good morning, america. massacre in the nightclub. terror in orlando. the deadliest mass shooting in u.s. history. at least 50 killed. 53 more wounded. new video this morning captures the moment the gunfire erupted. >> people literally covered in blood. >> the latest right now on those terrifying moments inside the gay nightclub. the 29-year-old shooter opens fire, armed with a rifle and a handgun. new clues about what could have set him off. his bizarre call to 911 pledging allegiance to isis. survivors speaking out. >> i'm feeling the bullets and debris passing by me. >> families waiting into the night. this morning, their

heartbreaking news. >> please can we do something? let's all just get along. >> this was a sick person that was really confused. and went crazy. >> now, his father revealing new details overnight. >> i couldn't believe that was my son. >> as a nation and a city search for answers, why was the gay community targeted in the virus massacre? >> this was an act of terror and an act of to hate. >> we're live with this special edition of "good morning america." and good morning, america. we're live in orlando this morning. after a crushing weekend. the world remembering the lives lost in that tragic shooting, the deadliest in u.s. history. >> we're right across the street from the site of that massacre. where three hours of terror unfolded. officers exchanging gunfire with the suspect. and then making a daring rescue. this morning, more than 40 people are recovering at the orlando regional medical center. many of them, though, still in

critical condition. >> there's heroic work going on right now to save those lives. here's what we know right now about the shooter. his name is omar mateen. 29 years old. from fort pierce, florida. born in new york. he pledged allegiance to isis on a 911 call during the shooting. officials are now just finishing a sweep of his home. they had been there since the shooting began. and there are a lot of big questions this morning. including, how did this man on the fib's radar slip away? he was investigated twice, interviewed three times. >> we're learning now more about the lives tragically lost in the attack. so many stories emerging about the victims and the heroes. their families and friends are speaking out and take a look this morning at "the orlando sentinel" sharing this front page, saying our community will heal. >> and the world is embracing the community this morning. tributes pouring in from around the globe -- the pope, queen elizabeth, millions of ordinary citizens sharing their heartbreak.

you see the vigils right there, pray for orlando. one of the most powerful images, hundreds of people lining up to donate blood. so many people showed up, they had to turn some away. >> everyone wanting to help. we have full team coverage this morning, live in orlando and across the country. abc's gio benitez starts us off and has the very latest for us. good morning, gio. >> reporter: amy, george, good morning to you. overnight, we spoke with a survivor who lived only because he played dead for three hours. that excruciating clock ticking as more and more people were killed. ♪ saturday night, inside this popular orlando nightclub, just after 2:02 a.m., 15 minutes after last call, the club still packed with 320 people. >> i'm at the club. >> reporter: abc news obtaining this cell phone video from the brother of a clubgoer. listen as those first shots ring out over the music. [ gun shots ] >> people are screaming help me,

help me, i'm trapped. people are getting trampled. we didn't know which door to take or where to go. >> reporter: at 2:07 a.m., the club posting this facebook message, everyone get out of pulse and keep running. a police officer working security at the pulse fires at the shooter. now identified as 29-year-old omar mateen. armed with an ar-15 rifle and a glock 9 million, mateen retreats further into the club, shooting more people along the way. >> just keep crawling. >> reporter: club patrons now held hostage. some barricading themselves in bathrooms. at 3:00 a.m. bomb squads and hazmat crews arrive. hostage negotiators trying to talk mateen down. the standoff lasting three agonizing hours. mateen calling 911 to pledge his allegiance to isis. >> telling them america needs to

stop bombing isis. >> reporter: he was calling people on the phone? >> yes. >> reporter: the wounded trapped inside with the gunman. some even playing dead. you played dead for three hours. >> yes. >> reporter: police detonated a controlled explosive to distract the gunman, the s.w.a.t. team moving in. plowing into the club with an armored vehicle, then rushing in and taking down the gunman in a barrage of gunfire. [ gunfire ] one officer shot in head, saved only by his helmet. 30 hostages freed. >> we now have a large mci unit. 250 patients. >> reporter: eight horrifying hours after the shooting began -- >> we have cleared the building. and it is with great sadness that i share, we have not 20 but 50 casualties. >> reporter: this shooting is now the deadliest in u.s. history. >> may god be with them. god plesz their souls. it's hard. every gunshot i heard, i was hoping it wouldn't hit any of my friends. >> reporter: and of course those

bullets did hit his friends. in fact, he knows nearly everyone who died. serving as a mentor to many of them. george this is just one of the lucky voices able to tell his story this morning. >> thank goodness for that. okay, gio, thank you. i'm here with ray rivera the deejay at the pulse nightclub the night this cahaos broke out. thanks for coming in this morning. let's go back to that moment. you were sort of winding the crowd down. >> yeah, bringing the vibe down. everybody closing out the bar tabs and heading home. so, and then, i heard a couple pops. >> did you think it was shots? >> i thought it sounded like firecrackers. i thought maybe somebody was playing a joke. i turned the volume down again. i turned the volume down again and some more. followed by some more. >> you were out on the patio, this was happening in the main room? >> yeah. >> what exactly could you hear? >> all the gun shots. >> and it was bursts, and

bursts, and bursts of gunshots? >> bursts, three, four at a time. people running out, heading towards the exit. you know, trying to get out. i didn't realize what it was until i looked inside and saw everybody running out and at that point, the music was off. i ducked down behind the deejay booth. people hiding there. running out. there was a little pause, about 15 seconds, at that point, the person under the booth that was with me, i was like, okay, go. >> you were able to run out to the street? >> we ran out the exit gate. >> you never had a chance to see the gunman? >> no. could just hear it. >> and was anyone shot on the -- >> not on the patio, no. >> people were just -- >> that was more of the escape route, everybody was heading for that. jumping the fence. getting out that way. >> were people getting out of the main room where the shooter was? >> yeah, yeah, everybody was heading for every exit there was. there's another side room which security did a great job of getting everybody out of that

room before he had chance to get in. there's a couple of different exits. they got them out that way. and then, basically, once the shots started coming, everybody cleared. >> and i know you were working hard to help others get out as well. >> i was trying to. people were just running and falling and hiding underneath the zee jay booth. at that point, i was like this is getting really serious. i thought it was a joke. when there was a little pause and a break, i was like, all right, go. that person took off. i went behind him. >> did the police hold you outside for several hours? >> oh, yeah. we were down the street for about -- from 2:00 to about 7:00. >> three hours as the hostages were being held. and then the police went back in. >> then the shots were fired. the explosion and i guess the car that was there. >> i bet you can't imagine. >> you know what? it was one of those things where

it was a great night. same saturday night we've had since i've been doing it. the vibe was great. then chaos broke loose at 2:00. it went from a great vibe to, you know, one of the worst tragedies right now. >> we're glad you got out. ray, thanks for joining us this morning. >> all right. thank you. and now to the victims and the heroes. the gunman killing at least 49 and injuring 53. those people, parents, sons, daughters, loved ones of so many. and in mothose moments of terro so many heroes stepping in to help and save lives. among the deceased, 23-year-old stanley almodova. luis omar ocasio-capo and kimberly morris. killed working as a security guard at pulse. juan guerrero and his boyfriend christopher leinonen. also taken in the massacre. leinonen's mother with an emotional plea on sunday, before

finding out he had died. >> when he was in high school, he started the gay straight alliance, i have been so proud of him for that. please, let's all just get along. we're on this earth for such a short time. let's try to get rid of the hatred and the violence. >> reporter: family and friends receiving heartbreaking messages from their loved ones trapped inside. >> i got shot. i'm bleeding out. i think i'm dying. i love you guys. tell mom, dad, emp i love them. >> reporter: this mother receiving detailed account of her son's last minutes through texts. eddie justice barricaded in the bathroom. this text reading, he's coming, i'm going to die. >> he said he has us, and he's going to kill us. and that was it. >> reporter: many of the 53 wounded still alive thanks to the quick-thinking of strangers. >> my only instinct was to help everybody else around me. i saw my buddy, juan, who was the bar tender. the first thing i do, i see his

wound and i take off my shirt and i tie my shirt around his leg to stop the bleeding. >> reporter: vigils overnight. you don't believe your brother's dead. >> no, i don't. i refuse to believe that. >> reporter: how important is hope to you right now in this moment? >> it's the only reason why i'm standing. >> reporter: we just checked in with him a little while ago, he hasn't heard from his brother, he's devastated but remains hopeful at the same time. we want to turn to one of those heroes from the shooting. joshua mcgill fled the bar during the attack. he came across bartender rodney sumter. who had been shot three times. joshua used his shirt as a tourniquet to stop the bleeding. thank you for being with us, joshua. >> thank you very much for having me. >> tell me what the latest is with rodney. i know he has surgery scheduled in just a bit. how is he doing?

>> i checked up on him yesterday. and he seemed to be stable. i wasn't able to see him due to not, you know, he was still in the emergency department. but i did get confirmation last night from one of his friends or family relatives that he was stable and that he was doing okay. and that he would be having a surgery this morning at 7:30. so we're just standing by to see if i'm able to meet with him. if not, we're just hoping maybe i can see him some time later on today, if not, maybe tomorrow. >> joshua, you most certainly saved rodney's life. walk us through those moments when you were able to escape the bar when the shots rang out. tell me what happened next. and what you saw. >> um, at first, i didn't really know what was going on. it was a typical night, it was very fun. nothing -- it was very end of the bar time, they had already did last call. luckily my roommates and i were near the back patio exit.

which is where the back patio bar is. we left when we heard the initial gun shots. and hopped over the fence eventually. that's when we ran into the parking lot through the safety zone that was set up at the perimeter from the police. during running through the parking lot, i did hear some gunshots again. and i jumped. and that's when i hid behind a car. my roommates kept going. i yelled for them, don't worry about me. i'm fine. i'll hide. initially when the gunshots got further away that's when i kind of peeked around to make my run for it. that's when i actually found rodney kind of limping around and he was mumbling he needs help. i went and grabbed him. brought him behind the car where i was. i told him everything's going to be okay. i'm here to help him. he told me he thinks he's been shot. so that's when i noticed he had been shot once in each arm. i took it upon myself to let him know that i'm going to try to

stop the bleeding. i took my shirt off and tied it around his first, initial gunshot wound on his left arm. i took his shirt and tied it around the other gunshot wound. we proceeded to dodge and weave throughout the parking lot. that's when i noticed he had another gunshot wound on his upper back area. because that's when he was starting to complain about pain, i just applied as much pressure i could as we walking toward the nearest officer that was on stand by. once getting to the officer he basically told us to lay low. he did say that there was no ambulance that were going to be arriving on the scene. but they were going to transport us to the emergency department via police patrol car. the officer said, here's all you need to do is keep him conscious and when you get into the patrol car, we'll have you lay on your back and you're going to have rodney lay on top of you.

and i want you to squeeze his back wound as tight as you can to constrict the blood and keep it to where he doesn't bleed out. during the process riding to the emergency department, i could hear the police officers in the front seat saying, you know, keep him conscious, talk to him. that's when i learned his name. i told him my name. where i'm from. how old i am. i was asking him the same questions. he told me his name was rodney, 27, from jacksonville, florida, >> wow. >> he has a little brother. i told him, stick with me, you're going to be fine, i promise you, everything's going to be okay. we're almost to the emergency department. i did, you know, however tell him, i'm not sure if you're religious or not, we're going to say a quick prayer. >> you prayed with him? >> i said a prayer for him. yes, ma'am. >> i know that you parade with him and i mean, you were incredible on every level, joshua. physically helping him. emotionally helping him. spiritually helping him.

our thoughts are with rodney as he goes into surgery and with you, joshua. and all the victims there. thank you so much for joining thus morning, joshua. >> thank you. not a problem. >> he did exactly what he needed to do. >> wow, incredible. we'll turn now on what we know about the shooter. investigators are searching the home for weapons. he had been on the fbi's radar for possible links to terrorism. brian ross, you a revealing interview with his ex-wife? >> that's right. long before the attack, omar mateen was known as unhinged homophobic, and violent. >> this was a sick person. that was really confused. and went crazy. >> reporter: this is omar mateen's ex-wife who told abc news he regularly beat her and was a man full of hatred buried deep. >> he body was totally opposite.

just angered and emotional and violent. and that later evolved to abuse. toward me. >> reporter: as the fbi sought clues as to what triggered the attack on the orlando nightclub, his ex-wife said he could not stand people who were gay. >> he would express his anger towards a certain culture, homosexuality, there were definitely moments he would express his intolerance to homosexua homosexuals. >> reporter: a former co-worker said he had problems. >> he also had a lot of hatred for people. >> reporter: mateen was an american citizen born in new york, who attended high school in stewart, florida, he worked as a security guard for the last nine years, posting this picture of himself wearing an nypd t-shirt. >> he really loved the police

department, he worked as a correctional officer or a guard at the juvenile delinquent center. >> reporter: while his ex-wife says she knew of know connection to extremism, officials say mateen declared his allegiance to isis in a 911 call as he was holding hostages at the nightclub. >> i think this proof of that in the united states. >> reporter: the fbi had twice investigated mateen for possible ties to terrorism in 2013 and 2014. interviewing him three times but concluded he was not a threat. >> we determined that contact was minimal and did not constitute a substantive relationship or threat at that time. >> reporter: he remarried a few years ago and had a 3-year-old

son with his second wife when he carried out the attack. his ex-wife. >> i'm luckily to have the family i have. because they saved me from death. >> reporter: because the fbi investigation into mateen found no links to terrorism, there were no criminal charges. he was able to legally buy the two guns he used in the attack purchased just last week. amy? >> so many people just so puzzled by all of this, brian, thank you. those revelations about the fbi investigation are raising big questions this morning. abc's senior justice correspondent pierre thomas is here in orlando with more on that side of the story. good morning, pierre. >> reporter: amy, this could happen again. you can be on a terrorism watch list and still legally buy a gun. the big question this morning is, why didn't the system blink red when mateen went in to buy those guns because he had been interviewed by the fbi three times. why weren't counterterrorism experts especially notified, especially when the fbi was the

one doing the background check. the fbi didn't know what the right hand was doing on the left. amy? >> thank you, pierre. we have so much more coming from orlando on this special edition of "good morning america." the shooter's father speaking out, what he says may have set off the his son. and presidential candidates donald trump and hillary clinton both speaking out on the tragedy live on "gma." didates donald trump and hillary clinton both speaking out on the tragedy. live. wait. you're real? yeah. with discover card, you can talk to a real person in the u.s. day or night. plus, we're not going to waste your time trying to sell you a bunch of other products you don't really need. that is really nice of you. i feel really bad about shouting at you. oh, you weren't shouting. you were just speaking in all caps. at discover, we treat you like you'd treat you. 100% u.s.-based customer service. here to help, not to sell. new aquafina sparkling. lightness and refreshment in perfect sync.

aquafina sparkling. for happy bodies. 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? ava, your bike is fixed. thanks mom! ♪ dad to captain ava: don't go too far! remember when we were children, and we believed any dream was possible? was it because there was always someone there protecting us? giving us the confidence to believe. at american family insurance, we'd like to be there protecting you, and the dreams you pursue, today. insure carefully, dream fearlessly. we promise you the perfect match. french's mustard is 100% natural, and our ketchup has no high fructose corn syrup.

we promise. real ingredients. good morning. the orlando shool sho lan shoote organizers are re-evaluating were the police. gloets over to sue to look at the mourning commute. hi sue. good morning. it's rights near corena. expect it to remain for 0

minutes. that's a typical drive for you. >> sue,

good morning. you're going to grab the jacket. you will need it this morning. 55 and okay land 59 and san jose is 59. temperatures coming down compared to to yesterday. 60 in the half moon bay and concord 79 and a comfortable 78 and then we continue in wednesday and come back for next weekend. >> thank you. coming up on "gma." continuing coverage subpoena we have another local update in 30

34i minutes. the news continues right now with good morning america. ♪ ♪ get high speed internet from at&t. keep calm, your internet's on.

get high speed internet from at&t. i found a thai place. oh, good read a review. there's no review it's just a phone number. how am i supposed to eat there if i don't know what other people think about it? get high speed internet from at&t. keep calm, your internet's on.

but can your multivitamin to be healthy. from at&t. do more for your immune health? now one a day has the first multivitamin with probiotics to support the 70% of your immune system that's found in your digestive tract. new one a day with probiotics. your multi with more. we asked real people to use on their bums. why do you think the ripples make a difference? it gets it all clean. they give me a very happy feeling bum. cleanripple texture is designed to clean better. go cottonelle, go commando.

welcome back to "good morning america." you're looking live at the scene of that massacre that occurred early sunday morning. 50 people killed, 53 injured. at the pulse nightclub in orlando. in washington, d.c., this morning, you see it at the capitol and white house, flags now at half-staff, president obama ordering all government buildings to fly the flags at half-staff to remember those victims. and there is political fallout this morning as well. we're going to speak live to both hillary clinton and donald trump this morning. >> looking forward to that. we should mention that robin is on assignment overseas. this morning the world is remembering and honoring the

victims of this tragic shooting the deadliest in american history overnight, the orlando gay chorus paying tribute singing "true colors." at the joy metropolitan community church. huge tributes. one at the tonys overnight. we'll hear from the star of "hamilton" coming up. >> it was a powerful night. we're learning more about the orlando shooter omar mateen. we heard from his ex-wife earlier. now, his father is speaking out as well. saying the family is in shock. abc's linzie janis sat down with him. good morning, linzie. >> reporter: good morning, george. this is the apartment complex where omar mateen lived. investigators leaving here just this morning. and last night, omar's father spoke with us, telling us he felt compelled to address the victims' families. overnight the father of omar mateen speaking out. >> and i want to tell everybody out there that i'm really sorry for what happened and i'm really sad and mad. and i share your pain. >> reporter: seddique mateen and

his wife came to america from afghanistan 30 years ago. omar and his three sisters born here in the u.s. do you have any idea why he did this? >> i wished i had. he surprised me. because i didn't see anything irregular with him. >> reporter: he said his son recently got upset when he saw a gay couple publicly showing each other affection. did he get angry? >> he got really shocked that they were kissing each other in front of the families and the kids. >> reporter: in light of what happened, do you look back at anything he said that indicated hatred towards -- >> nothing -- no, no -- i didn't see nothing irregular. if i would have seen something i would have stopped it myself. >> reporter: was he radicalized in any way? did he have sympathies with isis? >> i didn't know. i wasn't aware at all. isis is a terrible group. i don't agree that he's radicalized. he wasn't.

because he had no beard and he was just a regular person going to work and coming back and taking care of his wife and his kid. >> reporter: do you think he did it for another reason? i wish he was alive. i could ask him that question. i think based on what i see, what i know, i remember, i don't think he was radicalized. >> reporter: he has a young son? >> yeah, 3 1/2-year-old son. >> reporter: you have a 3 1/2-year-old grandson? have you spoken to his wife today? >> yeah, she called me and she was very mad and was crying. >> reporter: did she know anything about his plan? >> not that i know. >> reporter: seddique mateen said he's aware that the fbi interviewed omar. he said his son made some comments years ago after being provoked and teased by co-workers. amy? >> all right, linzie, thank you for that. joining us now one of the survivors of the shooter, christopher hanson getting a drink at the bar when he heard

the gunshots erupt and he hit the floor. christopher, we're glad you're okay with thus morning. you said when you first heard the shots you didn't know they were gunshots. you thought it was part of the music. but then you started to see people drop. >> yes. and once i saw the bodies dropping, you could see the blood everywhere. it was time. it was time to go. the person next to me was shot. i dropped down. at that time, it was fight or flight. and i had to flee. >> i can't imagine what goes through your mind at that moment, the person next to you is shot. you drop to the floor, crawl out. tell me what you were thinking. were you thinking? >> i wasn't. my mind was saying get out, get out. from where i was located, i remember there was an exit near the patio. i crawled my way. i wiggled. once i got out to the patio, i got up and squatted down to

zigzag my way across the street. >> then you saw people who needed help. >> yes, i helped a victim who was with another person, carlos he was helping, we saw him, he was bleeding in the back and when we saw the bullet hole it was about this big. i took my bandanna. we put it down in the hole so it would block the blood from flowing so he wouldn't try to bleed out. he was completely drenched. to know if he made it out or not, i don't know. he didn't speak english. it was latin night. i have no idea. music is international. i stayed and enjoyed myself to have a good time. >> then the unthinkable happened. >> yes. >> so then you ran, you ran at that moment. what was happening when you got out of the building? >> you could still hear the gunshots. it was like the length of a song. it just kept going, pow, pow, pow, pow. it was nonstop continuous and then you just heard a brief silence, then it went all over again. i don't know how many rounds

were shot. it was just like, shot after shot after shot. those who were making it out, eventually they were piling in the driveway area so they could place them and tag them to see who needed to go where. who was more important, who was more shot more. the girl that everyone is talking about, that i was carrying. she was hit in the arm and she also had a heart problem, she was having problems breathing. i was trying to help her, keep calm. just breathe. i asked where she was from. she was from ohio, as well, just moved down here. she's a tourist. i'm a tourist. we were able to talk about to keep her alive. it was -- that's what we tried to do. or to do from into shock. >> thank goodness there were people like you in the club. thank you for joining us. and telling us your story. >> you're welcome. thank you for having me. we'll be back in two minutes with the political fallout. donald trump and hillary clinton will be joining us. and coming up next, as we go

the break, we want to take a look at the freedom tow ferp site of the nation's worth terror attack. lit in the colors of the pride flag, as a tribute to the lives lost in orlando. lit in the pride flag. ouch!!! ohhh. oh, i bet someone is hiding in that... ahhh!!! oh, dory, are you okay? oh, let's cover that, it'll get better quicker. wait, what were we doing? hide and seek. oh, that's right. ready or not, here i come! guys, i'm still hiding! for all of life's mishaps, band-aid® brands's got you covered. see disney pixar's finding dory june 17th. guys?! real milk vs. almond milk ingredient spelling bee lecithin lecithin. l-e-s (buzzer sound) your word is milk. m-i-l-k milk wins. ingredients you can spell.

and our adult children-laws have are here. still.d in with us. so we save by using tide. which means we use less. three generations of clothes cleaned in one wash. those are mom's. has anybody seen my pants? lasts up to two times longer. put those on, dad! it's got to be tide. ♪ ♪ give extra. get extra.

♪ whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight ♪ we're back now on "gma" with our special coverage. you're listening to the gay men's chorus of washington singing "the star spangled banner" outside the white house. this happened last night. the white house in mourning with the rest of the world over the senseless massacre. the candidates are speaking out. abc's jon karl is at the white house with more on that. good morning to you, jon. >> reporter: good morning, amy. the reaks from donald trump and hillary clinton were a study in

contrasts. hillary clinton denounced it as an act of terror, adding, quote, we need to keep guns like the once used last night out of the hans of terrorists or other violent criminals. donald trump, for his part, used his statement to denounce the attack and then went after secretary clinton and the president. president obama disgracefully refused to even say the world radical islam. for that reason alone he should stop down. and trump also put out a tweet just hours after the attack saying, quote, appreciate the congrats for being right on radical islamic terrorism. i don't want congrats. i want toughness and vigilance. as you can imagine, amy, that tweet really set off quite a firestorm. >> it certainly did, jon. and george has more now with donald trump. >> and we're joined this morning by donald trump on the phone. mr. trump, thank you for joining

us this morning. you tweeted out yesterday, we have to be tough, smart, and vigilant. what, exactly, are you proposing in the wake of this tragedy? >> one thing we have to do, george, is we have to get these people that surround these maniacs to talk talking. people know when they're sickos for the large part in san bernardino with bombs all over the apartment. in this case, we'll find out that many of the people who lived next to him knew he had bad intentions. nobody reports to the fbi or the police. they just don't do it for whatever reason. we have to get that. we have to have -- we have to have a ban of people coming in from syria and different parts of the world with this philosophy that is so hateful and so horrible. >> but, sir, let me interrupt you on that one right there. how would the ban have made a difference? this man was born in new york.

he lived in florida. >> that's right. we have many people coming in whose hate is equal to his. just as bad, even worse, frankly. we have stop people coming in, we have no documentation. we don't know where they come from. in fact some of them have cell phones with isis flags on them. we're taking in people and it's getting worse. we're taking them in by the thousands. and you look at hillary clinton. she wants to increase it by 500%. she wants more to come in as opposed to none coming in or less coming in. and that in itself is a disaster. >> and one of the other things that we have learned in the last 24 hours is that omar mateen was interviewed by the fbi three separate times, investigated twice, yet he was able to buy a gun relatively easily. should something be done about that? >> well, he was licensed, also, george. when you talk about, like, gun control. when obama mentioned that yesterday, it was so inappropriate. that was not the problem.

the problem is we have maniac, we have a madman. he could have used a bomb just easily. probably more devastating. so, that's not the problem -- >> but should there have been more of a background check with someone with that kind of -- should someone who has been on a watch list like that, who has been investigated like that, should there be an extra level of background checks before you get a weapon? >> he was somebody that, frankly, it was very sad. because he did slip through the cracks. and the fbi has to be very upset about it. i'm a big fan of the fbi. they have to be very, very distraught. >> finally, you have gotten some criticism yesterday for one of the tweets that came out. talking about appreciating the congrats. hillary clinton's communications director said, trump, he's got no real plans to keep america

safe. instead, he has political attacks, weak platitudes and self-congratulations. your thoughts? >> i have been getting thousands and thousands of tweets and letters that i was right, congratulations. i said, i don't want congratulations. there was no congratulatory tweets. the last thing i want. i want strength, i want vigilance, i want people to report when they see something bad. the last thing i want is congratulations. i was right and i had been right and i am right. we need intelligence gathering like we have never had before. it's an enemy without a uniform, george. it's very dangerous. we're fighting an enemy without a uniform. >> mr. trump, thank you for joining us this morning. >> thank you very much, george. now, that was donald trump. we'll hear from hillary clinton next. the tempur-breeze makes me, not cold, but not hot... it's amazing! ah, it's like a summer breeze cracked window. it's that perfect cooling effect when you sleep. i can sleep the way that i sleep,

and he sleeps the way that he sleeps, and we don't disrupt each other. yeah, it's just cool, it's great! my tempur-breeze makes me happy. my tempur-breeze makes me happier! (laughs) discover the new tempur-breeze. to sleep happy guaranteed, and zero percent apr financing, visit mattress firm. america's number one tempur-pedic retailer.

to you, they're more than just a pet. so protect them with k9 advantix ii. it kills fleas, ticks and mosquitoes. k9 advantix ii. for the love of dog. my man friend that i've been syour man friend. like, as i was leaving i was like, "goodbye, i love you," and like... (laughs) what'd he say? i said, "don't say anything!" oh god! (laughs) 'cause now like, this is the cliffhanger, so we don't know if he loves you. what's gonna happen if he doesn't? ii can't believe it's made with real, simple ingredients.ter. i can't believe... we're on a whale. i can't believe my role isn't bigger. real ingredients. unbelievable taste. enjoy i can't believe it's not butter! the world is reaching out to the community of orlando this morning.

you see the vigils right here in this community. so much heartbreak as we remember those victims, the lives lost last night and the tributes coming in from around the world. abc's gio benitez has more on that. ♪ >> reporter: overnight, a nation in mourning and shock. people reeling and reacting across the country. emotions running high at the tony awards. >> hate will never win. >> reporter: from host james corden. >> all we can say is you are not on your own right now. your tragedy is our tragedy. >> reporter: to hamilton's man of the evening, lin. manuel miranda. >> when senseless act of tragedies remind us that we're not here. angd love is love is love is love is love is love is love cannot be killed or swept aside. >> reporter: to the giant of stage and screen frank langella. who told "variety" that he was so emotional about the shootings that he tore up his planned speech to pay tribute to the 50

victims. >> when something bad happens, we have three choices, we let it define us, we let it destroy us, or we let it strengthen us. today in orlando, we had a hideous dose of reality. and i urge you, orlando, to be strong. because i'm standing in a room full of the most generous human beings on earth. and we will be with you every step of the way. >> reporter: other celebrities sharing messages of support online. from lady gaga, stand strong with your pride. love is opposite of hate. to justin timberlake sending love to his former town. i hope we can wake up and realize we're all the same, just humans. as vigils were held across the country overnight from this growing memorial at the stonewall inn, a gay rights landmark in new york city -- ♪ oh say can you see >> reporter: to the gay men's

chorus of washington, d.c., standing in front of the white house singing "we shall overcome." ♪ we shall overcome >> reporter: but perhaps the most moving sounds of all -- orlando's gay men's choir singing cyndi lauper's classic anthem, "true colors." ♪ i see your true colors ♪ and that's why i love you >> true colors indeed. and we've seen all over town here in orlando, those colors lighting up buildings. those rainbow colors. even the world trade center in new york city. in australia, the sydney harbor bridge. amy in george? >> so much determination from people around the world to stand up against this kind of hate and this violence. >> that's right, the #orlandounited is such a powerful one. so many people coming together. seeing those long lines at the blood drives was so powerful. people just wanting to help. we know the gofundme page

soaring over $1 million. people from around the world, those donations pouring in, they're now hoping to get $2 million for the victims of the tragedy yesterday. certainly, that number will continue to rise. >> we hope it continues. we'll be back. coming up in the next hour, we'll have the latest from orlando. our team on the ground has a lot of new details. we'll talk about how you can talk to your family when something like this happens. every ingredient is the main ingredient. the new green goddess cobb with avocado, bacon, freshly made dressing, tomato... and chicken.

at panera. food as it should be. i'm in vests and as a vested investor in vests, i invest with e*trade, where investors can investigate and invest in vests... or not in vests. sign up at etrade.com and get up to six hundred dollars. having acne... ...was always on my mind. so i asked a dermatologist about new aczone dapsone gel 7.5%. i apply it once a day, any time. aczone gel 7.5% is fda approved for the topical treatment of acne for people 12 years and older. aczone gel is a once-a-day acne treatment with clinically proven results. in clinical trials, acne got better for people using aczone gel in just 12 weeks. aczone gel may cause the serious side effect of methemoglobinemia, which decreases oxygen in your blood. stop taking aczone gel and get medical help right away if your lips, mouth, or nails turn grey or blue. talk to your doctor if you have g6pd deficiency. using benzoyl peroxide with aczone gel may cause skin or facial hair to temporarily

turn yellow or orange where applied. common side effects of aczone gel include dryness and itching of treated skin. now, i have less acne to think about because i use aczone gel. you could pay as little as $15 for aczone gel. learn more at aczone.com aczone. prescription treatment. proven results. ♪ awwww. ♪ mmmm...yoplait.

and i used to ask if you could hear me now with verizon... not anymore. i'm with sprint now because guess what? it's 2016 and every network is great. in fact, sprint's reliability is now within 1% of verizon. and sprint saves you 50% on most verizon, at&t and t-mobile rates. so, i switched to sprint. and millions more have too. can you hear that? don't let a 1% difference cost you twice as much. switch to sprint today. we have a lot more coming up from orlando this morning. much more on the victims, those who were trying to save their lives.

and how this community is coming together. we're also going the talk about how parents can talk to their kids about this kind of thing. >> so many important lessons for us parents out there. we want to head to ginger and a check of the weather. >> amy and george, an ef-3 tornado through montana, baker, montana. over the weekend. six people injured. fortunately, no one killed. you can see the video here. scary images. so fortunate no one was hurt seriously. a look at where that could happen today. tornadoes and potential for hail in the plains. then on tuesday, it goes right into kansas city. so, watch out for the severe weather.

now from abc7 news. it's 7:56. good morning. let's go over to francis for a look at the weather today. hi francis. >> hi everyone. good morning. the low clouds are in and that's delays for fso. current temperatures on the mild side and oakland is 59 and mountain view is 60 degrees. we're going to be a little fewer by many location cans. oakland 70, san jose 70 and the cooling continues over the next couple of days. sue? okay. we have a couple of problem spots and let's look at the san jose area. westbound near the lawrence express way. an accident partially blocking a couple of lanes there. it's slow from 880 to 101.

>> thank you sue. more honor "gma" and the continue canning coverage on the massacre and another local update in 30 minutes and on the news app abc7.com. we hope that you join mike,

good morning, america. it's 8:00 a.m. a special edition live from florida. massacre in the nightclub. terror in orlando. [ gunfire ] new details on the deadliest mass shooting in american history, 50 killed, 53 more wounded. >> there were bodies everywhere. and i was crawling. i just kept crawling. >> it was literally like a scene out of a horror movie. >> and i just played dead. >> the s.w.a.t. team in a three-hour standoff with the shooter. now harrowing stories from survivors held hostage. texting their loved ones from inside the club. >> he said he was going to die and he loved me. that's the last thing i heard. >> the struggle to escape. heroes stopping to help the wounded. >> i took off my shirt and i just tied my shirt around his legs to stop the bleeding. parents in anguish trying to

find out what happened to their children. >> i don't know. this is terrible. he's my only child. >> orlando residents lined up for hours to try to help the victims. tributes pouring in overnight from around the world. >> when senseless acts of tragedy remind us that nothing here is promised. >> as the gay community and a nation struggle to come to grips with the massacre. full team coverage and a special tribute this morning on "gma." and good morning, america. we're live in orlando this morning, covering the aftermath of this nightclub massacre early sunday morning. robin on assignment. amy robach and our entire team here in orlando. we want to get right to the latest. >> that's right. here's what we know at this hour about the deadliest mass shooting in u.s. history. at least 49 people killed, plus the shooter, and 53 others wounded. after 29-year-old gunman omar mateen of ft. pierce, florida,

opened fire at the nightclub. declaring his allegiance to isis during the attack. he was on fbi radar, interviewed multiple times and so much tragedy now left in his wake. >> and the work to save the victims continues right now. so much blood needed and so many people turned up to donate they had to be turned away. we'll talk to jen ashton about that coming up. she's going to hospitals down here to talk about the response. right now, we want to get to abc's lauren lyster. she's here with us. you were one of the first on the scene. you have the latest now. >> reporter: george, in the last 24 hours, new and frightening details continue to emerge about how this all went down. but as the tragedy and the suspect come into clearer focus, we're hearing tales of the survivors and tales of the herorksh heroism. a city grief-stricken. inside orlando's nightclub pulse early sunday, terror and carnage. >> and out of nowhere, i just

hear -- and it was like an automatic gun. >> reporter: police identifying the lone gunman is omar mateen. his shooting spree killing at least 50, injuring 53 others. at 2:02 a.m., police respond to a call of shots fired. the shooter armed with an ar-type rifle and handgun, declaring his allegiance to isis. sprayed the packed club. some able to flee, many trapped inside. >> didn't look back, just ran to get out of there. that was my first instinct. >> reporter: three hours later, police moving in on what they say had become a hostage situation. s.w.a.t. officers exchanging gunfire with the suspect. killing him in the crossfire and along with tragedy, stories emerging of survival. >> a lot of screaming and a lot of running. >> i saw the fire coming out of his gun every time he shot it. >> reporter: and tales of fierce heroism. her friend angel, seen here recovering in the hospital, was running right behind her. shielding her from the gunfire.

taking a bullet as they fled. >> i was able to get out and the only reason was because of angel. because he got shot. >> reporter: president obama calling the massacre an act of terror. >> this is a sobering reminder that attacks on any american, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation, is an attack on all of us. >> reporter: more than 100 miles from the attack, bomb squads, local authorities, and the fbi searching the suspect's apartment complex as we learn more about the man behind the shooting. his ex-wife telling abc -- >> this was a sick person that was really confused and went crazy. >> reporter: but despite the darkness there was also light, vigils held around the country overnight. one of those gatherings, george, not far from right here. >> okay, lauren, thanks very much. want to go to brian ross, our chief investigative correspondent up in new york.

we just had another briefing here from the fbi and other local officials. and you have new information on the the final moments of that massacre. >> that's right, george. dramatic details of what happened in that final moment. police believe that most of the victims were killed in the initial shooting and then for three hours the gunman mateen held them off, talking on the phone, making his pledge of allegiance to isis. the police chief says he decided at some point there was an imminent threat to the remaining people inside. about 15 people in one bathroom. four or five in another. he made the decision to go through the wals. first, they set off explosives. did not pierce the wals. they then used an armored vehicle to go through the wall. the chief described the moment when 12, 13, 14 of the people inside, hostages, fled through the wall and the gunman himself came outside and that's when the final gun battle took place where he was killed, george. >> brian ross, thank you very much. compelling information. i want to go to pierre thomas. he's down here in orlando.

our senior justice correspondent. pierre, so many questions about how omar mateen slipped through the cracks despite being interviewed by the fbi twice and was able to purchase weapons in just the past few days. >> reporter: george, this is a huge issue this could happen again. this is a situation where the system simply did not blink red. you saw at the press conference, i just asked the fbi senior official here, why didn't the counterterrorism agents know that that man was buying guns even though he had been interviewed by the fbi? we're told today the fbi director may hold a briefing to discuss how this could have happened. this question is a serious issue going forward. and they know they have to deal with it because of all the pressure the fbi's under. they have 800 isis-related investigations going on in in country. imagine if information is not being shared like this information again, george, this could happen again. >> they're going to have to answer these questions, pierre thomas, thanks very much. let's go back up to new york, tom llamas is there with the other headlines.

good morning, tom. >> george, good morning to you. there are new details in another tragedy from right there in orlando. a young singer on the verge of stardom, christina grimmie was shot and killed moments after a concert on friday night. she was signing autographs for fans when she was gunned down by kevin james loibl. who turned the gun on himself. the motive is still a mystery. but police say there does not appear to be a link between her killing and the nightclub massacre. happening right now -- oscar pistorius is back in a south african courtroom, he's there to learn his sentencing for the shooting of his girlfriend reeva steinkamp. he was originally convicted on manslaughter. but that was upgraded to murder. he faces 15 years in prison. and new video shows the dramatic moment a baby girl is pulled from the rubble of an air strike in syria, she was trapped under what was left of a building after bombing raids killed two dozen people in that town. back here at home, texas continues to battle severe storms, being indoors didn't help.

this is what it looked like inside the houston galleria. water leaking from the mall's ceiling. some areas got an inch of rain in just 15 minutes. turning now to sports, the new nhl champion pittsburgh penguins arrive home today with the stanley cup. at last night's game in san jose, a moment of silence to honor the victims of the attack in orlando. the penguins beating the sharks, 3-1, clinching their franchise's fourth-ever title. and finally, lebron james and the cleveland cavaliers trying to extend their season tonight against steph curry and the warriors. golden state could claim its second straight nba title with a win tonight. you can see game five of the nba finals right here on abc. let's turn now to the morning menu and lara. >> all right, tom, thank you very much. coming up on "gma," we'll hear from two eyewitnesses who were inside the nightclub, recalling the terrifying moments when the gunman opened fire. we'll also hear from one of the

hero doctors rushing to save so many lives. plus, we have a special performance by the gay men's chorus of new york city. all that coming up on "good morning america." today's the day! oh look! creepy gloves for my feet.

when i was a kid there was a handle. and a face. this is nice. does it come in a california king? getting roid rage. hemorrhoid. these are the worst, right? i'm gonna buy them. boom. i'll take them. impulse buy. ommmmmmmmmmm. presenting the american express blue cash everyday card with cash back on purchases. it's all happening. and no annual fee. here we go! cash back on purchases. backed by the service and security of american express. cash back on purchases. to help protect your dog or cat from fleas and ticks. with the performance you expect from a monthly topical in a non-greasy collar... seresto® kills and repels fleas and ticks for 8 continuous months. seresto®. from bayer. mr. brady, we've been expecting you. will you be needing anything else?

no. not a thing. beautyrest black. get your beautyrest. cleans so well, it keeps your underwear cleaner. so clean...you could wear them a second day. charmin ultra strong. it's 4 times stronger, and you can use up to 4 times less. enjoy the go with charmin. hey marc, how you feelin'? don't ask. this is what it can be like to have shingles. a painful, blistering rash. i never thought this would happen to me. if you had chickenpox the shingles virus is already inside you. 1 in 3 people will get shingles in their lifetime. i'm going to go back to the eye doctor tomorrow. it's pretty close to my eye.

i don't know how you do it. talk to your doctor or pharmacist today about a vaccine that can help prevent shingles. legalzoom has your back. for your business, our trusted network of attorneys has provided guidance to over 100,000 people just like you. visit legalzoom today. the legal help you can count on. legalzoom. legal help is here. for over 100 years like kraft has,natural cheese you learn a lot about how people cook. i wish i had like four different mexican cheeses but in one super melty cheese. it does exist! you still have two cheese wishes left.

♪ we shall overcome ♪ we shall overcome that's the gay men's chorus of washington, d.c., at the white house singing "we shall overcome." so many remembering the victims killed in that massacre. standing in solidarity with them. and "nightline" anchor juju chang spoke exclusively with some of the survivors inside the

pulse nightclub. >> reporter: in an abc news exclusive, jeanette mccoy, and evan, telling us they're lucky to be alive, recounting the horror they faced inside the pulse nightclub when the gunman opened fire. >> the gunshots were just automatic. it was just boom, boom, boom. boom, boom. just headed in our direction. there's a girl in front. i'm seeing her get hit going into the bar. my initial reaction is to get out. we're falling on the ground. everyone is trampling over each other. i'm trying to get up. and all i'm thinking is, i'm just feeling, just like bullets are flying. you felt all the gunfire. even though this is close, the sounds were closer and closer and closer to us. >> reporter: but as gunfire echoed through the club the shooter silent. >> he wasn't saying anything. >> reporter: he was shooting people at point-blank -- or just indiscriminately. >> indiscriminately. i thought i was going to die. >> there were at least 20 people dead in the vicinity of where i was. it was hard knowing that i'm

alive because my buddy was right behind me. and he gets shot in his back. and he's in there. and his first concern was, where's jeanette? i thought she was dead, is she dead? and i'm not dead because of him, because of that. bullet was supposed to be on my back. >> reporter: that was angel? >> that was angel. he's my angel. >> i was one of the last people out, with the last group of people, we were upstairs, under a computer desk for like 25 minutes. and it keeps replaying. i could hear it. like i hear everything. >> you feel like you're in a war zone. it was just so chaotic. he wanted to kill every single one of us in there. >> reporter: for "good morning america," juju chang, abc news, orlando. >> our thanks to juju for that. joining me now is juan gonzales. he was there when the shots rang out. thank you for joining us this morning. i know you said last night, you said it was hard to sleep. >> it really was. after everything had passed, and

i was able to see my parents. just being home and being in the intimacy of my home that's when it really hit me, like, everything that happened and what i actually survived. >> take me back if you can to saturday evening, where you were when the shots rung out? >> i had just finished ordering a red bull. i was -- i signed my receipt paper. i turned to the left, speaking to my friend. making smag talk. out of nowhere i just heard gunshots. it was insane, literally like a scene straight out of a movie. >> how did you get out of that nightclub? >> it took time for me to realize, you know, that, hey, this is -- this is real life. like, this is what's happening. >> those are bullets and people are being killed all around me? >> exactly. it's really undescribable, i remember ducking to the floor and telling myself, this is it, this is how i die. this is the end of me. i remember praying on the floor

and, you know, asking god, like, help me. help me get through this right now. and i just found the courage to get up and find an escape. >> incredibly, in the chaos as you were trying to get out, i understand you even lost your shoes, that's how chaotic it was. >> yeah, like, people were running. people were getting trampled, you know, stumbled on and stuff like that. and we were just, honestly, everybody was just trying to get to safety. and, you know, it's kind of hard for you to think when there's literally just a whole bunch of fires being shot. >> was there a point at which you thought i'm not going to make it out of here? and i want to know what you thought when you did get out. what did you see? so many people were still trapped inside? >> like i said, i crouched down i was hiding underneath the bar. i was just telling myself, you know, this is not today, not today, i found the courage within myself to just get up and be like, this is not how you're going to die.

you're going to live. you're going to be able to survive this. we need to come up with a plan. people able to just find that exit. trying to push through the crowd. and finally escaping. like, i remember running and looking -- not even looking back just running, running, running, to the first lit building i saw which was a 7-eleven. >> we're so glad you're with us today. and certainly our thoughts are with so many of the others who were not as lucky as you. thank you for telling your story today. >> thank you. appreciate it. and we'll be back in a moment with hillary clinton joining us live with her response to this tragic shooting. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

the new ford escape. life is a sport. we are the utility. be unstoppable. i'm phil mickelson, pro golfer. my psoriatic arthritis caused joint pain. just like my moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. and i was worried about joint damage. my doctor said joint pain from ra... can be a sign of existing joint damage... that could only get worse. he prescribed enbrel to help relieve pain and help stop further damage. enbrel may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal, events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, nervous system and blood disorders, and allergic reactions have occurred. tell your doctor if you've been someplace where fungal infections are common or if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for... heart failure, or if you have persistent... fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. joint pain and damage... can go side by side.

ask how enbrel can help relieve joint pain and help stop joint damage. enbrel, the number one rheumatologist-prescribed biologic. (we got a new family member and she got a nutritious meal of purina cat chow complete with the four cornerstones of nutrition including high quality protein. now our family is complete. purina cat chow complete. new aquafina sparkling. lightness and refreshment in perfect sync. aquafina sparkling. for happy bodies. ♪ whatcha gonna do when you get outta here? ♪ ♪ i'm gonna have some fun! ♪ ♪ what do you consider fun? ♪ ♪ fun, natural fun! ♪ yeah, we rocking right now. ♪ ♪ there's a party over here. ♪

♪ hey, i'm in heaven. ♪ illuminates skin with pearl optics science. your concert style might show your age, your skin never will. with olay you age less, so you're ageless. olay. ageless. came out today thousands of people to run the race for retirement. so we asked them... are you completely prepared for retirement? okay, mostly prepared? could you save 1% more of your income? it doesn't sound like much, but saving an additional 1% now, could make a big difference over time. i'm going to be even better about saving. you can do it, it helps in the long run. prudential bring your challenges ♪ ♪

maxx life in store and online. find brands you love at prices that work as hard as you do. we're back now with more on the deadliest shooting in american history, the deadliest terror attack since 9/11. the political fallout now. we heard from donald trump earlier. now, former secretary of state hillary clinton joins us. and secretary clinton, thank you for joining us this morning. we've now had twice in the last six months, u.s. citizens, american-born, who radicalized themselves go undetected and carry out massacres like this. how can you win a war against what donald trump called an enemy without a uniform?

>> well, first, george, i want to express my sympathy to everyone who has been affected directly by this terrible event. everyone who lost loved ones, the families, people still fighting for their lives and, of course, to the first responders. i think you've got to look at this as the complex challenge it is. now that may not be something that donald trump wants to talk about. but we are absolutely up to going after lone wolves. working with our allies to dismantle the global networks that fuel this kind of radicalization. and i intend to set up a team, a dedicated team that's exclusively focused on detecting and preventing lone wolf attacks. that will mean setting up more resources and to integrate all information between law enforcement agencies, strengthening our communication and working closer with tech companies to prevent online

radicalization. so, while we are taking the fight to isis in syria and iraq, where we are determined to defeat them, we've got to really double down on our efforts here in this country and that means, you know, also getting the congress to do something on commonsense gun safety measures because that's not a separate issue. it is totally part of what we now see terrorists doing. >> let me ask you about that, i think a lot of people are puzzled by the fact that this young man was interviewed at least three times by the fbi yet able to buy the weapons because he hadn't done anything illegal. is anything you're proposing going to be able to prevent that? >> well, you know, i think this could look obvious in hindsight. i'm not going to rush to judgment on the decisions made by career law enforcement professionals who get up every day to defend our nation. we have to wait to see what the investigation shows us. but look, if there are things

we can and should do, we must. in this particular case, he was interviewed more than once because of reports about what he was saying. and yet he had absolutely no trouble walking in and buying the assault weapon, the military-style weapon that he bought and the ammunition that he bought. and we've got to work together, federal, state, and local government, to get better information into databases that can be used to try to prevent people who pose any kind of threat, whether it's because of mental health, domestic abuse or in fact terrorism from having access, easy access to these weapons. >> finally, may madame secretary, only 30 seconds left. but donald trump said he wants

to reimpose that muslim ban. you'll be letting people come to the united states that shouldn't be coming in. your response? >> well, as usual, he's absolutely wrong in what he's claiming. i have said very clearly that we are going to be very careful in vetting any refugee from anywhere who's coming to this country. i believe we can protect americans and do that. i would make sure every individual goes through the most thorough screening process. background checks. >> thank you for time this morning. >> thank you, george. bye-bye.

now from abc7 nuds. good morning. let's head over to sue hall for a quick check kboonchtsd morning. a couple of gq's and we have a motorcycle accident and northbound 101 and a long stretch and slowing traffic on 101 in the northbound direction and then the westbound near lake shore. we have an accident that's in the clearing phase. >> thank you

good morning. i am abc and it's going to be a cooler day. we have cool skies over the bay area. oakland is 59 and hayward and fremont 60 and san francisco 54. you will notice that we're coming down a few degrees and san francisco 65 and san jose 78. the cooling continues over the next couple of days. >> we're chpting a special report o from abc news on the orlando massacre. when it happens, i will bring it to you live. plus another local news update in 30 minutes and always on the news app and abc7.com.

the news continues now with "good morning america." welcome back to "good morning america." this morning the world is remembering those lives lost in orlando. in the worst shooting in u.s. history, a terror attack leaving 49 dead, plus the shooter, and 53 others wounded. >> and we're hearing more from the victims this morning about what happened in that nightclub. we'll talk this morning about how the gay and lesbian community here in orlando and the muslim community are trying to come together in the face of tragedy. amy, you have more on the medical response. joining us now is dr. michael cheatham. the chief surgeon. the trauma center where the victims are being treated. dr. cheatham, i can't imagine what the past 30 hours have been like for your staff, tell me how they're handling everything.

>> well, it's truly been a difficult time and a sad day for orlando. many of us love to call orlando home, it's a wonderful place to live. but this is a tremendous tragedy. we're all having to learn to cope with it and try to understand why it occurred. >> you all have done incredible work saving lives. at last count, we heard 26 surgeries yesterday alone. i'm sure more surgeries are being added to that list. give me a sense of what's happening at the hospital right now. >> yes, we still have 43 victims in the hospital. we started walking around, my partners and i to take a look at them again early this morning. we were operating until late last night. we have, as you said, we have done 26 operations yesterday. we have another six scheduled so far. we already have some of the victims in the operating room this morning. >> i can only imagine what's been like communicating with the family. i know i spoke with a brother

who's searching for his brother and so many families searching the hospital trying to find their loved ones, how is your staff communicating with the families? >> the first priority is always the patient. our second priority and very high priority is the families. you're absolutely correct. yesterday was -- it was a devastating day for many families. we tried to communicate with the families, we had about 200 within the hospital. we were trying to reunite families and victims as quickly as we could. the devastating thing was watching family members learn that their loved one wasn't in the hospital. and therefore, likely still in the club, unfortunately having died from this incident. >> dr. michael cheatham, thank you for all you're you've done. we appreciate you joining us this morning. >> thank you. so much incredible heartbreaking work being done by so many today. let's bring in dr. ashton. you have been speaking with doctors at the hospital.

we're hearing a lot about the need for blood and then we hear people are being turned away because the lines are so long. tell us the latest. >> one of the blessings that's coming out of this tragedy, people are learning how life saving blood donations can be. in this country, every 2 1/2 seconds someone in the country requires blood to save their lives. it's a relatively easy procedure. here at orlando regional, each of these trauma patients could easily use upwards 50 units of blood each. we're talking massive demands. that blood bank is still serving the needs of the other patients in that hospital. so, it's a process that people should know about. in terms of the restrictions of who can and can't, this is where the social and medical tend to overlap. socially, of course, it's the right thing to do that every

people especially in the gay community would want to donate. not just restrictions placed on gay men, there's a long list of people, people who traveled outside the country, on certain medications. so, people who are interested should go online, check with your local blood bank. to be clear, this is absolutely life-saving. >> and general, maybe a sad commentary of our time, every major hospital in this country trained to deal with mass casualties like this. >> george, what's going on here in orlando, is military precision medicine in the civilian arena. every hospital, especially level one trauma center like orlando regional, practice codes. every single person in that hospital right now whether they're directly involved with the care of these patients is some way on a disaster mode and they are trained. they practice this. the surgeons are doing what they call damage-control surgery. 26 operations yesterday just on these victims.

they get in and out, control the bleeding and then are planning to take those patients back for subsequent operations. >> what's next, 26 surgeries in one day is almost unfathomable to most of us. there are many unfortunately that will taking place over the next few days. >> this is going to be an incredibly day in the hospital. they operated overnight at orlando regional. many patients in the o.r. today and will be going back for second and third operations. again, we have to remember, other patients are being cared for in that hospital and receiving unchanged, excellent care. i want to be clear the fact that we haven't lost another victim yet is a testimony to the nurses, doctors and the nonmedical staff providing care at orlando regional. the first 24-hour time period is critical in trauma especially when you talk about gunshot wounds of this nature, high-velocity bullet wounds, and they're getting unparalleled care there. absolutely. >> dr. jen, thank you so much for joining us. back to new york now and

get another check of the weather with ginger. >> amy, more than 130 severe storm reports just over the weekend, including the hail in wyoming here, lots of those reports came from parts of wyoming. now it's moving to east. i wanted to show this. also flash flood potential. that's what they saw with almost a half-foot of rain or more. in maysville, oklahoma. that's moved down to the south and east. what will happen today, we open up the energetic atmosphere. north platte billings to amarillo. the enhanced risk, that slides a little bit to the east in a place like des moines, kansas city, omaha and >> all right, george, straight

back to you in orlando. thank you, ginger. so many citizens of orlando suffering in the aftermath of these attacks. and we're joined now by two community leaders, tim vargas and imam muhammad musr, the president of the islamic center of central florida. tim, i can't imagine how this has hit your community, how you all coming together dealing with it? >> well, it's been obviously very tough, the organization that i lead is a community center, so, yesterday, we sprang into action getting counseling, grief counseling network set up, establishing a crisis hotline and starting to work with community members that just needed somewhere safe to be. so it's been rough. >> what do you want to say to the gay and lesbian community to orlando? >> first of all, i want to say we are with you.

we stand right next to you, support you and we'll do our best to protect you. you know, we all as orlando community very shocked by what happened, the massacre yesterday morning, really was unimaginable. you know, over the years, our communities have been attacked by the same hate groups who would come and protest at their center and then they come to our mosque and protest. so, we are two vulnerable communities that are under attack. and to have someone who claims to be muslim go attack, you know, this community here is shocking. >> claims to be a muslim. >> claims to be a muslim, we say you can't be a muslim if you have the heart to hurt a human being. and we condemn his actions, you

know, on the strongest terms. what he did is a hate crime, is a criminal terrorist attack that we condemn as muslims in the strongest terms. >> you know, this is coming in the middle of gay pride month. you have seen these parades, celebrations across the country, but a lot of fear now as well. >> yes, you know, again, we saw lots of pictures coming from l.a. and different pride evens that are happening across the country, we received support from, you know, people around the world even, and it's just been super heartening to see, you know, out of this tragedy that there is a community that's pulling together and even more than that a world that's pulling together. >> do you feel united in the face of this tragedy? >> we have worked on many times on many fronts united the interfaith community here is united behind the lgbt community

and we are committed to our diversity as a community. the muslim community, i spoke to leaders from new york to california yesterday, said we need to stand up together to express our solidarity with the lgbt community. we need to stand up against terrorism, loud and clear against the actions of isis. and so, we're calling on a march in washington next month, on july 23rd, right at the national mall, we're asking muslims, we're asking everybody to come out in the community to support and to speak that this tragedy will unite us not divide us. >> thank you both for joining us >> thank you. we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ ♪ day after day ♪ day after day

♪ day after day ♪ ♪

as we look at those images we are back now with a psychiatrist here to talk about how to cope with the emotional fallout from the orlando attack and talk about it with your family. and we were just saying, if you have children you are wondering how do i even begin to explain this? but the truth is, how do you wrap your own head around it as an adult? >> absolutely. i mean, you have to trap into your own feelings. you may feel anxious, mad, scared, all of those are normal after a traumatic event like is this. it's difficult. >> as i walked to work today all of us are very sad, but there's a feeling of vulnerability. >> absolutely, there's that feeling and that thought that this could be me and can i still go shopping and to the movies? the answer is, yes, you have to. the intent of terrorism primarily is to inflict harm but it's also psychological to make you think you're not safe and you're more vulnerable. we have to take back that power.

and do what we have to do every day. >> let's take back that power and talk about how to talk about such a complicated topic with young children. >> think about their ages. so, certainly between the ages of 5 through 7, they may see and hear things, and you can acknowledge that there are bad things that happen. but as we can frame the discussion, yes, it was bad. but let's talk about what's good, let's talk about how to love, how i love you, how to be kind to other people and how to embrace and tolerate people who are different. so, it's an opportunity to really focus on what we need which is more love and more tolerance and not hate within our households and certainly within our communities. >> is there a possibility that you can talk about this too much? we're inundated with images on tv right now, every channel, is that possible, talk and explain it too much? >> you can limit exposure. what you can talk about is what's good and what's positive.

so, again, acknowledge the bad, acknowledge the uncertainty, acknowledge your own fear but frame it with love, frame it with positivity, even tap into love and kindness and how you show you love and kindness to other people. >> i think that's a beautiful message. how can you reassure your kids when you yourself aren't even positive that you're feeling safe? >> there are things that we do that keep us safe. we lock our doors, put on seat belts. remind us of day-to-day things that we do to stay safe. if your kids are old enough and probably 5 to, you know, 12 you can do what if situations. make sure you implement that with your kids. and facetime, hugs, making them feel connected. because at the end of the day,

life is uncertain but love is certain. >> yeah, and i love the idea of the what if scenarios little peace of mind. we appreciate your kind words. >> thank you. coming up, everybody, we've got a tribute from the new york

so many touching tributes and moving images of hope this morning in the wake of tragedy in orlando. the new york city gay men's chorus has a tribute in times square. here they are singing "light" from the broadway hit "next to normal." ♪ ♪ ♪ we need some light first of all we need some light ♪ ♪ you can't sit here

in the dark and all alone it's a sorry sight ♪ ♪ it's just you and me ♪ we'll live you'll see ♪ night after night we'd sit and wait for the morning light ♪ ♪ but we've waited far too long for all that's wrong to be made right ♪ ♪ day after day ♪ wishing all our cares away ♪ trying to fight the things we feel but some hurts never heal ♪

♪ some ghost are never gone but we go on ♪ ♪ we still go on ♪ and you find some way to survive ♪ ♪ and you find out you don't have to be happy at all ♪ ♪ to be happier alive ♪ day after day ♪ give me clouds and rain and gray ♪ ♪ give me pain if that's what's real ♪ ♪ it's the price we pay the

we pay to feel ♪ ♪ the price of love is loss ♪ but still we pay ♪ we love anyway ♪ ♪ ♪ let it let it let it ♪ let it shine ♪ shine ♪ day after day ♪ day after day ♪ we'll find our way

♪ knowing that the darkest skies will someday see the sun ♪ ♪ when our long night is done ♪ there will be light ♪ there will be light ♪ there will be light ♪ when we open up our light ♪ sons and daughters, husband, wives ♪ ♪ can fight that fight ♪ there will be light ♪ there will be light ♪ there will be light ♪ there will be light

♪ ♪ as long as you love me, anyit's alright. ♪e. ♪ ♪ bend me shape me, any way you want me. ♪ shape the best sleep of your life. sleep number beds with sleepiq technology adjust any way you want it. the bed that moves you. only at a sleep number store.

♪ ♪

get high speed internet from at&t. keep calm, your internet's on. thanks to new york city gay men's chorus and all of you for sharing this morning with us. >> what a moving tribute. we'll see you tomorrow. ibute. we'll see you tomorrow.

♪ ♪ ♪ don't you just love it ♪ ♪

now from abc7 news. good morning it's 8:59. let's get a quick check on the weather and francis standing by. how does it look? >> you will notice a soot b cooling and 54 in oakland and then san jose 63. brentwood at 65. a few degrees cooler than yesterday and cloudy and breezy at the coast. a solid stream of traffic if for the east drive. hercules all the way into san francisco and 20 miles and just under an hour. we do have mike on the bay bridge plaza. >> thank you sue. we're expecting a special report from abc news in 15 minutes regarding the orlando massacre. we understand that the chief is going to be making a brief.

as soon as that begins, we will have it >> it's "live! with kelly." today, host of "the daily show," trevor noah. and star of "adventures in babysitting," sabrina carpenter. and a performance from country star frankie ballard. plus "rosewood" star morris chestnut joins kelly at the co-host desk. all next on "live." [captioning made possible by disney-abc domestic television] >> and now, here are kelly ripa and morris chestnut! [cheers and applause] ♪