Transcripts For CNNW New Day Sunday 20160612

Looking for another shooter. They have just clarified, one shooter inside is dead. Yes, for people who are just waking up. Let me tell you what we know. This is a shooting that happened at pulse orlando, the heart of the city. Happened around 2 00 a. M. , about four hours ago now. This man at least one person, walked into this crowded night club, multiple victims now headed to several hospitals in that area. We know the orlando Regional Medical center, the Arnold Palmer, all on lockdown. It happened just several hours ago. This from the Facebook Post of the club around 2 00, telling everyone to get out of pulse and keep running. We have our Law Enforcement analysts here. Well get to them in just a moment. Orlando police have said that this was a situation that ended with mass casualties. There was an explosion that was heard in that area, but police have said that that was a controlled explosion by Law Enforcement. We have been collecting interviews, sound from our affiliates there in the area with people who were both inside, outside of the club. Well get to that in just a moment. Lets start with cnns boris sanchez, who is about three to four blocks away at the edge of that area, that expansive scene. Boris, whats the latest you have there . Reporter good morning, victor. Were watching a Massive Police presence, kind of reconfigure our right now. Crime scene investigators just showed up. Orlando police, sheriff deputy, several agencies from Central Florida, as well as helicopters in the air. Obviously, a very serious situation. As you heard, Orlando Police just a few moments ago, confirming the shooter inside the club is deceased. We did hear from multiple witnesses inside that said that they thought there may have been more than one shooter. So its important to clarify, as christi said earlier, the scene is not exactly secure at this point. But the flow of information that weve received kind of gives you an idea of how this all unfolded. Witnesses inside the club tell us that about 2 00 a. M. Shortly before 2 00 a. M. , they heard loud, loud popping noises. One witness said that he couldnt tell if it was part of the music or something else, and people started hitting the ground. He was fortunate to get out. A short while after that, Police Arrive on the scene, put the whole thing on lockdown, and they told us that about 4 30, there was going to be a press briefing. Meantime, we were hearing reports there was some kind of hostage situation inside and there was potentially a bomb inside. One witness described, or said to us that there was potentially a shooter hold up inside a bathroom. A short while after we got that news, Orlando Police pushed back the press briefing, saying the situation was too fluid. Not a long time after that, we heard the loud explosion, a controlled explosion by Orlando Police, and started to get more information, until we heard just about a half hour ago, Orlando Police saying this is a mass casualty event. So gives you an idea, we heard that loud explosion, they were able to con fwifirm there were qua casualties. The shooter was found deceased inside the club. As this unfolds, we dont know if they acted alone or accompanied by others. I can tell you, one of the pro du producers, went down the street here, walked down to the medical center, and there is a line of gurneys and doctors outside, as well as people believe their loved ones were at Pulse Night Club. People are trying to get taken care of. There are many details to try to parse through, and well bring it to you as soon as we get it. Its important to say although there are eyewitnesses who say that there were hostages inside the club, there was a report of a bomb, those have not been confirmed by Law Enforcement. I just want to make sure we say that. And there was, again, that one explosion, which Law Enforcement says was a controlled explosion that was done by Law Enforcement. Again, we cant say it often enough. Early in these breaking news situation, some of the details that come out, that we hear from witnesses, even sometimes from Law Enforcement officials are inaccurate because of the fog of breaking news. You see the response there on your screen. This large scope, this large scale here, and as soon as we get this News Conference, theyll be able to confirm some of the things were hearing. Right now, were only getting updates through Orlando Police twitter account. Theyve called this a mass casualty situation, and victims being taken to local hospitals. We want you to hear from some of the people who were there, who were inside and outside of the club. Christopher hanson is one of them. He was a witness at the night club. Here is what he has to say. It is just shocking. If you had to count, how many do you think there were . Oh, more than 20 or 30. I mean it, was just one after another after another after another. It could have lasted a whole song, i mean, because after everybody was out, people were the shootings were still going. The cops were yelling, go, go, clear the area. Clear the area. Were like [ bleeping ]. When i went down to help this guy, im like are you kidding, youre still watching yourself. You see people on the side of buildings. I wasnt sure if someone was with a gun or someone was hiding. You dont know who is what, who is where. Youre like, oh, man. Something that adds to the confusion, it is a night club. We know that it is very loud. The music is pulsing. When you hear the shots, they dont know if it is part of the music or they dont know if something is actually happening there. Some of the witnesses have said that they didnt know that this was a real situation, that this was an emergency. Right. Until they saw people start to hit the floor. Yes. Lets go back to some of the sound weve had come in. This, from a mother, came in just moments ago. One of the persons inside that club. 2 07, i got a text message, please come and get us now. Theyre shooting, theyre shooting. Then about 2 12, i got a phone call from my daughter said she was hit and she was bleeding from her arm and she was going to pass out, come and get her and call the cops and help and she was just afraid. Just tragic. This is what is so disturbing to about this in the aftermath. As victor mentioned the fog of the situation at the moment. You have all of these people who knew their children were there, their brothers or sisters were there. They have no idea where they are or what is happening. In fact, lets listen here to the mom of a son, her son was in that night club. Lets listen to what she said moments ago. But they wont let us know. Theyre not letting us know names of anybody. What can you tell us about what happened . Well, i could tell you that my son was in there with his boyfriend and two other guys, two other friends. And the two friends went to the bathroom, and when they went to the bathroom, they heard about 20 shots. And then they recognized it as being a shooter, so they took off running, and while they were waiting outside the club, they saw juan, who was my sons boyfriend, they saw him being transported into an ambulance with multiple gunshots. But my son hasnt been heard from, so i dont know if he was left in the club. If he got shot or if he is being worked on here. I dont know. Being worked on here, she is at the hospital. Cedric, there are people just like her all over orlando, wondering what is happening with the people that they love, that they know were there. Do officers have designated officers . Does the department have designated officers dealing with those families specifically . Once we identify who the families are, and clearly, there will be a number of families involved. All resources and Police Personnel will be on that scene doing their initial investigation, and coordinating what it is they need to do next. Those patients that have been taken to the hospital that are able to talk, that are conscience, theyll be interviewed as well. There will be opportunities for their families to contact them and they to be able to contact their families as well. It is certainly important to note here that there will be many people at the scene outside of the hospital at this very moment, such as you heard the parent of one of the night club goers there. So its going to be very tense for a little while this morning. We have video in from one of our affiliates. It shows Law Enforcement officers firing shots in the direction of the night club. Lets watch that, and then well talk more with the Law Enforcement analysts. Theyre shooting back and for forth. Look at this. Lets go. Oh, my god. Theyre all shooting back and forth. Oh, my god. They wont let you out of the area. All right, so that video coming in from facebook from someone who was recording it just it looked to be maybe a block away from the Law Enforcement officers who were firing shots. We have with us on the phone cnn Law Enforcement analyst, tom fuentse. When you see these Police Officers at the club, is there an expectation and an assumption there are shots being fired back at them . What would cause them to fire these shots in the direction of the club, tom . Well, i think, victor, that would be the assumption, theyre under fire and returning fire. Otherwise, i cant imagine Police Officers in a crowded situation like this just firing, you know, where they could injure innocent people. Its too early to tell from the videotape. We see shots fired, but i just dont know why theyre shooting or who theyre shooting at, what the exchange is all about. I asked that question, because were still waiting for the News Conference that was scheduled about an hour and 45 minutes ago, and then was pushed because of the fluidity of the situation. We just received that tweet roughly 20 minutes ago now the shooter inside the club is dead, still waiting for an update from Orlando Police. Were going to take a break in a moment, but first, tom, i want you to answer that question. We heard there is support from federal agencies, as the former assistant director of the fbi what, would be what would cause there be to a federal nexus here, simply the size and scope of the situation and the response, or would there be some specific variable that would bring in federal agencies . Well, early on in a case like this, you dont know if it is an act of terrorism, hate crime, whether there is more to this than one or more individuals that are just deranged or, you know, having a reason to go in and commit a hate crime at that place. Normally that would be a common procedure to ask for any and all help. It doesnt take the designation of mass casualty. Its up to the Police Department generally to ask for the Additional Resources from surrounding Police Departments at the local, county, state and federal level. Especially in the mass casualty situation. The idea that this could be coordinated, there could be other intelligence to be brought to bear. Information and leads that will come from identifying this shooter, who is deceased, and as we mentioned earlier, going to his residence and getting Additional Information from the computer. That could generate leads throughout the country, and even internationally, depending on who that person was in contact with. And how many more people may have been in communication with him. So that would be, again, a standard procedure in a case like this. All right, if youre just joining us, a quick recap for you here. Orlando police designating this a mass casualty shooting inside a night club in orlando. We are about four hours in to this very tragic situation. Just stay close. Were back on the other side of the break. You dont let anything keep you sidelined. Thats why you drink ensure. With 9 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. For the strength and energy to get back to doing. What you love. Ensure. Always be you. 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Orlando classifying this shooting at a night club, Pulse Night Club there, a mass casualty situation. This happening after a shooter walked in and opened fire. Listen to this. Theyre shooting back and forth. Look at this. Oh, my god. Theyre all shooting back and forth. Lets go, lets go. Oh, my god. They wont let you out of the area. Oh, my god. That video, obviously coming from witnesses outside the club and sometime after 2 00 a. M. , when this shooting happened. But we do know that there are multiple victims at orlando Regional Medical center, Arnold Palmer hospital and winny palmer hospital as well. Those hospitals all on lockdown. But again, this happened at pulse orlando. This is a gay night club, in the heart of the city there. And a Facebook Post from the club at 2 00 a. M. , told everyone to get out of the club, and to keep running. If that gives you a sense of the chaos and the desperation that was going on at that moment, Orlando Police later reported a controlled explosion that was by Law Enforcement, again, police say the shooter inside that club is dead. But that does not clear the way for them to stop the investigation for a shooter. There could be multiple shooters. We have had witnesses who have said they thought there were multiple shooters, but that has not been confirmed. This latest facebook from the club, as soon as we have any information, we will update everyone. Please keep everyone in your prayers as we work through this tragic event. Thank you for your thoughts and your love. Cedric alexander with us. Tom fuentes with us, Law Enforcement analysts. Before we go to them, we want to take you to the scene where the sun is starting to come up, almost four and a half hours after the shooting took place. Boris sanchez is a few blocks away. Boris, whats happening there now . Reporter hey, christy. Were still awaiting this Police Briefing that were said to get details, hopefully any moment. I can tell you things are markedly different at the scene when we first got here, there was an enormous Police Presence. It has started whittle down. Several police and ambulances, starting to leave. Weve seen bomb sniffing dogs, asking questions of people just standing around just watching to see, to be sure that the scene is secure and safe. As you mentioned, they said earlier that the shooter was deceased inside the club, but it is still uncertain if he may have been accompanied by other people, so thats why where the investigation is right now. In terms of the victims, we dont have a clear number on the number of potential casualties or the number hurt. I can tell you down the street at the orlando Regional Medical center there is a line of gurneys outside, doctors outside trying to assist people as well as families who believe their loved ones may have been at the night club as the shooting unfolded. Theyre trying to get more information. Things are very chaotic out here as we await more information. Were going to make sure to get more information from Orlando Police shortly and we will bring it to you as soon as we know more. Boris sanchez, outside of the Police Perimeter there. We know it is about three to four blocks in each direction, and boris mentioned there that there was supposed to be this News Conference about two hours ago. That has not yet happened. For the parents, for the loved ones, for the friends, it is the not knowing that is the torture as the hours go on, but there is at least one mother who knows what happened inside that club as it relates to her son. Her name is rosalina ramos, i want you to hear what she said when shooting started. I received a call that my son got shot, and who told you . One, a girlfriend of my son. And she say that my son got shot she was crying, all that stuff. A lot of crazy stuff happening over there. Then i run over here, when i get here, i try to get to the club. They place it happened. And then, you know, that part was closed, those street. Some of the police, they send me, im asking where are they, or am. C, they send me over here, they told me, you know, they send me to another street, when i get here, they not allow me to enter to the hospital. Have you gotten any sense of your sons wounds or how no, nothing. Then i call to the a few minutes ago, i call to the hospital. They told me they dont have any, all the people they have in this hospital, some of the people, they transferred to another hospital, because this hospital is full. And then you know, i keep contact with the person that she have, my son telephone, you know, the cell phone. Yes. And the key of my son car. She told me that he got shot, my son got shot three time. Yet i dont know how he is doing. I dont know nothing. I want im worried. Because he a few minutes ago, she told my son, my other son that he had big hole in the stomach. He had shot in the chest, and he had another shot over here, near the stomach. So i dont know how my son is doing. I try to be in contact with, you know, my sons father side, because in puerto rico. Im now i dont know. I am waiting from 2 00. This happened, you know, the situation happened. The girl who was in contact with me, she say two men was in the door, they started to shot. So she saw two people shooting . Yeah, two people was shooting everybody, like crazy. My son tried to escape or Something Like that. And when what happened, they shot my son three times. But they shot him like crazy. Some of the people was in the bathroom, like his friend. Hiding . Yeah. She was over there. She just get out, you know, after they was safe. After that, when i was over here, waiting and waiting, i shot in this area, in front of the hospital, i dont know, maybe inside of the hospital, because i hear that somebody tried to shot people in the hospital. Also, i hear shot in this side in the back of the hospital. The police, you know, they tried to control the situation. Okay, so i want you to absorb this for a moment, if you would, please. Here is this woman, this mother, who has been told her son has been shot three times. She cant find him. These are some of the live pictures youre seeing of that night club where at 2 00 a. M. This morning, there was a mass shooting. There are mass casualties. If we really stop to think about this, as pulse has asked, keep them and everybody else in their prayers. There are family members, parents who have no idea where their children are. They know that they were there. They dont know their condition. It is a bit of a chaotic situation now. Four and a half hours after some of these parents got a call that their kids or their family members were in a situation, and they still dont have these answers. It is understandable that they dont, but just trying to put into perspective what these people are going through this hour. Yes, it is clear here how information is being passed. Were going to go to a break in just a moment. You understood from rosalina, that she got a call from her sons girlfriend, he was shot three times, she doesnt know where he is. She mentioned a shooting at a hospital. There is no confirmation from Orlando Police that there was any shooting inside a hospital. They are relying upon cell phone, video were getting in, calls from loved ones because there has not been this News Conference that was scheduled for two and a half hours ago. We understand why. This is a fluid situation, but this is how people are getting their information, and were waiting for it to come in. Were going to take a quick break and well tell you confirmed information as we continue the breaking news coverage. So or a man of adventure. E. Or a man of culture whos out for adventure. You know when to hit the scene. Or get far away from it. Because its all about striking. The perfect form. Beat yesterday with fenix 3 hr. From garmin. Just in, as it relates to this breaking news weve been following all morning. This News Conference that was scheduled to start at 4 30, has now been pushed to 7 00 a. M. So about 30 minutes from now, were going hear from the police chief there, mayor buddy geyer, and the fbi will brief at 7 00 a. M. Well bring it live. We have video that just came in of the response to the shooting. The citizen and police response. Watch this. Pulse Orlando Night Club is on south orange avenue. What brought us to orlando. You can see just maybe people who were inside the club, people nearby, the man here has blood on the back of his shirt, officers and others trying to carrying this man down the street. Youll see in a moment, they place him in the back of this pickup truck. From what weve seen, there were ambulances everywhere, but quite possibly, not enough, or not in the area where they were needed. So this response of the local Police Officers and people who were either inside or outside of the club just doing a triage ambulance here to try to get this man to some medical attention. And you see the situation, some of this quite graphic this morning, unfortunately. Were just getting this in. This now, a mass casualty situation declared by Orlando Police. No doubt about it. As we continue to see some of the pictures we are eight going in as well. If youre just joining us, i want to recap. 2 00 a. M. , a shooting happened at pulse orlando, a gay night club, the heart of the city. You see it right there in the middle of your screen at the top there. I want to share a Facebook Post with you. It told everyone at that time, get out of the club. Keep running. Orlando police later reported a controlled explosion by Law Enforcement. But police do say the shooter inside that club is dead. I want to share this latest Facebook Post as well. This is from the club, a couple of minutes ago. As soon as we have any information, well update you. Please keep everyone in your prayers. Thank you for your thoughts and love. 30 minutes from now, were going to get our First Press Conference from police, from fbi agent the, from the sheriffs department, after this incident. And a little while after this shooting, as weve heard witnesses describe people on the floor and people who were bloodied and people running for exiting and locked in bathrooms, somebody posted, we got this video, of a shooting that happened near that night club, again, or right outside the night club after the initial shooting. Listen to this. Theyre shooting back and forth. Look at this. Lets go. Oh, my god. Theyre all shooting back and forth. Oh, my god. They wont let you out of the area. You heard her say they wont let you out of the area. Law enforcement analyst, sed cri Cedric Alexander, you wonder if they had a target, if somebody was shooting at them. What was your assessment of what we saw. If we have accurate reports, Police Officers being engaged in a shooting, then they have identified a target. If they had identified a target, they identify it as a threat and either they were fired upon, returned fire, but they were making an attempt to protect those in in and around the club and themselves. If officers were engaged in a shooting this morning, all of us across the country, as Law Enforcement officials know, those officers at that point had a target. They were engaged, and they fired upon the target. Some of the information were getting in from our producer, john, who was there, that although this is an expansive scene here, several blocks in either direction, three to four blocks we know from boris sanchez, that multiple fire trucks and ambulances have now left that scene. Now, there is not a complete clearing. You see live pictures here of the response here, a lot of it cordoned off. You can see in several shots, you see this is pulse, orlando. The police cars, and still just family members who heard about the shooting, and are waiting for some type of confirmation. Theyre not getting it from the hospitals. Theyre not getting it from police just yet. Orlando Police Department has said all of their information will come through twitter, until 7 00 a. M. Eastern. So youre watchingout si outsid eastern time zone, were going to get that. Do we have tom on the phone . Yes, im here. Tom fuentes, former assistant director of the fbi, now that this scene is clearing, just a bit, and were getting a list of the names, four and a half hours into this, what stands out to you . Well, right now, what stands out is that there is no longer a threat to the community, outside of the club. And i think by allowing the other units to leave the scene and start clearing out and you can see by the bod dy language,t looks like no one feels there is a continuing threat here at all. So the Police Believe that if it it is one shooter or two, theyre neutralized and no longer a threat. Orlando police tweeting out 45 seconds ago here, any information you have could aid investigators in this case. Anyone at Pulse Night Club and was a witness, please come to the Orlando Police headquarters. Tom, when you put out a Statement Like that, when you ask for the help from the public, do people really show up at headquarters, and how quickly does that happen . Before you answer that question, i want to clarify for our viewers, what youre seeing here is one of the coordinated bomb i believe a bomb squad, the bomb robot that they had there, but this is our first look at it, as the sun is coming up. You can see the people around it. I just wanted to make sure that our viewers understood what they were looking at. Tom, i want to get back to you with the question. When youve got police kind of giving out an all call of whoever has any information, please come see us, what does that tell us about their knowledge of what has happened overnight . Well, of course the club was tweeting out for everybody to run at the time of the incident, so when people were fleeing the scene, they ran away for their own safety, which is understandable. So what the police are saying to the community, if you were in there, if you have valuable information, or if you have other information, if you were aware of someone you knew saying that they were going to go do this particular act, please notify the police. Please come to the station and talk to them. Yes, they will come. The problem is, that oftentimes more people come who arent witnesses, they just want to get engaged in the situation. And you know, so that often happens. There are more witnesses that show up than were actually at the club. It will be up to the police to sort out whether someone has valuable information that they actually did something that is important, and theyre credible and get the information. Cnn Law Enforcement analyst, Cedric Alexander here, you see people boarding buses here, lets take that shot again, the crowds there outside of this cordoned off area, this police zone, who are waiting for answers. Boarding public buses here. Some of the melee after this, we showed that video a moment ago, of just citizens, civilians, piling people into the back of pickup trucks, taking them down the street, i would imagine even at this point, several hours into the event, it is still difficult to get your hands around who is where, who was impacted that work continues for probably the rest of this day and beyond. That would be correct. A huge scene, and quite sure you had hundreds of patrons in that night club, and maybe a much larger crowd than that. What were going to see as it relates to that victor, is when a situation like that occurs, where you have mass casualty, youre going to have all your firing Ambulance Services responding, transporting people to hospitals. But youre also going to have citizen whose are going to assist, theyre going to throw people in the car, throw them on the back of a truck, whatever it is that you need to do, to get people some Emergency Care, and i think thats part of what we saw this morning. So it was all hands on deck. It was a police, it was the community, everybody was engaged together in order to get people the help they needed. I think here very shortly, were going to hear what the numbers are of those who may have been injured. Characterized as a mass casualty as police have described it. 20 minutes away from a press conference. Were going to take a quick break. Were back in a moment. Every with a 161 pointowned inspection, 24 7 roadside assistance plan, 2years or 20,000 miles of complimentary maintenance, an unlimited Mileage Warranty up to 6years and the confidence of being awarded the best luxury certified preowned program. Get 1. 9 apr financing on rx, is es l certified models. 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Such as fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough. Or if you have received a vaccine or plan to. If you have inflammatory bowel disease, tell your doctor if symptoms develop or worsen. Serious allergic reactions may occur. See me. See me. See me. On my way. Find clear skin. And a clearer path forward. For a different kind of medicine, ask your dermatologist about cosentyx. All right, 15 minutes until the top of the hour. Well get the latest from orlando. Lets get you uptodate. 2 00 a. M. Local time, four hours and 45 minutes ago, a shooting inside pulse orlando, a night club in the city there, the heart of the city on south orange if youre familiar with it. We know that this is now a mass casualty situation, that coming from Orlando Police. Victims were taken to several hospitals in the region. Orlando medical, Regional Medical center, winny palmer hospital, Arnold Palmer hospital, we know all three of them were on lockdown at some point. We had video of there being shots fired in the direction of the night club, but we do know from police that the shooter inside the night club is dead. Were still waiting for confirmation if this is the only shooter involved. The number of those shot, injured, killed, we also saw that there were several ambulances that were scrambling to get the people inside and outside of that club to hospitals. There were civilians that put people into the back of pickup trucks there. The sun is up. Some of the vehicles have cleared, but this is still a very active situation, if not an active crime screen. Absolutely. In fact, we have seen, some of the people getting on buses, were assuming many have been there since this happened around 2 00 a. M. But there are still bomb squad members on the scene. There are still s. W. A. T. Team members on the team, and the surrounding perimeter theyve core doan cordoned off. We want to take you to boris sanchez, he is a couple of blocks away from where this whole thing happened. Boris, what are you hearing now from people who are there, and seeing now that the sun is up and we can get a better picture . Reporter well, as you mentioned, Law Enforcement is kind of reconfiguring their presence here. Were about three or four blocks away from where this happened, the Pulse Night Club fwlurks is an expanded Law Enforcement presence, dozens of officers out here right now coordinating and talking to people. We saw bomb sniffing dogs a short while ago. This is still a very active scene. Officials are looking to nail down exactly where everyone is, where any other accomplice might be, if there are any. The scene is still unfolding. We can tell you right now, the scene at the hospitals, the orlando Regional Medical center down the street is chaotic. We know there were gurneys and doctors outside, family members as well, those who believe their loved ones were inside the Pulse Night Club. You can imagine the difficult time trying to find out if their loved ones are okay. We dont have an exact number of those injured or deceased. Orlando police said this was a mass casualty event. As we spoke to eyewitnesses, they told us that they saw several bodies on the ground as they were trying to get out. Of course, we dont have much information on the shooter right now. You can imagine, thats the next phase of the investigation. Once they secure the scene, theyll look into the persons background, look at any computer records, phone records, to figure out why someone would show up at this club at close to 2 00 a. M. And open fire on seemingly innocent people who were just having a good time. Obviously, were hoping get more information at 7 00 a. M. Well hear more from Orlando Police. Okay, want to show you, just take a moment and really sobering moment as we look at the video of, well, of that club, but of these people. It is such a testament to how people come together after a shooting like this. These are people who were witnesses, who were around the club, who may have been inside the club helping those who are injured, carrying them down, were assuming to hospital. Look at this. Citizens as well as Police Officers, trying to get somebody to a nearby hospital there. Sometimes putting them as youre a going to see here, just in the back of a pickup truck because there clearly was not enough there were not enough emergency vehicles, or perhaps, too, because it was cordoned off, it may have been difficult to get emergency vehicles to the scene at certain points of the evening. But as boris said, it was a very chaotic scene, with gurneys outside the hospital with those doctors, people were screaming for people to get out of the way. We heard one witness talk to us earlier this morning, and so many people confused, not knowing whats going on, not being reunited with the people they know and love who were in the night club. Cedric alexander with us now. We were talking about how expansive the scene is. You designate people to deal with these families, but now we are almost five hours out. Im sure a lot of them are watching, wondering, how long do i have to wait now before i get information. Can you give them some guidance . Well, it is going to take a little while longer. I would speculate, i would step out and speculate a little bit that some of these families are being notified and informed as theyre able to do so. But here again, we have to remember, this is a very large crime scene. And you have lot of Police Personnel and Emergency Personnel involved. Just trying to triage and get injured people to Emergency Care. Thats going to be first and foremost. What i would say to the family and friends, well say prayerful with you, but the important thing here is to try to theyre on the ground in orlando, to make an attempt to contact hospital, police, that may be in and around the hospital itself, just make it known who they are. But as time progresses, more information will be given. But you have to remember, those Emergency Care professionals, physicians, nurses and others, they are fully engaged at this very moment trying to save lives. Theyre trying first to get their hands around what happened. There are so many people as we just saw who were put into the back of pickup trucks, may have been put into cars and driven to hospital. They may not have a full have their minds and heads wrapped around where everyone is. Thats right. Were going hear from someone inside the club. An eyewitness in just a moment. Weve got a quick break. We know weve got this News Conference with the local, state, including the mayor of orlando, well bring that to you live. Quick break. Continuing in just a moment. Show me movies with romance. Show me more like this. Show me previously watched. Whats recommended for me. X1 makes it easy to find what you love. Call or go online and switch to x1. Only with xfinity. All right, good morning. Thanks for staying with us. Were going to move forward to the breaking news, just a few minutes out from the News Conference in orlando, florida. Police now reporting that a shooter is dead. The body inside the night club where the shooter opened fire on a crowd early this morning. That was about 2 00 a. M. So about five hours ago. Police calling this a mass casualty situation at pulse orlando, there in the heart of the city. Were expecting them to brief us at the top of the hour, just a few minutes away from this shooting that happened around 2 00 z yes, 2 00. We know the bomb squad has responded to the scene weechlt no he a s. W. A. T. Team is still outside the scene. Youre looking at the podium as we wait for more information. One of the questions, what constitutes a mass shooting. What kind of numbers are we talking about here . There you can see, the s. W. A. T. Team is still outside. Do we have the video, guys, can we pull it up . There was a closeup of the club itself. Where you could see you can kind of see it there. A blown out window. The doors, still wide open. Here, the Police Presence that is still on the scene there amongst this expansive scene, several, several city blocks here, as we wait to try to understand exactly what happened. We know that the shooter is dead, as victor said. At least one shooter. Yes. We do not know if there were any other shooters. There were many witnesses saying they believed there had been more than one. But again, in a fluid situation, when things are happening so fast, as victor very beautifully characterized it, the fog of the moment, a lot of initial reports turn out to be inaccurate. It is also important to say that Orlando Police department has been only giving information through their twitter account. They have not been accepting phone calls. They have not been answering questioning there on the scene. So weve been watching their twitter account, where theyve been giving updates since this happened about 2 00. There have been maybe a dozen there. There is a new one there, christi, i know you have it up on your screen. It says anyone any information that you have could aid investigators in this case, theyre asking people who were at Pulse Night Club who might have been a witness, to come to the Orlando Police headquarters at 100 south huey avenue. Remember, part of the point here that might have added to some of the confusion with police trying to conduct this investigation is the fact that night club posted get out of the club and keep running. Keep running. When it happened at 2 00. There could be an awful lot of people out there that they need to find and thats the call from police right now, were a couple of minutes away from this presser. I want you to understand what youre looking at. This is video of people who were there inside the club, outside the club, during and after the shooting. Carrying people who need immediate medical attention to their cars. You saw there, to a pickup truck. One of the men there, christopher hanson, who is wearing the hat, one of our affiliating spoke with him. Youll see him here in just a moment. Spoke with him about what happened inside that club when those shots were fired. Lets watch that. Its just shocking. If you had to count how many shots do you think there were . Oh, more than 20 or 30. I mean, it was just one after another after another after another. It could have lasted a whole song. I mean, because after everybody was out, people were the shootings were still going and the cops from yelling, go, go, clear the area were like [ bleeping ]. So when i bent down to help this guy, its like are you kidding . Its like youre still watching yourself. And then you see people on the side of buildings. I jumped a couple of times. I wasnt sure if it was someone with a gun or someone hiding. Because you dont know. You dont know who is what, who is where. Youre just like, oh, man. Law enforcement analyst, Cedric Alexander with us now. One of the things you might be wondering as you hear these people talking about these repetitive shots over and over, and in the chaos, part of the problem, when you are in a night club, it is very loud. The music is pulsing. They couldnt identify immediately that these were shots being fired, or that this was something very real and dangerous happening. But it does make you wonder, most night clubs have some sort of security. Cedric alexander, how do you get a gun of that magnitude and we dont know what kind of gun it is, but something that has the capacity to shoot over and over and over, that many rounds. How do you get that it is not impossible to do. Most night clubs, particularly larger venues will have security outside. Theyre usually going to wand people or pat search them before they come into a club. But that does not preclude the fact that they still can carry a weapon inside. A variety of different ways that can happen. So i think until we know more about this case, who the shooter or shooters are involved, and what actually occurred this morning, it will become much clearer to us. It is not unusual, of course, for a firearm to get inside a night club. Lets pause here for just a moment. Announcer this is cnn breaking news. Top of the hour now. 7 00 a. M. Here in the east coast. 7 00 a. M. In orlando. Police are investigating what they call a mass casualty situation. At pulse Orlando Night Club there in the heart of the city. It happened about five hours ago. Youre looking at video that came in from facebook, as police fired shots in the direction of that night club engaging. We expect with someone there in that direction, Law Enforcement analysts tell us they likely had a target. We know from police that the shooter inside the night club is dead. Now, we do not know if that is the only shooter. Were waiting for a News Conference thats scheduled to start at any moment. We know that as soon as this happened, there was a tweet that came out from the night club, or rather a posting on their Facebook Page that said everyone run from pulse and keep running. Get out of pulse and keep running. Here is that post from facebook. And you know, were waiting for this News Conference here to report it, but so are the family members. The loved ones. Those who were in the club and left, possibly friends there, who got a call and they dont know where their loved one is, because there is no update on the numbers of those shot and killed. We know it is mass casualty. Where the people are. We heard from one mother who said she got a call from her daughter and her daughters friend that said please come get us. Theyre shooting. There has been a shooting. And then her daughter one of the girls told her she had been shot in the arm. When you hear Something Like that as a parent or family member, you want to go straight to the club. You cant, because obviously theyve cordoned it off. There are three nearby hospitals, were Arnold Palmer, winny palmer, all of which were on lockdown at one point. Weve heard the descriptions of the gurneys that even at this hour are still outside those hospitals that some doctors have been outside the hospitals. So it gives you a real sense of the desperation and the chaos, not just around the scene of this incident, but at the scene of these hospitals, where weve got these medical officials desperately trying to treat the people who have been hurt. We, again, when we talk about mass casualty, we do not know how many people were talking about. And thats what were waiting to hear. Were a couple of minutes out of the 7 00 hour here. We were supposed to hear from officials at 4 30, two and a half hours ago, the fact that we did not, cedric, the fact that we could not hear from them at that time, that speaks to the severity of the situation and what they were dealing with. I would conclude that it does. Here again, this is a very large scene. Very intense scene. It is all hands on deck. And before leadership there, Police Officials there make a statement, im quite sure they want to gather as much information as they can in order to give the public with a sense of accuracy, because this is probably going to be a little bit complicated, very convoluted of course. So were going to see here shortly. Let me tell you what we know about the response thus far. We know that there were bomb sniffing dogs at this club, also at the hospitals. There was an explosion that was heard several hours ago, but we have learned from Orlando Police through their twitter account that that was a controlled explosion, using likely what we saw there on the scene, one of those eods, bomb detonating robots, they can control the explosions. Do we have tom still with us . Im here. Okay, tom, let me come to you with this, our Law Enforcement analyst, former assistant director of the fbi. Were expecting the News Conference. It was supposed to start at 7 00. A couple of minutes late now. I want you to give us some insight to what we can expect. I want to temper expectations going into this. All questions will not be answered this soon after such a major event. Is that correct to assume that . Oh, absolutely. I think victor, theyre going to give us pretty much the bear minimum in terms of theyre not giving us something that will prove to be false later. How many shooter, if they can, how the shooter died, is itself inflicted. What happened in terms of the victims that were taken out of there, are there still people inside the club maybe that might be deceased. And theyre still in the process of trying to deal with that. How the crime scene is progressing. I dont think at this point theyre going to identify the shooter until they have a chance may not know the identity yet, but if they do, theyll want to be able to execute search warrants at that persons residence and not have the media get there first. Theyll withhold that information, and also notify the next of kin of the shooter and anybody else that may be deceased, if that turns out that we have multiple fatalitiefatal. We dont know that. At the minimum. Also, i hope the police will say to the family, possibly give them a number to call to try to find out if there is any information about their loved ones, you know, maybe have a central way of controlling that information for the family members of the victims. No doubt. You feel for the people who witnessed it and the trauma, but also for the families, and those who cant find their family members right now. Tom, would it be safe to assume in a night club, there would be surveillance cameras theyll be able to use . Well, hopefully, but it would be dark, possibly flashing lights going, and just so many people in close proximity that it may be difficult to get valuable information from those cameras if they have them. Yes, theyll be examining, if they have security cameras on the outside. You mentioned the difficulty of getting a long weapon, shoulder held weapon into there as an Assault Rifle, but again, a tremendous amount of damage can be done with handguns. So individuals could more easily conceal handguns and pull them out and start shooting and hurt a lot of people. I think, also, it struck me, when people said that the music was loud, they couldnt tell if there was actual gunshots or it was part of the music, that kind of told me that it might be handguns involved. That Assault Rifles, the caliber of bullet is much larger than a handgun, much more powerful, and it is hard for me to believe, even with loud club music that the sound of an Assault Rifle wouldnt just be a concussion going through that room. You would think it would be identifiable . Right. Well find out. Again, you know, in due time. What kind of weaponry to inflict these wounds. Not to be too gruesome. An Assault Rifle inflicts much more severe wounds. When you see people carrying people who appear to have been shot in the leg or arm, you know, they would be in much worse shape, i think, if they were actually hit from a bullet with an Assault Rifle. Thats speculation on my part, knowing the difference in bullet calibers that would be done. We appreciate your expertise on that. This night club falling into or sharing the classification that tom, you and i and cedric, all of us have discussed on this show after shootings at airports, restaurants and malls, soft target. Things that are very difficult to secure inside and outside. Im sure well have that conversation as we learn more about what exactly happened and any potential motive behind this shooting. But again, i want to make sure people know, were just minutes away potentially from this News Conference t was scheduled for 4 30 a. M. If youre joining us from outside the eastern time blown, that zone. It was pushed to 7 00 a. M. Were expecting to hear we got an update now. 7 15. Were a few minutes away from the News Conference, ormd Police Department, tweeting out some time ago that we will hear from sergeant wanda ford with the Police Department, but this is something now involving not only local Law Enforcement, but state and fbi as well. Fbi confirming they are on the scene. The mayor, buddy dyer, chief john mina from the orange Orlando Police department, and sheriff Jerry Demings will there be as well. Again, to temper expectations, all of the questions will not be answered, but for those loved ones standing outside for hours now, up to five hours, this will start to give them some clarity about what happened there and where they can find their loved ones. It makes you wonder, too. For some reason, i go back to the colorado theater shooting. When theyre saying mass casualties, we can only assume obviously that there are still people who are deceased inside that night club. Real quickly, we have about 30 seconds, cedric, how long before people would get word and they might be able to clear that scene and get these people back to their families . Thats a speculation i cannot make, because the sensitivity of this crime scene and the possibility of there being some real casualties there. I think were going to have to wait and see here in a few minutes. Well have a much better idea to draw some conclusions. I appreciate that. Weve talked about the fog of breaking news here and the initial reports. If youve been with us through this breaking news coverage, youve heard a lot of those initial reports coming from the scene and twitter, just second as way from getting the confirmation. What police know about what happened inside that club. Lets take this now as we are getting confirmation about what led to the mass casualty situation there at pulse orlando. Lets listen in. John harper with the fbi. Hell take a few questions afterwards, but then well continue to provide updates as the day goes on. Tonight, our community witnessed or experienced a very horrific crime. Many lives were lost and many more individuals were impacted by witnessing the crime. Many were saved, however, by the heroic efforts of the men and women of opd. The Orange County Sheriffs Office, Seminole County Sheriffs Office. We have great, great cooperation from the fbi, all the Law Enforcement agencies, Fire Departments from orlando, Seminole County and Orange County and all of the Hospital Personnel that have been working through the night. We are a strong, resilient community. Tonight, we had a crime that will have a lasting effect on our community. We need to stand strong. We need to be supportive of the victims and their families. Im going to ask chief mina to explain what happened. Good morning. So at approximately 0202 hours this morning, we had an officer working at Pulse Night Club who responded to shots fired. Our officer engaged in a gun battle with that suspect. The suspect at some point went back inside the club where more shots were fired. This did turn into a hostage situation. From there, obviously multiple officers from various agencies responded. S. W. A. T. Team responded. At approximately 0500 hours this morning, the decision was made to rescue hostages that were in there. Our swat Officers Exchanged gunfire. He he is dead. He appeared to be carrying an Assault Rifle and handgun and had some type of device on him. Thats what were doing right now, checking the area for th devices. There are multiple people dead inside. I dont want to give a number right now. There are multiple people are dead inside the night club. 42 people have been transferred to hospitals. I dont have an exact count. Our con dole lendolences go out families. Were going to continue to work with Law Enforcement on this investigation. It ill turn it over to the sheriff. Thank you, chief. While this certainly is a tragedy to our community, i will reiterate that our community is resilient and this is a time in which we all should come together. The Orange County Sheriffs Office responded along with the Orlando Police department to the initial incident. There were deputy sheriffs involved with the Orlando Police personnel on the initial entry, just after 2 00 a. M. This morning. In addition to that, members of my Hazardous Device Team responded, and have been engaged in helping to secure the scene as well. We have had as many as about 100 of my personnel who have been actively engaged in this incident. I will also reiterate that this is a collaborative effort between our federal, state and local Law Enforcement authorities. It the Central Florida Intelligence Exchange center has been activated, that is our intelligence sharing for this region. We will be working along with the fbi, as well as the other Law Enforcement agency as this investigation continues. Again, what i would say to our community is that if you are aware of any of the activities that may have led up to this horrific scene to share that information with your local Law Enforcement authorities. As we move forward, we will make every effort that we can to ensure that this Community Remains a safe and secure community. We have that commitment from all of the local Law Enforcement agencies. We have multiple Sheriffs Offices and Police Agencies who have committed to work to that endeavor. And if you see some suspicious type activity, our expectation is you Say Something about it. If there is anything that looks unusual, at this point this is an incident, as i see it, that we can certainly classify as a domestic terror incident. At this point i believe the next speaker is going to be the supervisor agent in charge of the regional florida Law Enforcement officer, officer danny banks. Thank you, sheriff. Ill reiterate a couple of things that were already said, but importantly, i know one of the most important questions for the state and even nationally is do we consider this an act of terrorism. Absolutely, we are investigating this from all parties perspective as an act of terrorism. Any time we have potentially dozens of victims in our communities, that i think we can qualify that as a terrorist activity. Whether thats a domestic terrorist or International One is something well get to the bottom of. Were glad to have the partnerships, particularly the fbi here. One of the important things were going to get to the bottom of is did we have any indicators before this event happened. Today we will have more information, im sure for the coming to all of you about who this individual is, was he a lone wolf. Does he have any associates. Those are certainly all of the things that will be looked into as part of our intelligence and investigative activities. The state of florida is a huge state. Certainly for a lot of different reasons, one of them tourism in our industry and businesses here, and we have no suggestion that there is any threat to either of those, either today or in the near future. But that certainly is a concern. Right now, it is important, the message we want to put out is we have no indication of other types of activities similar to last nights activity, either in the state of florida or any where else in the nation right now. Were putting every resource collective resource together to validate that statement, and to ensure the safety of the remainder of our citizens, not only through today, but the next weeks. As the sheriff said, i really want to reiterate the point. Our see something, Say Something campaign. It is valid, it works. We want to encourage people to use that. If you come up and you are aware of information that is concerning to you, it is concerning to us. If you are aware of information relative to people either conversations social media or actions of people in community that you believe could threaten the rest of us, please let Law Enforcement know. Use those tools to let Law Enforcement be aware of that information so we can act on it. Ill turnover the rest of the interview now to our assistant special agent in charge for the fbi orlando office, ron harper. Thank you, danny. Let me start by saying i offer the condolences to all the friends and family members that are victims to this senseless tragic act of violence this morning. Fbi stands shoulder to shoulder with everyone you see here to address this matter. We are not just looking at this from one perspective. I will tell you that every resource in the fbi will be brought to bear on this investigation. I will echo with what mr. Banks just said. It, at this particular time there is no reason to believe we have information to suggest there is any further threat to orlando or the surrounding area or any where else as it relates to this particular incident. I would caution everyone to be mindful that the fbi is known for slow methodical detailed informations. We will follow the facts. We will see where they lead us to. We will take them to the ultimate end. There is nothing we wont do to get to the bottom of this case. And we will be prepared to present any information we can, when we can and are able to present it to you. We would look forward to be completely transparent as possible. I will tell you that we here in the orlando region, especially with the fbi and partnerships, see something Say Something, if you see something and you Say Something, we will do something. So if you have some information, no matter how small you may think it may be, that would relate back to todays events, please share it with us. I would urge you to call 1800call fbi. Were conducting countless interviews, and youre going to see a huge presence from the fbi to resolve this matter. Thank you. I did want to add a few more things. There were at least nine officers that were involved in the shooting of the suspect. One of our officers was injured. It appears his kevlar helmet saved his life. Nine involved, one injured, but not seriously. It looked like the kevlar helmet saved his life. I think well take questions now. What do you know about the gunman . Were going to turn everything about the gunman over to the fbi. Multiple injuries, will you give us like ten, dozens . Weve heard the number 20. Yeah, were looking probably in the range of 20, but we dont want to give you an exact figure. Multiple people transported to the hospital. Unfortunately there are people were trying to clear that the Pulse Night Club of any devices. We did find a device on the suspect himself, and possibly his car, so were trying to clear all of that. Unfortunately there are people who died from gunshot wounds, maybe around 20, inside the night club. Can you give your timeline, once you were able to stop the suspect, i know you had some of the surviving victims being interviewed. Absolutely. So again, 0200 hour officer who was working extra duties, responds to shots fired. He and two other Officers Exchange gunfire with the suspect. This went into a hostage situation. So right about a little at 5 00 this morning, we made the decision to go and rescue. We were being contacted by people in the bathroom, nearby, at least 15 people that were in a separate area. And our biggest concern was future loss of life. We wanted to save those people and so we did an entry, and exchanged gunfire with the suspect. Again, after some explosive devices were used as well as our bear cat was used to get through the wall. And from there, we exchanged gunfire with the suspect, and he was dead at that scene. But officers did a great job, s. W. A. T. Team get a great job. At least 30 people who were saved during that rescue. Do you have any reason to think there is a connection to radical islamic terrorism . I would say it were looking into all angles right now. We do have suggestions that that individual may have leanings toward that particular ideology but we cant say definitively. What about the fact any indication it was an act against gays. From what we know so far we dont know that that had any impact. Not yet. You said about 42 were taken to the hospital. Approximately 20 dead inside. About 42 taken to three area hospitals, and approximately 20 dead inside the club. I dont want to give youen exact number. What ideology did you just refer to . The question was if it was tied to Islamic State activity, and were always looking for any tie to any mass shooting such as this. Chief, any relation to the shooting that was he saw on friday, because he was heavily armed as well, or no . Absolutely not. No indication that this was related to the christine grim me ca grimmie case. Right at the entrance, we believe. Its all part of the investigation. Adid the suspect shoot himsef or one of your officers. Our officer shot the suspect. Bomb threat right now. There were devices, unknown if theyre real or not. The Orange County is checking for devices now. Could you characterize the shooter, he just came here to randomly shoot at people, or was he organized and well prepared what he planned to do. It appears he was organized and well prepared. Your description of the shooter . I dont have the exact description right now. Is he local . He is not from this area. U. S. Citizen or cant comment on whether he is a u. S. Citizen it, because were trying to positively identify him as the suspect. What makes you think he could be linked to terrorism. Were looking at all leads right now. We dont leave any stone unturn zd were there any shots fired there was a report of shots fired near orc. There was some kind of disturbance to the people responding, but that was taken care of pretty quickly. No shots fired at ormc. No witness accounts of second shoots that we are aware of. Can you tell me about the initial incident, there was an officer that was at the club. Can you talk about that initial interaction between your officer and the officer was working extra duty in full uniform at the night club at about 0200 hours. He responded to gunfire. At that point engaged in a gun battle with the suspect. Unknown if he hit the suspect at that time. Two other officers were nearby, and also engaged the suspect as well. And like i said, we dont know if he was hit during that exchange. That turned i a hostage situation, and multiple agencies responded. Do you have any indication of whether the gunman continued to shoot people inside after he went back in the second time . Thats all part of the investigation. How many hostages were there . Unknown it. We had indications there were approximately 320 people total in the club, when it was opened tonight. Like i said, we rescued about 30 people. About 42 people were transported to area hospitals. Can you take us through one more time how you guys move in that type of situation. Absolutely. So we were getting contacted by multiple people from with inside the club who were alive in a separate part of the club. So we made the decision to do an explosive entry on the outside of the club to get to those people. We also used the Armored Vehicle to help defeat that wall, and from there, we were able to rescue people and our s. W. A. T. Team at that time encountered the suspect. Somewhere in that area, near one of the doorway entrances and shot and killed him. That was the noise we heard . The noise you heard when you were out here were two distractionry devices. With the wall opened . Many times s. W. A. T. Team members use distractionry devices to gain that advantage. Do you know what the condition is of the hospitalized right now, critical . All being treated for gunshot wounds. I cant give the exact conditions. What about the device . I know you said that there was a possible bomb threat. Were you at all concerned about shooting someone who possibly had a bomb . Well, our officers, swat officers are highly trained for that situation, but we take that all into account. Thank you. Chief, there are a number of agencies here now. What is the next step for the agencies going forward. Well Work Together and investigate this from start to finish the fbi will be the lead Investigative Agency for this incident, Florida Department of Law Enforcement will assist with the officer involved shooting portion of the case. You said device several times. Can we say a bomb . No, we just know that he had something on him that well say suspicious device it. Were trying to verify that. Well plan for the next update at 9 30. Well keep you updated. Here . Yes, right here. Thank you. All right, the headline here coming from local, state and federal officials, approximately 20 dead, and 42 injured here at this shooting at pulse orlando. The night club in orlando, florida. And this has been classified as a terror incident. The investigation still into if this is domestic terror if there is some foreign nexus here as well. But again, a terror incident, ending here with approximately 20 dead, and more than 40 injured at local hospitals. The fact that it was indeed, he just clarified, a hostage situation at one point. Again, they got the call, he said at 2 00 a. M. When a Police Officer was on duty at that night club or was actually off duty, was doing extra work, security outside the night club, engaged with the shooter, the shooter made it inside the night club, and again, as he says, killed about 20 people, but they were able to save, he says, about 30, when they engaged in a shootout with the suspect at 5 00 a. M. This morning, in order to get to those people who he said, and it is very compelling to understand, were locked in the bathroom, that were calling police that were telling them what was happening in those moments. Three hours inside, between the start of the shooting and until authorities made the call to go in at 5 00 a. M. Also, we do not know much about this shooter. We do know, confirmed from Law Enforcement there, that he was not someone from the area. So he was not a local man. But they found on him a handgun, an Assault Rifle, and some type of suspicious device. Theyre also searching his car and home as well for suspicious devices and checking the vicinity, the area for any other devices. Weve got with us two Law Enforcement analysts. We have with us in studio Cedric Alexander, and we have on the phone as well, former fbi assistant director, tom fuentes. Tom, are you still on the phone . Yes, i am. Tom, what stands out to you as were getting the moving into hour five, hour six of this investigation . Whats been classified as a terror incident. Well, i think just as you heard, the tremendous cooperation from federal, state, local authorities there, trying to Work Together on this and determine what happened and why it happened, if they can figure out the motive of it. But based on just the sheer number of casualties and the fact that this person came so heavily armed indicated to the police and to the fbi right away that it was a terrorist attack. Theyll do the background on the individual, and see what he, you know, what type of ideology he may have or just a lone wolf, and they cant determine an ideology, but the act itself constitutes at the minimum, domestic terrorism, and if they find any kind of international inspirations, such as isis, then it would be classified as international terrorism. But for now, its terrorism, one way or the other, and theyre going to go forward with doing as much work as it takes to try to find out what caused this, and why the individual decided to do the act he did. Andt tom, as he said, this ws organized, well prepared. Now that they have classified it as an act of terrorism, whether domestic or otherwise, how does it drive the investigation . Well, in a way, it doesnt. You know, you have everybody cooperating with each other, even if this was not classified as terrorism, which gives the fbi, you know, lead jurisdiction, but even if it wasnt, they would work as diligently together, and they would cover the national and international leads in any event. So it really, it is not going to make a big difference in terms of the level of cooperation. Theyre all going to cooperate to the fullest extent and be as diligent as possible, and you know, covering this investigation. Some of those victims, still inside the night club. Now, five and a half hours after the shooting began. You heard from the fbi agent there locally, the special agent in charge, who said that the fmt bi notably is methodical, and this scene will be, and i remember from covering similar scenes, will be cordoned off for days to collect information that could lead them to find a motive in this shooting. Cedric, ill ask you the same question. What stands out . First of all, my heart and prayers goes out to those who loved their lives there tonight, those who were injured. We were hoping it would not be this, and but unfortunately, thats what weve heard thus far. But clearly, what stands out to me is the challenge that the Orlando Police department had. You had an off duty officer that exchanged gunfire, they had identified a target. There was exchange of gunfire. That subsequently, it appears, led to a hostage type situation and local authority there made a very courageous decision, we must go in and challenge the target and they did. They neutralize the target, saved a number of lives that could have been lost, or more, so just very courageous work on the part of Law Enforcement there in that community. And the community in the stit ze citizens themselves who took part in trying to get people Emergency Care. The device, they wouldnt talk about what kind of devis, but we candi discern, the bomb squad that was there, the s. W. A. T. Team, they said on his person. Again, here is one of those, the bomb robots there, it is quipped with a camera, the s. W. A. T. Team outside the night club. But there was a bomb on his person, but they also seemed to indicate that happens they thought there might be more. Absolutely you want to take precaution in terms of a situation like this, because if we look back historically over these types of events that have occurred, where there may have been an indication an explosive device, you want to approach it carefully. And secure that device as well so no further injury is inflicted. Authorities also knocked down some of the rumors that were floating around. Orlando police, they did not give an early statement on much of the details, or many of the details until we saw this just about ten minutes ago. But there were early reports that there was more than one shooter. They say there are no witness accounts of a second shooter. There were claims that there were shots fired near the orlando Regional Medical center. We heard from the leader for the department of Law Enforcement that there were no shots fired near ormc. Questions about this is a gay night club, pulse orlando. No indication, we heard from the fbi special agent ron harper there, there is no indication that antigay views led to this shooting, but they are of course looking for a motive. So again, in the fog of breaking news early on, many of those were, those ideas, those theories, were floating about. Law enforcement knocked down a few of those. There are still many questions to answer, and that that will be moving forward over the next few hours. Tom, what do the next few hours in this location, locally what, does that look like . Well, i think it is going to be the attempt to start working on the crime scene there. Thats a difficult thing. If they have victims that are dead inside that facility, they may still be there, and they may be there for a long time. I know the aurora, colorado shooting, several of the victims were on the floor for Something Like 18 hours, and at the sandy hook shooting, we had victims that were in that school more than 24 hours. So it is a very, very difficult, methodical process that they will go through processing the crime scene, and you know, trying to recover all of the bullet casings, and find every bullet hole inside that place as well as recover the bullets from the individuals, and the reason for that will verify that there wasnt another shooter in there. That this was the one and only shooter, and that they dont have additional handguns that havent been recovered at the scene that were fired or other guns that were fired that would indicate that somebody else shot while weapon inside there and actually got away. So thats part of the investigation too to actually verify that there is just the one and only shooter that they have at the scene. You know, at the present time. So in the beginning, that will be the most difficult part right now is to work the crime scene of the inside of that club. Well, Orlando Police just tweeting one minute ago, if you have any information, call the fbi hotline, 1800call fbi. Thats the same number they referred to in the press conference as well. I have to, as i look ahead and think of the job ahead of them, tom, how do you move forward when you are trying to get information from people who were told to run from the scene, and to keep running as it was posted on the Pulse Night Club website, as it was happening . How often do people really show at the Police Department and how do you whittle there, how do you filter out the people there that have valid information and people who might not . Well, theyll have to, you know, try to verify that when people come in, they actually were witnesses, theyre not just coming in to try to get attention, but in fact, have valuable information. From my experience, people will come back, even though the original message from the club was run and keep running, they will come back and help in this investigation. You know, you have to believe that everybody that was in that club and went through this trauma will want to provide assistance to the police, to the fbi, to get this, you know, to be solved, to have all of the information obtained that theyre going to need. Especially, as i mentioned earlier, to verify there wasnt a shooter that got away. That the one and only shooter is the only person responsible. And you know, and is killed at the scene. You have to wonder what happened in those three hours, the three hours some people were locked in the bathroom. Did the suspect say anything, did he say anything that might indicate a motive or was it just a lot of noise and negotiation as police were trying to determine what to do next. Well, it certainly could have been a period of negotiation that was taking place there. We dont know. It certainly is too early to tell. But clearly, the police there were very methodical in their approach, and they thought this out very carefully as well too. So when you think in terms of time, it is not unusual in a hostage situation that it goes much longer. But in this particular case, based on whatever circumstances intelligence information they have been working with, and im not going to secondguess them there, they made a decision at that time to go in and confront that threat and which tells you they had they had an inkling he was not going to back down. Youve seen enough of this. Help us understand, cedric, the 30 plus people inside there, they saved. What are they going to need most . Theyre probably going to need counseling. This is truly a very not just a physical effects that people have suffered there tonight, but it is also the psychological trauma that they had to endure to go through that particular incident. And that oftentimes leads to other types of issues, such as ptsd. Because youre talking about an event, youre talking about an event that happens beyond the realm of normalcy, and when that occurs, it can create for many people a situation where they really have to secure some type of counseling. But lets not dismiss how challenging also this was for the Police Officers, who had to engage this threat. Who had to save lives and put their lives at risk too. You heard the chief say it. One of his officers was injured, and the fact that it could have on him and also on his or her comrades as well. The good news, there was this kevlar helmet that saved his life, an eye injury if i remember correctly, but his life was saved. He was one of the nine officers who engaged in this shootout with the suspect. Were going to get to sound in just a moment. Tom, i want to come back to you. I keep thinking about the family whose have been waiting outside for hours to get some confirmation about their children, their brothers and sisters, their friends and loved ones. When they hear the number of approximately 20 dead, those fears, those concerns are heightened, 42 injured, taken to local hospitals. There is no way to know exactly when the names will be released or when next of kin will be notified. But walk us through the steps that would allow police to start to release those names. What will they be doing over the next few hours to get them to a point where they can tell the families that your son or daughter is or is not in that number . Well, first of all, the police will have to find out for themselves who the people are, and situations like this, you know, if they have Deceased Club members still in the club, still on the floor there, they may have not been identified yet. So as they begin the Crime Scene Investigation and try to remove identification from the victims that are in there and try to verify that, a the some point in the next few hours, that is how theyll go about trying to identify people and trying to get ahold of their family members, next of kin, to try to verify that that is who they have. You know, in the club itself, and of course, at the hospitals where people were taken. If i could add one more thing to the earlier point, you know. The chief made a very, very courageous decision to go ahead and attempt that hostage rescue. Having been an on scene commander, this situation is extremely dangerous for the hostages to go ahead and attempt that rescue is endangering them. You probably would have had a lot of secondguessing if it had gone badly, if a number of hostages had been shot and killed. People would be criticizing that decision. However, if he did nothing, and it turned out that many people were alive in that club and during the delay of this hostage taker holding the police at bay, you could have people bleed to death, lying on the floor of that club if it lasted four hours and hours and hours. So i think that this chief should be commended for making an extremely brave decision that turned out in saving the 30 peoples lives but may have saved a number of wounded people as well. Well find out later. Law enforcement, tom, praising the Police Department and the police chief in this decision. Echoing what Cedric Alexander, sitting here at the desk in atlanta. Lets listen to him, as he talked in this press conference, just a little bit ago about the number of victims there are. Were looking probably in the range of 20, but we dont want to give you an exact figure. Number of people transported to the hospital. A number of people trying to clear that Pulse Night Club of any devices. We did find a device on the suspect himself. And possibly his car. So were trying to clear all that. Unfortunately, there are people who have succombed to gunshot wounds, approximately 20 inside the night club. Can you go into your timeline, once you were able to stop a suspect and get in there . I know that you had some of the surviving victims being interviewed. Absolutely. So at 0200, our officer who was working extra duty there responds to the shots fired. He and then two other Officers Exchanged gunfire with the suspect. This developed into a hostage situation. So right about a little after 5 00 this morning, we made the decision to go in and rescue. We were being contacted by people in the bathroom, 15 people in a separate area, and our biggest concern was future loss of life. We wanted to save those people. So we did an entry and exchanged gunfire with the suspect. Again, after some explosive devices were used as well as our bearcat was used to get through the wall. And from there, we exchanged gunfire with the suspect, and he was dead at that scene. But officers did a great job s. W. A. T. Team did a great job. At least 30 people who were saved during that rescue. All right, again, these are some of the live pictures coming to us as the sun has come up now on this scene, where at 2 00 this morning, as i reset this for you, at 2 00 this morning, a shooting at the Pulse Night Club there on south orange in orlando. And what youre looking at there, some video of not only Police Officers, but citizens, who were helping get people down the street to a nearby hospital. It was nothing short of absolute chaos. As this gunman got into the Pulse Night Club there, the Pulse Night Club even on their Facebook Page put out a notice saying get out of the club, and keep running. And it was there were so many obviously very hysterical moments there, as people were trying to get out of that club, as people were running, people who were shot we are getting wor word now from the press conference that the suspect is dead. He was armed with an assault type rifle, a handgun, and had a device of some sort on his person. One of the things that tom fuentes as well as Cedric Alexander, who are both with us here, both have been praising the police chief and the Police Departments work in this case, because it was three hours later, after the shooting started, that they made the decision to go in and rescue the hostages that they knew were there. They knew the hostages were there, because they were communicating with people who were inside the bathroom there at Pulse Night Club. They had barricaded itself it seems. For whatever reason, the police chief and Police Department, along with the state and local authorities that were with them at that time, decided this is the route that we need to take. Weve seen some of that gunfire. There was somebody that posted it on their Facebook Page as it was happening. We believe that to be that moment, at 5 00, three hours after this started, Cedric Alexander, you both keep making the point of how brave it was for them to make that decision. When youre in a situation like this, with hostages, with the gunman, at what point do you know it at what point do you know if the only option you have to go in and try to get the hostages in the way they did . Theres two variables that come into play, one, your training, and your experience, and if youve been doing this job for a while and youve been involved in those types of situations, and i certainly have over the years, like many other chiefs across this country, we know when its time, but we also have to remember that each situation is very different, and none of them are ever the same, no matter how much you rehearse a variety of different scenarios. You always go back to your training and to the experience and to the circumstances that youre in, in that particular moment in time. And here, very clearly, Law Enforcement leadership there, both the chief and the sheriff, decided that a decision needed to be made. They combined their forces and they went in, and they neutralized that target, so that others lives could be saved and make an attempt to rescue those that may have been injured. 30 people we know were saved. Tom fuentes, what would you say to the families right now who are waiting to hear from loved ones, who are waiting to hear whether the person that they know to have been in that nightclub is at a hospital or if theyre one of the 20some people that the police chief said, sadly, have passed away and are still in that nightclub at this hour . Well, our hearts definitely go out to those family members because it could be a very long day and even overnight before they find out definitively where their loved ones at, and i think all they can really do for now is make sure the police know how to get a hold of them immediately. Make sure that their Contact Information is available, that theyve checked with the hospitals, and with the police, and can be notified as soon as possibly can be done. One of the headlines that came from this press conference that was supposed to start by 4 0 this morning but because of the situation and the way things were breaking down it didnt happen until half an hour ago, the authorities there have characterized this as an act of terrorism they do not know if its domestic or international, if theres something more involved here but they have clarified it as an act of terrorism. Tom we know state, local and federal authorities are working together but when you add that moniker to it, when you title it as such, an act of terrorism, how does that drive what happens next . Well, it just means as the chief of police himself mentioned that the fbi will run the case and everyone will fully cooperate, but the fbi will ensure that all leads are covered, including not just in the area of orlando and what happened at that club, but additionally as they identify who this shooter may know, friends, relatives, colleagues, you know, and track them down, but the leads in this case could end up being national and or international. We dont know if the shooter had a military background and may have been in different parts of the world at times, maybe from another country. We just dont know anything about the shooter yet. We only know that its not a local orlando resident, so you know, that will drive a lot of this investigation of how much has to be done on a nationwide basis or an international basis, in addition to doing the crime scene work and all of the forensic work that needs to be done in orlando right now. Tom, we know the police said this suspect is not from this area, that this was organized, this was wellprepared. This may be an unorthodox question but do we know, again we know its an act of terrorism, we do not know any affiliation of this person but do we know of, is there a gauge of terror cells in florida, and how confident are you in the intelligence knowledge of terror cells here in the u. S. And in this area specifically . Well, we know there are hate groups. On the domestic side, white supremacist groups, other hate groups who might be antigay or ant antiother minorities in almost every major state of the union, so theyre everywhere, and the fbi works closely with the local Police Intelligence agencies, Intelligence Units to try to keep a handle on how many of them there are and who may be involved in them. We just saw that with the dylan ruth shooting in charleston, what his affiliations turned out to be in terms of white hate, but also we dont know yet if the individual might have been inspired or radicalized through other websites from International Terrorist groups, so that will all be part of the investigation, but unfortunately, terrorist groups are everywhere. We have International Terrorist cells. We have isis. Fbi conducting isis investigations in every state in the United States, all 50 states, but then also domestic terrorism investigations, and probably about 30 or 35 states involving these kind of supremacist hate groups that are of a domestic or local United States origin, so theres no shortage of these type of groups and ideologies out there. We dont know which one, if any, this particular shooter, you know, aspired to, but thats going to be a huge part of the investigation is trying to determine who might have inspired this person to do this. Tom fuentes and sedrick alexander, local Law Enforcement analysts who are sticking with us throughout the morning as we cover this breaking news, and the situation that is still unfolding there on the streets of orlando. At least 20 people dead inside that nightclub still at this hour, almost six hours after the shooting started at 2 00 a. M. This morning. The investigation continues. People still at hospitals. Well be back in just a moment. Do stay close. avo ive always been a dog person. My name is barbara and i make dog chow natural in davenport, iowa. Now that i work there and see all of the care and the ingredients that go into it. I value the food even more. I feed yoshi dog chow natural because theres no artificial colors, preservatives and its made with real chicken. Hes got so much energy. His coat is so shiny. And he just seems over all happier. Im so proud to make dog chow natural in davenport, iowa. When they thought they should westart saving for retirement. 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You are seeing some of the video there, where we have authorities, police, people from police, state