worst mass shooting in u.s. history. our special coverage on the orlando nightclub shooting continues now with bret baier in washington. stay with fox news. oh, my god. they're all shooting back and forth. >> sights and sounds overnight in orlando. this is a fox news alert. a mass shooting in orlando overnight now stands as the deadliest mass shooting in modern u.s. history. the terror attack left 50 people dead. that is more than double the earlier official estimates. another 53 wounded and rushed to area hospitals. the mass shooting at one of the city's largest gay night clubs in orlando. the gunman was killed by police as they stormed the pulse

nightclub to res view hostages. one police officer was wounded in that attack but is expected to recover. police in central florida and the fbi are calling this an act of terror, but the investigation is continuing into the specific motive. fox news can confirm at this hour the identity of the shooter, omar mateen, he is a 29-year-old muslim from port st. lucie, florida. an american citizen born to afghan parents. there's much we do not know at this hour, but authorities say the gunman had boasted of his interest in radical islamic terrorism. i'm bret baier in washington. "mediabuzz" will return next week. with all of this breaking news the violence began to unfold at 2:00 this morning eastern time and we begin our coverage with fox news correspondent peter doocy who is on the scene in orlando. peter. >> reporter: breath, we found out the vehicle that omar mateen drove to pulse on orange avenue in orlando. it was a van that we understand

still parked outside. the information is changing so rapidly, so dramatically and we just found out that is because from the time that the s.w.a.t. team went in, the nine-man s.w.a.t. team went in and rescued 30 people until now there were thought to be an unknown number of devices because omar mateen had at least one device in addition to an ar-15 style assault rifle and a handgun. so it took a lot of time, but they just in the last few minutes cleared the scene and they are going in. this is from the police chief just now. >> nightclub pulse has been cleared and deemed safe of any devices. we are in the process of clearing the suspect's vehicle, which is a van, right outside. and just we ask that people be patient. unfortunately there are many victims inside the club. >> as this was unfolding pulse posted on their social media

accounts, everyone get out of pulse and keep running, that was shortly after 2:00 a.m. the 30 hostages were held until about 5:00 a.m. i had a chance to ask authorities why they waited for three hours to go in and try to save these people's lives and they said that they needed to stage equipment and they also needed to assess the situation. we did not hear about very much contact, but it sounds like there was some contact between authorities on the outside and this shooter on the inside. something else that is important in the story, 50 were killed, there are also more than 50 injured at the hospital. they were taken to the nearest hospital which is the only level one trauma center in central florida, they called in six extra surgeons overnight, but a doctor from the hospital, an official, just told us that many of those who are still in the hospital are gravely ill from the injuries that they suffered in this attack.

we also heard first thing this morning in terms of motivation, why did someone target pulse which does bill itself as orlando's premiere gay nightclub, we heard from the fbi this morning that there were indications that there were leanings toward radical islamic terrorism. that was at the first briefing in the 7:00 hour, just now about three hours later not as much talk about radical islamic terrorism. we couldn't even get the officials to classify this as a hate crime. i asked point-blank this a hate crime or a terrorist attack? they said that until they are able to contact the suspect's family, essentially they don't want to give us too much information. there was also an imam, a leader from the local islamic community who was here calling for calm. he said specifically to the reporters who were gathered he doesn't want the story to be sensation liesed but the numbers

really are sensational themselves, bret. 50 dead, more than 50 injured, one suspect being investigated very thoroughly right now for his part allegedly in the worst mass shooting in u.s. history. >> peter, let's just be clear. the authorities are saying it was a terrorist attack. they're just saying they were trying to get more information, but it was interesting to hear you try to get out of them from that first question where they said he had leanings towards radical islamic ideology and then later where they kind of walked that back. i'm wondering if we're getting more information, we heard representative peter king on the air earlier saying that this -- he believes that this man had ties to afghanistan and weapons training in the words of the representative from the homeland security committee. and then you have other indications from the father talking to other news organizations that this wasn't religious based and that he had a problem with homosexuals

kissing in miami. is there any indication from what you've seen outside of that press conference that this is heading one way or another? >> reporter: we do not have anything like that yet, but to the point about what peter king said on our air in the last hour, that this person was from afghanistan or had been to afghanistan and had weapons training, that is something that when i asked it to the law enforcement officials who were gathered here all they would do is shake their heads. they did not want to talk about that. the reason that is notable is they have been very helpful so far, they have answered every question but for that one i told them that congressman peter king said it just a few minutes earlier and all that we got from the fbi and from the local officials was just they shook their heads and we're hoping that we get some more clarity about that in the 1:00 hour. >> okay. peter, we'll head back for any breaking news. thank you. joining us for insight and perspective is ted williams, a former police officer here in

the district of columbia now a criminal defense attorney and james woolsey. welcome to you both. >> first to you, you listened to these press conferences and you're trying to read between the lines. clearly this person was well trained or at least well prepared. he went in with an objective and that's what we can glean from this early on. >> well, that certainly seems to be the case and it's also very early in ramadan, there are other indications that this might be islamist terrorism and not just as the administration said of major hassan back at fort hood some years ago, workplace violence when he had his jihadi business cards and was shouting allahu akbar as he murdered his fellow soldiers, we don't have anything quite that clear here and we need to make sure that it is correct if we

say that it was islamist terrorism or that he was a jihadi, but that option is certainly a live one. we need to stay a tren testify to the possibility. >> it was surprising, wasn't it, to hear the fbi that early answer that question that he had leanings towards the islamic ideology answering that question, and then secondly that we saw on the internet an isis threat specifically about florida three days ago, not linking those two here yet, but they're talking about it. >> well, if he had said something that was islamist like major hassan shouting allahu akbar as he killed his fellow soldiers, that could be what someone was going off on, some phrase that slipped through without having been thoroughly and completely vetted to make sure that he said it and when he said it. it's understandable that the bureau would be cautious about making an accusation like that.

>> ted, what about the specifics on we learned that it's a hostage situation overnight, it takes them three hours, the s.w.a.t. team, before they go in and actually confront this suspect and actually kill him. we don't know how many people were killed from the initial attack until that ending time. as you look at this investigation what do you think? >> well, you know, it's not out of the ordinary for law enforcement when they believe that there is a hostage situation to wait because what they're trying to do is to negotiate, if it's a hostage situation. now, what happened here was that the fbi and law enforcement were getting internal phone calls from people who were in the bathroom, et cetera, so they were kind of telling them what was going on, and i think that right around 5:00 -- because, remember, this started around 2:00 in the morning -- around 5:00 they decided that they had to go in and i think it was because someone was either being injured in there and they just

had to act at that immediate time, but this was well organized i can assure you. >> first priority is to clear and make sure there's no other threat. we heard that he had some kind of long rifle, a handgun also some device, some kind of vest or something. >> they haven't gotten into more specifics about that. >> absolutely. they had to operate out of an abundance of caution. they did not know whether this was a lone wolf terrorist. one thing we do know, whether they call it islamic terrorist, it is domestic terrorism because we have 50 people dead and at least 53 wounded. >> think about that number. just in the psyche of america. whatever you call this in the end, 50 humans dead in one event. it's pretty striking. >> whether this turns out to be islamist terror or not, we're at war. trots ski i think once said you

may not be interested in war but war to be interested in you. this war is interested in us. we have terrorists the fbi said in 50 states getting ready. so anybody who keeps tilting toward saying, well, you know, it was workplace violence or something like that i think should be greeted with healthy skepticism. this could well be islamist terror. >> jeff sessions on "fox news sunday" said the investigation, ted, has 570 plus indicted or convicted of islamic terrorists actions since 9/11 and said that his concern is that more are coming and that to the director's point, that there are investigations in all 50 states. >> absolutely. and the directive is right on target here. one of the things that we have to be vigilant about is that this may bring out copy cats. i would have to believe that

once this took place in orlando, the whole country was put on alert and we don't know what is coming. i don't want to frighten people. i don't know if anything is coming. but we still have to be vigilant out there. we were out in san bernardino, we saw what happened out there. now we have 50 here. this is one of the worst mass killings in america. we just don't have this here. >> i think another thing is that there doesn't need to be a terrorist cell. there doesn't need to be anything in writing that somebody has signed on to in order for this to be done by a jihadi. i mean, i'm a scoop jackson joe lieberman democrat, aren't too many of us left anymore, but there aren't -- i don't carry any card about that, i haven't been to any instruction sessions. people can have very firmly held beliefs without being part of some cell and the search for the cell and so on may be, you know,

fruitless. this could well be islamist terror without some of those inn dish is that. >> let me interrupt you, ted. i think we have a live shot from st. lucie county, this is outside the house of the suspect and that is where you see authorities. the shooter is 29-year-old muslim as we said, he is an american citizen. his name is mateen, omar mateen. we don't know much about him other than his heritage is from afghanistan, his parents are apparently from afghanistan. an american citizen. his father talked to one news outlet saying that he was angry, he said, this is the father saying he was angry about gay men kissing in miami and that's what drove him. >> you know, as the director just said, we've got to find out and law enforcement must try to

determine whether he was trained or whether he was inspired by some belief. now, it was a gay nightclub that he went in and if it was the kissing of men and all of that, that could have triggered this, but it's also no matter how you look at it domestic terrorism. they are going to have to go through his phone, they are going to have to go through his computers. they will get to the bottom of this, bret. >> gentlemen, thank you very much. stand by, if you would. when we come back continuing coverage of the mass shooting being called a terror act by authorities down in orlando. we'll have the latest on the investigation, we'll head back down to florida and talk to authorities there. it here on f channel. [ guitar playing ] ugh. heartburn.

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florida governor rick scott

moments ago releasing the following statement on this morning's shooting in orlando: our thoughts and prayers are with the victims' families and all those affected by this horrific tragedy. we are a strong and resilient state. we have deaf vote every resource available to assist with the shooting in orlando, our state emergency operations center is also monitoring this tragic incident. i have been in constant contact and communication with orlando mayor buddy dyer, orange county mayor jacobs and state and local law enforcement this morning. i would also like to thank all the first responders who came quickly to assist and help those in need. again, florida governor rick scott with that statement moments ago. we are also getting reaction from the presidential candidates. donald trump tweeted early this morning, quote, really bad shooting in orlando. police investigating possible terrorism. many people dead and wounded. >> hillary clinton offering her condolences, woke up to hear the devastating news from florida. as we wait for more information

my thoughts are with those affected by this horrific act. and bernie sanders also tweeting: it's horrific. it's unthinkable. as we talked about with peter doocy the media just wrapped up a briefing with authorities in orlando as investigators try to delve into the shooter's pass. they mentioned the suspect omar mateen may have had leanings towards radical islamic terrorism. they are treating it as a terror act. joining us for some insight is danny colson, former fbi deputy assistant director. thank you for being here this morning. >> good morning. tough day. >> it is a tough day. as you think about this just give that first, the reaction to 50 people, 5-0, dead at least and that number is likely to rise. >> yeah, it's hard to even fathom. i have seen mass killings and mass murders and you never get over that, even the people that do this for a living, the first

responders and police officers, it dramatically impacts on them, it impacts me and our prayers have to be with the victims and also those first responders. it is really a tough day for america. >> yeah. and it's tough on the investigation. trying to get answers. early on oftentimes, danny, as you know, you know, stats and numbers and thoughts are all over the place as we try to get -- pin down some answers. it was interesting to hear some of the answers in those early press conferences in that there were -- or they believed there were leanings towards radical islamic ideology. that was surprise to go hear from an fbi agent early in the questioning. >> especially that early. they have to have some indication of the background of this man. they may have had an investigation on him, a preliminary investigation, that had looked at him just pro funk to recally without developing the idea that he's going to do an act like this. also it sounds like from congressman king that he may have received some sort of briefing from fbi headquarters,

remember he has a very responsible position in the congress and it's very likely that somebody from our headquarters or my former headquarters had briefed him about some of the intel they had on this individual. some of those fbi agents were shaking their heads when they heard this he had that information. i think they were surprised by that. >> representative king say that on our air. the daily beast is reporting a source reported that mateen became a person of interest in 2013 and 2014 and the fbi opened an investigation of him and subsequently closed the case when it produced nothing that appeared to warrant further investigation. we will obviously want to hear more about what preempted or produced that original investigation. >> exactly. one thing, bret, to understand is when an fbi investigation is opened like this it's controlled by the department of justice and there are very strict guidelines from the attorney general that put time limits on the fbi and if they don't develop something

within a specific period of time they have to close the case. it happened in the boston marathon bombers, exactly the same thing. they opened a preliminary and because the time ran out which i think is ridiculous that there be a time limit on these things they closed that. we need to take a look at that. congress is makemaking all kinds of noises with he need to fight terrorism. we need to look at the way we investigate terrorism and see what needs to be done. things need to be changed. we are at war, a war not of our own making and we need to start acting like we are at war. >> quickly, what is the priority right now? is the priority trying to see if he has links to isis, if he has links to operational terrorists and other things are still hanging out there? is that number one for the fbi? >> yes, sir. exactly. they're trying to see if somebody else is involved. there's another part of the sec t involved in this time thing and if there's other people involved in it there will be another attack. it is ramadan, this he said they're coming during ramadan

and we're there. >> thank you very much for your time this morning. there was one threat on the internet from isis specifically point to go florida. again, we don't have any direct contact to that as of yet from authorities. we expect another briefing soon. one witness says the club was about to close and everyone was, quote, taking their last sip when that shooting started. a report from outside the hospital where many victims are being treated coming up here on fox news. >> scared, i'm nervous. when they brought us down they told us that there was bomb threats. >> it's just devastating. when you hear helicopters, when you see the fire sticks in the street and you see the dogs you are just like this can't be real. it's like a movie. closing the stage this afternoon for auditions? what's on that piece of paper? oh, miss maroney, your forehead! should not be doing anything. i just had botox. i know exactly what's happening! ah! whoa! this is a bad streaming experience. "the girlie show" is a real fun lady show. (vo) don't let bad streaming ruin a good show.

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orlando command, we have shots fired on the scene. >> command all units position of cover behind your apparatus. >> police scanners lighting up when 911 calls started stroo

eming in from that nightclub, the pulse nightclub, at the time shots were still being fired and officers were urged to take cover as they approached that scene, a scene that as we know now is the deadliest single murder case in american history. 50 people dead so far and that number likely to rise. let's go back to florida. steve harrigan is outside the orlando regional medical center where many of the victims are still being treated. >> reporter: that's right, breath. surgeries have been going on here all morning. that's remarkable that the only level one trauma center in central florida happens to be less than a inmile from where tt slaughter took place. there were chaotic scenes at 2:00 in the morning after the shooting began. victims were taken here, still alive, many of the first in ambulances, then in police vehicles, some in civilian vehicles as well. there were simply so many wounded, many of them bleeding profusely from head or body wounds. some of the first responders actually performing lifesaving techniques in civilian vehicles,

one even in the back of a pickup truck doing chest compression toss try and save a life. they were brought here all throughout the morning and they brought in trauma surgeons throughout the state to try to help out. we're getting more details on the terror that was going on inside that nightclub for more than three hours. people actually inside texting family members, texting police, trying to identify or let them know where the gunman was when they waited for those three hours. so 53 people in this hospital now, many of them with severe wounds to the head or body. we could see the death toll rise even further from 50 on up. breath, back to you. >> sad day. steve harrigan, thank you. we'll head back for any breeking details. >> this is now the deadliest single person mass murder in american history. before this the next deadliest mass murder, one man bombed a school in michigan in 1927 killing 44. stay with us, a report from the scene in orlando with breaking details right after this break.

>> there's blood everywhere, i spoke to somebody who was on the sight and there is an enormous amount of evidence to be collected systematically over the course of many hours at the site. ♪ ♪ with a full tank of freedom, ♪ find your own highway ♪ we'll take you wherever you go. ♪ ♪ take you wherever you go. ♪

the fox news alert. you're looking live port st. lucie, florida, this is outside the house of 29-year-old omar mateen. he is the suspect, he has been killed in this shooting with police. again, 50 dead. mateen originally from afghanistan, was a u.s. citizen. congressman peter king saying he was trained according to king. we are learning from multiple reports that there was an investigation of some kind opened by the fbi. so mateen had been under some watch. we're trying to get more information about as authoritiet to the bottom of this attack and what was behind it, the motive.

fox news correspondent peter doocy is on the scene in orlando. just wrapped up that press conference earlier, waiting for more word from authorities. anything new, peter? >> reporter: the new information that we're getting, breatt, dea with the chaotic hours, the deadly hours between 2:00 a.m. when the first shots rang out and 5:00 a.m. when the s.w.a.t. team finally decided that they needed to go in and try to save the hostages. they did end up saving about 30 people, but we know that 50 were killed, 50 more were injured. we asked law enforcement why they waited because, as you remember, during the paris terrorist attack there was a lot -- there were a lot of questions in the aftermath about why it took so long for authorities to go in to storm that bat at that clan theater. obviously there are great differences in terms of the setup of the attack and in terms of what happened, but the fact

remains they did wait and we asked why. this is the answer. >> they were dealing with a hostage situation. so, you know, in that time we need to set up, reevaluate, reassess what's happening and make sure that all the pieces are in place. we have the -- enough staffing to take care of any situation. we have armored vehicles that come to the scene and those were crucial in the rescue of those hostages. >> just about eight and a half hours ago as it was all happening as shots first started ringing out here on orange avenue in a very crowded part of orlando the pulse nightclub sent out a message on their social media, everyone get out of pulse and keep running. here in the orlando area the talk on social media has all shifted. people are trying to find or get in touch with loved ones, friends, relatives who are believed to have been inside.

bret. >> peter, thank you, we will head back for any new details. about omar mateen, he was born in new york, we're getting word. his wife was from uzbekistan. he was a licensed security officer, we're told. he had a statewide firearms license. and his father goes by mir, has talked to authorities as we look live at omar mateen's house. he has also talked to a couple of media outlets, the father has, saying this wasn't about religion, it was about he was angry about homosexuals kissing in miami. for more on all of this an insight into the investigation two experts, rod wheeler is standing by on the home and sebastian gorka author of the book "defeating jihad" is in the

studio. >> you hear the parsing between is this a hate crime, is this a terrorist attack. authorities saying this is a terror attack, period. that he has leanings towards radical islamic ideology, period. and we're getting more information that the fbi may have had some kind of investigation at some time. the difference without a distinction between, you know, where radical islam is with gays and lesbians and this attack, i mean, could be blended into one. >> we have to understand this is a watershed moment. this attack, the largest murder attack in u.s. history, is the second biggest terrorist attack after 9/11. i am fearful that already we are hearing talk about this being a hate crime. we're hearing already in the left wing media the focus on guns. this isn't a tragedy like an amtrak train being derailed nor

is it a hate crime. this is part and parcel of the jihadi ideological strategy. look at bataclan, look at paris, look at london, look at brussels, look at the attack in san bernardino. this is all part of a strategy. homosexuals are being thrown off roofs, off tall buildings by isis in the middle east. why? because they're homosexuals. if we get this wrong, if the administration tries to paint this as some kind of homegrown, some kind of hate crime, then they will have demonstrated one thing, they haven't understood the last 15 years and that isis is here to kill all infidels, especially the lgbt community. >> rod, your thoughts on this investigation. i was thought early on that the fbi agent went as far as he did answering that question about leanings towards radical islamic ideology. now having heard that the fbi

may have had this guy at one time or another under investigation it seems to kind of make a little bit more sense. >> well, it does, bret. it makes a lot of sense. it all goes together and comes together because you look at this guy's history, we're just starting to learn a lot more about who this guy, omar mateen, is, and you look at some of the investment that he has had previously with law enforcement, the fact that he even was a security officer at one time really comes as a surprise to me. here is the thing that stands out which tells me that nothing but a terrorist attack is the fact that look at the venue that he selected, look at the time by which he committed his act and then the last thing that's so important is look at the type of weapon that he used. an ar-15 is what they're saying this guy probably used. these are all the fingerprints, if you will, of a terrorist. he goes into the club, he opens up on a massive number of people, this is exactly what terrorists do, ie bat can just as your other person just said and then you open up on these folks and you go and you have a

battle with the police and then you die and then when you die at the hands of the police you consider yourself somewhat of a martyr. this is nothing but terrorism on its face. >> all right, rod, tell me about this attack. you mentioned he has an ar-15. >> right. >> he has a handgun. but still to kill 50-plus people. >> yeah. >> i mean, you are reloading, you are -- you are trained. this is not something that you just happen upon. >> oh, absolutely not. this guy had planned for this. now, let me just share with you and the viewers real quick, i've been to that club before, about a year before i went there with some of my friends. i can clearly see how this guy was able to pull this off. now, that club actually pats people down, search people for weapons before you go in. but look at the time. remember i just mentioned look at the time in which the attack occurred, right around 2:00, 2:05, they don't pat people down around that time because most people are coming out of the club. i think that's the time that this guy selected, you know, to go into the club and do what he did. now, in addition to that once he

got into the club he just opened up. he had probably hundreds if not thousands of rounds of ammunition and with an ar-15 you can shoot 100 rounds in about nine seconds. once you get through that main door at the club pulse, bret, once you get through that main door there is the dance floor right there and you have at least 300 to 400 people right in front of you. if you have a weapon like that all hell is going to break loose. >> sebastian, we are in ramadan, there have been threats including one specifically targeting florida on the internet from isis. we don't know if there is a tie to that as of yet. but the threat level it seems if you talk to intel analysts and experts is only increasing and has increased dramatically in recent weeks and months. >> right. again, let's take politics out of the equation, let's look at the facts. two weeks ago we arrested the 101st isis suspect on u.s. soil in the bronx. that's more than 100 people on u.s. soil linked to isis. duke university just published a

report on muslim extremism in america. 2015 saw the highest incidence of jihadi conspiracies on u.s. soil since september 11th. that's what people sit back and dige digest. we have been at back for 15 years with the jihadis, al qaeda now isis, last year saw the highest number of plots on u.s. soil. we are losing this war because political correctness is allowed to get into the analysis and remember what happened after san bernardino. the attorney general's first presser, what does she say, our priority is to make sure we don't have islamaphobia in response. people are massacred on u.s. soil and the administration is worried about islamaphobia. clearly something isn't working, bret. >> sebastian, rod, thank you very much for the time. we have continuing coverage of this, the worst mass shooting in u.s. history happening at this orlando nightclub. breaking news from fox news channel after the break. what's it like to be in good hands? like finding new ways

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exclusively for usaa members. fox news alert. at least nine police officers were involved in that gun fight with the suspect. one of those officers was injured of course the suspect was killed. take a look at this picture. just released, of the helmet of that officer. that he was wearing when the bullet struck his head. that kevlar helmet -- i'm sorry,

kevlar helmet saved his life. look at that. that officer did suffer an eye injury, he's hospitalized, expected to recover. thank goodness he was wearing that helmet at the time. as authorities continue their investigation into the shooting, community groups are coming forward to offer counseling and healing which they say is in desperate need. members of central florida's victim services center are at the scene already. as you look live at orlando regional medical center on the phone with us is their executive director. louie, thank you very much for being here. tell us first of all, what's happening and what you all need. >> well, the community is coming together as fast as we can. our folks, we have all masters level crisis counselors, they were dispatched first thing this morning, we have folks both at the hospital and we're working in tandem with the fbi, setting up the family assistance hotline and program right around the corner at the hampton hotel.

so we're getting family members, other witnesses and people that have been impacted there as quickly as possible and our crisis counselors will be, you know, with the families, guiding them through as they are being provided additional information. >> so blood still obviously a concern. when you have this many wounded. >> yes. >> you would say get to, what, blood banks, don't go to the hospital. >> no, not to the hospital, but go to local blood banks, there is a broad network of folks that collect blood. i just saw a record that people are lining up. keep getting the word out there's still a need at the trauma center for additional blood as people are continuing to be operated on. >> and then for the victim services, i mean, it's hard to overstate the trauma that surrounds something like this if you're connected to someone who was in that nightclub.

>> it's unbelievable. and, you know, for the family members, for the victims themselves, for the family members, for the friends, for anyone that may be a witness, you know, we're there for the initial crisis intervention, we will be there long-term. i think the other implication is the community reaction now as a whole that there are -- people are waking up this morning and seeing this and they are not believing what they're seeing, there's uncertainty and disbelief and grief and fear. so we want people to know who live their lives. nobody could ever plan for something this horrific and, you know, for those that are impacted we know that the victim service center of central florida and all the other victim providers we are banding together and we're working as best we can using every resource we have to be sure that everybody gets the help and support that they need. >> louie, thank you very much. if there's a number what do they do? >> the family assistance

program, the emergency number that has been set up is 407-246 407-246-4357. that's for family members. if you need information, that is the best point right now to get the information and get over to the hampton inn where family members and so forth are being gathered and then, you know, long-term of course there are going to be -- we anticipate this is going to be going on for weeks and weeks and weeks and there will be many other people coming forward seeking our services. we are easy to find at the victims service center. >> we appreciate all that you're doing on this tragic day. again, 407-246-4357 for anybody who needs some help. thanks for your time. >> thank you. >> our team coverage continues in just a moment with reaction from the white house on this tragic day. keep it here on fox news. this is my body of proof. proof of less joint pain and clearer skin.

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looking live now down in florida. florida senator bill nelson just talking to the media. before i take you there, moments ago he just said he has talked to intelligence staff and, quote, it is believed that, quote, there is some connection here to isis. that's from florida senator bill nelson. let's listen in. >> 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, so 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, not a hyphenated american or off on some cause and that's what we've got to explore deep inside at this point. that's the information that i have for you. i'll share more with you as i get it. >> [inaudible question ]. >> i'll get that information for you once i've confirmed it all, but i'm just passing along to you the information that i have from the credible sources as well as directly. that information is not from the fbi. let me make that distinction. >> who is that information from? >> that is from intelligence committee staff. but the fbi senator for senator

feinstein and myself is directly from the assistant director of the counterterrorism center in washington. thank you. >> have you received a photo yet? >> senator nelson in florida who has talked to intelligence staff and they believe there is some connection in this shooting to isis. it's not completely confirmed. it's not from the fbi but intelligence staff believes there is some connection to isis. you heard him mention the other shooting, the shooting. singer christina grimmie, shot dead, 22 years old in orlando the night before this shooting. the authorities announced her shooter saying it was a premeditated attack, no indication there that that had anything to do with terrorism and that attack but they both happened in orlando. the interesting nugget here is that nelson is saying that this

particular attack has some tie to islamic radicalism and specifically isis. our own catherine herridge is reporting counterterrorism sources who track jihadi traffic on the internet tell fox news within hours of the siege senior al qaeda account began sell wait flag attack. since isis leadership accounts have taken over the hashtag for the pulse attacks ever since that point, there's been no official claim of responsibility, but the suspect we're told was on myspace and facebook, but those pages are now down. the feds are going through the suspect's social media profile. investigators are looking at the father and possible outside connections to an outside group. you may remember we also talked about isis making a threat over the internet. a specific threat of an attack in florida and mentioning florida by name. don't know if that is connected as of yet, but right now that's

what we're looking at. president obama was briefed about the shooting early on by his homeland security and counterterrorism adviser. the white house said the president directed federal officials to provide any necessary assistance to pursue the next and support the community. kristen fisher joins us quickly from the white house with more. kristen? >> well, bret, this is 291st mass shooting since president obama took office, and, you know, typically when these types of things happen the president does come out and give a statement and he is here at the white house, but so far we have no indication if or when the president will come out and speak today. now, this morning the president was briefed about what happened in orlando by lisa monaco, his assistant for homeland security and counterterrorism. important to point out that was a file photo. that not taken today. shortly after the briefing the white house released its first statement on what's now the deadliest mass shooting in u.s. history and reads in part, quote, our thoughts and prayers are with the families and loved ones of the victims.

the president asked to receive regular updates as the fbi and other federal officials work with the orlando police to gather more information and directed that the federal government provide any assistance necessary to pursue the investigation and support the community. now, vice president biden has also been briefed. he was originally scheduled to travel to miami, florida, for a fund-raiser with debbie wasserman schultz, the chairman. democratic national committee. the vice president has now cancelled. he will be traveling back here to washington from his home in delaware later today as we await word on whether or not the president will come out and speak on what has become the day of the deadliest mass shooting in u.s. history. brett? >> kiss trend fisher live on the north lawn. we'll bring you back to the white house if and when the president does make a statement today. you can see that here on fox news channel. we've mentioned that the presidential candidates have both weighed in here just in the past few moments. donald trump, the presumptive gop nominee, with another tweet.

horrific incident in florida. praying for all the victims and their familiar sflis when will this stop? when will we get tough, smart and vigilant? that just in the past few minutes. we can tell you that this investigation continues at this hour, and we'll get another briefing from authorities in do. what we do now. omar mateen, 29-year-old muslim of afghan heritage, born in new york, a u.s. citizen, believed to have killed at least 50 people in the biggest mass murder in american history. it is believed that this is a terror investigation, that the fbi had opened previous investigations on mateen. we're trying to figure out exactly what that involves and how deep that goes, but just in the past few seconds florida senator bill nelson saying that his intelligence staff has told him that there is a tie here to isis. our team coverage continues in the next hour as we learn more

about all of this. eric shawn and arthel neville will take the baton from up in new york. i'll be back at 1:00 p.m. eastern time with continuing coverage here on fox news channel. we begin with a fox news alert. america under attack. the specter of islamic terrorism apparently taking more inn dent lives overnight. the latest horrendous mass shooting in orlando, now the worst in american history. >> oh, my god. they are all shooting back and forth. >> as we have been reporting police say the gunman, a u.s.-born citizen of afghan parents, stormed the gay nightclub early this morning opening fire with an assault rifle and handgun killing 50 people and wounding 53 others during that three-hour standoff before an orlando s.w.a.t.