top of the hour. i'm brooke baldwin. thank you for being with me on this thursday afternoon. of course, we are here in orlando, florida, continuing the yn special live coverage of the massacre at a gay nightclub that left 49 people dead, dozens more wounded. right now, i can tell you that president of the united states and vice president here in orlando meeting with families just down the road from us who lost loved ones in the attack. president wheels down here in orlando a short time ago. and for those who are keeping track, this is president obama's tenth visit, tenth, to an

american city to offer condolences and to help the healing begin after yet another mass shooting in his eight years in the oval office. let's begin this hour with our reporter here in orlando. he's -- he knows how to offer condolences to loved ones. >> reporter: brooke, yeah. the president right now is meeting with families of victims and survivors of the attack here in downtown orlando. he's joined as you said by vice president biden. the white house described it as an emotional trip for the president, one he's had to make many trips before. you mentioned the previous instances, just last year in charleston, south carolina, san bernardino and newtown, connecticut. the president isn't only meeting with those directly affected by the shooting but with surgeons and doctors and nurses who tended to those wounded and who were hurt.

he's also meeting with law enforcement and we heard he gave law enforcement that were first to respond to the shootings sincere thanks for efforts for trying to stop this attack. aside from that, the president, the white house, rather, said that the president is here to comfort and support the people of oral at a very, very difficult time. the interesting thing about his arrival, you'll note, he rode on air force with senator marco rubio and greeted by florida governor rick scott, two republicans, known to have an icy relationship with rick scott and symbolism is putting aside political differences to stand together not only for the people of orlando but also for the lgbt community, as well. we are expected to hear from the president later today around 4:00. we heard that the remarks will focus on what he's seen here in orlando and expect something to try to lift spirits not only here in florida but also across the country as we begin to heal from this terrorist attack, brooke. >> we'll take it live as soon as we see president obama speaking

to members of the media after just i imagine such a trying day. at least offering a little bit of hope, hopefully moving forward here in orlando. boris sanchez, thank you so much for now. and now to this. we have some just terrifying video from the hours inside of the pulse nightclub. we have cell phone video and what you will see, shows people huddled inside. it is tough to make out. this is the bathroom, this is the bathroom stall where people were hiding as the gunman demanded they come out or be shot. the person who shot this video survived. says there were as many as 30 people packed inside for four hours trying to keep quiet, until police finally get in there and rescue them. he says the survivor who took the video said they shared a single cup of water. on to the investigation here and new pieces of this massive puzzle, a big development today involving the shooter's visit to

a florida gun shop to buy that body armor and denied that armor. a manager at the shop tells cnn that the staff thought his behavior was suspicious. what did they do? they picked up the phone and notified law enforcement. this was a couple of weeks ago. he wanted the special kind of body armor. again, the people inside that location described his behavior as suspicious. the manager didn't say which agency was contacted. we're trying to follow up on that. perhaps something was done and see how they reacted in the wake of that. let's bring in pamela brown, cnn correspondent. pamela, to you, first. a lot of new threads today. we know he was in the bathroom holed up for hours and in this bathroom he called a tv producer, he googled the pulse nightclub. and he was texting with his wife according to you and your sources. >> that's right.

we are learning from the law enforcement sources, brooke, that the gunman and his wife communicating during the three-hour rampage and some text messages exchanged that investigators are looking at right now. what is unclear at this stage is whether the wife knew she was texting her husband in the middle of the deadliest mass shooting in american history. they're vetting that. but what is interesting to note here is that she did tell investigators after changing her story and saying she didn't have an inkling 0 of what he was up to that day that she did have a suspicion that he might launch an attack when he left the house on saturday to visit a friend as he apparently told her and that she thought perhaps it would be at pulse nightclub. so, investigators are putting the pieces of the puzzle together and we also learned based own her interview with the investigators and other evidence police have pulled that he went on this spending spree and the two weeks before the shooting. we know he bought the weapons in early june, spent a lot of money there and apparently spending

money like crazy, as well, as one law enforcement source said, you know, the signs were there that he was a boiling kettle. and had the wife made a phone call, this likely would have been prevented. and so, you know, this is one person we spoke with and that's a sentiment other clears clearly signs were there and why weren't authorities notified. >> let's go back to the point of texting with his wife. mark, to you, i want to ask you about the grand jury and the wife but he paused in the middle of murdering people to text his wife. >> that's his soesopathy. that's the disconnection to what was going on, almost inhuman behavior. we'll never know what was going on with him but now we look at the wife and talked about it yesterday. you know, they're going to look at from a felony happened or knew what happened and concealed it. a conspiracy to commit murder could have been two or three weeks or five weeks in the

planning and come in and say you're part of that. they're looking at her across the spectrum. >> just staying with you, will -- i mean, i imagine this will be included in what they're sifting through. what will they make of this? >> grand jury? >> yes. >> well, in my opinion, from looking at it now, the more and more forensic evidence they gather that evidence is her awareness of what was going on. from bizarre behavior on one side of it to actual republicaning on another is going to bring her into a level of culpability or criminal responsibility. but let's forget, they're going to take their time before go to the grand jury. they have a phone they haven't gotten everything off of. fbi take their time. best in the world because they're method call and not rushing to a grand jury, one time and one time right. >> i should just mention this, too, because the wife is claiming that she -- it was evident to her he wanted to do something violent and claimed she didn't know specific and claiming she tried to talk him out of it and he was violent and

angry and she was scared so this is also part of the calculus for the prosecution, you know, they have to really build a strong case and corroborate what she says which is difficult because her husband is dead now. >> they're going to come in and say the bunker defense, right? she is the dingbe the and he's the bigot and who knew? he's done this for years and she will say, done it for years? he was doing nothing for years. >> now a classmate and talking about this and come out of the woodwork saying i remember this kid in the fourth grade and talked about wanting to bring a gun into class and shoot up the classroom. on the note of him going to this gun shop and owners, you know, good on them for thinking that his behavior is suspicious. you know, being active. calls up law enforcement. again, we talk about could have, should have, would have, they did it. >> right. well, a caveat there from talking to law enforcement sources. >> sure. >> the fbi is looking into this but they haven't determined that there is an actual phone call

made to law enforcement. because initially the store owner apparently said that there wasn't anything out of the ordinary that stuck out to them but now it sounds like well, yes, the behavior was suspicious, we called law enforcement. at this point, we haven't able to find evidence a call was made but of course from the federal side looking into making those calls to local authorities to get anxiouses. was a call made? the ball dropped or did you actually look into this? >> if i could quickly,armor, th suspicious. >> whether or not you're -- >> even a security guard? >> i hear you. i hear you. >> i'm just asking. >> tactical body armor on anybody but law enforcement. >> thank you so much. as we continue on the angle of the investigation here, i can also tell you that today a tribute to the orlando victims at the 9/11 memorial in downtown manhattan. moments ago, the public observed

a moment of silence and tied ribbons to the survivor tree there in memory of the 49 people who lost their lives at the pulse nightclub here in orlando. that tree symbolizes hope and resilience in the face of yet another terror attack. >> everything about what happened in orlando is simply horrifying. that a man could be filled with such hate and be inspired by such a radical ideology to choose to walk in to a crowded club filled with men and women, celebrating life and love, and pull the trigger over and over until 49 were dead and more than 50 were wounded. it is senseless. and yet, it is exactly what happened. the men and women killed and injured early sunday morning were simply out for a night on the town at a nightclub that had become a sanctuary for their community.

>> let's talk more about the people you see on the screen here. those who did not survive this attack. my next guest worked at pulse for six years. blue star, now runs a theater and a leader in the orlando lgbt community an also knew several of those who were killed and several of who survived. thank you so much for taking the time. >> thank you so much. >> so sorry. just reading bits and pieces about some of the stories relayed to you, people, just tell me, some of those that survived pulling some of the bodies on top of them? >> i have to say first of all this is my first time anywhere close to pulse since saturday and so this in itself is a little bit emotional especially -- >> right there. >> yeah. it's a lot. i mean, 12 years opening the place up, it was a place of love an freedom and a place for us to be who we are and now it's --

yeah. it's -- >> it's what? >> devastating. we forever changed the fabric of orlando. and not by choice. and hearing stories of my friends and as a business owner thinking of my friends who were the business owners of pulse and the stories like i'm -- i'm actually just a little bit shaken up. i'm not going to lie. because the stories that i heard last yigt and when i had a chance to be with a lot of the employees and the things that they have said and heard over if past three days are unremarkable. now as i sit here, they're touching home a little bit more so. heroic efforts on so many people's parts. stories of hiding themselves underneath dead bodies. covering themselves in other people's blood so that the killer would think that they were already dead.

dancers hiding themselves in the dressing room in cubbyholes for hours with their phones trying to contact police and guide them in from the back. so that they could be rescued. staying calm. staying as still as they could so they couldn't be found. other entertainers in another dressing room pulling the ac unit off the wall to escape on their own. these people praying, using their beliefs to keep a sense of calm and to be free. some of them being escorted out by our fantastic police departments, stepping over bodies. hearing the moans of people in pain. the sound of gunshots resonating in their thought process day in and day out. i can't imagine what it's like to even have to try to lay down at night and find some sort of peace after going through this. i mean, these people are --

>> is there peace yet? >> no. >> i don't think there's peace yet. >> no. and how long does that take? as you go and we appreciate you guys being here, supporting the community, but when you guys go, we're still going to be trying to work through it. when gay pride comes in october, we have to relive it all over again. we'll have the first and trying to work through it as a community an i'll tell you this. he tried to destroy us but absolutely did not defeat us. thank you for teaching us or reminding us how strong of a community we are and gay, straight. it didn't matter. we are just a community. >> how do you have such grace? >> i want to say for selfish reasons this is how i just kind of cope but we have a community to take care of. these are my friends. that was a pace of work for me for six years. i was there when it opened. >> you have been on the dance floor, seen the lights. >> i know that bathroom. i know that dressing room. i know how you get upstairs.

i know -- you know it. you've lived it. and to know that what is still even existing there as they finish up this investigation you can't even imagine. it's like one of the owners said to me, it's like somebody went into my home and just demoll initialled it and ruined every single thing that we tried to establish. >> tell me about those who you lost. >> as we are entertainers and business owners and work in the club community, you have circles of people and our patrons are a huge part of our lives. they might not be your first -- >> it's family. >> it is a second family. some of those that we lost were huge supporters of the community, some friends that i lost and so i know next time we have a fund-raiser i'm not going to call them and say, hey, what can you donate? can you be here with us? how will you support the

community. that's when that's going to be really real for me. i think it's a true testament. and the age range -- these are kids. some of them are just kids. 20 to 50. and so, they kind of encompass our whole community. >> those who did survive, i understand police walked in and said essentially, raise your hand if you're alive. raise your hand if you're alive. what else have they told you? >> i had someone actually go through that experience. and then telling the stories of how they came in and apparently the shooter was still in the second room. i'm sure that you guys have gone over the layout. but getting out and then becoming he ros and taking care of people wounded. being led outside to yet another scene that they couldn't even imagine. sitting with people with wounds taking off their shirts and using them to protect them and

picking them up themselves and putting them into the back of the truck so that they could be taken to the hospital because there wasn't enough support because everything happened so fast and in that they were victims that then they became heroes without even thinking about it. >> just like to think the lights were still on, the music was still blaring. >> just there to have a good time. you know? they built pulse out of love. and to give the community a place to be free. when you go inside those doors like we do any time we go out in the community, you don't want to think about terrorism. you don't want to think about poverty. you don't want to think about hate. you don't want to think about discrimination. and that was definitely not the case this night. it was let inside our doors. and now we're dealing with that. but you have to imagine we have been a community just pushing forward, pushing forward and we

got to gay marriage this year. where we became equal. we thought we were in this place of, okay, we're just people too. doesn't matter. sexual orientation, it's fine. now it is like more than a setbecome. >> do they rebuild? i understand there are calls in the community to have a memorial. >> that is a decision that i will respect -- >> the club owner's wishes. >> the club owner's wishes. as a business owner, i just don't know what i would do. you want to come back strng. >> people lost jobs. >> we tried -- did you hear $100,000 raised last night for the staff of pulse. >> incredible. >> amazing. just by the community. raffle items. entertainers. coming together. just hand, dollars to hands. not a big corporation. just -- >> i was talking to dan schwab of parliament house yesterday and this is another mega, mega gay club here in the community saying to me it's become an

area, become quite somber and a place can talk and tonight their doors are opening and it is latin night. what will that be like? >> you have to understand when the latin community went over to pulse, it was kind of a mission of the manager there and that's her community that she would promote and love. so for me because she is -- means so much to me, i can't imagine, a, what it is like for her to have lost a whole community. and that's just one person. and then for the community to stand and just look at one another and how many are missing? we're not that big of a community. we're a big community but we're not that big so when there's 100 people that have been affected, that's a big chunk of people that you're not going to be having drinks with or dancing on

the dance floor with. you're going to notice that there's just holes in your heart every time you turn around. it's going to be -- >> thank you. >> thank you. >> i'm so sorry. >> thank you so much. >> thank you. (vo) whatever your perfect temperature... you'll enjoy consistent comfort with the heating and air conditioning systems homeowners rank number one. american standard heating and air conditioning. a higher standard of comfort.

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high potency probiotic, life feels a little lighter, livelier, a little more you. ultimate flora probiotics. welcome back. we are in orlando. but let's talk politics now and what a difference a year can make. this moment, donald trump, melania trump, descending the elevator in trump tower launching the bid for the white house. here's a look back exactly one year ago today. >> just to be clear, he approaches the microphone, will he unambiguously say that he is running for president right now? >> yes. according to the highlights i have gotten and what i have read, he'll announce he's running for president.

>> ladies and gentlemen, i am officially running for president of the united states and we are going to make our country great again. >> well, many, many, many headlines later, the presumptive republican nominee cannot seem to mend the rift with party leaders issuing a new threat to do lawmakers and donors criticizing the positions or rhetoric saying i'll do it alone. >> this is too tough to do it alone but you know what? i think i i'll be forced to. i think i i'm going to be forced to. our leaders have to get a lot tougher and be quiet. just please be quiet. don't talk. please be quiet to the leaders because that you have to get sharper, tougher, smarter. we have to have the republicans either stick together or let me just do it by myself.

i'll do very well. i'm going to do very well. okay? i'm going to do very well. a lot of thought i should do that anyway. >> house speaker paul ryan in washington reacting to all of this today. he couldn't help but laugh. >> what is your reaction to that and is this -- how do you have any confidence that this is a guy to are vice president for separation of powers? >> you know, you can't make this up sometimes. i'll just say we represent a separate but equal branch of government. we just spent the morning talking about how valuable the separation of powers is and how we're trying to restore the entire principle of self government, of government by consent. we'll lose our free doms in this country and the bill of rights if we don't robustly defend the separation of powers. >> joining me now, cnn's chief political analyst gloria borger. you know, on trump's words, what

do you think do it alone means? and how might he pull that off? >> look. i think he's angry. you can see it. i think what do it alone means you're fired. right? to use donald trump's parlance. it means that he's angry that he's seen the republicans back away from him and they're angry and frustrated at him after his remarks about the judge and after his remarks post-orlando. and they've been doing contortions to say that we will -- we need party unity and support the nominee but they're starting and you have seen it over the last week or two to back away from him. he's furious about it. and what he's saying is, okay, folks. if i'm not going to have party uni unity, then just be quiet an i'll run on my own. that's really difficult to do, particularly trying to raise money. but i think trump was kind of giving them a warning. okay? you want to back away from me? fine.

i'm going to go oat this withou you. >> so -- okay. so there's that. then you have chris murphy on the senate floor almost 15 hours talking, talking, talking, fulfill buster, you know, republicans eventually saying, okay, we'll hold the votes on the gun control measures. do you think -- how do you think this renewed gun control debate will change the race for president at all? >> you know, it's very hard to -- it's very hard to know. hillary clinton is for tough gun control laws and donald trump kind of threw something out there that has republicans scratching their heads the other day saying he wants to look for a way to keep people who are on terror watch lists from buying guns. and people like paul ryan and others believe that you would then start picking away at the second amendment, you would be

denying people their due process, the terror watch list they point out are not very reliable. so you have donald trump sort of looking at republican orthodoxy saying i'm not so sure about that. that's another reason republicans are backing away from him not quite sure where he's going to come from on any particular issue, even including the hugely important issue of gun control and by the way of guns and by the way trump has been endorsed by the nra. he's going to meet with the nra on this issue and he differs from the nra on this issue. so, you know, republicans don't know what to think. the ones i talk to are kind of saying where did that come from? >> yeah. also the line you hear, if it can't be changed after first graders are murdered, what will? i'm talking to a sandy hook mom coming up in just a bit who all of us here in orlando really cut

close to home. thank you so much in d.c. for us. ahead, back here in orlando, we'll talk with the chief of the s.w.a.t. team, captain canty, who responded to the attack at pulse nightclub saturday morning, orchestrated the operation to take that gunman down. we'll ask him what exactly happened. he will join me live here. also ahead, new developments of the toddler who was grabbed by that alligator at a disney resort. we'll talk with an orlando woman that visited that same resort multiple timings and a grandson. what she has seen in that very same lagoon. stay here. when they thought they should westart saving for retirement.le

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here in orlando, what a week it's been. first the nightclub and now the tragedy over at one of the disney properties, a family's worst fears realized because divers found the body of the 2-year-old little boy taken by an alligator in a disney resort here in orlando, florida. the little boy's been identified as 2-year-old lane graves. officials say divers found him about 6 feet underwater yards away from where he was attacked. his body we're told was pretty intact with just a few puncture wounds. the local sheriff believes he drowned after being pulled underwater. the little autopautopsy on the is under way and the hunt and search continues for the gator that took limb. victor blackwell has more on the investigation. victor, obviously, just your

heart goes out to this family, taken underwater. tell me more about this. >> reporter: we know that the family, matt and melissa graves here on vacation from elkhorn, nebraska, with their little girl and lane graves in the water and snatched in. the sheriffs said he believes he was drowned and as you said the results of the autopsy will determine exactly what the cause of death was. they are, of course, waiting for that but also waiting for answers from disney officials. we as early as 5:00 this morning put in specific questions about seven seas lagoon and the signage and the information asking the vice president of public afarrefairs saying were s of not just no swimming but alligators. is there a buffer zone, precautions? if they're making changes.

we just a few minutes ago got a new statement all of the beaches are currently closed and conducting a swift and thorough review of the processes and protocols and number and placement and wording of the signage and warnings. it's a new statement and not new information. i'm sure that the graves family and any family that's going to come to disney this summer wants an answer to the question about the signs an the gators and what disney knew about the gators in the waters but we have not yet gotten any specifics after more than a day now of asking those specific questions, brooke. >> all right. victor, thank you. we are learning that the lagoon where little lane graves playing is a popular area. both for tourists and for locals. it's a massive water area, a massive lagoon. an orlando nurse shared the photos of her grandson colin here playing just by the water's edge in the sand at the beach and the lagoon here. at the disney grand floridian

and jordan ranges is an annual passholder at disney saying she's never seen an alligator there and is at the resort all the time. she is on the phone with me now and, jordan, my goodness. to think of little colin there, how did you take this news in? >> devastated. just absolutely devastated. you know? seeing that that happened to a child just a little bit younger than colin. and knowing that, you know, for the last couple of years he has run up and down that very same spot many times and played at the water's edge. in fact, he's put his feet if n there. we never swam but, you know, just with many other kids he -- he's often played there. >> had you ever seen any alligators in and around this lagoon in your years going to

the grand floridian? >> no, i have never. i've been going there personally for about 14 years and grand floridian is my favorite of all the hotels an i often stop in there. i have never seen one gator. never. and i take photos all the time. that's what i like to do in my spare time. i have -- i've never seen anything. >> jordan, thank you for calling in giving folks perspective. this is an area where kids play, disney world and so glad colin is okay and the beaches are closed for the foreseeable future. thank you so much. jordan ranges. we have more staying here in orlando, more on the breaking news in the investigation here of the terror attack and hate crime here at the pulse nightclub and hearing the gunman and the wife communicated during the shooting in the early hours of sunday morning. so more on that. also, the shopping spree he went on just before this attack. we'll be right back.

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here in orlando, as i'm speaking with you, the president of the united states and the vice president are here meeting with families, this is a picture of florida senators nelson and rubio here in downtown orlando. taken moments ago. there's a huge -- i saw it last night. a huge memorial growing in downtown orlando. you see the sign on an aegis ent building. restaurants, when 0 tells, everyone just weeping with this community over what has happened, both of them have come down with the president and the vice president who we should see at some point today addressing members of the media, reflecting on yet another senseless mass shooting in this country. the gay community here in orlando is on high alert after the nightmare that unfolded at the club word we got from the fbi yesterday. also, on guard, the members of the muslim community worried about public backlash after the killer declared allegiance to

the islamic consolidate and multiplied for those at the intersection of those worlds and a man visiting orlando at the moment. he joins me now from los angeles. thank you so much for joining me. >> thank you, pli measure. really my pleasure. >> so, i mean, you come at this with a pretty extraordinary perspective. as a gay man, as a muslim, who happened to be -- did i read this correctly, one mile from the pulse nightclub that night? >> yes. about a mile. and i would add foreigner. i'm not born in america. i was born in pack ston. a homosexual iz sla you can from pakistan. a subset of a subset of a subset. >> why are you speaking out today? >> i think i've gone through this for most of my life, honestly, you know, whether it was people picking on me because i'm gay or a foreigner or a muslim an i'm at a beautiful family wedding in orlando and

islamic arabic family full of colors and sights and this thing happened and couldn't be more personal because at the same time i'm being accused of being the weapon, because i'm a muslim, as well as the target because i'm a gay man and hard to do both. >> but let's work through some of those feelings because i have to imagine as i've talked so many people in the gay community here in orlando you're saddened, devastati devastation, but then anger and then for you fear because you have, you know, a father, walking down the street, you have a child -- >> 8-week-old. >> 8 weeks old! so what are your fears as far as retribution or being a target? that is a fear here in the community in orlando. >> i'll tell you. i have to at this point in my life and part is becoming a father and part of it being so close and a gay club and so personal, i have to put my fear aside at this point because the problem that was happening and i

was a conservative christian news report yesterday is fear is sparking anger and anger is the problem. that in this rift between donald trump and his words and democrats and muslims and americans, this is where isis plays and this is where they recruit. so for me, i have to put the anger aside to be effective. as a subset of a subset of a subset, i scan rooms. >> is that easy for you to do? >> it's taken 42 years and looking at an 8-week-old and her on the streets and saying, quite honestly, i can't do this, i can't do this anymore. and so however i have been effective, tried to be effective and the media, we have to come at this from a different angle. because the rift and the division is where they recruit. they don't care if you're muslim, if you're white, they don't care if you understand islam. they want to know you're lost, disenfranchised and something you're running from, whether your own homosexuality,

tormented, teased, poverty. running from something, isis will offer you a place to run. and that is what i'm trying to say. is that it's not about gay. it doesn't matter who they attack or holding the gun. in terms of isis' mind-set because it's not about islam. it's about finding people who can get them this worldwide media attention and create this havoc. >> media attention, you are correct indeed. so sad some of the patterns that we see repeated in the mass shooters. thank you for taking the time an i appreciate your candor. 42 years, i appreciate that. i appreciate that. >> working on it still. working on it still. >> we all are in different shades, i'm sure. thank you so much for sharing. coming up here in orlando, we'll talk live to the mayor and also the commander of the s.w.a.t. team who led that raid to save lives at the pulse nightclub. do not miss this. put some distance between you and temptation with...

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welcome back. you're watching cnn. i'm brooke baldwin. after gun fire erupted inside of the pulse nightclub, people wanted to help in any possible way. health officials pleaded with the community to donate blood for the dozens who were injured. hundreds upon hundreds of people lined up ready to give. one blood vice president susan joins me mow. susan, how has everyone been? have you gotten enough? tell me what you need to tell the community. >> it's been a tremendous outpouring of support by blood donors throughout our service area. >> awesome. >> they responded immediately. and they replenished the blood supply in record time. >> a heads up for people, o-negative is universal? >> yes. >> you want it all but -- >> o-negative is universal red blood cell donor meaning goes to anyone regardless of the blood

type and vital in the trauma situation and no time for doctors typing people at the time. they reach for o-negative to save their life. you can have the most talented doctor in the world but if you don't have the blood on the shelf when think need it there's not much they can do. >> this is personal for you, not just because it's your community but you all lost one of your own. >> we did. it's been tough. it's been tough. one of our own did pass away in this and focusing on collecting the blood and keeping him in our memories because we know and people are here and we would be helping save lives. >> can we talk about something people aren't talking about? folks may not realize, this is a gay nightclub and many members of the community to turn out to give blood and the fda recently changed its restrictions so, you know, before the previous year it was essentially a lifetime ban. you couldn't give blood and now if you have been -- if you haven't had sex in a year, you

can give. what do you make of that? >> well, all blood centers are mandated to follow the rules handed down by the fda. we have even one blood is in support of having this ban lifted. and so we have been working diligently to implement the new guidelines, new form came out that we the donors filling out so we have all the pieces coming together and we anticipate moving to that new guideline in a very near future. >> thank you so much for your time today. i appreciate that. coming up here, we'll be talking with the may why are of the city of orlando and commander of the s.w.a.t. team who led the raid into the pulse nightclub. all of this as we're learning the gunman and his wife communicated during the shooting. plus, the shopping spree this madman went on just before this attack. 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.

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here we go. top of the hour. you're watching cnn special live coverage here in orlando. thank you for being with me. we are here again talking about what we have learned with regard to the massacre at the gay nightclub, pulse nightclub that left 49 dead, dozens more wounded. at this moment. the president of the united states and the vice president here meeting with families, meeting with law enforcement. they're offering their own condolences hoping to begin the healing after what happened, the atrocities sunday morning. they're meeting not only with the families but also survivors, medical staff, members of law enforcement so first let's begin with this hour of boris sanchez on the president's visit. you know, people are keeping tabs on the mass shootings in

the country. this is president obama's tenth visit to an american city reeling from a mass shooting during his eight years in office. >> reporter: you're absolutely right, brooke. the white house saying this is an emotional trip for the president, understandably so. this is the deadliest shooting in u.s. history but a trip that the president made again and again going back to last december in san bernardino, california, but before that in charleston, south carolina, and even before that in newtown, connecticut. this is something he's very familiar with. not only meeting with the families of victims and survivors, but also, with medical personnel, the doctors, surgeons, nurses and hospital workers that tended to those that were wounded. he's also meeting with law enforcement. we have heard he's thanked law enforcement for their swift response in this massacre. aside from that, also important to note the white house says that the president is a symbol of the american people and so by

coming here to orlando, not just alone but also accompanied by vice president joe biden, but with senator marco rubio riding on air force one and meeting with florida governor scott and both republicans and had an icy relationship with florida governor scott before and putting aside the politics of the situation and focusing on building solidarity with folks it shows the people of orlando really that the american people are united behind them and also the lgbt community here in orlando so as the president wraps up the visit at 4:00 we are set to hear from him and apparently his remarks will detail what he's seen here and a message of hope and comfort to those who have been so deeply affected by when's happened here in orlando, brooke. >> we'll take the president live as soon as we see him speak. boris sanchez, thank you so much. now, let's bring in the man who orchestrated the operation to take down this gownman, to save dozens of people inside of that nightclub.

speaking with cnn for the very first time, he's a commander of s.w.a.t. here in orlando, captain mark canty, also with us, orlando mayor buddy dyer. gentlemen, if i may on behalf of cnn and others, thank you so much for taking the time and your heroism for hours an hours, i just thank you both so much. beginning with you, captain, so you just came out of a meeting with president obama. what can you tell me about that? >> i mean, that's kind of special to us that he would take his time to thank us for our service and for the things we did that night. >> what specifically did he say to forever stay with you? >> he said the whole nation is behind us and supports us and thankful for what we did that night. >> how about you, mr. mayor? what do you make of the president here? >> we're so just excited that he came to support our community and express the support from around the world. he said a lot of the national leaders have called him to express support for orlando and

we have received that same thing from mayors and cities not just around the country but all over the world. >> to sunday morning and there's been so much and i know you're still in the thick of it, but, you know, let's just clear it up. initially, i understand -- i've heard reports that the gunman went in to pulse essentially guns blazing. can you tell me what you know? >> what i know is probably little after 2:00 i got a page that the s.w.a.t. lieutenant is a patrol watch commander and initiated the page or the call for s.w.a.t. and then all of a sudden there was an active shooter a the a nightclub. we kind of need to get there quick. we started to respond from there. >> where was he when you arrived? >> when i arrived he was in one of the bathrooms. two bathrooms on the west side, three on the west side of the bidding. he is in the northern most bathroom. >> what did he do? before you arrived, when he

first walked in, because i understand there was an officer there. >> right. >> what was he doing? >> we had an extra duty officer there engaged him. shooting inside, the officer engaged him with gun fire and retreated back. the officer called for immediate assistance. others united and arriving and two working patrol that night were some of the first officers to respond. they went inside to assist and they started to engage, as well. >> he has this massive ar-15 which obviously couldn't get through security. according to that one officer, did he have that ar-15 out and was he shooting upon entry? >> that's still kind of trying to determine that but as soon as officer heard shots he was reacting and going toward the gun fire. >> backup arrives. that's back and forth. he holes himself up in the bathroom. you arrive on the scene. tell me what was the first thing you say? >> before i arrived, the patrol officers engaging him, other patrol officers running inside and pulling out victims. so while gun fire is still going

on, you know, just as our officers engaging him, other police officers are running in there, you know, with no regard for their safety an they're pulling some of those victims out. >> it's extraordinary. let me focus in on that for a second before s.w.a.t. gets there. tell me how large of an area where the gun fire was taking place and the officers to grab people and get them out. >> the club is pretty small and when you kind of went back in the bathroom they had the rest of the club and a larger dance area and smaller kind of bar where one of our lieutenants was engaging them down thealway of the bathroom and the officers in the main part of the club an pulling him out. >> i was talking to someone who's close to the survivors saying police said raise your hand if you're alive. >> yep. >> what else did police say? >> trying the find people that need help. >> so then you arrive and he's already in the bath sfloom. >> yes. >> then what happened? >> then as i get there, i meet

with my lieutenant on scene and start to replacing some patrol officers there and with our guys and get the tactical people in heavier vests, helmets. they have ar-15s and get them in place to secure the bathroom oi how did you fine out he had hostages? >> kind of knew and weren't sure. we started to get communications and text messages. and phone calls from people inside. >> so from within the bathroom, they were communicating with 911? >> right. correct. >> saying what? >> hey, we are in here. there's a number and we're in this location. so that's what they were doing. >> when did you first make contact with the gunman? >> i never made contact with the gunman as far as me. i know our communications center made a phone call to him. >> to who? >> number one operator. >> he dialed 911 several times. correct? >> correct. >> what was he saying? >> what his allegiance were and

made peace and that he had a bomb vest. >> that's how -- so were there negotiations that took place? >> from my understanding, yes, there were. they were trying to talk to him on the fen. >> was the negotiation between the shooter and 911 or the shooter and you all? >> the shooter and 911. >> shooter and 911. >> we were trying to make our position better, make sure that we were in a good position to refact he does anything. kind of what's key and people don't realize is while we're doing this, we're also rescuing other people. >> all the while? >> right. entire time. >> all the while. >> i think at least four people in the dressing room they were able to get to and get out of the door on the north side. another i think up to like eight people that were in another dressing room to actually tap on an air conditioning unit, pop the air conditioner out of the wall and pull them through the hole that left. >> as you're continuing to save lives, there is a madman holed up with hostages in a bathroom who is called 911.

what were his demands? >> i don't know if he had any demands. i think, like i said, he stated who he was and what his allegiances were. >> why he was doing this? >> no. not to my knowledge. >> have you spoken to the person that received the call at 911? >> no, i have not. >> what were the allegiances specifically, to the islamic state and beyond that? >> that's all i know and i think for us that are out there on the scene, that's enough. we are not really concerned with a lot of the negotiation. we're kind of concentrating on what to do to get the people out of here safely. >> are you hearing people try to commune wait with you from within the bathroom or keeping qui zblet. >> just using text messages in general. >> from there, how long was he in the bathroom? >> i would guess probably, you know, close to two, two and a half to three hours. >> there are reports that from survivors that he had threatened putting almost explosive devices or vests on some of those

hostages in the bathroom. >> that's a call saying he would put vests on some hostages and send them out into the club. >> what -- did he have those vests? >> that i don't know. some of the fbi investigation on what he had in there but saying that we believe it so we kind of take him at the word and prepare for that situation. >> did you all ever try calling him since he was calling out? did he have his number? >> we didn't there on scene. i don't know what our negotiators did or communications center. >> mayor dyer, can you react to the phone calls he made to 911, to a tv producer channel 13 here in town and we have reporting that he was texting with his wife. >> not only learned the last part of that. i was in the command center in the course of the event so i knew that he was calling 911. and what some of the hostages were doing is texting other

loved ones and getting some of the independent verification saying he had the bomb vests, then we had people on the inside hostages that were texting to their loved ones that exact same thing and we were certainly led to believe that he was going to put bomb vests on four people and i think he said that he was going to station them in the four corners of the building. >> four corners of the club? >> of the club. >> to maximize casualty? >> yes. >> you had to take him at his word. >> right. >> so then walk me through the decision to breach. >> obviously. >> the bathroom. >> our goal is to try to save lives. when he started talking about the bomb vest, kind of an average or normal inclination of people is hearing a bomb you want to back up. our normal protocol is back up 1,000 feet. the officers knew that they had to stay there and they were in jeopardy because there was a chance to get some of us could be put outside. we started to thinking about we

have a good relationship with the sheriff's office here. they have a bomb disposal unit with the capability to blow through a wall. >> what is a chargesome. >> the charge is -- they kind of make -- it's actually explosives. they put in it a shape and on a wall and be able to blow a hole in the wall. >> is that what they did? >> yes, they did. >> which wall? >> on the west side of the building. the goal was we knew the suspect was in the north bathroom and we knew additional hostages from the text messages. >> adjacent bathroom? >> yes. south of him and probably ten to 15 people in the bathroom alive so the decision was made, hey, we need to try to get them out as quickly as possible. >> you're hearing that he is making the threats to put vests on people and put them in the four corners of the club to maximize casualties. you realize we'll risk our own lives and not back up 1,000 feet to get in there and get him. >> right. >> so then the explosion?

>> right. they set the charge. we get approval for the plan and let the charge go off, detonates, only partially effective. partially breaches the wl. >> you couldn't fully get inside? >> not at all. we have a barcat with a ram on the front of it and immediately told guys ram it in. breach it. they made an initial hole and realized they were off mark an put them in the hallway between two bathrooms so the commander on the scene one of my lieutenants immediately had to move and they made other breaches where they finally get a hole into the bathroom and pull people out. >> were they screaming at that point? >> quiet initially. i think as we breached the hole, you know, we're calling it in saying come to us and taking the commands and they're trying to get out. >> what's the gunman doing? obviously hearing this noise. at first not doing anything. as he starts to realize kind of

what's going on, i think fired a couple of shots. >> within the bathroom. >> within the bathroom or outside the bathroom. not sure of that yet. we threw a couple of distraction devices in in the hallway to distract him to get the hostages out. >> gas? >> no gas. we had people in there. and then as they're preparing to breach another wall, another part of the wall, he came out and engaged the officers. >> on his own? >> on his own. >> where is he exactly? a small, tight space outside of the bathroom? >> hallway between the bathrooms. >> how far from his officers? >> 10 to 15 feet. they engage. >> that's where he was taken down in the hallway? >> yep. >> and then when you all immediately go in the bathroom, what do you see? >> we have to breach another wall to get in and can't get by him so they do a couple more breaches to get the rest of the

group. >> in total, how many hostages did he have? >> i don't have an exact number. i think we got probably eight to 15 out of the south bathroom and probably another 5 to 6 out of the north bathroom he was in. >> people were trapped in the bathrooms? >> yes. >> you take him down. you call have to breach another wall to then get in to get the rest of the people out and then all the while as far as law enforcement, i have seen the picture of the helmet of a guy. he was hit in his head. >> helmet, yep. >> how's he doing? >> doing good. he was hit and fell down. got right back up and was ready to continue. but he had to be pulled away by some of the officers to get medical attention. he wanted to stay. >> wanted to stay. >> wanted to stay. >> can you give me some of the -- you were one of the few people i have talked to in there. was the music blaring? were the lights on? >> the lights were not on. i don't remember any music when i got there. i don't remember any music. i think a lot of it is focused

on the task. we kind of -- some thing that is aren't important you focus on what's important. >> to you, mayor dyer, we know that he had gone into a gun shop and tried to buy a heavy body armour. they denied it. described the behavior at suspicious. this is previous to saturday night. and they called law enforcement. do you know anymore about that? >> i don't. i have learned that today just like everybody else did. i quite honestly have not focused on the killer, the murderer. i focused on trying to heal our community, care for the victims, make sure we're doing what we need to do here. there's enough other people worrying about what came before in terms of him acquiring weapons and what type of investigation is done and what type of list he was on. >> inside the club, just as graceful as we can be, can you just describe what you saw? >> i would say it's horrific.

i mean, it's nothing like you would ever expect to see. even in law enforcement, you would never expect to see that many people dead and lying on the floor. it is something we normally go to a call on every day. we don't expect to see that kind of bloodshed. >> were most of the people that he killed at least were they in the front or was he just -- was it everywhere? >> i'm not sure of the positions of the people. i think that's part of the investigation. the fbi to tell where people were. >> how many victims did he kill in the bathroom? >> that i'm not sure of. we weren't able to get an accurate count and left it for the evidence techs and the office. >> do you have family, kids? >> yes, i do. >> a fire lieutenant said don't turn on the tv. sunday morning. how have you explained to them what dad had to do? >> well, i haven't had to explain it to my wife.

my wife is also a firefighter for the city of orlando. >> really? >> she was working that night and knows what was going on. >> the two of you were working this night? >> i was at home and then she was -- i was home and called in and she was working on shift. >> how are you doing? >> i'm doing good. i think probably the hardest thing for me is kind of thinking about the officers that were there and knowing that the things that i've asked them to do and the things the department's put them in danger and they went out there anyway. i called them to say, hey, come and respond. they responded. say, hey, this is the job we have to do. our lives will be in danger. not one of them budged. when they should have. when they should have said, hey, this is dangerous. they stayed. >> they said yes. how are they doing? >> doing good. i just left some of them a few minutes ago and they're in great spirits. get together on a regular basis to make sure we're all okay. they're happy that they could save the number of people we

did. >> eventually we are all going to pack up and leave and this is all, nlg, left to the community to try to -- i don't even think you can ever, ever, ever make sense of this, unsee the things you saw and the things you would have to do as mayor of this beautiful city. what do you want to tell people? >> you know, something like this can tear a community apart or bring us closer together. and unite us. and there's no question that this has brought our community together. if you attend any of the vigils, see any of the people that are here at the we moirl that's in front of d-pack, the outpouring of support. people standing hours in line to give blood at blood banks. people just bringing food, just trying to figure out something to do. we opened up a victims assistance center yesterday and it's manned with every agency that you can possibly think of to help the victims and their

families. and we were reflecting that they're kind of lucky because there is something they can do. the people that are in the the victim assistance center and people that want to do something for the families. >> of course. it is extraordinary to see it and feel it. captain canty, finally to you. people look up to you in this city. you are sort of a chief protector in a sense of one of them, caretakers. for people who are fearful in this community, what is your message to them? >> know that we are doing everything that we can to keep them safe. putting our officers' lives in danger. i think for most of our officers this job is a calling and they do it because they want to save lives, they want to keep people safe. that's the biggest thing is we're here to protect. we twoopt do the job. i grew up in the community. my parents lived here. i have a lot of family here and i'll do anything i can to protect the people of this city. >> captain canty, thank you so

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welcome back. you are watching cnn. i'm brooke baldwin live here in orlando. we have new details about the whereabouts, the behavior of the orlando gunman in the days before he carried out this mass shooting and, you know, some of the alarm bells may have been raised to police weeks ago. the manager of a nearby gun store said members of his staff were suspicious, his behavior wanting to buy body armor and denied the him and the manager says that they notified law enforcement. cnn's senior investigative

correspondent drew griffin has more on this angle today. drew, what have you learned? >> reporter: well, of course, we have been reporting for a couple of days now that this orlando shooter did go to a gun store about 15 miles from his home, his home right here and tried to buy soft armor which is a police style 3-a classified armor about four or five weeks ago. and then also asked for hardened armor. what is new this morning, brooke, is the store is now claiming that at the time this person had suspicious behavior, obviously, they didn't know it was this guy, was speaking in some language they thought was arabic on the phone and after he left the store manager told me the store notified law enforcement. there's a little bit of confusion and can't find anybody in think law enforcement that took that call and the store is refusing to say which law enforcement agency that they did

contact. if this took place, it could be yet another one of these dropped balls or overlooked red flags on the road to the orlando massacre we believe started way back in maybe 2007. brooke? >> wow. want to follow up on the law enforcement point with my next guest. for now, thank you so much. i do want to share some just absolutely horrifying video that we now have from within the pulse club, a man shot twice, survived and able to pull out a cell phone and roll on this and it's tough to make out but what you are looking at basically 30 people huddled and hiding in one of the bathroom stalls ignoring the demands to come out or else apparently die, shoot them. shoot them. we're learning what the gunman was doing in the attacks as people lie dying around him. cnn justice correspondent pamela brown is gathering new information and joined by james

copenhaver. take a moment, that takes a special person, i mean, referring to it as a calling and the bravery, the heroism, i'm still marinated on that but on that, start with drew griffin's reporting about, you know, going into this gun shop and wanting body armor and suspicious behavior. again, there's still no record of law enforcement receiving a call. >> we have been reaching out and this point there's no indication a call was made. initially, you know, atf, the fbi talked to this gun shop owner, employees, they didn't mention anything about a call being made to alert authorities. so we reached out to the martin county sheriff's office, says no calls were made to their office reporting anything. the florida department of law enforcement says they don't have a record or fbi. so, of course, this gun shop

won't say which law enforcement agency contacted. >> it is important, an example of if it is true, you look at we all -- monday morning quarterbackinging and potential red flags and what was missed? >> absolutely. the question is, did they call some law enforcement agency that just hasn't realized he called and was the ball dropped? of course, that's something that the fbi is certainly looking into right now. >> turning to you, sir, from just like with a criminal profiler mind-set, what we know about him being in the bth room for an extended period of time, had a cell phone, we talked to the captain canty, yes, he called 911, declared allegiance to terrorist organizations and called a tv producer and pamela telling us last hour he was texting with his wife. >> he wanted everyone on the contact list what he was about to do and shows me he had the thought to go there and wasn't going to come out alive. he had the this thing planned

out and i think the texting to the wife is a treasure trove of information once that's released. >> and the thread. >> also the googling. he had the awareness, i don't want to give him that much credit, for a sy schism. whatever you call it. googling pulse shooting to see if it's popped up on the sites yet. >> see if it's in the headlines. more importantly, what we're seeing is if he had isis ties, was he looking for that headline, as well? before he dies he got credit for doing a radical terrorist act if you will. >> and on that note if i may jump in, speaking to law enforcement sources of being radicalized and the inflounces and the picture emerging is that it was something more recent, he was apparently in the last few weeks consuming more propaganda and all over the map, isis, beheading videos. >> al qaeda. >> all over the map. and confusing of the driver was and if that was the only driver and a suspicion is other

motivations at play. >> and targeting the gay community specifically, as well. pam and james, thank you so much. right now, i can tell you that here in orlando, president obama's here on the ground meeting with families here in addition to the vice president offering condolences talked to law enforcement, as well. members of the city coming up, talking to an orlando local saying that now is the time to act and what he wants to see from president obama. also ahead, the mother of one of the young victims of a sandy hook school shooting from december 2012. she wrote a letter to the families in orlando with a message that love wins. we'll talk to her coming up. and you're talking to your doctor about your medication... this is humira. this is humira helping to relieve my pain and protect my joints from further damage. this is humira helping me go further. humira works for many adults. it targets and helps to block a specific source of inflammation

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breaking news now as i stand here live in orlando. a pretty outrageous remark of senator john mccain involving the terror attack here in orlando. let's go straight to capitol hill and manu raju live. >> brooke, i lost a little bit of audio there and i believe you're asking me about john mccain's comments, just talking to a group of reporters on capitol hill, talking about the orlando attacks and what he said repeatedly is that barack obama is directly responsible for the attacks in orlando. and why did he say that? is because he said of the national security policies involving what happened in iraq. he said that broarack obama puld troops out of iraq and al qaeda moved to syria and then isis.

isis grew powerful and at that point he warned more attacks on the united states. he said if barack obama did not -- had actually maintained higher troop levels in iraq, if he did not withdraw troops then this country would be much more secure and then there would not have been attacks against the country. that's the point he was trying to make. he said several times barack obama is directly responsible for what happened in orlando because of his failures in iraq. and john mccain's words. very, very strong statements. coming from the 2008 republican presidential nominee just shows how much tension there is on capitol hill and one reason why it's difficult to get any deal on guns or any sort of gun issue because both sides are very, very far apart on this and john mccain's strong words, book, a little while ago. >> manu raju, extremely significant. showing the tensions in the campaign, from especially the veteran senator of arizona.

thank you so much. working on getting the analysts up to parse through the significance of this and how this may sway things moving forward in the wake of the tragedy here in orlando. a quick break. we're back after this. what's it like to be in good hands?

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thisproof of less joint pain and clearer skin. this is my body of proof that i can fight psoriatic arthritis with humira. humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to both joint and skin symptoms. it's proven to help relieve pain, stop further joint damage, and clear skin in many adults. humira is the number #1 prescribed biologic for psoriatic arthritis. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections,

or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. want more proof? ask your rheumatologist about humira. what's your body of proof? today's a special day here in orlando as both president of the united states and the vice president are here. they have just finished meeting with members of the law enforcement. they now just finished meeting with the family members of those who lost their lives in this horrendous tragedy and traffics here and this is just from moments ago adding some beautiful yellow roses to the memorial growing there in downtown orlando. we are supposed to be hearing

from the president momentarily. we'll take that live but meantime in washington we just talked to manu raju about what specifically senator john mccain just said about president obama saying he was, quoting directly, directly responsible for the massacre at the gay nightclub here in orlando. let me bring in the a-team here in washington, manu raju, joining me again and just reported it. also with me dana bash, chief political correspondent and, dana, let's just begin with you to explain, i mean, this is explosive for senator mccain to say this. he has not been -- why now? why do this? >> well, before i answer that, let me just say right off the bat that john mccain since manu's report a couple of minutes ago, john mccain tweeted what he called a clarification. here's what he said. to clarify, i was referring to president obama's national security decisions that have led

to the rise of isil, not to the president himself. clearly, understood that maybe in the heat of moment talking to reporters seeming to blame the president for such a horrific shooting and massacre, not to mention as you said moments before the president and vice president are actually there and making remarks as probably not the best idea. but the history of this and the context of this is as follows, brooke. i remember eight years ago covering the presidential campaign between barack obama and john mccain and even back then the differences between the two of them on how to handle iraq were vast and were deep and were quite personal and made john mccain quite passionate. fast forward to what's happened since the president beat john mccain and took over and then ultimately took troops out of iraq. you heard john mccain and manu

talk about this better than i can just listening to john mccain in the hallways over and over for years about the kind of catastrophic, monumental mistake he thinks that the president made in taking those troops out, that they should have been left in and that that's led to the rise of isil. so, that is something that is very deep in john mccain's dna, really, when it comes to this issue. on the other point of context, again, i'll let manu take it on this, he was in arizona with the snofr, he is politically now speaking in a tough race back at home in arizona, his own presumptive nominee not making things easy for him and neither is the president and that's part of the context here. >> manu, you want to chime in? >> yeah. da in's absolutely right. looking at his re-election bid, probably one of the toughest if not the toughest of his career and not only worry about a

primary challenge in august, he probably is going to be okay in the primary challenge and looking over the right shoulder warily and a bigger concern in the general election against a democrat of ann kirkpatrick neck and neck with him in the polls and he is, of course, asda that mentioned, trying to clean up his remarks and read what he said to reporters. adamant that the president directly responsible asked directly do you mean for the orlando shooting? he said, yes. he said that barack obama's directly responsible for it because when he pulled everybody out of iraq al qaeda went to syria, became isis and isis is what it is thanks to barack obama's failures and talked about the utter failures in iraq and the region leading to isis and so he said so the responsibility he said lies with president obama and his failed policy and a follow-up question

saying do you think the president is directly spornlt for orlando? he said because he pulled everybody out of iraq? i predicted at the time isis would go unchecked and said so he is directly responsible and not much ambiguity there asked on capitol hill and perhaps mccain realized maybe went too far and one reason why he issued that tweet but clearly as dana notes, a national security hawk and armed services chairman in the senate and clearly differs with barack obama on what is happening in iraq, brooke. >> let me bring -- thank you. let's bring another voice in. gloria borger. as we're talking about john mccain and president obama, i'm also wondering about donald trump. snoth majority leader reid is with response called mccain a trump puppet and trump highly critical of senator mccain and he has's not shown trump a ton

of love. how does donald trump respond to this comment? >> donald trump has already said his own piece about president obama for which he was roundly criticized although probably not by the supporters and questioned the president's motives in terms of dealing with isis and i think that's one reason you have this tweet from senator mccain being very quick to clarify that he was talking about policy and not talking about the president personally. because what trump did was talk about the president's own personal motives and where he was coming from and, you know, mccain, mccain who's been out there criticizing the president as dana and manu know for a listening time over the handling of isis, you know, had to

clarify this. i don't think he wanted to be in the category of somebody questioning the president's bona fides in terms of how much he loves and cares of this country. mccain is not a fan of president obama's in terms of foreign policy but the fact that he was so quick to clarify this makes it very clear he understands that he was crossing a line that he really probably didn't intend to cross but did. >> so, okay. that's a clarification an he didn't mean the president but the president's decisions, preside president's policy and despite the attempt to clarify, dana bash, back to you, to try to fix this, he can't take it back. especially at this very moment, families are grieving, the president is in orlando. visiting with families this afternoon. >> no. he can't. he can just go i think as far as he did and perhaps he'll go little bit further. i wasn't in the hallway with

him. i have been in hallways and campaign rallies and, you know, across the board across the country with him and i have seen him, you know, get riled up as many politicians do. many people do. but there's kind of -- there are few things that get john mccain going as much as my two colleagues have said, intensely, few things that get him as going as his -- how much he just loathes the way that the president has handled iraq. he's so fundamentally different in his point of view and how he thinks that iraq and now the threat of isis in iraq and syria and else should be dealt with. he clearly let his passions kind of overflow and he realized coming back, maybe seeing it in black and white, seeing it on twitter and cnn and elsewhere, oh, maybe i probably shouldn't

have done that at that time about this issue because it is so >> we will listen to see if senator mccain has anything more to say and if there is more fallout from this. thank you, gloria, dana and manu. let's take it back here to orlando, to the outrage, the fear, the support. many people see this as a call to action. my guest next wrote a column in "the orlando sentinel" saying, "there is nothing keeping the next orlando shooter from sauntering down to his corner gun shop to buy his own ar-15." brendan o'connor joins me now. thank you for taking the time. you also have been to the pulse nightclub many times. this is your home, your

community. before we get into that, you're putting this on president obama. but is that fair? because there's a whole congress that he tried to enact action after sandy hook and they said no. >> i think at this point, yes, there have been executive decisions made to give people access to clean drinking water in georgia. there are instances where executive action has made sense -- >> clean drinking water is a basic thing. >> it is. is it? i think this could be a more simple solution. we need action. >> you're angry? >> i'm angry. people i know, people we have relationships were hurt. this wasn't the only shooting that happened this week. there have been over, what, 200 people that have been shot in the last couple of days all around the country. it's unacceptable and we need people to act and if not the potus, who? >> he's here in orlando. if you got to say one thing to him, brendan, what would it be?

>> i would say he's hugging people right now, he's apologizing, trying to console these people, these families that were left behind after they were killed. i want to know how he can stomach to do it again. how can he -- how can you do it again? he needs to act. we need him and our elected officials to act with him. >> brendan, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> i know. i know. hearing the stories of the horror and carnage is all too familiar. marquez green lost a beautiful little girl to gunfire four years ago. this little girl. ana was one of 20 children murdered inside of sandy hook elementary school on that dreadful december day back in 2012 when ana's mother heard about the orlando tragedy, it was horrendous. she started to relive it, the calls that the families received. just imagine. she wrote a letter to the families of the orlando victims

with the message that love wins. she's joining me now and melba, are you surprised we're back here again? >> i'm not surprised. i'm not surprised because we have a pretty con cistipated congress. congress does not win when we can't get together to save american lives. this should not be part of any american's legacy. it shouldn't be part of any president's legacy. to do what he is doing in orlando today, what he's done in charlotte and sandy hook and so many other communities. >> when you first heard the reports, a friend called you, 20 people and then 50 as far as those killed here in orlando, how did that just bring you right back to that winter day in 2012? >> you know, i was destroyed but this story is not about me.

it's about the 92 americans a day who go through the same reaction. it is about all of these devastated families in florida. i am incredibly angry at the number of senators and officials who looked at me in the face when we went to washington after sandy hook and said, there is nothing we can do. marco rubio being one of them. and now disaster is at his doorstep. i am angry at the senators who hid behind their bibles and said there's nothing we can do because this is a constitutional right. i believe there's a way we can protect the constitution and protect american families because my daughter also had a right to live. >> senator rub bow is down here with the president today, nelba. >> and you know what i have to say to him, senator rubio, you looked in my face and said there was nothing that you could do about gun responsibility because you were voting for immigration and now look what has happened

at your door. i compel you to join us, to join the movement, to be on the right side of history, to pray and act because, yes, we believe in the power of prayer but we believe in the power of prayer along with action. and now look, we're ready to receive you on the right side of history when you're ready, senator rubio. come on board. >> a final question, as a mother, is there anything you can say to those listening who lost loved ones here in orlando? four years later, does it get any better? >> it doesn't. and i'd rather want to talk to the family who is support those families in orlando. please text disarm hate and text your senators and tell them that you want change in our gun laws and, please, if you're going to donate, do it in a way that reaches victim families. and right now, equality florida is the only way to do that.

make sure your hard-earned dollars go to victim families and not to support people who aren't really going to support victims. love is going to win but we have to work together. >> nelba, thank you so much. she lost her daughter. again, i'm so sorry. four years later. thank you for your time. here in orlando, the grim task of identifying those lost here fell on the shoulders of the medical examiner but nothing prepared him for what he saw inside the pulse nightclub. he is telling his story for the very first time to our chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta. >> it's almost like time stopped. there were tvs playing, drinks that had just been poured, checks that were about to be paid. and that's not even thinking about the bodies on the ground. but when you actually see everyone lying down in one place or went down in one place or their final positions, you can

feel it. >> reporter: there's always another team that responds to tragedies. the medical examiner's, like this doctor speaking about this for the first time. >> when i heard the number of 11 or 12 people deceased at the hospital from one shooting, that's a lot. but our normal staff can handle it. as the morning went on and i got more texts and calls, then he realized the disaster of the -- the scope of the disaster. >> reporter: for all of the victims, figure out cause and manner of death. that's his job. surprisingly, the answers are not always obvious. >> so law enforcement can recreate what happened. we need to get the projectile. we need to tell them the entry patterns, you can't say for

sure, full metal tip, hallow -- >> not from the fragment right there. >> reporter: he's piecing together the fragments from this tragedy but made a point to tell me no one died from trampling or other causes. >> there's no secret that all of the causes are going to be the same. we all know what happened there. >> reporter: by monday, he wanted all of the victims identified. >> a lot of people had identification on them. we'll look at that i.d. and compare it and if we can make a positive i.d., we'll use that. if we need other information, we recompare and that's one thing. we can do what is called quick print and take a thumb print hooked up to a laptop computer, run their print and see what photos come up and see if that can compare, personal effects, tattoos. >> reporter: by tuesday, he wanted all of the autopsies completed. >> i wanted to complete our process as efficient as we could to get the victims back with their loved ones. that was very important to my

staff. we're a public office. we serve the public. that is, i think, a public mission to reunite those victims with their families. >> reporter: another sign of respect that you won't find in any rule book. >> it was important for you to separate the shooter from the other victim. >> myself and my staff, there was no legal reason for it, no protocol for it. we felt in our minds it was probably best ethnically and morally to keep them separate. the shooter was kept -- was transported by himself, he was kept in another building by himself. i autopsied him by myself alone in that building away from the victims. out of respect for the victims and their families. >> reporter: as of tonight, no one has claimed the shooter's body. >> you mentioned earlier that families can call you, talk to you, you'll make yourself available to them. i'm just wondering, what do you say to them? >> the most common question is, did my loved one suffer and honestly, 99 out of 100 times, that's the question i get asked.

in cases like this, i will tell them, i don't think they suffered one bit. i didn't see any evidence of movement or trying to struggle. like i said, when i got there on the scene, it was like everyone just stopped and laid down where they were. sanjay gupta, thanks very mu much. "the lead" starts right now. senator john mccain accuses the commander in chief of being directly responsible. >> the shooter's chilling facebook post from inside the pulse nightclub revealed as investigators looked deeper into what his wife knew before the attack. and after saying the military campaign has not