how rare it is, especially in rural areas. you can go your whole life without ever using your gun. last night 11 city police officers in orlando had to use theirs to defend themselves and try take down this terrorist gunman. he was a lot of things according to the press accounts that are coming out today. he was an abusive husband for a short time. he was a homophobe driven to violence by what he saw on the streets of orlando, two men kissing, after which he became incensed. 5:00 hour has arrived. it has been roughly 12 hours since the situation was finally stopped in orlando and we learned the extent of the death toll. at first, a lot of americans woke up to learn the horrible number that as many as 20 people may have been killed in a mass

casualty event. but there was an audible gasp when that number jumped to 50 killed and 53 wounded. pete williams has been looking into this. was he radicalized? was this isis directed or isis inspired? pete williams, i believe you'll agree with me it was the latter, inspired perhaps, by isis. >> that's the indication so far according to law enforcement officials who are trying to see whether there is any connection between isis people overseas and him, any direct communication, and to see what extent he was consuming isis propaganda. when he called 911 just before he began shooting, he expressed support for al baghdadi. he was interested in islamic

violence and radical jihadic violence as many as four years, which was before the rise of isis. certainly before the rise of isis propaganda. that's when the fbi said he was in essence spouting off to coworkers about violent extremism and his own interest in it. they interviewed him at the time and decided there was nothing to it but bluster. the following year they were interested in the fact that another man from the same place he was living, ft. pierce, florida, which is 120 miles from orlando, that he had connection with moner mohammad abu salah. he came back to florida after being in syria officially. the fbi says they became aware he had some contact with abu salah. after looking into it, they decided it was very minimal,

very psmall. as we have reported all day long, nbc news has been told by his father that he saw this thing in florida and that may be what touched him off. one question here is how long was he planning this attack. the atf said just a moment ago he bought a handgun and a long gun just last week. we've since been told by authorities that those were the weapons that were used in this shooting. if he planned it far in advance, he only recently bought the guns. we don't know whether he was going to target that specific facility in orlando. >> pete, was the long gun in question indeed an ar-15? if so, remind our viewers what other shootings it's been associated with recently. >> well, they describe it as an

ar-15 type weapon. the ar-15 is made by colt. it's a weapon that can hold a high capacity magazine. it's what people call an assault weapon. once you put this high capacity magazine in the rifle, then you can fire around. every time you pull the trigger there is no need to cock the weapon or fire the trigger. it is the most common rifle sold in america. they are certainly legal to buy, but they've been associated with mass shootings in the past, which is one reason why advocates of banning them say their sales should be restricted. recently, there was a community in illinois, highland park, illinois, which is a suburb of chicago that passed an ordinance to ban ar-15s.

the judge in that case said they have been used. they so readily adapt themselves to mass shootings, but opponents of banning them say they are a favorite of sportsman and you can carry out a mass shooting with almost any kind of firearm. they have been associated with mass shootings in the past. >> i'm told we're going to pause here and roll some video of last night, which includes the sound of what this thing sounded like at its height. [ gunshots ] >> oh, my god. people are getting shot, dude. oh, my god, dude. >> this guy is firing off shots. >> oh, my god. people are getting shot, dude. >> that's repeating on a loop. we will eventually learn at the end of the investigation how many rounds were expended. we've seen in aerial photos the

blown out picture window in one side of the club. again, it took 11 police officers in all to fire their weapons to bring this person down. pete williams, thank you. we'll be coming back to pete williams in our washington bureau. we've just been joined by alex casirer. tell us about flash point. first of all, our viewers who are not familiar with it and what you have learned in the hours since. >> we look for areas of the web that aren't indexed by your normal search engines. it is the deep and dark web that hackers, cyber criminals, fraudsters, where they congregate and communicate and prepare. my area of expertise is jihadists.

we've been looking at this through the angle of terrorists. are their claims of credit? what is the general chatter? >> alex, i heard someone say today that isis saw their mention and involvement in this and then said after the fact, yeah, he was one of ours. what they try to do is kind of take you aside to one of those deep dark corners of the web you just mentioned and that is where isis does at least electronic kind of recruitment, correct? >> yes, exactly. so what happened actually was after news had broke that the individual had allegedly pledged allegiance or shown support of bag

al baghdadi, this group did release a short statement claiming that this individual was an islamic state fieghter. it wasn't a claim of credit. there were unspecific details. it didn't show it was directed or the group had knowledge of the event before it actually took place. >> you agree there's a huge difference in terminology here. we're going to hear both terms over the next few days here there's a big difference between isis directed and isis inspired. >> we're seeing more isis inspired. when you have isis directed, there's a lot more information built around it. the capacity and the ability and the sophistication is a lot more so than what we see in inspired events. isis's official spokesperson has called repeatedly for individuals to carry out attacks in support of the group however they can whether it be running over people in cars and spitting

on individuals. the problem here is that more and more so we're seeing this inspired kind of attack. >> without social media, without the rise of the internet, would we be seeing this kind of thing? >> i don't think to the extent that we're seeing it. al qaeda in iraq was the one that revolutionized this use of the internet. even then it was really, really unsophisticated. we have seen isis come to the fore. they're much, more adept at using this technology and obviously they still are on these deep and dark webs of the internet where they have these forums where they communicate in an official capacity. these groups have online couriers are they disseminate the propaganda in these chat rooms. they've built their own proprietary platforms showing how technically sophisticated they are. >> is it fair to say if all americans could see what you are able to see and analyze during the course of a day, they'd

probably never leave their house in the morning? >> i think that's difficult to say. there is obviously a lot of big talk, but a lot of what we're seeing is isis trying to get out in front of the public as much as possible. propaganda, what i see ends up going onto twitter and facebook, but there a lot of threats made. but a lot of it there isn't necessarily the force behind them to actually be able to execute. i think the real danger lies in individuals that can get inspired. that's difficult for law enforcement to cut down on them. >> here we are covering a joint hate crime and terrorist attack. has there been anything recently that has left you optimistic, any trend away from violence that you have picked up? >> obviously, i monitor jihadist activity and their communications. i look at the groups and how

they're evolving ae inine inin e communicating. when they are scrutinized on one platform like twitter, they suspend accounts that they are easily able to go on different platforms and evolve. they're driven back under ground. then they find an encrypted platform. they're able to find this middle ground between these forums and twitter. they're still able to reach the masses and congregate and speak effective effectively. >> thank you so much for being with us. she's an analyst at flash point. we're going to join a news conference that has just started that is under way. the council of american islamic

relations, cair, you see behind them. they're introducing speaker after speaker. >> -- in cold blood. as a muslim, as an american, i would like to make this statement. our hearts, thoughts, and prayers are with the victims and their families. we offer condolences to the families and we pray for the recovery of the survivors. this is a hate crime, plain and simple. we condemn it in the strongest possible terms. it violates our principles as americans and as muslims. let me be clear. we have no tolerance for extremism of any kind. we must not tolerate hateful rhetoric that incites violence against minorities. religious freedom is the cornerstone of our beliefs as muslims and as americans. today, we must stand united.

for many years, members of the lgbtqia community have stood shoulder to shoulder with the muslim community against any acts of hate crimes, isl islamophobia. we cannot fight injustice against some group and not against others. homophobia, transphobia, and islamophobia are interconnected systems of oppression. we cannot dismantle one without dismantling the others.

homophobia and other forms of phobia take lives in this country every day and we must stand up for the victims and for their families. the criminals, the terrorists, and extremists behind these kind of attacks mean only to divide us and turn us against one another. we cannot afford to let them succeed. as muslims, as americans, now is the time to speak out and make it clear that we will not give into hate and we will not give into fear. we heard in the news that the alleged perpetrated called in and he pledged allegiance to daesh or isis. i have a word for isis and their supporters. how would you stand before god and answer to your crimes against innocent people, thousands of innocent people,

muslims, christians, and other minorities? you do not speak for us. you do not represent us. you are an aberration. you are an outlaw, or as we call it in islam, they are outlaws. they don't speak for our faith. they never belonged to this beautiful faith. they claim to, but the 1.7 billion people are united in rejecting their extremism and their interpretation and their acts and senseless violence. to those politicians who may try to exploit this tragedy, we ask them to respect the victims and their families. this is not the time to score points. this is not the time to exploit fear. this is the time for unity and faith. thank you.

>> that was the council on american islamic relations in washington, d.c. we want to bring in the executive director of the american muslim association in new york. >> i commend the council for sharing the sentiment of muslims in all communities. we've been doing this work together. we're not going to allow this tragedy to divide our communities. >> and of course his last point was cautioning against lawing this to -- allowing this to be caught up in election year politics. it may in fact be going on right

now. i haven't seen it happening, but it's one of the things we can almost depend on happening because of the state of our political discourse right now. >> actually, brian, unfortunately it already started. if you have unfortunately followed gop presumptive nominee donald trump, he's already using this to his advantage. i want to make it clear that lgbtqi communities are intersectional. there are people who are lgbt in our community that are muslim as well. we mourn with the families. there's an online fundraising campaign from the muslim community raising money for the families, for the victims, and for lgbt organizations in florida. >> what do you tell people about being muslim in america, about peacefulness, about existing in peace as all other american citizens try to every day?

>> brian, islam has been on the shores of these united states before it was the united states. i was born and raised in brooklyn, new york. i'm an american. i'm a social justice activist. i stand up for all oppressed and minority communities. this is what my faith teaches me to do. we will not allow isis and right-wing extremists here in this country to take this tragedy and exploit it. we are americans that will continue to stand together because we will not feed the terrorists. we will not feed their narrative that says this is what islam is. that is absolutely unacceptable. we wish to continue to build solidarity. we tell our lgbtqi sisters and brothers we're there with them. >> thanks for expressing your viewpoint. this is the worst mass shooting in american history. joe fryer is live at a position between the nightclub and the

hospital, joe? >> reporter: that's right, brian. we're closer to the nightclub now. it is just half a block away. you can see the giant "p" that says pulse over my shoulder. a large law enforcement presence here. we know many of the victims are still inside of the nightclub. just about two or three blocks north of here is one of the hospitals, a trauma center, where many of the victims were taken immediately after this shooting and where dozens have been treated so far. we received a statement from the owner of pulse nightclub just moments ago. i want to make sure to read that to you. she says like everyone in the country i'm devastated about the horrific events that have taken place today. pulse and the men and women who work there have been my family for many years. it's a place of love and acceptance. i want to express my sadness and

condolences to all those that have lost loved ones. she actually started this nightclub after her brother died from aids as a remembrance to her. it is a part of the lgbt community here. last night was latin night, which brings together a strong cross section of the community. a number of straight allies come to enjoy the evening. it was around 2:00 in the morning at the time of last call when the gunman burst in. as we have heard time and time again, in the first few seconds they weren't sure what was going on. they thought the sounds of gunfire were matching with the music that was playing. there was a uniform police officer that was there that was working extra duty who did try to exchange gunfire with the gunman. a three-hour hostage situation followed until the s.w.a.t. team

burst in taking down the wall. about a dozen officers exchanging gunfire and eventually taking down the suspect. >> one of the officers i know got very lucky. a photo circulating on social media this morning showed that a single round hit the helmet over one of his eyes. while he has an eye injury, it was not the fatal wound it would have been without a kevlar helmet, correct? >> reporter: correct. without that helmet, obviously it would have been a much worse situation. he did suffer an eye injury but is expected to be okay. we know the orlando health system has treated 44 people admitted following what happened earlier this morning. we know one has been released. others are at various hospitals throughout the orlando area. as you mentioned earlier, more than two dozen surgeries have

been performed since this happened. six concersurgeons were called . they've been training for a situation like this in the past 20 years. they were prepared to try and help as many people as possible. >> joe fryer, one of our correspondents on the ground there who's been working on this story for hours and hours in orlando. upcoming, we'll hear on some of the heroics surrounding the 50 individuals who made it out of there. a break in our coverage will continue. if there's a breaking point, we'll find it. it's hard to stop a trane.

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the fbi first became aware of mateen in 2013 when he made inflammatory comments to coworkers. the fbi investigated the matter

including interviews of witnesses, physical surveillance, and records checks. in the course of the investigation, mateen was interviewed twice. ultimately, we were unable to verify the substance of his comments and the investigation was closed. in 2014, mateen again came to the attention of the fbi because of possible ties to moner abu salah, an american suicide bomber. we determined that contact was minimal and did not constitute a substantive relationship or a threat at that time. >> this young man not unknown to law enforcement at the federal level certainly, but they didn't have enough to go on and we've seen the result, what was able to happen last night in orlando. jim cavanaugh is with us once again, former atf hostage

negotiator. jim, atf is often called in because of their specialty. imagine this crime scene. where do you begin? >> yeah, it's really tough, brian. of course, atf is there and all the law enforcement and the joint terrorism task force. they traced the two guns. what's significant there is the time to crime. the guns were purchased a week before the crime. that's a significant fact in a crime this violent with this much death and destruction. this guy was cooking this crime up. he's operational a week ago. prior to that, he probably wasn't. to buy guns in florida, he's not a prohibited person, but he has to go through a background check. he has to get his name checked by the florida department of law enforcement to say he's not prohibited. here's a guy that came up twice to joint terrorism task force, sure his file was closed, but

should we be looking at people we looked at acquiring the weapons that could be used in mass murder. doesn't mean you arrest the guy, but set it up for another interview. he'd been buying a lot of ammunition with these two guns. what's he doing then? when we had the chattanooga shooting at the navy recruitment station, the killer rented a car. there's some behaviors that can be picked up if the alerts go out. >> this dual prong nature of this, this is at one time a hate crime and also a terrorist act, and apparently he was incensed by the sight of two men kissing in miami. then this guy weaponized and apparently acted on that in his choice of venues. >> right. it's spot on assessment that

it's a hate crime and it is inspired, at least internationally inspired terrorism. those two motives are locked inextricably in this murder. it's an overreaction. it's a bigoted reaction. it's a thing that set him on his heels, brian. he spoke about it to his father so much that his father knew he was acting erratically or upset about it. his calling 911 and saying he's pledging allegiance to isis, we know he's inspired. he is not aspirational. he is operational. he's murdered 50 people. he's shot another 53 people. this is the most operational you can get. this guy is full of hate. he's determined. he's got the weapons. he was in there. it's such an awful tragedy.

we have to learn whatever little tidbits we can. it is really tough to pick these guys off. it's no fault of the fbi. they've got thousands of people they're trying to just look at and not violate anybody's rights. if there's something that can be done a little different, a little tweak, maybe somebody that came on your radar before is looked at again, but we have thousands of people on a terrorist watch list that buy guns all the time. >> think of these two stats. 103 people were hit by rounds. 50 of them fatality. 11 officers had to discharge their weapons in an attempt to bring this guy down. >> this one loser shooter who is posthumously appointed to isis, he holds off the s.w.a.t. team in a pretty good gun battle. he's pretty determined, pretty suicidal. pretty homicidal, but pretty

fanatical. s.w.a.t. is trained to shoot and train to make that entry right and do everything by the book, so they did that. but this guy just reaped carnage. one losershooter. now of course this guy went to the islamic state. he went to them. if we went to the local mosque or imam, he might gotten into the religion. instead he went to the islamic state, this death cult, and became this murderer. >> thank you so much for being with us an commenting on these areas of your expertise. for our taste, we have to call on you all too often these days because of what we are forced to cover here. the president has ordered flags at half staff throughout the country. as you look at the white house

where they lowered the flag with a ceremony in the past two hours, look beyond that to the flags in a circle at the base of the washington monument, also all at half staff. his proclamation reads as a mark of respect for the victims in the act of terror in orlando, florida, by the authority vested in me as president of the united states and by the constitution and the laws of the united states of america, i hereby order the flag of the united states shall be flown at half staff at the white house and all military posts and military stations and on all naval vessels of the federal government in the district of columbia and throughout the united states and its territories and possessions until sunset june 16, 2016. i also direct the flags shall be flown at half staff for the same

length of time at all u.s. embassies, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations, signed by the president. we've been talking about how this will inextricably caught up and enmeshed in election year politics mostly bemoaning that will happen for the worst. however, we've heard sentiments and statements today simply expressing grief and sadness over what happened. bernie sanders had a statement a few moments ago. >> let me begin by expressing my horror at what happened in orlando. it's one of those things that is just unimaginable.

our hearts and condolences go out to the families of the 50-plus people who lost their lives in this unbelievably horrific mass murder and our hopes and our prayers go out for those who are wounded. we certainly hope that they make a full recovery. it goes without saying in my mind that isis must be destroyed and that we have got to do everything humanly possible to prevent these types of tragedies from recurring again. >> bernie sanders in burlington, vermont, where in the home behind him there he had been huddling with friends, colleagues, coworkers, campaign aides all day. kelly o'donnell is in our washington bureau also monitoring the inevitable politics of all this.

kelly? >> an update from the last time we spoke, brian. both hillary clinton and donald trump will go forward with events tomorrow, but each will change some of what they plan to talk about to reflect what the country has been going through today. so hillary clinton will go to cleveland, ohio. that of course happens to be the city where republicans will gather for their national convention. i'm told by sources in the clinton campaign she will address this issue when she speaks tomorrow. we earlier spoke about the fact that she and president obama had planned to campaign together for the first time of this election season. that will not take place on wednesday in wisconsin as planned. now for donald trump, he was scheduled to deliver what you could casually call an anti-clinton speech tomorrow. he had been hinting at that throughout the week, going to manchester, new hampshire. he's got a couple of events in new hampshire, one of the the battleground states. we're told he will address terrorism tomorrow in his

planned remarks. while he had been taking to twitter for much of the day to talk about some of his views and offer criticism and acknowledge the victims and law enforcement, he has now put out a lengthy written statement. it is more than 300 words. he talks about a number of things, but in this statement he is critical of president obama and hillary clinton, basically calling them weak on the issue of permitting migrants from muslim countries and the middle east to come into the united states. he links that to many american born suspect gunman from orlando, the son of an afghani immigrant, saying hundreds have been linked to terrorism inside the united states. again, trump is making that link on an issue that has propelled his campaign, immigration, and then within that the very controversial ban on muslims that he has put forth, saying there needs to be greater

scrutiny there because in trump's view the country does not have the resources to adequately screen all those that come into the country. he says we can just not afford to be politically correct anymore. hillary clinton's statement, she talks about the need to take on these networks and to deal with domestic terrorism, but she makes a much more direct appeal to the lgbt community saying there are millions around the country who are allies for that community and she is one. trump does not talk about that issue at all except to say in a sort of broad way toward the end of his remarks that radical islam is committed to hate against women, gays, and others. he does not address the lgbt community as a targeted victim of what happened in orlando, but obtusely indicates that radical islam has vowed to strike out

against gays and women. lots of words coming from the campaign trail today. we heard from bernie sanders on camera, but tomorrow both clinton and trump will be on the campaign trail and everything we've been experiencing, learning, about in the country will be in someway reflected in the campaign woremarks tomorrow. another break for us. our live coverage will continue after this. my business was built with passion... but i keep it growing by making every dollar count. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. with it, i earn unlimited 2% cash back on all of my purchasing. and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business... which adds fuel to my bottom line.

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my son shawn was at the club. he was sitting out on the patio, and he heard several pop, pop, pops and he heard several people say run, so he jumped over the wall and ran across the street. 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's another one of his friends.

we haven't found him yet. and my son is just -- he's just devastated. he's just devastated. he called me at 2:30 this morning and i didn't know what had happened, so my husband and i rushed down to try to get to him. they have him secluded so we can't get to him. >> it has been over 12 hours since the last shots were fired inside that nightclub, and still there are people who don't know if their loved ones are alive or dead. and the grisly business goes on. after this first initial fight to save lives, do triage on the 53 wounded, unable to save the 50 souls that died, this fight goes on to find out information. we are live at the hospital. she's been covering the victims in all this. >> reporter: brian, aside from being inside the pulse nightclub

and having to do the work that investigators are doing now this has got to be the most difficult place to be for people who have no answers. there are folks here who know that their loved ones are injured. there are people who have gotten the worse kind of news, and then there are those who are somewhere in the middle. that's who we've been talking to most of the day. these are the people who don't know and are hoping against hope at this hour. i talked to a woman. her son tony came to the pulse club for his birthday last night. she has not heard from him. she is devastated. we talked to another couple. it's his best friend, her brother-in-law, the same man who is missing. they are going to updates at a nearby hotel here, the hampton inn, where police have been briefing families and loved ones. each briefing his name does not come up on the list. they can't assume the worst because that is giving up. they are just hoping against

hope, talking to anybody who will listen, walking around with photographs, and hoping that somehow their loved ones will not be on that list that the city of orlando is putting out. it is just heartbreaking. it is just heartbreaking. these families have a long road and a long night ahead. >> it is heartbreaking especially for those of us who remember the days after 9/11. people used photos of their loved ones, putting up posters, walking around the city of new york with them. most of them hopes were high that they were wandering around the city or hospitalized somewhere. most of them never did turn up. to think that the list of victims is so long in this case that the city has to dedicate a website to posting their names after next of kin are told and this grisly business of

refreshing the website, waiting for more names to appear, it is just so awful for that city. >> you nailed it when you said these people are walking around aimlessly. they're getting these infrequent briefings. of course, authorities are doing everything they can. they just are in shock, but they still feel the need to talk and they do not know. they're walking between the hospital, which is behind me, and the hampton inn, which is 300 yards beyond the hospital, which has been the staging area for the last 10 to 12 hours. they just don't know what to do. it's just really among the worst things i've seen. you know most of these people would know by now if their loved one had been injured. they're just not getting that information. >> that's the truly sad part. this dark, dark sunday after such a staggering loss of life. richard lui is outside the

stonewall inn in new york city, one of iconic locations for the birth of the gay pride movement nationally and today where a vigil is going to get under way soon to mark this tragedy in orlando. richard? >> reporter: brian, you talk about june 28th, 1969. that's that uprising, the famous uprising, here at the stonewall inn that began the beginning or what was the start of the lgbtq rights movement. although this has been a place of celebration normally, sometimes places of protest, today it is a place of community where they have started an informal vigil. right over my solder the signs have come up. you can see one saying stop the hate. one says you can take my life, but you cannot take our voice. this is just an hour ago was only two or three bouquets of flowers. now we can see that it has grown. the crowd itself has grown as well within the last hour or so.

this informal vigil was to start at 6:00 p.m. today. it is an informal one. tomorrow they'll have a formal one. they expect over 1,000 people. i have one of the co-owners here with me. her name is stacy. she got together a bunch of other community activists and decided to buy this bar because it was so important. unfortunately today, we're here talking on a day where you had a kindred spirit in orlando. what have you beenpatrons? >> utter devastation. everybody is just heartbroken in the community. in the last ten years, we have seen so much in terms of equality. to have this happen for us is just devastating. it is an attack on america in general, but we're a tight-knit community. obviously, our thoughts and prayers are with orlando right

now. >> this must hurt for you as being a leader of the lgbtq movement itself. you had a message for a banner. >> it would say fearless for orlando. we can't be scared as a community to go out and celebrate and love who we are. we cannot let fear win. that's really what the terrorists want. we have to make sure that love wins. >> we of course are so concerned about what's happening in orlando, those who are now in the hospital. do you have any plans in place should that unfortunate situation everyon be talked abo in this environment for the stonewall inn? >> we have a pretty heavy police presence over the last couple of days. we have worked with the lgbt police officers. adding extra security. we don't have a set plan in place, but we feel very comfortable with our security team and the staff here.

completely safe here at stonewall. >> thank you so much for taking the time today. i know it's a difficult day for you. brian, to give you a last look at what's out here, the crowd. we have the police all the way in the back across the street from the stonewall inn. the crowd continues to grow in number. it is a difficult time, as you know, having covered many of these situations. the stonewall inn today here in new york city one of those important places. >> richard lui, thank you. there will be vigils in so many cities in towns starting tonight across this country. the governor of florida has called -- i'm not sure how much press coverage this received, but i'm not sure how many people will take part. he has called for a national moment of silence just ten minutes from now at 6:00 p.m. eastern time. we'll see if we can get our cameras trained on a scene that might reflect that. the only place they do not want

a gathering, even a solemn gathering is in orlando where so much of the work continues to go on, the investigation and the work to identify those who made it, who are in the hospital getting treated, find loved sadly, find loved ones of the dead. we are joined live by the junior senator from florida, marco rubio, fresh from running for the gop presidential nomination back home in his home state. and senator, to paraphrase you earlier, i heard you say in effect, you never know where the next one of these is going to be, and today it just happens to be in orlando, florida. it's taken the brunt of this dual hate crime and terrorism attack. >> every terror attack is a hate crime. this one is the added element of having attacked an lgbt establishment. i don't believe that was a coincident. we'll learn more about that in

the days to come. this was an individual that was inspired by radical islamic group to take action today. it's the hardest terrorist attack we face is the u.s. born who is radicalized to a point where they're willing to bake t take the lives of 50 people. >> it's a gray area, the radicalization process and the process of inspiration ands a separation, because the gulf between isis directed attacks and the gulf and the isis-inspired attacks is so broad. >> and i would caution everyone from distinguishing the two. this is part of the new inspiration process is to not just radicalize people but to teach them how to conduct attacks online. they put out pretty detailed instructions about how to carry

out these sorts of attacks and they range from everything from building an explosive device to returning over people at a park. they're instructing people in the kinds of targets to seek out, and at this point it doesn't really matter if they travel to syria and were trained or radicalized here. they're killing people. this is the growing face of the fight on terror. >> this was a famous local establishment in the hours we've had, to get to know its back story, founded by a woman in the memory of her brother who died of aids, and intended as much more than a nightclub but more of a gathering place and a safe place, correct? >> yeah. as we learn more in the days to come, i think that my view is that it will paint a fuller picture, the nature of this facility wasn't just a nightclub at night. it was a place where the lgbt community gathered for different causes or meetings. i think that played into it being targeted. we obviously know the radical

islamist hate everyone who they consider to be infidels. we've seen their treatment of people they believe are gay or lesbian or many times their treatment of women. this is part of a radical ideology that's willing to target places like this. i think we'll learn this was not a coincidence, that he pick third down place in particular because of that. >> we've already had several members of the muslim community on the air with us today decrying this violence. obviously pointing out that theirs is supposed to be a peaceful religion and calling on everyone to have a calm and measured response. how do you react? >> well, look, there's no doubt the enormous majority of muslims around the world are not radicals. unfortunately there's a large number of people that are radical. i think this is a threat to the muslim community too. i've argued this radical ideology needs to be defeated

and we're going to need the help of the muslim community around the world to achieve that. there's been numerous representatives of the muslim community here that have turned out to voice not just their outrage but also their support for the families who have suffered here. but we can't forget that this radical ideology continues to span its reach and is using online measures to do so. >> you had 1500 people in line at the glad bank today to give donations of blood for the 53 wounded people. what can americans who this outpouring from watching the coverage, it makes people so sad. what do you think americans can and should do for their fellow citizens in the state of florida? >> well, as a person of faith i ask them to pray for the people who have suffered, the survivors, a lot of people in that club and came out and survived are traumatized by it. they will be scarred by it and what they saw.

and the families of those who lost their lives and are injured. pray for the law enforcement. remember how brave these people are. obviously the donations of blood, and i think in the next few weeks we're hear more in local authorities about what we can do for the particular families as well. we're grateful in florida for the support from around the country, and i'm proud of orlando and how central florida has rallied in the aftermath of this horrific terrorist attack. >> senator, thank you very much for joining us on the air today. >> thank you, brian. >> with us on the phone now is the mayor of orlando, florida, buddy dyer. we saw him earlier at the press statement. do you have any new information that would even some that would help the people wanting to know if friends or relatives made it alive? >> we have started the process of identification and we have identified and notified the next

of kin with the first five that process will be going on during the night. we have a website set up that will list the names as the next of kin are notified. we have a hot line number for family members that want to make sure that their information is available so that as victims are identified we're able to contact them. we have a number of counseling services that are available through zebra coalition or the lg lgbt chamber of commerce. we're very concerned about the families and friends of the victims and also the individuals that may not have been wounded but were present and part of the -- well, part of what occurred, because there were over 300 individuals in the club, and they're going to have emotional scars for a very long time as well.

>> as well the 11 police officers who were forced to discharge their weapons last night, the first responders have now witnessed and seen something no one should ever see in their lifetime. >> those 11 officers as well as every officer that was on the job last night are truly heros. i mentioned there were over 300 individuals in the club. as bad as this is, it could have been worse, but for the extraordinary efforts of the orlando police department, working in conjunction with fdle, the fbi, and other local law enforcement agencies. we rescued hostages after three hours we were able to breach a wall and rescue, i don't know, 15 to 25 individuals that had been held hostage in the nightclub for three plus hours at that point. >> what should nonflorida people

know about this nightclub called pulse? >> it's a gathering spot. it's primarily lgbt themed events. it's very popular club. we do not know at this point why that was the target. we have no indication that -- from anything we have either 9-1-1 tapes or prior information that the fbi has developed on the shooter that he had a directive to go to an lgbt club. we do know that it was popular and anybody could have figured out on a saturday night that there was going to be a large patronage within the nightclub. it's also not in the downtown proper. it's a little bit out of downtown, so it has surface parking around it, and he was able to park his vehicle close to the building.

we had some concern that that might contain explosives. it did not. but we do not know specifically why it was targeted. >> i was thinking about your job earlier today being mayor of orlando, florida. you have so many people on a daily basis in your city limits, not from your city limits. a city synonymous with tourism, and yet, pulse was for and frequented by the folks who lived there, the life blood of the city, the day today city workings of the place local folks know as orlando, florida. >> you're exactly right. it's more likely than not that the majority of the victims are going to be residents of the city of orlando or orange county than it is visitors from outside of our area. last year we did host 66 million visitors every day. we have the population of the city of orlando visit central

florida, and we want those visitors to know orlando is a safe community to the best of all the information we have, this was a single act of terrorism by someone who is not coordinating, and the responsive ropd reflects the training we go through every day of the year to be able to handle any type of emergency that might come our way. >> mr. mayor, i'm sorry such tragedy visited your city, and best of luck to you in dealing with what i know will be a very, very sad slog these next few days. >> thank you, brian. >> the mayor of orlando, florida, someone a lot of people woke up to this morning, especially when the death toll thought to be 20 at first was then revised upward to 50. 50 souls lost in a nightclub. 53 wounded. a total of 123 people