some connection between the gunman and the orlando mass shooting and isis. that shooting now stands as the worst, the deadliest in modern u.s. history. in washington. so many families still waiting for word f their loved ones are among the 50 people killed or 53 others still hospitalized. many in critical condition at this hour. the white house says president obama will give a statement later this afternoon in this hour. you'll see that here on fox. the gunman has been identified as 29-year-old omar mateen. investigators are now combing through every aspect of mateen's life. he was killed in that gun fight with s.w.a.t. response team on the site. joining us now, florida governor rick scott. he's declared a state of emergency for orange county. and the governor is on scene now in orlando. he joins us live. governor, first, your thoughts on this horrific day. >> well, brett, i'm just a few blocks away. i'm at the command center from the nightclub. this is clearly an act of terror. it's sadness. it's, you know, devastation. you just can't imagine this happening in our country and our state. it's a attack on all of us. and i think about these families that have lost their loved ones, that are still waiting to hear if it was their loved ones. the individuals that are injured, and we don't know how bad those injuries are, so, please pray for every one of them. we all have families. i have daughters and grandsons. thank god it wasn't them. but i hope this never happens in our country again. >> governor, there are some people out there who are obviously devastated by the news of this and mourning and offering condolences to the families, but they're frustrated by the nuance that comes out about whether this was a hate crime or terrorist attack as we get more information about this particular shooter's ties to isis or his pledge to isis. obviously, radical islam doesn't have any tolerance for homosexuals. so, it could be both a hate crime and a terrorist attack, inspired by a radical group, isn't that true? >> well, look, we'll get more details. as the day unfolds, as people get more information about this. our law enforcement is doing a good job. there's great coordination between the city, the county, the state and the federal agencies to make sure we find out exactly what happens here. i think about those agents, those police officers who had to walk in, not knowing what this mass shooter was going to do. what was going to happen. so, i'm very, very, very appreciative of all our law enforcement. we'll get more details as this goes on. what we'll have to learn from this is what do we do going forward to make sure this never happens anywhere in our country again. >> you know, governor, we are an open society. you talked about it at your press conference that you're going to stop and you can to stop something like this from happening again. it's tough to do. they only have to be right once. >> right. it's very hard. you know, florida is a great melting pot. we have 200 languages spoken in our state, people live here from all over the world. you know, we really pride ourselves on being an inclusive state. all of us, us as individuals have to stay responsibility. i know we have great law enforcement, but right now pray for everybody that was impacted and pray for our law enforcement, that they can find the answers. that's exactly what happens. i can tell you in florida, if anybody thinks about committing an act of terror, our law enforcement will show up, our justice will be swift and penalties will be very severe in our state. >> governor scott, our condolences for you and your state as you deal with this tragedy. thank you for coming on. >> thanks. we know omar mateen was a 29-year-old muslim from port st. lucie, florida, who had previously worked as a security guard. he was an american citizen, born to afghan parents. he's from new york. we're getting more information. chief intelligence corespondent has been learning more about mateen. what can you tell us? >> thank you. within the last hour i've had a series of conversations which have really reinforced a handful of points. one is that mateen was known to the fbi as recently as 2013 and that a file or folder, if you will, was opened on him. this is where the information seems to diverge. one of our contacts told us the file was open because of his contacts with extremist. the other said it was unrelated to terrorism. the bottom line is this is an individual known to the fbi. second, what was really reinforced to us is that this is being investigated as an act of terrorism, but more specifically, one that was inspired by a foreign terrorist organization. there's what's called a social media scrub going on with his profiles on the web. i was told that he had a myspace page and a facebook page. both of them are now down, which is typical in these situations. but not a lot jumped out at those sites about him having radical ties. >> so, like we saw in the early stages of san bernardino, where eventually they got to inspired by isis. it seems like this was, perhaps, more cut and dry at the beginning. >> uh-huh. they've moved to the inspired by a foreign terrorist group much more quickly than we've seen in previous cases. that says to me it's driven by data, most likely social media data or some kind of phone communication that he was having. as you opened your show, we heard from adam schiff, who has been briefed already on the intelligence committee, who said he had pledged allegiance to isis. i would tell you based on one of our counterterrorism contacts who tracks isis and al qaeda social media, that within an hour of the siege taking place, that a very senior al qaeda account on telegram began rejoicing in the siege. the timing was a little unusual because this -- i don't want to say shows knowledge, but it was very close to the inception of the attack. and then the isis leadership accounts began taking over the hashtags for the pulse, which is another think we see. not a claim of responsibility, but -- >> hashtag to the pulse, the nightclub -- >> yeah. >> your point is very much taken because they've moved inspired by a foreign organization very quickly. in my experience, it melz me that is data driven. >> there was a web threat tied to isis, specifically mentioning florida just three days ago. some of these things, you know, they go off and they make threats and nobody pays attention to them. but when something happens in a state where they mention, maybe they go back and look -- >> i'd be a little cautious on that at this point because there's been almost a rolling series of threats from isis targeting ordinary americans. they began with the military, then they moved to intelligence and government officials. and in the last six months, they've really moved to ordinary americans. it's a little tempting to look at that kill list and, yeah, i wouldn't make that at this point. >> okay. we'll follow it. head back for breaking details. catherine, thank you. more team coverage ahead. fox news correspondent anita vogel coming up with new details on the investigation into omar mateen as this tragic day continues, a day in which the violence began to unfold at 2:00 in the morning eastern time at the pulse nightclub. peter doocy, fox news correspondent is on the scene in orlando with the latest on that. peter? >> reporter: brett, we're as close as authorities will let us get to pulse nightclub. it's about a block and a half behind us. and then halfway from here to pulse there is a command center. governor scott was just talking about what's going on inside of there. the best information we have from authorities who have been very forthcoming to a point about what exactly happened is that at 2:02 last night, the suspect who had driven up in his van from an area about an hour and a half away parked his van right in front of pulse and then engaged a police officer who was doing security there in some kind of a fire fight. at that point, after the first rounds were exchanged, the suspect went back into pulse. a number of people did manage to escape. but he held 30 hostages for three hours. we do not know exactly what was happening inside at the time. we have not heard from any of the hostages yet. we have not heard very much in terms of specifics about what happened between 2:00 and 5:00, which is when the s.w.a.t. team finally decided they had to go in to try to rescue those hostages. they went in. they did rescue 30 people. they did kill this suspect. and in the process, one member of the nine-person s.w.a.t. team was shot in his helmet. he suffered a minor injury. he is expected to be okay. the photo, though, of the helmet is a dramatic shot. it shows you how close of a call it was for him. and it took about 5 1/2, 6 hours for authorities to clear the inside of pulse. they knew that the suspect had a rifle, an ar-15-style rifle, a handgun and some sort of a device. but they did not know exactly what kind of a device it was or if there were any other devices for several hours. that is why there was such an inconsistent victim count in the beginning. first thing this morning, 7:00, authorities told us there were about 20 people dead. and we now know that's because law enforcement officers, that is all they could see from outside. it wasn't safe to go inside. three hours past, they went in, cleared the spot and then they told us 50. i can tell you that when the casualty count, 50 victims inside, was announced, reporters and photographers gasped. it was a dramatic increase from the earlier figure. we just hope it doesn't get-g up any more. >> peter, great job down there, starting at the beginning of the day, the early news conferences. we'll head back for any breaking details. thank you. we're awaiting a statement from president obama from the white house briefing room. at the white house regarding the shooting. he's expected to deliver those remarks at 1:30 p.m. eastern time. we will, of course, bring that to you live as soon as it happens. kristin fisher is standing by outside on the north lawn and joins us now with the latest. oh, she's inside, i'm told. >> reporter: that's right, brett. this is the 21st mass shooting since president obama took office. he will address the nation in about 20 minutes from this podium right inside the white house briefing room. the big question is going to be, how much of a connection does this president make between the shooting in orlando and radical islamic terrorism or violent extremism, as this president likes to call it. president obama was actually briefed this morning by his assistant to homeland security and counterterrorism, lisa monaco. the white house released a statement, in part, our thoughts and prayers are with the family and loved ones of the victims. the president asked to receive regular updates as fbi and other officials work with orlando police to gather more information and direct the federal government provide any assistance necessary to pursue the investigation and support the community. now, the location of this shooting also holds a special significance for this white house. this happened at one of the biggest gay nightclubs in orlando. this president has been a huge champion for the ga, leay, lesb and transgender community. he repealed don't ask, don't tell. it will be interesting if he addresses that angle when he speaks at 1:30, about 15 minutes away. the vice president has been briefed. he was actually expected to be traveling to florida this afternoon for a prescheduled private fund-raiser with debbie wasserman schultz, chairmanwoman for the democratic national committee. he has canceled. so has homeland security johnson. he was supposed to be heading to china, but he, too, has canceled. >> kristin fisher in a loud white house briefing room. good job getting through that. we're getting reaction from presidential candidates to the shooting. donald trump tweeted out this just moments ago. horrific incident in florida. praying for all the victims and their families. when will this stop? when will we get tough, smart and vigilant? hillary clinton offering her condolences. woke up to hear the devastating news from florida as we wait for more information, my thoughts are with those affected by this horrific act. and bernie sanders also tweeting, it's horrific. it's unthinkable. social media all over the place today. and many tweeting in to me saying, it isn't a tragedy. it's war. clearly as we get motivation behind this attack, it will shift and how it's talked about, but it is a tragedy for the families, obviously, who have lost loved ones in orlando. this attack shifts focus from terror abroad to terror here at home, perhaps. and what steps the u.s. government needs to take to keep citizens secure. senator fleshman from chattanooga joins us now. five died in that attack. also tragic, but also tied, we believe, to somebody who was inspired. >> clearly. the chattanooga attack was terrorism. it was an american citizen who was radicalized and caused tremendous harm in my hometown of chattanooga. it was horrible. my thoughts and prayers go out to orlando, to florida. this is a sad day for all of america. this shows the need, brett, for us to combat head on isis. we have got to defeat radical islamic terrorism right here in the united states. as you know, i have a bill that does that. >> let's just talk about that briefly. obviously, the focus about isis has been taking the fight to isis fighters in iraq and syria and all over. your bill deals with fighting here at home. explain that. >> absolutely. for too long these animals, radical islamic terrorists have tried to inspire americans. 250 americans apply to their propaganda to go and be jihadists. we have to stop that right here within our borders. we're doing a good job on foreign soil. the state department combats terrorism and beats these radical islamists on their own turf over there. but in this country, there's a great deficiency. the propaganda that is spewed by radical islamists is reaching american citizens. we've seen it today. we saw it in chattanooga. it's got to be stopped. what my bill does, plain and simple, it directs homeland security to basically use testimonials from former radical islamic terrorists who have become disaffected. so when islamic terrorists try to reach american sit zerngs these people will stand up and say, isis is bad. isis is intolerable. you shouldn't join it. it's been too long. this is an important tool in the fight against isis. it passed the house with overwhelming majority. it should have been unanimous, but we're hoping the senate picks it up soon. we indicate -- we got indications that the white house will sign this bill. >> and your hope is that by doing that, it is another tool in the arsenal that the u.s. government uses against isis? >> absolutely. well stated. we have got to commit our resources as americans to fight and combat radical islamic terrorism. we cannot allow this to happen like it did in chattanooga, san bernardino, orlando. this cannot be allowed in america. >> congressman, when you hear authorities kind of cautious about the semantics here and very, you know, very cautious about whether it's a hate crime or whether this guy was inspired by or directed by isis. what goes through your mind? >> it outrages me. the actions and rhetoric of isil and islamic terrorists is outrageous. they're hurting and killing americans. it's time to do away with euphemisms. the american people deserve straight talk. we have to take the fight right to isis and we've got to beat them here. we've got to beat them abroad. it's time to be correct, not politically correct. >> congressman, thank you for your time. >> thank you. much more ahead as we continue our live coverage of the mass shooting in orlando, including a breakdown of exactly what we know about this sgunman. keep it here on fox news channel. >> it was an idealogically motivated attack. right now we don't have any direct information he was associated with any particular group. but it does seem that it's no coincidence the attack took place where it did and when it did. constipated? 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[announcer] working together, we can help your business thrive. wells fargo. together we'll go far. this attack in orlando with the death toll expected to rise higher than the current of s tht mass murder in modern history. there have been three mass shootings since 1991 where the death tolls reached 20 or higher. 1990, killeen, texas, killing 23 people. in 2007 a student open fire at virginia tech, killing 32. and adam lanza at sandy hook killing 27 children. the difference here is this is being called a terrorist attack. we're getting new information about all of the ties to isis, whether it was inspired or directed by a terrorist organization. and all of the information about omar mateen, 29-year-old from port st. lucie. our coverage of this event continues after a break as we await remarks from president obama about the shooting. the nightclub has been cleared of any danger, but hours later, some bodies still remain inside. >> i love you. you didn't die in vein, but i love you. 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alert. as we heard earlier from florida governor bill nelson, his intelligence sources saying there does appear to be a connection between the suspect and radical islamism. we heard from adam schiff that he pledged allegiance to isis. investigators will be learning much more in the days and hours ahead as they dig through omar mateen's personal papers and social media accounts. joining us now, chief intelligence correspondent, catherine, and sebastien gorka, author of "defeating jihad." we are awaiting the president, we should point out, from the white house, and when he comes in, we'll bring in our affiliates and bring that to you here as you look live at the white house. we were talking earlier about this jump to getting all the facts before you can say definitively that this is tied to isis, but you have a number of lawmakers now out, saying that there is this connection, direct connection. it seems like it's firming up a bit more. >> it does. there was one quote from the gunman who sounded like he was affirming his allegiance to isis. it seems pretty straightforward. indeed, ducking it by talking about radical extremism or violent extremism is extremely harmful. you can't fight something effectively that you can't talk about. and the president has pushed this notion of political correctness in talking about these issues now for some years. and it's doing damage. we really have to be clear about what we're doing. these are radical muslim extr e extremis extremists, jihadis, if you want to call them that, but they are not just people who go violent for some reason. >> we've heard the president in these circumstances before, not with this much out, perhaps, before getting to his statement on a mass shooting, but this has been characterized by authorities on the ground as a terrorist attack. what do you look for with the president, what he might say at the white house today, sebastien? >> well, i'm hoping he won't say what he usually says for the last 7 1/2 years, which is this is something that isn't linked to jihad, not linked to islam, the focus on weapons, the focus on this concept of lone wolf terrorism. lone wolf terrorism is a concept designed to make americans stupid. there is no such thing. whether it's the chattanooga shooter, whether it's the ft. hood killer, wlits the san bernardino killers or this individual. they are all linked. they are linked by the ideology of global jihadism. i hope that this catastrophic event will be the event that finally makes the white house understand that it is no longer a time for political correctness. and they talk about the threat to all americans. >> we have seen though, catherine, this president goes out of his way to make sure that the country understands it's not a war against islam. that it is -- that the vast majority of islamic people are peaceful. he says that almost every time there is some connection here. do you expect that to be the message again today? >> well, what is striking to me this morning is that we're just a few hours into the investigation and already the guidance we're being given very correctly is th directly is that it's being terrorism, an act of terrorism inspired by foreign group. we heard that the suspect mreejed allegiance to isis prior to the shooting. now we have reporting there was apparently a 911 call by the suspect where he pledged allegiance to omar al baghdadi. we are working to krek on that. given the information publicly, i think we'll see the president at least in his statement reflect some of what's being said by law enforcement to reporters at this very early stage. >> where does it go from this, this investigation? when i talked to intel experts before, the main concern is to try to connect the dots, to try to see if there was another attack that's imminent or a threat that is coming. >> well, if you connect the dots, you need numbers on the dots or you just get random behavior. you've got to have something that is clearly pointed in the direction of helping us look ahead. we're fighting the last war. the military often does that in many societies, is get really ready to fight the last war. that's kind of what we're doing here. we've got to get out ahead of the terrorists. and figure out how to keep them from doing what they're doing. and not just rock back and wring our hands and maybe catch them and usually kill them after they do something. >> this is not an easy task. there are a lot of people out there who fit maybe a list of, you know, signing up for twitter on isis and they follow some isis leader as far as looking on something online. but then whittling that down to somebody who actually is going to move on a terrorist attack, like we're seeing here, potentially, that's a challenge for law enforcement. that's a big number. >> it's a big challenge, but we have some amazing people. the fbi has a unit called ct9 here in washington that does an amazing work on uncovering the internet between jihadis and ideologs. we have to understand now it's a human intelligence challenge. we can't win this by more data set, more data analysis. we have identify people in the community who can spot these events before they occur. it is important to understand, jihadists don't decide to kill people on monday and then go and buy a gun on tuesday. the san bernardino shooters, ft. hood, they surveil, they prepare, they plan. that's when you can actually see things happening. we must be able to have this, see something, say something, not be a threat to an individual standing in society. >> sebastien, you've heard the pushback from civil libertarians who say, listen, there's a line here. if you're surveilling mosques, you're profiling me and this is not fair, or you're going over the line on what you're listening to and looking at. this is the battle between privacy and national security. >> that's always going to be a battle that has to be balanced. let's be clear, in the last 15 years we haven't seen an episcopalian suicide bomber. we've seen muslim extremists. if you deny that, you are in a fantasy land and you're endangering american citizens. it's time to wake up, america. the war is here. >> and not talking about islamists or islamic terrorists is like saying, i'm not going to talk about the spanish inquisition because people might think i'm damning all catholics. or i'm not going to speak about hanging witches in salem because people would think all pure tans wanted to hang witches. one has to draw these distinctions, but one has to be clear and honest about the threat. and this administration has not done that yet. >> before the president comes out, please stand by, panel. there is an urgent call for blood in florida. friends and family have flocked to the orlando regional medical center for any word on their loved ones. many of the victims' identities have still not been released. >> i called one of -- i called one of my friends. his sister-in-law was in the club, too, and she seen him. they made it out okay. but -- >> what did they tell you? >> i mean, that they lost him. i don't know. they lost him. they haven't seen him yet. >> earlier we had a trauma expert on, saying there's a lot of experts on the ground. steve harrigan is standing by at the hospital with the latest. i guess the most urgent need right now is blood and getting people to come out and donate blood at the blood banks? >> reporter: that's right, brett. there's been no shortage of donors. the call has gone out. people have responded. blocks long lines at blood banks of people ready to give and people ready to help those in line as well. it's 90 degrees here. so, waiting to give that blood is a tough endeavor as well. it's hard to imagine the scene today inside that pulse nightclub where, keep in mind, there are still 50 bodies of the dead, slain, people out for a saturday night in that gay nightclub. instead, winding up dead. as investigators continue to still process that scene, dead bodies remain in there. the first shots were fired just after 2:00. three hours later when the s.w.a.t. team made the breach, 50 were killed, 53 wounded. many of the wounded coming to the trauma center, which thankfully is less than a mile away from the cited of that carnage. we spoke to some people inside that nightclub on saturday night. here's what one man had to say, who initially thought it was all part of the show. >> the gunshots, it sounded like it was part of the mix for the deejay. after a couple, people started to run and scream. >> reporter: we're learning more about people who were inside during the shooting as well. it seemed to be a horrific sense of chaos as the shooting began. those who were not able to run out, some took refuge in bathrooms. they were texting their parents, family members, texting police as well trying to let police know where that gunman was. here at the trauma center, people have been arriving all morning long. trauma surgeons at it since the early morning hours and the call for blood, as you said, brett, is out there. people donating what they can. back to you. >> steve, breaking news now. a couple of things. first, citing law enforcement sources about this shooting in orlando. they are hearing that mateen was shouting, allahu akbar as he was engaging law enforcement inside the orlando pulse nightclub. secondly, and this is just breaking, reuters reporting that a man has been arrested in l.a. carrying rifles and other weapons heading to the l.a. gay pride festival. we are just getting word on reuters about this. and we are -- we are looking for more information about this. anita vogel is in los angeles right now monitoring this breaking news. we don't have any more information, right, on this man who's been arrested headed to a gay pride festival there in los angeles? >> reporter: that's just coming into the fox news room. so, not much more on that. the gay pride parade is a very large parade here in los angeles. it backs up lots of traffic, so it brings lots of people, thousands of people come in to see that parade. i'm sure we're going to be getting a little more information on that coming into the newsroom. as soon as we get it, i'll bring it to you. i want to mention something we learned this morning about the ex-wife of omar seddique mateen. we're learning that she has spoken to "the washington post" and has told them some very interesting things. i think we have their marriage certificate we can bring up on the screen. they are now divorced but they were married for some time. she tells "the washington post," this man, omar mateen, was violent and mentally unstable and that he beat her repeatedly while they were married. she says she met him online eight years ago and decided to move to florida to marry him. she is apparently from uzbekistan. she said at the time they were married at first, their marriage was normal and then he became abusive. he would come home and beat her repeatedly because she hadn't done the laubdry or ordinary things like that. she said during the time they were married she didn't know of any tie to radical islam. she wasn't aware of anything like that. of course, now, brett, we know that from members of congress and various other sources, it seems there is a tie. we're going to be learning a lot more about that. back to you. >> anita, thank you. i want to read more about what's coming in right now at this second from -- this is from "the l.a. times" in regard to breaking news with the man with weapons and possible explosives arrested, saying he was going to an l.a. gay pride parade. authorities in santa monica, found possible explosives as well as rifles and ammunition in the car of a man who said he was in town for the gay pride parade in west hollywood, according to sources. they were following up on a suspected prowler. they responded. thy encountered this individual and found the weapons and that couldand explosives as be used to create a pipe bomb. the car had indiana plates. and this follows, obviously, it goes on to say, the shooting at the gay nightclub in orlando. we are being told now, as of this moment, that the president's speech has been pushed back, delayed. we don't know if that is in regards to the breaking news out of los angeles. but it has been delayed for the time being. as you look live at the white house. we're back with our panel. catherine, sebastien and jim woolsey. catherine, putting together what we have so far, the news about the shouting, allahu akbar in the nightclub, and this is sketchy, early information from the l.a. times and rueters about this man, it could be a copycat or could be something else. >> the first on the shooting in florida. we have another data point that suggests very strongly that there is this connection to a formal terrorist group, in this case we believe isis. we had also information this morning from a ranking member of the house intelligence committee that there was a phone call from local law enforcement where he pledged allegiance to the leader of isis, which is al baghdadi. the third point there, we did confirm that the fbi is investigating it as an act of terrorism and one that was inspired by a foreign terrorist organization. as you rightly pointed out, this is very early in the process for that kind of information or statement to come from federal authorities. the other thing that has my attention is the possibility, and i say this with some hesitation, but i think we're right to discuss it because this morning the police here in washington, d.c. said out of caution they would be adding extra security -- >> i'm going to interrupt you. the l.a. mayor is just addressing the situation in los angeles. i think that's coming in now. can we go to mayor garcetti and listen in live. >> for the tip of a neighborhood person who led to that arrest. but i want everybody here today to know, we are safe, we are protected. our law enforcement officials are here. i especially want to thank our federal officials and fbi who are amongst us today and working hard to make sure we are safe in los angeles and in this area. i've been in touch with the sheriff. i want to thank mayor meister and the entire leadership of west hollywood. this march goes on. we go on. we continue to love and in the face of hate, hold somebody today. thank you very much. >> that's mayor garcetti in los angeles talking about the arrest that was made and saying the area is safe and they stepped up security. again, a man arrested with rifles, ammunition and explosives in his car. police stepping up their security of that area. the sheriff is speaking. >> fbi assistant director in charge of the los angeles office, dedric fike. i'm joined by lapd assistant chief beatrice, and assisted by assistant fire chief anthony williams and l.a. city fire chief ralph, and i'm joined by many, many dozen -- actually, up to hundreds of officers and deputies and agents who are here today to participate in this parade, primarily, but also to protect the public safety during this parade. our hearts, our prayers and thoughts go outs to the people in orlando. we've been involved with this parade for many years now, as participants as well as protecting public safety, as i said. we'll do the same thing this year. we intend this parade to go off and the festival afterwards without a hitch. that's what we'll be involved in all day today ensuring. i want to let everybody be rest assured that we're on the job and doing our level best to protect the safety of the people here. thank you. >> can you talk to us about what happened in santa monica in connection to what's happening here today? >> there's an ongoing investigation in orlando on the tragic events from last night and early this morning. at this point, there is no known credible threat here in the los angeles area. certainly, no connection to anything that's happened in orlando. we're here today in support of the community as we would have been anyway, but we stand side by side by the l.a. county sheriff's department and l.a. pd and l.a. fire department. we will be assisting as needed with any ongoing investigations. at this time, we just want the parade to go on. there is in known threat. we'll be monitoring everything closely that's brought to our attention. >> what can you tell us about the man in santa monica? >> i don't know much more than you do other than he's been arrested. we are on scene with the santa monica police department to provide any assistance as needed. >> good morning. on behalf of the los angeles police department and the chief of police, we're here to stand in solidarity, not only with our law enforcement partners today, but with the entire community of west hollywood and lgbtq members throughout the united states and beyond. more so than ever, we are asking the public, if you see something, say something. the relevancy of that is no stronger than it is standing here today with all of you. this is a huge job we have with regard to public safety for this community. one we strongly and deeply embrace. and we ask you to stand shoulder to shoulder with us as we move forward, not only today, but in the coming days, which will be difficult for all of us together as a country, as a community, as a nation, and as a world population. please know that the los angeles police department resources are extremely and highly vigilant today. we have been throughout this period. and we also have special operations persons to bolster and supplement the regular patrols that we have out there for the entire community. so, please know that we are here to support. to my friend as liaison for the lbgtq community, for the chief of police, let's have a beautiful day. let's celebrate, as mayor garcetti said. we'll have mourning in our hearts, but let us march forward today, together, more unified than ever. thank you very much. >> thank you. thank you, everyone, for coming out this morning. special thanks -- >> news conference out there in los angeles, with the mayor and the sheriff and the fbi agent talking about, not really shedding any light on, this arrest of a man in santa monica, who said he was going to the gay pride festival and parade with rifles and weapons and ammunition and explosives, according to multiple reports and authorities. we're back with our panel, catherine harris, sebastien gorka and jim woolsey. i thought it was interesting, they said there was no credible threat, nothing to worry about, and no tie to orlando. and yet no real details about this guy who was arrested with all this stuff heading to the l.a. pride festival. >> the terrorists and the islamists, they like anniversaries and they like doing things together. for example, they came very close, somebody did, in a very disciplined way, to taking down silicon valley's electricity system, simultaneously with back a couple years ago with the boston marathon bombing. i think one needs to look at what they do on anniversaries, on particular dates, what they do when they're trying to operate things together. they don't always work, but they like showing dominance. and being able to do two things at the same time has a flavor of, you americans aren't going to be able to stop us. >> we obviously need to be careful here. we just heard the authorities there and we don't know all the dpee tails about this one person who's been arrested but you're making a point broadly. we should point out, president obama was scheduled to speak to the reporters at 1:30 eastern time. it was pushed back until 1:40. now the new time is 1:55. we don't know if this new information out of los angeles had delayed that or something else. sebastien, from the other elements that we're hearing about the screaming allahu akbar and -- in the final moments, the fact that he makes this call, omar mateen does, 911 call pledging allegiance to the isis leader, and what we know about isis track record, can we piece together any more as we're getting all these more details? >> i think the most important thing we can piece together is that this is now the new form of assault against the west,nfidel. we have to contact these attacks, bataclan theater in paris, the brussels attack at the airport, san bernardino, tel aviv. let's not forget tel aviv just a few days ago. now orlando. this seems to be potentially the new m.o. large-scale attacks like 9/11 may not be the way they wish to proceed. low investment, very cheap. one guy, a couple of guys, some. semi-automatic weapons, explosives, super cheap. creates enormous fear. remember, 2002 the webeltway washington, d.c. sniper. one man with a spotter shut down d.c. that's an incredible rate of return. >> i remember distinctly going to a gas station worrying about going side to side in case you got word the guy was nearby. it did shut down the area for some time. >> we put tarps up. do you remember at the gas station so people couldn't see you pumping gas in case they were going to shoot you. this could be the next wave of terrorism. they like the spectacle, the big attack. but this is really high rate of return on small investment. >> fighting that, when you talk to the officials all the time, how do they step up the fight against -- you know, i don't want to say lone wolf. it's an inspired terrorist pledging allegiance to an organization. >> it has to be driven by human intelligence. one of the things we have seen over the years is the terrorist groups, the piece of advice i was given with a terrorist that takes the path of least resistance. you move one way, it moves another. what we have seen in the last two years is that isis and al qaeda have gone to encrypted communications and ways to go dark to shield communications and plots from the fbi and others. the thing that has my attention now is this 911 call. you need three elements for a successful attack. you need commitment. you need training. in this case, we confirmed he was a security guard. he had weapons training and the number three, you need to have the ability to amplify what happens in a media format. by making that 911 call he's able to, in effect, broadcast his message about his pledge to isis. we saw this with the shooters in france. every time they were in the open they were saying, we were sent by al qaeda. we were told to do this by the former leader of al qaeda in yemen anwar al alwaki. they could be amplified and that's the most important element of these plots. >> it's interesting. there has to be an element in order for the terror to fit of broadcasting the allegiance or terror. >> the media piece. >> propaganda of the deed. it's not just words but getting the message of fear out there as broad by li as possible. in the age of social media that's the weapons system for the terrorist. >> are we going a decent job shutting down social media, internet, some of the isis sites? do you think there is a lot more to do? >> making some progress, but i think the main thing is we've got to learn to use the data and information in such a way to see patterns and see where people are headed. it's difficult to do that without conducting the systems, the gps on people, cell phones and so forth in such a way that you can keep track of who they are that are behaving in a certain way and where they are going. we do want to protect civil liberties. sometimes, especially in wartime, liberty and security conflict. our constitution structured in a way we can make the choices. if we make a choice for security and have to go a little light on liberty for the time being, we can get our liberty back. that's happened in wartime before. it's happened during the first world war and otherwise. we've got to pay attention to what the potential terrorists are doing and where they are headed and get in front of them. not bring up the rear. >> we should point out we still don't have the two-minute warning from the white house about the president's address. been pushed back to 1:55. i talked about social media saying they were sick of hearing that this is a tragedy in orlando. my mentor and friend brit hume says i know the orlando massacre fits the dictionary definition of tragedy but the word seems week. atrocity seems more apt. maybe we'll change that word. >> that's very important. a train derailment is a tragedy. a young child dying because of illness is a tragedy. the willful assault against 50 people by a man who pledged allegiance to the islamic state is an attack. that's an attack against america and everything we stand for. i agree with you and your mentor. >> how we talk about it or if we talk about it for leaders of the country and for anybody talking about this is really important. >> it's absolutely important. that's part and parcel of how we win. the analogy to illness and medicine is very apt. if you misdiagnose is ailment then whatever treatment you provide will probably not bring the result you want. that person will not heal. if we disdiagnose, say this is a hate crime or access to guns we will continue to face these atrocities for decades to come. >> catherine? >> the other element that jumps out at me is that really in the last five years we have seen this shift to so-called soft targets. just within the last two months in washington, d.c. there was a bulletin that was sent to hotels, clubs and restaurants saying that you have to be prepared and have a plan for a paris-style attack here in washington, d.c. restaurant owners and club owners were asked to provide blueprints, floor plans to the d.c. police so if they came to a scene they would know what they were confronting inside if it was a hostage situation. one thing i'm looking for this afternoon is a breakdown of the timeline as to how long there were hostages inside the nightcl nightclub. i don't see it in a negative way at all toward the people who were on the ground. one of the lessons of paris and the concert hall is that swat teams couldn't wait to negotiate. they were dealing with people willing to kill themselves. they had to move immediately. in the half hour, 45 minutes in france this is when the majority of individuals were gunned down. at least based on reporting this morning we had a long window before the swat team entered. that's for the after action. they moved to soft targets and to continue living the way we live in the united states there is a certain amount of risk to expect. >> nbc news is reporting the orlando gunman referenced the tsarnaev brothers, the boston bombers, during his rampage. that's from nbc news. now we are going to pause and bring in our fox news affiliates from around the country as we get ready to hear the president from the white house on this day, this atrocity. welcome to washington. special coverage now of president obama on a day where the nation stood still. an attack in orlando. 50 dead so far. five-zero. it is the worst mass murder in u.s. history. 53 are in nearby hospitals around orlando. the nightclub called pulse came under attack shortly after 2:00 in the morning. we are told the suspect is a 29-year-old muslim, omar mateen, from port st. lucy, florida. we are hearing he pledged allegiance to isis in a before the attack, that he was heard yelling allah akbar as the gunfire was flying in the nightclub. the investigation is continuing this hour. earlier we heard a man in santa monica, california, was arrested with weapons and ammunition, explosives saying he was going to an l.a. gay pride festival. the nightclub was a gay nightclub. calls itself such. it is the center of an investigation into isis inside america. we are waiting for president obama to brief reporters. here he is at the white house. today, as americans, we grieve the brutal murder, a horrific massacre of dozens of innocent people. we pray for the 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 it's still early in the investigation, we know enough to say that this was an act of terror. and an act of hate. 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. i have 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. we have reached to definitive judgment on the precise motivations of the killer. the fbi is appropriately investigating this as an act of terrorism. i have 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 how and why this happened and we will go wherever the facts ld