orlando tomorrow on "today" and i'll be with you then. there is more on msnbc and on your late local news, as well. we'll bring you tonight's fr originally scheduled edition of "dateline" on assignment soon. thank you for watching and good night. we're back at the top of another hour. we witnessed the deadliest mass shooting in our history. and what you're looking at there was and practice some day will be again a nightclub.

it was called pulse. and at about 2:00 a.m., or 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 either. and we were surprised to learn earlier this evening something that confirm tess pictures you're looking at from a helicopter, and that is that there are still bodies of the deceased inside that club. >> reporter: brian, good evening. yes, we're a short distance away from the activity crime scene behind us. 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, the public page, you can see how they promote the evening as something big and

celebratory. it was a packed club around 2:00 a.m. when authorities say and witnesses contribute the fact that omar mateen came in and started opening fire. one of the witnesses we had a chance to speak to earlier today talked about the fact that this man could have been in the club earlier, been looking around to see the opportunities at hand and then came back in with the two different weapons that the atf traced, confirming a rifle and 9 millimeter semi automatic pistol. brian, earlier we saw the fact they set up chain link fences there down around pulse. you could see through them at the time. now as you can tell, they have 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 got an update from the police department not that long ago we've been following the updates about verification in the identification of those lost as long as family member haves been notified. we have eight. edward sew sotomayor. eric ivan ortiz rivera 36 years old, peter gonzalez-cruz 22 years old, luis 22 years old and the latest name is kimberly morris, 37 years old. kimberly morris being the oldest victim identified so far at 37. the youngest being luis omar at 20 years old. again, this is a very fluid list. we know there was a certain designation point, a local hotel

where families were meeting announcing the names of those they could verify as being deceased. there are still families left in limbo because there are so many unaccounted for. a short distance away from our point or our location is the hospital where so many were transferred. we know that there were 13 different employees 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 actually shot in the leg, he was treated at the hospital and released according to his facebook page he's doing okay. there is 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've reached out to about what happened inside. one being the bar manager.

we know who she is and reached out to her. we're waiting to get confirmation. from what i've been told, they are 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 theme parks that are here is now the unique designation, the unfortunate designation of being the site for the largest mass shooting in history. now, the man behind this is omar mateen according to our sources of nbc news, he called 911 and claimed an allegiance to isis and that takes this case in a completely different direction of finding out whether or not mateen was some sort of loan wolf.

was isis connected or isis-inspired and trying to trace the roots back but as we know, 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, we're nearly 24 hours since this shooting started. >> thomas roberts at street level in the saddest place on earth. we both agree. thomas, thanks. we'll be coming back to you and make no mistake, 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 florida for awhile who somehow perhaps all by himself became

radicalized, became a follower of isis we're led to believe. it has been as we've said the largest mass shooting in u.s. history and our colleagues at the date line division of nbc news today put together a look at the timeline how this entire tragedy has played out. here with that nbc is dennis murphy. >> reporter: it was supposed to be a night of fun letting your hair down. saturday night had become early sunday morning. the music loud and fun. this video posted on the internet from inside club pulse around 1:00 a.m. last call, last dance, latin theme night was wrapping up a crowd of about 300 packed into orlando's popular gay nightclub. at approximately 2:00 a.m. everything changed. a gunman holding an assault rifle encountered an off duty officers and exchanged fire and

advanced into the club shooting as he moved. instant chaos. >> oh my god. people are getting shot, dude. >> patrons dropped where they had been dancing seconds before. the music stopped, but the gunfire continued without seize. carlos rosario was hanging with friends on the back patio when he heard a sudden popping sound. >> 20 to 30 rounds went off. the first two rounds when it went off, everybody really didn't move because 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 instinct went to this is not music, these are gunshots. >> oh my god. they are all shooting back and forth. >> reporter: patron joshua mcgill described to lester holt what he heard and how he ultimately escaped. >> at this point it's just like every -- boom, boom, boom. >> were people screaming? >> screaming, running, laying on

the ground. taking cover, jumping the fence. i think the fence actually broke from somebody pushing on it. >> it went with the beat until you heard too many shots like bang, bang, bang, bang, bang and that's when you just know chaos is just -- it was in turmoil. >> reporter: club goers trapped inside began calling 911 and texting and using social media to describe the horror. four of us still hiding. lights are off in club. cops are here but haven't got us yet. thank you, i jumped out, there's people still hiding inside the closets that the shooters don't know they are in there. the club managers posted this notice, everyone get out of pulse and keep running. if only they could. [crying] >> my son was in the nightclub with his boyfriend and other friends, and i know that his boyfriend has been shot multiple times and is in the emergency room.

>> reporter: the gunman armed with a rifle and handgun was relentless firing, spraying a crowd jammed into what was ultimately only a small dance floor with nowhere to go. >> describe the chaos you saw. >> the chaos, the guy went crazy shooting at least 40, 40 shots. >> reporter: outside in the parking lot some gunshot injured were scooped up by officers in pickup trucks and rushed to the emergency room. the swat 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 ensuing gun battle on their smart phones. >> we need to get out of here. >> reporter: authorities made the decision to end the hostage stand off. that meant going in after the gunman. law enforcement officers knocked down a large window of the club creating a gapping hole to allow

the swat team to go in and rescue survivors. when the shooting stopped, the gunman laid dead. one officer was shot in the head but spared serious injury by his kevlar helmet. it was too much to take in. the numbers of dead and injured could only be estimated at the first. orlando chief of police john mina. >> there are multiple people dead inside. i don't want to give a number. multiple people are dead inside. >> reporter: as dawn became sunday morning, the survivors took stock of their luck but most of all of their loss. survivor gonzalez. >> it's very, very, very unfortunate. you know, i am still missing two friends. i have three friends inside injured with bullet wounds. >> reporter: now an orlando dance club joined virginia tech, newtown, connecticut, san bernardino, charleston, a movie theater in colorado and then just after 10:00 a.m., local and federal officials stepped up to

the cameras with a sickening update. orlando mayor buddy dyer. >> since the last update, we have cleared the building and it is with great sadness that i share we have not 20 but 50 casualties. in addition to the shooter, there are another 53 that are hospitalized. >> with that the shooting achieved a milestone nobody wanted. it was the worst mass shooting in u.s. history and some of the victims were friends and families at the hospitals outside the crime scene. 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. >> and by mid morning the shooter had a name. omar mateen of port st. lucie, florida, a beach town on the coast 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 nbc news 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 that they apologize and think this is terrible. they had no sign this was coming. >> in that interview, the father suggests 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 are doing this in front of me and my son and his father things this in other words is what touched this off. >> but nbc's pete williams say sources in the intelligence community told him that mateen may have other reasons, too.

mateen is reported to have called 911 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 fbi first became aware of march teen in 2013 when he made inflammatory comments to co-workers with possible terrorists ties. the fbi thoroughly investigated the matter with interviews, physical surveillance and records checks. in the course of the investigation mateen was interviewed twice. ultimately, we were unable to verify the substance of the comments and the investigation was closed. >> a handgun was recovered with an ar-15 style rifle. mateen is said to have proper permits for weapons. >> this is clearly an act of terrorism. >> rick scott addressed the

media. he was clearly shaken. >> hearts and prayers go out to everyone impacted. i can't imagine a family member that is still waiting to find out what happened this their loved one. it has to be heart wrenching. >> many relatives spent hours waiting at local ers taking in the wounded. >> we're in the process of trying to reunite families as we identify the names of the victims. this will take some time. we ask for your patience. but we will reunite the families and the victims just as quickly as we can? president obama was updated throughout the day.

>> today as americans we grieve the brutal murder, horn riff -- horrific massacre of dozens of families. >> once again he stood before a microphone in the aftermath of a mass shooting. >> this is a sobering reminder attacks on any american regardless of race, ethnicity, 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. and no act of hate or terror will change who we are. >> an act of terrorism and hate and shortly afterwards an isis affiliated media unit issued the statement the attack that targeted a nightclub for homosexuals in orlando, florida and left more than 100 dead and wounded was carried out by an islamic state fighter. so far no evidence has surfaced showing evidence between mateen and isis. 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 just somebody looking for a packed nightclub.

>> terry decarlo director of the lgbt center of central florida. >> right now my main thing and the center's main thing is we got to remain strong and vigilant for our community. be there for them. let them know we're there for them and help them get through this. >> reactions to the attack flooded social media, not just from those in the area but also from across the country and around the world. former congresswoman gabby giffords herself a victim of mass shooting posted a message on her website. this is a sad and dark day for this country we all love. we want to say that this tragedy is unthinkable, but it is not. once again, a mass shooting has torn a community apart. candidates for the presidency weighed in with sorrow and condolences. bernie sanders' camp offered this. all americans are horrified, disgusted and saddened by the

horrific atrocity in orlando. hillary clinton's campaign, 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 has 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 offered words from italy, england's royal family, even the vatican. but it felt to those close to home to comfort and deliver the news of life and death and find answers. florida governor rick scott. >> there is going to be plenty of time to deal with how our society comes together. i can tell you the orlando area, the orange county, the state authority is very resilient. we will come together and do everything we can to help everybody impacted but bring

this community back together again. >> it should have been just another saturday night out in one of the country's capitals of entertainment. they came for the pulse, the heart beat of life and found the opposite. >> that is how this day 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 go to a break. we'll be back with more right after this.

in the beginning he was a normal being that cared about family, loved to joke, loved to have fun but a few months after we were married, i saw his instability and i saw that he was bipolar and he would get mad out of nowhere. that's when i started worrying 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 try to see the good in him even then but my family was very tuned into what i was going through and decided to visit me and rescue me out of that situation. he was mentally unstable and mentally ill. that's the only explanation that i can give and he was of usually disturbed. >> very thoughtful young woman that happens to be the ex-wife of the terrorists who died in the commission of killing all those people inside the dance club in orlando. she 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. correspondent kerry sanders is there. kerry, i understand the news is

the fbi insertion team that's going to go in and check the apartment has arrived. the question, as you've been talking about, the danger of boobie traps, it would hardly be the first terrorist apartment to be booby trapped for approaching investigators. do they use sonar, x-ray, how do they find the context before entering? >> reporter: they have a lot of equipment, some can see through walls but at the end of the day they have to go in with full body gear or a robot. it's why since 8:30 this morning the condo has been empty. they got almost everybody out. here we are 14 hours later and the fbi arrived. you can see teams in the video that we shot here arriving, coming in, they really haven't moved too much of their gear into place. we know they have taken some of their small items over there but at this point they are 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 it will provide some sort of digital footprint, fingerprint, here is who he was talking to and radicalized. at the same time, the fbi has yet to as far as we understand visit the nearby mosque but the fbi has visited that mosque before. we know that in recent years they have stopped by. the imam telling us they have

come in after other terrorists events around the country to ask general questions, never asking a question about omar mateen. we can see they gathered. their prayers were for the victims of this. they say they don't support anybody that would claim the islamic faith wants this sort of terrorism and supports that. as they were making prayers and gathering, they said it was possible that the gunman's mother would stop by. she only lives a short distance by. she did not stop by. the police spent a fair amount of time at her house taking out items and talking to her and her husband. interestingly, the gunman's husband has online shown an allegiance to the taliban. the imam is surprised by that because he says this fall family from afghanistan was more in line with the northern alliance,

those supporting the united states. whether he believes the father may have in any way influenced the son. this is what the imam had to say. his father in postings and recordings has presented an allegiance to the taliban. do you believe you've heard him talk about that here and is there something that the father taught the son? >> this is a big surprise for me. my 150% impression is mateen was against the taliban. >> reporter: so to hear -- >> somebody be angry at him, he would say you're 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 right here is one of the vehicles that arrived for the fbi along with this

white one here and as we look around at the light way over there, it's around that corner just beyond our view where the fbi is working. this will be a slow process as we've said, brian. 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, ar-15-type weapon in this county and in orange county. this is st. lucie county, florida. the waiting period for those purchases is just three days. brian? >> carry sanders, nice work getting back there and to your point, they might as well take their time. 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 val demings. chief, thank you for being with us. 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 disneyworld or sea world or universal where there were, you know, large concentrations of people, soft targets. this must have been the last thing anyone thought about and it must match the definition of terrorism. >> well, good evening, brian. it certainly does. it certainly is a terrorist attack and no one would have believed that this incident would 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 out at the orlando international

airport during 9/11 and you're 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 and 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 this. we have the other prong of this matching the definition of a hate crime because a specific population was targeted and hit. >> absolutely correct. i mean, last summer it was a black church in charleston. then it was planned parenthood in colorado and who would believe a gay nightclub in orlando, florida would join that list today. clearly, this was a terrorist attack against the lgbt

community and but, you know, we have met with several people of the lgbt community today. this community has just really stepped up to the plate, just been engaged in trying to pick up the broken pieces and beginning to move forward. we definitely have a long way to go. the federal law enforcement agencies, as well as local and state police are 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 have begun that process. >> so chief, as a law enforcement professional, we've got people watching in the 49 other states and they are saying if this can happen, this kind of loss of life at a place like this and a city like this can happen anywhere, how should

people act? how should they feel? what's your advice? >> my advice is certainly we have seen far too many mass shootings in our nation's history and particularly since 2009 and, you know, 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 in trying to put those pieces together and look at the interviews done but we also have to look at the type of weapons he used. semiautomatic handgun but also an assault rifle, ar-15. military-style weapon where extreme high magazine capacity and, you know, the bigger discussion is we've got to get serious about getting guns, especially assault rifles out of the hands of mentally ill people, criminals and terrorists that 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 probably been casing, if you will, this particular establishment for quite sometime and decided to make his move last night and tragically 50 people have lost their lives, 53 others are wounded and many of them critically wounded. >> well, you're in a more

critical line of work than ever. value demings, former chief of police orlando, florida. chief, thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you. >> we often talk about orlando on the i 4 corridor in central florida starts up around daytona beach and ends down at tampa bay and this is 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.

so many depictions from the color of the gay pride ferris wheel in orlando that is visible for such a great distance to these spires over midtown manhattan. the buildings that have led spires atop them have changed their normal colors because of this massa cure in orlando. richard lui, back when there was daylight at the stone wall inn

showed us this kind of spontaneous coming together of people. the crowd has, richard, i understand died down but left remembrances behind? >> reporter: right. it was a flash vigil where we had community leaders gather individuals. 500, 600, maybe 700 crowd the street and the chief that heads counterterrorism said we'll keep the street open as long as we need to. this vigil has grown. these are just a selection of what's called 1,000 signs from sandy hook and black lives matter. they say we will not back down. love restores humanity. this here on the left, this says hub, this means love in arabic and the flowers have tripled in

size. we have the candles that unfortunately we've been accustomed to when you think of bataclan and paris, signs respected by everyone here from the lesbian, gay and community and the word i heard most tonight, brian, solidarity and they will fight on. one individual from orlando said this is the stone wall inn. it is very symbolic to the community and may have been chipped today but it's not going to fall. >> richard lui, thanks for your reporting all day into the night. simm is senior vice president of the national gay and lesbian chamber of commerce joining us in washington. sam, the entire point of your organization is a businesses either owned by or catering largely to the lgbt community so the definition of why this is terrorism is obvious.

this 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 together with losses. i heard a lot of conversation about the difference between this terrorism is it a hate crime? i would say both without a doubt and certainly aimed directly at lesbian and transgender and gay people. so not only is this a huge loss but i think touches a very tender spot for many lgbt people.

as i listened to many law enforcement officers especially of val demings that spoke eloquently about this crime, i can't help but want to get past this question of terrorism versus hate crime and just get to what we know and that is that we've seen this character whose all too common in the american narrative and that is an active shooter. all too often, we're seeing this all around the country and it's just tragedy after tragedy and i think of all the people i spoke to today. i was most touched by a dear friend who actually called to check on me ironically and she's a parent and she and her wife have two young children. they happen to live in connecticut, and i was thinking about the fact that wasn't that long ago they had to explain san sandy hook to their young children and now they have to explain the largest mass shooting at the country aimed

specifically at the lgbt community and, you know, the child will perceived aimed directly at their family. just tragic. >> sam, we were saying part of how perversely violent this was is the founding principle of this club and we don't want to make it anything loftier than it was. was that 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 over state the importance of the safety. i saw a little chatter online about how some people couldn't conceive a nightclub would be a community gathering space but, you know, if you're a person whose gone through your life not feeling comfortable holding

hands with your significant other in public or if you've ever sort of looked over your shoulder to see who is watching you in a public space, you would know that these spaces are very, very important, indeed and, you know, i -- it was so troubling to hear the mother reading the text from her son inside the nightclub and, you know, we see this over and over with these mass shootings whether it's a school or a community center or community of faith where people are gathered in prayer. people being trapped inside and reaching out to their families to, you know, to have that last communication with someone that they love and i think, you know, a safe space for the lgbt community is like a safe space for any other community and when that sanctuary is taken away in such a violent way, you know, that will leave aftershocks for the community for a long time. it's interesting that you point

out sort of how this club was founded in honor of someone who lost their battle to aids, you know, i was thinking a lot today about how the lgbt community and those of us of a certain generation experienced a lot of trama and seen a lot of loss and we've had to spend a lot of energy taking care of people who are hurt and lost their lives and i know watching the footage and seeing so many civilians carrying out victims, carrying their friends to get medical help, kind of brought a lot of that back for me and i'm sure a lot of people in the community today are feeling that. >> thank you for your patience. thanks very much for contributing to our coverage tonight. been a pleasure having you on because the news does not get happier from orlando, florida. we have this just in to us if you've been watching us you

heard our interview by telephone from california with star shelton concerned about her ex partner, a bouncer at pulse kimberly k.j. morris. sadly has been confirmed dead at the age of 37. we'll be back right after this.

we are still learning the facts this is an open investigation, the fbi is appropriately investigating this as an act of terror and we must spare in effort to know what if any inspiration he had with terrorist groups. what is clear over the coming days we'll uncover why and how

this happened and go wherever the facts lead us. >> the president in the briefing room earlier today addressing the nation by our account the 16th time he has spoken in a similar form after a mass casualty event. we're joined now by gram 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. gram, 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 into his attack. what welcomes familiar about this to you? looks unfamiliar perhaps? >> i would say just about everything looks very familiar. isis is telling them to attack in place. it was come to syria and help us build a state. now it's too dangerous to come, attack where you stand. so the way that this is unfolded is very familiar. you find someone who until very recently seemed to show no strong feelings, no great sense of piety but seems in a short time to have found kind of inspiration. jihadist inspiration and outlet for what seems to be a long

standing rage against gays. so he's working straight out of the isis playbook. >> it seems to me that along with shelter in place and active shooter might as well have a term of attack in place to go with that to kind of define our whole post 9/11 era. by that standard and i have no reason to doubt you're wrong, and especially given the audio clip from baghdadi doing the same thing, how is it we get through every day without something? how are we that fortunate. >> there is of course still efforts being made by supporters of isis to go to isis territory. if they think they can make it, they will still try. it takes a fair bit of gull to do this. there are a lot of people supporters of the group out

there very happy to amp fie the message on social media and twitter and to get some people like this fellow seems to have act on it. i think we're lucky to have not seen more attacks like this. >> do you fear, you know, there is 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 who they need to do is capture the headlines, to remain the kind of major league jihad organization they portrayed as being and one way to do that is have horrific events like these perpetrated against innocent people that wanted a dance, kiss and a drink.

>> tonight of all things as the tony awards on broadway but if you had broadway show tickets in light of this, crazy question but would you look around more thoroughly than normal? would you take better note of the exits than normal? ditto walk sboog a restaurant and so on? >> you know, i would suggestion 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 slips and falls in bathtubs than terrorism. i would hate for people to be filled with fear when they are doing something as joyful as going to broadway and which what watching hamilton. >> okay. how interesting you would zero in on the favored show tonight at the tony awards. and what a nice chance to smile about something all day. gram wood, thank you very much for being part of our coverage. we also welcome into our

conversation manuel gomez who was a former fbi agent, former sergeant with the nypd. same question to you, sir, about walking into the richard rogers theater tonight or any number of the restaurants on restaurant row on 46th street. >> well, unfortunately, this is the new norm. this is to be expected. we're going to have active shooter situations from here on until the unforeseeable future. so i would suggestion that yes, you do need to find out what's going on in your immediate surroundings if you're at a mall, if you're at a restaurant, if you're at a movie theater or broadway show, to know where the exit signs are, to know what your escape plan would be if god forbid a scenario like what happen 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 are at war. we are at war with isis. we are at war with radical islamic fundamentalests. that this has been going on for a couple years and the unforeseeable future, brian, and it's not going to stop. you have these people that are on the boarder line of society and instead of just doing something to better themselves or just killing themselves, they are opting to become radicalized and be with isis and take out as many people as they can before think end their own lives. >> i'm reading a piece written for tomorrow's new york post, quote, after orlando, can we

finally take the gloves off. >> i agree. the time has come we need to fight back. we need to fight back in the internet. we need to put a stop to the isis campaign. they are actively recruiting 50 people internationally a day, brian. that is a statistical fact. we need to stop them from fleeing from whatever country they are coming from to iraq to syria and fighting with them or just laying and wait and acting like this murderer 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 whichever we can. we're the most powerful country in the world and no reason we're letting them recruit our youth daily as they are doing now. >> thank you very much for

coming in with us. 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 coverage. the great sadness continues from orlando, florida as we said .

today marks the most deadly shooting in american history. this was an act of terror and an act of hate. >> my son was in the club when his boyfriend ron got shot multiple times. >> people on the ground bleeding, people screaming. >> i could just smell the ammo in the air. i was like this is a gun, this isn't fireworks, we need to leave.