail. i speak to one of nicaragua's silenced voices. >> announcer: live from london, this is "cnn newsroom." with isa soares. >>> hello, everyone. it is friday, october 22nd, and we begin with breaking news overnight in the united states. police say actor alec baldwin was holding a prop gun on the set of his upcoming movie "rust" when it discharged, killing the film cinematographer and injuring the director. an investigation is currently underway. cnn's sarah sidner has all the details for you. >> reporter: a real tragedy unfolding on a movie set in new mexico. we are told by the sheriff's department in santa fe county that their investigators say it appears that a scene was being filmed in this new movie called "rust." a

it seems to be what alec baldwin was saying just after the incident. >> yeah. there's a lot of hot gun, cold gun, live gun, warm gun, whatever. there's a lot of, you know -- there's guns that have nothing in them, guns that have blanks in them, guns that have ammunition that kills people in them. a gun that's capable of taking live ammo shouldn't be on-set. when we say that we're going live, you know, in hollywood, we mean whatever we had planned to do, we're actually going to do it now. we're not rehearsing anymore. so if we're, you know, supposed to blow up the car, okay, everyone, we're going live. the car's going to blow up. boom, right? okay. we're going live. we're handing out guns that have blanks in them so we're not rehearsing anymore. there's no way that anyone would expect that when they said that they were going live, they actually meant that they were using live ammo in an unmodified firearm. >> to be clear, in your work history, would you have ever used live ammunition for any reason? >> i have used live ammunition because i do shows for discovery

an assistant director handed baldwin by a prop gun and yelled cold gun meaning it did not have live rounds. the actor fired it while rehearsing a scene and hit and killed a cinemaing t ing to gra. the assistant director didn't know it had live rounds. this is thsis the 1911 call. listen . several crew members had quit the production due to safety concerns including gun safety protocols. lucy kafanov picks up the story. >> reporter: alec baldwin says he is fully cooperating into the investigation in the fatal shooting on the set of the movie "rust." >> two people accidently shot. >> reporter: officials say they are still in the initial stages of their investigation into what led to the fatal incident chen baldwin discharged a prop weapon onset. and the director joel souza rushed to a local hospital with injuries. and director of photographerity was pronounced dead. police continue to interview witnesses and are looking into what type of projectile was fired from the prop gun commonly used on movie sets that aren't without their own risks. >> prop weapons do have a dangerous factor to them e

the shocking admission by a crew member about the gun fired by alec baldwin. that's coming up. tony herere from creditrepair.com taking to the streets to talklk about credit. can you repair your credit yourself? yes. -great. how? uhhh... how long does credit repair take? i don't know, like 10 years. what? are you insane? what's a good credit score? go. 600. maybe if you're trying to pay thousands extra in interest rates. cut the confusion, get started with a free credit evaluation at creditrepair.com. >>> welcome back, everyone. leaders of the world's 20 wealthiest nations are getting ready to meet this weekend in rome for the first time in more than two years. the two leaders, russia's vladamir putin and china's xi jinping are skipping the g20. joe biden is expected to leave for rome later today, and will meet with the pope on friday more now from cnn's nic robertson in rome. >> reporter: rome is ready. but some invitees are not. vladamir putin of russia to be a no-show. president xi of china too, and mexico's president, ditto. can't come to rome because of covid issues at hom

the county sheriff said the gun fired by alec baldwin shot a suspected live round killing crew member halyna hutchins and injuring the director. >> that is up to the testing. right now we're going to determine how they got there, why they were there, because they shouldn't have been there. we would consider a live round a bullet live because it did fire from the weapon and obviously caused the death of mrs. hutchins and injured mr. sousa. >> meanwhile, court documents released wednesday revealed the film's assistant director admits he failed to fully check the prop firearm before handing it to baldwin. and two crew members tell cnn that the lead armour on set had mishandled weapons during a previous film project. cnn's josh campbell has more now on the investigation. >> reporter: isa, we are learning new details about the circumstances surrounding that fatal shooting of cinematographer halyna hutchins. they suspect it was a live round of ammunition inside a gun fired by actor alec baldwin that ultimately resulted in her death. now, there are a number of questions that remain, specific

and this photo of hutchins surfaced showing her inside a church in the "rust" set where alec baldwin was rehearsing. they said it is the last photo of hutchins before she died. it is unclear when the photo was actually taken. now more focus is turning toward the district attorney's handling of the case. cnn's josh campbell has that part of the story from santa fe. >> reporter: we are learning new details about the status of the state's investigation into that fatal shooting of cinematographer halyna hutchins by alec baldwin. the district attorney's office telling cnn it remains an active investigation. they have not yet ruled out any potential criminal charges. of course, one key question has been liable, whether authorities will be holding any one person or group of people actually responsible for her death. officials tell us that that investigation is underway at this hour. we are also learning new details about what authorities found on the set of that shooting. according to court records, we are learning that the sheriff's department found three pistols as well as boxes of ammuni