Transcripts For CNNW CNN Newsroom Live 20160613

Threehourlong siege at the gay nightclub. 50 people were killed, 53 wounded in this shooting. A witness shared video of the gunfire as police stormed the club. [ gunfire ] police shot and killed 29yearold omar mateen when they went in to rescue hostages. One official described the crime scene. All the killing that was done was with an Assault Rifle, with a single weapon Assault Rifle. Theres an enormous amount of havoc right now. Theres blood everywherement. I spoke to somebody who is on the site, and there is an enormous amount of evidence to be collected systematically over the course of many hours. The fbi had investigated mateen in the past for ties to terrorism, but he wasnt found to be a threat. His father denies mateen had been radicalized. Mateens exwife, though, says he was bipolar as well as abusive. And people have told some harrowing stories of how they survived by hiding in the clubs bathroom, dressing room, even under the bar. Anxious friends and relatives waited to hear from their loved ones. Theyre shooting back and forth. That is crazy. But my son hasnt been heard from, so i dont know if he was left in the club, if he got shot, or if shes being worked on here. I dont know. Three of my friends that i play ball with were also, i mean, reported as deceased at this time, and were still waiting to find out the rest of us. 2 07 i got a text message from my daughter and my two nieces, please come and get us now. Theyre shooting. Theyre shooting. Between about 2 12, i got a phone call from my daughter saying she was hit and bleeding on her arm and she was going to pass out. Just come and get her and call the cops and help out. It was tragic. I came here hoping like Nothing Happened to him, and i just received news from my girlfriend that, you know, my friend and her cousin just passed away from this terror attack. Thats it. I wont shed a tear just as long as you stand mourners gathered at candle light vigils in orlando and across the country on sunday to honor the victims of this tragedy. We will begin our coverage here with cnn correspondent Jessica Schneider. She is near the pulse nightclub. Jessica, walk us through the timeline. What do we know about what happened inside that club and when . Reporter well, john, it was just about 24 hours ago that all of this horror began unfolding. Just after 2 00 in the morning as a very packed pulse nightclub where about 350 people were inside, a gunman entered. The first person he encountered was an offduty Police Officer who was working security. He got past him and then entered the nightclub, where he took hostages, and he opened fire. It was for three tense and terrifying hours that he invaded the nightclub. It wasnt until 5 00 in the morning that police finally, three hours later, were able to knock down a wall of the nightclub with a heavily Armored Vehicle. They were then able to get hostages out, and they finally shot and killed the gunman. But the meantime, there were Text Messages from some of those people trapped inside. They were desperately calling out to their family members for help, asking those family members to call 911. It all started around 2 00, lasting until 5 00 when police did move in and finally shoot and kill the gunman. John. And, jessica, 24 hours on now, and this nightclub, it is still a crime scene. There are still many bodies inside. How long do you think investigators will be before the building is cleared . Reporter you know, thats one indication Law Enforcement isnt giving us. This has been a very active scene, like you said now, for 24 hours. They say Law Enforcement, that this is really a twofold endeavor. Its all part of this investigation that they have been launching throughout the day and will continue. But then, of course, they have to work on notifying family members and actually removing those bodies from the nightclub. We saw several coroners vans line up here throughout the day. This is quite a long process, and Law Enforcement has not given us any timeline or any indication as to when this investigation could wrap or when they could reopen this area. John. Okay. Jessica, thank you. Jessica schneider live this hour, 2 05 here in orlando. Thank you. And in the wake of this horrific shooting, there has been an outpouring of support across the city of orlando. People came together to donate muchneeded blood for the wounded. Lines stretched out the doors at some places, and local media reported the turnout was so great, blood banks asked volunteers to stop coming on sunday. They had reached full capacity. For more now on what is being done to help the victims of the Orlando Attack, nick valencia joins us live with more. Nick, so many people have been affected by this. 53 people wounded, 50 dead. Of course so many people in that club, hundreds and hundreds of people. So how are they coping, and what is being done . Reporter well, your heart has to go out to the friends and family who are still waiting on getting notification of the updates of their loved ones. Were they in that club . Are they among those that are still hospitalized . Are their names among those 50 that were killed . We spent all day here, since the Early Morning hours, talking to people who have been affected by this tragedy, witnesses, survivors, those that are waiting to hear word about what happened. At one of the staging areas earlier today, we saw as three doctors crossed the street from the Medical Center and went in to tell a group of about 250 people, were told, inside the names of those that had survived. And those that didnt hear the names of their loved ones, they took that as being the ultimate bad news. We heard a lot of heartwrenching screams, sobs from people who are expecting the worst of the worst, especially those who have yet to hear what happened to their friends and family. We spoke to someone named andy moss, who was inside the night club when the shooting happened. He showed up there with his friend. He said he was able to get out miraculously. He was there near one of the exits and was able to get out. He thought his friend was with him as he ran out the front door. He only found out later that that friend was nowhere to be seen. He still has no idea what the fate of that friend is. And right now were hearing a lot of frustration from friends and family, those that say information has been shut off to them, that they should still be getting updates, but theyre not. Tomorrow at 8 00 a. M. Eastern, i should say, in about six hours from now, they will be given notification here at the Delaney School where officials will come and give word, give those updates. At about two hours later, 10 00 a. M. Eastern. We expect a Media Briefing where perhaps well get more information as to what happened here in orlando at 2 00 a. M. Eastern on saturday. John . And, nick, what support is now in place for the relatives of those who have been killed . What will be there to help them deal and work through this tragedy . Reporter weve seen chaplains here from the sheriffs office. Weve seen grief counselors. Weve seen the red cross here. Weve seen these mobile Blood Donations. You talk about the extraordinary support. The outpouring of support. More than 1,500 people showing up at a Blood Donation center that we were at. Hundreds more being told that they were just at capacity. They had to be turned away. So there are avenues for grieving, for compassion here. People coming out of their residences, their neighborhoods to talk to neighbors, talk to strangers, people that theyve never met, to try to provide them grief counseling. People here are just talking through this. It took a few hours. In fact, it was later this evening, earlier this evening, i should say, when people really started to reflect on what happened at 2 00 a. M. On saturday. All that tragedy, the scope of the tragedy here, was really reflected upon, and people really started to understand the reality of what happened here. 50 People Killed, 53 people still hospitalized. This is a horrific day in the United States. John. And very quickly, nick, what more do we know about the condition of the 53 wounded right now . How many are critical . What do you know . Reporter well, we were told by friends and family at that staging area, was that doctors did give a list of those that were in critical condition, others that were in stable condition. That list has not been provided to the media. We have reached out to the hospital for further details to find out exactly the conditions of those dozens that remain hospitalized. Were going to have to wait till the sun comes up to get those details. John. So many horrific injuries as well. Nick, thank you. Nick valencia live this hour. And this terror attack here in orlando, the worst mass shooting in modern u. S. History. And before this event, though, the biggest death toll was back in 2007, an attack on the Virginia Tech campus which claimed 32 lives. In 2012, a shooting rampage at a Connecticut Elementary School killed 27 people. Most of them children. 23 people died in texas when a man crashed his truck into a building and opened fire. That was in 1991. And 21 People Killed in california in 1984 when a man armed with several guns sprayed bullets at a local mcdonalds restaurant. Now, a short time ago, i spoke with cnns military analyst, Lieutenant General Mark Hertling as well as brian levin in irvine california. I asked him what may have motivated mateen. Its my guess that this is someone who was inspired by isis rather than orchestrated and directed. Several weeks ago, isis came out with a new magazine. Interestingly enough, in that magazine, they were primarily aiming their ire at muslims around the world, whether it be egypt, the United States, saudi arabia, or elsewhere. But the bottom line is that these folks can get radicalized by one group, and the baton can be passed to another group. Thats what we found happened with respect to the terrible attack that hit in San Bernardino. One of the things that i warned Congress Late last year was because of isis ability to use the internet, the dark web, and social media, even when they were under pressure, they were still getting their message out. And unlike europe, where theyre orchestrating folks who have gone in theater and then come back to europe, here theyre inspiring malcontents, disenfranchised people, mentally unstable folks, and others, and what weve seen is a significant increase over the last several years with respect to these attacks. Indeed, San Bernardino and this attack alone represent a significant amount of the fatalities post9 11 from j jihadist attacks. We also see lone wolves as well. The biggest threat, our center said, are lone wolves. Also remember isis would love to coordinate an attack, too, if they could. They just dont have that wide and deep bench that they have of criminals and malcontents and recruiters that they have on the ground in places like belgium and france. Lets go to general hertling now. Given the fact that isis is being squeezed militarily, especially in iraq and syria right now, is this kind of attack that were seeing in orlando, is that now their major way of striking a blow on western targets . It certainly is. Its at least contributing to that. When you talk about the fact that you have an element thats being defeated on the battlefield, thats losing ground, thats losing their capability, having to strike out, that was part of the message that we just talked about. Go out and attack in other places. Certainly aeeasier to do in eure because you have that flow. But here the kind of jihadists youre having here, the radical extremists, are those who are like this one, has been misbehaving somewhat in a variety of ways, has run into law problems, has been noticed by other people. And theyre ready to conduct operations because they just dont fit in at times. And, brian, to you, the fact that mateen made this telephone call to the authorities, this 911 call pledging allegiance to al baghdadi, the leader of isis, do you have any idea why he would do it that way as opposed to leaving behind a note or posting something on social media . What was the purpose of that call . The purpose of it was he probably didnt get to do it on social media, and it might have come as an aftershot. Taf sheen malik, who attacked our community, pledged allegiance on social media. Interestingly enough, at that time, isis radio, for instance, declared her like a a follower and a supporter rather than a warrior, which was how this assailant was referred to. Right now it doesnt appear there was evidence that there was any direct orchestration. And indeed one of the things i think is so interesting, as isis is losing the number of foreign fighters who are coming into theater, how their ground war is closing in a bit, yet theyre still able to inspire these attacks. And like a caged animal, they can be the most dangerous when they appear under pressure. This is going to be a long thing. And as i said before, we will get hit again because we have so many people. We have 800 to 900 investigations going on in all 50 states and a very sophisticated though under pressure internet and dark web presence. So theyll fight back the only way they can, which is through this catch as catch can inspirational rather than operationally trained folks like this particular assailant. Okay. General, i just want to take a different tack here because you live here. You moved here. You made a decision to make this your home after retiring. As someone who is a member of this community, how difficult has this been for you, and how difficult will it be, you know, for everyone who you share this community with . Striking. John, this was this morning, i cant describe what this felt like because as you said, ive seen multiple years in combat. I have seen soldiers die, fighting against terrorists. And when you wake up in the middle of the night and find something that occurred in your hometown to this degree, you know, this isnt far away anymore. This is not paris. This isnt brussels. This is orlando, florida, a place that is known for mickey mouse and disney world. So, yeah, it was tough to take. The combination of an extremist fighting in this land, in this city, as well as someone with this much hate against this many people and to have it affect the community. But the community is rebounding. This is a wonderful place to live, and youre seeing that in the people that are coming out, providing support. The hospitals and the Emergency Services that are coming together and working together to treat the patients and to care for the people around. Thats a very good thing about orlando. And soldiers, theyre trained. These were innocent, defenseless people. They were. And id say another thing about that. It has to do with this style of attack when youre using automatic rifles with bullets that tumble, and the carnage that this creates. These are the kind of things that occur when you have a terrorist attacking unarmed people like this. And no amount of fighting back in this kind of environment is going to do anything. Thanks to john and his guests. Were going to take a quick break now. The Orlando Attack is adding to the political firestorm surrounding the islamic faith here in the United States. Well speak to a major figure in the u. S. 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You just get in and it naturally adapts to your body and creates the perfect temperature for you. vo sleep cooler, wake more refreshed. Discover the new temperbreeze. The banquet bottle is a piece of our history. Thats because its filled with over 140 years of Rocky Mountain tradition. Well drink to that. Coors. The banquet beer. Youre watching cnns breaking News Coverage of the worst mass shooting in modern u. S. History. Im isha sesay in los angeles. And im john vause live in orlando. Were getting dramatic details about how some people inside the club were able to avoid death. One person hiding in the bathroom covered herself with bodies. Some entertainers hid in a dressing room. They escaped by crawling out when Police Removed an airconditioning unit. Officers took down the gunman after a threehourlong standoff. A witness shared this video of when police finally stormed the club. [ gunfire ] and u. S. President barack obama is calling the attack an act of terror and an act of hate. He met with fbi director james comey and said authorities are trying to figure out the shooters motive. Mr. Obama also talked about the issue of gun control. Today marks the most deadly shooting in american history. The shooter was apparently armed with a handgun and a powerful Assault Rifle. This massacre is therefore a further reminder of how easy it is for someone to get their hands on a weapon that lets them shoot people in a school or in a house of worship or a Movie Theater or in a nightclub. And we have to decide if thats the kind of country we want to be. And to actively do nothing is a decision as well. And florida senator marco rubio says attackers like the orlando shooter are the new face of the war on terror. I think its pretty clear at this point, im safe in saying this was an individual that was either directed or probably i think in all likelihood inspired to take on this attack by some radical islamist element, be it isis or al qaeda. I think theres some indications it might be isis. This is the biggest threat our country now faces in terrorism is the homegrown violent extremists. Born in new york, raised in the United States, a u. S. Citizen living among us freely. Before he reaches the age of 30, becomes radicalized and inspired to take action. Ill have a lot more from orlando in a moment. For now, lets go back to isha in los angeles. Thank you, john. The Presumptive Democratic president ial nominee Hillary Clinton tweeted, this was an act of terror. This was also an act of hate. President obama was scheduled to make his First Campaign appearance with clinton on wednesday. That event has been postponed. Donald trump is pointing the finger at u. S. Leadership and warns more attacks will come. The Presumptive Republican president ial nominee tweeted, 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. Well, Muslim Leaders are condemning the orlando massacre as a hate crime and a monstrous attack. The executive director of the Los Angeles Division of the council on American Islamic relations joins us now. Thank you for being with us. Nimy pleasure. Your organization and many muslims have quickly spoken out and condemned these attacks, saying it does not reflect the values of the u. S. Muslim community. How is this message being received . So far, very well received because its heartfelt. Its like any american today with compassion, feeling the horror of what happened today. This is something that no words can express the sorrow, the sadness, the anger that many of us feel as americans, as humans, but also as muslims, especially with the perpetrator claiming to be muslim. Its very well received. Its something that has been based on many years of solidarity, work between the Muslim Community and the Lgbt Community. Were worked for many years. This has been a community that has consistently stood by the american Muslim Community in support of their rights and in defense of that community against discrimination and bigotry. So the least we can do is stand with them shoulder to shoulder as theyve always done with us. To hear you say that, to hear you talk about the bond between the Muslim Community and the Lgbt Community, that may surprise some because people have heard the words from isis, a distorted version of islam, but they have heard the words of hatred towards homosexuality in the lgbtq community, and it questions the relationship of islams relationship with this community. Islams view regarding homosexuality are very similar. T they range. The reality is what were dealing with is isis. Isis has nothing to do with islam. Looking at what islam says is really irrelevant. Isis, lets not forget, has placed even american muslims on their target list, including our National Executive director and many Muslim Leaders. The main target of isis had been muslims around the world. So what were dealing with is sickminded people with really no religious basis. Theyve committed crime thooz are barbaric against people who they deemed as enemies. So what is important today is to remember that isis does not speak for muslims, certainly not for american muslims and we stand all together in solidarity in refusing to allow anyone to create a wedge between us americas. Thats the beauty of america. We can have differences of opinion, differences of the way we believe over sexual preferences, our races, our color. But every american has to feel safe. The minute one american who doesnt feel safe because of their choices, then none of us is safe. Ive got to ask you about the statements made by donald trump, the republican presumptive nominee, who is now reiterating his call for a ban on muslims entering the country although he states that its temporary. What do you want to say in response to that . First of all, how does that help . You know, omar mateen was born in the u. S. No ban would have prevented that. But thats not the main question. The main problem is at this time when our country is in tears, our country is shaken, we need leaders that bring us together, not leaders who play into the hands of the terrorists, not leaders who would exploit our countrys tragedies to score a few points at their election. At this time calling for blaming all muslims is exactly playing into the hands of the terrorists because this is exactly what isis wants. I know its a cliche, but the reality is they want us to feel fearful of each other. Thats what the purpose of terrorism is, to terrorize us and create wedges between us. So i hope most people in america would see through this and realize this is not the time to play divisive politics and politics of fears. Thank you so much for joining us and speaking out and sharing your message. Of course. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Thank you. Time for a quick break. Omar mateen was interviewed by the fbi several times. Thats leading many to wonder how the Orlando Attacks could have happened. The call just came in. Shes about to arrive. And with her, a flood of potential patients. A deluge of digital records. Xrays, mris. All on account. Of penelope. But with the help of at t, and a network that scales up and down ondemand, this hospital can be ready. Giving them the agility to be flexible reliable. Because no one knows like at t. If yo. Well do i haveen it all, a surprise for you. Its red lobsters new lobster and shrimp summerfest with the lobster and shrimp. You love in so many new dishes, youre gonna wanna try. Every last one. Like the new coastal lobster shrimp. With a woodgrilled lobster tail,. Wildcaught red shrimp crusted with panko,. And shrimp fresh off the grill and brushed with. Summer ale bbq sauce. Or try the new lobster shrimp overboard,. Because when a dish can wow you like this,. Overboards the only way to describe it. But hurry, this ends soon. Hello, everyone. Youre watching cnns breaking News Coverage of the worst terror attack in the United States since 9 11. Im isha sesay in los angeles. And im john vause live in orlando. The gunman in orlandos mass shooting was a 29yearold u. S. Citizen. The fbi says omar mateen was interviewed twice in 2013 and 2014 but was considered not to be a threat. An official says mateen called 911 during the siege and pledged allegiance to isis. But his father denies he was radicalized. But mateens exwife says he was unstable and he abused her. Mateen carried an Assault Rifle and a pistol into the club, and when the shooting was over, he had killed 50 people and wounded 53 others. Police have searched mateens apartment and have now let other residents nearby to return to their homes. The attacks have brought pain to orlando and to the entire United States. The Lgbt Community has been especially affected. Key ann anyway mims is part of the community here in orlando. She joins me now to talk about the impact this is having on the Lgbt Community because this was latin night inside that club. Its a very popular night. You had been there on those kind of nights. Yes. Reporter it was loud. What would have it have been like leading up to that shoot something. From when ive been there and ive had a wonderful time every time i go to pulse. We were drinking, laughing, having a wonderful time. Were dancing, especially with latin night. A lot of dancing, a lot of joy, a lot of laughter, a lot of close knit friends getting together, taking pictures, having a good time. It must have been incredibly chaot chaotic. Can you picture that in your mind . I have because just picturing the way the club, the layout is, to imagine a shooter coming in and just shooting like that, i couldnt imagine how to get out, where to go. When you come in, theres a room to the left where you can kind of chill out there and you can actually watch the show with the singers and everything. I cant even think that theres a way out to the left. Maybe theres just the one door in and out . When you come in and you go to the left, i cannot imagine that theres a door there. It might be to the back or it might be something hidden. Im not sure, but i know theres a stage right there, and theres a bar. Theres usually dancing on the bar and, you know, having a good time. When you walk in, theres a big open area right there. And to the right, there is some seating, and then you can actually go outside and have a good time on the patio there. How will the Lgbt Community here deal with this . I mean this is obviously an attack on gay people. Its a terrorism act, but its also an attack on gay people. Its just horrible to believe that someone would drive, you know, that long to specifically come to the pulse, passing other locations, is definitely an attack. This is wellknown lgbt location. I mean this is a landmark location for us. So it is definitely an attack, and how were going to deal with it, were not going to allow hate, you know, to overcome. I mean for one person to come and do Something Like that is just to incite fear on the Lgbt Community. All its going to do is make us come closer together. Kiana, thanks very much for speaking with us. Lets get more now on the investigation. Cnns senior Law Enforcement analyst and former fbi assistant director tom fuentes joins us once again from honolulu in hawaii. And retired fbi special agent steve moore is in los angeles. Tom, first to you. A lot of has been made about the interviews of mateen back in 2013 and then again he was spoken to in 2014. So in some ways, the intelligence worked up until that point. Its just after that, there does seem to be a lot of questions which need to be answered. I think thats true, and theres going to be a lot of questions. But, you know, the fbi is not the gestapo. They cant just go out and grab somebody and put them in prison because they expressed, you know, an opinion thats not popular or approved of in the United States. They can say what they want. People can think what they want as long as they dont continue down the path to do a violent act, and thats where the difficulty comes for the authorities, for the fbi or local police, is the person aspirational or operational, are they going to actually commit an act, or are they just talking that they support that group or support Osama Bin Laden or al baghdadi or one of the other terrorist leaders in the world . So thats a difficult thing. We still have First Amendment rights in this country, and its difficult for the bureau to really read somebodys mind and see if theyre not only thinking bad thoughts but intend to do something bad and violent. And, steve, to you, as someone who has carried out these kind of investigations and we should stress there are literally hundreds and hundreds of these kind of investigations which are ongoing. How difficult is it to close one of these investigations like the fbi did on mateen . Tom will know this. It is harder to actually close one than it is to keep one going because to close one, youre putting your name on it as a supervisor and saying, im telling you you dont need to follow him anymore. Its harder to close one than it is to keep one open. Yet you still have to close them because otherwise, your agents are going to be working a million Different Things other than the highest priority cases. And, tom, one thing weve learned from inside that club was this call to 911 that mateen made. He pledged allegiance to al baghdadi, but he also talked about the tsarnaev brothers, the boston bombers. Are these kind of jihadist like the tsarnaev brothers, like the San Bernardino shootings, are these now the heroes to these homegrown jihadists . Well, i think so. They are heroes. But, you know, theres also, you know, individuals that are sociopaths and psychopaths, also possess a great deal of narcissism, and this could be a simple fact that he wanted to make sure he got the glory for this. And he was afraid that if he hadnt told anybody he was going to do it and if the media and the authorities were going to have to speculate of what his motive was, that maybe it was only a hate crime and not a terror act, it was only directed at the Lgbt Community. So to be sure, he calls the police and says, look, i want it to be clear im doing this for isis and not have any doubt. I mean normally in these shootings, you have people just continue to fire until they run out of ammunition or get killed. He stopped to make a phone call. So i think it was very important to him that he got credit for this attack. And, steve, to you, obviously one of the big concerns for the fbi, for Law Enforcement now, copycats and others who will be inspired by this. And were seeing that now in a way, i guess, although it didnt play out that way in los angeles. But that, in fact, were the initial fears. I think what were seeing here is since San Bernardino, youre seeing copycat after copycat after copycat. When they get this momentum where theyre getting press, theyre getting all sorts of br bragging rights with isis, it will continue until we can find a more effective way to eliminate it. Well, and, tom another concern besides copycats are hate crimes directed against muslims in retaliation for this. So thats another aspect that the fbi will be very diligently investigating any threat to muslims based on what happened here. And, steve, finally to you, when you get the intelligence like they had back in 2013 and 2014 that, you know, he had said some radical things, he had said some inflammatory things and he had said it to his coworkers and they had reported it to the fbi, what then happens to that information . I mean is it just sealed off, and thats the end of it . Or is it kept someplace so they keep an eye on this guy . Or is it just all over with . It goes to the substantive squad, the joint Terrorism Task force. They do an investigation, and you will put it in a file that is not a its kind of a pending filing. You are not closing the case, but you are not continuing active investigation. So you can you have some momentum to go back to that case if you need to. I suspect that mateens case was not a closed case but an inactive case. Okay. Steve moore, retired special agent, and tom fuentes, former Deputy Director of the fbi, thank you both for your insights and your experience. We appreciate it. A short break here. When we come back, the orlando shooter, a u. S. Citizen. He was born in new york. His parents emigrated to the United States from afghanistan, and now his father is speaking out. Dad, you can just drop me off right here. Oh no, ill take you up to the front of the school. Thats where your friends are. Seriously, its, its really fine. You dont want to be seen with your dad . No, its. No. This about a boy . Dad stop, please. Oh, theres tracy. What [ horn honking ] [ forward collision warning ] [ car braking ] bye dad it brakes when you dont. Forward collision warning and autonomous emergency braking. Available on the redesigned passat. From volkswagen. Its more than a nits reliable uptime. And multilayered security. Its how you stay connected to each other and to your customers. 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Get the new xfinity tv app and for the First Time Ever stream live tv, watch on demand, and download your dvr shows anywhere. Youre watching cnns breaking News Coverage of the worst mass shooting in modern u. S. History. Im isha sesay in los angeles. And im john vause live in orlando, coming up to 2 45 on a monday morning. Tributes are pouring in from around the world following the massacre here. In paris, dozens of people gathered for a candlelight vigil carrying the pride flag and signs that read proud. 50 people were killed, another 53 wounded when a gunman opened fire at this gay nightclub. The shooter has been identified as 29yearold omar mateen. Well, the gunmans exwife spoke out on sunday. She described how her former husband changed before her eyes. In the beginning, he was a normal being that cared about family, loved to joke, loved to have fun. But then 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. Thats when i started worrying about my safety, and then after a few months, he started abusing me physically. Weve also heard from mateens father, who says he and his wife provided their son with a loving and caring environment and that his sons actions have surprised him. He came in yesterday to see me and his mom, and that was the last time that i saw him. I didnt see anything different than what he used to be. So im really puzzled, and im very saddened, and im very upset what happened there because they are my family, all those deceased people. They are my family, and those people, they got surinjured, i y for them that they get healthy soon. Well, the gunman was born in the u. S. , but his parents are from afghanistan. A former afghan president spoke to cnns wolf blitzer. He strongly condemned the orlando terror attack. A great tragedy. We commiserate with the people of the United States, with the families who lost their loved ones, with the wounded. Its a crime that we condemn in the strongest possible terms because we in afghanistan suffer from it daily and for a long time. So we are with the American People on this. Well, for more on the shooter and his ties to afghanistan, were joined now by Cnn International diplomatic editor Nic Robertson in london. Nic, what are we learning . Reporter were learning that his family came to live in the United States and that he was actually born in the United States, that his father, if you will, kept a hand in and an interest, if you will, in afghan politics, keeping up a commentary on an Internet Television channel aimed at afghans. And he had quite strong opinions. He was very antipakistani. He had also the fact also, on his facebook page, had criticized traitors of afghanistan, including the leaders of isis, including president karzai, and including others that he considered were embezzling money from the country that was doing the afghan bad. Its the father that seems to have maintained the strongest ties to afghanistan. In terms of omar mateen himself, there isnt any information thats come forward so far that says that he has maintained strong ties there, that he has maintained some sort of, if you will, jihadi connections. He may have shared some of the same political views as his father, but even those have yet to be fully, if you will, discussed and verified. So at the moment, the ties to afghanistan really seem secondary to whats happened here in orlando. Theres nothing yet that would tie, and perhaps nothing will come forward yet that will tie his actions to anything that his family experienced in afghanistan, that he has sort of experienced through listening to others in his community talking. And, nic, the expectation will be that the authorities will be scouring every part of this mans life that they can detect, from his digital footprint to see whether he traveled abroad, whether he went anywhere. Reporter the strongest evidence that has emerged so far is from those investigations that the fbi conducted, that his 2014 meeting with an american jihadi who was fighting with the al mousse ra front in syria, had been there in 2013, had come back to florida, who met with mateen during that time, and then went back to syria again, and then became the United States essentially first suicide bomber for al qaeda inside syria. So thats the connection. What other conversations on social media may have been going on, was there a search for his identity, a failed marriage. We understand from his wife that he was unbalanced but potentially bipolar. You know, was he searching for some kind of identity and had gone back to his muslim roots and chosen to sort of follow this extremist ideology through that path . Thats not that uncommon in this type of case. Many questions to be answered in the days ahead. Nic robertson joining us there from london. Thank you, nic. Time for a quick break now. Broadways tony awards took place in new york as scheduled sunday night. How the event honored the Orlando Attack victims when we come back. Ssed most of the show. woman and theres no way to restart it. jon bon jovi with directv there is. 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People of all faiths coming together to pay tribute to the victims. Seen at this memorial in austin, texas, pri texas,. Bride celebratio pride celebrations went on in los angeles with the people of orlando on everyones minds. Crowds also gathered outside new yorks stonewall inn, a long time symbol for the fight for lgbt rights. Also in new york, the Freedom Tower lit up in rainbow colors. And broadways biggest night of the year, the tony awards began with a poignant introduction from host james corden. Good evening. All around the world, people are trying to come to terms with the horrific events that took place in orlando this morning. On behalf of the whole Theater Community and every person in this room, our hearts go out to all of those affected by this atrocity. All we can say is you are not on your own right now. Your tragedy is our tragedy. Theater is a place where every race, creed, sexuality, and gender is equal, is embraced, and is loved. Hate will never win. Together we have to make sure of that. Tonights show stands as a symbol and a celebration of that principle. This is the tony awards. [ applause ] the organizers of the awards agreed the show must go on in honor of the victims. Thank you for watching. Im isha sesay in los angeles. Im john vause in orlando. Our special coverage of the massacre here in orlando continues after a short break. Dontlive in paris. When you airbnb, you have your own home. So, live there. Even if its just for a night. Dad, yoh no, ill take you up to me off rthe front of the school. Thats where your friends are. Seriously, its, its really fine. You dont want to be seen with your dad . No, its. No. This about a boy . Dad stop, please. Oh, theres tracy. What [ horn honking ] [ forward collision warning ] [ car braking ] bye dad it brakes when you dont. Forward collision warning and autonomous emergency braking. Available on the redesigned passat. From volkswagen. Its more than a nits reliable uptime. And multilayered security. Its how you stay connected to each other and to your customers. With centurylink you get advanced technology solutions, including an industry leading broadband network, and cloud and hosting services all with dedicated, responsive support. With centurylink as your trusted technology partner, youre free to focus on growing your business. Centurylink. Your link to whats next. Dont let dust and allergies get and lifes beautiful moments. With flonase allergy relief, they wont. Most allergy pills only control one inflammatory substance. Flonase controls six. And six is greater than one. Flonase changes everything. Every ingredient is the main ingredient. The new Green Goddess cobb with avocado, bacon, freshly made dressing, tomato. And chicken. At panera. Food as it should be. Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. Im robin kur know at the cnn center. And im George Howell live in orlando, florida. It was just about 24 hours ago when a gay nightclub just down the street here became the center of chaos. The worst mass shooting in modern u. S. History, and you can see the crime scene is still active this hour. The fbi leading the investigation. I want you to listen here to what it sounded like when police stormed this building, finally bringing to an end a threehour siege. [ gunfire ] so much gunfire. Police shot and killed the gunman. 50 people had been killed and 53 wounded. 29yearold omar mateen was the attacker. An official says mateen called 911 and pledged his allegiance to isis. Investigators are continuing to gather evidence at the scene. Law enforcement is working the scene as efficiently and as diligently as they possibly can while also being respectful of the remains of the deceased. Were hearing from Law Enforcement. Also hearing from someone who knew the shooter personally. Mateens exwife says he abused her, and she believes he was bipolar. She thinks the act stems from Mental Illness and not religious extremism. Listen. Instability, emotional instability. Sickness. Mentally he was mentally unstable and mentally ill. Thats the only explanation that i could give. And he was obviously disturbed, deeply and traumatized. The focus is on the victims. The focus is on the survivors. But we are learning much more about the gunman as authorities release more information about this deadly attack. Joining us now, cnns Boris Sanchez has more about this mass murderer. Boris, what more do we know . Reporter good morning, george. You know, before we knew this as the worst terror attack since september 11th, this was just latin night at a gay nightclub here in orlando. People were having drinks and dancing. And then at 2 00 a. M. , everything changed. The shooter, omar mateen, had an encounter with an offduty Police Officer that was working security at the nightclub. They had some kind of encounter. Some kind of gunfire was exchanged. But the shooter was able to get inside the nightclub with an Assault Rifle and a handgun, and thats when a hostage situation unfolded. I talked to witnesses yesterday who told me that they heard these loud popping sounds inside the nightclub, and they couldnt tell if it was part of the show, part of the music, or something more nefarious. Eventually they said they realized that something terrible was happening when people all around them started dropping to the ground. One person that i talked to told me that he got to the ground and started zigzagging to try to get out of the club. He was very fortunate to get out. Were hearing other stories. There was one woman hiding out in a bathroom, using the bodies of victims to disguise herself, to try to hide from the shooter. Were also hearing that some performers in the club were able to escape through an airconditioning vent. They were able to get out that way. As you mentioned, it was a very tense three hours between 2 00 a. M. And 5 00 a. M. We were actually here on the scene when we heard a huge explosion. Thats when police went inside, and were finally able to take him out. But by then, the damage was done, george. Boris, just to give our viewers an understanding of where you are in relation to where i am, just on the opposite side of this crime scene. So it is expansive, and investigators have a great deal to process. Boris sanchez, thank you so much for your reporting. One of the survivors from this tragedy was joshua mcgill, and the story that he tells is simply amazing. Helping a victim who had multiple gunshot wounds. He explained his ordeal earlier to my colleague, don lemon. Listen. I jumped behind a car or suv. Im hiding behind it. The shots were fired multiple more times. They got a little further away than they were before, so i figured it was my time to run to the safety area that the cops had set up for a perimeter. Thats when i saw rodney kind of struggling, limping around. Rodney is the victim . He is the victim. He had multiple gunshot wounds, one in each arm. And then later i found out one was in his upper right area of his back. Pulled him over behind the car and i told him everything would be okay, i got you. Just calm down. I was like i need to cut off as much blood as i can. So i took my shirt off, tied it around one arm as tight as i could, took off his shirt, tied it around his other arm. And then i didnt know about the back, so i went to go like help him walk and dodge through cars to get to the safety area. And thats when he was like, oh, my god, my back hurts. I looked at my hand. Covered in blood. We get to the safety zone. Officer whomever was like, all right, you guys stay down. Theres a guy standing by. I just looked at him and said, give me your shirt. And he gave me his shirt. I used it to cover up his back, the wound on his back. Yeah. I want to show the audience. This is a picture of your jeans, the bloody jeans if we can put that up. You said you took off your shirt. Thats rodneys blood. Theres probably sill soming on my shoelaces. I dont know if his family has been notified, but just say his first name. Hes fine, you heard, right . Rodney yes, i went to the hospital today. I couldnt see him because he was still in the emergency department. But they did say he was stable, so i mean on the way to the hospital, the officer had him lay on top of me, and i had to bear hug him. You were making all kind of promises to him to keep him to stay awake. Thats how i got him to stay conscious. Whats your name . How old are you . I promise youll be okay. I dont know if youre religious. I am. But i promise you gods got this. Youll be okay. And i was mainly scared. I was like, god, please. So we get to the hospital. He gets on the stretcher, and they take him away. You heard there from joshua, and just the things that people did, first of all, to survive and then to help others around them. Rodney, the man that he helped, survived and is being treated at a hospital here in orlando. Thats what we know at this point. Robin, back over to you. So many stories of survival and tragedy as well. All across the United States, people have been paying tribute to the victims of this massacre. In the nations capital, president barack obama ordered u. S. Flags to be lowered to half staff. Crowds also gathered outside the white house to show their support for all those affected by the tragedy. And we heard from the gunmans father just a short time ago. He says he and his wife provided their son with love and care and that his actions surprised him. He also denies his son was radicalized. He came in yesterday to see me and his mom, and that was the last time that you saw him. I didnt see anything different than what he used to be. So im really muzzled, and im very saddened, and im very upset what happened there because they are my family, all those deceased people. They are my family, and those people they got injured, i pray for them that they get healthy soon. In the United States, i give him the best education possible. He had his own house, his own life. So he was living separately, and we we provided for him love and care, the best possible way a father and a mother can provide. So what had happened, it really surprised me. Radicalism, now, he does havent a beard even. When someone becomes radical, they grow long beard, and they wear clothes that, you know, long clothes. I dont think religion or islam had nothing to do with this. The gunmans father left puzzled by his sons actions. The attacks here have left many people wondering what led up to it and then how did it all happen . How did it even happen . Joining us now live from los angeles, cnn Law Enforcement contributor steve moore, also was with the fbi as a supervisory special agent. Good to have you with us this hour, sir. So mateen called 911 and pledged his loyalty to isis. But, again, we have a case here of radicalization playing out in a 29yearold u. S. Born citizen. Thats not surprising. Thats the way of the world now. Thats the way of the internet. Thats the way people are being radicalized. It started back with the White Supremacists using shortwave radio and things like that. Now its gotten so much easier. What about the fact that this is a guy who was known by the fbi but not under surveillance, not under investigation. Still he was able to go out and buy weapons this week. How does that happen . Im well, first of all, the fact that youre under investigation by the fbi doesnt mean you lose any civil rights simply by being under investigation. Obviously in this situation, in hindsight you say we should have had some kind of thing in place to do this. But the reality is you cant take away rights simply because the fbi is investigating you. This is the United States. You point that out fairly. Doi ask this question of you from your Law Enforcement background. People are drawing similarities to the attack at the bataclan theater in paris last month last november, i should say, an attack that involved coordination and some training. The question to you, do you see signs that mateen might have had some sort of specialized training, killing so many people . I think mateen had some skills with an Assault Rifle and a pistol that were above the usual abilities of the average gun owner. This could have been indications of training from other people who had had this training, maybe radicalized people who had given him the training. But it doesnt indicate necessarily that he had intended or attended terrorist training camp, anything like that. But he did have some familiarity with it. Steve, this is an attack at a gay nightclub. Many people are calling this a hate crime. But were talking about a suspect who pledged his loyalty to isis. Others call this terrorism plain and simple. What do you make of it . I think that in my years of investigating both domestic terrorism and international terrorism, what i believe to be true is that the kind of person who would do Something Like this, the kind of person who would commit the atrocities that isis is committing in raqqah are generally disordered people. They are emotionally damaged people to begin with, and they use islam, or they use christianity or whatever religion as something to hide behind to explain and justify their sadistic actions. So, yes, it is terrorism. And, yes, it is a hate crime. Steve moore, live for us in los angeles. Steve, thank you so much for your insight. Youre watching cnn newsroom. We are live in orlando, florida, this hour. The u. S. Political world has been weighing in on what happened here. What the u. S. President ial candidates are saying about this tragedy still ahead. Youre watching cnns breaking News Coverage of the worst mass shooting in modern u. S. History. Im robin curnow at the cnn center. And im George Howell live in orlando, florida. We are learning some dramatic new details about how some people were inside that club, how they managed to survive. Let me tell you these stories. One person who hid in the bathroom covered herself with bodies for protection. Some of the entertainers in the building hid in dressing rooms. Then they escaped by crawling out when Police Removed the airconditioning unit. Authorities say the gunman, 29yearold omar mateen, pledged allegiance to isis during that shooting. Mateens parents say that he expressed outrage after seeing two men kiss in miami. But they didnt know of any connection that he had to the terror group. The shooting happened just as the club was set to close early sunday morning, and the situation pressed on then for several hours. Our Jessica Schneider takes a look now at the timeline of these attacks. Reporter numerous cop cars out here. Reporter the worst u. S. Terror attack since 9 11 begins here. At pulse, a gay nightclub in the heart of orlando. 2 00 a. M. Closing time. Some 250 people crowded in the club for latin night. Two minutes later, shots ring out in the darkness. Witnesses think the shots are part of the music. A man armed with an Assault Rifle and a glock pistol shooting patrons in two areas of the club. Some able to escape the chaos by running out the back. Others sent urgent texts begging for help. Mommy, i love you. In the club, they shooting. You okay . Trapped the bathroom. What club . Pulse, downtown. Call police. Im going to die. Calling them now. Moments later, you still in there . Answer your phone. Call me. Call me. Call them, mommy, now. Im still in the bathroom. Hes coming. Im going to die. A uniformed officer working security at pulse and two other officers nearby at the time all fire on the shooter, later identified as 29yearold omar mateen. Mateen takes hostages. At 2 09, almost ten minutes after the shooting began, Club Management posts an urgent message to facebook. Everyone get out of pulse and keep running. At 2 22, mateen calls 911, pledging allegiance to isis and messaging the Boston Marathon bombers. A tense standoff follows. Almost three excruciating hours with some 100 officers outside the club. One person hiding in the bathroom covers herself with dead bodies to protect herself. She survives. Some entertainers hide in a dressing room when the shooting started. They escape when Police Remove an airconditioning unit and crawl out the window. Finally at 5 00 a. M. , a s. W. A. T. Team uses an Armored Vehicle to smash down a door of the club, allowing some 30 hostages to escape. Officers confront mateen in the doorway, shooting and killing him. One of the bar tenders said she hid under the glass bar. Police arrives, calling out, if you are alive, raise your hand. Initial estimates of 20 dead proved to be just far too low. 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. Reporter Jessica Schneider, cnn, orlando. Devastating details there from jessica. Well, u. S. President barack obama calls the attack on act of terror and an act of hate. He met with fbi director james comey. Authorities are trying to figure out the shooters method. This is the 15th time mr. Obama has addressed the nation after a mass shooting during his presidency. Today as americans, we grieve the brutal murder, horrific massacre of dozens of innocent people. We pray for their families, who are grasping for answers with broken hearts. We stand with the people of orlando, who have endured a terrible attack on their city. Although its still early in the investigation, we know enough to say that this was an act of terror and an act of hate. And as americans, we are united in grief, in outrage, and in resolve to defend our people. I just finished a meeting with fbi director comey and my Homeland Security and National Security advisers. The fbi is on the scene and leading the investigation in partnership with local Law Enforcement. Ive directed that the full resources of the federal government be made available for this investigation. We are still learning all the facts. This is an open investigation. Weve reached no definitive judgment on the precise motivations of the killer. The fbi is appropriately investigating this as an act of terrorism, and ive directed that we must spare no effort to determine what, if any, inspiration or association this killer may have had with terrorist groups. What is clear is that he was a person filled with hatred. Over the coming days, we will uncover why and how this happened, and we will go wherever the facts lead us. This morning i spoke with my good friend orlando mayor buddy dyer, and i conveyed to him the deepest condolences of the American People. This could have been any one of our communities. I told mayor dyer that whatever help he and the people of orlando need, they are going to get it. As a country, we will be there for the people of orlando today, tomorrow, and for all the days to come. We also express our profound gratitude to all the police and First Responders who rushed to harms way. Their courage and professionalism saved lives and kept the carnage from being even worse. Its the kind of sacrifice that our Law Enforcement professionals make every single day for all of us, and we can never thank them enough. This is an especially heartbreaking day for our friends, our fellow americans, who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. The shooter targeted a nightclub where people came together to be with friends, to dance, and to sing, and to live. The place where they were attacked is more than a nightclub. It is a place of solidarity and empowerment, where people have come together to raise awareness, to speak their minds, and to advocate for their civil rights. So this is a sobering reminder that 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. Well, this tragedy is already being politicized. The Presumptive Republican president ial nominee donald trump is pointing the finger at mr. Obama for failing to make america safe enough. Trump said in his remarks today, president obama disgracefully refused to even say the words radical islam. For that reason alone, he should step down. If Hillary Clinton, after this attack, cannot still say the two words radical islam, she should get out of the race for this presidency. Well, clintons team hit back, saying trump has offered no real plans to keep our nation safe and no rooutreach to americans targeted. More than ever, americans are looking for leadership and deserve better. Earlier, Florida Republican senator marco rubio told cnn that war came to orlando and said stronger background checks are needed to prevent this sort of tragedy. I think theres two questions that need to be answered moving forward. One is how is an individual who not once but twice has been looked at by the fbi, irrespective of whether or not they were able to find links and ties, was able to purchase weapons and then, you know, very quickly use them in this way without anybody knowing about it. Thats a question a lot of people are asking. I suspect its that balance between protecting peoples rights because anybody can accuse you of anything. In this case unfortunately it turned out to be true. The other is how can individual like this actually work for a company thats providing security given these fbi investigations that went into the person . Marco rubio a little bit earlier. Still to come, dramatic details of how some survivors avoided death. And youll hear from a deejay who was in the club when the killing started. Stay with us. Youre watching cnn. My lineage was the vecchios and zuccolis. Through ancestry, through dna i found out that i was only 16 italian. He was 34 eastern european. So i went onto ancestry, soon learned that one of our ancestors we thought was italian was eastern european. This is my ancestor who i didnt know about. He looks a little bit like me, yes. Ancestry has many paths to discovering your story. Get started for free at ancestry. Com are you okay . Yeah, i just got charged for my credit monitoring. Thats how i know its working. Ah. You know you can go on creditkarma. Com and check it out there. Its completely free. Really . Yeah oh, that didnt hurt at all. Yeah, completely painless. Credit karma. Give yourself some credit. It was dark. You dont know whats going on. Were falling. People are running. Glasses are getting dropped. Im getting covered in blood from other people. We know enough to say that this was an act of terror and an act of hate. Around 1 30 in the morning, we lost her inside the club. She just had another baby three months ago. The family is devastated. No one can tell me where my son is. If hes been shot, if hes dead. I havent heard anything, if hes alive or is he breathing . We are making it clear anyone who attacks our Lgbt Community, anyone who attacks anyone in our state will be gone after to the fullest extent of the law. We as a gay community, we are a resilient people. We are going to have people lined out behind those blood banks. We are going to show what the good heart of humanity is. Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. Im robin curnow at the cnn center. And im George Howell live in orlando, florida. Heres the very latest that we know at this point. 50 people are dead and another 53 wounded after a gunman opened fire inside a gay nightclub in orlando. Dozens of people were inside. They were trapped for hours while police were in a standoff with the shooter. Officers eventually stormed the club and killed the gunman. Today the gunman, omar mateen, called 911 in the midst of the shooting to pledge allegiance to isis. The fbi had investigated him in the past for possible ties to terrorism, but an fbi agent says those interviews turned out to be inconclusive, and there was nothing to keep the investigation going. Were hearing from mateens father, who says that he is puzzled and saddened by his sons actions and denies that mateen was radicalized. The father says his son seemed normal, even visiting him and his wife the day before the shooting. Mateens father also wished for a quick recovery for the wounded victims. Investigators are piecing together the events of what happened at the club that is just down the street here. Theyre learning more about the chaotic night that played out and the gunmans background. [ sirens ] all they could do was run. Some made it out. Many didnt. After a lone gunman opened fire in one of the citys iconic gay nightclubs. The deadliest mass shooting in u. S. History. Survivors recount their terror. Some hiding under dead bodies and others escaping through airconditioning ducts to safety. The gunman killed in a shootout with police after taking hostages. [ gunfire ] according to u. S. Officials close to the investigation, the gunman, identified as omar mateen, dialed 911 about 20 minutes into the attack, pledging allegiance to isis and mentioning the Boston Marathon bombers. President barack obama having to address the American People yet again after another mass shooting, calling the shooting an act of terror. Authorities say the man you see here, omar sadiq mateen, was behind the attack, born to afghan parents, he was 29 years old and worked as a Security Guard at a courthouse, which allowed him to purchase firearms with minimal screening. U. S. Federal Officials Say mateen purchased a long rifle and glock handgun just a few days before the attack. Mateen had been interviewed by the fbi twice in 2013 and 2014 for possible ties to extremists. But the fbi says mateen was not currently under investigation. Cnn terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank says no one has claimed responsibility for the attack on jihadist forums so far, but isis sympathizers have praised the attack. Meanwhile, people around the world have come together in support. An appeal by an orlando blood center on facebook drove thousands to line up for hours outside the center while a gofundme page set up to help raise money for victims and survivors. Earlier, i talked to the clubs deejay, ray rivera. He described the moment when the gunman opened fire. Listen. Honestly, it just it all happened so fast. It was more just, you know, shock and then, you know, panic set in. And it was like you need to get out of here. So at that point it was like looking for the door to get out. And people were coming, hiding underneath my d. J. Booth. Like i said, it was one or two people. I think there was a guy and a girl, and they both i said the guy took off. She was still there. I said, come on, lets go. She left and i went right behind her. Where did you go . Right out the side door. Have you slept since . No. Thats why im like extremely tired right now. I just want to make sure my pulse family is good, you know, everybody is safe, everybody is home. You know, we didnt have nothing happen. Have you heard about any of your friends . Are you worried about people . Ive seen some posts, and thats about it. A lot of people are kind of, you know, talking or doing anything. What has it done to you . I cant imagine what you went through . Ive been doing this for 20something years. You never imagine Something Like this will happen, so its been kind of a shock. I like what i do. You know, were going to continue doing it. No problem. Well continue doing it. Im not going to take this one thing and call it a you know, say its a wrap. I love what i do. How thankful are you this day to be standing right here and were talking . Im grateful, but i know theres a lot of people that, you know, that didnt make it. So, you know, i feel for the families, and its just a terrible situation. I wouldnt wish this upon anybody. A terrible situation, he says. Well, for more on this investigation into the shootings, lets turn now to cnn Law Enforcement contributor steve moore. Thanks again for talking to us. Youre a retired fbi supervisory special agent. Youre joining us from los angeles. And in your opinion and your expertise, the investigation thats still continuing on the site, what are the key questions that are being asked right now . Im if i were there, id want to know what was going on during the threehour standoff where the police didnt enter. And you have to know i bleed blue. I love the police. But you have to assume that dozens of people had been hit by gunfire and could potentially be bleeding to death in that in that room. And so i would want to know the reasons behind not going in earlier. There is a piece on cnn. Com from our peter bergen who points out some grim patterns. That every lethal terror act in the United States in the past 15 years has been carried out by american citizens or legal permanent residents operating either as lone wolves or in pairs. And they have no formal connections or training from terrorist organizations such as al qaeda or isis, he writes. So, again, with your experience, the real terror threat, is it homegrown mostly . Yes. Yes. And that is the new face of terrorism. What theyre doing is creating this lonewolf situation where they foist their ideas through the internet onto people who will swallow them and then create sick cofants essentially in this country who will go out and attack. And its not exclusive to the United States. Weve seen that in belgium. Weve seen that in england. This is the new face. Lets talk about the added dimension within the u. S. Which is easy or easier access to militarygrade weapons. This man was able to get hold of legally a semiautomatic Assault Rifle, a handgun. To massacre so many people, he had the time, but he also must have had a lot of ammunition, changed magazines many, many times, reloaded over and over again. Yes. I would say that its not easier to get it recently. Its gotten progressively harder to get weapons and ammunition in the United States. I think obviously there is we have to examine how this is happening. But its not something that in this case i mean he was he had already been investigated by the state of florida and determined that he was suitable to be not only a guard, but an armed guard. He had the authorization to carry a weapon at work. This is not somebody who just popped up and said, i want to buy a gun. This is somebody who had previously been investigated. And how unusual is it for somebody to phone in and lay out his motives midattack . Midattack is new. Most of the people that ive seen, there will be a claim usually beforehand, either in writing or in person or on the phone. Theres going to be a claim. But to stop in the middle of this and call is is astounding to me. And i dont know why. If youre talking on 911, somebody says, by the way, hes on the phone, this might be a good idea to go in. Again, i have questions that id like to see the answers to. Im not saying that they shouldnt have waited three hours. Im just wondering why. Questions no doubt you and many are asking. Many questions not being answered this hour 24 hours after that attack. Steve, thank you so much for your perspective. Well, those who knew him say the orlando gunman showed some troubling signs. Well hear from the shooters exwife. Thats just ahead. Thank you for joining us. Youre watching cnns breaking News Coverage of the worst ever mass shooting in the United States. Im robin curnow at the cnn center. And im George Howell live in orlando, florida. We are hearing now from the gunmans exwife. She says that when she first met him, that he seemed normal. She gave an intimate account of the man that he used to be. This was a sick person that was really confused and went crazy. He worked as a correctional officer or a guard at the juvenile delinquent center. And a lot of his friends, like i said, were from the Police Department in port st. Lucie or fort pierce. And he you know, i believe he applied to the academy and was trying to become a Police Officer. There was definitely moments that he would express his intolerance to homosexuals. Well, the orlando gunman was born in the u. S. , but his parents are from afghanistan. Former afghan President Hamid karzai spoke to cnns wolf blitzer. He strongly condemned the attack. A great tragedy. We kmis rate with the people of the United States, with the families who lost their loved ones, with the wounded. Its a crime that we condemn in the strongest possible terms because we in afghanistan suffer from it daily and for a long time. So we are with the American People on this. Well, for more on the shooter and his family and their ties to afghanistan, were joined now by Cnn International diplomatic editor Nic Robertson in london. Hi there, nic. There are still questions, conflicting information on motives. But do his familys connections to afghanistan provide any clues . Reporter you know, as far as we know at the moment and i think its fair to say theres an awful lot more to learn about omar mateen, and that is going to be probably salvaged from communications on social media, what websites hes been looking at, perhaps more conversations with closer friends. Thats information we just dont have yet. When you look at the connection with afghanistan, really its his father who has maintained whos from afghanistan. You know, omar mateen was born in the United States. So its his father who has really appeared to carry the strongest interests in afghanistan, who has appeared on an afghan youtube channel. Really calling for a better afghanistan, criticizing people, he says, that are corrupt, that are trying to sort of undermine the future wealth of the nation. Hes even pointed a finger at the leader of isis the father has as sort of one of the worst people in afghanistan. So this is a man who has maintained a sort of a political interest and wanted to have his voice heard on afghanistan. But his son, omar, the gunman, his interests in afghanistan, if hes really had any, that hasnt come to the fore yet. So he pledged allegiance to isis in the middle of this attack. And as you know, you reported on this extensively. Security experts have flagged how the isis message, its narrative, is increasingly alluring to secondgeneration muslims. And thats not just in the u. S. But in europe too. Reporter this is a man who may, again, by the initial accounts that we have from his wife, for example, who described him as bipolar. He was never medically confirmed as such, if you will, or medically diagnosed as such. But a man who had a problem with violence, a man she obviously fled for that reason. He never lived in afghanistan, but remembering his family lived in new york, he would have been 15 years old when the 9 11 terror attacks happened. Afghanistan, he would have been very aware, of course, at that age of what has happening in afghanistan, of the taliban at the time and the following invasion to install a different government. So all of these issues may have been close to his heart. We dont know. But, again, the profile of people who have been radicalized through social media by isis, who often have muslim roots, muslim faith, but have other issues in their lives and other historic connections. So potentially he fits that profile of the sort of rare person that will go ahead because of their instabilities and pick up the isis message online. Okay. Nic robertson in london, thank you. 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Youre watching cnns breaking News Coverage of the worst mass shooting in United States history. Im robin curnow at the cnn center. And im George Howell live in orlando, florida. Police say that the gunman left behind chaos here at this nightclub down the street. He had been working, though, for a Global Security firm since 2007. An official says 29yearold omar mateen legally bought a handgun and a long gun in the last few days. 50 people were killed, and 53 wounded in the attack. The city a main newspaper, the Orlando Sentinel released a preview of their monday morning paper. The front page reads, our community will heal. And a Crowdfunding Campaign for the victims of the mass shooting and their families has pulled in more than a Million Dollars in just 13 hours. Equality florida, the largest Lgbt Rights Group in the state, posted the fundraiser shortly after the massacre sunday morning. More than 30,000 people have donated so far. A staff member with Equality Florida says the group plans to work with attorneys to distribute the donations. We are slowly learning the names of the victims of this attack as orlando authorities and their families identify them. Cory cornells father tells cnn his son is one of the many wounded in the shooting. There is no word at this point on his condition. The city of orlando named Stanley Almodovar as one of the 50 people who died in this massacre, and as we go to break, we leave you with the names of other victims who have been identified so far. Be the you who doesnt cover your moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Be the you who shows up in that dress. Who hugs a friend. Who is done with treatments that dont give you clearer skin. Be the you who controls your psoriasis with stelara® just 4 doses a year after 2 starter doses. Stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections and cancer. Some serious infections require hospitalization. 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The candle lit vigils like this in orlando are taking place across the u. S. People of all faiths coming together to pay tribute. Pride celebrations in los angeles went on as planned with the people of orlando on everyones mind. Crowds also gathered outside new yorks stone wall in the long fight for lgbt rights. Also in new york, the Freedom Tower is lit up in rainbow colors. And the tony awards began with an introduction from james corden. Good evening. All around the world, people are trying to come to terms with the horrific events that took place in orlando this morning. On behalf of the people in this room and theater, our hearts go out to those affected by this atrocity. All we can say is you are not on your own right now. Your tragedy is our tragedy. Theater is a place where every race, creed, sexuality and gender is equal and embraced as is loved. Hate will never win. Together, we have to make sure of that. Tonights show stands as a symbol and celebration of that principle. This is the tony awards. Beautiful words there. Im robyn curnow in atlanta. Our coverage of the mass coverage continues with early start right now. I came out and boom, boom. The guy is shooting like crazy. They shoot my nephew in the head. Thats what i want to find out. The deadliest mass shooting in u. S. History. 50 dead. 53 more injured