people are dead after a shooting at that nightclub early this morning. it's what they are calling an act of terror. domestic or international. at least 42 people were transported to local hospitals with injuries. the shooter, armed with an assault-type rifle, and a handgun, opened fire at that nightclub around 2:00 a.m. eastern time. that shooting developed into a hostage situation before police made the decision to move in, using explosives and an armored vehicle to break through the walls. it was then they were able to shoot and kill the gunman and rescue about 30 people inside. police have not yet identified the shooter or confirmed a motive. but they say the shooter was well-prepared and organized. and they are considering all possibilities. >> at approximately 0202 hours this morning, we had an officer working at pulse nightclub, who responded to shots fired. our officer engaged in a gun battle with that suspect.

the suspect at some point went back inside the club, where more shots were fired. this did turn into a hostage situation. from there, obviously, multiple officers from various agencies responded, s.w.a.t. team responded. at approximately 0500 hours this morning, the decision was made to rescue hostages that were in there. our s.w.a.t. officers exchanged gunfire with the suspect. the suspect is dead. he appeared to be carrying a rifle, assault-type rifle and a handgun. and had some type of device on him. that's what we're doing right now, checking the area for devices. >> we are investigating this from all parties' perspective, as an act of terrorism. any time that we have potentially dozens of victims in any of our communities, i think

we can qualify that as a terrorist activity. whether that's a domestic terrorist activity or an international one, is certainly something we will get to the bottom. >> so we made a decision to do an explosive entry on the outside of the club to get to those people. we also used the armored vehicle to help defeat that wall, and from there, we were able to rescue people and our s.w.a.t. team at that time encountered the suspect. somewhere in that area, near one of the doorway entrances and shot and killed him. >> as we await a news conference, we want to bring in darryl moody, radio host and correspondent in orlando. he's been following the developments. daryl, is there anything more you can tell us, especially when it comes to eyewitness accounts of what happened during the time of the shooting? >> well, from what we know, the gunman forced his way into the pulse nightclub, opening fire. there were some 320 people inside the nightclub, shortly

after 2:00 a.m. when this shooting took place. and there was an active hostage standoff for several hours afterward, between 2:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. that's when orlando police finally decided to go in with that s.w.a.t. team. there was an exchange of gunfire with the gunman. one opd officer was hit, shot in his kevlar helmet. that officer is expected to be okay. being treated at orlando regional medical center. i think what folks need to know through now, there are 20 bodies inside the nightclub, and investigators are painstakingly trying to secure the area outside of the nightclub before going in and retrieving the bodies and beginning the painstaking process of piecing together exactly what unfolded in the pulse nightclub in downtown orlando. >> painstaking efforts for them but even more so for family members and people waiting to hear about loved ones.

anything more you're hearing about that, as they're trying to find out what happened and where loved ones can be and how difficult that must be for so many people in the community? >> well, orlando police have actually taken the eye-witnesses they have been able to -- taken them to orlando police headquarters and questioning them there. i know there's been messages out here in the local media to family members who were obviously, you know, concerned, wanting to know where their loved ones are. saying only immediate family members are allowed to go to the medical center to talk to authorities there. same thing with opd. you know, with potentially dozens of victims still unaccounted for. obviously, there are a number of relatives and loved ones here in orlando. obviously, you know, waiting second by second to find out what happened. >> tell us more about what you know about the pulse nightclub. it bills itself as orlando's latin hot spot, also as a gay club. and last night was a busy night,

given it was latin saturdays. what more can you tell us about the nightclub and people who go there? >> well, it is a gay nightclub. located in what's known as the soto district, south of downtown orlando. a few blocks south of orlando, really, or downtown orlando, rather. it was a latin theme night. of course, we had gay days in orlando last week. so obviously, a big night there at the nightclub. authorities here tell us there were some 320 people inside that nightclub when those first shots rang out about two minutes after k a.m. >> and daryl, it has to be tough in your reporting and discussion, because i'm sure 24 hours ago you were talking about the violence and the shocking death of cristina grimy shot outside a concert as she was signing autographs and here we are 24 hours talking about this mass shooting inside a nightclub as we await a police news

conference. 20 people are dead. and this is something that your community and your town and the country, frankly, have to come to grips with. >> well, what's really troubling is where these two shootings happened. literally, 2.2 miles away from the plaza lines, a live music venue, where this young pop star was shot and killed, just 24 hours earlier. and here we are, south of downtown orlando. a lot of people think of orlando as disney world and the attractions and theme parks. but we are in the metro orlando or proper area. you know, not really a tourist area. this is i' -- you know, an up and coming nice neighborhood. where this pulse nightclub is located. and it really just, you know, for folks here in the community, we are all just kind of in shock. this is really in our backyard. >> really has to be so tough to wake up this morning to that news. thank you so much, darryl moody,

news radio host there in orlando. thank you for your time. i want to bring in bill gavin again, former fbi special agent as we look at the images here from the helicopter. bill, i don't know if you can see it. at one point, you could see the robot, that robotic device rolling in there. and at last check, the reporting was that after it was confirmed that the shooter had been killed as they go in there. and there it is on the left side of your screen, there were robotic devices checking for other -- potentially explosive devices. tell us what could be happening here. >> there's a couple things in my mind right now. that is, this individual had obviously a long-barrel weapon, automatic weapon to accomplish all this carnage. my question is, they have to look at when did he enter that nightclub. did he shoot his way in? was he in there? how did he get in there? is somebody keeping track of how many people are in that club?

do they have a bouncer at the door? all of those things have to be explored. right now -- then the use of the robot to go back in there and look at whether or not this individual might have had something else he left in the club to harm individuals that came in to do the investigation of what he was doing in the shooting. so it's a very, very complex investigation right now. my heart goes out to the families of the people who still have loved ones deceased in that nightclub. probably they don't have the identities of those people yet so the families of those people are emotionally distraught. and it's going to be that way for quite a few hours. >> you're absolutely right. that has got to be the more difficult part of dealing with this tragic, this horrific scenario. to say that this live look at the shot of the pulse nightclub where now at least 20 bodies are inside there as a result of this shooting.

and, again, as investigators go through in trying to find out what happened and also family members are trying to get in touch with their loved ones. many of them at the local hospitals, three blocks away, orlando regional medical center where many of them went. and there is a staging area where family is asked to go if they have questions. i want to ask specifically more about the scenario here, especially since we're taking a live look at the robot. i don't know if you're able to see it. is that something commonly used, what is it, and how does it work? when it goes inside, is there a camera where it's operated via remote? and especially given this scene inside with the bodies still there, how does it go about getting information that can be useful in determining whether the area is clear and safe? >> some of the robots are designed in such a specific way that when they go in, of course, they do have cameras, they do have lighting so they can light up the area and make the camera

active and make it work from the outside by somebody who is working it from a control. and they link the video over to the cameras, as well. the other thing they might be able to do is have sensors on that to determine whether or not it can pick up any -- detect any explosive that might be in the area -- still in the area. it will also give a picture of where the bodies inside that club are, where the majority are, where they might have been when they were shot, and things of that nature. to give them a better picture. and that will all be used as evidence later on. >> bill, we're seeing this unit here, city of orlando. i'm not sure what kind of unit this is. there's a variety of equipment outside. can you tell us a little bit more about this? can we assume that since that robot is there, they are going to wait until the all-clear is given by that robotic device before an actual human -- an officer steps in?

is that correct to say? >> i'm sure that it's a combination of a number of different things, francis. the individual -- they have to be prepared to remove those bodies, and i assume they will be bringing in the necessary equipment to do that from body bags, to ambulances to take the bodies away. they do -- they do work together with everybody doing a specific job. i suspect is that there has probably already been officers within that club, and -- to look at what's gone on in addition to what they're going to use the robot for. >> all right, bill, stand by. i want to bring in jim cavanaugh, who had been with us earlier this morning and joins us once again. jim, is there anything more you can weigh in as we're seeing what appears to be command units coming in, and you can see explain what you're seeing and what they might be used for, specifically with the robot, as we just saw? >> yeah, it's sweeping the area. you know, they send it in first to take a look around, it goes

up to any suspicious packages and sends the video back to the bomb squad. or tactical officer, depending on who is using it. if it's a suspicious package, they can disrupt it. so they're basically just doing a slow clear of the area, because they have to work there, francis, all throughout the day. >> do you see this jim, right now, as we see somebody who -- i don't know if it's correct to describe that as a hazmat, but certainly covered, not to -- you know, change or any of the evidence that's there. but certainly a snapping pictures for evidence that may help? >> yeah, that's crime scene forensic officer -- he's got on a suit and bootees so he doesn't contaminate the crime scene. he's photographing it. you photograph the scene first, of course. and then before you touch or move any evidence, so you're going to get a complete photographic picture of the inside, the outside, the layout. of course, then they go into a thing we call forensic mapping, where you can actually look at the trajectory of all the

rounds. of course, this gives a massive undertaking for a crime scene. but they're going to do it all according to the -- correctly. it's going to be cataloged. it takes time. the sweeps of the area, that will take a little time. and once they get to his vehicle, they'll be very cautious with that. you know, using robots and remo remote operation to get in there, look in there, pull the doors, look in the trunk, remove packages, et cetera. and, of course, his location, where he's from. which may already be happening in a city somewhere else in florida. we don't exactly know his address. but apartment, home, agents and officers will be there. and, of course, carefully examining everything there, as well. >> jim, what are we seeing right now, it seems like the back, not the parking area, but the back of the nightclub? and new images from this vantage point, we're seeing of windows that have been blown out, whether it's from the explosive

devices or whatever they have used? but also there is that device that -- what appears to be a robot. the trees are covering it now. but what can this tell you? this is the first time we have been seeing that angle of the club. >> yeah, i think -- yeah, i think they're just sweeping that area. now, the windows can be broken out for a variety of reasons. gunfire, of course. but sometimes tactical officers port the windows. they break the windows so they can get a rifle in there so they can cover the area where other officers may be moving. so it's called a break and rake. they port the window. some of that could have happened. it could have been from a flash bang. it could have been from bullets. likely it's been ported and bak breaked and raked by s.w.a.t. the robots search in the back to see if there is any suspicious devices. >> all right, jim. stick with us as we want to go and hear from some of the people who saw the shooting unfold and some of the witness accounts. joining me now is my colleague,

nbc's morgan rafford. tell us, what are these survivors saying? >> reporter: police are telling us at least 320 people were inside the nightclub at the time of the attack. one of them heard the shots and they described what they heard when people were hiding in bathrooms. people were running for their lives, even the post nightclub, which describes itself as the hottest gay bar in orlando, posted on facebook. everyone, get out of puddle a pulse and keep running. take a look at what people heard when they fled. >> he was at the nightclub with other friends. and i know his boyfriend has been shot multiple times and is in the emergency room. but i don't know where my son is. nobody can tell me where my son is. >> i heard everything, and i hit the ground and i just called out. because i was right by the -- i was near the exit by the couches. there's a vip section. and there's a bathroom right there. so i crawled my way out through

the bathroom area. >> the guy went crazy, shooting at least 40, 40 shots. there was more than one in there. more than one. went crazy there. >> i wondered what was going on. i was running. i heard over the thing they had massive, massive trauma victims coming in. but i had no idea. i was in the hallway. it was really ugly. >> francis, as you heard there, a mother there, just weeping, tears of terror, unsure of what happened to her son. and i want to just take you back for a moment to really give you a time line and some context of what we know thus far. at 2:00 a.m., an unnamed shooter at pulse, and that's when he came as officers say prepared. he had a vest, he had an assault rifle. he had a handgun. and then he actually left the club, and when he returned, he took a hostage. we know once he took that hostage, he wounded 63 people in it total.

20 people of those are dead. 42 were taken to the hospitals. nine officers were involved in that shooting. one was hurt, but he was saved by his helmet. and then by 5:00 a.m., eastern standard time, the shooter was dead. that was after a s.w.a.t. team entered and they actually blew out one of the walls so they could rescue that hostage. that was their mission but also when they killed the shooter. authorities entered the scene, and describe an act of terror but won't say it was domestic or international terror. officials say do not call their office, but instead asking for anyone who has clues to call the hotline because they're still trying to piece this together. a lot of witnesses also said you don't go to a bar to say i'm going to end my life tonight. instead you come to relax and he just describes hearing the shots one after another, and he heard at least 20. and then in the aftermath, francis, we know at least three hospitals on lockdown early this morning. only essential workers allowed

inside. and local papers saying this morning, at least four counselors have been called into the area to help especially members of the lgbt community. many of whom feel they were the victims of an attack. the mayor has tweeted despite the fact tonight's crime will have a lasting effect, the actions of the first responders and hospitals will save many lives. >> there are still so many questions about who was responsible, who wats the one behind this shooting as police describe him as well-prepared and organized, not from the orlando area, but trying to positively i.d. him. hopefully we'll get questions answered when police give their briefing at 9:30 this morning eastern time, as well as update us on the number of people who have died and the number of people who are injured. our coverage will continue after this break with my colleague, chris jansing. for now, i'm francis rivera. and we'll be back right after this. if a denture were to be

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good sunday morning. i'm chris jansing in new york. there is breaking news out of florida. we're waiting for a news conference with orlando police after an early-morning shooting at a nightclub. at least 20 people dead. a gunman armed with an assault-type rifle and handgun opened fire on the crowd at pulse, an orlando gay nightclub. it happened around 2:00 this morning eastern time. more than 300 people inside the club at the time. at least 42 have since been transported to area hospitals with gun shot wounds. the suspect is dead following a shootout with law enforcement. police say he is not from the orlando area, but they haven't yet confirmed a motive for the crime. >> our community witnessed or experienced a very horrific crime. many lives were lost and many more individuals were impacted

by witnessing the crime. many were saved, however, by the heroic efforts of the men and women of opd. and so that was the briefing we had a little earlier this morning. we are hoping to get much more about seven minutes from now. 9:30 eastern time. police are going to give us an update on this situation. so much that we don't know. we do know that the nypd is helping to respond to this. no police department, no city in this country knows more about terrorism, counterterrorism. they have placed their patrol and counterterrorism resources on alert, waiting for more information to come out of orlando. obviously, the fbi is involved in this. and the key question, who is this guy? where is he from? what was he doing there? why did he open fire on this nightclub inside?

descriptions of scenes of horror. people have told msnbc they had to crawl over bodies in order to get out. you can just imagine a packed nightclub, early-morning hours, and fire. let me bring in clint van zandt, msnbc contributor, joining me by phone, former fbi agent. one of the things we should warn, you and i, clint, unfortunately talked back in december after the san bernardino shooting. we talked in june of last year after the charleston shooting, of course. back in 2013, the boston marathon bombing. and these things tend to unfold unpredictably, sometimes very slowly. you have to be very careful about first information that comes out. but what are you looking for, what might they know at this early stage in this press conference, clint? >> right now, alex, it looks like they're working with one shooter. we haven't had any other information to suggest otherwise. now, you and i know when we have

shootings like this -- take, folks, ft. hood, where witnesses suggested multiple shooters. part of the reason was that the shooter was moving around. and number two, the sound ricochetting off the walls and coming at people different directions. well, that can happen in an enclosed building like this too. we're told this was not just a big, open conference room or bar that it had multiple, small rooms inside of it. so those people within each room, it may have soundeded like the sound was coming from different locations. may have caused them to suggest multiple shooters. of we're also told the individual may have had a device which some believe might have been an explosive device. alex, that harkens us back to the olympic park bomber. all the way back in 1996. and where that takes us back to is not only someone who was bombing, but he owe in his case,

bombing gay bars. so establishments like this have been the target of the fringe of the fringe for a long time now. at least almost 20 years at this particular point. so law enforcement is working very hard, trying to identify not only who the shooter is, but what his motive is, and who may have contributed either emotionally, physically, financially, psychologically. alex, we have seen school shootings, you and i have covered, where we always know that in the aftermath, when we do this emotional autopsy afterwards, we find out that the shooter has talked or leaked information like that. >> clint, stand by. i want to just read a statement that was just released by the press secretary, josh earnest, from the white house. in reaction to this horrific shooting in orlando, early morning hours today. the president was briefed this morning by lisa monaco, assistant to the president for homeland security and

counterterrorism on the tragic shooting in orlando, florida. 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 orlando police to gather more information. and directed that the federal government provide any assistance necessary to pursue the investigation and support the community. we would expect the president to be meeting with his counterterrorism advisers from officials in -- who deal with these types of issues, including representatives of the federal organizations that are involved in this. clint, help us to understand how this investigation will unfold. you have the fbi, obviously. you have the orlando folks who responded to this. we've got this statement from the nypd who are ready, willing and able to help in any way they can. what will be the jurisdiction, who will be in charge of what, and what are the major areas of

responsibility? >> well, in this particular case, the orlando police department and the local sheriff's office. they are fully capable of handling a homicide investigation. but it looks like the shooter is believed to be outside of the area. so in this particular case, although the fbi, atf and other agencies will be assisting with the crime scene investigation, the gathering of evidence, tracing the two weapons. we're told a semi automatic pistol and assault rifle, they'll have to be traced and see where they come from. so a lot of this can be done locally. but some may be done else where in the state, the florida department of law enforcement is fully capable of doing. but then it may move from state to state, especially if you have this individual influenced by other people within or especially out of the state. so the fbi will take the lead on that, especially on the possibility, and i think most of us agree. this is a terrorism -- this is

an act of terrorism with this type of aroundage. the question is, is it a lone wolf terrorist acting out for his own personal reasons against those who may attend this -- go to this bar? was he targeting someone in general? was he acting under the influence of someone else? or could it be an active international terrorism, which he know you talked to jim cavanaugh earlier. i agree with jim. for an act of international terrorism, this is not necessarily the first target you would see an international to go after. but again, that's still to be seen. but the fbi does have a good handle already on who this person is, i can guarantee. there were dozens of fbi agents and other federal, state and local officers that are running down everything they can get their hands on about this person. one of the things they have to do very quickly is find the car, if any, that transported this individual to the scene. if the shooter had an explosive

device inside, and if law enforcement used a bearcat to go through the wall, an armored vehicle, to go through the wall of the bar basically because you're afraid there may have been a booby trap on the door perhaps and you didn't want to go through the door, they'll have to look the same way of his vehicle. and, again, this harkens us back to the colorado movie shooting, when that particular individual had booby trapped his entire apartment. it could have levelled the apartment building. so all things have to be considered. but we don't want to see anybody else hurt. this has been a horrible, terrible act of carnage an this individual's part. we don't want anybody else to die, investigators or civilians, as they try to put this together. >> clint van zandt will stand by for us. a horrific act of what police

are calling terrorism. 2:00 this morning, a lone gunman opened fire inside a gay nightclub in orlando, florida. 20 people, at least, have been killed. 42 wounded. a police officer hurt, as well. after this hostage-taking situation, which ended in the death, as well, of the gunman. who he is remains a key question. what his motive was, as clint was saying, remains an unanswered question. where is he from? how did he get here? how did he obtain all of this weaponry? those are all questions we were hoping to get at least initial responses to. but now the news conference that was scheduled for 9:30 has been moved back 45 minutes, as police continue to gather information. it will now be held at 10:15. an update at 10:15 eastern time. in the meantime, here's a little of what police had to say earlier today when they first briefed about this attack.

>> we are investigating this from all parties' perspective as an act of terrorism. any time that we have potentially dozens of victims in any of our communities, i think we can qualify that as a terrorist activity. whether that's a domestic terrorist activity or an international one, is certainly something we will get to the bottom. we are looking at a range of 20. unfortunately, trying to clear the pulse nightclub of any devices. we did find a device on the suspect himself. and possibly his car. so we're trying to clear all of that. and, unfortunately, there are some people who have succumbed to gunshot wounds, maybe around 20 inside the nightclub. >> joining us now, nbc news and msnbc national security analyst, kevin baren. thanks very much for being with us. let's talk about one of the things that surely is going on now, which is we have to make

sure that this is the only person involved, that this is not part of some larger conspiracy. that potentially there could not be other attacks planned. tell us what's going on in that regard right now. >> well, as you know, you think back to san bernardino, which i am -- it's hard to make sense of why. what's the motivation here? why at this club? so here's -- i'm from orlando. i grew up about two miles from this place. used to be a pizza restaurant my family went to. and i've already spoken to families at the scene. it's stunning and unthinkable for them. but like your last caller said, i think the fbi right now and all of the counterterrorism power of the federal government is trying to decide or figure out who the shooter is. is this a terrorism-directed or is it a workplace shooting? san bernardino was kind of a hybrid where we discover that the shooters where inspired by terrorism, but targeted out their own workplace for a good

old fashioned workplace shooting. this is different now. it is a nightclub, but from what i'm told or remember of that building, that place is tiny. it is a very small place. and one of my friends said, you could open fire and hit a lot of people real quick. it is not some cavernous hall just outside of downtown, it's just an unfathomable thing for something like this to happen. >> so we're looking at live aerials now. and obviously people being kept away from there. but give us a sense of how orlando has changed, where this is, because most people's experience, frankly, with orlando is disney, the theme parks, the happiest place on earth. the residential areas of it. the other parts of orlando, which has gotten much bigger, obviously, not so familiar to most people who visit there as tourists. give us a little sense of sort of the place and the area there. >> well, there are two orlandos,

you're right. there is theme park land on the outskirts and then there is downtown. i'm from a family that grew up there. my father grew up in orlando back in the '50s. frankly, everybody knows everybody. and this is an area just between downtown orlando and the conway district. family restaurants, old houses, moss-covered oaks lining brick industries. it's a beautiful city, beautiful downtown area, far from the hubbub of disney and the -- all of the theme park land out there. to me, it's similar to the difference between if you're a local in l.a. and work in hollywood or if you grew up in washington here or part of the big politics scene. this is hometown life. >> let's talk again about the investigation, and clint is on the phone, as well. so, you know, both of you should feel free to weigh in on this. but let me start with just sort of the overall general question

about how concerned are they right now, clint, in the orlando area that this guy was not operating alone? >> well, i think it's a legitimate concern. we've heard from the local police department that they have no reason to believe it was otherwise. but, you know, that speculation until you know -- and i think law enforcement has to play it safe on something like this. that's why you see this overresponse. and i don't think you can have too great of a response to something like this. but i guarantee, every available local county and state police officer, they're in that area on the off chance there would be some secondary attack. in essence, we have seen situations before where an individual lone wolf will attack one site and then there may be an attack in another site. that doesn't have to be a person. it could be an explosive device or something like this. so i think they see no evidence

at this point to suggest this individual was working with anyone else. but i don't think they can rule that out, alex, until they fully develop who the person is, what their motive was, and who, if anyone, supported them in this act. >> we're getting a lot of reaction on social media right now. if you can stand by, gentlemen. the governor has tweeted, we will devote every resource available to assist, saying also that his prayers are with the victims' families and all those affected by the shooting in orlando. marco rubio, of course, the former presidential candidate, u.s. senator, representing florida. our prayers are with those injured and killed early this morning in a horrifying act of terror in orlando. hillary clinton says she 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 the orlando regional medical center, which was in lockdown for a while, and remains in

lockdown. they have lifted the lockdown for nold palmer hospital. they said the chief surgical quality officer for that medical center, as well as the trauma surgery will be participating in a press conference that now is scheduled for 10:15. our chief justice correspondent, pete williams, joins us now. pete, what can you tell us from your sources? >> reporter: well, three locuses of the investigation right now, chris. one is that the nightclub itself -- that's going to be a many-day operation to try to reconstruct forensically what happened there. secondly, the police eager to interview witnesses in the club. either people who escaped or those who were wounded and are now hospitalized and being treated. and then the most active part for the federal investigate, at this point is to try to figure out more about who this gunman was, and what the motivation was. we're told by several local and

federal officials that the -- that they have identified this person as omar mateen, m-a-t-e-e-n, born 1986 in new york, had an address in florida in a port saint lucy florida address. and some indication that this person had radical influences, perhaps had been looked at a couple years ago. they're still trying to piece that together. early indicators, we're not sure precisely what they are, whether this was social media interaction, personal interaction, phone calls, e-mails, all those things being checked right now. but there does seem to be some radicalizing influence here. this was a u.s. citizen, so this was not a case of someone sent here to carry out attacks, as far as we know. that will be another thing they look as as far as this man's travel. did he leave the country, go somewhere where he could have been exposed to radical elements. all of those are questions to be

answered. they seem to be moving along pretty well now, identifying him, looking at early influences. but as we saw from the shooting in san bernardino, these things take many days to fully develop. >> pete, give us a sense of the different places within the federal government that would be working on this, and who would be pursuing these various areas of questions. >> reporter: well, obviously, the lead here will be the fbi. and if it is an act of domestic terrorism, by law, they'll take the lead. and that's only natural. that's their strength. so while the florida authorities do the forensic work and try to reconstruct the shooting, the fbi will be looking at him and looking at his influences, his social media, his travel. really, constructing a time line. all kind of a day-to-day, hour-to-hour, almost minute-to-minute chronology of what led up to this. and the bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms is tracing the weapons. the florida authorities have said he had two, an assault-type

rifle and a handgun. so they will trace those weapons. a u.s. citizen, born in '86. he certainly would be legally qualified, unless there was some criminal conviction in his past that we're unaware of. he could have legally purchased those two. but they'll want to know that. when and where did he buy them, in fact did he buy them. did someone else get there. remember, in the san bernardino shooting, the two people who fired the shots there, did not actually buy the gun. someone else d someone now facing federal charges for that. that's something atf will do. the authorities will look at his travel, the state department will look -- i.c.e. and homeland security will look at whether he left the country, look at his travel records, did he come in or out of the u.s. so this is all kind of an all-hands-on-deck here thing. the department of homeland security and justice department will be the most heavily involved. >> and having been in san bernardino, pete, and having

been in charleston and boston and far too many of these shootings and then also being at the white house for two years, and having an opportunity, though, far less experienced than you, with working with some of the federal officials and talking to them, one of the things you and i discussed after the san bernardino shooting was the difficulty in tracking all of these folks. and when you talk to terrorism officials, active terrorism officials in washington, one of the things they'll tell you is that there are just so many people, it's impossible to track them on a day-to-day basis. it's impossible to keep everyone who has ever been on the list active on that list. talk about the challenges of following people who at one point or another may have had either some run-ins or in one way or another been tracked by federal officials. >> that's a huge challenge.

because -- and this is even a bigger challenge for the authorities in europe who are just so maxed out by the sheer number of people. but that's right. it is a huge challenge. you have to try to focus your energies on people that you think are the most dangerous. and if you look at someone and they seem to have been espousing radical ideology, there isn't the manpower to watch them in perpetuity. so if it is true that this person came across the radar three years ago, and nothing ever came of it, then you have to move on and you have to follow leads that are more recent. so that's always a huge challenge. there are just hundreds and hundreds of people around the country at any given time that the fbi is focusing on, is surveilling, that local law enforcement is. and, of course, then the hard part is people so often say, the folks who have never been on the radar, who are exposed to radical influences and decide

strictly on their own to take some kind of action and never tell anyone. and that's, of course, simply impossible to know. >> and clint van zandt, if i can bring you back in, let's talk more about that challenge. because how do you differentiate when you are dealing with hundreds of people and you know that the fbi and other law enforcement agencies get tips all of the time, some of which may be significant, and many of which may be quote, unquote, a waste of their time, but they

have to track them down? how do you differentiate?

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a scene of horror inside an orlando nightclub in the early morning hours today when a single gunman opened fire, killing 20 people, wounding 42 others, and eventually he was killed in a gun fight with s.w.a.t. officers. dozens of police and police vehicles responding to the scene. that was including local police, the s.w.a.t. team. there are now state and federal investigators involved as well.

we are going to continue to wait for this news conference scheduled for 9:30 but now moved to 10:15 of t. in the meantime let's go to jim miklaszewski who's at the white house and i understand the president has been briefed. >> reporter: that's right, chris. in a white house statement from josh earnest he said the president was briefed by lisa monica, the assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism on this tragic shooting. in this statement it says our thoughts and prayers are with the families and loved ones of the victims. the president has asked that he receive regular updates throughout the day, and he's essentially issued all federal agencies who could be involved in this, the fbi and the like, to provide whatever kind of investigative support they can to the orlando police and authorities there, and other agencies to provide whatever comfort and assistance to the

entire community. so far we're being told that there's no indication that there are any plans for any changes in any schedules here today which have not been posted or any plans for any kind of public briefings by anybody here from the white house. but you'll remember not too long ago when the president was asked probably what was your darkest day in the white house, you remember that he referred to the dozens of young schoolchildren, elementary schoolchildren, who were cut down in a shooting spree up in newton some years ago. >> i've been in that briefing room when the president has come out after one of these mass attacks. this is something that he and particularly his senior advisor, valerie jarrett, have worked very closely on. ni mik, does the president have anything on his official public schedule today? >> reporter: nothing on the schedule but weekends are subject to pretty rapid changes

and additions in terms of the president's and first family's movement. we just don't have any indication what that might be today. so far, no indication that we expect to see him as of now or get any kind of public briefing from the white house. >> jim miklaszewski, thank you so much of t. and that is not uncommon. in situations like this i can tell you the president and his staff, they want to leave this kind of public information to the authorities, to the people who are dealing with it. they have points of contact, including lisa monico, his counterterrorism advisor, who keep him apprised, but in the meantime we've never heard either the president or any member of his staff come out very early and get ahead of what local law enforcement is saying. they're very careful with exactly what they say so it's not surprising that we're not expecting to hear from anybody at the white house today. we have been hearing

particularly in the early morning hours from some witnesses as well as family members of the people who were involved in this horrific situation inside the pulse nightclub. take a listen. >> my son was at the nightclub with his boyfriend and other friends. and i know that his boyfriend has been shot multiple times and is in the emergency room. but i don't know where my son is. no one can tell me where my son is. >> i heard everything and then i hit the ground and i just called out. because i was right by the -- i was near the exit by the couches. there's a vip section they make with couches and there's a bathroom right there. so i crawled my way out through the bathroom area. >> the guy went crazy shooting like at least 40 shots. there was more than one in there. more than one. [ bleep ] went crazy there. >> my son, shawn, was at the club. he was sitting out on the patio.

and he heard several pop, pop, pops and he heard people say "run" so he jumped over the wall across the street, so he didn't get injured. but the friend that brought him, he's been shot three times. we don't know what his condition is. there was another one of their friends. we haven't found him yet. and my son is just -- he's just devastated. >> and so we are waiting for this news conference at 10:15 eastern time to get the latest on what police may know. the most recent information we got from nbc's jim miklaszewski, who identified the shooter for us, omar mateen, born in 1986 in new york. his address right now is in port st. lucie and without a doubt police will be at that scene and starting to meticulously go through that home for clues, any computers that he may have, any

electronic devices. one of the things they'll be looking for was, was he in touch with anyone else. they don't believe anyone else was involved, this looks like a lone shooter situation, but it's unclear right now. obviously out of an abundance of caution, that's one of the lines of investigation that they are following. also going to be looking at whether or not witnesses have any good information for them, trying to reconstruct the scene, reconstruct exactly what happened inside. in those kinds of situations, it's extremely hard to get consistent witness statements, but we'll hear all of that from the police coming up in just about 15 minutes from now. we'll take a break and be back with more. you're watching msnbc. a big hassle? not with safelite. this family needed their windshield replaced, but they're daughters heart was set on going to the zoo. so we said if you need safelite to come to the zoo we'll come to the zoo! only safelite can fix your windshield anywhere in the us.

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