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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Trump: Fired Campaign Manager Lewandowski "Did A Great Job"; FBI Releases Full Versions Of Orlando Killer's Calls; Orlando Shooter Called Himself "Islam Soldier"; Senate Rejects Four New Gun Control Measures; Up Close With Sig Sauer MCX; 5-Year Old Julianna Snow Dies On Her Terms. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired June 20, 2016 - 20:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[20:00:08] JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: Good evening. John Berman here in for Anderson.

It is the first evening of summer and there is a full moon out. The first time that's happened in more than 50 years. Maybe that explains it.

So we begins with breaking news. New details about Donald Trump's firing after a family intervention of the campaign manager whose mantra was let Trump be Trump.

Also with the distinctly rosy picture, this same campaign manager painted for CNN's Dana Bash hours after getting the axe and the very different picture that is emerging of a candidate stuck in a primary mode in a campaign organization that sometime barely seems to exist beyond twitter and Trump, himself. In a moment, will you hear at length what Corey Lewandowski said about his completely non-voluntary departure.

First though, CNN's Jim Acosta joins us from what his sources are telling him about how this all unfolded.

Jim, more and more details as the day emerges. What's the latest?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John. And I just spoke with a Trump campaign source who said this firing of Corey Lewandowski is going to be a good thing in the long run because the source said a streamlining of duties had to take place. Campaign chairman Paul Manafort who had been fighting with Lewandowski over control of the campaign can now start making long overdue hiring decisions, this source says, to begin to try to match the massive ground operation that Hillary Clinton already has in place.

But clearly, there was a level of disgust, John, that simply reached critical mass. We are told that the family, notably Ivanka Trump was not happy with Lewandowski's performance. And I am told by one advisor that Paul Manafort said to Trump it's either Lewandowski or me. Lewandowski is getting much of the blame of egging on Trump to let the rhetoric fly on the stamp.

And the question moving forward is whether Trump, himself, can stay out of hot water, Trump source themselves admit this. Lewandowski used to say, let Trump be Trump. But John, I think the question now is can anyone control Trump.

BERMAN: There has been more fall out as the days gone on, Jim. A Trump adviser resigned since mocking Lewandowski on twitter?

ACOSTA: That's right. Michael Caputo had been working on convention preparations out in Cleveland. He tweeted this out earlier today in the (INAUDIBLE) of unfortunate tweets. This probably belongs there near the top, he tweeted ding-dong the witch is dead. Obviously, he was not a big fan of Corey Lewandowski.

Now, after Lewandowski was fired and after this tweet was absorbed by the campaign, it was only hours until Caputo resigned. He told me earlier today, John, he regrets that tweet. He calls it an unforced error. But clearly, we should point out Caputo was speaking for a lot of people inside the campaign who were very happy to see Lewandowski be removed today -- John.

BERMAN: Others have known that the irony if someone in the Trump campaign losing his job because of something that took place on twitter.

All right, Jim Acosta, thanks so much.

Now, Corey Lewandowski's exit interview, the first after his firing, CNN's Dana Bash got it. Here's how it went.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: First from your perspective, what happened? Why were you fired?

COREY LEWANDOWSKI, FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: I don't know. I don't know the answer to that.

BASH: Sources from the camp, from in and around the campaign have told us that they thought that you were feeding Mr. Trump's worst instinct and that, you know, he, one of your lines is, let Trump be Trump, right, but that if there was a plan in place, post-primary, now that he is trying to pivot to the general, and he's the general, that you would get on the plane with him and undercut that plan and bring out his worst instinct? How do you respond to that?

LEWANDOWSKI: I would say, what vested interest would I have in doing that, right? I think what you have to remember --.

BASH: I think the suggestion is it's just who you are.

LEWANDOWSKI: OK. Look, if Donald Trump wins, that's good for Corey Lewandowski and it is good for the country.

BASH: Let's talk about Paul Manafort. There has been a lot of discussion, I know it is out in the media, but you know, I think it would be hard for you to say it is not real, that there was not a lot of attention. What was the relationship with him?

LEWANDOWSKI: When Paul first came in, he was going to manage the delegate process. And then we were fortunate enough to secure enough delegates that we didn't need a delegate manager. Since that time, Paul and I have gotten along amazingly well. And I know the media doesn't want to report that, but we worked side by side, talking to daily basis multiple times a day. He had his roles, which he was going to oversee in the campaign. I had a very separate function, which included making sure that Mr. Trump's schedule was accordingly, fundraising side of things, right. We divided things accordingly. We had a great relationship. There was no animosity between Paul and I. I know the media doesn't want to report it.

BASH: I mean, forgive me for being skeptical, but it's hard to believe that it was as sort of rosy and happen as you are describing when there is so much talk object dysfunction.

LEWANDOWSKI: The campaign has been so small that bringing in a professional like Paul helped us grow the campaign.

BASH: Let's talk about Mr. Trump's family. My understanding and others here are reporting is that his children were very forceful in saying it's time for Corey Lewandowski to leave. Does that surprise you?

[20:05:03] LEWANDOWSKI: I can say I always had a great relationship with the family. And I can continue to do so. Look. Everybody has their own opinions. And I think what you have is a transition in a campaign from a very, very successful, 37-state primary victory process, which was managed at a one-off level in a state or a multistate to look at the bicker picture.

BASH: Our understanding is that Ivanka Trump's husband, Jerry Kushner, has been much more involved and intimately involved in saying it's time for you, for Corey to go. Can you tell me about your relationship with him?

LEWANDOWSKI: I got a great relationship with Jerry. He has helped us from the onset of having a better online presence, being aggressive in a good way of getting us to have a stronger social media presence. Being aggressive in a good way of getting us to have a stronger social media presence. Making sure that we are posting our Facebook page.

He understands a different component than I understand. So he is very, very good in that regard. And he is very good at moving the campaign forward in that regard. I think it's been a great relationship. So I'm not sure where that's coming from. But he is someone who is --.

BASH: We have some reporting that found out that you were trying to plant some not so nice stories about him. Is that true?

LEWANDOWSKI: (INAUDIBLE). Again, my goal from this campaign from day one is to see Mr. Trump elected president of the United States. I have been privilege enough.

BASH: So that is not true. You weren't trying to undermine him?

LEWANDOWSKI: That is not true. What I want to do is get Mr. Trump to be the president of the United States.

BASH: Ivanka Trump.

LEWANDOWSKI: A great asset to the campaign.

BASH: Would you be surprised if you heard that she was not thrilled with the job you were doing?

LEWANDOWSKI: I don't think that's the case. I think Ivanka is somebody who understands her father and as a fantastic is a surrogate for this campaign. She brings a sense of calmness to the campaign. She has a way about her that she connects immediately, not just with women but with business executives. She's so polished, so professional. It's been an honor to work with her over the last 18 months.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: All right. Dana Bash joins us right now.

Dana, besides the phenomenal questions, what struck you most about this interview?

BASH: Your words, not mine.

Look, it's definitely that - I mean, at one point I said during the interview, people might be looking in on this interview saying, is he living on a different planet from the one that we are all living in where just a few hours ago, you were escorted out of Trump tower and fired and you are not actually running the campaign that you were saying is so rosy and wonderful and well run. So I think that is what struck me the most.

And it's also that he, you know, is returning, I mean, obviously, he did get fired today, but he lasted a very long time, longer than most people who are working in a campaign would last with a politician, especially one running for president. Donald Trump has been loyal to him. And incredibly so given the circumstances of him having a lot of trouble and being sort of a public face in a not so good way of the Trump campaign in so many instances.

BERMAN: All right. Dana, stick around.

On the subject of family, Donald Trump, Jr., appeared on Bloomberg's "With All Due Respect" just a short time ago. He did address the issue the role the Trump family played in whacky Corey Lewandowski. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Again, what we have been told is you three weren't out to get Corey, your judgment was a change was required and you have made the recommendation to him, that's what made him decide?

DONALD TRUMP JR., DONALD TRUMP'S SON: I think in many respects he was coming to that on his own. We were there to help augment that and really, you know, think it through.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: That was Donald Trump, Jr. This is short time ago.

Let's bring in the panel right now. Clinton supporter and former New York City council speaker Christine Quinn. Patrick Healy, national political correspondent for "the New York Times," New York Trump delegate John Jay Lavalle and conservative Trump critic, Tara Setmayer.

John, let's start with you because you are Donald Trump supporter. Let me ask you outright. Do you think things will be better without Corey Lewandowski?

JOHN JAY LAVELLE, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Listen, Corey did an awesome job in the primary, 37 states won, record breaking numbers for Mr. Trump. For each battle, there could be a different general. And I think that's what we are looking at here. It's like a relay race. Corey ran hard, did well. We were successful. Now it's time to gear up for the general. And I think that's what we're looking at here.

BERMAN: He got fired, the binary question. Is the campaign better off without Corey Lewandowski?

LAVELLE: Well, I think the campaign is growing and moving in the different direction. Now, it's not Hillary Clinton 732 person page staff campaign. This is 70 people. Mr. Trump runs a very lean, efficient and effective operation. And you know, I believe that the campaign is going to do great just like Corey said.

BERMAN: Patrick, you like that?

Patrick Healy, do campaign managers get fired when campaigns are doing well?

PATRICK HEALY, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: They can. John Kerry fired his campaign manager in 2003 when things were sort of up and down. At least the fundraising was going OK. Hillary Clinton ousted hers in February of 2008.

But here's the key thing. This usually happens months earlier. The gearing up for the general should have started the day after Trump clinched in early May. He has allowed sort of six weeks, you know, to go, to go by with the party sort of thrashing around, sometimes they're with him. Sometimes they're not. The staff has not grown. Hillary Clinton is ahead of him in terms of fund raising and organization. In key states, you know, by a fairly large factor. And she and her Super PACs are on TV. They are all in right now and Trump is nowhere. He is now going to be dealing with maybe a one or two-day story, you know, off Dana's great interview of just sort of what happened with Corey Lewandowski, more unanswered questions from Corey. And Trump is going to Scotland at the end of the week to clip a ribbon on a golf course. So I think you are just going to see a lot of Republicans saying, you know, what's going on with his campaign. [20:10:56] BERMAN: Well, Tara, you are a lot of Republican, right?

You are a Republican who has not supportive of Donald Trump today. Reince Priebus, you know, all we are reporting is that Reince is not only knew about this, but Reince put his fingers on the scales here to get him gone.

As Republicans got the reservations, so say the least about Donald Trump, you would have one fewer reservation as we sit here tonight?

TARA SETMAYER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No. I mean, Cory Lewandowski should have been gone months ago after he put his hands on a reporter. That in and of himself should have warranted him being fired. But Trump went out, out of his ways to stay how loyal he was to Corey and, you know, brought him up on stage defiantly after he won one of the primary, even Corey personally, put him right out front.

So this is something that most of us on the inside have watched unfold. Since then this power struggle back and forth with Paul Manafort, we talked about this back in April that there was tension between Paul Manafort and Corey Lewandowski, who is a relative neophyte when it comes to campaigns at this level and it should.

You know, Patrick was right, six, weeks, seven weeks of Donald Trump being the nominee, and what has been the result? Let's see, he is 77 percent unfavorables with women, 94 percent unfavorables with African- Americans, 80-something percent unfavorable with Latinos. He went after a judge who was born in Indiana, calling him a Mexican. He even back to Indiana, he insinuated that Ted Cruz' father was involved in the Kennedy assassination. They have no infrastructure at all in swing states. And guess what, Hillary Clinton has spent -- her Super PACs have $27 million already in ad campaigns in key states, Donald Trump spent zero. Mitt Romney spent $38 million in the campaign before to get things going in swing states. Welcome to a general election, Donald Trump, where have you been?

BERMAN: That's what the family largely, on Dana's reporting, a lot of that blame they say goes on Corey Lewandowski.

Christine Quinn, you have been sitting here nicely and politely I'm sure having a good day in general with this. I guess the question here though isn't as a Democrat but as a political professional, what about the loyalty Corey Lewandowski just showed right there in that interview with Dana Bash. I mean, that is purely impressive in the sense that when you hire people, you know, you want them to stick with you to the end and beyond the end in some cases.

CHRISTINE QUINN, CLINTON SUPPORTER: I mean, I think Corey looks kind of ridiculous, but as somebody who has run campaigns, I do give him credit for not firming the bridge on his campaign. That is the professional way to act and the way you should act.

That said, this happening now, it is not a thoughtful or a systematic firing at all. I mean, the guy was on the 8:00 a.m. call, later call and then fired and walked out about 10:00 a.m. and literally walked out. This was not let's smooth this out and avoid this looking like everything is crumbling. And I think what it shows is a lot about Donald Trump's standards and morals. It's OK if you put your hand on a reporter, if you assault them. But it's not OK if you let my poll numbers go down. It's all about Donald Trump at the end of the day.

BERMAN: But you are Reince Priebus, it's better that it happened today than three week from now or one month from now.

QUINN: But it's so late. It is almost irrelevant.

LAVELLE: There is not one vote that that is going to change in this election that revolves around Corey Lewandowski, whatsoever. That is not going to happen.

QUINN: But he is not the point, the structure.

LAVELLE: And Cory Lewandowski's answers, it's pretty incredible. What it shows you the respect the odds for Mr. Trump.

(CROSSTALK)

LAVELLE: I don't think so.

BERMAN: Because I want to know what happens now. What happens over the next into days and weeks? I mean, Trump is going to have no talk about this a lot more. What does Chris Christie stay when he is ask about Paul Manafort? When he is ask about now?

BASH: And I think, I personally think that it is going to be not so much about Corey. It is going to be what is Donald Trump going to do when the next, God forbid, attack happens or the next big story happens? How is he going to react? Is it going to be different than it was with Corey at the helm and him talking about a Muslim ban, doubling down on that and making every Republican I've talked to bananas crazy. I cannot believe this is happening. Is he going to redouble his efforts to pick up the phone and raise money? And is he going to help to build the infrastructure that he needs to hand in glove with the RNC in these swing states? Meaning, his actions, basically, are going to speak for themselves to see how different this is.

[20:15:20] BERMAN: We got to go. Willie, let Trump be Trump. That itself the question.

SETMAYER: Who is Trump?

BERMAN: Which Trump. We shall see.

Next, more on the Trump children as well as his son-in-law and their involvement, not just for the firing, but really throughout the campaign.

And later the Orlando killer in his own words in the middle of the horror that he inflicted, his pledge of allegiance to ISIS and the firestorm that erupted when the FBI released transcripts of his 911 phone call, with that pledge edited out.

That and more when 360 continues. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:19:35] BERMAN: Don't ever take sides with anyone against the family again. Ever. That's Michael Corleone in talking to his older brother, Fredo, who wasn't so good at listening, didn't turn out too well for Fredo or Mo Green or as it happens for Corey Lewandowski.

On screen or off, family comes first. In this case, it certainly came for Corey. You saw at the top of the program, Donald Trump, Jr., confirming the role that he and the other Trump children played in Corey Lewandowski's departure.

More now on their ongoing influence from CNN's Sunlen Serfaty.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[20:20:06] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He can do what he wants to do for the country.

SUNLEN SERFATY, NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump's children have been by the side since the start of his presidential bid.

IVANKA TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP'S DAUGHTER: He is battle tested. He is a dreamer, but, perhaps more importantly he is a doer.

SERFATY: His daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner as well as Trump's sons Donald, Jr. and Eric have quietly but put built up influence within the campaign.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want to thank my family. By boy Eric and Don, they have been working so hard.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

D. TRUMP: Ivanka and Jared have been amazing --

SERFATY: Not only showing public support at rallies, but emerging behind the scenes as Donald Trump presumptive nominee's top advisers. Even though they are not officials members of the campaign, weighing in on staffing decisions. The Trump children, specifically Ivanka and her children pushing for oust of campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. They provide input o strategy. And Ivanka has advised her father to tone down his rhetoric and be more presidential.

I. TRUMP: My father is very blunt. He is very direct.

SERFATY: She also fiercely defend him like when questions were raised about his treatment of women.

I. TRUMP: He is non-gender specific in his criticism of people and people that he doesn't particularly like or people that he does like but thinks they're wrong on a particular issue.

SERFATY: Trumps children have also stepped in to shape the candidate's policy proposals and message. Ivanka helped to write Trump's remarks at the end of the primary season.

D. Trump: I understand the responsibility of carrying the mantle and I will never, ever let you down. Too much work, too many people. Blood, sweat and tears. I'm never going to let you down.

SERFATY: Kushner and Orthodox Jew helped cramp Trump's address to the pro-Israel APEC conference, Trump's first speech using a teleprompter during the campaign.

D. TRUMP: I speak to you today as a life-long supporter and true friend of Israel.

SERFATY: Kushner has also been tapped to begin building a transition team should Trump win the White House, a role typically reserved for the most seasoned political operators.

D. TRUMP: Jared is a very successful real estate person. But I actually think he likes politics more than he like real estate. I'm very excited. And he is very good in politics, so.

SERFATY: Trump's children have also taken on real responsibility as some of Trump's most effective surrogates.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's great going around and actually shaking those hands and just hearing people to say, I haven't caucused in 15 years or I haven't caucused ever.

SERFATY: In TV interviews.

ERIC TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP'S SON: You know, he is growing the Republican Party. He's growing the party. And people should embrace that. I mean, the party should embrace that.

SERFATY: Headlining solo campaign events.

D. TRUMP JR.: You see my father, he fills up these arenas, 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 people at times event, even more in certain areas. Just because there is a lot of those guys there, none of it means anything if you don't show up and actually push the button.

SERFATY: And appearing in campaign videos to help turn out voters.

I. TRUMP: Hi, New York. I'm Ivanka Trump.

SERFATY: Sunlen Serfaty, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: All right. We have one quick note before bringing in a member of our own political family.

The man arrested for trying to grab a police officer's gun at a Trump rally in Las Vegas over the weekend has told authorities he intended to use it on Trump. That is what a source in law enforcement is telling us. Michael Sanford is now facing two federal counts up to ten years in prison if convicted. All right. Back to the Trump family and Corey Lewandowski. Joining

us now, CNN Chief political analyst, Gloria Borger.

Gloria, great to have you here with us. You have been on the phone all day, you know, working your sources on what went on inside the Trump campaign. It is sort of a cliche that families are involved, in campaigns, the campaign strategists will tell you too much often, but boy, with the Trump campaign, they are deeply involved.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. You know, it's usually called meddling, right, when a family gets involved. But in this particular case, as someone was pointing out, this family are some of his top advisers. And in this particular case, you have Ivanka Trump in particular and her husband Hared, who were very emphatic about the fact that a change needed to be made at the top. The two brothers also agreed. And I think their father actually listened to them on this.

Now, they are not the only ones, as Dana has been reporting all day and asked Corey about it directly, they're not the only ones who believe that Corey Lewandowski's management style wasn't workable. They believe that the two-headed monster between Corey and Paul Manafort wasn't working. And I had source in the campaign say to me, look, there was a lot of stupid stuff that was going on. This source said that it became an issue of performance. And by that, he meant, there is just a lot of things that were not getting done that you need to do in a broader, general election campaign and they're nervous about it.

BERMAN: They talk a lot about, you heard a lot of talk about the last seven weeks in the campaign since he locked up the nomination and what he hasn't done over those last seven weeks. You get the sense from the family was looking at that very closely.

[20:25:08] BORGER: Yes. He squandered, all of this time. I mean, after Indiana, Donald Trump had a great opportunity. While Hillary Clinton was still talking about Bernie Sanders, he had an opportunity to unify the party with I he started to do. But then he started to make mistakes. And instead of reigning him in, he continued to make those mistakes and there were donors who were complaining about it. There were state organizations that were complaining about it. And this is a problem for a national candidate when you are talking about raising money to go up against the behemoth that is the Clinton campaign that has taken advantage of this squandered time by Trump.

BERMAN: A lot of disgruntled strategists that, you know, past campaigns is will tell you the real problem is you can't fire the candidate in certain situations.

The issue here, Corey Lewandowski's mantra was let Trump be Trump. Will Paul Manafort let Trump be Trump? Do his kids want Trump to be Trump?

BORGER: Look. I think his kids would say to you, yes, we want Trump to be Trump. On the other hand, they also understands that we heard Ivanka - him, talk about Ivanka saying to him, you know, you have to be more presidential. And I think they would like to see him reach out to a broader audience, which he is going to has to do if he is going to win.

Look, everybody who is for Trump 100 percent, we know they're there. They are not going to change. What he has got to do is to appeal to independent voters. And you see the polling that was out today that he is losing some ground with independent voters. That Hillary Clinton is beating him hugely among women and that he has lost ground with men and he cannot afford to do that.

So his children understand that in order to win, he has to broaden the base that he has got. And this doesn't do it. And by the way, this plays into Hillary Clinton's narrative, of course, that Donald Trump is as their campaign calls it, too risky or too dangerous to be president, right?

BERMAN: All right. Gloria Borger, thank you so much.

BORGER: Sure.

BERMAN: All right. Donald Trump has just spoken about the events of today, the firing. We will have that next.

Also ahead, the FBI released a transcript of the Orlando gunman 911 calls, what do they reveal of the time line of what went on there.

Plus, the semiautomatic assault style rifle the shooter used with the recent designed for U.S. special ops. Randi Kaye takes us to a shooting range to show us up close how powerful that rifle actually is.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:31:30] BERMAN: All day long, we waited to hear from Donald Trump about the firing of his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski. Here's what he told Fox News just moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He did a great job, but we're going to go a little bit of a different route from this point forward.

BILL O'REILLY, "THE O'REILLY FACTOR" HOST: So, do different style. It's a different style and you're bringing in some ...

TRUMP: A little different style.

O'REILLY: Yeah. All right.

TRUMP: Little different style. He's a good guy.

O'REILLY: You know, in any campaign there's like a power, you know, backstabbing, and everybody is vying for your attention and do you care about that office politics? Do you care about any of that? TRUMP: Well, it happens all over. Are you talking about office politics? It's all over. And yeah, I think it does happen here too. It happens everywhere and I'm pretty good at it. I pretty much see where it's coming from and ...

O'REILLY: Yeah, we saw that on the apprentice. Right.

TRUMP: Yeah, oh it happens. I mean that's part of life.

O'REILLY: All right.

TRUMP: That's part of business. Its part of the social fabric of life also in case we don't want to talk about it. But that's a part of life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right, Donald Trump tonight. Today, the FBI fumbling after the shed light on a timeline of the Orlando massacre and police response, first releasing redacted transcripts of the gunman's 911 calls during the three-hour standoff. There was a backlash and the FBI reversed itself releasing the unredacted transcripts.

CNN Justice Correspondent Pamela Brown has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: The gunman makes his first call to 911, 33 minutes after the first reports of gunfire at Pulse nightclub. Telling the operator in Arabic, "Praise be to God." And prayers as well as peace be upon the prophet of God. He goes on to say in English, "I'm in Orlando and I did the shootings." He also pledges his allegiance to ISIS.

RONALD HOPPER, FBI ASSISTANT SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: We currently have no evidence that he was directed by a foreign terrorist group but was radicalized domestically.

BROWN: The gunman then spend around 28 minutes on the phone with hostage negotiators, at one point demanding America's stop bombing Syria and Iraq. When the negotiator asked Mateen what he had done, he responds, "You already know what I did." He later states, "In the next few days, you're going to see more of this type action going on."

HOPPER: While the killer made these murderous statements, he did so in a chilling, calm and deliberate manner.

BROWN: The shooter also claimed he had explosives saying there are some vehicle outside that has bombs. Just to let you know, he said, "I'm going to ignite it if they try to do anything stupid." Later the gunman told the negotiator he had a vest and describe it as the kind they used in France and apparent reference to the Paris bombings in November. He threatened he was going to put suicide vest on four victims. The SWAT team commander told CNN that ramped up the risk for both civilians and first responders. CAPTAIN MARK CANTY, ORLANDO SWAT COMMANDER: We're way too close, because if the explosives go off, we're all within a thousand feet and we're all can be killed.

BROWN: No explosives were found. The partial police transcripts show at 5:14 a.m., nearly three hours after the attack began, shots were fired again. A minute later, the gunman was reported down. Today, officials defended their handling of the three-hour ordeal.

CHIEF JOHN MINA, ORLANDO POLICE: Our officers were within the club, within minutes and engaged at the suspect in gunfire. And that's important because that engagement and that initial entry caused him to retreat, stop shooting and barricade himself in the bathroom with hostages.

[20:35:00] So during that time, our officers were intermittently in and out of that club, saving people, rescuing people from inside the club.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So initially, when this transcript was released today the words "ISIS" and "al-Baghdadi" the leader of ISIS were omitted and the Justice Department said it did that to protect the victims and to not feed into terrorist propaganda but then there was backlash on Capitol Hill and from the public. Paul Ryan, Speaker of the House said it was preposterous to omit these words -- omit those words and that people deserve to know the terrorist group that inspired this gunman. And so, the Justice Department didn't about-face and released the full transcript.

People I've spoken to, John, and the Justice Department were frankly surprised by the reaction. It certainly hit a nerve. John.

BERMAN: It did, indeed. All right, Pamela Brown, thank you so much. Lots to talk about with CNN Counterterrorism Analyst, Phil Mudd, a former senior official at the FBI and CIA, also Chris Voss, former FBI Lead International Kidnapping Negotiator and author of "Never Split the Difference, Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It".

Chris, I want to start with you because law enforcement in Florida, they face a lot of questions about the timeline of event. Did they go in quickly enough with enough people during this three-hour standoff? Now that we've seen the transcript, what's your view?

CHRIS VOSS, FMR. FBI LEAD INTERNATIONAL KIDNAPPING NEGOTIATOR: Even without the transcripts, initially, they had to deal with -- from the beginning was a duty of care that they had to the hostages in one shot. So they've got this guy barricaded. I think he's held up with hostages and he hasn't shot yet. And they don't want to provoke him in the shooting additional people. They have to be very careful and move what I would call a deliberate urgency and make sure that they don't cause more harm and good vibe by stumbling in when they're not ready.

BERMAN: You know, one of the things they said quite clearly, more clearly and then they have today is this is quickly transitioned from an active shooter case to a hostage situation. So from close to the very beginning they said they were dealing with this as a hostage situation.

Phil Mudd, another thing that's notable from this transcript, one of the first things out of this guy's mouth when he called 911 was pledging allegiance to ISIS and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

PHILIP MUDD, FMR. SENIOR OFFICIAL FBI AND CIA: That's right.

BERMAN: I mean no ambiguity with what he says out loud that seems to be the purpose of the phone call to 911. That seems to be what he wants people to think.

MUDD: That's right. I think, you're going to jump to a conclusion that says, now we know what his motivation was, after eight, nine days of looking at a muddle of history, what happened during his childhood, violence with his family, questions about whether he was on gay dating apps. Now, we're going to take one piece of data that he knew would be publicized. You can read that data in two ways and I think I'm still confuse about what was going on in his head. You can take it at face value.

He was committing himself to ISIS. Or you could say especially since he never mentioned anything about the club, he had other motivations that he was less confident of, that he didn't want to reveal. Motivations about why he was in that club. He chose the one that he thought was most defensible, ISIS. I don't think this takes us despite the clarity of his message much further down the road, John.

BERMAN: It is clear and that's what he had almost rehearsed, Chris, when he called 911. What is that tell you? That he almost was working of a script at that very early stage?

VOSS: Well, he thought about it in advance what he wanted to say if he get the opportunity. The other thing about is communication is really important is he never really gave anybody a chance to interact with him. He was talking at people as opposed to with him. So everything that he did was calculated by in self time to kill more people.

And I agree with Phil, this is just one piece of information on this guy. Quite frankly, I think this guy just hated himself in the world more than anything else and wanted to add meaning to what was utterly and meaningless life otherwise.

BERMAN: And it's going to be the other parts of the investigation and it may shed more light on what exactly was going on in his head.

To both of you, Phil, to you first, explosives, he seemed to make clear in the conversations with officials that he had explosives. No one ever found it. It turned out he didn't have them. We don't believe any explosive but I have to believe that colored the decisions that were made over the course of time. For three hours, he thought law enforcement will do is going to blow stuff up. MUDD: Sure. I don't understand the debate on this, John. Let's say he did have explosives, a couple things might happen. Law enforcement moves in, more people died than the 49 who are already murdered and people step back now in the same chairs were now and saying "Why'd you move in so quickly? "He might have been negotiating. He was calling you. Why did you put so many lives at risk?"

The other thing is something that's unique at the counterterrorism business. What we see in this cases occasionally is multiple explosives, somebody draws, law enforcement, Fire Department and with the first explosive and then destroys the lives of the first responders with the second explosive, fairly, common in my business. So there's a lot going on here that says that they made a good choice by not moving in too quickly, especially when he was indicating he want to talk.

BERMAN: Phil Mudd, Chris Voss, we know a lot already but a lot more still to be learned. Thank you, gentlemen, for helping us out here. J Just ahead, breaking news in the Senate, were four new gun control measures were put to votes and rejected.

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[20:43:49] BERMAN: Breaking news in the wake of Orlando and back-to- back votes, the Senate has rejected four new gun control measures to expand background checks and try to make it harder for people on terror watch lists to buy guns.

And tonight, investigators revealed they have video of the shooter practicing in a gun range with a semi-automatic assault style rifle he used in the massacre. In the video, investigator say, he shot the Sig Sauer MCX from the hip, not his shoulder.

Tonight, Randi Kaye shows us the weapon up close.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RANDI KAYE, CNN NEW YORK BASED CORRESPONDENT: Inside Florida Firearms Academy in Tampa, lead instructor, Kevin Wilde is firing a Sig Sauer MCX rifle. The same kind of rifle the shooter used in Orlando's Pulse nightclub.

The Sig Sauer MCX has only been on the market since last year and was originally designed for U.S. special operations forces. The industry refers to it as a modern sporting rifle. It's not that heavy.

KEVIN WILDE, FLORIDA FIREARMS ACADEMY HEAD INSTRUCTOR: No, it's not. A lot of thought has gone into eliminating unnecessary weight on this.

KAYE: What does it weigh?

WILDE: This weighs depending upon the configuration as it sets right now. I'd venture a guess about 5.7 to 6 pounds.

KAYE: The military version of the MCX is fully automatic, but civilians want to purchase the semi-automatic version.

[20:45:04] meaning, it can only fire one bullet at a time. With each pull of the trigger, a new bullet reloads into the chamber. While many other rifles, only the AR-15 use kind of gas to load the next bullet into the chamber t. The MCX uses a piston design too.

WILDE: Benefits of the gas piston, it is a cleaner and you may feel a little less recoil impulse.

KAYE: OK. Does it make the -- does it give the weapon more power or anything like that to the system?

WILDE: No. No. It doesn't.

KAYE: The MCX is able fire up to 3,000 feet per second from the muzzle. The same as an AR-15 with an identical muzzle and bullets. An experienced shooter can fire dozens of rounds per minute.

WILDE: I would say I could fire 30 rounds in a minute because I would take my time.

KAYE: The Sig Sauer MCX offers a variety of barrel lengths. It has about the same power as an AR-15, assuming the barrel length is the same. It's more powerful than a 9mm handgun and less powerful than an AK-47. Like the AR-15, the MCX uses a two to three caliber bullet which moves in a way to cause maximum damage.

WILDE: When it hits its target, it tumbles. And by that, I mean, it enters and turns as opposed to going straight through.

KAYE: So if this tumbles when it enter the target, you mean tumble, it could tumble many times over or it could just tumble once?

WILDE: Situation dependent.

KAYE: After watching Kevin fire the MCX, he invited me to see for myself what it feels like to fire this weapon.

WILDE: Are you all readys?

KAYE: Do you think I can handle it?

WIDE: I know you can handle it.

KAYE: OK. First, he showed me how to load the bullets into the magazine.

WILDE: Just like that. Perfect. Insert the magazine. OK. And then we're going to pull on it to make sure it's seated.

KAYE: OK.

WILDE: Then with our supporting hand, we're going to press that chambers around.

KAYE: The magazine holds 30 bullets. WILDE: Go ahead, bring this on back just a little bit. Lean forward at the waist like that. OK. And then you're going to ...

KAYE: I take aim and fire the MCX for the first time.

WIDE: All right. So now, you fired one. Go ahead and depress the trigger again.

KAYE: I was actually surprised at how easy it was to shoot. I mean, you pull the trigger, you hold it, you balance it, you see down the range.

WIDE: Maintaining the shooting fundamental settle in from trigger manipulation. You will engage your target.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: One word to describe how it felt to fire that MCX rifle is really intense. That much I can tell you. It was really amazing just the power of it. And I have to admit, John, that I actually closed my eyes the first time I fired it because I just didn't know what to expect. But it was incredibly easy to handle. It didn't have a lot of kickback or recoil.

And John, I also brought along here tonight just one of the bullets. This is the 233 caliber bullet which used in that MCX rifle. And this is the one that tumbles as it enters into the target. And I just want to show here right here this bottom part flies away when it goes into the target and it's this very little tip that goes inside and tumbles around and causes all that damage, John.

BERMAN: All right, Randi Kaye, thanks so much.

Up next, a child's dying wish and how her family honored it.

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[20:52:17] BERMAN: Tonight, an update to a story we brought you last fall. Imagine your child is sick and there is no cure. Now imagine your child tells you they want to go to heaven, not the hospital. That's a choice of five-year-old Julianna Snow made in last week, more than a year, after making that decision, Julianna died on her terms. Along the way, she started a conversation about end of life decisions for children, by children.

Elizabeth Cohen has her remarkable story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH COHEN, SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: A Christmas carol in June, because it was Julianna Snow's favorite song. She passed away last week at the age of five. Her mom, dad and brother arranged a celebration more than a funeral with all of her favorite things. Mourners decorated cupcakes and painted their nails. Children played with her toys.

You don't usually think of cupcake stations and nail polish stations, decorations and pink balloons for a funeral.

MICHELLE MOON, JULIANNA'S MOTHER: She would say why not? She loved bright, fabulous, more is more, fun.

COHEN: Everyday, Julianna wore one of these princess dresses. What princess are you today?

JULIANNA SNOW: Cinderella.

COHEN: You're Cinderella. Today, we visited her last October, her nails were painted in pink and white polka-dots and despite her breathing mask, she sang for us another one of her favorite songs.

Are Elsa and Anna, I forget, are they cousins or ...

J. SNOW: They are sisters.

COHEN: Oh, they're sisters.

J. SNOW: It's Anna.

COHEN: Its' Anna. Oh, it's Anna. I said Anna. It's Anna. I'm sorry.

J. SNOW: I forgive you.

MOON: She forgives you.

COHEN: Julianna was dying from an incurable neuromuscular disease and she had a very specific request for her parents.

You blogged about it?

MOON: Yes.

COHEN: So let's take a look.

MOON: OK, so me, "Julianna, if you get sick again, do you want to go to the hospital or stay home?" Julianna, "not the hospital." Me, "even if that means you will go to heaven if you stay home?" Julianna, "Yes." Me, "And you know that mommy and daddy won't come with you right away, you'll go by your self first." Julianna, "Don't worry, God will take care of me."

COHEN: Julianna told her parents she hated the hospital especially a procedure called nasotracheal suctioning.

STEVE SNOW, JULIANNA'S FATHER: You basically stick a tube on a suction machine and you stick it up the nose, down, past the tongue, back into the throat as deep as can go, and you start suctioning. If given the choice of me or one of the other respiratory docs, she usually asks for me to do it.

COHEN: Was that hard to do?

[20:55:00] S. SNOW: Yeah. COHEN: Could you watch her go through that again? Do you think?

S. SNOW: If I had to, I'll do it.

COHEN: Would it save her life to do it again if she were to get an infection?

S. SNOW: I don't think so.

COHEN: A year and a half after Julianna made her wishes clear, she died not in a hospital room, but in her pink princess bedroom.

MOON: She went after 18 needles a month. She didn't go after a year of her hospitalization. The things got a lot easier for us when we started following her lead and listening to what was in her heart.

Did it make you happy to be home?

J. SNOW: I love all this stuff.

MOON: She died having exactly where she wanted to die.

COHEN: Her family says Julianna arrived in heaven on her terms.

S. SNOW: Julianna's disease was like a prison for her body, not her spirit. But now, that prison is broken up, and Julianna can soar on angel's wings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: Julianna's story has now become known to millions and she sparked a conversation about end of life decision-making for children, and especially should children have a say in that decision-making especially if they're young children. John.

BERMAN: Elizabeth Cohen, a remarkable little girl. Thanks so much.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: A quick reminder, stay tuned Wednesday night for a special CNN town hall.

[21:00:00] And this time, a bit of an alternative, the libertarian nominee, Gary Johnson and his running mate, Bill Weld answering questions from voters, it gets underway 9:00 p.m. Eastern right here.

Time now for the Fareed Zakaria special, "WHY THEY HATE US".