Orlando Shooting

:00:00. > :00:11.This is BBC News, the headlines at six:

:00:12. > :00:16.The worst mass shooting in US history, 50 people are dead

:00:17. > :00:25.after a gunman opened fire in a gay nightclub in Orlando in Florida.

:00:26. > :00:34.The gunman has been identified as 29-year-old Omar Mateen. Rick Scott,

:00:35. > :00:46.the Florida governor, described as an act of terror. For someone to be

:00:47. > :00:50.an active shooter, to take the number of lives at the book is an

:00:51. > :00:54.act of terror. The attacker was armed with an assault rifle and a

:00:55. > :00:56.handgun when he opened fire in a gay club. President Obama is expected to

:00:57. > :01:19.make a statement in half an hour. It is the deadliest mass shooting in

:01:20. > :01:23.US history. 50 people are now known to have died after a gunman opened

:01:24. > :01:29.fire inside a crowded Florida nightclub. More than 50 others were

:01:30. > :01:33.injured, many critically. Police say they are investigating the killings

:01:34. > :01:39.as an act of terrorism. The attacker has been named as Omar Mateen, a US

:01:40. > :01:44.citizen of Afghan descent. A senior FBI official is quoted as saying the

:01:45. > :01:50.29-year-old may have had leanings toward Islamic State militants. The

:01:51. > :01:55.attack began at the end local time in Orlando. The heavily armed gunmen

:01:56. > :01:59.held hostages at the venue for three hours would be killed when police

:02:00. > :02:08.stormed the building. The mayor of Orlando has issued this statement.

:02:09. > :02:14.We are dealing with something unimaginable. Since the last update

:02:15. > :02:17.we have gotten better access to the building. We have cleared the

:02:18. > :02:23.building and it is with great sadness that I shared that we have

:02:24. > :02:26.not 20 but 50 casualties. In addition to the shooter, there are

:02:27. > :02:33.another 53 and are hospitalised. Because of the scale of the crime, I

:02:34. > :02:38.have asked the governor to declare a state of emergency. We are also

:02:39. > :02:40.issuing a state of emergency for the city of Orlando so we can bring

:02:41. > :02:42.additional resources to bear. In the past few minutes,

:02:43. > :02:45.the Florida Senator Bill Nelson has said there appears to be a link

:02:46. > :02:58.with Islamic extremism. I asked the FBI if there was any

:02:59. > :03:05.connection to Islamic radicalism. There appears to be. But they are

:03:06. > :03:15.naturally cautious and waiting throughout to see if this is the

:03:16. > :03:20.fact. I have checked with intelligence staff and they do

:03:21. > :03:23.believe that there is some connection to Islamic State, but

:03:24. > :03:33.that is not official. President Obama has been briefed and

:03:34. > :03:35.is due to deliver a statement in around half an hour. First, Jane

:03:36. > :03:51.Francis Kelly reports. Video records gunshots coming from

:03:52. > :03:56.the popular gay nightclub Pulse. One man who was inside described what he

:03:57. > :03:59.saw. Nobody really knew what was going on until they saw people on

:04:00. > :04:02.the ground bleeding and heard people screaming and heard the commotion

:04:03. > :04:07.because you didn't know. When you are in a bar like that you think it

:04:08. > :04:12.is you sick. Traumatised and injured clubbers were taken to hospital for

:04:13. > :04:15.treatment. One mother received texts from her son who said they were

:04:16. > :04:19.trapped in the toilets and the feared they were going to die.

:04:20. > :04:25.Another mortar -- mother was distraught looking for her son. No

:04:26. > :04:31.one can tell me where my son is. If he has been shot, if he is still

:04:32. > :04:36.alive. No one knows. They don't need there are fatalities. Dozens of

:04:37. > :04:40.emergency vehicles unattended outside, including the bomb squad

:04:41. > :04:43.and hazardous material team. Immediately following the attack,

:04:44. > :04:48.the gunman is reported to have barricaded himself into the club and

:04:49. > :04:51.taken hostages. Please performed a controlled explosion outside to

:04:52. > :04:55.distract him before he was shot dead. They said he appeared to be

:04:56. > :05:01.armed with an assault rifle, a handgun and some sort of device. We

:05:02. > :05:04.consider this an act of terrorism. Absolutely. We are investigating

:05:05. > :05:10.this from every perspective as an act of terrorism. At a time we have

:05:11. > :05:13.potentially dozens of victims in any of our communities then I think we

:05:14. > :05:19.can qualify that as a terrorist activity. A major investigation is

:05:20. > :05:20.now being undertaken to determine the motives of the gunman and

:05:21. > :05:24.whether he was acting alone. Let's get more from our

:05:25. > :05:39.correspondent Luis Farjardo. And overwhelming reaction from

:05:40. > :05:43.politicians, the public and from people in Florida who are queueing

:05:44. > :05:46.up in hospitals to give blood. Apparently the blood banks are

:05:47. > :05:51.overwhelmed with the level of support local people are giving

:05:52. > :05:56.because there are still 53 people who are injured in hospitals. They

:05:57. > :06:01.need treating. The priority today is living after those who are still

:06:02. > :06:05.injured, trying to get them the attention and help they need,

:06:06. > :06:08.looking after the families of the victims and looking after the

:06:09. > :06:13.investigation. The investigation taking place at a federal level.

:06:14. > :06:19.President Obama will speak in an hour and he will address the issue

:06:20. > :06:27.of the investigation and what the White House response is. I broke

:06:28. > :06:32.into the from their point of view that the president speaks to what

:06:33. > :06:36.the White House is doing in terms of this investigation, reassuring the

:06:37. > :06:42.American public on issues of 70 but also empathise with the degree of

:06:43. > :06:45.fear that there is around the issue of terrorism and national security.

:06:46. > :06:52.We will hear from the president. That is the only White House

:06:53. > :06:55.official we will hear from today, but they have to explain to the

:06:56. > :07:00.American public what happened here as far as they know, given that this

:07:01. > :07:05.is a very new investigation and what the White House is trying to do to

:07:06. > :07:18.make the country safer in light of this. That they bring in David

:07:19. > :07:21.Cross. -- let me bring in. It is only in this investigation but what

:07:22. > :07:28.is your understanding about what you so far? The shooter has been

:07:29. > :07:34.identified as Omar Martine. In an early conference this morning he had

:07:35. > :07:39.an FBI official saying that only leads suggest he was motivated by

:07:40. > :07:45.jihadist ideology but they also caveat is that by saying that it was

:07:46. > :07:52.early in the process. We have a profile of him emerging. One should

:07:53. > :07:55.be cautious because there is a fog of war effect is close to a violent

:07:56. > :08:01.incident. There are several people in the country named Omar Mateen.

:08:02. > :08:08.There is no official picture gets I would be cautious about people

:08:09. > :08:13.having some mistaken identity in the process and that information could

:08:14. > :08:18.slow things down. We have had one photograph that has been released.

:08:19. > :08:23.You are an expert in counterterrorism. You have been

:08:24. > :08:27.involved in investigations. What are officials looking for, what are the

:08:28. > :08:32.critical things in these first few hours after an attack that they will

:08:33. > :08:38.try to understand the smart the photograph is from his MySpace page.

:08:39. > :08:42.I could post you to several other photographs. In looking at the

:08:43. > :08:46.MySpace page, there is nothing that identifies him with Florida so I

:08:47. > :08:50.still have a question about whether people are jumping to conclusions.

:08:51. > :08:55.That said, everyone is reaching the same conclusion. Authorities with

:08:56. > :09:02.the lifting for his electronic trail. One of the highest priorities

:09:03. > :09:06.is, does he have associates who, if the terrorism league ends up being

:09:07. > :09:11.the truest one, are their associates who could pose a danger to the

:09:12. > :09:16.community? How deeply does this go? Who knew? Why did he get his

:09:17. > :09:20.weapons? They will pursue those questions in terms of honing in on a

:09:21. > :09:24.motive but also protecting the public from anything else that could

:09:25. > :09:34.pose an immediate danger to them. Step of this, we will hear now...

:09:35. > :09:40.What is the scene down there at the moment? I have just arrived here a

:09:41. > :09:44.few minutes ago. If I just move the camera down at that, there is a

:09:45. > :09:50.police cordoned here, lots of media as well. It is about two or three

:09:51. > :09:56.blocks from where I am standing at the nightclub is out. As you have

:09:57. > :10:02.been reporting, it is clear on the ground here, there is a state of

:10:03. > :10:05.emergency here and the police investigation, which continues, many

:10:06. > :10:10.of the victims are still unidentified. Agencies here are

:10:11. > :10:18.urging people to call their heartland, to get in touch with them

:10:19. > :10:21.and, as you can probably hear, there are police helicopters.

:10:22. > :10:27.Understandably, a huge police presence here in a city that now has

:10:28. > :10:31.a state of emergency. There have been calls for people to give blood.

:10:32. > :10:35.What has the response been down there and what do we know about the

:10:36. > :10:42.status of the people who are injured and in hospital? On the local radio

:10:43. > :10:48.station, as I was travelling here on a taxi, I heard people talking about

:10:49. > :10:53.the blood donations. I heard people saying there are very long queues, I

:10:54. > :10:58.haven't witnessed them, but long queues of people donating blood at

:10:59. > :11:02.nearby that banks and have two confirmed this but I heard as well

:11:03. > :11:07.that they have lifted a ban on gay people donating blood, which from

:11:08. > :11:12.what they were saying on the local radio, has been in place. That has

:11:13. > :11:19.been lifted. Anyone can give blood here in Orlando. As you have been

:11:20. > :11:23.talking about in your coverage, as well as the 50 who have lost their

:11:24. > :11:27.lives in this attack, there are more than 50 who are injured and in a

:11:28. > :11:33.critical condition. We are expecting an update from the FBI and from the

:11:34. > :11:37.local hospitals in about an hour or so after the president has spoken.

:11:38. > :11:42.We will hopefully get a clearer idea about how those people who are being

:11:43. > :11:45.treated in hospital are getting on. We understand the White House

:11:46. > :11:54.contacted hospital officials to allow them to restrict, rather to

:11:55. > :11:58.lift restrictions, on contacting family members. This me a sense of

:11:59. > :12:05.the context. Orlando, a lot of people watching this associated with

:12:06. > :12:09.amusement parks. It might have been on holiday there. Give me some sort

:12:10. > :12:15.of feel for where you are and the neighbourhood this club this is

:12:16. > :12:21.Orlando. As you say, a place the families visit to visit Disney and

:12:22. > :12:27.other attractions here like universal studios. It is a family

:12:28. > :12:31.focused place, somewhere that you would not expect this to happen but

:12:32. > :12:35.we say that every time these things happen because this is such a

:12:36. > :12:41.tragedy of huge proportions. The worst mass shooting to happen in the

:12:42. > :12:44.United States. To give you an idea, usually on flights to Orlando, if we

:12:45. > :12:51.travel to Orlando, you'll see lots families. Is seen as a very safe,

:12:52. > :12:56.family friendly area. Very popular with people from around the world,

:12:57. > :13:00.including from places like the UK. It is a part of America that many

:13:01. > :13:09.people from outside Disney World and have heard of. What is the security

:13:10. > :13:14.situation there at the moment? You mentioned there is a police cordon.

:13:15. > :13:17.As she flew into Orlando, was there a step up police presence? Does

:13:18. > :13:24.there seem to be extra security on the streets? I am just holding my

:13:25. > :13:30.phone, but if I can switch this around, if it is possible to do so,

:13:31. > :13:36.I will give you a quick tour of what we can see. That is the end of the

:13:37. > :13:41.road. Two police officers there. They are not letting anyone down,

:13:42. > :13:46.then a large number of the media and police tape. What media just around

:13:47. > :13:50.here but if you've are down this road, there are a number of cars and

:13:51. > :13:55.I was told by the sheriffs I was talking to, that is the governor, he

:13:56. > :14:02.is leaving, he has been talking to the media here. He is speeding off

:14:03. > :14:07.in his car. There are lots of people, investigators, I would FBI

:14:08. > :14:11.agents and police officers who are the owners of those cars which are

:14:12. > :14:17.further down. Just from where you are looking at this image now, it is

:14:18. > :14:23.about two blocks on the left that is where the nightclub is. The cord and

:14:24. > :14:28.does run quite far back. I have covered a number of these kinds of

:14:29. > :14:32.shootings and they do Nicholas stand very far back because this is an

:14:33. > :14:36.active police investigation. It is difficult to really know what is

:14:37. > :14:41.going on but it is clear from the skill of this and how far we have

:14:42. > :14:45.been made to stand fact that this is a huge police operation. When the

:14:46. > :14:51.police delivered a press conference they said they had help from forces

:14:52. > :14:55.across the United States. I can imagine now, given that there is a

:14:56. > :14:59.possibility this is a terror attack and they are investigating it as a

:15:00. > :15:05.possible loan as enquiry that as well as that there will be an

:15:06. > :15:10.international dimension to the investigation. As I said just then,

:15:11. > :15:16.we are expecting to hear from the FBI in the next hour or so. I will

:15:17. > :15:20.show you, there is a lecturer in here which is where the police press

:15:21. > :15:26.conference will take place. It says Creech, pride and commitment for

:15:27. > :15:30.Orlando. This is where the police press conference will take place and

:15:31. > :15:35.just to be many viewers who might be joining us, I am at the scene, a few

:15:36. > :15:41.street away from where the deadliest mass shooting in America took place

:15:42. > :15:45.yesterday just after TV-am and 50 people are confirmed dead. More than

:15:46. > :15:51.50 have been injured in this attack and there are about 30 people who

:15:52. > :15:57.were rescued after what police describe as a hostage type incident.

:15:58. > :16:02.More people walking toward the scene but we are still behind this police

:16:03. > :16:06.cordon, waiting to get more information from the police. I will

:16:07. > :16:12.just move the background so we can share that with our viewers. They

:16:13. > :16:15.did say earlier, police said that they have secured the nightclub.

:16:16. > :16:20.They don't believe there are any devices or explosives in the

:16:21. > :16:25.nightclub and as far as they are aware, there is no imminent threat

:16:26. > :16:32.of another attack. America is on a state of the Germans. I understand,

:16:33. > :16:36.as high as it was after 911. That is something that is already in place.

:16:37. > :16:45.The sense of an imminent threat here in Orlando after the horrific

:16:46. > :16:51.attack. As we just heard, we are bringing you special coverage of the

:16:52. > :16:57.attack in Orlando over night in a nightclub. 50 people were killed, 53

:16:58. > :17:02.are in hospital. Officials are appealing for blood donations to

:17:03. > :17:07.treat those who are still in hospital. The governor of Florida

:17:08. > :17:13.has said this is clearly an act of terror. They are treating it as

:17:14. > :17:16.such. Senate some of Florida has said that he understands from

:17:17. > :17:21.Richmond officials that the shooter who has been named as Omar Mateen

:17:22. > :17:25.had sympathies with Islamic State. That is what we know at the minute

:17:26. > :17:30.in this investigation. President Obama will speak in about 15 minutes

:17:31. > :17:36.and people get more of the White House reaction. You can see a

:17:37. > :17:43.photograph of the alleged shooter, Omar Mateen, which was taken from

:17:44. > :17:47.social media. Let me bring the counterterrorism expert. In terms of

:17:48. > :17:51.the investigation, you were the steps and the processes. There has

:17:52. > :17:57.been quite a lot of discussion about the difference between whether he

:17:58. > :18:01.was the shooter and, again, I stress this is the legend sugar, details

:18:02. > :18:04.are still coming in to us, the investigation is in early stages so

:18:05. > :18:09.we don't know much about this case, but explain to us the difference

:18:10. > :18:14.between whether an attack in this instance, the shooter had sympathies

:18:15. > :18:21.with Islamic extremist organisations or somehow was linked to and

:18:22. > :18:24.directed by Islamic extremist organisations which work what is the

:18:25. > :18:28.critical difference there in terms of national security and

:18:29. > :18:31.counterterrorism? The critical difference is that if he had

:18:32. > :18:36.sympathies, it means he was inspired by them. He didn't necessarily have

:18:37. > :18:41.connections with the organisation, wasn't directed. If it is linked to

:18:42. > :18:46.or directed back, that is much stronger. If it is linked to, there

:18:47. > :18:52.is a connection to the organisation. It could've been an electronic

:18:53. > :18:55.connection, a physical connection, local networks or overseas travel.

:18:56. > :19:02.That has happened in some cases, not necessarily this one. Directed by is

:19:03. > :19:06.even stronger. The organisation had foreknowledge and either give its

:19:07. > :19:11.authorisation or instructed him to attack a specific target. Earlier

:19:12. > :19:17.this year, last year rather, we saw an attack against a drop Muhammad

:19:18. > :19:24.cartoon contest. That had strong linkages to the Islamic State

:19:25. > :19:27.network. There was for knowledge which is clear from all the

:19:28. > :19:31.information that has come out. In this case, they are looking for what

:19:32. > :19:35.is the degree of connection? If he was part of a local logistics

:19:36. > :19:39.network or something of the sword, you can bet authorities were alone

:19:40. > :19:43.in and learn everything they can about the network. One final thing

:19:44. > :19:48.is that when you look at terrorism cases, there is a strong bias in

:19:49. > :19:53.favour of not finding a network connection. The New York Times had a

:19:54. > :19:58.good piece on this year. They look at European attacks over the years

:19:59. > :20:02.and found that going back to 2012, there was a number of attacks with a

:20:03. > :20:05.stronger connection to the Islamic State that work and was originally

:20:06. > :20:09.seen. That is worth bearing in mind as you look at the Lone Wolf versus

:20:10. > :20:17.network terrorism argument that might play out. Two questions, what

:20:18. > :20:21.can you surmise from the amount of ammunition that this shooter had

:20:22. > :20:27.come 50 people killed, 53 more injured and from reports from his

:20:28. > :20:33.father that he had a future of the LGBT community? The discussion with

:20:34. > :20:42.his father is very telling. His father talked... He talked about two

:20:43. > :20:45.men kissing in a restaurant and went into a rage saying they are doing

:20:46. > :20:49.this in front of my kids. His father mentioned about being in the

:20:50. > :20:56.bathroom and Cink men kissing. Basically, it is clear that Omar

:20:57. > :21:02.Mateen had seen LGBT type activity around his family and was enraged by

:21:03. > :21:06.that. That is something that will go to his overall motive. In terms of

:21:07. > :21:11.the ammunition, ammunition isn't that hard to get. When you click on

:21:12. > :21:16.a weapon of this kind, the thing that takes the utmost skill isn't

:21:17. > :21:23.shooting at, that is not difficult, it is the prelude in between. In

:21:24. > :21:28.this act space and given the kind of weapon he had, he might have had

:21:29. > :21:32.time. We don't know how much skill and we don't know if the ammunition

:21:33. > :21:36.should have given people a heads up that this was happening. For someone

:21:37. > :21:39.who goes to a shooting range, it is not unusual to stock an enormous

:21:40. > :21:45.amount of ammunition just for your own practice shooting. Thank you for

:21:46. > :21:51.joining us. I should say that Senator Bob Casey has already just

:21:52. > :21:54.called for the banning of the type of weapon that was used in this

:21:55. > :22:02.attack. We will hear more from President Obama in about ten

:22:03. > :22:10.minutes. For the moment, but is it from Washington. Back to the studio

:22:11. > :22:15.in London. Just to recap our main news this hour, 50 people have been

:22:16. > :22:21.killed at a nightclub in Orlando. This after a shooting there. This is

:22:22. > :22:26.the worst mass shooting in modern American history. A gunman opened

:22:27. > :22:31.fire at a gay club at the city. He was later killed by police. Scores

:22:32. > :22:36.of people have been injured, many seriously. The suspect has been

:22:37. > :22:42.named as Omar Mateen. He is a 29-year-old man. In the last few

:22:43. > :22:47.minutes, and Orlando city commissioner, Paddy Sheehan, has

:22:48. > :22:54.delivered this statement on behalf of the LGBT community in the city.

:22:55. > :22:59.We as a gay lesbian and bisexual community are people who love. If

:23:00. > :23:04.you think you will start at the heart of a spike in this horrible,

:23:05. > :23:08.violent act. We love. We are as resilient as an ER the people. We

:23:09. > :23:13.will have people lined up behind those blood banks, we will show what

:23:14. > :23:18.the good part of humanity is, not the bad part. You cannot get your

:23:19. > :23:22.message across by killing people. You are thugs and burglars and we

:23:23. > :23:28.will show you that we are a better community and the Americans than

:23:29. > :23:33.this. Thank you. The governor of Florida briefed reporters about the

:23:34. > :23:37.shootings a little earlier. This is clearly an act of terrorism. It is

:23:38. > :23:49.sickening. It should make every American angry. The first thing you

:23:50. > :23:53.think about is, you cannot imagine what these families are going

:23:54. > :23:58.through. The families are still waiting to find out what happened to

:23:59. > :24:03.their loved ones. The most important thing we can do right now as

:24:04. > :24:08.law-enforcement is to do our job and other health care workers are doing

:24:09. > :24:15.everything they can for the victims. We need to pray for everybody. Thank

:24:16. > :24:24.God we have the law enforcement we have. The Orange County police

:24:25. > :24:26.Department, the sheriff's Department of the federal agencies, everybody

:24:27. > :24:32.has coordinated their activities very well. It is the road, the

:24:33. > :24:37.individuals who went into the building known there was an active

:24:38. > :24:41.shooter. We need to be very thankful that there are individuals willing

:24:42. > :24:47.to see if -- risked their lives to save other lives and they clearly

:24:48. > :24:53.did save other lives. For anybody who thinks that they should do this,

:24:54. > :25:02.I can tell you the state of Florida, local law enforcement, we will be

:25:03. > :25:07.swift in our justice. We have great law enforcement in our state. They

:25:08. > :25:13.will always do the right thing. I declared a state of emergency for

:25:14. > :25:18.Orange County. We will provide all the resources that anyone needs but

:25:19. > :25:22.I can tell you everybody will work together and that is one thing great

:25:23. > :25:26.about our state. Orlando, Orange County and I want to thank the

:25:27. > :25:31.federal agencies for their support. Right now, our hearts and prayers go

:25:32. > :25:35.out to everybody who has been impacted by this. I cannot imagine a

:25:36. > :25:38.family member who is still waiting to find out what happened to their

:25:39. > :25:43.loved one. It has to be heart-wrenching. The authorities

:25:44. > :25:48.have identified the man who they believe carried out the Orlando

:25:49. > :25:53.shootings. The gunman was Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old resident of

:25:54. > :25:58.Florida. He was a United States citizen of Afghan descent. His

:25:59. > :26:01.father has apologised to the victims. Supporters of the Islamic

:26:02. > :26:06.State group have praised the attack on social media. Mateen used an

:26:07. > :26:13.assault rifle to carry out the shootings. With media in the studio

:26:14. > :26:16.is our security correspondent. Tell us what the authorities will be

:26:17. > :26:19.doing now in terms of the suspect and finding out whether he was a

:26:20. > :26:24.lone wolf or linked to other networks? They will be looking

:26:25. > :26:29.closely to understand his motivation and connections. That will involve

:26:30. > :26:33.going back over his biography, his communications, his contacts, his

:26:34. > :26:38.social media, trying to understand whether this was in any way linked

:26:39. > :26:42.to so-called Islamic State or not. We have heard from his family. But

:26:43. > :26:47.one account, this was a very personal grudge. He saw some gay

:26:48. > :26:51.people in prison and was motivated by this and yet there have been

:26:52. > :26:56.reports, not confirmed, that he might have identified himself with

:26:57. > :27:00.Islamic State. That has not been confirmed but I think authorities

:27:01. > :27:04.will try to understand the mix between the personal motivation and

:27:05. > :27:09.this affiliation or ideological link. You could have both, you could

:27:10. > :27:12.have a mix of the two. They will want to know if this was a

:27:13. > :27:17.self-starter, someone who is self-directed or if he had any

:27:18. > :27:21.connections to any kind of external terrorist group you might have given

:27:22. > :27:27.him -- training or direction. He was heavily armed. This was a

:27:28. > :27:32.well-planned attack. What does that tell us about the suspect? People

:27:33. > :27:37.will want to know if he was trained in anyway or did he receive some

:27:38. > :27:43.kind of external weapons training in the US or abroad? That would be one

:27:44. > :27:46.issue, trying to understand that and whether that contributed to how

:27:47. > :27:49.lethal his attack was or whether it was simply the fact of having

:27:50. > :27:53.automatic weapons in such a confined space with so many people as this

:27:54. > :28:03.nightclub. For now, thank you very much. Before we go back to

:28:04. > :28:08.Washington, we know that President Obama will be speaking shortly, in

:28:09. > :28:13.about five minutes. We will go to the press conference when we have

:28:14. > :28:18.it, but let's bring back in Jakati K in Washington for us. What has been

:28:19. > :28:24.the reaction of politicians where you are to the worst mass shooting

:28:25. > :28:28.in American history? We are expecting to hear from the president

:28:29. > :28:32.in about five minutes and what the White House is going to have to

:28:33. > :28:39.address is national security issues, fear amongst the public about

:28:40. > :28:43.terrorism, access to guns and ammunition and an attack against the

:28:44. > :28:48.LGBT community. This will have to be a very carefully crafted statement

:28:49. > :28:53.that we get from President Obama. This comes in the middle of a heated

:28:54. > :28:59.political election campaign and we have heard from the presumptive

:29:00. > :29:03.Democratic and Republican nominees. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

:29:04. > :29:09.You can think expressing sympathy with the victims and their families,

:29:10. > :29:13.but not talking about the issue of terrorism or gun control. Donald

:29:14. > :29:20.Trump talking about the need to make America stronger and more vigilant.

:29:21. > :29:25.When will we get tough, smart and vigilant? That was a tweet that can

:29:26. > :29:29.out from Donald Trump. A different approach there from Donald Trump and

:29:30. > :29:33.Hillary Clinton. I think that, on the whole, the response from

:29:34. > :29:40.American political establishment has been to focus on the victims, the

:29:41. > :29:43.attack, the families of those who died and left this investigation

:29:44. > :29:49.take its course and law enforcement do their jobs. Some have talked

:29:50. > :29:54.about gun-control, one Democratic senator, Bob Casey, called for a ban

:29:55. > :30:00.on the type of weapon used in this attack. There will also be a lot of

:30:01. > :30:04.focus on the course of the investigation. When attacks of this

:30:05. > :30:07.nature happen in America, there is a distinction between whether it was

:30:08. > :30:12.associated with Islamic extremism and classed as a Islamic act of

:30:13. > :30:18.terrorism and other attacks, where the focus has been on gun control.

:30:19. > :30:23.This time and then now, this new element that we haven't seen before,

:30:24. > :30:26.an attack of this scale and targeted against the LGBT community. That

:30:27. > :30:32.makes for a complicated picture for law

:30:33. > :30:40.People appear to be responding to a call for blood in Orlando. People

:30:41. > :30:46.asked to go and give blood in local hospitals. What more do we know

:30:47. > :30:53.about how the hospitals are coping with the survivors of this attack?

:30:54. > :30:57.The hospitals have been over Rand by the same -- the sheer number, they

:30:58. > :31:04.have had to take in the dead and the injured. Doctors have been flown

:31:05. > :31:09.into Orlando hospital, surgeons to try to help with this huge overload

:31:10. > :31:18.of people that need attention right now. The public has responded with a

:31:19. > :31:24.huge oak roaring in the Kim the date of sympathy for the LGBT community

:31:25. > :31:29.and the victims. The blood banks are over Rand with queues of people who

:31:30. > :31:34.are wanting to give blood and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida has

:31:35. > :31:40.called on people to give blood when they can to help the injured, so a

:31:41. > :31:45.big outpouring of sympathy and effective blood donations for the

:31:46. > :31:52.injured and flying doctors into that immunity to treat the injured. We

:31:53. > :31:56.are getting more pictures of this awful attacks that happened

:31:57. > :32:02.overnight in Orlando. This is the gunman of this attack. The source

:32:03. > :32:12.out the leave to be responsible for the worst mass shooting in US

:32:13. > :32:18.history. Terrorism obviously on the minds of people in the US. A state

:32:19. > :32:21.of emergency has been declared. This will feed into the fear that these

:32:22. > :32:29.sorts of attacks can take place sometimes at whim. Of course.

:32:30. > :32:33.Terrorism works because it creates terror, not necessarily because of

:32:34. > :32:41.the number of people killed although this is the single biggest mass

:32:42. > :32:46.shooting in America, 50 people, we have not had numbers like that here

:32:47. > :32:50.before. There are terrorism is already high in America and even

:32:51. > :32:57.before this people were frightened of the prospect of an attack even

:32:58. > :33:01.though the actual numbers has been relatively low compared to European

:33:02. > :33:05.numbers, so this is bound to exacerbate that. President Bob

:33:06. > :33:10.armour will address the nation in the few minutes. He has had to

:33:11. > :33:18.address the nation after mass shootings, as he said, too many

:33:19. > :33:23.times. Arora, Tucson, Sandy Hook, Charleston, just to name a few of

:33:24. > :33:29.them, he has had to go before the invasion every time and addressed

:33:30. > :33:35.the country about attacks by shooters on American soil. This time

:33:36. > :33:40.it also has the added complication for the White House and for

:33:41. > :33:45.investigators of potential sympathies with Islamic extremism

:33:46. > :33:51.and the issue, as some American politicians are raising, of gun

:33:52. > :33:57.control. We have seen President of Balmer at his most emotional talking

:33:58. > :34:00.about the children killed at Sandy Hook, the sixth and seven-year-olds

:34:01. > :34:07.who lost their lives. He has of field to the American public forum

:34:08. > :34:13.gun control in this country, tighter restrictions on access to guns but

:34:14. > :34:20.those appeals went nowhere. In fact, some states that implemented

:34:21. > :34:24.gun-control after Sandy Hook have since repealed those laws, so the

:34:25. > :34:30.prospect of this president getting tighter than controls, he has

:34:31. > :34:35.already told the BBC this is one of the greatest regrets of his

:34:36. > :34:44.presidency and he must talk about another mass shooting in the

:34:45. > :34:53.country. Let's go to Miami, we can go to the BBC's correspondent there

:34:54. > :34:58.at the scene. Can you give us some sense, I think we are getting

:34:59. > :35:03.details now of some of those who work killed in the shooting. Have

:35:04. > :35:11.you heard any more about the victims? At parent Lee the disco was

:35:12. > :35:19.having a laugh and night so it appears several members of the

:35:20. > :35:25.Hispanic community, often of Puerto Rican origin, some of the

:35:26. > :35:29.unconfirmed reports say a lot of them are Hispanic. Beyond that we

:35:30. > :35:35.are still waiting to hear from the authorities. And do we know anything

:35:36. > :35:40.more about the people who were still in hospital, the numbers and

:35:41. > :35:47.conditions of those still in hospital? Before the initial

:35:48. > :35:53.information there were more than 50 people injured, some seriously, the

:35:54. > :35:58.authorities were suggesting the death toll could go up because many

:35:59. > :36:05.of them were facing critical conditions in hospital. What the

:36:06. > :36:11.reaction been where you were in Miami? We were talking and moment

:36:12. > :36:19.into about how attacks like the committee. Are you sensing that

:36:20. > :36:26.where you are? Absolutely. May Army feels very close to or Lando, as

:36:27. > :36:30.other people have said, or Lando is a very family oriented place and

:36:31. > :36:34.school vacations just began in the Army and a lot of families were

:36:35. > :36:42.looking forward to taking their children to the theme parks, so it

:36:43. > :36:45.strikes a lot of people here in the community but they are trying to

:36:46. > :36:55.project a message of solidarity in the string of this kind of incident

:36:56. > :37:00.of violence, thoroughly the worst shooting in contemporary American

:37:01. > :37:09.history but it feels very close here in Miami. Thank you for joining us,

:37:10. > :37:15.some sense of the victims, who they work, the people who were still in

:37:16. > :37:19.hospital, the need for blood and the response to blood bags, which is

:37:20. > :37:27.been overwhelming in the Orlando area. We will expect the president

:37:28. > :37:32.to address the nation in a few minutes and we will bring you full

:37:33. > :37:40.coverage when he does. For now, back to you in London.

:37:41. > :37:50.If you are just joining us here on BBC News, the main story this are...

:37:51. > :37:55.50 people have been killed by a gunman at a nightclub in Orlando.

:37:56. > :38:04.The suspect has been identified as a US citizen, Omar Mateen, 29, and we

:38:05. > :38:13.can now take you to sit Bill Nelson, who represents Florida. He spoke to

:38:14. > :38:17.reporters a short time ago. This morning Senator I am fine stein,

:38:18. > :38:22.chair of the intelligence community and I have both been on the phone

:38:23. > :38:33.with the counter terrorism Centre of the FBI. It is confirmed that the

:38:34. > :38:42.shooter is from Fort Paris, Florida. That is some 90 miles to the

:38:43. > :38:49.south-east of Orlando, on the coast. Obviously he knew what he was doing

:38:50. > :38:55.with that and considering the ammunition as well as the weapons

:38:56. > :39:03.that he had. I asked the Earth ERA if there was any connection to

:39:04. > :39:11.Islamic radicalism. There appears to be, but they are naturally cautious

:39:12. > :39:19.and waiting throughout to see if this is the facts emerge. I have

:39:20. > :39:26.checked with intelligence staff and Dave believe that there is some

:39:27. > :39:37.connection to ices, but I might say that is not official -- Isis. I

:39:38. > :39:41.asked the FBI what I should convey and because of the nature of this

:39:42. > :39:48.shooting, they have asked me to ask anybody that knows anything about

:39:49. > :39:54.the shooter, especially in the Fort Paris, Saint Lucie County area, to

:39:55. > :40:02.please come forth with the information. This appears to be,

:40:03. > :40:09.unfortunately, the largest mass shooting, and act of terrorism but

:40:10. > :40:21.the facts, wait cannot say that totally yet. We are certainly having

:40:22. > :40:27.our share of violence, in two successive nights we have had

:40:28. > :40:34.killings. The singer performing live at the Plaza, shot the own two

:40:35. > :40:41.nights ago and then this horrific act, so what is happening to our

:40:42. > :40:48.country? We are going to have to dig down deep and ask ourselves who we

:40:49. > :40:55.are as a people. We have to think of ourselves as they comment on a

:40:56. > :40:59.monitor of Americans, not a hyphenated American or off on some

:41:00. > :41:04.cause, and that is what we have to explore it deep inside at this

:41:05. > :41:14.point. That is the information I have. I will share more as I get it.

:41:15. > :41:20.Based on what intelligence told you, what is the connection to ices? I

:41:21. > :41:27.will get that information to you once I have told but I am just

:41:28. > :41:34.passing it off, from credible services, that information is not

:41:35. > :41:41.from the FBI. That is from intelligence committee staff. But

:41:42. > :41:49.the death VI information for Senator Feinstein and myself is directly

:41:50. > :41:56.from the assistant director of the counterterrorism centre in

:41:57. > :42:01.Washington. We expect in a statement from President of Balmer in the next

:42:02. > :42:08.few knots. We will bring that to you when we can. This is our main story

:42:09. > :42:13.this are, 50 people have been shot dead at a nightclub in Orlando,

:42:14. > :42:21.Florida. The suspect has been named as Omar Mateen, 29 years old. He

:42:22. > :42:28.killed 50 people or assists acted killing 50 people at that game

:42:29. > :42:34.nightclub in the city and the suspect was later killed by police.

:42:35. > :42:40.Mike College Tom Duncan has been speaking to one of Eric, who was in

:42:41. > :42:53.the Pulse nightclub when the shooting happened.

:42:54. > :43:00.We started hearing the shooting after ours, we heard this shooting

:43:01. > :43:05.with the cop outside and the shooter. Once he gets inside he is

:43:06. > :43:11.blocking the exit and nobody can get to that exit. I couldn't get a good

:43:12. > :43:18.look at his face but we heard loud banging outside and the shop is

:43:19. > :43:23.down. After that the lights were off and we couldn't see anything so we

:43:24. > :43:28.had blood everywhere, people on the floor and we jumped the fence and

:43:29. > :43:32.once we were outside the cops were surrounding the building, the

:43:33. > :43:37.helicopter was on top of the building. The cops wouldn't let

:43:38. > :43:42.other people leave and it wasn't until five I am when the shooter

:43:43. > :43:48.finally got shot and people were hiding in the dressing rooms. When

:43:49. > :43:55.you got out with your life, what were you told? How did you get away

:43:56. > :44:00.from the scene? We were with the cops. The block was surrounded by

:44:01. > :44:07.cops and they wouldn't let us leave because they wanted to question us

:44:08. > :44:12.about who the shooter was, it wasn't until 5am that we left and the

:44:13. > :44:18.shooter was caught and people were saved from the inside, but he killed

:44:19. > :44:22.a lot of people while he was inside holding those people hostage and

:44:23. > :44:29.people were hiding in the dressing rooms. Is this a relatively safe

:44:30. > :44:36.club? Have their been incidences of violence in your time? Never. Give

:44:37. > :44:40.us a sense of friend government started, was there any warning?

:44:41. > :44:50.us was at two a.m., once we heard loud shootings outside, we knew

:44:51. > :44:58.everybody was up and running to the exit, I ran out with my friend and

:44:59. > :45:01.he was at the front exit blocking everybody, people were trying to

:45:02. > :45:06.jump on top of them and get through the back and that is where the

:45:07. > :45:10.lights went out and there was blood everywhere and everyone was

:45:11. > :45:19.panicking. Let's bring you some breaking news. Rogers is quoting the

:45:20. > :45:24.LA Times news feed say that a man has been arrested with assault

:45:25. > :45:31.rifles, ammunition and possible explosives. The suspect is reported

:45:32. > :45:36.to have said that he was heading to LA Gay pride festival, Gay pride

:45:37. > :45:43.festivals happening in several cities across the US. The candidates

:45:44. > :45:52.running for the US residency have been reacting to the shooting.

:45:53. > :45:54.Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump tweeted "Really bad

:45:55. > :45:56.Police investigating possible terrorism.

:45:57. > :46:00.Hilary Clinton has added: Woke up to hear the devastating

:46:01. > :46:03.As we wait for more information, my thoughts are with those affected

:46:04. > :46:09.Her fellow Democrat Bernie Sanders has also been speaking.

:46:10. > :46:20.It's horrific, it's unthinkable and our hopes go out to all those who

:46:21. > :46:25.were shot that they can recover, and 25 years ago I believed in this

:46:26. > :46:30.country we should not be selling automatic weapons designed to kill

:46:31. > :46:34.people, and we have to do everything we can to make sure guns do not fall

:46:35. > :46:39.into the hands of people who should not have them, criminals, the

:46:40. > :46:46.mentally ill, so that struggle continues. More reaction now from

:46:47. > :46:51.leading figures to the news from Orlando. President Hollande France

:46:52. > :46:58.has issued a statement condemning the killing and expressing the full

:46:59. > :47:03.support of France with the American people at this time. Republican

:47:04. > :47:10.Senator Mark Rubio says confronting the threat of radicalisation is one

:47:11. > :47:16.of the greatest counterterror challenges our law enforcement

:47:17. > :47:21.community faces. The Italian Prime Minister Matera Renzi has tweeted at

:47:22. > :47:27.our heart is with our American brothers. We expect President Obama

:47:28. > :47:32.to be speaking shortly, we will bring you that press conference when

:47:33. > :47:37.we can but first let's go to Kathie Kay in Washington. Bernie Sanders

:47:38. > :47:45.was quite clear about his thoughts on gun control that you said earlier

:47:46. > :47:49.that this attack is very much a terrorism related attacks and

:47:50. > :47:56.perhaps the public's opinions might be next on this. That is what

:47:57. > :48:04.officials in Florida are describing this as, an act of terror, and it is

:48:05. > :48:08.true that the American public make some kind of distinction in these

:48:09. > :48:16.cases between gun attacks that are driven by more than two terrorism

:48:17. > :48:23.and Islamic extremism and those that are home-grown or have not got links

:48:24. > :48:28.to Islamic extremism. President Obama will address the nation. I

:48:29. > :48:34.know from e-mails I am having with his staff that they are crafting

:48:35. > :48:38.this address carefully. It is complex because there are so many

:48:39. > :48:45.factors that appear to be involved. We understand the shooter had

:48:46. > :48:53.sympathies, saunter Ben Nelson has been told with Islamic groups and

:48:54. > :48:59.Islamic State, his father told us he had a hatred of the LGBT community

:49:00. > :49:04.and got furious when he sought to men kissing in a restaurant, then

:49:05. > :49:09.there is the access to weapons and ammunition and the president, at the

:49:10. > :49:15.same time as addressing those issues, has to reassure an American

:49:16. > :49:21.public that is anxious about national security and terrorism on

:49:22. > :49:27.US soil, so that is why there is some delay from the White House, we

:49:28. > :49:32.expected the president 20 minutes ago but we know they are watching

:49:33. > :49:36.his words carefully and that will be the statement we get from the White

:49:37. > :49:42.House this morning. We should put this in context. President Obama has

:49:43. > :49:47.addressed the American public 12 times after mass shootings in this

:49:48. > :49:53.country. He has tried to get gun control group in America. In January

:49:54. > :49:59.she grew cheerful during an address in which he spoke about executive

:50:00. > :50:04.orders he was taking to try to limit the access people had to guns and

:50:05. > :50:12.implement some kind of gun control, it was fairly minor but he was

:50:13. > :50:15.getting emotional as recently as January, then there is the terrorism

:50:16. > :50:22.investigations side that will be going on. That is where we are

:50:23. > :50:26.today, the investigation will be the most urgent part of this attack. Did

:50:27. > :50:34.the shooter have links to other people? What is on his computer and

:50:35. > :50:39.phone? Was he acting alone or did other people know what he was

:50:40. > :50:43.planning? Those are the initial stages this investigation will take

:50:44. > :50:48.as FBI and counterterror experts trawl through everything that is

:50:49. > :50:55.known about this individual and every piece of electronic

:50:56. > :51:00.communication he has had. How is the country reacting to such a deadly

:51:01. > :51:06.mass shooting? If you are as ago we were told 20 people had been killed

:51:07. > :51:14.and then that they told John to 50, making it the worst in US history.

:51:15. > :51:19.It has shot the nation. I have covered too many of these mass

:51:20. > :51:25.shootings in America. I covered 911 and the shooting in San Bernardino,

:51:26. > :51:32.but we haven't seen a shooting in with so many people have been killed

:51:33. > :51:37.as this. All over the media it is the only thing on television, on

:51:38. > :51:42.social media, it's what politicians are responding to, it's what the

:51:43. > :51:48.political candidates are responding to in very different ways, Hillary

:51:49. > :51:51.Clinton and Donald from this morning, and it is bound to increase

:51:52. > :51:58.fears about terrorism in the country. Thank you. The authorities

:51:59. > :52:04.have identified the man who they believed carried out the attack in

:52:05. > :52:11.Orlando. He was Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old Florida resident, a US

:52:12. > :52:16.citizen of Afghan descent. His father has apologised to the Vic

:52:17. > :52:24.Dunnes. Supporters of the Islamic State group have praised the attack

:52:25. > :52:29.on social media. Omar Mateen used an assault rifle to carry out the

:52:30. > :52:32.shootings. Earlier I spoke to our security correspondent Gordon

:52:33. > :52:41.Couric, who spoke about what authorities are doing to identify a

:52:42. > :52:47.motivation for the attack. They will be trying to understand his

:52:48. > :52:53.connections, so that will mean going back over his social media profile,

:52:54. > :52:54.trying to understand if this was linked to so-called Islamic State or

:52:55. > :53:12.not. We have heard from his father that

:53:13. > :53:19.this was to do with hatred of the gay community but we have also heard

:53:20. > :53:24.he had sympathy for Islamic groups, and authorities will be trying to

:53:25. > :53:29.understand, you could have a mix of the two and they will want to know

:53:30. > :53:33.whether this was a self-starter or if he had any connections to any

:53:34. > :53:41.external terror group who might have given him training or direction. He

:53:42. > :53:47.was heavily armed. We heard from the believes this was a well-planned

:53:48. > :53:51.attack. What does that tell us? People want to know if he was

:53:52. > :53:54.trained in anyway where did he received some kind of external

:53:55. > :54:01.weapons training in the US or abroad, so one issue will be trying

:54:02. > :54:06.to understand that and if that contributed to that the faulty of

:54:07. > :54:12.his attack or if it was having automatic weapons in a confined

:54:13. > :54:17.space like this nightclub. I want to bring you a picture that is online

:54:18. > :54:23.at the moment, believed to be the source of the gunmen's hose. We hope

:54:24. > :54:31.to bring that to you shortly -- house. That is on the BBC website

:54:32. > :54:39.and that victory there, the house of the suspected gunman who is believed

:54:40. > :54:44.to be Omar Mateen. Let's go back to Kathie Kay, who is in Washington. We

:54:45. > :54:54.are expect in President Alabama to speak. This press conference has

:54:55. > :54:57.been delayed. What is delaying it? This is an important statement for

:54:58. > :55:02.the president to make. It is the current time he will address the

:55:03. > :55:08.nation after a mass shooting and there is the added factor of whether

:55:09. > :55:18.the shooter had direct links or just sympathies with Islamic State. His

:55:19. > :55:21.hatred, his father is reporting, of the LGBT community, so the rock a

:55:22. > :55:26.lot of complex factors and the president and his team want to make

:55:27. > :55:32.sure they get the state went right as the investigation is in its early

:55:33. > :55:38.hours, still a lot we do not know about what happened in Orlando. We

:55:39. > :55:42.will have plenty more in the coming hours including that press

:55:43. > :55:47.conference that we are expecting from President Obama. He will

:55:48. > :55:53.address the nation after a shooting at a nightclub in Orlando. It is the

:55:54. > :56:01.worst mass shooting in modern US history. Plenty more on our website,

:56:02. > :56:05.eyewitness accounts, facts and figures about this attack in

:56:06. > :56:14.Orlando. Stay with us here on BBC News. There are still some heavy

:56:15. > :56:19.showers and thunderstorms about if you were heading out, so lots of

:56:20. > :56:24.spray and standing water. They have been especially potent but when we

:56:25. > :56:30.saw the sunshine in the second some big storms developed, so the drains

:56:31. > :56:48.have had a lot to cope with. The are tending to peter out.

:56:49. > :56:51.It will be a bit manky near the coast, fog and hill

:56:52. > :56:53.cloud around, so it will be another close night.

:56:54. > :56:55.Very little wind so there could be some fog, very few

:56:56. > :56:58.isobars over the country but we have low pressure,

:56:59. > :57:05.Some fog first thing in the morning, grey and damp, then it brightens up

:57:06. > :57:07.and the weather system fragments, but that provides the ingredients

:57:08. > :57:12.The best weather like we have seen at the

:57:13. > :57:15.weekend is for Northern Isles and perhaps on Monday

:57:16. > :57:19.Feeling fresh but it will stay murky near the North Sea coasts

:57:20. > :57:21.and elsewhere there is moisture and sunshine will trigger

:57:22. > :57:39.Remember that this humidity is at 90% plus so it will feel warm

:57:40. > :57:46.In any brightness it will feel pleasant.

:57:47. > :57:49.The showers fade on Monday evening and overnight and again we will sit

:57:50. > :57:53.mist and low cloud trapping the heat so it will be close again, just

:57:54. > :58:00.We are starting to see a change but Tuesday with low pressure

:58:01. > :58:02.slap bang across the country, we will once again

:58:03. > :58:08.Some coastal areas may see decent sunshine.

:58:09. > :58:15.Subtle changes on Wednesday as we see some fresh air

:58:16. > :58:23.coming into this Northern part of the country,

:58:24. > :58:26.but the sun is strong and there will be big downpours around.

:58:27. > :59:38.You can get the latest warnings from the website.

:59:39. > :59:47.Broken hearts, we stand with the people of Orlando who have ensured a

:59:48. > :59:52.terrible attack of. Although it is still early in the investigation, we

:59:53. > :59:58.know enough to save this was an act of terror and an active yet. As

:59:59. > :00:13.Americans, we are united in grief, in average and in resolve to defend

:00:14. > :00:18.our people. I just had a partnership with local law enforcement. The full

:00:19. > :00:24.resources of the federal government will be made available for this

:00:25. > :00:29.investigation. We are still learning all the facts. This is an open

:00:30. > :00:35.investigation. We have reached the definitive judgment on the precise

:00:36. > :00:39.motivations of the killer. The FBI is appropriately investigating this

:00:40. > :00:44.as an act of terrorism and I directed that we must spirit no

:00:45. > :00:48.effort to determine what, if any, inspiration or association this

:00:49. > :00:53.killer might have had with terrorist groups. What is clear is that he was

:00:54. > :00:57.a person filled with hatred. Over the coming days we will uncover a

:00:58. > :01:03.white how this happened and we will go where ever the facts lead us.

:01:04. > :01:09.This morning I spoke with my good friend, the Orlando Mayor and I

:01:10. > :01:14.conveyed to him the deepest condolences of the American people.

:01:15. > :01:18.This could have been any one of our communities so I told him that what

:01:19. > :01:22.ever help you and the people of Orlando need, they are going to get

:01:23. > :01:26.it. As a country, we will be there for the people of Orlando today,

:01:27. > :01:33.tomorrow and for all the days to come. We also express our profound

:01:34. > :01:39.gratitude to all the police and first responders who rushed into

:01:40. > :01:44.harms way. Their courage and professionalism saves lives. It kept

:01:45. > :01:48.the carnage from being even worse. It is the kind of sacrifice that our

:01:49. > :01:53.law enforcement professionals make every single day for all of us and

:01:54. > :01:57.we can never thank them enough. This is an especially heartbreaking day

:01:58. > :02:04.for all of our friends, our fellow Americans, who are lesbian, gay,

:02:05. > :02:08.bisexual or transgender. The shooter targeted a nightclub where people

:02:09. > :02:13.came together to be with friends, the Dons anti-sense and to live. The

:02:14. > :02:17.place they were attacked is more than a nightclub, it is a place of

:02:18. > :02:22.solidarity and empowerment where people have come together to raise

:02:23. > :02:27.awareness, to speak their minds and to advocate for their civil rights.

:02:28. > :02:32.This is a sobering reminder that attacks and anti-American,

:02:33. > :02:39.regardless of race, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation, is

:02:40. > :02:45.an attack on all of us. On the fundamental values of equality and

:02:46. > :02:48.dignity that define us as a country. Now actively ignored terror will

:02:49. > :02:54.ever change and we are with the values that make us Americans. Today

:02:55. > :02:59.marks the most deadly shooting in American history. The shooter was

:03:00. > :03:06.apparently armed with a handgun and a powerful assault rifle. This

:03:07. > :03:10.massacre is a further reminder of how easy it is for someone to get

:03:11. > :03:14.their hands on a weapon that lets them shoot people in a school or in

:03:15. > :03:20.a house of worship or a movie theatre or in a nightclub. We have

:03:21. > :03:24.to decide if that is the kind of country we want to be forced to

:03:25. > :03:30.actively doing nothing is a decision as well. In the coming hours and

:03:31. > :03:36.days, we will learn about the victims of the strategy. Their

:03:37. > :03:40.names, their faces, who they were, enjoy the product to families and

:03:41. > :03:45.two friends. The difference that they need in this world. Say a

:03:46. > :03:52.prayer for them. Say a prayer for their families. May God give them

:03:53. > :03:56.the strength to bear the unbearable. But he give us all the strength to

:03:57. > :04:02.be there for them and the strength and courage to change. We need to

:04:03. > :04:07.demonstrate that we are defined more as a country by the way they live

:04:08. > :04:13.their lives then buy the kit of a man who took them from us. As we go

:04:14. > :04:19.together, we will draw inspiration from heroic and selfless acts,

:04:20. > :04:24.friends who helped friends, took care of each other and save lives.

:04:25. > :04:31.In the face of hate and violence we will love one another. We will not

:04:32. > :04:35.give in to fear or turn against each other, instead we will stand united

:04:36. > :04:39.as Americans to protect their people and defend our nation and take

:04:40. > :04:46.action against those who threaten us. May God bless the Americans lost

:04:47. > :04:49.this one out, they comfort their families, may God continue to watch

:04:50. > :05:05.over this country. We love. Thank you. President Obama 's he said the

:05:06. > :05:14.FBI was investigating Terror and we will go the officers of the LG

:05:15. > :05:37.targeted in a First Division five times the

:05:38. > :06:01.past chickens president is angry and

:06:02. > :06:09.upset, but he is saying we don't have a definitive judgment on the

:06:10. > :06:13.motives. He did refer to the need for gun control in the country but

:06:14. > :06:17.he did not go into that at length as he has done after some previous

:06:18. > :06:22.shootings. The president has a sense of frustration and resignation and

:06:23. > :06:35.anger about the issue of gun control. He has addressed it being a

:06:36. > :06:41.further reminder in a school, a cinema, a nightclub. Those are

:06:42. > :06:45.references to previous shootings. He asked the question, is that the

:06:46. > :06:50.country we want to be and he asks for God to give American strength

:06:51. > :06:56.and courage to change. It wasn't a long address about gun control and

:06:57. > :06:59.it wasn't a long address about the threat of terrorism and national

:07:00. > :07:03.security, partly because the investigation is in its early stages

:07:04. > :07:11.and we don't know, as the president said, the motive. He did express a

:07:12. > :07:18.lot of sympathy for the lesbian, and he spelt it out, are lesbian, gay,

:07:19. > :07:23.bisexual and transgender friends, this is a particularly are today. In

:07:24. > :07:26.short, super address by the president as the country tries to

:07:27. > :07:32.understand what happened in Orlando last night. He also referred to this

:07:33. > :07:35.nightclub shooting as an act of terror and is activated. Perhaps a

:07:36. > :07:42.nod to how complicated this investigation is. Yes, we have heard

:07:43. > :07:49.a lot during the past few hours, since this attack took place, about

:07:50. > :07:54.the shooter and his possible motives. We had the Senator from

:07:55. > :07:57.Florida, Ben Nelson, said he has been told by law enforcement

:07:58. > :08:02.officials that the shooter did have sympathies with Islamic State. We

:08:03. > :08:09.have two American television networks reporting that the shooter

:08:10. > :08:14.called 911, the emergency services and pledged allegiance to Islamic

:08:15. > :08:18.State before this attack. We have also had the shooter's father saying

:08:19. > :08:24.that he was angered when he sought to gay men kissing in a restaurant

:08:25. > :08:31.and he expressed a hatred of gay people in the country. There are a

:08:32. > :08:42.lot of issues and complications in this investigation that authorities

:08:43. > :08:46.had to sort out. Let's talk to David Ross, a security expert with the

:08:47. > :08:49.Institute for the defence of democracy. I thought the President

:08:50. > :08:54.chose his words carefully when it came to the investigation and

:08:55. > :08:58.possible motives. Absolutely. It should be said that the line between

:08:59. > :09:05.terrorism and it crimes is a very thin one. Sometimes there is a grey

:09:06. > :09:10.area where many acts which have multiple motives, it is hard to tell

:09:11. > :09:19.where one ends and the other begins. As was just being said, the

:09:20. > :09:24.president referred to that. What is that fine line? Can you spell that

:09:25. > :09:30.out? For example, you had this horrific shooting at a secret temple

:09:31. > :09:37.if you years ago in Wisconsin. You had, last year, the Dylan roof

:09:38. > :09:41.sheeting in Carolina. If people said this is an act of terrorism. That

:09:42. > :09:45.might be correct. If you look at what terrorism is, it is acts of

:09:46. > :09:52.violence that are meant to coerce a civilian population or to influence

:09:53. > :09:58.government policies. It crimes or crimes, usually violent crimes, that

:09:59. > :10:01.are committed against a group that is particularly disliked by the

:10:02. > :10:07.person carrying them out. There is a similarity between the two. Going

:10:08. > :10:14.back about a century when the Ku Klux Klan had established itself,

:10:15. > :10:20.the Ku Klux Klan is known as a huge group, it is also characterised by

:10:21. > :10:24.scholars as a terrorist group. It is a thin line about whether an act of

:10:25. > :10:28.violence, and act targeting gay people, targeting Jews, targeting

:10:29. > :10:35.Muslims, targeting Sikhs, whether such a thing is driven just by

:10:36. > :10:40.hatred or whether there is a strong intention to change policy

:10:41. > :10:46.watercourse. Often, and to motives intertwine. Sometimes they don't.

:10:47. > :10:49.That is why I say it is a thin line. If you break down what the two are,

:10:50. > :10:54.there is not a clear division between terrorism and it crimes.

:10:55. > :10:59.Even though that might be in the minds of the public and their

:11:00. > :11:05.reaction to this attack. Watmore are you hearing about the state of this

:11:06. > :11:09.investigation? The key thing is what is being reported now by news

:11:10. > :11:17.outlets. The claim of a 911 call in which the shooter pledged allegiance

:11:18. > :11:24.to the Islamic State. There seem to be several sources on that although

:11:25. > :11:28.I am cautious about whether there might be circular reporting. If

:11:29. > :11:32.there is a 911 call, they get recorded, so there should be very

:11:33. > :11:35.strong digital evidence that should be readily accessible to

:11:36. > :11:40.authorities. If so, that makes at least part of this motivation

:11:41. > :11:43.extraordinarily clear. The next step will then be looking at whether he

:11:44. > :11:47.was just inspired by the organisation or whether he had a

:11:48. > :11:51.proper connections to the network. I have been looking at Charter from

:11:52. > :11:55.the Islamic State and their supporters and they are picking up

:11:56. > :11:59.on this attack, though there is no smoking gun that this organisation

:12:00. > :12:05.knew an attack like this was coming down in advance. They could be

:12:06. > :12:09.picking up on this attack to claim it after it happened, even if they

:12:10. > :12:13.didn't know it would have bought were not involved, it is something

:12:14. > :12:21.they would want to talk about. Thank you very much. We will have more fun

:12:22. > :12:25.here in Washington shortly. You are watching BBC News and are continuing

:12:26. > :12:30.coverage of the shootings in Orlando, Florida. 50 people are now

:12:31. > :12:34.known to have been killed in a gun attack on a nightclub. The deadliest

:12:35. > :12:45.mass shooting in order and yes history. The shocking sound of rapid

:12:46. > :12:54.gunfire echoed through the Orlando Street, recorded by witnesses who

:12:55. > :12:58.feared the worst. Dozens managed to flee the popular gay nightclub, but

:12:59. > :13:03.still worried about those they had left behind. We were hearing the

:13:04. > :13:07.Jalisco constantly. You Kunduz think of yourself and then help others and

:13:08. > :13:12.that is what I did. When I knew I was safe and the guns were still go

:13:13. > :13:17.on and the police were single, go, I had no choice but to help the people

:13:18. > :13:22.who shot. One mother got a text from her son pleading for help as he was

:13:23. > :13:28.trapped inside. He told her he loved her and feared he would die. Others

:13:29. > :13:33.were distraught, desperate for news. I don't know where my son is, no one

:13:34. > :13:38.can tell me where my son is. If he has been shot, if he is dead. No one

:13:39. > :13:45.knows. They told me there are fatalities. As police responded the

:13:46. > :13:49.attacker held hostages for three hours. Police say he had an assault

:13:50. > :13:55.rifle, a handgun and some sort of explosive device. Special SWAT teams

:13:56. > :14:00.rescued 30 people, but inside, they found the scene of utter

:14:01. > :14:05.devastation. Just to look into the eyes of our officers told the whole

:14:06. > :14:11.story. You could tell they were all shaken by this incident, by what

:14:12. > :14:14.they saw inside the club. They did an unbelievable job, courageous

:14:15. > :14:24.efforts in rescuing many, many hostages. This is now being

:14:25. > :14:28.investigated identified as Omar Mateen, the FBI says it is trying to

:14:29. > :14:34.establish if he had links to Islamic groups. The shooting confirms one of

:14:35. > :14:39.the worst fears in the country. We don't wish this on anybody else and

:14:40. > :14:46.we hope this will be the last of the mass shootings that our country has

:14:47. > :14:52.been going through. I think, as a nation, we need to look at this

:14:53. > :14:57.issue of mass shootings because we just had one too many today. This is

:14:58. > :15:02.the deadliest mass shooting in American history at a place young

:15:03. > :15:07.people came to party. A state of emergency has been declared in

:15:08. > :15:10.Orlando and, as the investigation continues, the police are urging

:15:11. > :15:20.calm until they know more and are clear about emotive. I want to print

:15:21. > :15:24.more on this story, so we live glad to Julie Solomon, a local news

:15:25. > :15:32.reporter in Florida. She joined us on the phone. We were talking

:15:33. > :15:37.yesterday because there was a shooting in Orlando, a young singer.

:15:38. > :15:40.Orlando must be heartbroken given the fact that now a second shooting

:15:41. > :15:47.has happened, this is the worst in modern US history. Well, I can tell

:15:48. > :15:51.you, when I went to sleep last night, it was hard to shake the

:15:52. > :15:56.first story I covered, the tragic death of that US singer who was

:15:57. > :16:00.loved by her fans and then, when I went to sleep I never thought

:16:01. > :16:04.anything like this would happen. I got the call very early to come in

:16:05. > :16:08.this morning and we were getting reports of a mass shooting but I

:16:09. > :16:17.never thought it would be the worst shooting in US history with at least

:16:18. > :16:23.50 people dead, at least 53 people hospitalised is the latest number we

:16:24. > :16:29.have got here. The young singer was shot on Friday night. And

:16:30. > :16:35.indications from the authorities if these two shootings are related in

:16:36. > :16:40.any way? That is something I asked the police chief straight up and he

:16:41. > :16:44.said no, not at all. They are: this latest shooting today with the mass

:16:45. > :16:48.casualties and act of terrorism, whether it be domestic or

:16:49. > :16:52.international, that is something the FBI are looking into but the chief

:16:53. > :16:58.made it clear that the two are not related, just unfortunately a very

:16:59. > :17:03.sad weekend for us here in Orlando. The singer was shot while signing

:17:04. > :17:08.autographs in front of many of her fans, this shooting at a nightclub,

:17:09. > :17:13.lots of people involved, you have been to the Pulse nightclub, what

:17:14. > :17:18.have people been telling you? I spoke to a woman this morning who

:17:19. > :17:23.said she could not reach a daughter, her daughter was about 18 years old,

:17:24. > :17:27.she was shot in the hand, she was shot and bleeding. That mother could

:17:28. > :17:32.not get in touch with her daughter and I spoke with a man who said he

:17:33. > :17:35.was inside the club, he was wearing his wristband, he managed to crawl

:17:36. > :17:39.out that he spoke about how hostages were in the bathroom and how people

:17:40. > :17:43.were attracted barricade themselves in the bathroom to get away from the

:17:44. > :17:47.gunman and the said there was a lot of screaming going on in the

:17:48. > :17:54.nightclub and somehow, luckily, he managed to get out. We have been

:17:55. > :17:57.learning more about the suspect. What have you learned from what

:17:58. > :18:02.police have been telling you about him? Right now they are pretty much

:18:03. > :18:05.keeping tight-lipped about the suspect. At the last press

:18:06. > :18:12.conference they would not officially confirm his name. A US senator, a

:18:13. > :18:19.politician, Bill Nelson, he spoke with us and he said it appeared the

:18:20. > :18:23.suspect had ties to Islamic radicalism but, again, he used the

:18:24. > :18:28.word appeared. This is something they are looking into. They pointed

:18:29. > :18:34.out this individual did not live in Orlando, he travelled to Orlando to

:18:35. > :18:43.commit this horrible crime. What is the atmosphere in Orlando as you

:18:44. > :18:49.have been experiencing it? Another of support on Facebook, everyone is

:18:50. > :18:54.posting on Facebook and Twitter. It is similar to the Boston attacks

:18:55. > :19:00.when they used the term Boston strong. We didn't know what to

:19:01. > :19:04.expect when we arrived on scene. We saw flashing lights, ambulances

:19:05. > :19:08.going back between the hospital and people lingering wondering where

:19:09. > :19:11.loved ones where is the waited to figure out if they hear from their

:19:12. > :19:19.loved ones or the daughters of brothers or sisters and now it is

:19:20. > :19:25.not a calmer atmosphere but it is wait and see, what is next? As we

:19:26. > :19:29.wait for the updates, I was out in the area where officials are given

:19:30. > :19:35.updates throughout the morning and from where I was at, I could see the

:19:36. > :19:38.nightclub and still dozens and dozens of law enforcement agencies

:19:39. > :19:43.from around Central Florida out in front of the nightclub. Do we know

:19:44. > :19:50.any more about the victims of this terrible assiduity? Right now, they

:19:51. > :19:55.said they are reaching out to the victims. They put out a hotline

:19:56. > :19:59.number that family members could call, eight number they could call

:20:00. > :20:09.to get information on the victims. Here we have what is known... It was

:20:10. > :20:15.difficult for loved ones to get information at one point but they

:20:16. > :20:18.waved but to make it easier for a mother to get information on her

:20:19. > :20:23.daughter because they have strict policies at the hospital and they

:20:24. > :20:30.with some of that so family members can get information more quickly.

:20:31. > :20:37.For now, Julie Solomon, thank you very much for being with this on BBC

:20:38. > :20:40.News. Well, and Orlando city commissioner, Paddy Sheehan, has

:20:41. > :20:47.delivered this statement on behalf of the LGBT community in the city.

:20:48. > :20:50.We, as a gay community, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual

:20:51. > :20:53.community are people who love and if you think you will start at the

:20:54. > :21:00.heart of us by doing this horrible, violent act, you are not. We love,

:21:01. > :21:04.we are resilient, we will show you in the face of this that we will

:21:05. > :21:08.have people lined up at blood banks, the will show you the good part of

:21:09. > :21:13.humanity, not the bad, horrible part. You cannot get the message

:21:14. > :21:16.across by killing people, you are thugs and murderers and people

:21:17. > :21:20.surely we are a better community and the Americans than this. The

:21:21. > :21:26.candidates running for the US presidency have been reacting to the

:21:27. > :21:30.shooting. Donald Trump tweeted, really bad shooting in Orlando.

:21:31. > :21:34.Police investigating possible terrorism. Many people dead and

:21:35. > :21:38.wounded. Hillary Clinton has added, will opt to hear the devastating

:21:39. > :21:42.news from Florida as we wait for more information, my thoughts are

:21:43. > :21:51.with those affected by this horrible act. Bernie Sanders has also been

:21:52. > :21:57.speaking. It is horrific, it is unthinkable and our hopes go out to

:21:58. > :22:01.those who were that they recover. I have to tell you, 25 years ago I

:22:02. > :22:04.believed that in this country we should not be selling automatic

:22:05. > :22:09.weapons which are designed to kill people. We have to do everything we

:22:10. > :22:13.can on top of that to make sure that guns do not fall into the hands of

:22:14. > :22:15.people who should not have them, criminals and people who are

:22:16. > :22:26.mentally ill. That struggle continues. Back to Washington. The

:22:27. > :22:38.FBI investigating this as terrorism. We don't know if it is domestic or

:22:39. > :22:53.international at this stage. No. The period of this month Barda said of

:22:54. > :23:05.President Obama has said there is no known motive yet. American networks

:23:06. > :23:14.reporting that the project is the his allegiance ate lots of different

:23:15. > :23:22.issues. We will bring you more when we get more details. This is a time

:23:23. > :23:31.when speculation, the job and I think it is to what we know the

:23:32. > :23:34.facts are in this case than the assumptions that night the President

:23:35. > :23:51.APPLAUSE Speech was so short in the judgment

:23:52. > :24:03.on the motives there Trump... Donald Trump said when will we get

:24:04. > :24:08.tough, smart and vigilant? Earlier I spoke to our correspondent in

:24:09. > :24:15.Orlando and was near the shooting, a couple of blocks from the shooting.

:24:16. > :24:18.There is a state of emergency here and a police investigation which

:24:19. > :24:25.continues. Many of the victims are still unidentified to local agencies

:24:26. > :24:31.here are urging people to call their heartland, to get in touch with them

:24:32. > :24:34.and, as you can hear, above me are a number of police helicopters.

:24:35. > :24:41.Understandably, a huge police presence here in a city that now has

:24:42. > :24:46.a state of emergency. There have been calls for people to give blood,

:24:47. > :24:54.what has the response been and what do we know about the status of the

:24:55. > :24:59.people injured and in hospital? On the local radio station, as I was

:25:00. > :25:02.travelling here in a taxi, I heard people talking about the blood

:25:03. > :25:09.donations. I heard people saying there are a very long queues of

:25:10. > :25:14.people donating blood at nearby blood banks. I have had to confront

:25:15. > :25:19.this but I heard as well on local radio that they have lifted a ban on

:25:20. > :25:23.gay people donating blood which, from what they were sent on local

:25:24. > :25:31.radio, has been in place. That has been lifted. Anyone can give blood

:25:32. > :25:35.in Orlando and, as you have been talking about, as well as the 15 to

:25:36. > :25:44.have lost their lives in this attack, there are more than 50 who

:25:45. > :25:49.are injured. I should just say that we are getting reports from Islamic

:25:50. > :25:54.State newsagency, they are claiming the Orlando attack, they say it is

:25:55. > :25:59.carried out by an Islamic State fighter. He carried out the shooting

:26:00. > :26:05.was thought that claim coming to us from the Islamic State newsagency.

:26:06. > :26:09.No verification of that yet but just telling you what they are saying.

:26:10. > :26:13.President Obama addressed the American public for the 13th time

:26:14. > :26:20.after a mass shooting during the course of this presidency just if

:26:21. > :26:25.you moments ago. Today, as Americans, we grieve the brutal

:26:26. > :26:31.murder, the horrific massacre, of dozens of innocent people. We pray

:26:32. > :26:36.for their families who are grasping for answers with broken hearts. We

:26:37. > :26:43.stand with the people of Orlando who have insured a terrible attack on

:26:44. > :26:47.their city. Although it is still early in the investigation, we know

:26:48. > :26:52.enough to say this was an act of terror and an active yet. As

:26:53. > :27:00.Americans, we are united in grief, in average and in resolve to defend

:27:01. > :27:05.our people. I just finished a meeting with the FBI director and my

:27:06. > :27:09.homeland security and national security advisers. The FBI is on the

:27:10. > :27:13.scene and leading the investigation with local law enforcement. I have

:27:14. > :27:17.directed that the full resources of the federal government made

:27:18. > :27:22.available for this investigation. We are still learning all the facts.

:27:23. > :27:28.This is an open investigation. We have reached no definitive judgment

:27:29. > :27:33.on the precise motivations of the killer. The FBI is appropriately

:27:34. > :27:37.investigating this as an act of terrorism and I have directed that

:27:38. > :27:41.we must spare no effort to determine what, if any, inspiration or

:27:42. > :27:47.association this killer might have had with terrorist groups. What is

:27:48. > :27:52.clear is that he was a person filled with hatred. Over the coming days

:27:53. > :27:56.will uncover why and how this happened and we will go where ever

:27:57. > :28:03.the facts the bus. This morning I spoke with my good friend, the

:28:04. > :28:08.Orlando Mayor, I conveyed to him the deepest condolences of the American

:28:09. > :28:13.people. This could have been any one of our communities so I told the

:28:14. > :28:17.mayor that whatever help he and the people of Orlando need, they are

:28:18. > :28:21.going to get it. As a country we will be there for the people of

:28:22. > :28:27.Orlando today, tomorrow and for all the days to come. We also express

:28:28. > :28:32.our profound gratitude to all the police and first responders who

:28:33. > :28:38.rushed into harms way. Their courage and professionalism saved lives.

:28:39. > :28:43.They kept the carnage from being even worse. It is the kind of

:28:44. > :28:45.sacrifice our law enforcement professionals make every single day

:28:46. > :28:52.for all of us and we can never thank them enough. This is an especially

:28:53. > :28:55.heartbreaking day for all of our friends, our fellow Americans who

:28:56. > :29:03.are lesbian, gay, asexual, transgender. The sugar targeted a

:29:04. > :29:08.nightclub where people came together to be with friends, to dance and to

:29:09. > :29:13.sing and to live. The place they attack was more than a nightclub, it

:29:14. > :29:17.was a place of solidarity and empowerment where people have come

:29:18. > :29:22.together to raise awareness, to speak their minds and to advocate

:29:23. > :29:26.for the civil rights. This is a sobering reminder that on any

:29:27. > :29:31.American, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion or sexual

:29:32. > :29:36.orientation is an attack of all of us. An attack on the fundamental

:29:37. > :29:42.values of equality and dignity that define us as a country. No act of

:29:43. > :29:49.heat or terror will ever change who we car or the values that make us

:29:50. > :29:54.Americans. Today marks the most deadly shooting in American history.

:29:55. > :29:58.The shooter was apparently armed with a handgun and a powerful

:29:59. > :30:03.assault rifle. This massacre is therefore a further reminder of how

:30:04. > :30:07.easy it is for someone to get their hands on a weapon that lets them

:30:08. > :30:14.shoot people in a screw or in a house of worship or a movie theatre

:30:15. > :30:16.or in a nightclub. We have to decide if that is the kind of country we

:30:17. > :30:20.want to be. To actively doing In the coming hours and days,

:30:21. > :30:23.we will learn about the victims Their names, their faces,

:30:24. > :30:28.who they were, joy they brought The difference that they

:30:29. > :30:34.made in this world. May God give them the strength

:30:35. > :30:44.to bear the unbearable. May he give us all the strength

:30:45. > :30:47.to be there for them and the strength and

:30:48. > :30:51.courage to change. We need to demonstrate

:30:52. > :30:54.that we are defined more as a country by the way

:30:55. > :30:57.they lived their lives than by the hate of the man

:30:58. > :31:02.who took them from us. As we go together, we will draw

:31:03. > :31:06.inspiration from heroic and selfless acts, friends who helped friends,

:31:07. > :31:10.took care of each other In the face of hate and violence,

:31:11. > :31:18.we will love one another. We will not give in to fear or turn

:31:19. > :31:26.against each other - instead we will stand united as Americans

:31:27. > :31:28.to protect our people and defend our nation

:31:29. > :31:31.and take action against May God bless the Americans

:31:32. > :31:40.lost this morning, comfort their families,

:31:41. > :31:54.may God continue to watch over President Obama with a sober

:31:55. > :31:59.addressed to the American public after the shooting in Orlando in

:32:00. > :32:06.which 50 people have been killed. 53 more are in critical condition in

:32:07. > :32:12.hospital. He reached out to the LGBT community and talked about this as

:32:13. > :32:17.an attack on anyone being an attack on all of us in the US and a

:32:18. > :32:23.reminder of how easy it is to get weapons and shoot people in those

:32:24. > :32:27.school, a cinema, a nightclub, a reference to previous times he has

:32:28. > :32:34.had to address the American public after a mass shooting. This makes

:32:35. > :32:43.13. Reggie is live now in Orlando. What is happening now in terms of

:32:44. > :32:50.security? I have moved from when we last spoke and I am outside the

:32:51. > :32:54.hospital. You can see the urgency sign and this is where more than 50

:32:55. > :33:00.people are being treated and earlier we got an app it from the hospital

:33:01. > :33:05.say six trauma surgeons had been operating on a number of victims in

:33:06. > :33:10.a critical condition. We are waiting for an update on the status of the

:33:11. > :33:17.more than 50 people who are being treated and we know around 50 people

:33:18. > :33:22.lost their lives in that shooting. There is a state of emergency in

:33:23. > :33:26.Orlando, we expect regular up dates from the local authorities, they are

:33:27. > :33:31.promising to give us up dates every few hours, I have not seen this

:33:32. > :33:36.first hand but we have seen reports when we spoke to people here and on

:33:37. > :33:43.local radio about long queues at the banks. Many people here want to do

:33:44. > :33:47.something to help in the wake of a tragedy and they think one way they

:33:48. > :33:53.can help is by donating loud so there have been long queues, people

:33:54. > :33:58.donating blood, and there was a ban on gay people donating blood in

:33:59. > :34:04.Orlando at that has now been lifted so anyone can come forward and help.

:34:05. > :34:09.The White House has also ordered that hospitals are allowed to speak

:34:10. > :34:14.to family members to give them information on the condition of the

:34:15. > :34:20.injured, that is a lifting of restrictions in place in America.

:34:21. > :34:27.Two, described Orlando to our viewers around the world. Many of

:34:28. > :34:32.them will have travelled there, it is a big city and there were several

:34:33. > :34:37.medical facilities. How are they coping with what has happened

:34:38. > :34:42.overnight? I did have any more about how the art coping beyond what we

:34:43. > :34:46.were told that six trauma surgeons working hard to treat all those

:34:47. > :34:51.patients and we do not have an update on their condition but in

:34:52. > :34:57.answer to your other points, or Orlando is a place that many people

:34:58. > :35:01.in outside have visited. It is a popular destination for young

:35:02. > :35:06.families because Disney and universal studios are here and other

:35:07. > :35:12.attractions which draw people from all over the world, not just the UK

:35:13. > :35:17.but India and Asia, so people are familiar with Orlando and it

:35:18. > :35:24.attracts a lot of families in terms of visitors and the people who live

:35:25. > :35:29.here. We heard a few of go from a member of the Islamic community who

:35:30. > :35:34.also the next gun violence as well as saying the whole community needs

:35:35. > :35:38.to come together. We have had a similar message from the Mayor

:35:39. > :35:44.because now is a time for a people to unite and try to help the

:35:45. > :35:50.families. It is worth noting from the last lease up, not all the

:35:51. > :35:57.victims have been identified, so there are still a number of another

:35:58. > :36:02.defied victims, and this is not just a tragedy for or land though and

:36:03. > :36:08.America but there were still many people who face a very personal

:36:09. > :36:12.tragedy. What we are hearing from some family members, just

:36:13. > :36:18.heartbreaking. Anybody who has children and is worried about what

:36:19. > :36:23.has happened to their loved ones. Can you give us any updates from

:36:24. > :36:28.officials? We expect an update any time soon. It was meant to be about

:36:29. > :36:33.the time the president spoke and then it was moved, there will be an

:36:34. > :36:38.update soon, hopefully that will be from the Mayor, FBI and health

:36:39. > :36:43.officials, and they promised earlier that we would get up its. They have

:36:44. > :36:49.moved the location from where they were giving the updates so they may

:36:50. > :36:54.have started but I will keep across anything that comes out of that. And

:36:55. > :37:00.we will bring you all the coverage from security officials, the latest

:37:01. > :37:06.as soon as we get it. Rajini, thank you very much. That is it from

:37:07. > :37:13.Washington, back to you. Let's recap our main news this art.

:37:14. > :37:17.50 people have been shot dead at a nightclub in Orlando, making this

:37:18. > :37:25.the worst mass shooting in modern US history, another 53 people are

:37:26. > :37:28.injured, some of them and a critical condition. Authorities have

:37:29. > :37:36.identified who they believed carried out the shootings. He was Omar

:37:37. > :37:39.Mateen, a 29-year-old Florida resident, a US citizen of Afghan

:37:40. > :37:45.descent. His father has apologised to the vet is. Supporters of the

:37:46. > :37:51.Islamic State group have praised the attack on social idea. Omar Mateen

:37:52. > :37:55.used an assault rifle to carry out the shootings. With me is our

:37:56. > :38:03.security correspondent, Gordon Carroll. The Islamic State news

:38:04. > :38:11.agency has claimed responsibility, how credible is this? It is this

:38:12. > :38:15.semi official news agency for so-called Islamic State so there

:38:16. > :38:21.messages take quite a high degree of credence. They said a fighter linked

:38:22. > :38:26.to IS carried out the attack, so they claim they were involved in

:38:27. > :38:29.some way but what is not clear is whether they are merely saying this

:38:30. > :38:36.because the individual athlete in themselves. Omar Mateen said he

:38:37. > :38:40.wanted to be part of IS, or whether there is a connection between the

:38:41. > :38:45.group and this individual. We don't know if he had any direct contact

:38:46. > :38:51.with them or whether he was trained by them with any indication or if he

:38:52. > :38:57.was self starting, self radicalised and then declared his allegiance and

:38:58. > :39:03.IS are now accept that and taking credit for what he did. Those are

:39:04. > :39:07.two possibilities and it is not clear which we are looking at.

:39:08. > :39:16.President R Balmer said this is an act of terror and a hate crime as

:39:17. > :39:20.well. How will police and that Daugherty 's -- authorities go about

:39:21. > :39:26.trying to establish what happened? How far they can unravel these

:39:27. > :39:33.motivations, either hosting is on social media or indications from

:39:34. > :39:38.witnesses about what was motivating him, any evidence on his computers

:39:39. > :39:42.and his dater trail about linking to the group and having contact with

:39:43. > :39:49.them as opposed to just following their messages? Those are the things

:39:50. > :39:56.the authority will be doing, using police and F EIA interviews and the

:39:57. > :40:01.like. What do you make of what the authorities have been saying so far?

:40:02. > :40:06.They have been cautious to jump to conclusions John Cena this is an act

:40:07. > :40:12.of terror in some form but the exact length of the individual are hard to

:40:13. > :40:17.be sure about, but we seem to get more reports that he called 911

:40:18. > :40:22.during the attack to allege allegiance, which seems to quickly

:40:23. > :40:28.shift us towards a certain direction in terms of his motivation, so that

:40:29. > :40:33.will be the way the authorities investigated, to try to establish

:40:34. > :40:38.how clear that his. Could this be an opportunistic claim by Islamic

:40:39. > :40:44.State? It is possible they have no direct connection with him, they had

:40:45. > :40:47.never heard of him before but because he has declared his

:40:48. > :40:54.allegiance, if that is true, they have taken credit, because that is a

:40:55. > :40:59.strategy they pursue. If you look at the leadership of IS, their

:41:00. > :41:05.spokesperson calls on people to carry out attacks, do not wait for

:41:06. > :41:10.instruction, so this is one of their ways of working, and if you look at

:41:11. > :41:16.the Paris attacks, they also send people out and organise attacks that

:41:17. > :41:22.they also call on people to self start, so those are the two possible

:41:23. > :41:25.scenarios and at the moment it is probably edging more towards the

:41:26. > :41:35.self starting but we cannot be sure of this, the statement does not

:41:36. > :41:39.prove one way or another. My colleague Tom Duncan has been

:41:40. > :41:40.speaking to one Rivera, who was in the nightclub when the shooting

:41:41. > :41:46.happened. He told him what he saw. We started hearing the shooting

:41:47. > :41:55.after hours, we heard this shooting We heard it with the cop

:41:56. > :42:01.outside and the shooter. Once he gets inside he is blocking

:42:02. > :42:04.the exit and nobody I couldn't get a good look

:42:05. > :42:09.at his face but we heard loud It was about 30 shots from what we

:42:10. > :42:17.heard. After that the lights were off

:42:18. > :42:20.and we couldn't see anything so we had blood everywhere,

:42:21. > :42:22.people on the floor and we jumped the fence and once we were outside

:42:23. > :42:27.the cops were surrounding the whole building, the helicopter

:42:28. > :42:30.was on top of the building. The cops wouldn't let other people

:42:31. > :42:32.leave and it wasn't until 5am when the shooter finally got shot

:42:33. > :42:37.and people were hiding When you got out with your life,

:42:38. > :42:44.what were you told? Once we were outside, once I jumped

:42:45. > :42:58.the fence, we were with the cops. The block was surrounded by cops

:42:59. > :43:01.and they wouldn't let us leave because they wanted to question us

:43:02. > :43:04.about who the shooter was, but it wasn't until 5am that we left

:43:05. > :43:07.and the shooter was caught and people were saved

:43:08. > :43:11.from the inside, but he killed a lot of people while he was inside

:43:12. > :43:15.holding those people hostage and people were hiding

:43:16. > :43:18.in the dressing rooms. Have there been incidences

:43:19. > :43:35.of violence in your time? Give us a sense in terms of when the

:43:36. > :43:43.violence started, would you given any warning? Was anything said? The

:43:44. > :43:48.only warning for us was at two a.m., once we heard those loud shootings

:43:49. > :43:49.outside, we knew everybody was up and everybody was either on the

:43:50. > :43:54.floor or running to the exit. I ran out with my friend

:43:55. > :43:56.and he was at the front exit blocking everybody,

:43:57. > :43:59.people were trying to jump on top of him and get through the back

:44:00. > :44:03.and that is where the lights went out and there was blood everywhere

:44:04. > :44:14.and everyone was panicking. To recap on our main story, 50 Nepal

:44:15. > :44:20.have been shot dead at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida, making this the

:44:21. > :44:27.worst mass shooting in modern American history. 53 people aren't

:44:28. > :44:33.hospital with injuries, some in a critical condition. American media

:44:34. > :44:39.have identified the man is a US citizen, Omar Mateen, the US TV

:44:40. > :44:45.network NBC News says he called the emergency helpline before the

:44:46. > :44:50.shooting and swore allegiance to the Islamic State group. The 29-year-old

:44:51. > :44:58.had a handgun when he opened fire at the Pulse nightclub, a gay nightclub

:44:59. > :45:02.in Orlando, that was in the early hours of Saturday night. You are

:45:03. > :45:07.watching a BBC News special.