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2-Year-Old Boy Taken By Alligator At Disney World; Gunman's Wife Investigated For What She Knew; Officials: Gunman Visited Gay Chat Rooms Online; Angry Obama Slams Trump's Anti-Muslim "Yapping"; Lance Bass: No One Needs An AR-15. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired June 15, 2016 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.
[01:01:01] AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome, everyone. We are following breaking news out of Florida. The desperate search for a 2- year-old child who may have been dragged into a lagoon by an alligator. This happened at Disneyworld's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa.
Martin Savidge joining us live now from Florida with all the details. We are awaiting a news conference. We don't have a lot of information right now but, Martin, what can you tell us about what we do know?
All right. It looks like we are having some audio problems there with Martin Savidge. But I will recap what he told us just a few moments ago. So the reports are that a search is underway currently where Martin Savidge is at the Disney Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. This is at the Disneyworld resort. The reports are that this child, a 2- year-old child, may have been taken by an alligator into the lagoon.
This all happened a few hours ago. The child was reported missing. Actually we do have Martin Savidge back up live. And, Martin, let's get back to what we were talking about.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Get this now?
WALKER: What we do know about what happened.
Martin, can you hear me?
SAVIDGE: No, I was just saying that we expect -- I do. Can you hear me now, Amara?
WALKER: Got you. Yes. Please go ahead.
SAVIDGE: OK. So we're anticipating within the next five, 10 minutes that we're going to get an update from the Orange County officials. The Orange County Sheriff's Department is responsible, law enforcement for this part of Disneyworld. There are also maybe representatives for Disneyworld, since of course this is the complex in which all of this is playing out at this particular time.
It was after 9:30 local time, about three and a half hours ago that a report came in presumably by phone in which it was said that a 2-year- old possibly had been taken and dragged into the water of the Seven Seas Lagoon at the Grand Floridian. The Grand Floridian is one of a number of key and very large hotel resort that are part of the whole Disneyworld complex. Disneyworld is made up of a number of theme parks but it's also got a large number of entertainment and hotel properties and this is one.
It was said to be movie night. They do things like this where they would project a movie outdoors along the beach front there that is part of the lagoon and this is where it is said to have happened. Beyond that, we don't know anything more other than how -- where was the child? Was the child alone? Was the child in the water? Was the child on shore? Alligators, as you would know, are just part of the natural landscape down here in Florida.
We don't know if they actually patrol or try to prevent them from getting into the water by the Grand Floridian. But either way that appears to be a moot point as this tragedy is moved forward. Since then helicopters have been in the air. Search flights have been flying on the water. Boats are out on the water and there is a very desperate search to try to locate this child.
Guests who were in the area said that they were told to immediately evacuate. This gets them out of harm's way and it allows the experts and the authorities to move in. And that's the way this circumstance has been.
The emergency response here continues to grow, but all eyes are focused about a half mile away on the lagoon. But I got to point out, it's the middle of the night now. It's extremely dark. And the efforts to try to find a small child in that kind of environment are proving to be very difficult.
We expect to get an update in just a few minutes to tell us exactly where they stand, how this happened, and what can be done to bring it to a good resolution -- Amara?
WALKER: All right. Martin Savidge live from the scene there, where it's 1:00 in the morning, just after 1:00 in the morning there in the Orlando area. Suffice to say it has been a very tough week last few days for Orlando. Many things, too, on that we will bring that news conference live when it happens.
[01:05:02] Appreciate that, Martin Savidge.
All right. Time now to turn to the latest in the investigation of the mass shooting in Orlando. A law enforcement source says the gunman's wife may face charges for not telling authorities about his interest in a jihadi attack. Now she told investigators she noticed a violent change in his behavior but denied knowing about his specific plans. She was with him when he visited the Pulse nightclub before the attacks and Disneyworld. Investigators believe he was scouting out possible targets.
Now law enforcement officials say the gunman visited gay chat rooms online. They don't know if this was for surveillance or for personal reasons. In the meantime, a clearer picture of the terrifying scene inside the club is emerging as more survivors are telling their stories.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANGEL COLON, ORLANDO SHOOTING SURVIVOR: Out of nowhere, we just hear a big shotgun. We just -- we stopped what we're doing and then it just keeps going. That happened and we just grabbed each other and started running.
PATIENCE CARTER, ORLANDO SHOOTING SURVIVOR: The gunman entered the bathroom and was shooting his machine gun so we're all, like, scrambling around in the bathroom, screaming at the top of our lungs when he was in there for the first time and then, you know, people are getting hit by bullets. Like blood is everywhere.
COLON: Unfortunately, I hear him come back and he's shooting everyone dead on the floor making sure that that -- I was able to peek over and I can just see him shooting at everyone,, and I can hear the shotguns closer and I look over and he shoots the girl next to me.
CARTER: He even spoke to us directly in the bathroom. He said, are there any black people in here? I was too afraid to answer. But there was an African-American male in the stall where most of my body was, the majority of my body was, had answered and he said yes, there are about six or seven of us, and the gunman responded back to him saying that, you know, I don't have a problem with black people --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: All right. We want to interrupt this to take you out to that police news conference that we've been waiting to hear from at the Disneyworld resort. Let's take a listen.
JERRY DEMINGS, ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF: Regarding a 2-year-old child that had been attacked by an alligator. At that point, emergency services responded to the area in congestion with the Orange County Sheriff's Office. At this time, we have in excess of 50 law enforcement personnel who are here at the scene who are out actively searching the lake. We have two of our marine units on the lake searching for the child to recover at this point.
In addition, we will be working with the Fish and Wildlife Commission to continue these efforts for the next several hours.
As a father, as a grandfather, we're going to hope for the best in these circumstances, but based upon my 35 years of law enforcement experience, we know that we have some challenges ahead of us at this time.
We'll be out throughout the night, the morning, if you will, continuing this search until we are able to have a peaceful, a successful resolution, I should say for the family. The family here is vacationing from Nebraska. There's a mother and a father and, I believe, three children, who are here and so for that family we are very hopeful that we're able to locate the child in a reasonable period of time.
At this point, what I'm going to do is ask our partner in this effort from Fish and Wildlife to come up and give you an indication of the efforts that they will be jointly working with us at this time. Chad Weber.
CHAD WEBER, FLORIDA FISH AND WILDLIFE: Good evening. My name is Chad Weber. First name, C-H-A-D, last name, W-E-B-E-R. I'm also with the Florida Fish and Wildlife. First and foremost, FWC would like to express thoughts and prayers to the family during this difficult time. We're pulling extra resources and conducting a parallel investigation with the Orange County Sheriff's Office. We're pulling officers from different parts of our region to come and assist this and putting every effort into locating the child and trapping this alligator.
[01:10:01] We have a alligator trapper on the water now with FWC officers and Orange County Sheriff's Office deputies that are on the water and like I said, we're putting every effort forward and we'll be here with them until there is resolution.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's the name of the lake?
WEBER: The name of the lake is -- I'm sorry, I don't have it.
DEMINGS: The Seven Seas Lagoon at the Grand Floridian Hotel.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How long have you had alligators here and how do you control it?
WEBER: That's going to be part of the investigation. We don't have any reports, we haven't checked into at this time to see if we have any nuisance alligators reports from that area but that's going to be part of our ongoing investigation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was the child alone?
(CROSSTALK)
WEBER: Right now I'm going to turn this over to Jackie, she's with the Walt Disney.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello. Everyone here at the Walt Disney World Resort is devastated by this tragic accident. Our thoughts are with the family. We are helping the family in doing everything we can to assist law enforcement. I'll turn it over to law enforcement at this time. Thank you.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, we haven't heard if this is a boy or a girl.
DEMINGS: It is a male child. Again, 2 years old. There were witnesses to what occurred here and they have given us fairly detailed information, so we've been actively searching now for the child for probably about three and a half to four hours.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Were people sitting there in that grassy area for a movie night is what we heard?
DEMINGS: Well, there is a sandy beach area and the family was out just simply relaxing. They had another child in a -- like a baby playpen that was in the area and they were just simply relaxing out in the area, and waiting just in the water there along the lake's edge at the time that the alligator attacked the child.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So the parents were with the child?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One at a time, please.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did anyone jump in the water to help assist the child at this point?
DEMINGS: The father entered the water and tried to grab the child. Was not successful in doing so. At some point I'm told that the mother also may have entered the water. So the parents diligently tried to get the child. They alerted a nearby lifeguard who was there in the area, as well, but they were unsuccessful in their efforts.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did witnesses say how big was alligator was?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are there signs this morning against alligators over there?
DEMINGS: There are signs that say no swimming in the water and the other question was what size is the alligator. It's been described as can be anywhere from perhaps 4 feet to 6 or 7 feet and not precisely known what size the alligator is at this time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How big is the lake?
DEMINGS: They were just wading in the water.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know if there are alligators controlled in the area? Do they patrol for them? Do they try to prevent them?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And is that Disney's responsibility?
DEMINGS: Well, we will be investigating the entire activities here. Again, we have not had any recent reports or complaints about nuisance alligators in the area or any of that. But the investigation will play itself out. Again, it will be a concurrent investigation between the sheriff's office and the Fish and Wildlife Commission.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that area closed off right now? Still open or is it closed off?
DEMINGS: Well, at this point, we have areas secured until we complete our search efforts.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It will still be closed in the morning?
DEMINGS: Well, a lot of that will depend on what happens for the next few hours, but we're not leaving until we recover the child.
(CROSSTALK)
DEMINGS: We -- at this time, we don't have any security video.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A witness told me that actually he had reported a gator was seen in that area right before the child was actually taken. Do you guys have any reports of anybody reporting a gator before this?
DEMINGS: We don't any reports of that at the sheriff's office.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So the parents were with the child, holding the child or the child was where?
DEMINGS: It's my understanding the father was there nearby and the child was playing in the water, just a foot or so into the water and the alligator came up and attacked.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He saw this happen?
[01:15:01] DEMINGS: Yes, and the father at some point struggled to try to get his son and was not successful and then alerted others to try to assist him in the process.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Has this ever happened before here?
DEMINGS: We have no record of this happening before.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sheriff, can you describe the area again where this attack happened?
DEMINGS: This is the Seven Seas Lagoon area, which is just adjacent to the Grand Floridian Hotel here at Disney.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The family was staying at that hotel?
DEMINGS: The family is staying there, again, on vacation I believe from the Nebraska area.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many people were there and was there other people in the water at time or just them?
DEMINGS: There were no other people in the water at the time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is this a very large lake, very deep lake?
DEMINGS: It's a fairly sizable area. I can't tell you the acreage but it is a fairly sizable area.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How long has the family been here? Said they're on vacation but did they just get here today or? DEMINGS: I'm not exactly sure when they checked in, perhaps -- I
don't know, Jackie, if we know when did they check in? How long -- they arrived on the 12th. On the 12th.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, Sheriff, did you basically -- I mean, do we basically know that you have a father here who's trying to wrestle his 2-year-old son from a gator's mouth? Is that what we're hearing or no?
DEMINGS: That's what you're hearing. That would be an accurate depiction of what we have talked about.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did he ever get to the gator then? He was actually in contact?
DEMINGS: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is he injured?
DEMINGS: Pardon?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The father, was he injured?
DEMINGS: It's my understanding he may have some type of scratch, minor scratch or something on his hands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who made the call for help?
DEMINGS: Again, there was a lifeguard that was in the area and there were other witnesses there nearby and someone dialed 911.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there any chance --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What if any gator control attempts were made here at Disney?
DEMINGS: I can't speak to that. But as the investigation goes on, we will have records. Disney, I will tell you, is completely cooperating with this investigation. Their priority is on recovering the child and assisting this family tonight.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When they encounter an alligator, what are they supposed to do? How are they supposed to recover the child?
DEMINGS: Well, we have marine units out on boats. There is an alligator trapper that's out there. You probably are seeing our helicopters over here. They are searching, as well. We have our dive team on standby here and if they need to enter the water, they are able to do that. We brought out some of our sonar equipment, so that we can continue to search this lake throughout. We're going to do that even though it's dark and hopefully we will successfully recover the child before daylight. If not, these efforts will continue until we do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did the father say the last thing that he saw his child? What was the last -- what did he say?
DEMINGS: I have not spoken directly with the father so I can't tell you the last thing that he said other than he alerted the lifeguard that -- to assist him, that an alligator had attacked his child.
(CROSSTALK)
DEMINGS: The -- at this time the father is being assisted by our victims' advocates and investigators are interviewing them at this time as we speak.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know if the family had been down here in the past? Is this like an annual trip for the family, something they always do?
DEMINGS: I can't speculate on this at this time. Hopefully, we've given you enough information so you understand what we're dealing with. We will update you when we get new information. Thank you-all for being here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One other question, I know right now Orlando has been dealing with so much, you know, this is just kind of an extra thing. What do you say to everyone that lives here, in this part of town hearing this news?
DEMINGS: Well, we're doing our best to deal with all of the situations that we have going on here, but our staff is very resilient and tonight, they are very focused, if you will, on assisting this family. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Sheriff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We understand --
WALKER: If you've been watching, you've been watching a live news conference there being held by the Orange County Sheriff's Department along with Florida Fish and Wildlife officials. It really is more than heartbreaking. Words can't describe what the family must be feeling right now.
[01:20:06] The search is underway for a 2-year-old boy who was taken by an alligator at this Disney resort. We did learn more about how this happened, what the witnesses saw and how the father tried to retrieve the boy from the alligator as the alligator took that boy away, dragged the boy away from the lagoon.
Let's get more details. Martin Savidge is standing by live.
Martin, it's just heartbreaking to hear what happened and what the family saw before their eyes.
SAVIDGE: Oh, yes. Right. Absolutely. I mean, you can imagine how it might have happened but to hear it described by the authorities as to what is now being told to them, that this alligator actually comes up, grabs a child in the middle of what is a family just having a wonderful time on their vacation and then a father chasing into the water to try to retrieve a little boy from the jaws of this alligator, fighting with it until eventually the alligator takes the child away.
You know, it's the stuff of nightmares, and now, of course, the waiting and the anguish for that family as the search goes underway, and I think you heard that the sheriff is saying they got at least 50 officers that are either out on the water or on the banks of the lake there. It's a pretty significant body of water. It's an inland lake but it's still -- it's a pretty large body of water and the darkness, too, is extremely difficult to search.
But they are doing everything they can including they've got a number of boats on the water and they've had helicopters up in the air using search lights. Also heard the sheriff say that in his 35 years of doing the job and working in Florida, he knows that they have great challenges ahead and I think that's the odds are not looking good in this particular situation. It's not to say that all hope is lost but just to say that this is a very, very difficult and desperate situation at this time and it's interface between, of course, the wildlife and natural environment that many people come down here to enjoy. But it is also wildlife and in this case on that lake, it looks like the interaction has proved to be tragic.
Many questions still being asked, are alligators controlled? How large was the alligator? How was it able to get so close to a child? All of those things right now are going to be investigated but the first thing that has to be done is to find that child and the effort is underway, Amara, and it's going to go all night long.
WALKER: Yes, I can only imagine, and as we heard from the Orange County Sheriff's official there that they are hoping to recover the child by daylight but again, just to imagine, I mean, this family had no idea something like this would happen. They were there on vacation from Nebraska, as the officials were saying. It was a mother, a father, their three children. They were waiting by the lagoon when this alligator approached.
He also spoke a little bit about the search. I know you touched on that. About 50 personnel on the scene. Talk a little bit more about that and the search efforts underway and what you've been seeing in terms of the helicopters and the manpower there.
SAVIDGE: Yes, a couple of things you have to realize of course is that in a search like this it's not just that you need law enforcement. You need alligator experts and they have got them on the water because you're dealing one, with a very potentially dangerous animal. So you're also talking about trying to protect the safety of those that are taking part of the search. And maybe more than one alligator. That's another problem you deal with down here. There is usually only just one. So this is a problem. You've got an animal that's already potentially harmed or taken alive and you want to try to protect the other lives that are out there.
This is something that really has to fall into the hands of experts and experts who have a truly unique training and practice and that is dealing with these potentially very deadly animals and on top of that you've got law enforce that is trying to of course protect the scene, try to make sure the right assets get in place, try to make sure that the wrong people don't get there. They want to keep all the guests and anybody who may be watching away because that danger still exists out there.
And in the darkness there are any number of ways that a person could be harmed. So that's one of the reasons that the guests were told to evacuate the area and return to their room. Turn it over to law enforcement. Turn it over to the wildlife experts and let this search thoroughly go underway. And it's going to go on in two levels. It's going to go on the water. You may at some point go into the water and then on top of that you've got the shoreline to be searched.
Whether it's the brush and the shrub or whether it's just wide open spaces. That's a lot of shoreline that has to be investigated. In the darkness it's going to be difficult. But they continue to brings assets to the scene. It's already been said they got over 50 officers. They'll bring more if they need them.
And one other thing that was pointed out, and it was just at the very end that we talked about this, it's already been a horrendous week in Orlando on top of what they are dealing with.
[01:25:04] Law enforcement has been stretched to the limit. Orange County is not just responding to this, they had been dealing also with the --
WALKER: Looks like we lost Martin Savidge's report there but as you heard him saying, this has been a really tough week for Orlando and he was saying, you know, law enforcement stretched very thin right now between the terror shootings at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando and now this. Really horrific unimaginable accident that took place at the Disneyworld resort.
I'm just going to summarize what we heard and the story that we have been following. A 2-year-old boy as witnesses say -- saw, an alligator drag that 2-year-old boy away. This family was vacationing at the Disney resort. At the Disney Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. They were visiting from Nebraska. There was a mother, a father, and their three children all together. This is according to the Orange County Sheriff's Department as you just heard them speak live earlier. This family apparently relaxing there along the beach.
You can see some of those lounge chairs there along the beach by the lagoon. The Seven Seas Lagoon. They were relaxing there. Some of them waiting on the lake's edge. The child apparently playing in the water. And all of a sudden an alligator pops up out of nowhere, drags that 2-year-old boy away.
The father reacts. Runs after the child. Tries to save the boy. Extricate the boy from the alligator unsuccessfully. If you can only imagine what that must have been like for this father and for this family who saw this horrific thing happen before their eyes. The father alerted the lifeguard. The lifeguard called 911 and now the search has been underway for the last three to four hours. It is about 1:30 in the morning there in Orlando.
We heard officials there say that this -- something like this has never happened before. We don't know how big the alligator was. I think the Orange County Sheriff's official said possibly 4 to 7 feet but they don't have confirmation on that. Doesn't look like there is any security video. But again the search is underway. 50 law enforcement personnel searching. They've got sonar equipment. They have two marine units on scene. I think I heard them say that they have an alligator trapper.
So this is a very, very desperate search and we do hope that this search ends soon. Yes, just a horrible situation and time for Orlando. Our hearts go out to this family.
We're going to take a short break from here and when we come back, we're going to turn next to Orlando, the massacre there. We'll have more on the investigation when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:31:17] WALKER: Welcome, everyone. We are continuing to follow this breaking news story of a 2-year-old boy who was dragged away by an alligator at a Walt Disney resort in Orlando, Florida. These are pictures from above the scene.
Martin Savidge is there. He is live with more details on what exactly happened. There was a news conference, Martin, just a few moments ago, and it's just inconceivable what this family had to go through and what this father saw happen before his eyes to his boy. Can you take us through what we know about this family and what transpired?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, like so many people who come down to Disney World, they were on vacation. They'd come from Nebraska. They come from the center of the country. Many families save up a long time to come on a trip like this. It's often referred to as the trip of a lifetime. It has now turned into something desperate and tragic at this hour as a 2-year-old child apparently was taken from the shoreline of the seven seas lagoon, it's a lake just beside the Grand Floridian Resort, one of the grand hotels here, a part of Walt Disney World. Families out on the shoreline enjoying the evening and the alligator comes out of the water, according to witnesses, and grabs the child. The father then goes into the water, desperately fights and struggles, but in the end loses and the alligator takes the child away.
So right now, what we're dealing with is a desperate and very strong search to try to find this child, and this is happening on a number of levels. Helicopters up in the air are shining down using lights. Boats on the water, sonar being used to probe under the water, and then you've got at least 50 officers coming from the Sheriff's Department, Wildlife Department, and even alligator trappers that are working either on the water or on the shoreline. They've evacuated the rest of the guests and no reports of any other injuries or anything else. The focus is trying to find this child and you can only imagine the horrific scene and what that family is going through at this time. The sheriff said, in his 35 years, he's never known anything like that to happen here. This is a place that is known throughout the world as a place of fun, a place of joy. It is not that tonight. The effort focused to find that child in the darkness, is not going to be easy. The sheriff put it straight. He said, there are a lot of challenges ahead of them. The family is being looked after now, being treated both for injuries that the father suffered and also being cared for for the trauma that they had been through. Amara --
WALKER: That's just so heartbreaking. Martin Savidge, we appreciate your live reporting. Thank you so much for that. We will, of course, stay on top of this and bring you any more developments as they come in. Thanks so much, Martin.
We're going to stay in Orlando. No doubt, it has been a really rough last few days for that city. We're going to turn to the investigation of that mass shooting in Orlando at the Pulse nightclub. A law enforcement official says, the gunman's wife may face charges for not telling authorities about his interest in a jihadi attack. She told investigators, she noticed a violent change in his behavior, but she denied knowing anything specific about his plans. She was actually with him when he visited the Pulse nightclub before the attacks and when they visited Disney World, a complex in that area. Investigators believe he was scouting possible targets and law enforcement officials say the gunman visited gay chat rooms online. They don't know if it was for surveillance or for personal reasons. Joining me now here in Los Angeles, CNN law enforcement contributor, Steve Moore, who has been very patient as we've been following this breaking news. We really thank you for that. I just can't believe what Orlando is going through right now.
[01:35:10] STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR: The nightmare is just continuing.
WALKER: It really is. It's just inexplicable. Let's talk more about this investigation and the wife of the gunman in this Orlando shooting. We heard from her telling the FBI that she knew that her husband had the intentions of carrying out a jihadi attack, not this one specifically. She denied knowledge of what was going to happen at the Pulse nightclub, but she traveled with him to the nightclub before the shootings into some -- a Disney springs complex. What do you make of all of that and do you think this wife could face charges? This ex-wife, excuse me?
MOORE: I think she will probably face charges. The Department of Justice has convened a grand jury to investigate her involvement and they don't usually do that unless they feel that they are going to go to the grand jury. And you don't do that unless you think you've got something.
WALKER: When you hear from the survivors, some of them are saying that, as he was killing his victims, he would be laughing in satisfaction. It's just so diabolic. He cased out these locations, the father of the shooter said that he saw his son 11 hours before the attacks and he seemed just totally normal. What does that tell you about the shooter?
MOORE: This shooter is a dichotomy. His dad says he wasn't religious. His co-workers say he was always praying constantly to the East. He's supposedly a family guy but then he beats his kids, beats his wife, and he -- it's -- he's living double lives. He says he hates gays and then he's hanging around in the gay clubs. So I think this guy was borderline schizophrenic. He could live with both feet in both worlds.
WALKER: How does this impact the investigation, these new developments about him being in gay chat rooms, being on a gay dating app, having frequented the gay nightclub that he shot up and killed so many people? What will the impact be on the investigation?
MOORE: The impact is going to be to turn it back. It's kind of historical. They are trying to write essentially a biography, and specifically his last few weeks and months. So they are going to be determining -- the FBI agents are going to try to determine whether each one of these visits were casing visits or whether they were actually part of his lifestyle. And that's going to be tough, especially with all the conflicting information that we have. And the wife going with him to Disney World, she could face charges. Misprision of a felony, things like that, because she may have facilitated knowingly -- even if she didn't know what the attack was going to be -- she facilitated something that she knew would be violent. She went to get weapons with him. She went to buy ammunition. She knew he wasn't going to throw a birthday party. And so she had culpable knowledge of a pending violent felony and she may have been helping him case. You can't just go to Disney World and look around.
WALKER: Right. It makes you wonder at what point it becomes a crime, because apparently she knew of his intentions in general but didn't report it, obviously. We're going to have to leave it there. We're running out of time. But Steve Moore, we appreciate you coming in and talking with us. Thank you.
We're going to take a short break. Just ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, he never mentioned Donald Trump by name, but President Obama came out swinging at the Republican White House contender. We'll have that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALKER: Donald Trump is lashing out at President Obama over his response to the Orlando massacre. Trump says, Mr. Obama can't effectively deal with ISIS and terrorism if he can't even utter the words radical Islam.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I watched President Obama today, and he was more angry at me than he was at the shooter. And many people said that.
The level of anger, that's the kind of anger he should have for the shooter and these killers that shouldn't be here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: Mr. Obama is vehemently defending his choice of words and strategy for dealing with terrorists. Here is White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Obama this time confronting his critics head on.
BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That's the key, they tell us. We can't beat ISIL unless we call them radical Islamists. What exactly would using this label accomplish? What exactly would it change? Calling a threat by a different name does not make it go away. This is a political distraction.
KOSINSKI: Flanked by his National Security Counsel, including the non-partisan chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the President excoriated those who say he's not done enough to fight ISIS.
OBAMA: There's not been a moment in my seven and a half years as President where we have not been able to pursue a strategy because we didn't use the label radical Islam.
Not once has an advisor of mine said, man, if we really used that phrase, we're going to turn this whole thing around. Not once.
KOSINSKI: The usually collected Obama lashed out at Republican rhetoric and Donald Trump in particular.
OBAMA: And the reason I am careful about how I describe this threat has nothing to do with political correctness and everything to do with actually defeating extremism. And if we fall into the trap of painting all Muslims with a broad brush and imply that we are at war with an entire religion, then we are doing the terrorists' work for them.
KOSINSKI: In what appeared to be a carefully choreographed one-two punch, at the same time the President spoke, Hillary Clinton was using much the same language during a speech in Pittsburgh, calling out her Republican presidential rival by his first name.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He is fixated on the words radical Islam. So if Donald suggests I won't call this threat what it is, he hasn't been listening. But I will not demonize and declare war on an entire religion.
KOSINSKI: You know, on those highly controversial remarks that Donald Trump made, saying that President Obama is either not smart, not tough, or has something else in mind -- the White House hasn't really wanted to respond directly, saying only that it's important not to be distracted by things so small. But Hillary Clinton did respond, saying, even in a time of divided politics, this is way beyond anything that should be said but someone running for president of the United States. Michelle Kosinski, CNN, the White House.
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[01:45:13] WALKER: Next on NEWSROOM L.A., what should be done following the Orlando shooting massacre? A conversation with the former member of the band NSYNC, and gay rights activist, Lance Bass. That's next.
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WALKER: Tributes to the 49 people killed in the Orlando mass shooting have flooded social media. Late night comedians are also weighing in on this tragedy with a much more serious tone than usual.
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SETH MEYERS, TALK SHOW HOST: Whether the shooter was homophobe, mentally ill, a terrorist inspired by ISIS, or all three, what allowed him to kill so many people on Sunday was his gun.
SAMANTHA BEE, TALK SHOW HOST: He beat his ex-wife, he'd been reported multiple times to his employer as homophobic and unhinged, and the FBI had twice questioned him for ties to terrorism, but none of these things disqualified him from legally buying a gun that shoots 45 rounds a minute.
[01:50:06] CONAN O'BRIEN, TALK SHOW HOST: Nobody I know or have ever met in my entire life should have access to a weapon that can kill so many people so quickly.
JOHN OLIVER, TALK SHOW HOST: Right now, this just hurts, and the worst thing is, this pain is so familiar. In Paris last November, terrorists seemed to target places symbolizing everything that is wonderful about France, culture, music, restaurants. And in Orlando early this morning, the gunman attacked a Latin night at a gay club in the theme park capital of the world.
JIMMY FALLON, TALK SHOW HOST: What can we learn from this? What if my kids are gay? What do I tell them? Maybe there is a lesson from all this. A lesson in tolerance. We need to support each other's differences and worry less about our own opinions.
STEPHEN COLBERT, TALK SHOW HOST: Love does not despair. Love makes us strong. Love gives us the courage to act. Love gives us hope that change is possible. Love allows us to change the script.
JAMES CORDEN, TALK SHOW HOST: He said, when something bad happens, we have three choices. We can let it define us, we can let it destroy us, or we can let it strengthen us. We are with you every step of the way.
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WALKER: And entertainer and activist Lance Bass also tweeting quote, I'm gutted over the news in Orlando. The tears will not stop. My thoughts are with my gay brothers and sisters and their families. And Lance Bass joining me here on studio in Los Angeles now. Thank you so much for making the time to make it over.
LANCE BASS, MUSICIAN: Thanks for having me, Amara.
WALKER: As you were saying in your tweet, your tears won't stop, and we're learning over the last couple days more about the people who were killed. We're hearing survivor stories. What has it been like for you emotionally over the last few days?
BASS: It's been devastating, just like the whole world is feeling. I woke up Sunday morning to a lot of texts from friends because I used to live in Orlando. I spent a lot of years living in Orlando.
WALKER: You did.
BASS: And I have several friends that still live there, so before I even knew what had happened, I was getting texts of, I'm so sorry about Orlando, and I just immediately started bawling, not even knowing what had happened, just something -- I felt it. And as we got the news, it was just absolutely devastating and of course I was trying to figure out if I knew anyone that was hurt.
WALKER: You lived in Orlando. So did you know of this nightclub or had you been there before?
BASS: Of course. I've definitely been to Pulse.
WALKER: You have been?
BASS: Of course. It's one of the places that, you know, the LGBT community can go relax and have fun and not worry about something like this happening.
WALKER: This attack doesn't fit into just one single category. I mean it's terrorism. It's also a hate crime. But when it comes to the LGBT community, do you think that people need to also focus on the history of the LGBT community, the fact that it has been the target of violence many times before?
BASS: Yes, I mean, this is nothing new for LGBT. We've been under attack the whole existence of humanity. It's just in recent years that people are now just accepting the LGBT community as a whole, and the support we're getting is just amazing right now and overwhelming, and you see that times have changed and people are supporting and showing that love is love and like you said, there is many layers to the situation right now. It's a hate crime. It's terrorism. You know, there is -- we need to talk about gun regulation. It's everything all put together and I have to say this is the hornet's nest that has definitely been stirred up and the LGBT community is one that will not sit back and let anything like this happen. So you're going to see a lot of change happening in the next few months.
WALKER: What kind of change?
BASS: Well I mean, LGBT is really going to be fighting a lot, especially for just some common sense gun regulation right now. One, these politicians and these religious leaders that are using LGBT as a scapegoat to get elected, to further their own agenda, to line their pockets with money, it's just sickening and disgusting, and these people are now being revealed, and it's up to us to educate the people about who we're electing into office. You need to find out who your representatives are. Who are being paid by the NRA to make sure these gun laws are not passed? No one is taking guns away, just certain types of guns. No one needs an AR-15. Obviously, look what's happened the last just two years with this particular gun. We don't sell grenades, right? So why would we sell these weapons that we can kill multiple people? It's just not needed.
WALKER: So many important topics to discuss, and we're so glad that we were able to get your voice and your perspective. Lance Bass, appreciate your time. Thank you very much.
BASS: Thanks for having me.
[01:54:57] WALKER: Before we leave you this hour, we want to recap our breaking news out of Disney World in Florida. Police say an alligator dragged a 2-year-old boy into a lagoon a few hours ago at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. The Orange County Sheriff's Department says a toddler was playing in the water when he was taken. The boy's father jumped in and tried to grab his son from the gator but he could not get a hold of him. Police say the alligator is between one to two meters long, 4 to 7 feet or so. This comes as Disney Shanghai is set to open on Thursday, and this, of course, has been a really just tragic few days for the Orlando area with the nightclub terror shooting early on Sunday morning. These are pictures, aerials of that resort, where this happened, where the boy was taken by the alligator. A desperate search is underway from the air and on the ground and in the water as they hope to recover this boy before daylight. That is the very latest. Make sure to stick with CNN for any more developments on this story and other news from around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm Amara Walker. Robyn Curnow will have more now of our breaking news right after this break.
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