debate on gun control and hate crimes. >> woodruff: all that on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> fathom travel. carnival corporation's small ship line. offering seven day cruises to three cities in cuba. exploring the culture, cuisine and historic sites through its people. more at fathom.org. >> you were born with two stories. one you write every day, and one you inherited that's written in your d.n.a. 23andme.com is a genetic service that provides personalized reports about traits, health and ancestry. learn more at www.23andme.com. >> lincoln financial-- committed to helping you take charge of your financial future. >> and the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. >> supported by the rockefeller foundation. promoting the well-being of humanity around the world by building resilience and inclusive economies. more at rockefellerfoundation.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> ifill: orlando: a city that evokes theme parks and good times. now, also a blood-stained entry in american history: 49 people, plus the killer, slain at a gay nightclub. sunday's massacre led today to a search for motive, and for missed signals. william brangham begins our coverage in orlando. >> brangham: there was relative calm outside the "pulse" nightclub this morning, a far remove from the chaos of 24 hours earlier. amateur video captured the terror: gun shots shattering the party atmosphere inside the club. the man firing the shots: 29- year-old omar mateen, ultimately killed by a swat team. police said today they have no regrets about storming the club: >> based on information we received from the suspect, and from the hostages, and people inside, we believed further loss of life was imminent. i made the decision to commence the rescue operation and do the explosive breach. >> brangham: during the attack mateen called 9-1-1 dispatchers and pledged loyalty to the islamic state. today, isis radio released an audio statement, calling him a soldier of the caliphate. and, officials in saudi arabia confirmed he'd visited their country twice for pilgrimages. but in washington, f.b.i. director james comey said there's every reason to think mateen acted on his own. >> there are strong indications of radicalization by this killer and of potential inspiration by foreign terrorist organizations. so far we see no indication that this was a plot directed from outside the united states and we see no indication he was part of any kind of network. >> brangham: the f.b.i. had investigated mateen on suspicions of terrorist sympathies, but the results were inconclusive, and comey defended his agents' work. >> our investigation involved introducing confidential sources to him, recording conversations with him, following him, reviewing transactional records from his communications and searching all government holdings for any possible connections. any possible derogatory information. >> brangham: as investigators now searched the gunman's home in fort pierce, florida, sharply differing images of him emerged. his afghan-born father apologized again today to the victims. and, in a facebook video, speaking in dari, he reflected on his son and the crime he committed. >> ( translated ): my son omar mateen was a good son and educated person. i don't know what happened and i didn't know he had hatred. the issue of homosexuality and punishment belongs to god. it does not belong to a servant of allah, but i am really >> brangham: but mateen's ex- wife painted a starkly different picture, saying he was abusive, mentally unstable and full of hate. at the white house, president obama spoke of his own concerns about such figures. >> one of the biggest challenges we are going to have is this kind of propaganda and perversions of islam that you see generated on the internet, and the capacity for that to seep into the minds of troubled individuals. >> brangham: meanwhile, police said today they've identified nearly all of the victims. among them: accoutants, baristas, hair dressers... people-- mostly young-- who'd been looking to unwind with a night of music and dancing. with the city's wounds still fresh, orlando's mayor buddy dyer thanked the city for its response. >> we will not be defined by the act of a cowardly hater. we will be defined by how we respond. how we treat each other. and this community has already stepped up to do that. >> brangham: as the nation awaits the results of these latest investigations, a small army of volunteers has come to this community center to do what they can, to help. they loaded food and water today at orlando's biggest l.g.b.t. community center, just minutes from the site of the rampage. many said they came to lend a hand, but also just to be with others in mourning. >> it's tragic, it's tragic across the board. we saw the act of what one person can do, but in the same day within 12 hours we saw what many can do together to really fight this incident and really try to come together. >> we're all people, it just hurts cause it's black, white, gay, no matter what, it doesn't matter, >> brangham: it's an attack on everybody. >> we're all people, we're all human, it's just hard to deal with. that's the thing about the gay community, we all know somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody, this is a close group, it hurts us all. >> brangham: the shooting happened as latin night at the pulse nightclub was winding down, and a majority of the victims identified so far are hispanic. christian catelan is latino and gay. >> i went out to dinner last night with my significant other and other friends and just being closed to him was even scary, after what happened, because i was constantly just looking around and it went from completely comfortable to just completely fearful in a matter of hours. and it just continues to become much more difficult than it was yesterday. >> brangham: a vigil is scheduled tonight in orlando for the victims of the shooting, about a mile from the nightclub where their lives ended. gwen? william, i just heard that young man said to-- say to you that they went from being comfortable to terrified so quickly. is it fair to say that the community is still in a state of shock tonight? >> reporter: absolutely. i mean the sense here is that this, like so many other communities that have experienced this type of a tragedy, the sense of safety that they had has been snatched away from them. and that's something we heard not just from the gay community but largely in that community here, all over orlando. >> ifill: so william, is there a special impact in the gay, if this was latin night at a gay nightclub, a special impact in the gay and lesbian community? >> it was, absolutely. i mean the latino community as we know it's largely a conservative community. and being gay in the latino community is not as easy as it might be say in the white community. and a lot of people mentioned to me that there might be the possibility that people who were shot, people who might have been killed or wounded in this event might not have been out even to their own families. so now they are forged to have this conversation, that maybe they weren't ready to be having that i was at this club when this happened. it is just raised one more level of a very, very uncomfortable conversation for them at a time of this awful tragedy going on here. >> ifill: and is there evidence now of heightened security around, in and around orlando but especially in that neighborhood? >> absolutely. we spent a good deal of time today and yesterday at that community center. now even there every time they don't let people stand outside for fear of drive-by shootings. they are checking bags everywhere they go. how much of that lasts after this event dies down and people start to go on with their lives, we don't know. there is a strong sense of security here everywhere. >> ifill: william, thank so much. we will hear from you tomorrow night >> woodruff: some perspective now on how intelligence and law enforcement agencies try to find and stop people like the orlando killer. we turn to two men with extensive experience in counter- terrorism operations and investigations. michael leiter was the director of the national counter- terrorism center from 2007 to 2011, during both the george w. bush and obama administrations. and ali soufan was a supervisory special agent with the f.b.i. where he worked on both domestic and international terrorism investigations. he now runs a security and intelligence consulting business. we welcome both of you to the program. michael leiter to you first, based on everything you know, how do you assess the job that the fb, and other government agencies did in looking into what they heard about omar mateen. >> let's start with the premise that this is a very hard job. jim thome said today, they not only have to find needles in the hey stake, they have to predict which pieces of the hey will eventually become needles. i think what he said was they did quite a fair amount of information on this individual in 2014 to include running app rat-- operatives against him, electronic surveillance. and all of that lead them to conclude that this wasn't a threat. that really suggests to me that if there had been almost anything there at the time other than hearsay, they would have continued the investigation. so clearly they didn't predict this one right. i think it's still too early to know whether at the time they should have done more. >> woodruff: ali soufan, in looking at what the fbi did, we heard director comee say they did a ten month investigation, what would that have involved? >> well, i think we heard the director they put undercover, they put a soirs on the individual, they probably investigated his criminal record. they did probably a thorough investigation to see if he is connected to any ongoing investigation. or any individuals who are suspected terrorists or are part of any investigation. they probably eck-- checked his digital footprint, saw if he has contact with suspicious entities or terrorist entities. they probably looked into his phone record and at the time the assessment was that he is not connected and by law the fbi has to close that investigation. if they can't articulate that investigation investigation, there is probably a reasonable suspicion or probable cause to have the investigation, then they could have had a full investigation am but at the time it seems that there was no indication whatsoever that that individual was involved or connected to to suspected entilts. >> woodruff: michael leiter, how much harder is it to find something on someone when they don't seem to have a single allegiance. at the end omar mateen talked about isis but earlier his coworkers-- workers said he talked about al-qaeda, al nousra, he befriended a man that went to work with the al nousra front. how much more deficit is that. >> st much harder. we used to say the u.s. is a melting pot for a lot of reason, including the terrorist mind, allegiances and dal yanses that would never occur overseas because of the allegiance to hezbollah versus isis would never occur. but here in the u.s. when you have a confused and clearly deranged individual, searching out almost anything, almost any ideology, any group that gives them a feeling of worth and ultimately justifies these horrendous acts of violence, so it makes it that much harder. because you don't have a clear path to follow. there isn't-- they aren't fitting the mold that we often expect to see with other terrorist groups and individuals overseas. >> woodruff: so ali soufan should there be a rethinking of the watch lists and what itic tas to be on one or be taken off of one? >> well, i think if he is a subject of an initial investigation, he is going to be on a watch list. and if that investigation is closed, he will be removed off the watch list. i think michael is right in what he mentioned. we're talking about an individual, in this case for example, who seems to be so confused. one day he claims to be a member of hezbollah which is a shiite organization. another day his family is kked to al-qaeda and then he prays just before he was killed, an individual who was a suicide bomber for al nousra, an entity that is not in good terms with isis. and then he gave his regard and admiration for the boston bombers, two individuals who have nothing to do with isis. isis in this case appeared to have no idea about what this guy did. they did not control his operation. they don't appear to be directing that operation. and even the alleged claim of responsibility was based on media, was based on what they are gathering of u.s. media regarding that operation. so now we have a case of an individual who went to do his crime and at the last second he said oh by the way, i am isis. and now we look at it not as a hate crime but we're looking at it as a terrorist-- rightly so as a terrorist massacre. >> woodruff: so michael leiter, what does that say for future efforts on the part of investigators? because we keep hearing that there are hundredsk maybe even thousands of young people around this country, mostly young men, who may be sim pathetic, may hear something in isis or another of these groups they are interested in, what does it say about future efforts to fer et these people out before they do something? >> you and i have sat here after san bernardino, after paris. this is an incredibly hard fight. we really revolutionized how we did counterterrorism most 9/11 and we've gotten so much better at working against complex plots overseas. but i think we're approaching the point where we have to seriously consider how we revolutionize counterterrorism now to optimize our ability to find these. it would require huge changes t would require a lowering of the bar to do surveillance in certain operations, that is out canning against the grain of the post snowden era. it would require a huge increase in resources. both for the fbi and state and local law enforcement. and it might also require diminishing the ability to obtain fire arms. these are all big choices. and as tragic as this is, it still isn't clear to me that we have the political will to go down that path. >> woodruff: how do you see that, ali soufan, what does it take to make the efforts of law enforcement more successful at finding these people before they act. >> well, i think first of all, i agree with michael said. but since 9/11, we have been very successful tactically in combating the threat. unfortunately when it comes to the ideology, we haven't been that successful. we have been behind the eight-ball. we didn't do much to counterthe incubating factors leading into. this we haven't been countering the ideology and counterrerring the narrative as we should online. and i think we need to develop some kind of 121st century policing model where we can include the comeurmt inside the pipe so they feel they are part of solution, not part of the problem. not to say that specific communities around the nation haven't been working very closely with law enforcement. for example, most of the disruptions that took place in the last few years significant number was based on tips from the community. but i think we need to develop a 21s century policing model that includes a way to, you know, promote the idea of if you see something, say something, in specific communities around the comeunted states. >> woodruff: ali soufan, michael leiter, we thank you both. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> woodruff: we turn now to capitol hill and how lawmakers are responding to the attack in orlando. we start with senator diane feinstein. a democrat from california, she is the ranking member of the intelligence committee. senator feinstein, welcome back to the newshour. i don't know if you have been able to hear the conversation we have just been having. but based on what you know, is it your sense that law enforcement intelligence agencies do did everything they could to do something about this man, omar mateen before this happened? >> well, first of all, judy, have i great respect both for mike leiter and ali soufan. so i very much agree with what they have to say. with respect of dealing with the classic lone wolf, we are, i think, seeing the real problem. and the one thing that came out of all of this that i thought was good is that the islamic community and particularly the religious part of that community is beginning to stand up, take notice and say no, this is not us. and say it over and over and over again. in this last perpetrator, that really did such a das tardily event by triking at a lesbian and gay community that has struggled for equality over so many years, and now to have them subject to this kind of terrible event, is just really awful. having said that, i think that as time goes on, we're going to increasingly realize, as ali spoke about, ali soufan spoke about, how we get a counter message out in a way that is effective. i think law enforcement has responded. as far as i know, this country is responding with full resources. the fbi have sent an additional complements of men, of 80 men and women into florida. they have a big number already in florida. they are leading the investigation. everybody is cooperating. and i think the investigation seems to be going very well. how you stop this does not seem to be going very well. this is a man, nine years employed, good job, semilaw enforcement, wanted law enforcement. went to mosque, prayed and show became so alienated. now whether this is from social media. whether it's from con-- contact, or whether it's really a displaced aggression, i don't know. but this is a big problem. and we're going to be be stuck with this for a very long time, i believe. >> woodruff: senator, i want to ask you about the fact that you are one of those in the senate who is pushing this legislation to prevent individuals on a terror watch list from buying, subjecting a fire arm or explosives. why do you think you may have some success with that now when it's been impossible to pass in the past. >> well, i think people are beginning to realize that the attorney general should have the ability to place people on the terrorist watch list. and deny sale of weapons to them. and this bill essentially gives the attorney general those regulations in law. in other words, she can move to take action. and that is what this bill does. i think it's very, very important. i think on another subject, the ar-15, this is a military style a saul weapon in its truest sense of the word. big bullets, terrible physical damage. look at the death rate, and i think more of that will come out. not to take action-- we tried after sandy hook. we failed. i tried after san bernardino to get this no guns for terrorists through. we failed. this congress has to realize that they need to step up and we need to protect people now. and i think we've got a full component of law enforcement. i think we've got relatively good intelligence. as director comey told us there is an investigation going on in every state. >> woodruff: senator, two things, if omar mateen, as you know, was not on a watch list in the most recent past. so he wouldn't have been prevented from buying a weapon but second of all, the argument that many of your republican colleagues have made about this is that there is still the potential that people who were innocent are on a watch list. and they would be prevented from buyk a gun. >> well, then you can petition and prove that you are innocent and get off of the watch list. but you know, if we want to prevent this, you know, this bill was drafted actually during the bush administration. when a man, a terrorist went back to syria an american and said to everybody, now exploit the loopholes in america's laws and you buy weapons. we have huge loopholes. and it's long. and we've got to begin to close them one by one by one. the terrorists bill, no guns for terrorists is the first step. assault weapons is the second step. this man should not have been able to-- if he had been on the terrorist watch list, he would not have been able to buy that assault weapon. and i think that's important. >> woodruff: senator die ann feinstein, we thank you. >> thank you, judy. >> woodruff: we get a republican perspective now from congressman will hurd of texas. he's on the house committee on homeland security and previously served as an undercover officer for the c.i.a. in the middle east and south asia. congressman hu rd, thank you for being with us. i don't know if you heard but senator diane feinstein just said that it's time for congress to step up in the wake of this horrible incident in orlando. and as you know, she and other senators are promoting legislation that would make it impossible for someone on a terror watch list to buy a weapon. congressman hu rd, are you able to hear me. >> yes, judy. listen, nobody is supporting putting weapons in the hands of terrorists. but the reality is, it's unfortunate when an event like that hatched in orlando, both sides of the political aisle retreat to some of the same tired talking points. the bill that the good senator from california was talking about would not have prevented what happened in orlando. it would not have prevented what happened in san bernardino. the reality is if you are on a no-fly list now and you try to buy a weapon, that information goes to the fbi and the fbi has influence on whether that sale is able to go through or not. the reality is, is what we need to be focused on here is focusing on taking the-- whether it's isis, al-qaeda, boxa haram, we need to take the fight to them. an also mawk sure that we are countering the ideology, the two gentlemen earlier were talking about this, that makes isis so dangerous, is its ability to inspire people, even if they are 6,000 miles away and they have never met them. we are a country that has the most creative mind, the best brands, we should be out working together to counter this ideology. the third thing we need to be doing is making sure we have national intelligence information in the hands of local law enforcement. we see what happened in orlando and san bern dunno. that it was local law enforcement has to respond to these kind of activities. and when i started in the cia it was before 9/11. and have i seen how intelligence sharing has improved significantly from that time to now, the next step is making sure we're getting the right information in the hands of local law enforcement. >> congressman, why wouldn't it be another important tool in the hands of law enforcement to be able to say if someone's on a watch list, if they are being investigated for something they did or suspectedded of doing, that they should at least during that period not be allowed to buy a weapon or explosives. >> well-- . >> woodruff: why is that objectionable. >> again, the fail safe is there sph you are on the no fly list. if are you, the fbi is reviewing that information. the reality is a weapon is just a tool. whether you use a long gun, a handgun or explosives, these are tools in the hands of a terrorist. and if you are that deranged that you are willing to kill 49 innocent people and take your own life, then are you going to get that tool however you can in order to do your deed. and i think the important thing that we need to be focusing on is what i just said. take the fight to them. and make sure that we're countering that ideology. that is where, there is not any one piece of legislation that prevents another orlando from happening. it is going to be a lot of work. this is something that has been going on and that the house has been looking at for the last 15 months. i sat on a task forgs that looked at four and five years looking too iraq and syria. we have had nine pieces of legislation that tightens up loopholes in our visatprocess to make sure that we are still allowing commerce and people to move back and forth but it's making sure that we're having all the tools and information in the hands of people issuing the visas, this is a long-term fight. >> congressman, is there any additional restriction on the ability of individuals who are being investigated, who may have committed a crime or maybe thinking about a terrorist act, who have been proveen in some way, or who, law enforcement has a reason to be concerned about. is there any additional restriction that you would be willing to go along with in order to strengthen the hands of law enforcement in this country whereas you say, there is a worry that people may be committing an act in sympathy with isis or another terror group? >> well, the reality is, is a lot of focus on the orlando killer. and how they were interviewed three times by the fbi. the fbi had a ten month investigation. they ran undercover officers against them. and they found that he wasn't connected in any form or fashion. it's not breaking the law to be interviewed by the fbi. the fbi has a difficult task. and this lone wolf scenario is one of the hardest things for law enforcement to fight against. and that's why we need to make sure we're doing everything we can to get information in their hands. so you know, this is the time that we should be working together, across the aisle on making sure we're focused on the real issue. >> woodruff: congressman will hu rd, we thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: we'll devote the rest of our program to killilngs in orlando, after the news summary. >> ifill: and, in the day's other news, an indiana man is jailed in santa monica, california, after police arrested him sunday, heavily armed and headed to a gay pride parade. james howell will appear in court tomorrow. police say he was carrying three assault rifles and chemicals used in explosives. >> woodruff: the u.s. supreme court rebuffed puerto rico today over its debt crisis. the court ruled federal law bars the commonwealth from restructuring part of the $70 billion it owes. instead, it must wait for congress to finish debt relief legislation. the justices also refused to freeze federal curbs on power plant emissions of mercury. 20 states wanted the rules delayed. >> ifill: in iraq, the government says it's investigating reports that shiite militias have killed sunni men escaping from fallujah. the shiites are supporting an iraqi army offensive to retake the city from islamic state fighters. iraqi troops have been slowly advancing into fallujah for three weeks now. over the weekend, 4,000 civilians managed to escape. >> woodruff: the city of marseille, france was rocked by soccer violence over the weekend, between russian and english fans at the european championship tournament. european soccer's governing body warned both sides, but a court handed down prison terms for only one side. emma murphy of independent television news reports from marseille. >> reporter: that they were organized, determined, and extremely violent was obvious to anyone who saw the violence in marseille this weekend. now the french authorities have admitted a gang of 150 known russian hooligans managed to get into the country and indeed the stadium to foment three days of brutality. not one has been arrested. describing them as ultra-rapid, ultra-violent and extremely well-trained, marseille's prosecutor acknowledged some had been stopped at the airport but the rest breached security and are free to infiltrate other games. >> ( translated ): the hooligans from russia traveled from other countries on trains and in cars, he told me. we would have known and arrested them had they come through the airport. the russians were the most organized and violent but it was the english fans who were in court today. six in all arrested for violence. >> reporter: during the course of the weekend, 35 people were injured, four seriously. these scenes led to u.e.f.a.'s threat to throw both england and russia out of the tournament. today england's manager and captain wayne rooney appealed to fans for no repeat. >> i'm appealing to you to stay out of trouble and try and make certain these threats that are being issued are never carried out. >> i'd like to ask the fans please if you don't have a ticket, don't travel. and for the fans with tickets, be safe, sensible. >> reporter: this city is now calm for the first time in three days. and with today's sentences, it seems the french authorities are keen to send out a strong message to deter others from violent actions. however, with no russians in custody, that message is significantly weakened. >> woodruff: the french prosecutor says police are studying closed-circuit tv footage, and trying to track down the russians involved in the violence. >> ifill: microsoft made a surprise move today and announced it is buying the professional networking site linked-in. the price tag: more than $26 billion. it's the largest acquisition in microsoft's history, and it gives the software giant access to linked-in's 430 million members. >> woodruff: the sell-off that hit wall street late last week carried over today. the dow jones industrial average lost nearly 133 points to close at 17,732. the nasdaq fell 46 points, and the s&p 500 dropped 17. >> ifill: the broadway musical "hamilton" and the pittsburgh penguins now have something in common: both are big winners. pittsburgh took the national hockey league title last night, beating the san jose sharks in six games. it's the fourth stanley cup in the franchise's history. and "hamilton," the hip-hop stage biography of alexander hamilton, won 11 tony awards, including best musical. that's one shy of the record. >> woodruff: still to come on the newshour: hillary clinton and donald trump issue calls to action in response to the orlando shooting. plus, a look at the prejudice the l.g.b.t. community still faces. >> ifill: we turn now to politics. presidential candidates hillary clinton and donald trump both scaled back scheduled campaign events today in the wake of the orlando shooting. but, the two presumptive nominees struck very different tones. >> today is not a day for politics. on sunday, americans woke up to a nightmare that's become mind numbingly familiar: another act of terrorism in a place no one expected. this is a moment when all americans need to stand together. no matter how many times we endure attacks like this, the horror never fades. the murder of innocent people breaks our hearts, tears at our sense of security, and makes us furious. >> the bottom line is that hillary supports policies that bring the threat of radical islam into america and allow it to grow overseas, and it is growing. in fact, hillary clinton's catastrophic immigration plan will bring vastly more radical islamic immigration into this country, threatening not only our society, but our entire way of life. we need a new leader, we need a new leader fast. they've put political correctness above common sense, above your safety, and above all else. i refuse to be politically correct. >> ifill: for more on the candidates' response to the deadly shooting in orlando, we turn to politics monday, with amy walter of the "cook political report" and tamara keith of npr, joining us tonight from cleveland. >> ifill: amy, both candidates said this was not a day for politics, and hillary clinton did not mention donald trump by name. by she still slid in her little digs. >> yes, and donald trump mentioned hiltry clinton explicitly, many times during the-- during his press conference today. look, i think the candidates that you saw today giving speeches in response to orlando aren't any different from the candidates that you see on the campaign trail am you had in donald trump, the bold, the brash, the controversial. he doubled down on the muslim ban. talked about sort of anus versus them look at the world. hillary clinton, much more measured, much more traditional, political and she talked about a "we" versus "me" mentality. so for anybody sort of on the fence about this campaign who says i don't really know the differences between these two candidates, how would they react to a crisis situation, or a big event as president of the united states, you got a very clear idea of the differences between the two of them today. >> ifill: tam, but donald trump didn't just double down on what he said before about banning muslims, he talked today about banning entire nationalities. >> right, he said, and this was an expansion-- expansion, he would put a temporary ban on immigration from countries that support terrorism or where terrorism against america has originated. which could include a whole lot of countries. we don't have details on which those would be. he also in that speech said that hillary clinton wants to do away with the second amendment, take away people's guns and allow terrorists into the country and then people wouldn't be able to defend themselves. that of course is not hillary clinton's policy. but there you have it. >> woodruff: >> ifill: it seems to me that at least the democrats have their talking points in order. the president did this on our newshour townhall not long ago talking about the terror watch list and how congress should at least allow them to deny gun purchases to people on the watch list. we heard diane feinstein say it just now to judy. and we heard hillary clinton say it. so is that the line, the democrats will always tack about guns and the republicans will always talk about immigration? >> that seems to be the way this keeps happening. and we should note that this is not the first time that these presidential candidates have had to respond to a terrorist incident. this one happens to be bigger and here at home. but the response has been essentially the same each time. hillary clinton this time is talking about wanting to possibly expand terror lists. but essentially st the same conversation about guns and about terrorism. and it goes round and round and round again. >> ifill. >> the sort of depressing piece about all of this is they are talking about legislation that is unlikely to get anywhere in congress, whether it's more attempts to control guns or you know, to have more regulation around guns or whether it is about banning muslims or people who are coming in as tam pointed out from countries that support terrorism. those are things that aren't going to make it through congress. >> ifill: what is unique about donald trump, he starts every response with "see, i was right." >> and he also said, i can do these things on banning certain people through my own orders. i won't need congress to be able to do that. >> ifill: so tam, i know we say this a lot. but i'm curious whether moments like this. somber big moments s that a turning point or at least a clarifying point in a campaign, especially as we get ready to turn to the general election. >> this is absolutely one of those moments, just like paris, just like san bernardino, those were moments in the campaign where we all paused and we thought this could be a defining moment. what we don't know, those previous incidents were defining moments. donald trump came out strong. he talked about a muslim ban. he did better among republican voters after those incidents. his poll numbers improved. what we don't know this time around is whether it's different, you know. a republican primary electorate is very different from a general election electorrality. there are a lot more people who have very different views. and it is just not clear at this point. it is a moment. we don't know quite what the moment means in terms of how this will play out over the next several weeks and months. >> ifill: let's talk about terminology. one of the things that donald trump is counting on is that in the past this has worked for him, this really tough response. but now today he was talking a lot about she won't use the words radical islamism. and she said well, i do too kind of. what is that really about? >> right, it seems that what hillary clinton was trying to do, at least this morning, she didn't do it in her speech today, but by taking the issue of radical islam, radical jihadism and sort of saying i can do either/or both of those to say i don't want to get into a debate over is i man particulars, i would rather get in a debate over what is happening in this country with individuals who are using, it-- to do terrible things. in the past though she said we don't want to call it radical islam because then we are ma lining an entire religeon. we want to focus on the actions. i think in essence what they are trying to do and i don't know if this is correct. but in essence what they are trying to do is to say, you know, look, this issue is not something i want to get in a fight about any more. i think it's getting tougher and tougher for them to try and take parts of these words and to defend not taking on muslim religion. and instead start where donald trump does and say we're not going to go as far as he does in terms of banning all muslims. >> ifill: tam, i want to talk about another piece of terminology. the lgbt community, we heard donald trump say today, i will be a better friend because i will act and hillary just has words. is that actually true? does it seem that way? it seems to be the big groups have endorsed hillary clinton already. >> the big groups have endorsed hillary clinton already. and she is very popular among some large portion of the lgbt community. donald trump though, interestingly, you know, has not wanted to fight in-- -- fight in that arena. there are other candidates who were running in the republican primary who wanted to talk about gay marriage and wanted to talk about bathroom laws. and donald trump has generally speaking taken a more tolerant view. that seems to be an area that he doesn't want to get into too much. >> ifill: not on gay marriage. >> not on gay marriage, for instance. >> ifill: right, on gay marriage i think he is in line with the republican party. okay, tam keith, we're done here. we're amy walter, we're done. thank you both. >> you're welcome. >> ifill: the president has called the shootings not just an act of terror, but also an "act of hate." this is not the first time members of the l.g.b.t. community have been targets, but in the wake of decades of progress and acceptance, it is resonating differently now. we examine that with rachel tiven, the incoming c.e.o. of lambda legal, a national organization which works for the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people. and mark potok of the southern poverty law center, which closely monitors hate crimes and threats throughout the u.s. mark potok, want to start by asking for a definition here. what is a hate crime? >> well, the definitions are a bit fuzzy because of course there are many state laws that all express it differently. but essentially a hate crime is a crime that is motivated in whole or in part by bias against a particular named class of people. lgbt people, black people, white people, certain religions and so on. it is generally different, i think, than terrorism in the sense that it is not a kind of public display crime. it can happen in private with no notice at all. so it's not the kind of crime that is carried out in order to send a message to thousands of people as terrorist crimes are or to change the way an entire community acts. >> ifill: rachel tiven, is it significant for you to hear the president of the united states immediately go to the word hate in describing what he saw happen in orlando? >> absolutely. because it is important for the president to acknowledge the victims here. and i want to talk about the victims. the victims in this crime were lgbt latinos and their friends and their allies. and that, seeing that either be lost in this conversation or worse be appropriated by people who have sought to harm lgbt people in the past is really bitder and hollow at this time. >> ifill: well, could you expand on that a little bit? what is significantly-- significant about the fact that the targets in this case were latinos, gays and lesbians? >> what is significant is that this was not an be accidental target, right. the perpetrator of this crime didn't happen to be walking by and choose this target by accident. we heard from his father that he harboured significant animosity against lgbt people and that may have been, when we find out from the fbi, more about his moltives, that may have been a part of the narrative. but we don't even need to ask what the mossive was. when you target a gay club, a place that lgbt people go to congregate and murder the people who are there, unfortunately that is an act that speaks for itself. >> mark potok i know you keep track of hate crimes around the country, and i wonder in you are why records how much more does this happen or does it happen more with lgbt people than other people? how much of a target is that community? >> very much so. we looked actually at 14 years of fbi data, hate crime data and made comparisons to the size of the populations of various minority groups in this country. and to make a very long story short, what we found was that on a per capita basis, at least in recent years, lgbt people are targeted for violent hate crimes at a rate of two times that of gay-- i'm sorry, of muslims or black people, four times that of jews, and 14 times that of latinos. so the bottomline is that lgbt people really are targeted in a way that no other minority group or at a rate higher than any other minority group in this country, at least in recent times. i think maybe it's worth pointing out that just three years ago on new year's eve of 2013 in seattle, a man tried to burn alive 750 people in an upstairs gay club there called neighbors. he was not successful, quick thinking patrons discovered the fire in the stairwell and put it out. but there might well have been an enormous casualty list in that case. >> ifill: rachel tiven, is any of this in your observation, opinion, backlash against the gains that lgbt people have made in recent years including marriage? >> unfortunately, we have seen backlash. we have seen that in the past year more than 200 bills have been introduced by state legislatures and localities around the country, not just in a couple of states, seeking to strip lgbt people of equal rights, seeking to avoid protection from discrimination from lgbt people, we've seen lies about who lgbt people are. we have seen state legislatures say that there is a danger to washing your hands in a bathroom next to a transgender person. when they know that that is untrue. and i think that after the incredible carn ajts that-- carnage that we saw this week, to honor the memories of the people without died by saying enough, enough. we're going to come together and we're going to end this hate speech against lgbt people. we are going to stop lying about who lgbt people. in the way that after charleston which is a sad anniversary we are approaching, the country came together and said we're going to exam be inhow we talk about race and what symbols we use because attacking people because show is uncomfortable with who other people are and the ways that they are different from them, that's not american. >> ifill: let me ask you both this question finally, swi how much more power does this particular attack have on the imagination to the degree that it has been tied up with terrorism as opposed to in addition to hate crimes, mark potok. >> well, i think it has a great power on the imagination. i mean the carnage was just incredible. and the mixture of motives. i mean it seems to me it's very unclear what this man's motives were. they seem to have really been all three strands, a kind of terrorist strand to the extent he seems to be some what related to islamist ideas. a hate crime in that it was clearly huge animus threat against lgbt people or mental health or internal rage strand in which this man seemed to be hateful to everyone around him. >> we shouldn't be surprised, unfortunately. we should not be surprised at the kind of animosity that has been sanctioned by state and local governments around the country when mixed with easy access to heavy weapons leads to a tragedy like this one. >> rachel of lambda legal and mark potok of the southern poverty law center, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> woodruff: we close now with a look at the vigils and memorials that have taken place around the country to show solidarity with the victims in orlando. ♪ we shall live in peace we shall live in peace ♪ >> tonight we come together in an act of unity. and an act of love, to stand as one voice, and one people and one unit of faith and one prayer and join in our hearts together with the victims, with those, the family the friends the loved ones, it breaks out hearts and that is why we have all gather here. ♪ ♪ >> every couple of months, it feels like some other group is targeted. a black church, a school, a gay club, and the world we live in is filled with intimate, and tragic moments of pain and hatred and violence, we don't always know how to respond. ♪ ♪ >> 50 people who i didn't know but were part of my community were killed and they were killed for exact reasons that i could be killed or my congregation could be killed or people i love. ♪ ♪ >> we are one people who share the bond of humanity and the shared values of the sanctity of life and the freedom to live as we see fit. we reject your hatred and we assert our love. ♪ ♪ >> ifill: our coverage continues online, where you can watch president obama discuss stopping terrorists from getting guns in an exclusive clip from our recent townhall, compare u.s. gun laws to those of other countries, in an explainer from the council on foreign relations. plus read how two poets mourned last year's deadly mass shooting at a charleston, south carolina church. all that and more is on our web site, pbs.org/newshour. >> woodruff: and that's the newshour for tonight. on tuesday we'll look at a controversial program to combat violent extremism born here at home and abroad. i'm judy woodruff. >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill. join us online, and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> you were born with two stories. one you write every day, and one you inherited that's written in your d.n.a. 23andme.com is a genetic service that provides personalized reports about traits, health and ancestry. learn more at www.23andme.com. >> lincoln financial-- committed to helping you take charge of your financial future. >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org this is "nightly business report" with tyler mathisen and sue herera. odd couple? microsoft to buy linkedin, its biggest purchase ever. will the deal provide the growth microsoft wants? stocks rattled. why a looming vote across the atlantic makes some investors very nervous. one simple click. that's all it takes for a hacker to get into your smartphone. we'll tell you the simple ways you can protect yourself. all that and more tonight on "nightly business report" for good evening and welcome. a blockbuster technology deal. microsoft is buying linkedin for more than $26 billion, making it one of the largest tech acquisitions on record. but at first glance that tie-up may seem a little odd.