i'm dara brown. welcome to a special edition of "early today." the names of the victims in the orlando nightclub massacre are slowly being released this morning. it is the worst case of terror on american soil since september 11th. the deadliest mass shooting in our nation's history took place early sunday. 29-year-old omar mateen, armed with an ar-15 assault rifle and handgun opened fire and took hostages. when it was over, 50 were killed and 53 injured. nbc news has learned from law enforcement sources mateen pledged his allegiance to the leader of isis just before launching his attack. our gabe gutierrez has more. >> oh, my god. people are getting shot, dude. >> get out of here. >> oh, my god, dude. >> that guy is firing off shots. >> reporter: at 2:02 a.m., gunfire tears through the music and the crowded club, packed with more than 300 people. >> i thought i was going to die. like, i didn't know if i was going to come out alive. >> reporter: at 2:09, the club posted a chilling message on facebook. everyone get out of pulse and keep running. a

. >>> good morning, i'm dara brown. breaking overnight, floored officials are searching for a 2-year-old boy drag the into the lake by an alligator. it occurred neared the grand resort at walt disneyworld last night. the family was on vacation from nebraska. there are 50 officers involved in the search, and it happened in front of the boy's parents. sarah join us now. what is the latest there? zrchlts good morning, the orange county sheriff's office just a wrapped up a press conference on this horrific story. the boy has not been located. right now, they're bringing in new personnel, fresh eyes, they say, to give them a fresh look at the area. they're also bringing in additional sonar units, a dive team and aerial unit to aid in the search. right now, they're calling it a search and rescue operation, although they are acknowledging that a lot of time has passed, and the situation is growing more difficult. this little boy was wading in the water only about a foot into the water with his family nearby, when the alligator

i i'm dara brown. president obama is going to orlando on thursday to pay his respects. this comes after the president says it appears the gunman acted alone. >> it does appear that at the last minute, he announced allegiance to isil. but there is no evidence so far that he was in fact directed by isil, and no direct evidence that he was part of a larger plot. >> today, we have into images from inside the nightclub where the terror attack took place. we know minute-by-minute, how a single gunman carried out the attack. nb has the details. >> reporter: a gay nightclub during this popular latin night. music, dancing, and then gunfire. amanda, who captured the shooting, is among the dead. survivors in new detail, describing the terror. >> gunshots to the arm, stomach, back. >> i could smell the ammo in the air. i was like, this is a gun. >> it's awful to experience this with my fellow family. >> oh, my god. people are getting shot. >> reporter: at 2:00 a.m., an off duty officer working security engages omar mateen, armed with an assault rifle like this. a handgun and plenty

good morning, i'm dara brown, breaking news this morning for the first time in america's 240 year history, a woman at the top of the a major party ticket. just a short while ago, nbc projected hillary clinton as the winner in california. and while senator bernie sanders refuses to back downed, the front page of the daily news says it all. secretary clinton has clinched a majority of pledged delegates to become the presumptive nominee for president. also taking new jersey, south carolina, and new mexico, along with california, clinton makes history in breaking that next glass ceiling. >> it may be hard to see tonight, but we are all standing under a glass ceiling right now. thanks to you, we have reached a milestone. first time in our nation's history that a woman will be a major party nominee. >> clinton also made some of her strongest points against her likely republican opponent, donald trump. >> donald trump is temperamen l temperamentally unfit to be president. he is not just trying to build a wall between america and mexico, he is trying to wall off americans from each other. when he

i'm dara brown. >>> it's party time in cleveland. the city of cleveland has a champion. the cleveland cavaliers beat the golden state warriors to win their first-ever nba championship and became the first team in history to come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the finals. lebron james lead the way with a triple-double. he's the only third player in history to have a triple-double in game 7 of the finals. james was voted finals mvp. his teammate called him the best player on the planet and even compared him to ludwig beethoven, and it's hard to argue. he's the only player in history to lead both teams in points, rebounds, assists, and blocks. afterwards lebron celebrated with his kids. >> to be able to end this drought, our fans deserve it. they deserve it. and it was for them. i came back for a reason. i came back to bring a championship to our city. when i came back, i knew i had the right ingredients and right blupt to help this franchise get back to a place we had never been. >> president obama jumped in, tweeting what a game and what a series for the cavs. happy to se

i'm dara brown. new fallout from the trump campaign money problems. fcc reports calling it the lowest place for a major political candidate in the modern age. trump went on twitter calling himself the ding of debt, saying he is ready and willing to fund his presidential bid. >> i spent $55 million of my own money to win the primaries. 55. now, you know, that's a lot of money. i mean, by any standard, i may do that again in the general election. i have -- excuse me, matt. i have a lot of cash and i may do it again in the general election. >> those comments came shortly before trump sent out what he claims is his first fundraising e-mail. telling supporters he would match their donations, dollar for dollar. fundraising issues aside, polls show him beating hillary clinton when it comes to the economy. 51% of americans say he has a better -- hillary clinton set her sights on his business records and went on the attack. >> he has written a lot of books about business. they all seem to end in chapter 11. he bankrupted his companies not once, not twice, but

. >>> good morning, i'm dara brown. gridlock in the senate, the senate took up four separate gun proposals, and each one was swiftly voted down. the senate chamber was unusually busy as relatives of past mass shootings sat in the galleries. it was the first time this year all 100 senators were on hand for a vote. for more, we're joined by tracie potts from nbc news. did these ever have a chance of passing. >> it wasn't clear they were going to pass at all, dara. we were talking about the fact that all four of them might fail and that's exactly what happened. republicans and democrats both pointing fingers this morning. but the bottom line is, this has happened over and over again, gun control advocates say they are not giving up. >> the motion is not agreed to. >> gun control has failed, again. >> what they predicted, you know. >> another missed opportunity. >> lawmakers could not agree to either ban or delay sales to terror suspects. democrats are livid. >> i am angry, i am frustrated. >> nra has a vice-like grip on th

i'm dara brown. have breaking news out of capitol hill, where house democrats have gavelled the house back into recess after the democrats in an unprecedented act of defiance shut down the legislative work after almost an 18-hour sit-in and counting. >> now is the time for us to find way to dramatize it, to make it real. we have to occupy the floor of the house. >> these were the dramatic scenes as they unfolded last night. >> house will be in order. >> this is not at all regular order. >> the chair appreciates that members will differ on matters of policy. >> house democratic members yelling shame. >> shame, shame, shame! >> the chair would hope that the business of the house could be conducted. >> enough is enough. we're sitting in and we're going to make sure that the speaker hears us loud and clear. >> we are prepared to stay all night. >> the democrats a short while ago broke out in song singing "we shall overcome." ♪ we shall overcome some day >> sitting there on the floor, i felt like i was re

i'm dara brown. tributes continue to pour in from around the globe for icon muhammad ali. an interfaith memorial was held sunday night in ali's hometown of louisville, kentucky. this, as his body has arrived back in louisville, where a public and private memorial service are scheduled for later this week. jay gray joins us live from louisville with more. what's the atmosphere like there on the ground? >> reporter: dara, i think the overall atmosphere here, respect, thanks. since his death, many have showed up at the ali center, bringing flowers, balloons, as you can see behind me. some because of what he did inside the ring, others drawn here by his legacy outside of boxing. all to say one final good-bye to a man simply known as the greatest. muhammad ali is back home now. a chartered jet carried the body of the champ, his family and close friends back to louisville sunday afternoon, where preparations continue for a public memorial on friday, a celebration of ali's life that will include a winding 19-mile funeral procession past the places that were a part of his life, in

. >>> good morning, yeeveryone, i dara brown. it is party time in cleveland. for the first time in 52 years the city has a championship. they beat them 93-89 in game seven to win their first ever nba championship. they also became the first team in nba history to come back from a 3-1 series deficit to win the finals. lebron james led the way with a triple double. he is the only -- only the third player in history to have a triple double in game seven of the finals. james was unanimously voted finals mvp. he made kyrie irving call james the best player on the planet and compared him to ludwig van beethoven. he is's the only person in history to lead both neems assists, steals, rebounds and blocks. afterwards lebron celebrated with his kids. >> for us to be able to end this, end this drought, our fans deserve it. they deserve it. it was for them. i came back for a reason. i came back to bring a championship to our city. when i came back i knew i had the right ingredients and blueprint to help this franchise get back to a place we've never been. >> president obam

. >>> good morning, i'm dara brown. breaking news overnight, for the first time, a woman will top a major party's presidential ticket. hillary clinton has passed the delegate threshold to become the presumptive nominee. nbc news reports that she has secured the 2,384 delegates needed. clinton spoke about embarking on history at a rally last night. >>> according to the news, we are in the brink of a historic, historic unprecedented moment, but we still have work to do, don't we? we have six elections tomorrow. and we're going to fight hard for every single vote, especially right here in california. >> but the clinton campaign cautioned against new news, worried it would suppress voter turnout at the primaries. they issued this statement. this is an important milestone, six states voting tuesday, with millions of people heads to the polls. hillary clinton is working to earn every vote. we look forward to tuesday night, when hillary clinton will clinch not only a win in the popular vote, but also the majority of pledged de

all for a good cause >> i'm dara brown and this is early today. ♪ the sun'll come out tomorrow... ♪ fort a given. but entresto is a medicine that helps make more tomorrows possible. ♪ tomorrow, tomorrow... ♪ i love ya, tomorrow in the largest heart failure study ever. entresto helped more people stay alive and out of the hospital than a leading heart failure medicine. women who are pregnant must not take entresto. it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren. if you've had angioedema while taking an ace or arb medicine, don't take entresto. the most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure... ...kidney problems, or high potassium in your blood. ♪ tomorrow, tomorrow i love ya, tomorrow.♪ ask your heart doctor about entresto. and help make tomorrow possible. ♪ you're only a day away ♪ news.com, senate democrats blocked the zika funding bill. democrats blocked the bill on tuesday leaving the fight against the virus in limbo. the party said the gop packed the bill. and in the indianapolis star ex- colts runningback dies

. >> i'm dara brown and this is "early today." roy orbison ♪ of course you go all out for date night... ♪ ...even if you're just staying in. ♪ walgreens has all the beauty products you need for whatever makes you feel beautiful. walgreens. at the corner of happy and healthy. motrin helps you be an... "i can totally do this in one trip" kind of woman. when pain tries to stop you, motrin works fast to stop pain. make it happen with motrin® liquid gels. also try motrin pm to relieve pain and help you sleep. >>> leading the news on nbcnews.com, thai officials removed dead cubs. they seized 33 tigers on tuesday and plan to remove all remaining living tigers from the temple by friday. the buddhist temple earns nearly $6 million a year in tourism. >>> the u.k.'s metro newspaper cyclist has breast implants popped by jumping kicking kangaroo. she was cycling on the vineyard trail. she said her implants acted as an airbag before they exploded. the woman will undergo surgery this week. >>> an oklahoma reservist deputy has been sentenced to f

i'm dara brown. this is "early today." squuuuack, let's feed him let's feto the sharks!sharks! yay!uack, they're all morons anyway! i never said that. they all smell bad too. no! you all smell wonderful! i smell bad! if you're a parrot, you repeat things. it's what you do. if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. it's what you do. squuuuack, it's what you do. does your makeup remover every kiss-proof,ff? cry-proof, stay-proof look? neutrogena® makeup remover does. it erases 99% of your most stubborn makeup with one towelette. need any more proof than that? neutrogena. >>> right now at 4:26, radar showing storms racing into our area. expect lots of lightning and strong winds. we are in weather alert mode. fwloo pl >>> plus the water main break causing major problems in northern virginia. how it could impact your morning commute. >>> plus 16 hours and counting, a fight over gun control on capitol hill. i'm erika gonzalez at the live desk with the fight that has continued on well into the

. >>> i'm dara brown, and we have breaking news to report. nbc news has learned that a plane has possibly crashed in egypt. it took off bound for st. >>> i reached around like this and i felt something on my back. come to find out, i had gotten stabbed in the back and there was a tug-of-war at the door. >> brown received an additional two years in disciplinary detention. >> he will have to earn getting out of the unit. >> if you show me respect, i give you respect. you disrespect me or what i believe in, then we will take it to the next level. >> the thing about the shu unit, out of sight, out of mind. they don't want to know what goes on in here. >> but sergeant haskins will always remember. >> it drives the barber crazy. >>> coming up -- >> don't move until i tell you to move. >> teenagers, one of the few things inmates and officers can bond over. >> you think you can handle somebody like me? why do so many businesses rely on the us postal service? because when they ship with us, their business becomes our business. that's why we make more

i'm dara brown. welcome to a special edition of "early today."e names of the victims in the orlando nightclub massacre are slowly being released this morning. it is the worst case of terror on american soil since september 11th. the deadliest mass shooting in our nation's history took place early sunday. 29-year-old omar mateen, armed with an ar-15 assault rifle and handgun opened fire and took hostages. when it was over, 50 were killed and 53 injured. nbc news has learned from law enforcement sources mateen pledged his allegiance to the leader of isis just before launching his attack. our gabe gutierrez has more. >> oh, my god.

. >>> i'm dara brown with the hour's top stories. 24 people have been killed in the catastrophic floodingt hit west virginia. more than 30,000 homes and businesses are still without power, and more than 60 roads in the state are closed. president obama has signed a disaster declaration for the state. >>> and a wildfire in california has destroyed 150 homes and that number may go up with more than 2,000 homes still threatened. at least two people have died in the fire in the lake isabella area. now back to "caught on camera." >>> welcome back to "caught on camera." i'm contessa brewer. we've seen sports brawls, dirty dancing police officers and children fighting in a cage. but our next story is more than just out of line. it's nearly fatal. a driver mows down a crowd of people. >> i turn around and just see the car coming. pow. >> then takes off, leaving bloody victims in her wake. >> get her license plate, man! >> i was scared. i thought the people was really dead. >> april 19th, 2011, it's national hiring day at mcdonald's and thousands of people flood restaurants across the country look

i'm dara brown. tributes continue to pour in from around the globe for icon muhammad ali.interfaith memorial was held sunday night in ali's hometown of

. >>> i'm dara brown with the hour's top stories. 27-year-old kevin james has been identified as the and killed christina grimmie of "the voice." police say he traveled from st. petersburg to orlando with the intention of killing grimmie though the motive is unknown. >>> donald trump hit two battleground states, florida and pennsylvania, attacking hillary clinton but also lashing out at mitt romney as a "stone-cold loser" in response to criticism from romney. >>> welcome back to "caught on camera." i'm contessa brewer. the most ambitious fishermen are always pushing the limits, trying to reel in that big one, scouring the oceans for the most exotic and elusive sea creatures. in our next story, a young angler battles a giant black marlin. and what happens next is no fish tale. 30 miles off the coast of panama, a family fishing vacation turns into a desperate fight for life. >> oh, my god. oh, my god. >> i didn't really think it was happening. i thought it was a dream. and then when i woke up, i was on the ground, being pulled into the corner of the boat, spitting up blood. became pret

. >>> i'm dara brown with the hour's top stories.near yuma, arizona, say a fire that's claimed over 4,000 acres is 30% contained. evacuations have been lifted for residents impacted by the blaze. >>> two are dead after a small plane crashed in an airport outside chattanooga, tennessee. officials say the single-engine plane crashed as it was coming in for a land. two others were injured with one in critical condition. no word on what caused the plane to go down. >>> brian bates is no lawman. he isn't a police officer. he can't arrest people. and he doesn't carry a gun. but over the years he's captured hundreds of prostitutes and their johns on camera. he's made a name for himself locally, with his eye-popping video. but then, what he catches on tape here vaults him into the national spotlight. >> tell me what you were shooting and how it unraveled. >> well, at that time i was actually just driving through the neighborhood and saw -- >> the date is monday, july 8th, 2002. and brian bates is out videotaping, as usual. he sees a truck pi