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Trump Slams Obama; Updates on Orlando Terror Attack. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired June 13, 2016 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00] DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE (via telephone): The greatest source and the - well, look, first of all, we have to stop people from coming in from Syria. We're taking them in by the thousands. And you're going to have tremendous problems. You will have problems right now. You will have problems like we've never seen before.

And this will only get worse because we have very weak leadership. And Hillary is going to be weaker than Obama. We have - if she got in, she would be weaker than Obama, in my opinion. All you have to do is read the Secret Service reports about her, the book that just came out. And when you read that, you can't have her as president. So -

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: You know, but this isn't - this isn't a refugee issue, though. I mean this particular case is not a refugee issue. You know, this is a case - excuse me, this is a case of an American citizen with what appears to be multiple different motivations here.

TRUMP: Yes.

ROMANS: But investigators will finally determine - determine what happened here. But how - how do you equate what happened here with what - with a Syrian refugee?

TRUMP: OK. This is a case of surveillance. This is a case of intelligence gathering information. You will find that many people that knew him felt that he was a whack job. He was going - something like this would have happened. I already hear it starting to happen of people that knew him, the ex-wife and other people. They don't report them. For some reason, the Muslim community does not report people like this. So we do have two different standards. We have people that live here and have become radicalized and have been radicalized. You look at his father. His father is a - sort of a prime example.

But you look at the people that have come to the country and you look at - and are here and for that we need intelligence gathering. We have to look at the mosques. We have to look at all - we have to look at the community. And, believe me, the community knows the people that have potential for blow-up. The communities -

ROMANS: So -

TRUMP: That we're talking about, they know about this guy. They knew that this was tremendous potential for blow up. And then, of course, we have to stop allowing people in to our country. Build a safe zone in Syria. Get the Gulf States to pay for it. We can lead it. We don't want to pay for it. We don't have any money. Our country doesn't have any money. We owe $19 trillion.

ROMANS: So do you -

TRUMP: But the Gulf States have nothing but money. Let them pay for it. We'll lead it. Build a safe zone in Syria so they can stay there.

ROMANS: But -

TRUMP But the last thing -

ROMANS: All right.

TRUMP: We need is to take in more people like this guy because you're going to have problems. This is just the beginning. You're going to have problems like this all over our country and it's going to get worse and worse. And look what's happening in Europe. It's a mess.

ROMANS: Donald Trump -

TRUMP: But we should not be taking in more people. We have nothing - we have enough problems in our country without doing that.

ROMANS: And we look forward to hear what you have to say later on today. Apologize again, Mr. Trump, for the disruption in our satellite feed, but thank you so much for your time this morning.

TRUMP: Thank you very much.

ROMANS: All right. You're welcome.

All right, 32 minutes past the hour. He described the terror attack as the most difficult day in Orlando's history. Up next, we're talking live to the city's mayor, Buddy Dyer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:36:42] ROMANS: I want to apologize for a couple of technical issues we're having in Orlando with Chris and Alisyn, but let's continue here with the investigation now into the worst mass shooting in the nation's history. Forty-nine people killed at a gay nightclub here - here in Orlando, 53 others wounded. Not since September 11th have we endured a more deadly attack on American soil.

We're finding out more about this gunman, including his chilling call to 911. He pledged allegiance to ISIS during the massacre. He paused during the massacre to call 911 and pledge allegiance to ISIS.

I want to go live now to CNN's Boris Sanchez in Orlando with the very latest.

You've been following all of these developments over the past 24 hours or so. We now know 49 killed. The 50th fatality is the gunman himself.

Boris.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Christine. We heard from officials just about an hour ago. They tell us the priority now is notifying the next of kin of the deceased. They've been able to identify all but one of the victims inside the club. They're working on processing those remains now to identify that person. And , again, reaching out to the families that have been now waiting for more than 24 hours to find out if their loved ones fell victim to this shooter.

We also got some more clarity on specifically what happened inside the club. At about 2:00 a.m., an off-duty police officer that was working security outside was responding to shots fired inside the club. Very quickly a hostage situation unfolded. The shooter, with an assault rifle and a handgun, began taking hostages. Police immediately got to the scene and they entered the club. We learned in the past hour that additional officers had a gun battle with the gunman when he was inside and they forced him to retreat into a bathroom.

At that point, he apparently made some claims about having a device on him. We've heard throughout the day yesterday that there were fears that he might have explosives on him. And that gave officers caution. That's really the beginning of his three-hour standoff period where, as you mentioned, he called 911 and pledged his allegiance to ISIS and he also mentioned the Boston Marathon bombers.

Shortly after 5:00 a.m., officers were able to breach the club and they took down the suspect.

Christine.

ROMANS: Taking down the suspect, three-hour standoff there.

Boris, thank you so much. We'll let you go to work your sources as you continue to follow this investigation.

As the FBI investigates the motives and the possible ties to terrorism here, a clearer picture is emerging of the chaos that unfolded outside of that nightclub, from the first shots being fired, to the desperate scramble to save lives. Alisyn Camerota has the dramatic details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I still think that I'm going to like wake up and everything is going to be normal, but it's not.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Two minutes after 2:00 a.m. on Sunday, shots rang out at Pulse, the popular gay nightclub in Orlando.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it was just one after another after another after another and it could have last a whole song.

CAMEROTA: Some club goers thought the sounds were part of the music.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Once people started screaming and shots just keep ringing out and you know that it's not a show anymore. CAMEROTA: The club, packed with more than 300 patrons when the

terrorist opened fire. Eyewitnesses describe the horror and chaos.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was turning around to grab alcohol. He got shot three times. He heard chaos, he heard consistent semi-automatic shooting and he said it would not stop.

[08:40:04] CAMEROTA: Some able to escape by running out the back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we had jumped through the back patio fence. My roommates ran. And then while we were running, I heard the gunshots.

CAMEROTA: Others, like Eddie Justice (ph), sent chilling texts to his mother, begging for help. "He's coming. I'm going to die." Police confirming this morning that Justice is among the dead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at that. They're shooting back and forth.

CAMEROTA: Seven minutes into the attack, club management posted this message on FaceBook. "Everyone get out of Pulse and keep running."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right about 2:12, I got a phone call from my daughter saying she was hit and she was bleeding in her arm and she was going to pass out.

CAMEROTA: Twenty minutes into the carnage, police say the terrorist made a call to 911, pledging allegiance to ISIS and mentioning the Boston Marathon bombers.

With dozens of club goers still inside the club, police begin negotiating with the terrorist, leading to a tense three-hour standoff.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So they start like doing this, crawling toward the bathroom, because there's no place to be safe in that place.

CAMEROTA: One survivor, hiding in the bathroom, covered herself with dead bodies.

Around 5:00 a.m., police make the decision to storm the club with an armed vehicle and SWAT team members in hopes of saving lives. One of the officers shot at by the terrorist lucky to be alive because of his Kevlar helmet. The terrorist killed in the gunfight with police. Outside, victims laying on the street, others carried away by friends as families rush to the club.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My son hasn't been heard from. So I don't know if he was left in the club, if he got shot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're waiting - waiting to find out if my son's OK. It's - it's horrible. I don't wish this on anybody.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Just unimaginable to think about what went on inside that club and all of the loved ones waiting for word while they were outside.

Well, our next guest described the terror attack as the most difficult day in Orlando's history. Up next, we talk live to the city's mayor, Buddy Dyer. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: The city of Orlando is a wonderful place. But, today, it is the focus of the world for all the wrong reasons. The deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. Families still desperately waiting for answers on the fate of loved ones.

This is about leadership now, a community coming together, and all of this country asking the same questions. And we have a man in the center of it all, the mayor of Orlando, Mayor Buddy Dyer.

Mr. Mayor, always a pleasure to see you.

MAYOR BUDDY DYER, ORLANDO: Good morning.

CUOMO: But, today, this is a horrible way to make an introduction.

You made a point in front of the cameras of saying there are so many questions, but let's start with what we know. This community has been hurt for all the wrong reasons and now it needs to come together. How do you reassure your constituents who now feel like this is an everyday possibility?

DYER: Well, yesterday was the most horrific day in the history of our city. But, today, I couldn't be more proud of our community in the way it's responded, from the first responders who were at the scene, to the medical doctors and nurses who saved so many lives. The stories that are coming out about the citizens that were in Pulse, that saved other people, or some that gave their lives to save friends, pushing them out of harm's way. So incredibly proud of all that.

[08:45:23] And then it's the community has shown support for the families of the victims. I can't compliment the FDLE and the FBI and the medical director more for helping us get the victims identified. 48 of the 49 victims have been identified. We've made notification to 26 of the families. That's where our focus is today, to taking care of those families, taking care of the friends, and starting to heal this community.

CUOMO: There's so many who still need answers about whether or not their loved one is among the dead, whether they are among the injured. This horrible image of investigators walking through and hearing the cell phones going off. How close are you to a complete accounting of everyone who was hurt, where they are, who they are and those who are gone?

DYER: We have identified 48 of the 49. We have one last identification to do. And we are in the process of making identification. So we're sending teams of law enforcement with advocates to the homes. We're doing this physically. We're not making phone calls. But if there are families out there that think they have a loved one that might have been involved here, reaching out to our hotline would be important.

But just - we're a united community today and we are a community that embraces diversity, embraces equality, and we will be stronger because of this.

CUOMO: Do you take some perspective from the idea that this was - we've never seen gays targeted like this in this country. I mean there's no question whether this is directly or tangentially related to ISIS, going after gays is a big part of their hate campaign. But to have gays targeted this way, to have so many Latino victims, as you know, the overwhelming number of dead here are going to wind up being Latino, many Puerto Rican. What is the perspective in that?

DYER: Well, that's awful and the Latino community is our biggest growing, fastest growing community. We're known for our diversity. We're really the new melting pot here in America. And to target our LGBT community has been subject to hate crime for so long, it just reminds us that we're not over that hump in terms of acceptance. We accept and embrace the diversity here in Orlando, but that's not the case everywhere and that bore itself out here.

CUOMO: People are going to talk guns. Right and wrong, it's going to happen. There's a separate issue, though. Every once in a while one of these - and we've all seen far too many - there's a window into something that doesn't make sense. One of the things here is, the FBI looked at this guy twice, mayor. They closed one case. The other one, he was tangential. Then he goes to buy a gun. The FBI does the background check. They didn't have the ability to pick up the phone and talk to him. That's something that we should be thinking about in the days and weeks ahead when the families demand change.

DYER: You know, I think that is probably the case, but I can honestly tell you, I haven't focused on that aspect.

CUOMO: You can't be, because you're worried about what's happening behind us.

DYER: I have not focused on the gunman at all, other than he is dead.

CUOMO: Do you think we shouldn't? Do you - what do you think about that? As a leader in the community now, with people coming to you, we won't say his name here, right or wrong. What do you feel the balance should be in understanding this situation and where the attention should be?

DYER: I think we move away from the gunman. At least my job -

CUOMO: Yes.

DYER: I feel is to sport my community, be there for the families, be there for our first responders. There are others that can worry about this bad guy. We took care of business in a manner that we needed to last night - or the night before, I guess. They kind of run together. And our community needs to be focused inward on healing and supporting the families of the victims. CUOMO: We're still developing in this situation. There's so much still

unknown. There will be needs and they will get greater as days go ahead. Please let us know how to help.

DYER: I will do that. And so many communities have reached out, communities that have had tragedies there before have reached out to us to say, here are things that we did in the aftermath that we think you can learn from the lessons that we learned. So we're so thankful of the support we're getting from all over the country.

CUOMO: And hopefully this story becomes not about what was lost but what was gained here in Orlando as you move forward together. And, again, mayor, we're here for you. Thank you for being with us this morning.

DYER: Thank you.

CUOMO: Appreciate it.

All right, we're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we'll bring in some other voices about what this means and what should happen now. We have former congressional candidate Clay Aiken. He's been looking at the politics of this and calling out Donald Trump for not calling the terror attack at a gay nightclub a hate crime.

[08:49:50] Also we're going to have Clay Aiken and the president of GLAAD come on to talk about what this means for who was specifically targeted. This was a gay club and many of those who were lost and were hurt were Latino. How do we deal with that going forward? Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Forty-nine innocent people killed, 53 others injured at that gay nightclub behind us in what is now the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. The LGBT community hit hard, of course, by this terror attack.

Joining us now is the CEO and president of GLAAD, Sarah Kate Ellis, and singer/activist and former congressional candidate Clay Aiken.

Thanks to both of you for being here on this terrible morning with us.

You know, people see this, whatever was at the root of this hideous crime, in different ways. Some call it Islamic terror, some call it mental illness. Some call it homophobia. How do you see it, Clay?

CLAY AIKEN, SINGER, ACTIVIST: I mean it's a hate crime no matter what - no matter how you slice it. I mean I've been inundated over the past few hours with people who have sent me a lot of information about how hateful Islam is against homo - against homosexuals, against gays and lesbians and transgender. And - and I have to remind them that, you know what, this is a homegrown problem, too. And we can scapegoat it and blame it on Islam just because the person who had the gun happened to be Muslim, but he grew up in America and he grew up with people - with politicians here telling him and giving him the example through laws and legislation that it's OK to discriminate against people because of their sexual orientation. And so this is the problem right here in America, whether it's terrorism from Islam or not.

CAMEROTA: This takes it to a new level, I think we'd all agree. I mean, obviously, the discrimination that you've felt and that others have felt is one thing. But to go on a massive killing spree, I mean, is just - obviously it's unthinkable.

SARAH KATE ELLIS, CEO & PRESIDENT, GLAAD: It is. However, we face violence in the LGBT community every single day. And I think to Clay's point, the legislation, we've seen over 100 anti-LGBT bills this past year. And that breeds hate and discrimination. And that ends up in violence. And something like that happened on Sunday morning is horrific at every level and is at a definite new level. But this is continuing. This is a continuation of -

AIKEN: Yes, it's not an isolated event.

ELLIS: Yes.

AIKEN: I mean you look at Seattle. A gay club was burned down in Seattle just a few years ago. The Dallas Police are still trying to solve dozens of battered gay men who were beaten with baseball bats as they came out of clubs. And those crimes were just in the last few months. So this is - this is a tragedy, but it highlights a problem that has been ongoing and it's not new.

CAMEROTA: So what's the feeling of the gay community today? What's the - what's the call to action?

ELLIS: I think there's two feelings. I think there's absolute sadness. We feel targeted again. And we want to see our politicians. We want to see people standing up for us, not only ourselves. And then there's a galvanization. I mean the gay community, for decades, has always galvanized around pain and suffering and we will again and we will rise to this occasion and acceptance will prevail and love will win.

CAMEROTA: And, of course, the paradox is that it is Gay Pride Month. This is a time for revelry and celebrations and parades. Can those happen?

AIKEN: I mean I think we still have - we're one year out from a landmark case in the Supreme Court, gay marriage equality, but there's a lot of stuff that still has to happen and pride is about celebrating, but it's also about talking about the progress we still need to make. And I said something yesterday that gay men who survived this horrible attack can still go to work here in Florida today and have their boss fire them because they're gay. And that happens in - there are 27 - 26 states around this country where that's allowed.

[08:55:03] ELLIS: A majority.

AIKEN: There - employment, not (ph) discrimination. There's still a lot of progress to be made. So pride, this year, I think, takes on a heavier tone because of this, but really reinforces how much work there still is to be done.

CAMEROTA: Look, after horrible events like this, people don't want it to have happen in vain. They sometimes want there - it to be a catalyst for something. And do you think this is the moment?

ELLIS: I think absolutely. I mean there have been catalysts. This - these continue to happen in this country and we point out, instead of in, and I think we need to start pointing in and looking at the hate and the discrimination that we foster in this country and we allow to happen in this country.

CAMEROTA: What do you want to happen? What's the first thing you want to have happen tomorrow?

ELLIS: Tomorrow, I want the community to continue to come together. I want to hear the politicians from both sides speaking out against this, acknowledging that this was an LGBT incident, that this was against LGBT people.

AIKEN: It is - I think it's a dishonor to the people who passed -

ELLIS: Yes.

AIKEN: From this tragedy to assume that this was not - that they weren't targeted because of their sexual orientation. And I think that - and I think she's right, that we need to hear politicians speak up and acknowledge that and we need to start seeing legislation that's sat in Congress since 1994, employment nondiscrimination has sat there for almost 30 years now and had not been - not been passed. And these are things that we've got to - that we've got to start moving on.

CAMEROTA: Clay Aiken, Sarah Kate Ellis, thank you. We hear your voices today. Thank you for being on NEW DAY with us.

ELLIS: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Our breaking new coverage of the Orlando terror attacks will continue right after this very short break. We'll have "Newsroom" with Carol Costello and Erin Burnett right after this.

ELLIS: Thank you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

[08:59:57] ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. This is our breaking news coverage continuing here at CNN. I am Erin Burnett. Carol Costello also here with me in Florida. I am outside the medical center where many of the victims are right now fighting for their lives.