time. 24 club was packed with hundreds of people obviously. that's one reason why the death count is so high, jake. >> and evan, just to clear something up from earlier, do you have any information about the birthplace of the shooter? >> that's right. he was a u.s.-born citizen of the united states. his family is not -- they're not u.s. citizens. he was born in the united states. that might be one reason for the confusion earlier, jake. >> and the fbi is gathering right now outside the home of the dead terrorist. >> that's right. they are now looking -- they're inside the house trying to see if there's any weapons or perhaps explosives. that's one of the things they have to do to secure first of all the place, and then they're going to start digging into his background. at this point, jake, as the fbi noted earlier in the previous press conference, there are indications that they have to

believe that this was somewhat related to radical islam. we don't know more about what exactly that is, what evidence they've turned up, but they pretty quickly seem to have decided that this is the avenue where they're going to pursue this investigation. we don't know -- i just talked to some officials who say still at this point, they don't know whether he did this in the name of isis or some other organization or whether he just had personal animus against gay people. that's something they're looking into, obviously, but the fact he's dead makes this a little tougher. they're going to have to go through his computer, look through his online postings. they're going to talk to his friends and family to see if he's expressed any animus or any intent. there were no threats known to this club or to any other gay clubs either in orlando or anywhere else during this weekend. but now obviously in reaction to that, they're going to see a lot more security at these clubs. >> evan perez, thanks so much.

keep calling in as you get more information. i want to bring in now congressman devin nunez of california. thanks so much for joining us. >> thanks, jake. >> so we've heard from the fbi special agent in charge that there are suggestions that the killer, omar mateen, subscribed to radical islam. do you know anything more about that? what more can you tell us about this horrific incident, the worst mass shooting, the deadliest one in american history? >> well, as we always have to say in these investigations, we need to let the fbi conduct thundershower investigati their investigation. everything i'm seeing now points to some type of rad cam islam. this is very, very similar to the attack on the nightclub in the concert hall in paris. that's why it's critical right now at this juncture for the fbi and other law enforcement to quickly track down all possible

leads to see if this individual is connected to any other terrorist nodes around the united states or elsewhere. >> you say it's like the shooting at the bataclan theater in paris last november. that's because of the proximity of people infined area of space? >> that's right. i was just over there and had a tour by the local law enforcement. it's dark. it's loud. as i think i've seen on the news this morning from a couple of the witnesses, at first they didn't know. they just thought it was part of the music. then it's hard once you're in a nightclub or a concert or something like that, there's only so many exits. it's just an easy place to quickly take on soft targets in a short amount of time. >> congressman, a lot of people watching right now probably want to know, is there any chatter

out there, any suggestion that this is more than one attack, that there might be others planned? you're the chairman of the house select committee on intelligence. what are you being told? >> as i've been saying for over a year now, we're at the highest terrorist threat level since 9/11. there's a reason i'm saying that. it's because we're continuing to see growing radicalization over the internet. we're continuing to see americans and other westerners go into the middle east and fight with isis or al qaeda. so all of those lead me to make this -- these types of statements i've been making for many months now. al also, if you look at -- we're at a very high threat level in europe right now because of the european cup championships that are going on in france. as i think most people know, many of the fighters have come from france and germany and brussels, the westerners, the

europeans that went in and fought for isis and came back out. like i said, i'm not jumping to any conclusions. i want to make that clear. but i think we need to know that just from my experience, this looks like radical islam. >> and congressman, you know, one of the things that is obvious in this horrific attack is that the victims wered a an lgbt nightclub. they were all presumably gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual. and this is gay pride week. or gay pride month, i should say. it's also been pointed out on the show that radical islamists -- and again, we're still waiting for final confirmation on that from law enforcement and from counterterrorism officials, but it does seem to be suggesting that. they have hay trtred for a lot groups, but we've seen a lot of horrific images from the middle east of radical islamists killing gays. >> yeah, i think that's accurate, jake.

if you look at this, clearly radical islam wants to target the gay community. this would be a prime location to do that. similar to the attack in paris where they attacked an american rock band. so the islamists are not afraid to target many groups. clearly the gay community is one they would like to target. that's why when you match up this soft target in orlando with early indications that this individual had some radicalization in the past, it's easy to make that connection. as you said, we need to wait. we need to let the fbi do their investigation. >> congressman devin nunes, republican of california, thank you so much for calling in. please let us know if you learn anything more you can share with us. >> thank you, jake. >> thank you so much. let's bring back our panel. it's a devastating day.

it's very tough to talk about this in a clinical way. it is the deadliest mass shooting in the history of this country. worst than newtown. worst than virginia tech. one of the things you and i were talking about during the break is the fact that the weapons that the killer had were as described by law enforcement a handgun and an ar-15 type semiautomatic rifle. >> right. >> 50 people dead. another 53 injured. tell me, does this suggest a clip that had a lot of ammunition? what does it say to you? >> i think we were both shocked when that number went from 20 to 50 and also the injured number went up quite a bit too. when you're talking an ar-15 type weapon, you're talking a .223-caliber bullet. it's made to create a lot of tissue damage when it hits your

body. in other words, it will hit you in the arm and travel up your arm bone and basically destroy all the tissue as it travels up. unfortunately, i think that number of 50 will probably go up some. but it's a devastating bullet. it's made to use in war-type situations. it was developed specifically to create tissue damage. i think probably these injuries that you're seeing at the medical hospital are very devastating. >> 53 individuals in area hospitals, some of them grievously wounded. we should repeat what senator marco rubio told us earlier. if you live in the central florida area, especially if you're o-positive in terms of your blood type, if you want to donate blood, please go to the hospital. they're saying they need it. they need blood. juliet, your reaction to this devastating news about this attack. >> well, i think i'm reacting to it not as an expert but like

everyone else. it's shocking as a mother. it is terrifying because this is a soft target, a fun target, a place where young people go. in that way, it's very similar to paris. very interesting press conference. they clearly are walking back -- not walking back, but they want to be more strategic in whose name they're going to release and what we know about him. so it was good of evan to clarify some things that were said. i do hope, and i will say this because the politics are behind this in the background. i don't want to get political about this, but i do hope that the president speaks to the nation. whatever or whoever did this, this is the largest mass casualty event in u.s. history. 50 people. it is a shocking number, whatever the motivation is. i think it's important that while the grief is real, so is the fear. people are very, very nervous right now. i think this is the time when,

you know, a president needs to speak. >> phil, your reaction to the press conference. >> look, i think one of the things we need to focus on is the comparisons to other events and the comparison in particular to bataclan. when you hear the press conference and the identification of name, my first reaction is this does not look like bataclan. this does not look like paris. when you look at paris, you have a conspiracy of people who travel. they communicate, they live in the same places. that's a vulnerability for an intelligence professional to try to find those communications and look to those travel patterns, back to training facilities in syria. we do not see evidence so far of a conspiracy like that from port st. lucie, where this individual is from, over to orlando. that is more difficult in some ways to stop because you got to figure out, how do we find people if they don't have communication patterns, if they don't have co-conspirators. don't compare this to paris yet. i don't see it, jake. >> art, that's one of the things

actually that top national security officials have been worried about. not that they're not worried about any terrorist attack, but the idea of a self-radicalized individual, a lone wolf who has taken on this poisonous theology and has decided to take it unto himself to commit this horrific act. that's almost more of a threat because they can't detect it necessarily. there's no chatter. >> exactly. it's a lot tougher. and phil is right. when you look at what happened in paris, that was a lot of people involved in a conspiracy. they had a cell, an organized cell that went back to brussels. because of that, you're able to track a lot of that information through social media, through contacts, through interviews. this sounds like a lone wolf situation at this particular time. so they are a lot tougher. as we have seen in the past here in the u.s., they're a lot tougher to get a handle on and to identify. >> and juliet, as a former

assistant secretary of the department of homeland security, one of the things right now that the department of homeland security is doing, in addition to trying to make sure there are no other similar attacks planned by any similar type individuals, they want to make sure that there aren't any misguided attempts at revenge targeting innocents who had no connection to this at all. >> that's exactly right. there are going to be two lanes going on. they're coordinated. there's the investigation, which will be led by the fbi and joint terrorism task forces. rights now every single joint terrorism task force is activated. they are scrubbing their lists. they are figuring out who he is, a lone wolf, who he's been in contact with, his family memberings. then there's the second side, which is both the department of homeland security and the fbi, which is we have multiple soft targets. we have baseball games today.

we have lots of people getting together. there's now an increased threat level. we know that. there will be a surging of resources to protect areas. i am sure you're going to hear from a lot of mayors today saying they're going to deploy more resources to ensure that people are safe and also to ensure that communities that may be targeted as a response to this incident are also safe. so in some ways, i don't mean to say this like it's perfect, but there is a lot of training and activity being done that has been done to assess what to do when something like this happens. there's the investigation and then there is the could something more happen, we need to protect u.s. citizens, and we need them to feel that they are safe. >> and phil, about two years ago we all became experts in what meta data is after edward snowden's revelations. right now that meta data is

likely, i'm guessing, being pulled for this individual, omar mateen. they're trying to find out who he was in contact with. explain what that process might be like. >> well, jake, just think about your every day life. when you're transferring money, paying checks via your online bank account, for example, when you're e-mailing, texting,face booj messages. all this is digital. it allows you to figure out a spider web. who do you talk to? where did you travel to? where do you get money from? as soon as you get the identification of the name, you can go to phone companies, internet service providers, and without putting people on the street, say does he have an immediate circle of people he talked to. one of the most interesting questions below the radar, where did he travel to? as soon as i see a travel pattern, i say, was he trained by somebody or were there co-conspirators? all that stuff allows you to draw a picture of a spider web

in a way you couldn't have done 15 or 20 years ago. >> art? >> yeah, the interesting comment that was made earlier was that he worked for a security company in ft. pierce. obviously there was some type of backgrounds done, whether it was just a regular criminal history check and a financial check, but there are some checks that have already been done on this particular individual. even went so far as to say that security company provides security company for the federal government also. so it'll be interesting to see what records that company has on him right now. >> all right. everybody stay with us. we're going to stake a quick break. when we come back, we're going to have a new interview with an eyewitness to the horrific attack in orlando. the deadliest mass shooting in american history. stay with us. (man) oh, looks like we missed most of the show. (woman) and there's no way to restart it. (jon bon jovi) with directv there is. ♪ you see, we've got the power to turn back time ♪ ♪ so let's restart the show that started at nine ♪ ♪ and while we're at it, let's give you back your 'do ♪

♪ and give her back the guy she liked before you ♪ ♪ hey, that's the power to turn back time. ♪ (vo) get the ultimate all-included bundle. call 1-800-directv. world saleilton is on honors members save up to 25% on brands like hampton, doubletree, hilton garden inn, and waldorf astoria so stop clicking around. book direct at hilton.com now that's satisfaction.

welcome back. we're following this horrific breaking news. a staggering day. it's the worst mass shooting in the history of the united states. 50 people killed. 53 injured. some of them grievously. after an overnight terrorist attack on an lgbt nightclub. the nightclub is called pulse. it's in orlando, florida. police shot and killed the gunman after a three-hour hostage standoff. he's been identified as omar mateen. let's right now bring in a medical reporter from "the

orlando sentinel," who just left the orlando regional medical center where victims and their families were gathering. tell us about the scene at the hospital. >> well, clearly everybody is sad. it's very calm. people are quiet, supportive. everybody is sort of keeping to themselves. earlier today, there were a few people who were discharged with minor injuries, including one who had a very superficial gunshot wound. but they were very emotional. a lot of crying. they eventually left the scene. now there are a lot of extended family members and friends who are hanging out and really desperately waiting for information to come in. hospitals are only accepting very extreme cases of trauma.

they're only letting in very close family members of shooting victims. i'm being told they're held in a room. not much information is being given. they're just filling out paperwork and waiting. >> and one of the things we've been talking about is the weaponry used by the terrorist would cause massive wounds. in addition to the 50 killed in the worst, deadliest shooting in american history, the 53 wounded, some of them might be in touch-and-go situations. have you spoke within any medical authorities about the condition of people who have been rushed to the hospital? >> no, the hospital -- i can imagine because i did cover remotely the boston marathon. they're still pretty tied up to be talking to media at this point. we're expecting them to maybe later in the day or tomorrow provide more details as to how terrible the injuries are.

>> and what else can you tell us about this horrific situation? orlando obviously a first-class american city, but it sounded as though the trauma centers were really being stretched thin. >> i have not gotten a sense of that as far as being stretched thin. at least they haven't said anything yet. i have contacts at our other main hospital system here. they have not indicated anything. they said if family members have names, they can call the hospital and check if their family member is at that hospital. people cannot believe it.

i guess they had a sense they wanted them to stay home, and unfortunately he was among the victims. >> that's awful. thank you so much. we appreciate it. just to reiterate, the call in the orlando area is for o-negative, o-positive and ab donors to donate as soon as possible. you can find a donation center by going to oneblood.org or calling 1-888-9-donate. again, that's oneblood.org or calling 1-888-9-donate. that's for people who are o-negative, o-positive, and ab blood types to help those who have been victims of this horrific shooting. joining us now via skype is a witness to the orlando nightclub shooting. lewis, thank you so much for joining us at this difficult time. tell us what you saw. >> we were in the club. it was me and my best friend went out.

last minute we decided to go out. we were at the bar that was at the entrance to the club. it was a smaller bar next to the main dance floor. around 1:45 we start making our way back to the main bar that we originally started at, the smaller one, and hung out there. 2:00 we started changing out, cashing out our check, signed the paper. the deejay was playing a typical set that incorporated what we thought was gunshots as part of the music. four shots, bop, bop, bop, bop. but for some reason, it was different. no one put two and two together until the fifth and sixth. between 10 and 20, that's when everything really started getting real. then we all at that point did a domino effect, all to the floor, everybody, at least at that part of the club. i can't speak for the main floor or anything else. at least what i saw in our section of the bar, it was just

a quick drop, hit the floor, hit the ground. >> and how did you get out? how quickly did you get out of the club? >> a minute and a half. seemed like ten, seemed like 20. by the time they got to 20 to 30 rounds, we were already trying to exit a small exitway side stage that was for employee access only. it was very, very narrow. once we get to this little alleyway, there were about 20 or 30 people trying to push themselves through a small cabinet looking door. then there was a huge gaping hole in the fence that literally looked like people just punched it and kicked it down in order to get out because they realized that wasn't working. all in all, probably a minute and a half, two minutes just to exit the building. but we were still on premises, dealing with casualties that we decided to stay by and help out. >> we're so glad that you got out. did you happen to see the

shooter? >> no. not at all, actually. we at first heard the gunshots, and when we realized it was actual real life, we hit the ground and started to realize that it's getting closer and louder and louder. there was about a ten-second break where we didn't hear any more bullets going off. that's when we made a jet for the door. like i was telling someone else before, i didn't even want to look back. i didn't want to look at them. that would be the last memory i have. that's not something i want to remember. we just ran out, we jetted and tried saving our ourselves and saving as many people as we can to get out of there. >> did all of your friends make it out? >> i went originally with my best friend. yes, he was with me the entire time. i dragged him to the ground because the shock and awe factor kicked in. people were screaming. we didn't scream. we were trying to recollect our

thoughts. we haven't even slept at all. we literally just got back from the police station. he made it out. there were faces we had seen all the time, mutual friends, but we were in the zone at that point, just enjoying the night. we don't remember seeing many people. some people trickled into the police station to make their report. others we did hear, mutual friends did not make it. one succumbed to back wounds. the other was shot, dragged out. one of our long-time bartender friends was in a small fitting room with about ten other people hiding in there, just waiting for a miracle, waiting for someone to come in and rescue them. >> so horrible. lu luis, when you were outside and helping other people who had escaped, tell us what that scene was like.

>> we had jetted out. i went through the hole. i lost my friend at that point in time. i saw this kid collapse in front of me. he collapsed pretty much right next to the building. i said, what are you doing, what are you doing, get up, let's get up. i grabbed him, not realizing that his forearm was split in two. then i realized he had a gash on his side as well. i quickly took off my main shirt and did a, what is it called, a tourniquet and kept him occupied, got to know him. he was visiting from jacksonville. he was just here for the weekend, just to hang out there. young, early 20s. before i knew it, this guy was pacing, looking for a family member back and forth, and he had a bullet sticking out. the bullet, i kid you not, was

this big. half in his leg, half sticking out. i took off my other shirt and did a tourniquet really quick on him as well. so i had them both by my side until the paramedics came. once they took them off, about 10, 15 minutes later, then we were told to quickly evacuate and move further down the street, as far as we could. >> well, that was very heroic, luis. i'm very, very sorry that you had to go through what you went through. it sounds like a horrific, horrific experience. thank you for sharing it with us today. >> thank you. >> god bless you and best of luck to you. we are standing by, waiting for a press conference from the governor of florida, rick scott. we're going to take a quick break. we're going to continue covering the worst stories ever reported. 50 killed, 53 wounded. the deadliest mass shooting in the history of this country. stay with us. a network and the cloud. it's reliable uptime. and multi-layered security. it's how you stay connected to each other

and to your customers. with centurylink you get advanced technology solutions, including an industry leading broadband network, and cloud and hosting services - all with dedicated, responsive support. with centurylink as your trusted technology partner, you're free to focus on growing your business. centurylink. your link to what's next.

♪ no, you're not ♪ yogonna watch it! ♪tch it! ♪ ♪ we can't let you download on the goooooo! ♪ ♪ you'll just have to miss it! ♪ yeah, you'll just have to miss it! ♪ ♪ we can't let you download... uh, no thanks. i have x1 from xfinity so... don't fall for directv. xfinity lets you download your shows from anywhere. i used to like that song.

welcome back to this horrific breaking news story. we're standing by for a news conference from the governor of florida, republican rick scott, as we continue covering this awful story. 50 people killed, 53 wounded, some grievously, in an overnight mass shooti ining at an orlando florida, nightclub, one that caters to an lgbt clientele. this now ranks as the deadliest mass shooting in the history of this country. let's go to cnn correspondent boris sanchez, who's in orlando. boris, tell us the latest. >> reporter: hey, jake. we actually just heard from representative alan grayson, who confirmed cleanup crews are now inside the club, beginning the very difficult task of cleaning up what you can imagine is just a horrific mess. right now crews are working to process the remains and begin the very difficult task of

identifying them so they can provide information to the families of those affected. officials have been asking for patience in this process because of the scope of this investigation and the nature of it. obviously we're dealing with terrorism here. it's going to be a long time before some families get answers. that can be excruciating, as we saw with the crowds outside of the orlando regional medical center this morning that were fighting with doctors essentially to get information about their loved ones. i can also tell you that there was a van outside of the venue that officials believe belonged to the suspect. that is being cleared right now as we speak. obviously with officials telling us he had some kind of device on him, there was concern there was some kind of ied in that van. so that process is still ongoing. officials told us they might clear this street and let us get closer to the venue, but it appears with the situation still getting a closer look, that will

take some time. one of the things we've heard from witnesses again and again, and it really shakes you to your core, this was supposed to be a fun night of dancing at a club. it was latin night. people were socializing and having drinks. at no point did they expect this would turn into the worst shooting in american history. so i asked representative grayson, how does this community move forward? he said that really it was about helping the victims and lending a hand to those who need it. he said the best way people can do that now is by donating blood. there's a massive need for blood. there's more than 50 people in the hospital right now in varying degrees of health. they will certainly need help moving forward. he hopes to see the community come forward and donate in that regard. obviously it's going to be a long time before the city of orlando can say it's fully healed from this horrifying event. >> yes, and just to reiterate, as we've been saying, boris, the authorities, the medical authorities have said there is

an urgent need in the orlando area for o-negative, o-positive, and ab plasma blood donors. you can find out the best place to donate by going to oneblood.org or calling 1-888-9-donate. boris, there also, of course, was this horrific shootout over multiple hours between the terrorist and police. more than 100 officers on site. how are they doing? were any of them wounded or killed? >> reporter: well, we don't know exactly when it happened, but at one point, an officer was struck by a bullet. fortunately he had this kevlar helmet. it had affected his vision at one point, but it appears he's fine. you can imagine the psychological toll of all this, the courage it takes to go into a situation like this is, you know, hard to put into words. it's not just that. it's also now the cleanup and having to deal with so much loss

and to move forward in the face of terror. >> all right. boris sanchez, thank you so much. appreciate it. we're still awaiting a press conference from the governor of florida, rick scott, about the deadliest mass shooting in american history taking place today, this morning in orlando. we'll bring that to you live. stay with us. those new glasses? they are. do i look smarter? yeah, a little. you're making money now, are you investing? well, i've been doing some research. let me introduce you to our broker. how much does he charge? i don't know.

okay. uh, do you get your fees back if you're not happy? (dad laughs) wow, you're laughing. that's not the way the world works. well, the world's changing. are you asking enough questions about the way your wealth is managed? wealth management, at charles schwab.

because you can't beat zero heartburn! i take prilosec otc each morning for my frequent heartburn ahhh the sweet taste of victory! prilosec otc. one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn.

weekend ba-- welcome back t cnn's live coverage. right now we're awaiting a news conference by florida governor rick scott to recap what we know. there was a mass shooting at an orlando, florida, lgbt nightclub. it left 50 people dead, 53 injured, some of them grievously. law enforcement sources have identified the gunman as omar mateen. let's find out more about the shooting. let's talk to california congressman adam schiff. congressman, thanks for joining us. what can you tell us about

possible -- there were suggestions he was of the radical islamic ideology. >> jake, what i've heard from the department of homeland security this morning is that according to local police, he made a pledge of allegiance to isil, was heard praying in a foreign language. i don't know if this was at some point during the course of the shooting, but that's what i'm hearing obviously secondhand, coming from local police. we know the shooting is during ramadan. the target is often a target of isis, the lgbt community. we've seen horrific reports over the last couple years of gruesome killings of gay and lgbt people in syria and iraq, thrown off the top of buildings. so the similarities to the

bataclan are all highly indicative of an isil-inspired attack, whether this was isil directed, you know, we don't know. obviously the intelligence community is combing through our intelligence holdings right now to determine whether there was any indication of any command and control from raqqah. still, early to form any of these conclusions, but these are some of the early pieces of evidence that we're hearing and learning about. of course, jake, you know better than anyone else. often the information you get at the very early stage of an investigation turns out to be in part erroneous. i think we all have to let the fbi do its job and wait to see the full evidence that comes forward. >> good cautionary note. i've been saying this throughout the coverage this morning. often law enforcement sources get information, they share it with the public, and the information turns out to not prove accurate, and they take it back. we are just trying to bring as

much information as we can from reliable authorities, reliable sources. congressman, having been briefed by the office of the director of national intelligence, the department of homeland security, what can you tell us about the suicide contraption that this individual early reports said he was wearing? >> jake, what i've heard is that, in fact, he did not have a suicide vest on. he had a military-style assault weapon, a handgun. there was some other device, but it doesn't appear to have been an explosive vest of any kind. so that early report may have, in fact, been erroneous. but that's just what i'm hearing at this point. >> obviously you noted that islamic extremists target the lgbt community quite often. this month is pride month, as designated by president obama. i think it's pride week specifically in los angeles, where you are.

that must be of extreme concern for individuals if they're planning any sort of parades or celebrations. >> it is. in fact, here in los angeles, where we have a very large and vibrant lgbt community, we have a pride parade later this morning, which i'm sure will be a very somber occasion. i'm going to be going to the sheriffs station before that parade. i'm sure that there are going to be added security precautions in light of this shooting. but what a terrible tragedy any way you look at it. this horrific loss of life. yet again another american city. tragically we know that quite far from our shores in europe, they're very much on guard for much of the same. they have a far greater risk than we do, but our hearts are certainly going out to those that are impacted and to the entire lgbt community.

>> congressman, just one last question for you. a lot of people watching this morning are going to feel afraid. they're going to feel insecure in their own communities. what's your message to them in terms of the best intelligence available? is there any information about any other attacks or any other group that this individual may have specifically been in contact with and not just inspired by? >> jake, we're looking very hard to see exactly that. is there any indication of any other plot out there, any other shooters involved. at this point, we don't know the answer. i know that's hard for people, even in the best of circumstances, and i think we have the best intelligence agencies and personnel in the world. if someone is self-inspired, self-radicalized, then again we don't know for sure that's the case here, but it's very difficult to determine, very difficult to be proactive unless people see something about that

person and say something. obviously in the days ahead, we're going to learn a lot more about this shooter and try to determine were there any signs we missed, was there anything in our intelligence holdings, did people in his family or in the community see things they should have said. but at this point, we don't have indications of a broader plot. again, the only thing i can say to temper that, jake, is we are still looking to see whether we had any kind of advance notice that this plot may have been in the works and the simple answer is we're looking. we may not have. as good as our agencies are, they're simply not able to stop a motivated, self-radicalized person who keeps the details of their plotting to themselves. >> congressman schiff, thank you so much for joining us. our best wishes to you and the members of the lgbt community. i hope it is a successful, if

not somber, event, pride parade today in los angeles. >> thanks, jake. >> we want to show you the lines of individuals forming in orlando right now, waiting to give blood as we've been noting the whole program, there is a need for o-negative, o-positive, and ab blood type donors. you can find the best place for you to give blood by going to oneblood.org or dialing 1-888-9-donate. here are some of the hearty floridians who have shown to donate. we'll be right back with this horrific story. when my doctor told me i have age-related macular degeneration, amd we came up with a plan to help reduce my risk of progression. and everywhere i look... i'm reminded to stick to my plan. including preservision areds 2. my doctor said preservision areds 2 has the exact nutrient formula that the national eye institute recommends to help reduce the risk of progression of moderate to advanced amd...

after 15 years of clinical studies. preservision areds 2. because my eyes are everything.

the call just came in. she's about to arrive. and with her, a flood of potential patients. a deluge of digital records. x-rays, mris. all on account...of penelope. but with the help of at&t, and a network that scales up and down on-demand, this hospital can be ready. giving them the agility to be flexible & reliable.

because no one knows & like at&t. welcome back. this is senator bill nelson of florida speaking to reporters. let's listen in. >> i have checked with intelligence staff and they do believe that there is some connection to isis but i might say that is not official. i asked the fbi what i should convey and because of the nature

of this shooting they have asked me to ask anybody that knows anything about the shooter, especially in the fort pierce st. lucie county area to please come forth with the information. this is the largest issue of mass shooting and it appears to be an act of terrorism but the facts -- we can't say that totally yet. we are certainly having our share of violence. in two successive nights we've had killings. the singer performing live at the plaza shot down two nights ago and then this horrific act.

what is happening to our country. we are going to have to dig down deep and ask ourselves who we are as a people. we've got to think of ourselves as the common denominator of americans and not the hyphenated american. and that's what we have to explore deep inside at this point. that's the information i'll have for you. i'll share more with you. >> reporter: based on what the intelligence told you, what made you think of a connection to isis? >> i'll get that information for you once i've confirmed it all. but i'm just passing along to you the information i have that from the credible sources as well as directly. that information is not from the fbi. >> where is that information from? >> that is from intelligence

committee staff. but the fbi information for senator feinstein and myself is directly from mike feinbalch, the assistant director of the counterterrorism center in washingto washington. >> that was senator bill nelson, democrat of florida talking about the latest information he has which is like you've heard from so many national security officials and experts very suggestive of an individual who may have been inspired by radical islam. local law enforcement sources

are suggesting the individual, the terrorist in question, mr. mateen, has pledged allegiance to isis. that doesn't mean that he was anything other than a loan wolf. second of all, as we have repeatedly said throughout this program and our coverage this horrific breaking news story often a lot of times public officials get information, share it with the public because of the public's hunger and right to know what's going on and the information is later proved false or retracted. as of right now we are telling you everything we can tell you while also noting repeatedly that a lot of times early reports are not correct. what we do know is horrific enough which is that today is the day of the deadliest mass shooting in the history of the united states. 50 individuals at a nightclub in orlando, florida, pulse, which

caters to an lgbt clientele, were killed. killed by an individual, omar seddique mateen who had an ar-15 style semiautomatic rifle as well as a handgun and fired repeatedly in the nightclub after entering the nightclub and started shooting at around 2:00 in the morning. hold on one second, control room, what? say that again? juliette kayyem, we're going to bring you in right now. former national homeland security official, assistant secretary of the department of homeland security and phil mudd formerly of the cia and fbi. can you react to some of the information we've gotten this morning, juliette kayyem, when an individual like adam schiff who is sober and responsible says he's hearing from local law enforcement that this individual may have pledged allegiance to

isis, that is reason to take pause. >> and adam schiff is probably one of the best congressmen out there on these issues. here's what we should take from all of this. there appears to be no evidence yet of some directed attack. that at least what we're hearing from government officials and those who have been briefed by them is this is your lone wolf scenario, someone who is inspired. that may mean little to most people because there are 50 people dead but it does impact how law enenforce element treat this case in terms of who he was, how he got radicalized, was he in contact with anyone in the united states. and basically his trajectory in terms of this horrible attack of terrorism the second issue that is of importance here and i've already heard from a bunch of mayors who are texting me is to

extend to which local law enforcement are our counterterrorism force right now. i'm looking at these pictures on your screen as well. this is a tremendous shift in the last 15 years. these are just florida police officers getting trained in mass casualty events, whether it's terrorism or not. i will tell you i left this morning when i got a phone call from you guys a mass casualty training scenario at our baseball stadium here because this is what they're training about. it's about resources, training and practice for those on the front lines. they may not be able to stop the next attack but they certainly as we have seen can save a lot of lives. >> an excellent point, juliette, i was sitting here with art roderick, formerly of the u.s. marshals and we were talking about the scene as described by witnesses, the kevlar helmet. as somebody who has covered the wars in iraq and afghanistan, that is what it is reminiscent of, war zones.

we've had these war zones in our cities and country for quite some time but we're seeing them repeatedly. we're going to pause at the top of the hour and continue with our live coverage of this horrific event. the worst, deadliest mass shooting in the history of the country. i'm jake tapper in washington. we continue cnn's breaking news coverage of the deadliest shooting in u.s. history. for those of you just waking up and turning on the television, you might want to move the kids away from the tv. 50 people have been killed, 53 others are seriously injured after an overnight mass shooting, a terrorist act at an lgbt nightclub in orlando, florida. the shooting started today, a couple minutes after 2:00 a.m. eastern time. police say an officer responded, there was a shootout outside the club, the club is pulse. the gunman ran inside the pulse nightclub and a