interd interviewed lisa -- >> kevin, we know -- forgive me. we know there's so much work ahead. we will be back. stay with me. back with more, reporting live here in orlando after this. we're back here in new york at the top of the hour. again, what we are covering is the worst mass shooting in united states history. americans woke up early this morning to learn that it had been closing time last call 2:00 a.m. eastern time when shots started -- were fired inside a club called pulse in orlando, florida. just south of the main center of downtown. and then the death toll started to grow. what became a hostage situation

and a gunman. one gunman that took 11 police officers to take him down. and in all the shooting, in what may have been crossfire back and forth to resolve the hostage situation, rush and kill the gunman, 50 people were dead. 53 people were wounded. a staggering death toll and so many people in central florida and elsewhere have spent this day wondering where is the name of our loved one? is our loved one alive at all? have you seen the name on the list of injured? have you seen the name on the list of those in critical condition? earlier today, the president addressed the nation. this exists as a peculiar set of circumstances. the president described it as both a hate crime, as it was against one individual group of

people in america, and an act of terrorism at the same time. nbc's kerry sanders is in fort pierce, florida, where he has been gathering what he can outside the terrorist's apartment complex. kerry? >> reporter: brian, the search for answers to understand whether this gunman acted alone or whether he worked in concert with anybody else. the fbi and the federal authorities are telling us thus far what they have discovered is this appears to be a case of a lone wolf. but nonetheless, they are at the apartment complex here and i short distance away at the gunman's parents' home. this was the scene at the gunman's parents' home earlier today. you can see a large number of authorities that are there, lawmen from the fbi, from the state department of law enforcement as well as representatives of from the local sheriff's office taking out pieces of evidence in bags and boxes, looking at what

eventually will be examined inside a lab to determine whether there may be something, we're not sure, but there may be computers there, something that will give fingerprints, digital fingerprints to explain whether this was a case of a lone wolf. here at the home where he lived, this is an apartment. i believe it's apartment 107. it's around corner. the authorities have not even told us whether they have been able to get inside yet fearing that there possibly could be booby traps. as early as 8:30 this morning with the authorities traced back his address, they evacuated the apartment complex. they need to find a place to spend the night. tomorrow they find out whether they can return. the authorities hoping to find out if there is some sort of connection between omar mateen, the gunman, and perhaps somebody else. did he get any help? the atf has told us, as you reported here, that the guns were purchased in the last week. the distance from here to the

pulse nightclub is about 120 miles. there are other people in this area who tell us that that's not too far of a drive for the pulse. it was that kind of draw. people in this area also would attend that nightclub. why he chose to go from here to there remains a mystery. we know a short distance from here is the islamic center of fort pierce. omar mateen was a regular who would show up three, four times a week. he generally they say would arrive late just as prayers were beginning and he would leave shortly thereafter. he did not have a close relationship with him. but he did know the family. he knew the parents. he visited their home. he had known the family closer when omar mateen's sister was getting married. he got a chance to know them. they are from afghanistan, he says. he says they are particularly close to a belief which would be more in line with the northern

alions, rather th alliance, rather than the taliban. there have been reports that nbc news is reporting as well that there are recordings of his father talking about sympathy towards the taliban, whether that was passed from his father to his son is unknown. a leader, perhaps you are his leader. where did he go wrong? where did he get this crazy idea? >> look, if a person, he go to harvard and then he become a killer. harvard tell him to be killer? you know? everybody who do -- who is in prison today, even to some high school, to the principal of the high school told him to do this? 150 people are coming and then the speech is this and good thing. if the people they go to different other places are for affected, there is no problem. this is not the problem of the mosque.

>> reporter: the question is, where was he radicalized if he was indeed following some twisted belief that the koran told him to do this? he did not learn it there. we talked about whether they talk about homosexuality. he says, look, the koran says it's a sin but so is drinking and we don't focus on that. we certainly don't tell people to act on that. interestingly, in our discussion i asked him about how this is becoming politicized and whether this is something that he is ready for because as you know, one of the candidates for president, donald trump, has said he would like a temporary ban on those from the islamic faith coming into the united states. his response caught me off guard. this is what he had to say as this becomes a politicized issue. donald trump is running for president. he wants to ban muslims temporarily. what do you think of that? >> i don't think that this

america has a great country would allow donald trump to do something like that. >> reporter: what do you believe? will it be politicized? what do you believe donald trump to become the next president? >> i mean for us it's not a big difference. >> reporter: would you like to see trump as our next president? >> in the sense that if the people are angry at us muslim, then anger of the people toward muslim is decreasing by the presidency of donald trump, let him be the president. because the muslim get the benefit because the anger of the majority will decrease. i don't think that it will be that much scary and dangerous for the muslim as the people think. it will have good affect, too. >> reporter: interestingly, he tells us that the fbi in recent years has visited the mosque there, spoken to other members,

generally he said that's happened last two or three years following other national events that involved questions about islamic terrorism. however, as we know, omar mateen is a name known to the fbi. but he says no agent ever stopped by to ask him about the gunman. does he now wish that the fbi had done that? he says yes. he wonders why they didn't. right now at the islamic center, they are breaking a fast and they are returning to prayers. this would be the fourth prayers of the day. we were told possibly that the gunman's mother would show up and give a statement. thus far, she has not spoken to anybody. brian? >> interesting, kerry. wishing the fbi asked about a guy is one thing. being concerned enough about a guy to inform the fbi, knowing the fbi is sniffing around and calling him in for questioning is quite another.

>> reporter: indeed, brian. the bottom line is here he says he saw nothing that would tell him that this gunman was going to be radicalized, was are a radicalized, that he had any violent tendencies. he found him to be somebody who was rather muscular, somebody who said -- who he said he went to the gym regularly. we have heard members of the gym speaking in general terms about some of those at the gym using steroids, which as you know can affect somebody's mental capacity and abilities. their moods specifically. bottom line is, he says there was no tip-off for him. he along with his congregation said they are sad and they hope there's no retaliation against them. >> kerry sanders in fort pierce, florida. still so many questions, kerry. thanks. let's go to jacob rascon outside the hospital in orlando. let's think about the families who have been asking questions

about their loved ones there all day in the face of this death toll of 50. jacob? >> reporter: brian, you have families who are coming out of the hospital who have been with their family members that were wounded. they were waiting for the operations to be finished. one family we just interviewed gave a horrifying story. the father says he livers slivr away. was awoken by pounding on the door. the pastor's wife said there's an incident. when he got here at noon, his son was in an operation. he was undergoing surgery and couldn't see him. when he was able to see him a few hours later, his son, who is -- his name is anhil told this sorry that he saw the shooter drinking at the bar before the shooting. he didn't realize who it was until he saw the social media pictures later. when everything happened, when the shooting started, his son described that he thought it was part of the music as many others said. when he realized what was

happening, it was too late. he was shot in the back of the leg and fell down. this is what he is relating to his father. he says there was a stampede of people that came over him and others and broke his leg. then at that time, he says the shooter came back and started shooting people who were laying on the ground. his son was shot two more times. then, of course, after when the ambulances came, they carried him away. that's when the father came in, was able to finally see him hours after the operation. i asked him among other things what he said to his son when he first saw him. here was his answer. >> i saw him and i hugged him. i told him, in spanish, bi, god protected you. god is giving you another chance. that's what i told him. god is giving you another chance. make life a better way. he goes, i know. i know, dad. i know.

>> reporter: did he know at the time it was an isis-inspired attack? >> no. i don't think he did. i think they actually just told somebody got crazy in the bar and started shooting like crazy. then look at the news. that's what they finding out. >> reporter: does he know now? >> yes. >> reporter: does he have reaction to that? does that change his mood? >> no. happy and joking around. >> reporter: really? >> he was laughing and everything. still on the influence of percocet. they had to give him percocet for the pain. he is doing good. he is doing good. he has a lot of support. the whole family was there. >> reporter: by family, you say sisters. he has a number of sisters? >> three. this is the smallest from this point. and all the sisters. two of them more. >> reporter: does he live here going to school? >> no.

he works. he works. he works in orlando. >> reporter: so again, we're talking about a person who was wounded, 26 years old, shot in the back of the right leg and then later in the left leg and in the hand and who survived and who will be here at least a week his father says. brian? >> in case after case, we have kind of met through television these families, the survivors, the relatives. they are nice people. life was cruising along. they had a loved one go to a bar on a saturday night and then everything came to a halt. still unknown, jacob, is how this guy got an ar-15 into a bar and yet managed to sit at the bar and have a drink with that large a weapon concealed. i just -- unless he stowed it somewhere and went back out and came back in.

it's one of the mysteries of this case. it will take a surviving witness to answer that question. jacob rascon outside the hospital. thank you for your reporting and introducing us to anhil's family. jim miklaszeski is standing by at the white house where earlier today the president addressed the nation. jim, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. just a few moments ago -- there's a large demonstration, a gay pride demonstration in lafayette park across pennsylvania avenue from the north lawn. a few minutes ago, they broke into a rousing rendition of the star spangled banner which ended with a huge round of applause and cheers. obviously, in solidarity with their brothers and sisters down in orlando who were killed in this mass shooting. today we saw a very somber president go into the briefing room, because -- to give a

speech because after all, this is the 16th time that he has had to make remarks, give an address to the nation following a mass shooting. this one, of course, the most devastating, the most deadly in america's history. in his statement today, he talked about being in solidarity, the grief and the outrage and the resolve that everyone feels after this mass attack. he actually, too, reveals some information about the investigation itself saying, there's no definitive determination as of yet as to a motive. they are still searching to see if there was any inspiration or association with this shooter and any kind of terrorist organization. tonight, from u.s. law enforcement officials, we're being told that so far, no indication that mateen was in touch with any terrorist overseas. nothing to indicate this was a directed attack. also, no sign that anyone else was involved in the attack,

either in helping mateen or egging him on. in the president's speech today, he didn't get preachy about gun control. but he said, this is an example, just still another example about how easy it is to obtain these kind of lethal weapons. it says something about where america is. and he suggests that we need to be headed in another direction. shortly after his remarks today, too, just minutes after, the flag over the white house was lowered to half staff. the president has canceled his political events scheduled for wednesday in green bay, wisconsin, with hillary clinton. and there is some speculation that he may even cancel some trips to new mexico and to yosemite national park in colorado before the end of this

week, brian. obviously, the president is being kept abreast of the investigation. again, so far, according to the president himself and law enforcement officials, this still appears to be a lone wolf attack, according to those officials, brian. >> jim miklaszeski on the white house lawn for us tonight on this dark sunday evening across america. carlos perez was kind enough to talk to us early in the morning. he is among the survivors of this and was at a vigil memorial this evening. carlos, i'm told your friend jeff was there and had posted on facebook he was shot, was hiding in the bathroom. what have you been able to find out about him? >> caller: so one of his family members got on his facebook

account and posted he was in stable condition. he posted that he was in the club, got shot and was bleeding. >> what does stable condition for him mean? >> caller: i'm not sure. because there's very limited communication going on. again, just one of the family members got on saying he is in stable condition. even the hospital is not telling them much. >> because of privacy, i guess? >> caller: i'm not sure. >> did you know anyone else there? >> caller: no, i did not. >> had you been there -- are you a regular? had you been there before? >> caller: i'm straight. i have lots of gay best friends. so we have gone there a handful of times. this was something not expected at all. >> you know this place as -- for what it was designed to be by the founder.

a safe place, a fun place, a place to forget your troubles and go on a saturday night? >> caller: yes. a place that welcomes everybody, no matter where you come from, what you believe in, where you come from. >> i guess that will never be true again. well, we can, of course, hope they reopen and come back stronger than ever. this is just one of the stories we're hearing about the survivors, some of them grievously wounded, satisfactory condition, stable condition is actually good news, after some of the wounds we have seen in this club last night. thank you very much for making contact with us by phone. >> caller: of course. >> thank you. >> caller: thank you. >> our coverage will take another break. we'll be back with more right after this. even if you're not good at it now, that's okay. because credit isn't just a score. it's a skill. experian. be better at credit.

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we're back. this is one world trade, a name a lot of us new yorkers, frankly, candidly couldn't

believe they were giving the new building after what happened there. but this is one world trade. the spire lit in led in the cover of the gay pride flag. we're zooming out to expose the fact that's the empire state building standing between us at 30 rockefeller plaza and world trade at the far end of the tip of manhattan. incoming flights to la guardia and jfk there in the sky. but the empire state building is going to remain dark against the sky tonight. every night the of the year it's lit up in a different color scheme, usually for a charitable organization. it's remaining dark tonight for the death toll of 50. there you see the fuller skyline of new york city in all its color. we are back and we're happy to be joined by tear tara moller.

she's a former cia analyst. she's with us in washington. we have been asking all number of people the same question and that is, how can you possibly go at preventing what happened today, this kind of fiendish dual prong of a clear hate crime and what is obviously a terrorist attack? >> well, obviously, in this case it was one individual, which means that it may have been a lone wolf. we don't know if he was connected to anybody else. these are the types of attacks that law enforcement find difficult to prevent. they're not communicating with a lot of people. we don't know who he was in touch with. what is important to prevent these types of attack is ramping up resources that the fbi has to monitor individuals that are on their radar screen. in this case this individual did hit the fbi's radar screen twice in the past. we can't monitor every single person that may show some sort of sympathy to an extremist

cause. we don't have the resources. more resources for law enforcement. intelligence officials connecting the intelligence information. then really a big part of this is fighting -- countering extremism online. individuals like this one, if they were radicalized and had never been to syria or iraq or in direct contact with members of isis, they may have come into contact online with members of isis or through their rhetoric on the internet. >> how do you crush an idea, especially in an open marketplace like the internet? >> well, there are a few ways. you want to be good about getting down some of the really gruesome content. the tech companies have had a lot of pressure on them to take down some of this messaging. organizations like my own and in the u.s. government work on countering the narrative. to be frank, americans, we're not necessarily the best ones to create that counter narrative. part of it is creating partnerships with people on the ground in the countries, in the regions that speak the language

and know the culture that can help create narratives and create programs to undermine messages of groups like isis who have been very good at what they do in terms of reaching out to disenfranchised people who are vulnerable to their messaging. >> where it regards the fbi having more resources for them, a lot of people think through dada data mining we have cut away too much at our freedoms as it is. how other than that would the fbi have known this was brewing in this guy's life? >> well, there are a few things. just like with any sort of intelligence problem, you don't want to rely on one piece of intelligence. you don't want to put all your investment into one area. rely on human intelligence and signals intelligence, monitoring groups overseas, people in the local communities domestically need to be aware of what people are doing. in terms of the fbi and the technology side, there have been

some difficulties. i don't know in this case, we don't have enough information to say what was at play on the technology side. law enforcement and fbi director has been up front about this has said they have trouble because of new technology, encryption in terms of monitoring individual's communications. it's a challenge. it's one i don't think we fully sorted out here. both legal debate of the privacy concern and concerns. these are challenges for law enforcement. there's not one silver bullet to solving the problem. it's a combination of different intelligence. it's going to be a combination of the narrative and also the fight overseas militarily, the taking back of territory we see going on in fallujah right now and hopefully in parts of syria. that's part of the equation as well. >> overseas in that region, especially after the iraq invasion, but after the dual wars we have been through, what's the incentive to help the united states?

>> well, i mean, basically in order to get people on our side in this fight, we need to be showing that we have a clear outlined vision. we need to show the values we represent. i think one of the struggles for the policies we have have had overseas is even if we're getting back the territory, if we don't have the counter messages, if we're not fighting the battle online, if we don't have local partners, the territory, the military part of of this is not effective. so it's a holistic strategy. it's not going to happen overnight. this is a long fight. it's changing the minds of children. it's investing in programs we see being successful overseas. i know the state department has a new office set up as well, the global engagement center which president obama created in march with an executive order run by a former -- someone from special forces. they are set up now to be inter-agency focusing on this. there are organizations, go to our website, we have programs like 195 and a number of

initiatives aimed at all of these sort of aspects of the fight. the government and the private sector needs to be multi-pronged. the government can't do it alone. it needs to be global and it needs to involve the private sector and organizations in the non-profit sector as well. >> tara maller thank you for coming on the air with us. another break and we will be back.

♪ we shall live in peace ♪ we shall live in peace a peaceful group, many of them members of the lgbt community outside the white house. jim miklaszeski talked about this a short time ago. they were just singing songs, we shall overcome. they finished with the star spangled banner. people have wondered over the years, even with new modern windows, if the president, if the first family can hear what

happens in lafayette park across the street in the residence, in the upstairs portion of the white house. the answer, according to all the available evidence, all these years, is yes, they can. less than pleasant some nights. depending on the cause. but on a night like this after what this country and the city of orlando, florida, has been through, it's probably a welcome sound. you see the flag behind the white house lit at night but at half staff in accordance with the president's order. former senator mel martinez has been kind enough to join us. he is republican and former mayor of orange county, which is a post a lot of folks in this country aren't used to, a county executive but not a mayor. orange county is what is the county surrounding orlando, florida. senator martinez, my question to you, i asked bill nelson the

same question, why orlando, florida? >> brian, i have been asking myself that all day long. it's hard to believe. as i have talked to friends and neighbors all through the day, it just seems like very unlikely place for it this to have happened. you know, this is at a nightclub that frankly, i think the lgbt community coming together is very understandable. but it's a place that i remember members of my political staff when i was a candidate for senate, gay and straight both going there to enjoy. it's a very, very enjoyable sort of nightclub that people in this community have enjoyed for years. it's very tragic to think of it happening in our community. it just doesn't seem right. but you know, these events, they don't really have a lot of rational behind them, it doesn't seem, except hate and a design to disrupt the lives of people to carry out a political again ta agenda or misguided political

agenda. >> that's right. i guess it fits the definition of terrorism. we know it fits the definition of a hate crime because of who it targeted and who he went after to kill. but it's the definition of terrorism, and it depresses people because you think if it can happen there on a random saturday night and look at this death toll, look what it has done to the families in that community, how are we going to stop this thing, especially the lone actors? >> it's not going to be easy. this is a very, very difficult enemy we're up against because of the asymmetrical nature of it. we have to recognize that a soft target like this place is the kind of place that they seem to now be targeting. so they are not going to those events that are well protected and well guarded but to a place like this, which frankly, i don't know that we can ever completely protect ourselves. i think what we have to do is, again, look at the root cause of isis, the root cause of this

kind of ideological fervor and continue to move after them and try to defeat them. i don't think there's any question that what originated as an idea can also be extinguished by extinguishing those that perpetrate the idea and those that put the material on the internet and do things that are done when you have these extremists essentially running a large swath of the middle east. >> on other side of the coin, this guy somehow got an ar-15 into a bar. that is a substantial sizable weapon. i've been saying to our guests all night long, if you live in tel aviv, jerusalem, you are used to -- not that i'm advocating this. you are used to pat downs and metal detector wands as you go into stores, you go into mcdonald's. is that i wonder what we're headed for? >> well, i think you know, we have given up bits and pieces of our individual liberties as we

go through airports and other things. i think that i've been very concerned about the data mining that we have stopped doing. i have been concerned about not not interrogating people but opting to simply eliminate them through drone strikes, not that i have any sympathy for them. but the fact of the matter is that through interrogation we can always find a lot of information. so i think there's a re-commitment to the defense of our nation needs to be part of what we take out of this thing tonight. you know, brian, i should not forget as a former mayor how proud i am the response of the first responders here in orlando, orange county working together with the florida department of law enforce money and obviously the fbi as well. the response was courageous and tremendous and timely. you know, very fortunate also that this particular site was not a half a mile, just a few blocks from orlando health, which is a trauma one source of center which has been also i think fortuitous in hopes of

saving a lot more lives of those that have been wounded. >> nor, isenator, i'm wondering branch of the republican party you are in these days. can you find it with a flashlight? >> my goodness, brian, i was hoping we weren't going to talk about that tonight. that's a difficult one for me. >> sorry. >> i hear you. look, the fact is that, you know, we have a great country. i am an immigrant to this nation. i live in love of this land and what it stands for. days like today break your heart. we can never forget the greatness of this naltion and te ability of people to come together. when you see 600 people standing in line to give blood, that's the america that i love. and regardless of the r and d, that's the america i hope we all pull for and will prevail out of these horrible events. >> that's a great answer. you are absolutely right. former senator mel martinez, thank you so much for joining us

from california -- from florida. as we have been saying, our condolences to everybody down there. it's an awfully helpless feeling watching this from a distance as we have been. speaking of, the inevitable political reaction to this. kelly o'donnell in our newsroom in washington with that. kelly? >> caller: i certainly appreciate senator martinez, his desire to demure from the politics. you and i will dive right in for a moment, brian. there is an update to tell you about from the donald trump campaign. he had planned to go on with his schedule to visit new hampshire tomorrow. he will still be in the state but will cancel a rally. as we have come to see, those are often large, raucous events. he is going to postpone that, promising voters in new hampshire he will be back soon. he will still continue to visit the state, to deliver a speech. a speech that originally was supposed to be sort of an anti-clinton speech talking

about many attacks on bill and hillary clinton and their public life. that will change somewhat we are told to address these circumstances where donald trump, who in most events -- i have covered many of them -- does talk about his views on foreign policy, especially with respect to isis, terrorism and violence like this. so expect him to talk about that in a speech tomorrow. so that, of course, would give you a much more subdued setting without a crowd. and he can be on record. also important because hillary clinton is proceeding with her schedule, she will be in cleveland and she will also be talking about these events in a planned speech tomorrow. this changes the dynamic of the campaign trail. it has not, however, dimmed some of the back and forth between the candidates. donald trump took to twitter quite a bit today. also, put out a lengthy statement outlining some of his concerns. a top official for the hillary clinton campaign said that what happened today requires a

seriousness that donald trump did not present in the way he responded today in a self-congratulatory style. the campaigns are going back and forth. also as we have seen, the president and paul ryan indicate flags should be lowered to half staff. there was a tweet from trump's son eric showing a photo of flags lowered on trump property. the order from the president, of course, involves government buildings. the order from the speaker, of course, covers the u.s. capitol. perhaps as an extension of that saying na saying it's in honor of the vehicle vim victims, trump prorperties will have flags lowered. the politics have moved through different dimensions. the president came out and spoke before the public talking about this as an act of terror, an act of hate. and also bringing to mind again the concerns he has about gun violence and could anything be done to reduce the use of guns

in these sort of large-scale attacks that have become so common place. we know tomorrow, the president's schedule is updated so he will receive the presidential daily briefing with the fbi director and the homeland security secretary present with him. also with the deputy attorney general. loretta lynch, the attorney general, had been traveling to china to attend a cyber security conference. she is returning to be here in washington. so her deputy will meet with the president tomorrow. we know that vice president biden canceled his plans to speak and appear at an event in miami on behalf of head of the democratic national committee and running for re-election. there's definitely a pal cast upon politics. it has not diminished tension, fighting and competition. it does change the way candidates can campaign. it also changes the way they communicate. and in a typical way that we

have come to see donald trump doesn't follow the normal convention of holding back. he was critical of the president in the midst of this unfolding. expect him to be forceful against the president and hillary clinton tomorrow when it comes to how to handle issues like this. >> kelly o'donnell in our d.c. newsroom. as we said and with apologies with the look at the inevitable politics of even a national tragedy given that we are in a political season. the words right below us there, deadliest mass shooting in american history. that is the conversation tonight. that's the story we're covering tonight. the tragedy we all woke up to this morning. our coverage will continue after a break.

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shoshow me more like this.e. show me "previously watched." what's recommended for me. x1 makes it easy to find what you love. call or go online and switch to x1. only with xfinity. the nightclub is called

pulse. it's close to the city center of orlando, florida. it got its name as a tribute to the life force of a man who died of hiv/aids years ago. it was his sister who decided to open the club. more than a nightclub, it was a gathering place and a meeting place. it tried to actually do some good in addition to offering a safe place to people, say, on a saturday night, latin night as it was last night. by all accounts, everybody was having a good time right up until last call. 2:00 a.m., somehow a heavily armed deranged man gained entry to pulse. sat at the bar. had a beverage by the account of one survivor. got up and started shooting. and he did not stop until one of the 11 firing police officers

took him down after what became a hostage situation after an attack that results in 50 democrat deaths and 53 wounded. a harrowing situation. in our aera of social media and texting and the like, a lot of people, a horrifying number of people were in touch in real time as we all are with family members. only this was dire. there was no way they could help their trapped family members who could hear the gunfire and the approaching violence. one account that's received some attention today is by a mother named mina justice who talks about her son eddie who was a victim of the shooting. >> i woke up and looked at it. then i called him back. then he didn't answer. he called me back. he said they were shooting in the club. he was texting me. i got the text after i talked to him. he said, call the police.

i called dispatch and reported that it was a shooting at a club. he texted me at 2:06 and said, i love you. in the club they are shooting. that was at 2:06. trapped in the bathroom. downtown. please call police. i'm going to die. call them, mama, now. i'm in the bathroom. he is coming. i'm going to die. i asked him was he hurt. he said, yes. i said, are some of the people yes. he said yes. i said, what bathroom are you in? he said the women's bathroom. he said hurry, he's in it the bathroom with us. he is a terror. then i asked him in the men bathroom? and he said, no.

>> we get asked all the time and we don't have an answer, where do people get the strength to talk about such things and go on television and share stories like that. we really don't know. it may be part shock. it may be part part yearning an sadness and being in the moment but as far as we know, she has yet to hear from her son, eddie. we're back with more right after this. of control... legislature. stand up to this price gouging. prices... relief act. of control... legislature. stand up to this price gouging. prices... relief act.

homophobia, we cannot dismantle one without the others. they are out laws. they don't speak for our faith. they never belong to this beautiful faith. >> that was early on this afternoon, really, the counsel on american islamic relations, a four square statement however from them and against this

terrorist. we are joined now by the spokesperson for the muslim alliance for sexual and gender diversity. it's not the only religion in the world hardly that defines homosexuality as a sin, so muslims are not alone in that at all. the problem, of course, is you can't control human wiring and people of all groups are going to fall into the lgbt categories and more so what has your group done to kind of bring the two together? >> yes, that's a really good point, brian. islam is not alone in its view point on sexuality, but there are different view points and i think it's important to remember that, that islam is not a monolithic religion. it really stands at the

intersection of these two identitie identities, of lgbt people and muslims. we provide support and services to people who would like to talk about the issues of concern within our communities, issues of homo phobia, islam phobia, we are facing both of those at the same time. >> do you think we're in for another wave of that because of this attack? >> it already started. i was at a vigil in new york and there were people going by and yelling out muslims should be arrested. as we've seen the political right in this country, including trump and marco rubio issued statements about victimizing and going after muslims around the country. >> yet, all the out reach, if a man -- if the father of this terrorist is to be believed, he became engaged at the sight of two men kissing on a street corner in miami. if that is the case, how are we

ever going to, you know, at the same time he had been quietly radicalized by all accounts on his own, how are we ever going to prevent this kind of thing from happening because you can get the same reaction, a christian a jew, what have you. >> this could have been anybody. there are a number of different reasons why he could have done what he did. it's a horrible tragedy and i think today is the time where we should be holding the victims and their families and not focussing on this man who committed these acts of violence, that nobody is going to condone, you know. the counsel of american islamic relations has come out with a really, really strong statement and we have to work on homo phobia and islam phobia at the same time and our communities need to work together to build harmony, inner faith dialogue and understanding on genders that exist in this country and

people like this shooter are threatened by that. they are threatened by the diversity that kpilss in the united states and so they go out and commit heinous acts against innocent people and it could have been any one of us within the lgbt community including myself that could have been at the club. it's really hit home for our community. >> thank you very much for joining us on the air. it's confusing territory for a lot of people. we appreciate your time and we're back with more right after this. like the power to earn allstate reward points, every time i drive. ...want my number? and cash back for driving safe. and the power to automatically find your car... i see you car! and i got the power to know who's coming and when if i break down. ...you must be gerry. hey... in means getting more from your car insurance with the all-powerful drivewise app. it's good to be in, good hands.

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we're back at the top of another hour, what has been a dark, dark sunday across our country. put another way, america made history today and not in a good way. we witnessed the deadliest mass shooting in our history. and what you're