>> do you need blood donors? >> blood is a wonderful gift that. can all be arranged through the local blood banks. please, don't come to the local hospitals, but you can work through the local blood banks. >> many stations joining us. expecting to see "meet the press" but this is an nbc news special report on an update on a mass shooting in nightclub in orlando. >> i'm the president and senior imam of the society of florida, national president of islam. i'm here today to stand as a faith leader with our law enforcement community and our city leadership in this hour of horror that was brought upon our city. i've worked with these leaders for over 20 years. i know their caliber, their strength and their determiti

and i call on everybody in the community, anybody who has any information to please california the fbi, share what you know. it may help answer many unanswered questions yet. i also call on my fellow faisst leaders, jewish, christian, muslim, hindu, whatever faith you follow, please pray for the victims and their families in -- in this hour on this sunday morning. it's supposed to be a beautiful morning, but this is already a very heartbreaking morning, and i want to praise the courageous efforts of our opd who risk their lives, put their lives on the li.

injured, and that's a risk they take every day to protect us. no one could have predicted this. no one could have prepared for it. this could have happened anywhere. it's like a lightning. so they have done a marvelous job to save as many lives after the shooter began shooting, and we are glad that the situation is completely under control. there are no other shooters that this person is not known to be connected with, a network or other people, so the city residents and the visitors should feel safe. the city is as safe as the best city in the world. and i

in the media from rushing to judgment and from, you know, sensationalizing the story because we do not want this story to be shifted from the focus where it is. it's a horrible tragedy. we are mourning. we are sad. we are heartbroken. and it's not really time for any sensational news and rushing to judgment. so we should all wait until information, facts come out from the investigators, and we will all see what happened, understand it and stay together, to work together to keep our community strong. i want to thank mayor dyer, mayor

the chief and sheriff demmings for their leadership and juan from the fbi. i think many times in the past this has been discussed as the worst nightmare, and we are sorry to know that it happened to us. we don't wish this on anybody else, and we hope that this would be the last of the mass shootings that our country has been going through. i think as a nation we need to look at this issue of mass shootings because we just had one too many today, and i think we should do something about it to stop the -- the mass shootings that are happening all the time. thank you. >> [i

>> [inaudible question ]. how is it that you guys were so quickly so sure of that islamic terrorist connection as opposed to this being a hate crime given that it happened at a gay nightclub? >> early on when we had a possible investigation made, we run it through the ground, and whether it ends up being the actual individual or not and i can't say who the deceased suspect or shooter is. once the identification is made details will be able to be shared, most likely from the counterterrorism division up at fbi headquarters. >> can you tell us how many rounds you think were fired? >> right now the weapons recovered from the suspect who is dead was a handgun and an ar-15 type assault rifle and an unknown number of rounds but there were additional rounds. >> were there any calls prior

location indicating anything? >> no indication of that of yet. >> any communication with the suspect in the three hours before you went in? between the arrival when shots were fired and you finally going in to rescue the hostage? >> there was some communication but we're not going to release that right now. >> why did you wait three hours? >> this is a situation involving hostages, a situation involving things that happened very fast and, you know, i think it was important for them to know exactly what they had. once the initial shots were stopped, they were dealing with a hostage situation, so, you know, in that -- in that time we need to set up, re-evaluate and reassess what's happening and make sure all the pieces are in place. we have enough staffing to take care of any situation. we have armored vehicles that come to the scene, and those were crucial in the rescue of those

time we have a hostage situation, we're definitely going to use extreme measures to make sure that we have enough personnel on the scene. >> were any of the hostages executed before you went in and -- >> i can't speak to that. that will all be part of the investigation. >> early this morning there were thoughts there were maybe 20 victims inside. that number has risen to 50. is this now one of the five top mass shootings in the country? >> absolute i -- absolutely, yes it is. based on what the officer saw, without jeopardizing any safety it was at least 20 but now it's up to 50 so definitely one of the worst tragedies. >> one of the worst shootings in american history? >> yes. >> any indication that the suspect had any help, outside help? >> there's no indication of that right now, but

part of the investigation. >> of all the 50 who were killed, were shot during the initial shooting or were shots fired after the initial shooting at 2:02? >> there was an initial shooting at 2:02, numerous shots fired and then there were gunshots exchanged between the s.w.a.t. team and the suspect at -- at 0500. >> of the 50 fatalities, do we know if they were killed during the initial shooting at 2:02 or after that? >> that's unknown at this time. >> classified right now as a hate crime or as a terrorist attack? >> at this point in time we're just conducting a general investigation period. we'll determine officially whether it's a hate crime or terrorism incident or even a violent crime once we have all the facts in place. we're at the very early stages and as much as i would like to give you everything we have we can't give you things that aren't 100% accurate. >> you are saying you guys came back with an imam

>> an imam. >> oh, okay. >> what has changed in the last three hours that you're giving us less information but now you're calling for calm? >> well, again, since the subject has not been positively identified to the next of kin, there's not had a whole lot more we can share with you at this time. also bear in mind, we do not want to jeopardize the investigation. while we feel confident that are no other threats to the immediate area or united states we need to be certain of that before we put any further information out. >> is he a u.s. citizen? >> were anybody injured by officer fire or any officers injured? >> there was one officer injured, he had in the kevlar he will in the, the kevlar helmet stopped that round but he does have injuries to the face from that gunshot. >> did he come in shooting or was he

weapons in -- >> it's still unknown how he got inside the club. appears that he was in there and the shots were fired. >> how bad is this compared to other shootings across the country? >> it's absolutely terrible. i mean, 50 victims in one location, one shooting, absolutely one of the worst tragedies we've seen. >> [inaudible question ]. >> one more time. exactly. there were more victims inside than originally thought so once it was safe for us to go in, we determined there were no revises, that's when we were able to discover how many victims were actually in there. >> [inaudible question ]. >> it's all going to come out in the investigation. right now we're going to focus on obviously the identificat

notification and next of kin. >> how long of a period when you first thought there were 20 and then discovered 50, what time of period? >> a few hours. >> can you speak to that at all? >> no. >> one of the worst mass shootings in the u.s. your thoughts? >> absolutely definitely a tragedy, not only for the city but for our entire nation. we believe this is a tragedy that could happen anywhere in the united states of america and what we need to do is continue to be vigilant and call. if you see something, say something. call 911, call the fbi. if you see something that's out of place or you see someone that's acting strange, strange

behavi behavior. >> [inaudible question ]. >> no, we can't confirm that? >> absolutely to look into the eyes of our officer told the whole story. obviously some of those officers had 20-plus years on. one of the lieutenants who is one of the first on the scene, 23-year member of the police department and almost 20 years on the s.w.a.t. team, and you could tell that they were all shaken by this incident, by what they saw inside the club. they did an unbelievable job being, courageous efforts in rescuing many, many hostages, at least 30, from inside the club, but after it was all said and done you could really tell this kind of tragedy takes a toll on everyone. even law enforcement officers. >> can you describe what they saw. >> so we're going to brief -- >> you're watching nbc news coverage of the worst mass shooting in u.s. history with a death toll that now stands at 50. let's go back to the press conference now. >>

or guidelines for opd and for the fbi and fdla but we'll give you everything that we can possibly give to you. right now we're going to focus on identifying the victims and notifying their families so i would hope you would lead with the information about how families can call in and check on their loved ones or give information about they might think that their loved one was among those who are missing, and we will -- >> can you give that informat n information. >> 407-246-4357 and people can call if loved ones want to call and give information or help us with information. they can also call the fbi for any tips, 1-800-call-fbi, and these just hit option number

1-800-call-fbi, option number two when prompted and one more time, our hotline for family members is 470-246-4357. >> we'll target the next media briefing at 1:30 today. we do understand that governor scott is en route so he may want to do something before that and we'll keep you guys updated on that but the next law enforcement briefing will be at 1:30. >> we can now classify this as the worst mass shooting in the history of the united states of america, with 50 now dead according to police. 53 more injured. doctors saying many of those critically, so that number could rise. the fbi saying an ar-15 assault rifle was used along with a handgun found on the man, shooter named omar mateen, born in 1986 in new york, with an

address in port st. llucie. his father released a statement saying he's shocked and he saw his son -- we're saying we're apologizing for the whole incident. not aware of any action he's taking. in shock like the whole country this. had nothing to do with religion, from the shooter's father when reached by nbc news, but he did go on to say, keep in mind the shooting took place at a very popular gay nightclub in orlando. the man's father went on to say that omar mateen saw two men kissing a couple months ago in miami and became enraged by that. so the -- his own father suspects that may have something to do with it. let's bring in nbc news justice correspondent pete williams. pete, what more can you tell us about the press conference? >> mateen is 29 years old. there's confusion because his father's name is sediqqi. now

mateen, he used the last name of mateen even though his father's last name is sediqqi. born in new york. we think the fbi looked at him a couple years ago because of people he was associated with and nothing came of that and he was not on any kind of -- any kind of current surveillance. now, the bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms is tracing to see how he got the weapons that he used, the assault-style weapon as police described it, ar-15 assault style rifle which can carry high capacity magazine and also a handgun. that's going to take a long time for the forensic work to be done to see whether the people who are shot inside were shot with a handgun or with the ar-15 type weapon. he did have a license to carry guns. he had a security guard's license, and either was

been at one time working at a security guard, so he had some -- we believe some familiarity with firearms. we don't know of any criminal past so he would have been legally entitled to buy those weapons. there was no restriction on that in florida on acquiring assault weapons. not sure about the florida gun law and high capacity magazines but off seen in the mass shootings people who carry them out use high capacity magazines because of the simple fact they can repeatedly fire without having to reload or change magazine. the magazine is the term for the device that attaches to the weapon that holds the rounds. but it's going to be a while before we know what was used to carry out the attacks. so there's a very aggressive investigation to go on now to see whether, as you heard the police say, was this an act of radical terrorism, islamic-inspired radicalism, or was it a height crime or were there aspects of both? and -- and it's going to be a

to that? but that's a very urgent question. you heard the authorities say the next of kin are still being notified, but i think they pretty well finished with that. now maybe the word hasn't reached the authorities in florida but that work is pretty well done now, so they will be releasing the name here shortly and we're told by a number of officials and family members that it is omar mir mateen, 29 careers old. originally born in new york. not sure when he and the family moved to florida, but that's something that the investigators will now trying to go, retrace his steps or build i should say a time line, cron olitygy of all the events leading up to this, going back certainly in granular detail hours and days leading up to this. who was this person talking to? when did this plan come into focus? why and when did he choose this particular nightclub in orlando which isot

home? if he was living in port st. lucie that's 100 miles or so away. why then, why that police? those are always the questions that they will try to answer. >> okay, the initial assessment from law enforcement, from their first press briefing, was that approximately 20 people had been killed, but in the intervening hours they went into that club and found 50 killed in this nightclub shooting. the pulse nightclub, very popular place in south orlando. police said there were 300 or more people in the club when the shooting began sometime around 2:00 this morning. if you're just joining us, here's basically how it happened. 2:00 in the morning orlando time the man we now know to be omar mateen armed with an assault-style rifle, ar-15 and handgun, starts shooting at 9 pulse nightclub. there was a uniformed orlando police officer working security who immediately engaged the shooter, but it developed into a hostag s

sometime around 5:00 eastern time, 5:00 in the morning, that is, a s.w.a.t. team was sent. in the decision was made that they had to go in and take out omar mateen. they did just that. nine orlando police officers were involved. one of them injured when he was shot in the head, saved, police say, by the kevlar helmet he was wearing. again, the number now 50, 50 dead in orlando in this now historically awful nightclub shooting. pete, when we spoke a little bit earlier, you said no criminal record as far as we know from omar mateen, but he had been touched on in some way perhaps by authorities, perhaps in the span of another investigation. any more information on that and whether or not he was perhaps known by authorities? >> no more information on that. we're told by a couple federal officials his name was in a watch list or at least someone who had come across the

range of interest three or four years ago, but more because we believe at this point that he was in touch with some other people that were investigate the. in other words, he was sort of on the periphery of people he was looking at, but this happens all the time where the fbi becomes interested in someone. this is such a difficult thing for law enforcement, somebody says something that they are interested in carrying out the attack or they are in touch with known rad calls and then you look at those other people, but you can't just look at them forever, and if they don't seem to be in any kind of an active role or supporting anyone then you move on. our official information is that he was sort of on the edge. he was someone who other people were the focus of interest were looking at. >> all right. pete williams. we'll be back with you shortly. want to turn to orlando mayor buddy dyer, kind enough to take some time with us. i again with extended national condolences to you and your city

you've suffered this morning, sir. >> well, thank you. it's certainly unimaginable and the worst tragedy that's ever occurred in our city. >> tell me about the phone call you received this morning. what time was it, and what did you hear? >> i got a phone call about 3:00 letting me know that we had a hostage situation at the nightclub. the majority of the shootings had already occurred at that time. we had set up a command center and we knew that there were hostages inside. we were receiving text messages. the shooter was in one area and in with a number of hostages, we think six or seven. but there were another 15 to 20 hostages in another area. about 5:00 opd made the decision that they would breech the wall in the area where the

hofltages were, essentially evacuated all of those hostages but during that course of time the shooter emerged. that's when one of our officers got wounded, and when the shooter was taken down. >> can you tell us the status of that officer. we understand he was shot in the head and was wearing a kevlar helmet. >> he received scratches. he's going to be fine, but the helmet several saved his life. >> the response from your uniformed officer working security there at 2:00 this morning at the nightclub, he may have saved a lot of lives by engaging this man as he walked in. what can you say about the work that your police force did today? >> all of our police officers as well as sheriff's deputies who also responded are true heros today. as bad as the total

have been worse. there were at least 300 people in the nightclub when the shooter began his rampage. one of our officers did engage him in a shootout which i'm led to understand then led to the hostage situation, so he's certainly a hero, as are all of the officers who breached the building and took the -- and rescued the hostages, quite honestly, and then took the shooter down. >> mayor buddy dyer, thank you so much for your time. we appreciate it, and, again, our condolences to you and the stiff orlando on a terrible day. >> thank you very much. >> let's turn now to nbc's tom brokaw. he's in washington. tom, you've been watching this all morning. what are your thoughts? >> my thoughts are that this is a tragedy of epic proportions. just god awful. the worst mass shooting in our country's history and comes in the middle of a very heated political debate. twit i

weighing in on both sides, people pointing to the islamic name and others pointing to the use of an ar-15. i really think it's in the country's best interest and the candidates' best interest to take a beat here an engage in a thoughtful dialogue, a prayerful dialogue, if you will, about what we've come to in this country where everything seems to get settled by a gun for whatever reason. we don't know whether this was isis motivated or just one deranged individual. we don't know yet, and we deserve to know what the motivation may have been before we can engage in a debate that may lead us to some kind of a resolution of too many mass murders in this country, not just because of islamic-inspired mass murders, but we have them all across america, more than three people being killed at a time is designated a mass murder and between santa barbara and now there's been clusters of them across america. that eventually has to be part of who we are

about it as a civilized people. that would be my hope, at least, willie. >> tom, the other side of this is that, you know, we've come to know terrorism over the last 15 years as a vast international network, but now what we've seen time and again are isolated people who can work alone and wreak this kind of havoc with a gun. >> well, that's the point, and we have not had i believe a really enlightened discuss about how we deal with that kind of rage. whether it's motivated by a distorted version of whattis lack is all the about, some kind of outraged citizen who wants to take revaeng on whoever is before him and especially we have to talk about what's going on in the middle east with isil still having such a grip on that part of the world and bombing back to the stone age is probably not going to work. because they reconstitute themselves very quickly and do we know that they have had a network in this country? most national security experts say, yeah.

we don't know if this has anything to do with all of that, and it's very important for the country to take a deep breath, get the facts in hand and i hope we can reach across partisan lines and have the kind of discussion that may lead to some sort of resolution of it all, willie. >> here are the facts. omar mateen is the shooter's name. 29 years old as reported to us by pete williams. in a address living in port st. lucie, florida, u.s. citizen born in the state of new york and law enforcement officials telling nbc news that they believe he was radicalized in some way by propaganda. how he was radicalized or by whom or what they are not saying right now. tom, stay with me, if you would. i want to bring in nbc's gabe gutierrez because he's down there in orlando on the scene with more. gabe, good morning again. >> reporter: willie, good morning. we're getting a sense on the massive scale of the scene that investigators now has to process. a few hours ago at that news conference there were

people dead. now that investigators have been able to get into the nightclub that death toll is climbing to at least 50 dead, 53 injured. just an incredible scene here in orlando and witnesses throughout the night have been describing this chaotic scene, and one of them that we spoke, christopher hanson, said the shots rang out at first. many of the people in the club thought it was part of the music. there was mass confusion going on. let's take a listen to what he had to say about the moment that police responded. >> and then we hear just bang, bang, bang and it's continuous. at first it sounded like the music, and then after that -- you just -- i looked over and i saw bodies falling, people screaming. >> reporter: just an incredible scene here in orlando. he also went on to say as he was leaving the nightclub, as he managed to crawl out. he saw one man that had a gunshot wound, and he tried to help him.

up, but he was able to take him to paramedics. again, the investigation ongoing here. over the last few hours police have been busing several of the witnesses to the orlando police department to interview them and from the aerial pictures that we've seen a bomb disposal robert is still on the scene. the suspect recovered with a assault-style rifle and handgun and some sort of suspicious device that police are going through. >> and police say they have cleared the nightclub of any explosive devices and of the suspect, the shooter's car, which was parked right outside the club. >> back to you shortly. you're watching nbc news coverage of the worst mass shooting in united states history. police briefing us about 20 minutes ago. 50 people now dead. another 53 brought to the hospital after a shooting inside pulse nightclub, a popular gay nightclub in orlando. the gunman is identified by federal law enforcement sources as omar mateen of port st. lucie, florid

teams stormed the nightclub just after 5:00 eastern time this morning. orlando mayor buddy dyer said the gunman used an assault rifle in the shooting. police saying it was an ar-15. mateen was also armed with a handgun. the gunfire began around 2:00 this morning local time and a hostage situation soon unfolded from there. about three hours later s.w.a.t. teams stormed the nightclub and a shooting ensued. mateen was killed by police gunfire. the fbi says it will be investigating this as an act of domestic terror. let's turn back now to nbc news justice correspondent pete williams. a lot of people around the country just waking up to this news out west perhaps. what more are you hearing about the shooter who you've learned is omar mateen? >> reporter: omar mir mateen, 29 years old, originally born in new york and lived in florida near his parents, had been married, we believe had a son. i think he's divorced. we don't know whether he's remarried. no criminal record that we know

security guard. one question obviously will be where did he get the weapons, and we're told that that process of tracing the weapons hasn't started yet. i think that that's understandable given that they had a very horrific scene inside that nightclub to clear first. once they have done their initial forensic look inside, then they will get the weapons out of there, turn them over presumably to the local authorities who will then enlist the help of the bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms who is the federal agency that will trace the weapons and see where they were purchased. we don't know anything in omar mir mateen's past that would have disqualified him from purchasing them legally and both could have been legally purchased. that's one question and the bigger question is why? what's the motive? that's the open question. there are early indications that mateen had

people involved in radical islam. whether he was directed by that or whether he walked on his own or whether in fact this was something different, whether it was a hate crime. his father has told nbc news that he did not believe that religion played a role. his father said he was shocked by this, and his father also told us that a couple of months ago mateen saw two men kissing own the streets of miami and that it infuriated mateen and his father thinks that's what was behind this, but that's to be determined. that is the subject of an intense federal investigation right now to get more about his past, more about his past movements and try to figure out whether he ever said anything to anyone, left behind any notes, social media postings, e-mails. messages, text metages, anything that would give an indication of why he did this. he arrived there heavily armed. there were initial reports that he had an explosive device. we've heard conflicting information on whether it turned

there or not, so i'm not quite sure how that worked out. but in any event he clearly targeted this place, but why this place? why last night? did it have something to do with the fact that we're now in the islamic period of ramadan? what is it utterly unrelated to islamic terrorism? simply anti-gay violence? we don't know that yet. >> too early to tell and that's what investigators are looking at right now. pete williams. thank you so much. if you're just joining us right now 50 dead, 5-0 dead in a nightclub shooting in orlando. 53 more injured. many of them critically. unfortunately, the death toll would rise because of that. there's a level one trauma center in orlando, the only one in the region that went into its mass casualty incident plan bringing all hands on deck. as patients came in, victims from the shooting, that began at 2:00 in the morning as a uniformed orlando police officer was working security at at night club, a very popular gay nightclub in south

he engaged the shooter in an early shootout that spanned then three hours of a hostage situation lasting until just after 5:00 eastern time when police finally went in with a s.w.a.t. team but, again, not until 50 lives were climbed -- were claimed by the shooter. let's turn to jim miklaszewski with reaction from the president. >> reporter: no direct reaction to the news that 50 were killed in that mass shooting in orlando but he was briefed on this early morning and we're told he would receive periodic updates on the investigation, so one would assume obviously that he has as many details as have been shared with us and probably more. the question is at this point the president has ordered the fbi and all appropriate organizations to throw

to local authorities and the fbi and to provide assistance to those families in the community who have been affected by this tragic shooting incident. we're not told that the president is expected to today, but one can only go back to what question he was asked recently about what was his worst day, the most horrific day during his presidency and without hesitation he said it was the day that those dozens of schoolchildren in new town were massacred in that elementally school, so, again, we don't know if the president intends to address this today. he may want to wait until more facts are out before stepping forward, but, of course, you know, he has been a very strong advocate pushing for gun control and has been unable to push through the kind of legislation he would like to see enacted for gun

tragic shooting and the gun control issue, and if it turns out that this was some kind of terrorist event, we're not talking about domestic terrorism here, but if there was some connection to a terrorist organization he may want to speak to that or he may want those who are involved in the investigation to address that before he comes forward. but as of now we have no indication that the president himself intends to address this issue before reporters and cameras today. >> yeah. the president memorably becoming emoti emotional, talking about the shooting at sandy hook and police in this incident in orlando saying ar-15 was oozed, also used at sandy hook. we'll be checking back with you. if we get reaction from the president we'll find you. jim cavanagh is an nbc news law enforcement expert. jim, good morning. last time we talked the police estimate was that approximately 20 people were dead in this terrible shooting in orlando.

grown to 50. 50 people killed inside the building. 53 more sent to area hospitals, some of them critically injured in that shooting. you heard the press conference that we just listened to from multiple law enforcement agencies. how has this story changed for you in the last hour or so? >> well, when the mayor said 50 people, willie, it just knocks you off your chair because what happens is this guy goes in there, filled with hate. no matter the motive, filled with hate and wants to kill all these people and his objective is mass murder. and he has an ar-15 rifle, multiple magazines. we don't know how long or how big the magazines he had. but a standard magazine is 30 rounds and you can shoot that off just as quickly as you can pull the trigger, 30 seconds or left so when he -- he has an advantage because he's laying in ambush inside a closed crowded building. so he can start shooting into the crowd, and these are high velocity rounds.

keep doing it while the initial overs is trying to get to him, willie, through the crowd and around the room, you know, back from the outside and however the initial officer has to get to him before he can engage him so he can wreak carnage inside with a rifle like that before the officer can even get to him, and that's how it happened so fast. that's why you wind up with 50 dead and 53 wounded. i mean, think of those numbers. this is one actor. i mean, we have bombings that don't have that many people killed and injured, so it's unbelievable that he could have done that so much. >> jim, in the early morning hours before this broke up the orlando police department conducted a controlled explosion. they tweeted it out. they wanted the public to know it was a controlled explosion. we've now been watching robots in the parking lot outside the parking lot, working a bag, perhaps working a vehicle we believe belonged to omar mateen.

what are they trying to do? what are they looking for? >> right, the bomb squad uses various disrupters, we call them. they have a water condition none. they have a shotgun charge. they have a steel slug. they can use explosives to countercharge so they have various ways they can open a package, a suitcase, a pipe bomb, whatever, and the robot can deploy a lot of disrupters and lay it down and shoot the slug with a water jet or shotgun round, however they rig the robot up for that particular task and you have an explosive entry into the nightclub, the chief outline that the s.w.a.t. used, and they use explosives to breach and run with the bearcat-operated vehicle and then engaged the killer. a big gunbat. even with nine s.w.a.t. members entering, this guy with his

quite a large shootout and a large number of rounds exchanged before he was taken down. >> we heard from the fbi it was absolutely, using their words, looking at this as an act of terrorism. what is the approach now from the fbi in terms of the language they use? we've heard from pete williams that perhaps there's a past with this guy, that they have looked in and found that he's reached out and touched and perhaps been radicalized. how important is it to the fbi to talk about this case in a certain way publicly? you can almost see them holding back in that more recent press conference a few minutes ago? >> you know, exactly right. i had agents on half a dozen joint task force and it's very difficult for all those on the task force to identify the people and what they were doing and how deep they were into any radicalized movement and you make a great point about terrorism. that word is thrown out all around the country in these events and let me give you a

federal law enforcement. there's domestic terrorists. those are home grown terrorists with political motives from home. and then there's internationally inspired actors, trifrterrorist that are u.s. citizens or legally live her and inspired by al qaeda or isis and then, of course, there would actual al qaeda or isis actors who infiltrate into the country, that's international terrorism. internationally inspired, international and domestic. this would not be called domestic terrorism in hour vernacular in the police world. we would call it internationally inspired. if he was inspired by one of the radical jihadist ideology but you have here some genesis which nbc news has uncovered from his father from some good reporting which had genesis that could be of hate because he saw two men kissing in miami and his father said this affected him so this might have launched his hatred. now, did he then go to the radical website after his

cooked because isis, for example, has a horrible record of murdering gay men in the theater, in the war theater over there, throwing them off building, stoning them to death and did he pick up on that and did that build in his consciousness, but -- so you can have multiple motives. motives don't have to be one thing. can you have a hate motive and then go to radical websites and get a little bit radicalized and have a radicalized-inspired motive so it doesn't have to be one thing. >> it can be a combination of thing. any way you look at it the an actch terror. radicalized by the nexus of fairer. his father suggesting he saw two men kissing in miami. if you're just joining us, we reached out and spoke to omar mateen father, was shocked by this and didn't feel that religion was a reason and he might have been reacting to the two

and became enraged by that. jim, we'll come back to you. we'll go back down to oeshldo where nbc's gabe gutierrez is set up for us. gabe, what more are you hearing there? >> reporter: hi there, willie this. scene is very active, but as we've hearing the officials have cleared the nightclub itself. they have gone through the painstaking process of clearing the nightclub, and that's when they got that updated death toll. at least 50 people are dead. 53 are injured. right now authorities are going through and they have a -- an explosive detecting robot, perhaps taking care of some of that scene. again, the suspect was found with that are ar-15 assault rifle as well as the handgun and that possible explosive device, so this investigation will continue on for quite a bit. we've been speaking with witnesses here on the ground, and they are just starting to come to terms with a massive scale of this, the worst mass shooting in u.s. history.

speaking with who were inside the nightclub, they described this utter chaos as it all unfolded. happened around 2:00 a.m. this morning and some of them shout the first few gunshots were part of the music. it was hundreds of people inside that dance club. they started streaming out, many of them crawling, dropping down on the ground and crawling. more than a dozen people were trapped in the bathroom, and police have said that the officers were able to rescue at least 30 hostages that were inside the building. again, around 5:00 this morning. the authorities decided to go in with an armored vehicle and plow into the night club and then use some sort explosive device, perhaps a flash bang, to distract the gunman who was then killed in a fire fight with officials. again, the death toll now climbing to at least 50 dead here in orlando, 53 injured and rushed to local hospitals and some of them in critical condition. again, that death toll could rise. people are coming toms

>> thank you, gabe. >> as we talk about a law enforcement investigation which is obviously critically important to this, let's not forget the human element. gabe was referencing some of the witnesses, some of the people inside that club telling stories of just simple horror. one man in an interview earlier in hour show said he saw a man with a gunshot on his back on the ground. took the bandana off his head and plugged the gunshot wound. he says he hoped that man made it but didn't know. let's go back down to orlando. want to bring in matt grant from our affiliate there. matt, where are you, outside the hospital in the what are you seeing? >> reporter: well, we're in front of a blood bank on west michigan avenue. you know, officials have said that there's an urgent need for blood and the orlando community has really stepped up in a big way and in an inspiring way. take a look behind me. you can see here at the blood bank the line literally wraps around the building and volunteers are out here passing out water and cookies for people in line. people a

coming in to help alleviate some of this demand, but people are not going anywhere. those in line that we talked to say they want to help in any way they can and i want to talk to someone over here right now. when did you get here? >> i got here bfabout 45 minute ago. >> what brought you out here? >> everyone knows there was an attack on our community and our city and i wanted to do what i could to help and i'm o-positive blood type and they needed o-positive blood type so i'm out here to -- to give my support and do what i can. >> and what did you think when you heard about just the devastation? >> just absolute shock. you never think that it's going to happen in your city until it does and -- and you kind of immediately start thinking about everyone >> and check caning with them and making sure they are okay. >> your friend is missing, right? >> yes he is. >> what bringsou

i'm 0 negative, if i could help out, i would. my boyfriend also came with me. so we are here to donate blood and hope that we can bring some relief to the blood centers, but also to the families, and the victims. >> thank you for doing that. and again, as you can see, just the line just wraps completely around the building, again volunteers are out here with food and water. any small way, people from the community want to come out here, do their part and help. for live in orlando. >> thank you so much the position that we saw from the press conference. calling for blood to come in. chuck todd has been standing by in washington. chuck, obviously there are many elements to this story. we don't want to play the politics too much. we still have 50 families waiting to hear about their loved ones here. but this will play into the presidential election. >> we've seen it on

where people have gotten into their political corners already. and almost refusing to hear the other side. the two presidential candidates have been reserved this morning so far. i think early on donald trump saying suspected terrorism. learning his lesson from a previous incident where he appeared to jump to concludes very quickly. hillary clinton more cautious than that. it's one thing for, i think, civilians to think -- to sort of tweet before they think sometimes and before we have all the information. i am stunned, quite frankly at the number of elected officials in some high elected offices just already drawing conclusions and that's dangerous because these people are elected officials, they are thought of many people may assume they must know something more than perhaps that they do.

concerning to me because this is, of course, what i think creates a polarizing response and a polarizing atmosphere following this. when i think that there is going to be -- there is a lot of people that is exhausted from what feels as if we are just insecure. we are somehow living in this new normal. and this can be -- it shouldn't matter whether we classify this as the worst mass casualty, the worst hate crime. that shouldn't matter. we have this tragedy where a lot of people feel insecure in regular places. we have to solve that problem. and in a larger context, in a conversation that you are going to have political reaction and that's obviously politics plays a part in it. but can it be done with less rigidness. and again, i employ the elected officials out there that i'm watching tweet andw

anything. they can have so much influence on the tone of civilians in social media. that is something concerning to me. >> the way our culture is you run to your corner and you fight to your side regardless whether you have the facts yet. politicians should be held to a different standard. you mentioned donald trump, i want to read his tweet. three hours ago, he tweeted really bad shooting in orlando. police investigating possible terrorism. many people dead and wounded. hillary clinton has september hseptember -- sent her thoughts out as well. we are going to be hearing about this not just today but as this campaign goes forward. >> it's under the surface, and we've watched it throughout this campaign. it bubbles up at moments and then it recedes. so it is -- you hate to assume that that is what'

i'm just 50 people, this is, you know, and by the way, this is pride week in the gay community and it's happening. you just -- this is -- this is just -- you can't sometimes put it into words when you -- 50 people, one person, it's mind numbering. i remember being at the white house for newtown and you just thought you couldn't believe things could get worse. this one feels -- it's just tragic. >> you know, it's interesting you bring the president into the conversation. obviously the white house correspondent, you were there when the president had to react to other shootings, including at sandy hook. he'll wait a little bit and see what the investigation brings forward on this. if it's an act of terrorism. what do you think he does today? what does he want to project? >> my guess is he -- it's going to be more of the condolences and the reassurance. i tell you the last couple of times that we had incidents with -- that have involved a

not shied away from going right to the gun issue. it is -- it is top of mind for him. it has been -- he'll tell you this off camera. he'll tell it to you on camera. he'll tell it to you off the record and on the record this issue of gun violence is something in what he believes is the issue of easy access to weapons of war. it's something that it frustrates him that there can't be some sort of legislative solution to this. and nobody says you are going to solve this just with one law, but he's very frustrated by this, considering how many times, think of tucson, aurora colorado, charleston, and san bernardi bernardino. it doesn't matter whether it's domestic crazy person driven, hate crime terrorism, his focus has been the ease of access to weapons of war that allow for a

quickly like this. i imagine he will focus on that. >> we heard from police earlier it was an ar 15-style rifle that was used in the shooting. we'll be back to you shortly. let's go back to nbc's pete williams. you mentioned that omar mateen the shooter in this incident did have a license to carry guns. and had no criminal past. so he would clear a background check presumably. >> i'm sorry, i got a couple of people talking to me, willy. try it again. >> we were just talking to chuck about president obama's commitment to gun control and to get legislation to take ar 15s out of the hands of people like omar mateen. he did have a license to carry guns. and he presumably could have passed a background check. >> we have no indication at this point that these firearms were illegally obtained. now of course the question of whether you can buy

capacity magazines has been a matter of controversy since the clinton administration when there was a federal law that banned the sale of so-called assault weapons and the ar 15-style weapons were among those, as well as high capacity magazines. that law lapsed. some states have enacted their own laws. but most states don't have restrictions on that. and of course undoubtedly what you are going to hear is the question of whether if people would carry guns, then they would be able to respond to something like that. so i'm sure we are going to hear that involved in the public debate about this. but as to how they were obtained, that tracing we are told hasn't started yet. but there is nothing that we know that would have stopped him from obtaining these legally. the handguns, certainly, there are very few restrictions on that. we are going to see whether he had high capacity magazines.

we haven't heard that yet. the assumption would be that he did. but we'll know shortly what kind of rounds he was using, what the caliber was, whether he had high capacity magazines and if so how many. >> the weapons he used and the man who used them. omar mateen born in 198 6 29 years old. what will they be looking at in his background? >> they will want to reconstruct a chronology of minutes, days, hours, weeks, months, leading up to the shooting. if it turns out to be as his father said, precipitated by anti-gay hatred, his father was told us that the three people, the father, his son, omar mateen who is said to be the gunman in this incident, and mateen's son were

ago, saw two men kissing and touching and it enraged mateen, we are told. if it turns out to be that, then they will trace it back as well. but we've also been told by several federal officials that his name was in some kind of database of people who were at least looked at three years ago, but our assumption at this point is that that was not so much his own conduct as the fact that he was associated with other people that were interested in him. that's how these investigations tend to go. you get one name or one phone number and you do sort of a phone tree, who were they talking to? who were they meeting with? who were the people around them? and we believe that that is how he came on the federal radar three years ago. but that they would look closely at him then and didn't think that there was any further point in investigating him. and this is the kind of thing that goes on all the time. there are hundreds of people churning through these lists almost by the week. so nothing ever came of that, w

looking at, they will be searching that van. searching his home, talking to his relatives, taking his life apart to see what led up to this. >> all right. pete williams, thank you very much. we'll get back to you shortly. just to recap if you are tuning in right now 50 people have died. 50 people were killed at the pulse nightclub. a popular gay nightclub in orlando, florida, when shooting began at about 2:00 in the morning local time. that's on the east coast time. 53 more people were injured. many of them critically, according to the trauma facility that brought those people there. in fact, at one point there were so many victims they didn't have enough ambulances and local police were putting people in the back of police pickup trucks to transport them to three different medical facilities. we want to go back now and listen to the press briefing to get everyone caught up that took place less than an hour ago. >> today we

and is unimaginable. since the last update, we have gotten better access to the building. we have cleared the building and it is with great sadness that i share that we have not 20, but 50 casualties in addition to the shooter. there are another 53 that are hospitalized. because of the scale of the crime i've asked the governor to declare a state of emergency. we are also issuing a state of emergency for the city of orlando, so that we can bring additional resources to bear to deal with the aftermath. our focus is going to be on identifying the victims and notifying the families. we are setting up a hot line for concerned family members. there is 407-246-4357. the identification process may take some time. so we ask for your patience, because we

concerned family members can call the hot line, however, and let them know that you have someone that you are concerned about. i continue to be so proud of our community, the support that is shown, the response that has been made. i'm also thankful to entities from all around the country and the state of florida. the governor has made all the resources of the state of florida available. orange county has made all their resources available. we have assistance from the white house. so every possible asset we have brought to bear. >> thank you, mayor dyer. let me start by expressing my sympathy for the families, for the loved ones of those we have lost in the last 24 hours. we know that this affects a large segment of our community. we know that we have a very close knit

by this. so to everyone who is impacted i want you to know that our thoughts and prayers are with you. and that we are a united community, and that what we saw last night does not reflect what we feel in our hearts and our souls here in orange county. and i'm calling on every citizen here in orange county to never forget that we stand together in times of adversity, but we don't just stand together as the city of orlando and orange county, we stand together as a country. we have heard from texas, we have heard from states all across the country wanting to know what they can do to help. when evil like this comes to our community we respond in force. i guarantee you we will do that again. and thank you all for everything that you do to make this such a wonderful place to be. we know it's going to take time to be able to answer the questions of the loved ones and there is nothing, nothing more difficult than waiting to find out the status of the people that you love. please be patient, we are doing our best.