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 shot, and

it took 11 police officers discharging their weapons to take down this suspect. the suspect -- the terrorist in question was born in new york and moved to port st. lucy florida, new york mets know it as the winter home of their baseball team. nbc news correspondent carrie sanders is live for us in port st. lucy with what he's been able to find out there. keri? >> reporter: there's a lot of attention on the apartment which is right over here. it is where he lived. it's apartment number 107, i believe, and the authorities have been here for hours. that includes the local sheriff's office as well as the florida department of law enforcement and the fbi. now, the sheriff's office held a short press conference where they said that any information will come from the fbi that's here. they have a rather large team which is just beyond our view, that is working there.

about 12 miles from here there is a home nature is the home of the gunman's parents, and the authorities, the same number of authorities from the fbi, the fdle, from the local sheriff's department have all been at that location. we saw because we had greater view there, them coming out with bags and boxes of evidence, things they will be able to look through to perhaps tell them some more clues of whether this was a lone gunman or whether this was somebody working in concert at the direction of somebody. now, one of the things that the authorities tell me on deep background is that the normal procedure for an investigation like this -- so i can't confirm this has happened, but this would be the normal procedure -- they would reach out to a magistrate in the southern district of florida, which is miami all the way up to vero beach, and they would get a search warrant, specifically a search warrant for the gunman's phone. it would probably take about 30 minutes to get that, i'm told.

once they have that, and it's believed they have that likely. they can use that information, because they have the phone number from the 9-1-1 call to begin tracing movements to see where he went, where it tinged off towers far time period going back as far as the local phone company can dig up the information. it will help determine whether he left here and drove the 120 miles directly to club pulse or did he stop somewhere? did he perhaps stop and talk to somebody? did somebody give him anything? all things the authorities are trying to determine so they can understand, again, was this a lone gunman or whether he was working with somebody else. >> the only up side of talking -- while you're talking we're running a reel -- the only up side is it may trigger something in someone who saw him or interacted with him. it also strikes me the minute this became this kind of dual pronged hate crime and terrorist

attack, the minute the feds got involved, that means fbi, atf and so on, that just explodes exponentially, the people who come crashing down on the location where you are, the parent's house and so on. >> reporter: and not only that. one of the things that a lot of people may be looking at is the weapons he had. it was an ar 15 and a handgun. we do know from the atf that he purchased those weapons recently. now, we believe those are the weapons that were used in the shooting. now, in florida, county to county, it's a little bit different. in some counties they can have up to a five-day waiting period. for handguns. in this county, which is st. lucy county, over in orange county, there's no waiting at all for the long gun or like an ar 15, and for a pistol there is a three-day waiting period, so the authorities will be looking at that waiting period, how maybe that happened and whether there was some sort of clue that

might have been recognized by those who were selling the weapons because of the amount of ammunition that was purchased. one of the other things that they're going to be looking at, and i think a lot of people will be looking at this, the ar-15 weapon itself which is sometimes referred to as an assault weapon. it was used in previous high profile mass shootings, one december 2015, the inland regional center in san bernardino. we have one october of 2015 at a community college in oregon. and then in june of 2013 going back to then, santa monica community college, again an ar-15. again in 2012 the century movie theater in colorado, again an ar-15. when you look at all these events, there seems to be a common thread of the weapon of choice. we don't know at this point based on the witnesses who were,

of course, scattered and running for their lives, of whether this was a semi automatic, boom, boom, each time pulling the trigger, or whether it was an automatic. now, an automatic weapon is illegal. however, the ar-15 can be legally modified with what's known as a bump stalk. that's the stalk of the weapon right here. when you pull the trigger, it creates a little bit of a recoil. it's like a shock absorber. when you wrap your finger around it and pull it, it creates the back and forth motion and creates what essentially is a legal machine gun. one of the things the authorities will be looking at is how the weapon may have been modified, and the deadly nature of somebody buying the weapons very close to when they used them and the amount of ammunition that was purchased and whether that should have been a tip off. >> all right. outside the terrorist's home. port st. lucy, florida.

we're also keeping an eye on what has become in short order, a very large vigil in greenwich village in new york, outside stone wall. an iconic place that was -- took its place in the history of the gay rights movement back in the 1960s, and we imagine these kinds of vigils and memorials will sprout up across the country after this huge loss of life. the stone wall inn in greenwich village, new york. we'll take another break. our coverage will continue after this. isn't this fun, living like the pioneers of olden times? i hate the outside. well, i hate it wherever you are. burn. "burn." is that what the kids are saying now? i'm so bored, i'm dead. you can always compare rates on progressive.com. oh, that's nice, dear. but could you compare camping trips? because this one would win. all i want to do is enjoy nature and peace and quiet!

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>> atf has traced the firearms. they purchased at least two ire arms.

he can legally walk into a gun dealer and purchase firearms. he did so in the last week or so. we're following up on that so i won't get into the details of the specific location, but he purchased two firearms, a handgun and a long gun. >> when we see the feds have descended upon the scene, that's what we mean. you saw the governor and the mayor of florida and also from the fbi and alcohol, about ttob and firearms, their special agents who will run the n investigations of this case. it was a former fbi person who said 103 people had been hit by gunfire, and we've just been reminded that could also be cross fire with 11 officers firing in a dark, hostage situation to try to bring in

this suspect. joe fryer remains at the scene not far at all from the pulse nightclub. what is now such a sad, sad logo to see. joe? >> brian, good evening here now from the pulse nightclub. we are just half a block away. still a heavy police presence. the public being kept away. it will be that way for quite some time. we're told 39 of the victims died inside the club. two more of the victims died outside of the club, and the remaining nine victims were taken to the hospital according to the hospital and nine died after they were admitted to the hospital. so we know that 39 victims did die inside of the club. this all started at 2:00 in the morning right around the time of last call. many of the witnesses tell us that what they first heard, they weren't sure if it was gunfire. they thought it might have been something to do with the music or speakers, and then as people

started to run they realized this was actually a mass shooting situation. there was actually a uniformed officer off duty working at the nightclub who exchanged gunfire with the suspect omar mateen, and we're also told there were two other officers who showed up fairly quickly and outside exchanged gunfire. then mateen went inside the club. that's where a hostage situation was underway for three hours before a s.w.a.t. team took down the wall of the club. 11 officers exchanging gunfire with mateen, finally shooting and killing him. one of the officers was actually struck in the head by gunfire but was wearing a helmet. orlando police tweeted out an image of the helmet. the eye injury to the officer could have been worse. city officials tell us at the peak, more than 300 people were inside this popular night sure

here in orlando. dozens were taken to the hospital. one of the trauma centers is a few blocks from here which is one small bit of fortunate news in the middle of so much chaos and tragedy. we know at least one has been treated and released but many still face serious and critical injuries. more than a couple dozen surgeries performed today. six surgeons called in. the hospital tells us they've been training for an incident like this for the past 20 years. they hoped something like this never happened, but unfortunately that's what's happened, and they're doing their best to respond to the situation. we've been talking about this all day, and the city put out a tweet reiterating they don't want any vigils in the city of orlando. they don't want a public gathering that would involve law enforcement overseeing the scene. law enforcement is clearly spread thin right now. at this point they're urging people in orlando not to hold any vigils at least for right

now out of an abundance of skau caution and safety. >> i heard someone say a lot of members of the night shift have never come off the night shift and are remaining on the job as evening falls the second night. joe, i know it's early, and we'll learn so much more later. is there anything in the media down there? did anyone hear him express shout, spew, verbally, anything during this several hour standoff? >> we haven't heard any reports of anything like that. keep in mind this was an incredibly loud setting. if dance music was playing on top of the gunfire and people were fleeing at the time. so far no reports of anything that the man might have uttered. those are things that could come out later, especially as police conduct more interviews with people who were inside who survived and also perhaps if any of the officers who may have been exchanging gunfire with him at any point throughout this

three hour process. at this point we haven't heard anything specifically he might have been saying at that moment. >> all right. joe, thanks. we're now joined by adam schiff of california. congressman, just most immediately, we learned in the hours after the attack in orlando that there was an arrest at a gay pride parade in santa monica. do you have any information on that and was it someone who really intended to act? >> yes. in fact, i was in the parade today, and just as the parade was about to get underway, we were informed by members of the sheriff's department that santa monica police arrested someone who was a suspected prowler in one of the neighborhoods. they then traced him back to his car and found a large quantity of explosives as well as a large number of weapons. he is, evidently, from indiana.

i think the vehicle had indiana plates. he expressed to the santa monica police that his intention was to attack the pride parade in los angeles. so that information was just coming to law enforcement around the time the parade was getting started. the organizers decided to go ahead with the parade which i think was the right decision. and it went without incident, but, obviously, with a lot of heightened security. very odd that you would have two lgbt targets on opposite sides of the country in what, as far as we know now are unrelated events. >> odd indeed, and what are we supposed to do about this case in orlando? a man apparently most immediately motivated by a kind of homo phobic revulsion to something he saw on a street in miami, but a man inspired, if not directed, into kind of

radical islamic terrorism to act in the way he did where he did and leave behind a staggering death toll? >> well, there are a lot of questions within your comments, brian, and one of the things we're to cushifocussed on is he investigated we the bureau in 2013 and 2014. people did see something and say something. law enforcement investigated it. it was not enough to make an arrest or seek some kind of an involuntary psychiatric hold, but obviously those investigations will be rereviewed to see whether more steps might have been taken or whether there were other leads that could have been followed. we're interested in finding out whether apart from his claim of allegiance to al baghdadi and isis, and isis claiming that he was shooting on their behalf, was there any communication between if two or is this merely isis after the fact taking credit for the actions of

someone who was a home grown radical, self-radicalized. so these are precisely the issues we're looking into. not only with an idea to figuring out whether this goes beyond this one attack but also have an eye to determining is there anything we might do in the future, anything we're not doing already to try to prevent these kinds of attacks? >> congressman, to be fair with a nod toward the hard working people in the homeland security infrastructure as several guests have reminded us today, the easiest thing in the world may be those of us watching this, sitting at home wondering aloud why people didn't connect the dots, when reality the dots apply to perhaps millions of people who could be persons of interest. >> well, this is the thing. the bureau goes out, i think on pretty much a day lily basis investigating allegations of radicalism. in some cases they find evidence

of a material support for terror, they make an arrest and seek a conviction in court. in other cases there simply isn't enough information. the fact that someone espouses radical views is not enough to arrest and detain them. there has to be some evidence of actual plotting a conspiracy or providing material support. in the absence of that you can only maintain vigilance about the person, but we're going to, obviously, take another look at this and see if there's some more that can be gleaned from this, but that is part of the problem. there are going to be cases where someone, even someone who has come to the attention of authorities who largely keeps their thoughts and planning to themselves, goes out and commits an atrocity, and it may be the case that it could not have been preven prevented, that there wasn't enough indication or leads of a

willingness to act out that would have made an arrest possible. >> from california, democratic congressman, adam schiff in his eighth term, a ranking member of the house permanent select committee on intelligence. congressman, thank you very much for brg wieing with us. >> we want to bring in evan coleman. he's a frequent guest of ours, a terrorism analyst and co-founder of flash point, someone who has consulted for just about every tentacle of the homeland security structure himself on this radical terrorism. evan, we have yet to speak since this, so i'm curious to hear you out, especially on what's going to become this critical difference between inspired and directed behavior, something you've dealt a lot with in your career. >> yeah. it's interesting. i mean, you look at the contrast between what happened in paris, with what happened here, and also, of course, what happened

in san bernardino. it elillustrates the problem federal law enforcement is facing in this country. after the paris attacks and also belgium, there was this thought among, i think many americans, that isis had some kind of sophisticated terrorist network, sleeper cells waiting to jump out. the truth is that there haven't been that many americans that have actually managed to get to syria or iraq and receive training, receive that expertise and actually managed to get back here in one piece. on the other hand, there plenty of people that have watched isis video recordings and have read isis magazines that are in english and chatted with isis representatives on twitter or kik, using the different social media platforms that everyone in the u.s. uses on a daily basis, and those people, as it turns out, are the more serious threat because there's more of them, and because here in this country

it is possible for a single individual who has received no specialized training to get their hands on a weapon that can kill 50 people at once. and i think that's something we have to ask ourselves is do we want to live in a country where a single radicalized individual who has received no training, who has never traveled abroad to a conflict zone and likely has had no direct contact with any terrorist, do we want to live in a place where someone like that can get their hands on an arsenal in a matter of weeks that can kill 50 people? that's a problem that's going to exist as long as there are individuals being radicalized on the internet. this is not something new. one of the questions to look into is how deep were the links between this individual and monu abu salah. he went to syria and joined al qaeda in syria and blew himself

up in a suicide bombing. he left behind a video recording where he not only discussed why he had gone to syria but was actively encouraging people to carry out terrorist attacks not just in syria but in the west, including the united states. anyone that was remotely linked to him, that sent up flags. apparently the links were not significant to draw a red flag, but that name in particular, because he was an american, because he blew himself up in a suicide bombing, because he left behind a video urging people to carry out home grown terrorist attacks, and because he's from the exact same area, i'm sure there's going to be greater scrutiny to see was there anything there that was missed. >> evan, here we have an edp, an emotionally disturbed person. i think we can agree, who is angered by something he sees between two men on a street

corner in miami. then mixed in with all the other qualities you just talked about, what -- a simple question, what's in it for him? is it fame? is it martyr dom? is it the enduring fame of being a martyr? >> look at the way the san bernardino attackers were feed online and celebrated as supermen and heros, people striking a blow in the caliphate. in the last two weeks the chief spokesman for isis in an audio recording said the smallest thing you can do, the smallest attacks in the homelands of the west will make us thrilled. these guys want to feel like they're part of this movement. they want to feel that their

lives mean something, their existence means something, and they derive meaning out of this. it's sad and regrettable. the same we have to to ask ourselves what would draw people from paris or belgium to want to join isis, it's a legitimate question to ask ourselves why would a 29-year-old kid who was born in the united states who didn't come here from another country. he was born here. he was born in new york and grew up on the east coast of florida. why would someone like that be drawn in by the message of isis? there are lots of different reasons. it's important to emphasize that most people who join terrorist groups, there's a lot of motivations including personal ones. my guess is that his home life was not going so great at the moment. so it's important to remember it's a cocktail of different things that radicalizes people. isis is part of it, but this man had other motives as well.

>> hearing you talk about the audio recording, the challenge all around the world about western population centers makes me feel lucky every day we get through without anything happening. >> that's the good news. the good news is these guys would love to think there are dozens of hundreds of people just like them out there. the truth is there's only a hand full. most of the folks that the fbi investigates for expressing sympathies to isis, they're just loud talkers. they're not actually prone to violence. that's why the fbi, they have limited resources. they have to go after the clear and imminent threats. if they investigate someone and there isn't immediate evidence suggesting they're going to pick up a gun and start murdering people, they can't just keep investigating them. that's not how the law works. that's part of the problem. it's a bit of a guessing game, and it's not very easy sometimes to figure out who is simply expressing unpopular views versus who is, again, in the

space of just a few days, going to acquire an arsenal of weapons and murder 50 people all on their own? you know, again, i can't emphasize any more that we have to ask ourselves do we want to live in a society where anyone can simply -- in that amount of time, can gain those weapons and murder those weapon without consequence? it's just very disturbing. >> evan coalman heleman in new . a nice guy in the scariest business on the planet. evan, thank you. >> thank you. >> let's go to greenwich village. it's become a flash vigil. just kind of spontaneous outpouring of sadness over what has happened in orlando. at the scene of the stone wall inn, an iconic location in the gay pride struggle, especially in the 1960s. richard louis stands by in the

crowd for us. >> 53 christopher street, an historical location, not because of the past, you allude to 1969. there's also the future. this location could be the first that is honoring the community. lgbt q community if it should become a national monument before this month ends. they just finished a flash vigil. there was a moment of silence and several speakers over my right shoulder next to the stone wall inn. they stood up there. they enlivened the crowd and said no hate. no hate. they mentioned the word martyr. they also mentioned healing and being part of the community that's there in orlando. there's one thing to describe, i think what's happening here, the emotion that they are expressing here, both sadness as they hug and cry, as they scream and say no hate, is what you might see as if that shooting actually happened here. that's the solidarity i think

you'll see. i have a guest with me here. she represents a group that looks at both the muslim community as well as the lgbt q community. she is on a community from the muslim community for sexual community. this crosses the two communities you represent and speak for. >> yes. we're the victim of both topics, islamaphobe ya and homo phobia. fr fr ? >> what do you think needs to be known for us to better understand the story? >> of course. what we need to understand is these are not two different entitie entities. it's not muslim versus lgbt q world. like me and the muslim community i'm representing, we are both these identities at the same time. it's important that we

distinguish this in our discourse and work. >> reporter: it's not an easy thing to do. we live in an intersectional world. today we're talking about hate crime versus an act of terrorism. that is an intersectional description of what we're seeing today. how do you describe this when you're out speaking as a member of this community for those who aren't familiar with how the two communities come together? >> it's about telling them how we exist. it's impossible to try to incite hate by -- the lgbt community, we watch third down person who said muslims are terrorists. he inflicted hate even though he was chanting a minute ago, no hate regarding lgbt communities. he still had hate for muslim people. we need to blal blame an imenti, but we need to not treat hate with hate. >> i appreciate you coming down

to speak with us. they are continuing, as you can hear behind me, both celebrating as well as say nothing hate. the one side in front says you can take our lives but you cannot take our voice. that's been the message for us today. >> thank you for bringing us into that crowd. it feels like we're there. you can't blame people are who are watching it on television and may live in the area, especially members of lgbt community for wanting to come down and be part of the event even if it's just to feel sad with other people. we're talking act the worse mass shooting in american history in orlando, florida. the death toll stands at 50 with 53 wounded and with families still wondering, trying to get good, hard answers on loved ones who were there when this terrorist walked in, took hostages and finally was taken down at great cost to human life by law enforcement. the stories emerging from

witnesses, from the people who were there, from the people who were in touch with family members and friends are harrowing. we have one such witness's story. >> my son was in the nightclub with his boyfriend and other friends. and i know that his boyfriend was 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. if he's been shot, if he's dead. no one knows. but they told me there are fatalities. >> reporter: and you haven't heard from? >> i have texted him, called him. he's not answering the phone. but he was sitting right next to his boyfriend and his boyfriend definitely was shot with multiple gunshots and taken in the ambulance, so -- another

friend who was in the bathroom at the time said he heard over 100 shots and it was still active. they weren't taking any bodies out of the club, because they had a potential bomb in there, so i don't know if he's still in the club, if he's incapacitated and dead or if he's being worked on here at the hospital. >> absolute tragedy. put yourself in her position. just one of the witnesses from last night. we're joined on the telephone by carlos perez whose friend was injured inside the nightclub last night in the shooting. i'm told cell phone connections being what they are, we have just lost our connection with carlos perez. we'll try to reestablish. i know because i was told briefly about carlos's story. he wants badly for there to be

some sort of gathering, the one we saw in new york at the stone wall inn, a commissioner, district commissioner, the equivalent of a city councilmen in orlando who represents the area around pulse has asked that no gatherings be started that would need, say, police protection around the perimeter, to do crowd control. you have almost an entire night shift last night many of whom still on duty. a bunch of whom are traumatized by what has happened to their community, what they witnessed last night, and now day shift into night shift under great stress. that was her request. it's certainly not for any lack of sympathy or sorrow by the community there in orlando, florida. reeling after this loss of life.

it was a latin night at the pulse nightclub, a nightclub founded in the memory of a man who died of aids. his sister wanted to open up the club. this was a police pickup truck last night using the bed of the pickup truck to pick up the wounded who were being carried out to help beyond the perimeter. this is the kind of scene that was playing out outside this club. civilians, police officers, just carrying people to help. 53 wounded. 43 died inside the confines of the club. no. i have that number wrong. 34, perhaps, died inside the confines of the club, and the remainder died of their injuries

or in an outside area. but imagine for first responders, 39 died inside the club. i've been corrected. forgive me. 39 inside the club, and several of the wounded brought to the hospital expired. 27 surgeries were performed at just the one hospital that we got a report from earlier today. we have been rejoined by the congressman, co-chair of the lgbt quality caucus. i'm curious in the hour or so since we last spoke, what you've seen or heard that's been notable to you about this tragedy. >> well, of course, you know, as we learn the names of the victim, we learn the extraordinary human toll that this community and all of us will be dealing with. as i mentioned when we were on before, i received texts from friends of mine who were from

the area who knew people inside. their stories are compelling. one man, edward sotomayor who we spoke about earlier, apparently assisted his partner out of the club before he was shot. you know, these individuals experienced something that none of us should go through, but it is a reminder about the responsibilities that all of us share to care for one another and to come together across all our lines of difference, especially now as we enter a national conversation on the future of our country and we face these threats from home and abroad. we need to be a better country and come together. >> of course, the perversion of this, what makes it a hate crime, the terrorist in question targeted a certain group of people gathering in what was designed and what was recorded as a safe place. >> yes. look, my husband and partner of 24 years and i met in line at a

gay club. this is where people in our community celebrate our freedom and our diversity and have fun. this is pride month. and what pride month means is above all, being able to love one another freely, and to be proud of that. and this is where that goes on. and so this is an attack on something, obviously, very important to the lgbt community, but this isn't anymore about just us as any more of the acts of mass terror have been about any one community. it's about the americans. it's the threat we face. it's about what we can do here on issues of gun violence and lgbt bigotry and discrimination. all these issues need to be tackled by us in good faith, respectfully, across our lines of difference before we witness something like this again. >> congressman, thank you. the congressman is here with us in our new york studios.

kr christopher hansen was at the club when the shooting started. he has been kind enough to join us. what can you describe for us? >> that it was a nightmare. it was something that you don't want to live through. it was tragic. >> christopher, i saw you on tv earlier, and what you said sounded so much, sadly, like what we heard after the aurora shooting and after the attackint paris. you were there having fun. the music was on. you're on a delay mentally, so no one assumes this club is under attack. that's gunfire i hear. your brain is almost wired to assume it's part of the music or perhaps a blown speaker, i think you said. >> it felt like it was part of the music. it was like the bass. you can feel the closer it got,

it sounded like it was far behind me. the first couple shots you're like it's part of the song. but when i turned around and ralzed bodies were dropping and where i was at near the vip area, they had all fallen to the floor. i don't know if they were shot or fell. i just know the person next to me was shot. after they were shot i was like it's go time. i went down and i crawled my way out on my belly. >> did you go out the main entrance? i see there's also a patio area. >> there was a patio area. i went out the back. i was near the back where the vip is near the unisex bathroom. >> and over a wall to get clear of it? >> yes. there's a small space, and when everyone was going all at once, they just pummelled.

>> and you just -- i imagine you kept going until you felt you reached a safe distance away? >> yes. i crouched down and i was zig zaging. my dad taught me to zig zag any time there was a situation. i knew that if i were to flee a situation i was to try to stay safe as well, and once i was in the position of feeling safe and not being in a -- harm's way, i guess you would say, i was focusing to help other people as well. >> i imagine everyone who lived from last night who was there with someone who may have encountered someone has spent a good part of today going crazy trying to find information. you mentioned the person you were with was shot. what do you know? >> well, the person i was with, it was just somebody who was next to me. i didn't know who he was. the one who i helped that was shot, i didn't know him.

i just actually saw him bleeding in his lower back and there was blood. there was another gentleman, carlos, who was helping as well, and the bullet hole was about this big, and i took my bandanna and i protected him from trying to bleed to death. i don't know if he made it. i just know there was blood everywhere. it was so wet that we were just covered in it. >> describe -- are you a frequent customer there? describe the role of this club in the life of orlando and what it's like as they say in happier times. >> to try to answer that question, it would be unfair to give a correct answer because it was my first time being there. i'm new to orlando, so when i went to pulse, i was expecting to have a good time and enjoy myself. i didn't expect the night of saul have salsa dancing and having drinks with friends to turn into a

tragic night of a terrorist shooting at us for hatred. >> christopher, what are you going to do to keep yourself together mentally? >> sleep. >> okay. that's a good answer. >> i'm not quite sure. i don't even know if i want to fall asleep yet. it still doesn't feel real yet. it's real. it's there. i've had the blood. i smelled like blood coming home. my roommates noticed it and they didn't know what was going on until they saw me this morning. my phone died. i wasn't able to contact somebody. i was able to use someone else's cell phone to call my dad and let him know i was okay so he should reach out. >> i don't know you, but if help is offered to you, it might be a good idea to take it, and good luck in the days to come. i hope you get rest and find

peace after what you witnessed and survived last night. christopher hansen has been kind enough to join us live from orlando, florida, after his first visit to the flight club, pulse. what an incredible story. we're going to take a break in our coverage. we'll be back right after this. you owned your car for four years, you named it brad. you loved brad. and then you totaled him. you two had been through everything together. two boyfriends, three jobs... you're like nothing can replace brad. then liberty mutual calls, and you break into your happy dance. if you sign up for better car replacement™, we'll pay for a car that's a model year newer with 15,000 fewer miles than your old one. see car insurance in a whole new light. liberty mutual insurance. it's how you stay connected. with centurylink as your trusted technology partner,

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we're back. we want to go to stephanie gosk who is live in fort pierce, florida at the suspect's home. we identified it earlier has port st. lucy and not fort pierce. >> reporter: yeah. this is fort pierce, brian.

law enforcement was here at the crack of dawn, and they immediately began evacuating families out of this kocondomi m condominium. roughly a cousin gdozen got thep call. that's when the search began. he told nbc news he had a wife and son, three years old. there's a bomb squad on the scene, the sheriff's department. the fbi is leading up the search. the families have not been let back into their homes tonight. you wonder how long it will go on. it will bring up memories for a lot of people in san bernardino. they found explosives in the shooter's home in that case, and there are people in this neighborhood worried that there could be explosives in this condominium complex. it's clear law enforcement probably has that concern as well. we also spoke to some neighbors here who gave us a bit more detail about the security job the suspect had. he worked for a security firm

that was contracted without by a wealthy neighborhood with a golf course and nice homes and that he worked at the gate, the shack there checking i.d.s as people went in and out, and one woman here who works in that complex said he looked at her i.d. every single day she went in there. when his picture popped up, it was terrifying. >> all right. stephanie gosk in fort pierce, florida. the home in a condominium complex of this terrorist in question. we've been joined now by james waters. he is the nypd counterterrorism bureau chief. a large and growing division within the nypd, and, chief, i have a very basic question to can ask you, and that is these pictures of this guy, the gunman, wearing all kinds of nypd shirts, can't be a pleasant

sight for you or the 34,450 officers of the nypd. >> hello, brian. yes, it's disturbing that he would wear a shirt of the nypd. we've checked our records and we're sure he's never been affiliated with the department. >> chief, this expression connect the dots, we now know this guy has worked for a security company. he's carried a weapon for his job. purchases more weapons a few days ago. was a person of interest, visited by the fbi. has been on and off the radar for a long time. when people talk about the business of connecting the dots and there are millions of them in our country, what do you say to that? >> well, brian, i think that the fbi did their due diligence in investigating the individual several years ago, and were

unable to have any probable cause to make an arrest or move further with the investigation. i don't want to comment any further on what they did or didn't do. this is an ongoing investigation. in new york we follow the intelligence very closely around the world and around the country, and we are deploying accordingly each and every time. tonight is no different. >> how has your division grown from what i assume was syrzero prior to 9/11. >> we started at 11. in the last two years we made a critical response, a permanent command, hand selected individuals from the department, gave them state of the art counterterrorism training, and they work in a 525 man unit around the city every day. commissioner bratton has

quadrupled the number of our capacity with members of the department who are trained in long guns. we deploy them every day. >> and what do you do when a determined individual, aspirational where islamic terrorism is concerned decides to walk into a place and commit what is a hate crime and an act of terrorism at the same time? >> well, brian, it's very difficult and challenging. we try to encourage the public if they see something, say something. if they talk to someone expressing these views, make a report even if anonymously like some people did with this individual some time ago. in addition, we need to keep our presence out there, our intelligence and our intelligence bureau and all our partners. i've been talking to mike martin

who is in the fbi, and i spoke with jeh johnson earlier. we exchanged information and intelligence. >> and chief waters, when something happens like in santa monica, right before the pride parade they find someone with weapons and explosives, does that find shock waves through a department as far east as you? >> it does. we plan and train. we have the pride parade here in two weeks, and the new york city police department will be ready to protect that event. the message is simple. live your life here in new york city. enjoy all that new york city has to offer. the new york city police department is capable of protecting you. >> the counterterrorism chief for the nypd, james waters. thank you for joining us. we appreciate it. >> thank you very much, brian. >> we want to go now to thomas roberts who is live in orlando

near the club where this massacre took place. thomas? >> brian, it's been nearly 17 hours since omar mateen opened fire in the pulse nightclub. it's down the street. the active scene still there. the skies opened up moments ago with a rain burst, cooling things off here. we're learning more details about employees who were working inside. i was able to learn through a public post of the pulse nightclub that there were 13 different employees working inside. two of which i reached out to about what happened. i know one who escaped through the air vents and another that had talked about on facebook, actually, had been shot in the leg but was able to escape, get to the hospital and is now at home. in total, again, there were two performers that were supposed to be there last night when the shooting started at 2 a.m., it was roughly around last call, but this is a community, a place where people feel safe to come

out, and tonight this neighborhood is rocked. the orlando city is in shock over what's happened, and nationwide, because it is pride month, people are reeling about what this means and if there can be safe occasions in the future. i had an opportunity to speak with judi shepherd as i was walking over here. we know the story of judi's son, matt, who was murdered. she has spent her life since that time being an advocate for the lgbt community and making sure that people understand what it means to have equality and what it means to lose a child, especially through the horrific means of how she lost her son. i asked if she wanted me to convey a message. she wanted me to express how much we empathize with the families. i know they're struggling. i can imagine it because we did, and our sympathies are with them. this is totally senseless. the atf, brian, i think you reported on this. they talked about the weapons

that were used in this. they've been able to trace the weapons legally purchased by mateen which is an ar type assault rifle and a nine millimeter semi automatic. we're waiting on an update on individuals who made it to the hospital and were being treated for injuries. it was at 2:00 a.m. this morning when it happened. we're still trying to piece this puzzle together. >> thomas, think about what you earlier in the introduction. someone escaped through an air vent. that is something we've seen in hollywood movies and one would never need to expe-- expect to use those means. >> these were desperate measures by people in fear for their lives trying to do anything they could.

you spoke with christopher hansen. he's freshly living in orlando. he moved here in ohio. this was his first time ever going to pulse. he didn't know anybody. he heard great things about it. he said he arrived around 11:08 at night. he didn't see the shooter but he was with people and hanging out with friends, and he was there roughly about three hours before it happened. according to someone he spoke at the front desk, the person taking cover charge for the evening, it was 10 to get in after 11, fr3 before that. it was his assumption omar was there for some time before leaving to atrooef tleav leaving to retrieve the weapons. it's amazing to think the ripple effect of how many were affected by the 50 deaths and the 53 injured. >> thomas, especially sad given

the fact that pulse got its name from the memory of the founder's brother, died of aids. pulse signify his life force, and especially sad because it was more than a club. it was, as you said, a safe place. it was a gathering and meeting place, and think of the kid who was there last night in that crowd who, perhaps, wasn't out and yet wanted a safe place to feel like him or herself, and that tragedy just gets compounded times 50. >> well, i think as we start to peel back all the layers about what that tragedy means as qvc lar -- the largest mass shooting in u.s. history. there thereby discussion about access to guns.

and about policy about ending discrimination in this community. i think while the lgbt is celebrating milestones in the community in what some would say over a quick time, to you point, there are probably many young folks in there who might not have been out in their lives or have had family support about what it meant to be part of the lgbt community. and so many people when they first start out, they make friends within that community who then become like family to them because they're so afreud of a -- afraid of any type of reaction from their families that they would be discounted so they find that support and comfort from people within the community. yes, this was a place for so many people to come. the owner started this in memory of her brother. she put out a statement, i'm devastated about the horrific events