EARLY SUNDAY MORNING, THE PULSE NIGHTCLUB IN ORLANDO WAS THE
SITE OF THE WORST MASS SHOOTING AND HOMOPHOBIC TERRORISM IN U.S.
HISTORY.
NEARLY 50 PEOPLE WERE KILLED, MORE THAN 50
WERE KILLED IN A SIEGE THAT LASTED MORE THAN THREE HOURS.
THE GUNMAN, WHO WAS LATER KILLED BY POLICE, ENTERED THE CLUB
WITH AN ASSAULT TYPE RIFLE, HANDGUN, AND A DEVICE AFTER
ENGAGING WITH OFF-DUTY POLICE OFFICERS.
HE BEGAN SHOOTING AT 2 AM AND HIS SIEGE LASTED FOR THREE
HOURS UNTIL POLICE WERE ABLE TO ENTER, AP ñ
A PERIOD DURING WHICH DOZENS WERE INJURED AND KILLED.
IT WAS LATER CONFIRMED THAT THE SHOOTER WAS KILLED BY SWAT.
THEY MADE THE DECISION TO GO INSIDE AND ENGAGE THE
GUNMAN BECAUSE THEY MADE CONTACT WITH PEOPLE WHO WERE HIDING
IN THE BATHROOM WHO WERE WOUNDED.
THEY RESCUED 30 PEOPLE WHO WERE INSIDE THE CLUB WITH THE GUNMAN.
NEARLY 50 DEAD, INCLUDING THE GUNMAN.
OFFICIALS SAID THAT THE DEAD NUMBERED 50 ORIGINALLY, BUT
LATER CLARIFIED THAT THEY WERE INCLUDING THE GUNMAN.
THE FAMILIES OF AT LEAST 36 OUT OF 49
VICTIMS HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED OF THEIR LOVED ONES DEATHS.
ONE OF THE PERSONALLY MOST HORRIFIC PARTS OF THIS THAT
I SAW WAS A TEXT MESSAGE CONVERSATION BETWEEN ONE OF
THE PEOPLE WHO WAS TRAPPED AND THEIR MOTHER, AND THAT
PERSON ENDED UP DYING.
ABSOLUTELY HORRENDOUS THAT THEY ONLY GOT TO SEND A COUPLE
OF MESSAGES BEFORE THEY WERE FINALLY KILLED.
DURING THE SIEGE THE SOONER DID COMMUNICATE WITH THE POLICE
ON THE OUTSIDE, AND ALSO CALLED 911
TO PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO ISIS DURING THE ATTACK.
HE WAS POSSIBLY PLANNING TO CARRY OUT THE MASSACRE FOR
A LONG TIME.
HE ATTEMPTED TO BUY MILLER ñ MILITARY GRADE BODY ARMOR
ACCORDING TO OFFICIALS RECENTLY, AND THANKFULLY THEY REFUSED TO
SELL HIM WHAT IS KNOWN AS LEVEL III BODY ARMOR, WHICH OFFERS
MORE PROTECTION THAN THE BODY ARMOR POLICE TYPICALLY USE.
FINALLY, FBI DIRECTOR JAMES COMAY SAID ON MONDAY THAT THERE
IS NO EVIDENCE THAT THE SUITORS PLOT WAS DIRECTED FROM OUTSIDE
THE UNITED STATES, WITH PRES.
OBAMA CALLING HIM AN EXAMPLE OF
THE KIND OF HOMEGROWN EXTREMISM THAT ALL OF US HAVE BEEN SO
WORRIED ABOUT.
A TERRIBLE ATTACK A DAY AFTER THE DEATH OF SINGER CHRISTINA
GRIMMIE.
A HORRIFIC BUT NOT TOO ATYPICAL STORY HERE IN THE U.S.
THIS IS THE MOST BRUTAL CASE OF A MASS SHOOTING IN THE UNITED
STATES HISTORY, THE MOST NUMBER OF VICTIMS IN A SHOOTING IN U.S.
HISTORY.
EVERY YEAR IT SEEMS LIKE THERE IS A STORY THAT TAKES THAT
TITLE, AND IT IS SCARY BECAUSE WITH THIS STORY YOU SEE A TREND.
A POLARIZED DISCUSSION WHERE PEOPLE WANT TO STICK TO THEIR
TALKING POINTS, GO INTO THEIR CORNERS AND KEEP REGURGITATING
THEIR TALKING POINTS, AND WE DON'T LEARN FROM THE PAST.
THERE ARE NEVER REAL SOLUTIONS, ONLY QUESTIONABLE VITRIOL
AND RHETORIC.
IT'S VERY UNDERSTANDABLE TO FEEL HELPLESS IN THIS MOMENT, I
KNOW I FEEL HELPLESS.
LISTEN, COMPARING THEM, YOU COMPARE THEM BY NUMBER, WHEN
THEY HAPPEN, HOW FREQUENTLY THEY HAPPEN.
NEWTOWN, REMEMBER WHEN WE ALL THOUGHT THAT WAS GOING TO BE THE
ONE THAT GOT US PAST THE INACTION AND INERTIA ON
THIS ISSUE?
IT WAS KIDS, IT WAS LITTLE KIDS, JUST BRUTAL, AND NOTHING,
AND IT JUST KEEPS HAPPENING AND HAPPENING.
AND HERE WE ARE IN ORLANDO.
WHAT DO WE THINK OF WHEN WE THINK OF ORLANDO?
DISNEY, AND HAPPY, HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH, AND ITS
JUST A TERRIBLE THING.
BUT WHAT IS SO TERRIBLE IS WHAT YOU JUST POINTED OUT, NOBODY
DOES ANYTHING, EVER, AND YOU HAVE TO RELY ON CONGRESS, AND
YOU HAVE TO LOOK AND SAY, YESTERDAY - IGOR VOLSKY, WHO
EVERYBODY SHOULD FOLLOW, WAS TAKING EVERY TWEETS THAT A
MEMBER OF CONGRESS WAS TWEETING, CONGRESSMEN WERE TWEETING, AND
THEY SAID OUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS ARE WITH THE VICTIMS,
WHICH IS A NICE THING TO SAY, THE REFLEX THING TO SAY.
VOLSKY WAS RETREATING WHAT THEY WERE SAYING AND SAYING HOW MUCH
THAT IT PERSON, EACH INDIVIDUAL PERSON HAD TAKEN FROM THE NRA IN
DONATIONS.
UNTIL THAT HAPPENS, IT IS NOT GOING TO CHANGE.
THOSE BACK TO WHATEVER BUT HE TALKS ABOUT AT THIS DESK
ALL THE TIME, MONEY IN POLITICS.
UNTIL THE INFLUENCE OF THE NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION
IS MINIMIZED, THIS IS GOING TO CONTINUE TO HAPPEN.
THIS IS PART OF THAT FAIRY DUST THAT PEOPLE TALK ABOUT WHEN THEY
TALK ABOUT BERNIE SANDERS, AND UNICORNS, BECAUSE THIS IS
EXACTLY ñ YOU JUST KIND OF SAID IT, I'M JUST REITERATING WHAT
YOU ARE SAYING, THE MONEY IN POLITICS, WE HAVE A GOVERNMENT
THAT IS RESPONSIBLE TO VOTERS AND NOT DONORS.
WE HAVE TO GET MONEY OUT OF POLITICS.
THAT IS NOT SOME HIGH-MINDED IDEA THAT WE WISH WE COULD
HAVE SOME DAY.
THAT IS ABSOLUTELY NEEDED, BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T GET MONEY
OUT OF POLITICS, PEOPLE DIE.
WE HAD 20 KIDS, CHILDREN SHOT AND MASSACRED, NOW WE HAVE
50 ADULTS MASSACRED?
SO IT DOESN'T SEEM TO MATTER HOW HORRIBLE THIS IS, BECAUSE
WHEN MONEY IS IN POLITICS, THAT IS WHAT IS GOING TO WIN THE DAY.
WE SHOULDN'T BE MARGINALIZING THAT IDEA, OR PRETENDING LIKE WE
CAN TAKE MONEY AND IT DOESN'T AFFECT US, WE NEED TO STOP DOING
THAT.
TO SAY HEY, I CAN TAKE MONEY AND I CAN REGULATE, NO YOU CAN'T,
YOU CAN'T DO THAT.
WHEN THEY SAY THAT STUFF WE NEED TO HOLD THEIR FEET TO THE
FIRE AND JUST SAY, THAT IS NOT TRUE.
YOU CANNOT TAKE MONEY FROM SPECIAL INTEREST AND THEN
LEGISLATE WITH THAT IN MIND, SO JUST STOP SAYING THAT.
WE ALL KNOW THAT MONEY IN POLITICS IS THE THING THAT
IS CORRUPTING POLITICS.
THAT'S THE REASON WHY THAT GUY WAS ABLE TO LEGALLY GO GET AN AR
15 STYLE RIFLE, WHY HE WAS ABLE TO PURCHASE THAT BODY ARMOR.
THIS IS THE SYSTEM THAT MONEY IN POLITICS HAS BOUGHT.
I THINK WE ALL NEED TO STOP ALLOWING POLITICIANS TO SAY, I
CAN TAKE MONEY AND I CAN STILL DO MY JOB, BECAUSE YOU CAN'T.
LUCKILY, HE WASN'T ABLE TO PURCHASE THAT BODY ARMOR,
WHICH, BY THE WAY, AS JOHN HAD POINTED OUT, WOULD HAVE
BEEN EVEN MORE POWERFUL THAN THE BODY ARMOR WE GIVE OUR POLICE.
BUT, ANOTHER THING I WANTED TO MENTION IS, YES THIS
ABSOLUTELY HAS TO DO WITH POLITICAL CORRUPTION, AND
THE MAIN REASON WHY THESE MASS SHOOTINGS HAPPEN IN THIS
COUNTRY OVER AND OVER AGAIN ñ AND THEY GET WORSE EVERY TIME,
AND NOTHING EVER GETS DONE, IN THE FORM OF ENSURING THAT THERE
ARE BACKGROUND CHECKS AND COMMON SENSE GUN LEGISLATION THAT
COULD PREVENT SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPENING IN THE FUTURE ñ
HE HAD BEEN INVESTIGATED BY THE FBI ON TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS,
AND HE WAS STILL ABLE TO LEGALLY PURCHASE THESE FIREARMS.
ANOTHER THING I WANT TO MENTION IS, THIS SHOOTING TOUCHES
ON SO MANY SOCIAL ILLS IN THIS COUNTRY.
NOT ONLY DOES IT HAVE TO DO WITH POLITICAL CORRUPTION, IT
ALSO HAS TO DO WITH GAY INTOLERANCE, BIGOTRY, WHICH
YOU SEE QUITE A BIT; ESPECIALLY WITH THE STORIES WE'VE BEEN
COVERING LATELY WITH THE TRANSGENDER BATHROOM LAWS.
A LOT OF CONSERVATIVES ARE COMING OUT AND SAYING THAT WE
NEED TO POINT TO RADICAL ISLAMIC TERRORISM, WHICH I THINK IS FINE
TO TALK ABOUT, HOMEGROWN TERRORISM, BECAUSE THIS IS
EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED WITH THIS U.S.
CITIZEN, WHO WAS RADICALIZED, BUT WE ALSO WANT TO TALK
ABOUT THE GAY INTOLERANCE THAT WE SEE THROUGHOUT THE
UNITED STATES, WITH A LOT OF CONSERVATIVES.
THAT RHETORIC AND IDEOLOGY NEEDS TO CHANGE.
YOU CAN'T BE A CONSERVATIVE AND MOURN THE DEATHS OF THESE
INDIVIDUALS WHEN YOU HAVE BEEN SPOUTING HATE AT THESE
GROUPS AND INDIVIDUALS FOR DECADES, AT THIS POINT.
I WANT TO TURN TO PRES.
OBAMA'S POINTS.
I WANT TO RESPOND TO WHAT MICHAEL TALKED ABOUT, WITH
THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS.
THE THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS SEEMS LIKE A NICE THING TO DO,
BUT IT'S NOT A NICE THING TO DO, IF WHAT YOU ARE DOING IS
FALSELY IMPLYING THAT THAT IS THE BEST YOU CAN DO.
REGULAR PEOPLE SEND THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS BECAUSE THAT IS
LITERALLY THE BEST THEY CAN DO, OFFER MORAL SUPPORT.
IF YOU ARE A POLITICIAN, THAT IS A LIE, IT IS NOT THE ONLY
THING YOU CAN DO.
YOU CAN CHANGE LEGISLATION.
WE'RE GOING TO GO TO CLIP NUMBER FIVE WHERE PRES.
OBAMA TALKS ABOUT THE FALSE NARRATIVES COMING UP.
MY CONCERN IS THAT WE START GETTING INTO A DEBATE, AS
HAS HAPPENED IN THE PAST, WHICH IS AN EITHER/OR DEBATE.
EITHER WE THINK ABOUT SOMETHING AS TERRORISM AND WE IGNORE THE
PROBLEMS WITH EASY ACCESS TO FIREARMS, OR IT'S ALL ABOUT
FIREARMS AND WE IGNORE THE ROLE ñ THE VERY REAL ROLE THAT
ORGANIZATIONS LIKE ISIL HAVE IN GENERATING EXTREMIST VIEWS
INSIDE THIS COUNTRY.
IT IS NOT AN EITHER OR, IT'S A BOTH AND.
OF COURSE HE LENT SUPPORT TO THE VICTIMS AND THEIR
FAMILIES, AS YOU WOULD SUSPECT.
I DO WANT TO GIVE YOU A BRIEF IDEA OF SOMETHING THAT YOU CAN
DO, WE ARE GOING TO CLOSE THE SHOW WITH BLOOD DONATIONS, WHICH
IS ESPECIALLY NECESSARY BECAUSE OF THE DISCRIMINATION THAT WE
HAVE IN OUR NATION.
A GO FUND ME PAGE HAS BEEN SET UP FOR THE VICTIMS AND THE
FAMILIES.
SOMETHING YOU CAN EASILY FIND, OBVIOUSLY IT IS RAISING A GREAT
DEAL OF MONEY.
IT IS AT GOFUNDME.COM/PULSEVICTIMSFUND.
THOSE ARE FOR PEOPLE STILL SUFFERING, WAITING FOR
INFORMATION ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED.