>> we're back at the top of the hour. a 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 looking at there was and perhaps someday will be again, a nightclub. it was called pulse.

and at 2:00 a.m. eastern time or there abouts, right around last call, a man got up and started firing. in the end 50 people were killed. 53 wounded. all of it combined makes orlando, florida about the saddest place on earth. and we were surprised to learn earlier this evening something that confirms the pictures you're looking at from a helicopter, and that is that there are still bodies of the deceased inside that club. thomas roberts is at our anchor location not far from the club in orlando on this sad night. thomas? >> reporter: brian, good evening. we're only a short distance away from the active crime scene behind behind. you can still make out the street sign for pulse the nightclub. saturday evening here was latin night, a big night for the community, and if you look at

pulse's facebook, their public page, you can see how they promote the evening as something big and celebratory within this community. it was a packed club around 2:00 a.m. when authorities and witnesses contribute to this, that the fact that omar mateen came in and started opening fire. now, one of the witnesses that we had a chance to speak to earlier today talked about the fact this man could have been in the club earlier, been looking around to see the opportunities at hand and came back in with the two different weapons the atf has traced, confirming an ar type rifle and a nine millimeter semi automatic pistol. earlier we saw the fact that they set up chain link fences down around pulse. you could see through them at the time. now, as you can tell, they've all been blacked out with tarps as they go through this grim task of removing the victims. again, as we've been reporting,

there were 50 people killed and 53 other people that were injured. we had an update from the police department not that long ago. we've been following the updates about verification of identification of those lost as lo as long as family members have been identified. we have eight now. there was edward sotomayor. juan ramon. luis omar ocasio. and kimberly morris. kimberly morris being the oldest victim identified so far at 37. the youngest being luis oma

omar ocasio-capo. families were meeting with authorities earlier and they were announcing the names of those that they could verify as being deceased. there are still families left in limbo because there are so many that are unaccounted for. just a short distance away from our point, our location, is the hospital where so many were transferred. we know that there were 13 different employees that were working inside last night. two performers that were set to perform and then other staff. i know of two bartenders that were able to make it out. one bartender that was shot in the leg. he was treated at the hospital and released according to his facebook page. he's doing okay. there's another bartender who sources tell me was able to escape the carnage inside pulse after climbing through air vents. we're still waiting to hear back from a couple of other folks that i reached out to about what

happened inside. one being the bar manager. we know who she is, and we reached out to her. we're still waiting to get confirmation and whether or not she'll speak to us. from what i've been told, they're unwilling to talk to the press because of this being an active police investigation, but this right now remains one of the darkest times in the city of orlando. as you made reference to the fact that orlando being known as the place of the happiest place on earth because of the theme parks that are here is now the unique designation, the unfortunate designation of being the site for the largest mass shooting in history. the man behind it is omar mateen. according to our sources at nbc news he called into 9-1-1 and claimed allegiance to isis. that takes this case in a different direction, finding out if he was a lone wolf.

was it isis connected or isis inspired like we saw in san bernardino and trying to trace the roots back. this remains active. very fluid, and so many families are left in the dark right now. friends and family waiting for information about loved ones that they can only assume the worst at this point since so many hours, nearly 24 hours, since the shooting started. >> thomas roberts at street level in the saddest place on earth we both agree. thomas, thanks. this was exactly two things. this was the definition of a hate crime. this was aimed specifically at members of the lgbt community, and because they were members of the lgbt community this was also terrorism. this young man, an american, born in new york who moved to central florida, moved to the coast of theflorida for a while

who somehow, perhaps all by himself became radicalized, became an alee gelegiant follow isis, we're led to believe. it's been the largest mass shooting in u.s. history, and our colleagues at the dateline division of nbc news today put together a look at the time line, how this entire tragedy has played out. here with that is nbc ease dennis murphy. >> it was supposed to be a night of fun, letting your hair down. saturday night had become sunday morning. the music loud. this video posted on the internet from inside club pulse around 1:00 a.m. last call, last dance. latin themed night was wrapping up. a crowd of about 300 packed into a gay nightclub. at approximately 2:00 a.m., everything changed. the gunman holding an assault

rifle encountered an off duty officer and exchanged fire. then he advanced into the club, shooting as he moved. instant chaos. >> oh, my god. people are getting shot. >> reporter: patrons dropped where they were kansing seconds before. the music stopped but the gunfire continues without cease. carlos carl carlos rosario was hanging with friends on the patio when he heard gunshots. >> the first rounds, everybody didn't move. they thought it was part of the music because the music was so loud, and then when it kept on going, i think everybody's instinctual went to this is not music. these are gunshots. >> oh, my god. they're all shooting back and forth. >> reporter: a patron described to lester holt what he heard and how he ultimately escaped. >> at this point it's just like everything is like boom, boom,

boom. >> reporter: were people screaming? >> screaming, running, jumping the fence. i think the fence broke from somebody pushing on it to get out. >> it went with the beat almost until you heard so many shots. it was just like bang bang bang bang. that's when you just know chaos is just -- it was in turmoil. >> reporter: club goers inside began texting and using social media to describe the who your. four of us still hiding. >> thank you. i jumped out. there's people still hiding inside the closets. >> the club managers posted this. everyone get out of pulse and keep running. if only they could. >> my son was at the nightclub with his boyfriend and other friends. i know that his boyfriend has

been shot multiple times and is in the emergency room. >> the gunman armed with his rifle and a handgun fired, spraying a crowd jammed into what was ultimately only a small dance floor with nowhere to go. >> reporter: describe the chaos you saw. >> the guy went crazy shooting at least 40 shots. >> reporter: outside in the parking lot, some of the gunshot injured were scooped up by officers in police pickup trucks and rushed to the emergency room. the s.w.a.t. team surrounded the club. now they had a hostage situation, an unknown gunman believed to be acting alone in control of hundreds of party goers turned victims. outside some people recorded the gun battle on their smart phones. >> oh, my god. >> reporter: authorities made the decision to end the hostage standoff. that meant going in after the gunman. law enforcement officers knocked down a large window of the club creating a hole to allow the

s.w.a.t. team to go in and rescue survivors. when the shooting stopped, the gunman lay dead. one officer was shot in the head but spared serious injury by his helmet. it was too much to take in. the number of dead and injured could only be estimated at first. >> there are multiple people that are dead inside. i don't want to give anyone a number right now. but multiple people are dead inside. obviously our condolences go out to the friends and family. >> reporter: the survivors took stock of their luck, but most of all of their loss. this survivor. -- >> it's very unfortunate. i'm still missing two friends. i have three friends inside injured with bullet wounds. >> reporter: now a dance club joined the roll call. virginia tech, newtown, california. san bernardino, charleston, a

movie theater in colorado. and then after 10:00 a.m. local and federal officials stepped to the mike with a sickening update. >> since the last update we have gotten better access to the building and cleared the building. it's with sadness that i share we have not 20 but 50 casualties in addition to the shooter there are another 53 that are hospitalized. >> reporter: with that the tragedy achieved a milestone nobody wanted. the club massacre was deemed the worse mass shooting in u.s. history. people were desperately waiting for any information about what had happened to their loved one. >> it's just unspeakable. you just don't expect your child to be involved with something like this. >> reporter: by mid morning the shooter had a name, omar mateen of florida, a beach town on the

atlantic coast about two hours south of orlando. he's said to be a 29-year-old divorced father working as a security guard. a u.s. born citizen of afghan parents. >> one of our producers contacted mateen's father in florida a couple of hours ago who had quite a lot to say, saying, first of all, he wanted everyone to know the family is shocked by this and they apologize and think this is terrible. think had no sign this was coming. >> reporter: in that interview the father suggested a motive for the son doing what he did, storming a popular club on saturday night. hatred of gays. >> he, the father, mateen the son, and mateen's son, young son were in miami and according to the father, saw men kissing, touching each other, this outraged mateen. he said to his father, they're doing this in front of me and my son, and his father thinks this is what touched this off. >> reporter: pete williams says sources in the intelligence

community told him that mateen may have other reasons too. mateen is reported to have called 9-1-1 in the early morning hours to declare his allegiance to isis. late afternoon, the fbi told reporters that mateen was on the agency's radar as far back as 2013. >> the nba became aware of mateen in 20 is when he made remarks to co-workers alleging possible terrorist ties. the fbi thoroughly 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. >> reporter: a handgun was recovered along with an ar-15 style rifle. mateen is said to have proper permits for weapons. the florida governor addressed the media. he was clearly shaken. >> right now our hearts and

prayers go out to everybody impacted. i can't imagine a family member that is still waiting to find out what happened to their loved one. it has to be heart wrenching. >> reporter: many of the relatives waited at the ers taking into the wounded. >> we are in the process of taking in families as we name the victims. we ask for your patience. we will reunite the families and victims as quickly as we can. >> today as americans we grieve the brutal murder, horrific massacre of dozens of innocent people. we pray for their families who are grasping for answers with broken hearts. >> reporter: once again he stood before a microphone in the aftermath of a mass shooting. >> this is a sobering reminder

that attacks on any american, regardless of race, religion, or sexual orientation is an attack on all of us and on the fundamental values of equality and dignity that define us as a country. no act of hate or terror will change who we are or the values that make us americans. >> reporter: an act of terrorism and hate, said the president. and shortly after, an isis affiliated media unit issued this statement. the attack that targeted a nightclub for homo sexuals in orlando, florida and that left more than 100 dead and wounded was carried out by an islamic state fighter. those in the local lgbt community seem too much in shock to believe they could have been the latest target of an isis campaign. >> i'm sad. i can't be angry right now. i can't be angry. because we don't know if this

was an attack on the lgbt community or someone looking for a packed nightclub. >> right now my main thing and the center's main thing is we have to remain strong for our community. be there for them. let them know we're there for them and help them get through this. >> reporter: reactions to the attack flooded social media, not just from those in the area but also from across the country and around the world. gabby giffords, herself a victim of mass shootings posted a message on her website. this is a sad and dark day for this country we love. we want to say this tragedy is unthinkable. it is not. once again a mass shooting has torn a community apart. candidates for the presidency also weighed in with sorrow and condolences. bernie sanders's camp offered this. all americans are horrified by

the atrocity in orlando. hillary clinton's campaign called for more gun control. we need to keep guns like the ones used last night out of the hands of terrorists or other violent criminals. while donald trump criticized the obama administration and what he called radical islamic terrorism. what's happened in orlando is just the beginning. our leadership is weak and ineffective. i called it and asked for the ban. must be tough. foreign dignitaries also offered words of support to the victims and their families. from italy, england's royal family, even the vatican. it fell to those close to home to comfort grieving families, to deliver the news of life and death. and to find answers. the florida governor. >> there's going to be plenty of time to deal with how our society comes together. the orlando area, the orange county, the state of florida, we're resilient.

we'll come together and do everything we can to help everybody that's been impacted but also bring the community back together. >> it should have been another saturday night out in the capital of entertainment. they came for the pulse, the heart beat of life, and found the opposite. that is how this day has unfolded. a long day into the night we're having now and still for so many families in the orlando area, questions as to how and where their loved ones are. we'll be back with more right after this.

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♪ "dinner!" "may i be excused?" get the new xfinity tv app and for the first time ever stream live tv, watch on demand, and download your dvr shows anywhere. >> he loved to joke and have fun. a few months after we were married i saw his instability and saw he was bipolar. he would get mad out of nowhere. that's when i worried about my safety, and then after a few months he started abusing me

physically, very often, and not allowing me to speak to my family. keeping me hostage from them. and i tried to see the good in him even then. my family was tuned into what i was doing, they decided to visit me and rescue me from that situation. he was mentally unstable and mentally ill. that's the only explanation i can give. he was obviously disturbed. >> a very thoughtful woman who happens to be the ex-wife of the terrorist who died in the commission of killing all those people inside the dance club in orlan orlando. he was interviewed in boulder, colorado, her new home, and clearly, clearly, upset by all of it. we're going to go to fort pierce, florida. we've been reporting from there on and off.

keri, i understand the fbi insertion team that's going to go in and check the apartment has arrived. the question is you've been talking about the danger of booby traps. it would hardly be the first apartment to be booby trapped. how do you find out what is the contents of a room before entering? >> reporter: well, they have a lot of equipment. some which can see through walls. at the end of the day they have to go in with a full body gear or a robot to push open the door. it's why since 8:30 this morning this condominium has been empty. they got almost everybody out. here we are 14 hours later and the fbi arrived. you can see some of the teams in the video arriving, coming in. they really haven't moved too much of their gear into place. we know they've taken some of their small items over dl there, but at this point they're

waiting to go in. now, we don't know how long it's going to take and what the fbi will do step by step. but what we do know is they don't feel like there is a rush to get in the door. they can take their time, because what they would like to know inside this apartment, if there is any information that could provide a clue as to whether this gunman, whether this terrorist acted alone or was he working in concert with somebody else? so there will likely be a computer inside, and maybe that computer will provide some sort of digital footprint, fingerprint, something that tells them here is who he's talking to and how he was radicalized. at the same time the fbi has yet to, as far as we understand, visit the nearby mosque. the fbi has visited that mosque before. we know in recent years they've stopped by.

the imam telling us they've come in after terrorist events around the country to ask general questions. never asking a question about omar mateen. we can see at evening prayers that they gathered. the prayers were for the victims. they say they disavow any support of anybody who would claim that the islamic faith wants this sort of terrorism and that it supports that. as they were making their prayers and gathering, they said it was possible that the gunman's mother would stop by. she lives a short distance away. she did not stop by. we do know that the police spent a fair amount of time at her house today taking out items and talking we believe to both her and her husband. now, interestingly, the gunman's husband has online shown an allegiance to the taliban. the imam says he's surprised by

that. he says this family from afghanistan was more in line with what was called the northern alliance at one time, those who were supportive of the united states. i asked the imam about that allegiance and whether he believes the father may have in any way influenced the season. this is what the imam had to say. >> his father in postings and in recordings has presented an allegiance to the taliban. do you believe that you heard him talk about that here and is there something that the father taught the son? >> this is a big surprise for me. my imsuppressipression -- >> so to hear. >> if somebody would be angry at him he would say you're like taliban, he would say. >> reporter: as we look behind me, you can see the police unit that's over there that has the

area closed off. this black vehicle is one of the vehicles that arrived for the doib along with this white one. as we look at the light over there, it's around that corner just beyond our view where the fbi is working. this will be a slow process. as we said, one of the things that they may be able to discover is more information about the weapons themselves. as you know, it was a pistol and a long gun, an ar-15 type weapon. in this county and in orange county. this is st. lucy county, florida. if waiting period for those purchases is just three days. >> nice work getting back there and to your point, they might as well take their time. there's no suspect to question, and sadly we can't bring back the 50 souls we lost in that club in the early morning hours of today. we're joined by the former chief of the orlando police department, value demings.

chief, thank you for being us, and i've been thinking about this all day. orlando was one of the cities people were worried about when terrorism first became a real big concern after 9/11. but it wasn't this. it was someone blowing up disney world or sea world or universal where there were large concentrations of people, soft targets. this must have been the last thing anyone thought about and it must match the definition of terrorism. >> good evening. it certainly does. it certainly is a terrorist attack. and no one would have believed this incident could happen in orlando. that orlando would join the list of a mass shooting of this nature, but not only that. to be the largest mass shooting in america's history, i was actually assigned at the orlando international airport during

9/11. your right. we were very concerned about protecting our theme parks. terrorism was really kind of a new term that we all were grappling with, but today is just unbelievable in our hearts and prayers and thoughts just go out to the families, the victims, and their friends. >> yeah. i heard a stat today that -- concerning the number of tourists that come to orlando, that something like every week they welcome a number of people equal to the population of orlando, and, of course that made orlando a natural terrorist target, just not that this. we have the other prong of this matching the definition of a hate crime because a specific population was targeted and hit. >> that's correct. last summer it was a black church in charleston. then it was planned parenthood in colorado, and who would believe that a gay nightclub in

orlando florida would join the list today. clo clearly this was a terrorist attack against the lgbt community. we have met with several people of the lgbt community today. this community had just really stepped up to the plate. it's been engaged in trying to pick up the broken pieces and beginning to move forward. be but we have a long way to go. the federal law enforcement agencies as well as local and state police i'm sure will spend every minute moving forward identifying just exactly where this shooter was hours and days and weeks before this terrible accident happened. as you've seen, they've already begun that process. >> chief, as a law enforcement professional, we have people watching in the 49 other states and they're saying if this can happen, this kind of loss of life at a place like this in a sfi like this, it can happen anywhere.

how should people feel or act? what's your advice? >> my advice is certainly we've seen far too many mass shootings in our nation's history, and particularly since 2009, and the bigger discussion around this issue is you have to look at this particular shooter that obviously had been on the fbi radar at some point, and i know they are vigilant and trying to put those pieces together and go back and look at those interviews that were done, but we also have to look at the type of weapons that he used. of course, a semi automatic handgun, but also an assault rifle, military style weapon where extreme highly high magazine capacity, and the bigger discussion around this issue is we have got to get serious about getting guns, especially assault rifles out of the hands of mentally ill people, criminals and terrorists who want to kill americans as we've seen today. >> just my own curiosity,

because to be a good law enforcement professional you have to think like a criminal. your opinion, he was spotted by one of the survivors at the bar having a beverage before last call. how do you physically get an ar-15 into a bar? >> well, you know, i'm sure that we will, brian, find out the answer to that, look at the security procedures at the nightclub. i'm sure this was not the shooter's first time there. i don't believe his first time on the premises were in the wee hours of the morning when the shooting took place. i would venture to say he had probable been casing this particular establishment for quite some time and askdecided make his move and tragically 50 people lost their lives. 53 others are wounded and many of them critically wounded. >> you're in a more critical line of work than ever.

val val demings, former chief of police. thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> we often talk about orlando, starting up around daytona beach and ends down at tampa bay, the corrid corridor, and it's visible for miles, the eye, the ferris wheel. tonight lit up, trying to offer a little bit of cheer in memory of the tremendous loss. we're back with more right after this. what's it like to be in good hands? man, it's like pure power at your finger tips. 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.

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so many depictions of the colors in the gay pride flag on the eye in orlando that is visible for such a great distance. to these spires over midtown manhattan. the buildings that have l.e.d. spires have changed their normal color because of this massacre in orlando. richard louis, back when there was daylight and a vigil at the stone wall inn, the iconic location in greenwich village, showed us this kind of spontaneous coming tot ing of p.

the crowd has dispersed, but they've left things before. >> it was a flash vigil. community leaders gathered individuals here. there were some 500 to 700 who crowded in the street. they said we're going to keep the street as long as we need to. what's happened behind us is this vigil has grown. and these are just a selection of what's called 1,000 sides. it comes from sandy hook and black lives matter. it says we will not back down. love restores our community. this means love in arabic, and then the flowers have tripled in size. we have the candles that we've become accustomed to. this half crescent around the flowers and candles and signs are being well respected by

everyone in the community, and the word i've heard the most, the solidarity, and they're going to fight on. one individual said this is the stone wall inn. s the it's symbolic to our community. >> rich, thank you for your reporting. sam mclure has been patiently waiting for us to come to her. she's senior vice president of the national dpae and lesbian chamber of commerce. she joins us in washington. sam, the entire point of your organization is businesses either owned by or catering largely to the lgbt community. so the definition of why this is terrorism is patently obvious. the definition of why this is a hate crime is one community, one population targeted and killed

that leaves you with a very, very sad day and a sad state of affairs for your effort. >> yes. it's a very dark day indeed here in washington and around the country as the lgbt community is coming to grips with the losses we experienced today. i've heard a lot of conversation about the difference between is this terrorism? is it a hate crime? i would say it's both and it's certainly aimed directly at lgbt people who experience a much higher level of violence as well. not only is this a huge loss, but i think it touches a very tender spot for many lgbt people. as i've listened to many of the law enforcement officers, especially val demings who spoke eloquently about this crime, i can't help but want to get past

the question of terrorism versus hate crime and get to what we know which is that we've seen this character in the american narrative that is an active shooter. all too often. we're seeing this all around the countries in it's tragedy after tragedy, and i think of all the people i spoke to today i was most touched by a dear friend to called to check on me, ironically. she's a parent, and she and her wife have two young children. they happen to live in connecticut. i was thinking about the fact that it wasn't that long ago they had to explain sandy hook to their young children and now they're going to have to explain this, the largest mass shooting in the country which is aimed specifically at the lgbt community, and it's aimed at their family. >> part of how perversely

violent this was was the founding principle of this club. and we don't want to make it anything loftier than it was. it was a center for gatherings that if it was a safe place. you take a 22-year-old whose not out, needing a safe place to commune and have fun and blow off a little steam on a saturday night, that is the safety that's been shattered. >> right. and i think you can't overstate the importance of that safety. i saw chatter about how some people couldn't conceive that a nightclub is a community gathering space, but if you're a person who has gone through your life not feeling comfortable holding hands with your significant other in public or if you've ever looked over your shoulder to see who's watching you in a public space, you would know that these spaces are very

important, indeed, and it was so troubling to hear the mother reading the texts from her son inside the nightclub, and we've seen this over and over with these mass shootings whether it's a school or a community center or a community of faith where people are gathered in prayer, people being trapped inside and reaching out to their families to have that last communication with someone that they love, and i think a safe space for the lgbt community is just like a safe space for any other community, and when that kind of sanctuary is taken away in such a violent way, that will leave aftershocks for the community for a long time. and i think it's interesting that you point out sort of how this club was founded in honor of someone who lost their battle

to aids. i was thinking a lot today about how the lgbt community and particularly those of us of a certain generation, we've expeerntsed a lot of trauma and seen a lot of loss, and we've had to spend a lot of emergency ta -- energy taking care of people who were hurt and lost their lives. and i know watching the footage and seeing so many civilians carrying out victims, their friends to get medical help, it kind of brought a lot of that back for me, and i'm sure there are a lot of people in the community today that are feeling that. >> sam mcclure, thank you for your patience. thank you for contributing to our coverage. because the news does not get happier from orlando florida, this just into us. you heard our interview by telephone in california with starr shelton who was concerned about her expartner, a bouncer

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we are still learning all the facts. this is an open investigation. we've reached to insents of the killer. the fbi is investigating this as an act of terrorism. i've directed we -- with terrorist groups. what is clear is that he was a person filled with hatred. over the coming days we'll uncover why and how this happened. and we will go wherever the facts lead us. the president in the briefing room earlier today addressing the nation by our

count, the 16th time he's spoken in a similar forum after a mass casualty event. we're joined now by graham wood. he is an expert on isis. he wrote a piece in atlanta called what isis really wants that a number of us read, and that's why we've asked him to be on tonight. graham, so here we have an american, born in new york, moved to florida. a father, a security guard. with apparently a grudge based on homosexuality, who was apparently self-radicalized, perhaps, unless that makes it sound too lofty. isis claims credit for him after the fact. he pledges his allegiance to isis at the moment he was heading in to his attack. what looks floor about this to

you. >> i would say everything about it looks familiar. isis has been telling its supporters far while that they should attack in place. it used to be they would say you should come to syria, help us build a state. now they've said it's getting too dangerous for you to come. why don't you attack where you stand, and so the way this has unfolded is familiar. you find someone who, until very recently, seemed to show no strong religious feelings, no great sense of piety, but who seems in a short time to have found a kind of inspiration, jihadist inspiration and jot let for what seems to be a long standing rage feagainst gays. he's working straight out of the isis play book. >> it seems to me along with

shelter in place, a shooter might as well have attack in place. by that standard, and i have no reason to doubt you're wrong, and especially given the audio clip from elle baghdadi saying the same thing. what do you can where you can because you're helping the effort. how is it we get through every day without something? how are we that fortunate? >> well, this is, of course, still efforts being made by supporters of isis to go to isis territory. so if they think they can make it, they'll try. but the truth of the matter is it takes a fair bit of gall to do this. there are a lot of people who are supporters out there who are happy to amplify the message on social media and twitter and to get some people like this fellow seeps to have to actually act on it. i think we're lucky to have not seen more attacks like this.

>> do you fear -- there's no lofty term for this, the copy cat syndrome? do you fear that this will bring more? >> i think it's likely. unfortunately. you know, isis has been losing ground. it has openly said these are tough times for it in syria and in iraq. and it said almost in so many words that what they need to do is to capture the headlines, to remain the kind of major league jihadist group they're portrayed themselves as. one of the ways is something like this. >> graham, tonight of all things is the tony awards on broadway. if you had tony tickets in light of this, but would you look around more thoroughly than normal? would you take better note of the exits than normal?

walking into a restaurant and so on? >> i would suggest that people live their lives as they would otherwise. there is an effort in terrorism to make us change the way we live our lives. there are more people who die from flips and falls in bathtubs than there are from terrorism. i would hate for people to be filled with fear when they're doing something as joyful as going to broadway and watching "hamilton". >> how interesting you zero in on the favorite show tonight at the tony awards, and what a nice chance to smile about something all day. graham wood, thank you very much for being part of our coverage. we also welcome in to our conversation, manual gomez, a former sergeant with the nypd. same me about walking into the richard rogers theater tonight or any number of the restaurants

on 46th street. >> unfortunately, this is the new norm. this is to be expected. we're going to have active shooter situations from here until the unforeseeable future. so i would suggest that yes, you do need to find out what's going on in your immediate surroundings. if you're at a maul or at a restaurant or movie theater or a broadway show, to know where the exit signs are and know that your escape plan would be if a scenario like what happened in orlando would happen wherever you are in this country. we need to be more aware. we need to be more alert, and we need to have some sort of minimal game plan as to what we're going to do to survive whatever situation we're in. >> how does this end or is this the closest thing to a permanent war fair you can imagine? >> we at war with isis and

radical islamic fundamentalist. it's been going on. it's going to go on for the unforeseeable future. it's not going to stop. you have these people that are on the borderline. they're on the periphery of society. instead of just doing something to better themselves or just killing themselves, they're opting to go with isis and to take out as many peep as they can before they end their own lives. >> i'm reading a headline for a piece written for tomorrow's new york post. after orlando can we finally take the gloves off. there's going to be that glove as well. >> absolutely. i agree. the time has come we might to fight back. we need to fight back on the internet. we need to put a stop to the isis campaign.

they're recruiting 50 people internationally a day. that's a fact. we need to stop them from flying from whatever country they're coming from to iraq, to syria and fighting with them or just lying in wait and acting like this murder did yesterday. they need to get the message that we're not going to sit idle. that we recognize them, that we understand their methodologies. we're going to counter them in whatever way we can. we're the most powerful country in the world and there's no reason why we're letting them recruit our youth daily as they're doing now. >> thank you for coming with us. though your message is not something people always want to hear, and it's been a terrible day in this country. we need your message as well and your expertise. we appreciate you being part of the coverage. the death toll we now know

includes the former partner of someone we talked to earlier tonight as part of our kovcover. [burke] hot dog.seen it.covered it. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪

[we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪

and we're back ♪ >> and 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