Transcripts For CNNW Wolf 20160614 : vimarsana.com

Us. We follow breaking news. The president of the United States firing back against critics of his strategy on fighting isis. Those critics led by the republican president ial nominee, donald trump. The president fighting back. The accusations hes refusing to describe the terrorism thats coming against the United States including in orlando the other day as islamic terrorism and the president passionately very movingly responded to those critics. Watch this. For a while now, the main contribution of some of my friends on the other side of the aisle have made in the fight against aye zisil is to critici and my administration for not using the phrase radical islam. Thats the key, they tell us. We cant beat isil unless we call them radical islamists. When exactly would using this label accomplish . What exactly would it change . Would it make isil less committed to trying to kill americans . Would it bring in more allies . Is there a military strategy that is served by this . The answer is none of the above. Calling a threat by a different name does not make it go away. This is a political distraction. Since before i was president , ive been clear about how extremist groups have perverted islam to justify terrorism. As president , i have repeatedly called on our muslim friends and allies at home and around the world to work with us to reject this twisted interpretation of one of the worlds great religions. Theres not been a moment in my 7. 5 years as president weve not been able to pursue a strategy because we didnt use the label radical islam. Not once has an advisor of mine said, man, if we really use that phrase, were going to turn this whole thing around. Not once. So if someone seriously thinks we dont know who were fighting, if theres anyone out there who thinks were confused about who our enemies are, that would come as a surprise to the thousands of terrorists who weve taken off the battlefield. If the implication is that those of us up here and the thousands of people around the country and around the world who are working to defeat isil arent taking the fight seriously, that would come as a surprise to those who have spent the last 7. 5 years fighting the mm and including t men and women fighting and the special forces now on the ground in iraq and in syria. They know full well who the enemy is. So do the intelligence and Law Enforcement officers who spent countless hours disrupting plots. And protecting all americans including politicians who tweet. And appear on cable news shows. They know who the nature of the enemy is. So theres no magic to the phrase radical islam. Its a political talking point. Its not a strategy. 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. Groups like isil and al qaeda want to make this war a war between islam and america or between islam and the west. They want to claim that they are the true leaders of over a billion muslims around the world who reject their crazy notions. They want us to validate them by implying that they speak for those billion plus people. That they speak for islam. Thats their propaganda. Thats how they recruit. And if we fall into the trap of painting all muslims with a broad brush and imply that they are at war with an entire religion, then we are doing the terrorists work for them. Up until this point, the argument about labels has mostly been just partisan rhetoric and sadly, weve all become accustomed to that kind of partisanship. Even when it involves the fight against these extremist groups and that kind of yapping has not prevented folks across government from doing their j s jobs, from sacrificing and working really hard to protect the american people. But we are now seeing how dangerous this kind of mindset and this kind of thinking can be. Were starting to see where this kind of rhetoric and loose talk and sloppiness about who exactly were fighting, where this can lead us. Very strong words from the president of the United States. Jake tapper still with us. When he said politicians who tweet and appear on cable news shows, basically zugting they dont know what theyre talking about but going further saying what they are suggesting is really dangerous to the United States, the u. S. National security and everyone knows who hes referring to. Yeah. And let me just say clearly, president obama thinks that donald trump in his rhetoric and his tone, this is not my opinion, this is the president s opinion, thinks that donald trump is chasing people who might be wavering into the hands of extremism. He thinks strongly the rhetoric from donald trump, especially what we heard in New Hampshire just yesterday in the National Security speech, that that is bad for the United States. Bad for National Security because it alienates muslims and might chase some into the hands of extremists. Let me make an observation which is obviously president obama is very eager to get into this political debate. Hes very eager to defend himself but also to do what we can to stop donald trump from becoming president. He feels very strongly that that would be bad for the country. I cant help but observe if he thought Hillary Clinton was doing a good job making the case against trump, maybe he wouldnt go to the east room and make it himself. So in a way, while this is completely a condemnation of trump and everything trump stands for, i wouldnt say that president obama entering the president ial race this way exactly expresses a huge vote of confidence in the way that Hillary Clinton is rebutting trump and making the same exact points that the president just made. Hes trying to back her up. He wants donald trump to be defeated in the president ial election and he thinks whatever he can do to help Hillary Clinton win and become the next president would be good for his legacy and also makes the point that he has ordered thousands of terrorists to wipe out the battlefield over the last seven and a half plus years and his aides said to me if you look at the drone strikes and how many terrorists killed during the obama administration, its more than the bush administration. Not to mention the innocent civilians by the drone strikes president obama ordered. No question he sent u. S. Service Members Around the world into africa, into afghanistan, into iraq, into syria now and other places that we dont even know about to kill radical islamic terrorists. Theres no question about that. There are some serious criticisms being made right now about how the war against isis is being fought and whether or not there is an actual strategy and what the end game looks like or whether president obama is just buying time with various missions so its a tactical war with no overall strategy but that said, it cannot be debated that president obama is responsible for the deaths of thousands of rad cical islamic terrorists. We knew he was going to deliver remarks on the orlando terror attack and didnt know he was going to directly respond to the criticism from donald trump and others. You have to take a look at where the u. S. , if this orlando terror attack is a turning point in the overall struggle, the effort to destroy isis. Let me make another point by the point donald trump and others including Rudy Giuliani and whether or not the president uses the term radical islamic terrorists. I think the concern these critics have, trump, giuliani and others by not labeling it, you are perhaps suggesting that you dont fully understand the nature of the threat, that this is in fact not just a few miscreants here and there but a poisonous theology, a perversion of islam that is spreading throughout the world responsible for the deaths, people in paris, belgium, orlando, San Bernardino and to not recognize that, that is the problem. Its not the words so much. Now that said, president obama made the point very forcefully, we know who the enemy is. We know whats going on. But its really not just about semantics. Both the critics of the president and president obama, i think, understand that. When president said politicians who tweet, we know who hes referring to and i anticipate well get one reacting. Youll never go broke if you bet on donald trump sending a tweet. Well see you on the lead. Helping us appreciate the enormity of what we just heard from the president of the United States. Lets bring in our chief National Security correspondent. Jim sciutto covering the fallout from the orlando terror attack in orlando on the scene for us. Jim, what was the main thought that emerged from your perspective from what we just heard from the president . Reporter lets set aside the phrase ra cdical islam but the religion itself being in conflict with the west. This is a view that has enormous support in the muslim world today and that was something the president was trying to address there. It is a real problem. And to jakes point earlier, there is a portion of the world, ive interviewed many people there, people on the street but also jihadis and people considering it, arrested for it and considering joining the cause, they look at this as a fact. Many are lost for good. No matter what the president or donald trump might say, theyre already lost. But there are others who are in the middle, to jakes point, and these are the ones that the president , these are the ones that Law Enforcement, that counterterrorism experts, maybe the military is concerned about that could go either way and need to hear a different message from america so they dont enter that camp. That is really the target group and this idea of muslim islam in the west being a conflict. To them, they believe it. Theyre susceptible to it and a certain percentage of those will choose to act on that thought with violence as we saw here in orlando just two days ago. That is the real conflict and that is why when you hear the president but not just the president or politicians, military commanders say that a key part of this battle is not on the battlefield. Thats essential but a key part is for minds, hearts, and minds. That phrase we heard so often throughout the iraq war and in afghanistan, that battle is under way every day and thats why words do matter in that battle. And when you speak to folks, the angry young men and some describe them in the middle east, theyre susceptible to that message and thats where the real battle is going to be playing out. Stand by, jim. Barbara starr is our pentagon correspondent. You make the point that the president was there in the east room surrounded by some significant advisors including military commanders, barbara. Reporter indeed. Joe dunnford, chairman of the joi joint chiefs of staff, by his side. This was supposed to be a routine meeting, update of the orlando situation. Thats why general dunnford was there at the president s request, obviously. Something that general dunnford would routinely participate in but as you said, it took a turn. The president s remarks took on an enormity and became very political, very unusual to have a fourstar there during such a political statement. The pentagon, by tradition and especially this year, has been doing everything it can to stay out of politics. You know, general dunn ford and others getting asked by reporters like me, what do you think about what trump said, they wont answer anything about what trump said and yet you have the chairman standing there because the president has taken a turn in his remarks. I think the president , an enormous statement to make that the u. S. Military is in fact one of the most diverse organizations in the United States. Everyone is welcome. All of the people in the u. S. Military fight on behalf of all americans and everyone in the United States to defend their freedoms and the president making a case the military is a pluralistic organization in a pluralistic country. It is a pluralistic fighting force today working against isis and this puts the military in a very interesting position because if donald trump gets elected, they will be fighting to protect whatever policies he tries to put into place as president of the United States. They may not be so pluralistic. It may be a tough road ahead as it exists today. That perhaps an undercurrent. You heard the president say the same Operations Forces that killed bin laden are now on the ground in both iraq and syria. What can you tell us about that, very briefly . You are going to have upwards of 300 u. S. Special Operations Forces inside syria. We were there just a couple of weeks ago meeting some of them. This is going to be the most dangerous work. In the weeks ahead, these special Operations Forces will get closer to the front lines. And some cases, not in all. There is a good deal of concern they can maintain their safety. They do not become involved in direct combat, both in syria and ir iraq. It is u. S. Special forces trying to track down isis and looking for abu bakr around the clock. If they find him, they will kill him. That is clear. Thanks very much. Up next, Hillary Clinton talking about donald trump and his response to the orlando terror shootings. Stay with us. Much more of our special coverage coming up right after this. In emojis. So, this cruze has builtin 4g lte wifi® with 24 gigs of data. Wow. message sent sfx strong it also comes with 24 months of siriusxm satellite radio. message sent sfx like, word, chevy. Thats the way to go. Pick the one emoji that sums up the car. A crystal ball. I can see the future. That was deep. Freshly made in the tokyojapanese tradition, each batch is small. Special. Unique. Every bowl blurring the line between food. And art. When you cook with incredible ingredients. You make incredible meals. Fresh ingredients. Stepbysteprecipes. Delivered to your door. Get your first two meals free blueapron. Com cook. 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Business expenses, so ive been snapping photos of my receipts and keeping track of them in quickbooks. Now im on top of my expenses, and my bees. Best 68,000 employees ever. Thats how we own it. High potency probiotic, life feels a little lighter, livelier, a little more you. Ultimate flora probiotics. Moments ago, Presumptive Democratic president ial nominee, Hillary Clinton spoke about reaction from donald trump and made it during a Campaign Stop in pittsburgh. Heres some of what she just said. Donald trump wants to be our next commander in chief. I think we all know that that is a job that demands a calm, collected and dignified response to these kinds of events. Instead, yesterday morning, just one day after the massacre, he went on tv and suggested that president obama is on the side of the terrorists. Just think about that for a second. Even in a time of divided politics, this is way beyond anything that should be said by someone running for president of the United States. [ applause ] and i have to ask, will responsible Republican Leaders stand up to their presumptive nominee or will they stand by his accusation about our president . I am sure theyd rather avoid that question all together. But history will remember what we do in this moment. What donald trump is saying is shameful. It is disrespectful to the people who were killed and wounded and their families. And it is yet more evidence that he is temperamentally unfit and totally unqualified to be commander in chief. [ cheers and applause ] of course, he is a leader of the birther movement, which spread the lie that president obama wasnt born in the United States. I guess he had to be reminded hawaii is part of the United States. This is a man who claimed a distinguished federal judge born and raised in indiana cant do his job because of his, quote, mexican heritage. I guess he has to be reminded. Indiana is in the United States. So maybe we shouldnt be surprised. But it was one thing when he was a reality tv personality. Raising his arms and yelling, youre fired. It is another thing altogether when he is the Republican Partys presumptive nominee for president. Americans, we dont need conspiracy theories and pathological selfcongratulations. We need leadership, common sense, and concrete plans because we are facing a brutal en enemy. In the middle east, isis is attempting a genocide of religious and ethnic minorities. Theyre slaughtering muslims who refuse to accept their medieval ways and beheading civilians including executing lgbt people, murdering americans and europeans, enslaving, torturing, and raping women and girls. The barbarity we face from radical jihadists is profound. So i would like to have a worthy debate on the best way to keep our country safe. Thats what americans deserve. Now, i read every word of Donald Trumps speech yesterday. And i sifted through all of the bizarre rants and the outright lies. And what i found, once you cut through the nonsense, is that his plan comes down to two things. First, he is fixated on the words radical islam. Now, i must say, i find this strange. Is donald trump suggesting that there are magic words that once uttered will stop terrorists from coming after us . Trump as usual, is obsessed with name calling and from my perspective, it matters what we do, not just what we say. In the end, it didnt matter what we called bin laden. It mattered that we got bin laden. I have clearly said that we faced terrorist enemies who use a pervert version of islam to justify slaughtering innocent people. We have to stop them and we will. So if donald suggests i wont call this threat what it is, he hasnt been listening. But i will not demonize and declare war on an entire religion. And [ applause ] now that we are past the semantic debate, donalds going to have to come up with something better. Hes got one other idea. He wants to ban all muslims from entering our country and now wants to go further and suspend all immigration from large parts of the world. Now, ive talked before about how this approach is unamerican. It goes against everything we stand for as a country, founded on religious freedom. But it is also dangerous. First, we rely on partners in muslim countries to fight terrorists. This would make it harder. Second, we need to build trust in muslim communities. Here at home to counter radicalization and this would make it harder. Third, trumps words will be, in fact, they already are, a recruiting tool for isis to help them increase its ranks of people willing to do what we saw in orlando. And fourth, hes turning americans against americans which is exactly what isis wants. Leaders who have actually fought terrorists know this. General petraeus said recently that demonizing a religious faith and its adherents will come at a great cost. Not just to our values but our men and women in uniform and our National Security. Commissioner bill bratton of the new York Police Department said this kind of talk makes his job harder. He has muslims in the community and he needs everybody working together against any potential threat but donald wont listen to any of this. Or anybody because he says he knows more about isis than the generals do. Its almost hard to even think of what to say about that claim. [ applause ] but in this instance, donalds words are especially nonsensical because the terrorists who carried out this attack wasnt born in afghanistan as donald trump said yesterday. He was born in queens, new york, just like donald was himself. So muslim bans and immigration reforms would not have stopped him. It would not have saved a single life in orlando. And those arent the only two ideas donald trump put forward yesterday for how to fight isis. Beyond that, he said a lot of false things including about me. He said ill abolish the second amendment. Thats wrong. He said ill let a flood of refugees into our country without any screening. Thats also wrong. These are demonstrably lies. He has to distract us from the fact he has nothing substantive to say for himself. [ applause ] now, much of the rest of the speech was not just denigrating the president but tefhe effortsf all the brave service members, Law Enforcement agents, intelligence officers, diplomats and others who have worked so hard to keep our country safe. Donald says our military is a disaster and the world is laughing at us. Wrong again. Since 9 11, america has done a great deal at home and abroad to stop terrorists. Thousands of americans have fought and died. We have worked intensely with our allies about how far our government should go in monitoring threats. We have vastly increased security measures at airports, train stations, power plants and many other places. And the american people, we have all become more vigilant. Even while we have carried on living our lives as normally as possible, it has been a long and difficult effort. Weve had successes. And weve also had failures. But one things for sure. The fight against terrorism has never been simple and we need a commander in chief whos up to these challenges who can grapple with them in all their complexity. Someone with real plains and Real Solutions that actually address the problems we face. Hillary clinton delivering a blistering, blistering rebuke of donald trump saying what donald trump is saying is simply shameful and goes in depth. Yesterday, she didnt mention him by name but applied the criticism today and minced no words going directly against the Presumptive Republican president ial nominee. Lets bring in our Senior National correspondent, joe johns. In pittsburgh, where she just spoke and Security National correspondent, jim sciutto and mj lee. Today, she didnt mince words going after donald trump. She really delivered a strong rebuke of him and making the case that he is not only unfit to be president of the United States, he is dangerous to u. S. National security. Donald trump, by the way, just tweeted and ill read it to you. He just tweeted, thank you to the lgbt community. I will fight for you while hillary brings in more people that will threaten your freedoms and beliefs. Take us behind the scenes a little bit. What are you hearing from her Campaign Staff about her decision to go directly against donald trump today . He didnt mince words going after her yesterday. Thats absolutely right. I think if you go back to that speech today from Hillary Clinton in this union hall in pittsburgh, this was about characterizing. It was about labeling. But i think most importantly, it was about defining. Defining donald trump. Hes so famous for the nicknames that he uses, but all the way back to the bill clinton administration, what they did during his campaign was to define the opponent and when you look at what she did here, its very interesting. For example, she didnt refer to him as donald trump. Shes now referring to him by his first name. Donald. And look at the words she uses. Essentially, the campaign has tried to show him as unsteady and erratic. The words you heard, shameful, disrespectful, unfit and unqualified, conspiracy theories, leader of the bizarre movement. Bizarre theories and outright lies. I think this Campaign Sees and believes they have a clear advantage on the issue of Foreign Policy against donald trump as you look at the polls, it seems to bear that out and thats what they hang on today, wolf. They certainly are. Stand by, joe. Jim sciutto. We know donald trump is going to respond and very respond forcefully. Hes going to go after her record as secretary of state and make the case that what she did, especially in libya, for example, in his word, i assume Something Like disastrous or shameful or whatever but theres material he will use against her. We should brace for that in the coming hours, right . No question. And its interesting to hear the two supporters that Hillary Clinton mentions specifically in her speech just then regarding this point of whether this helps or hurts the battle against terrorism. She said David Petraeus and bill bratton, the commissioner police in new york and David Petraeus served under george w. Bush, the architecture of the surge in iraq. Certainly not a left leaning liberal, a military man to back up the point of view and bill bratton, head of the new York Police Department. Really, the city at the forefront of migfighting terror and the city the victim of the greatest terror attack anyone has known. Cited both as saying this kind of baiting of the religion doesnt make america safer but makes america less safe. Gives a victory to the terrorists and choosing the two names were telling. Shes looking for really the most substantial supporters of that point of view to counter Donald Trumps argument which frankly has its supporters. Ive spoken to people here in orlando after this attack feel unsafe. They feel there needs to be a tougher response and you can look in citing those two as Hillary Clinton not just appealing to her base but toappl to people who need to be won over in this election. Its clear that donald trump is coming under serious criticism, obviously, from democrats, the president of the United States, the former secretary of state, but also from some Republican Leaders as well. Many are extremely uncomfortable with some of his comments yesterday. Update our viewers on that. Thats right, wolf. Trump coming under a lot of criticism from fellow republicans for what they believe is rhetoric that is unamerican, especially when he has spoken about this temporary ban on muslims and yesterday, of course, said he believes there should be a suspension of immigration from countries that have a proven record of terrorism against the United States and its allies. I was speaking on the phone yesterday with peter king, a republican congressman, and he said that he worries this kind of rhetoric which he believes is not sophisticated and really doesnt get to how trump wants to actually deal with this National Security threat. This kind of rhetoric will actually hurt the Republican Party and how they view the party and ability to lead on National Security and i think seeing obama and clinton simultaneously going after trump in the way they did just a few minutes ago really goes to show that democrats believe strongly they have a winning case to make and postorlando, theyve got a huge opening to make both a policy and a character case against donald trump. Very strong double team attack by the president and the democratic nominee. More to assess. What we learn about the days leading up to the attack and we also hear emotional stories from the survivors at the hospital. Stay with us. You pay your Car Insurance premium like clockwork. Month after month. Year after year. Then one night, you hydroplane into a ditch. Yeah. Surprise. Your Insurance Company tells you to pay up again. Why pay for insurance if you have to pay even more for using it . 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It was a great night. No drama, just smiles, just laughter. And i was talking to the last girl and out of nowhere, we just hear a big shotgun. We just stop what were doing and then just keeps going. That happened and we just grabbed each other and started running and unfortunately, shot three times in the leg so i fell down. I tried to get back up. But everyone started running everywhere. I got trampled over. And i shattered and broke my bones on my left leg, so by this time, i couldnt walk at all. All i could do was just lay down while everyone was running on top of me try to get where they had to be. And all i could hear was the shotgun, one after another and people screaming, people yelling for help. By this time, this man, he goes into the other room and i could hear more shotguns going off. I thought i was a little safe at this time because its giving everyone time to tackle him down or get him down, but unfortunately, i hear him come back and hes shooting everyone thats already dead on the floor, making sure theyre dead. 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, he shoots the girl next to me. And im just there laying down, im thinking. Im next. Im dead. So i dont know how, but by the glory of god, he shoots towards my head but it hits my hand and then he shoots me again and it hits the side of my hip. I had no reaction. I was just prepared to stay there laying down so he wont know that im alive. And hes just doing this for another 5 or 10 minutes. Just shooting all over the pl e place. By this time, he goes up to the front and i think thats when hes battling against the cops and shotguns going all over the place and im looking up and some cops which i wish i could remember his face or his name. Until this day, im grateful for him. He makes sure im alive and he grabs my hand and said, this is the way out. I said, please carry me. Im in pain right now. I couldnt walk or anything. So he starts to drag me out across the street to wendys and ais im grateful for him but the floor is covered in glass. Im just getting cut, my behind, my back, my legs. And i dont feel pain, but i just feel all this blood on me from myself, from other people. And he just drops me off across the street and i look over and theres just bodies everywhere. Were all in pain. We were able to get to the ambulance. They brought us over here and the way that you guys have taken care of us, this hospital is amazing. If it wasnt for you guys, i definitely would not be here. Every morning, in the middle of the night, amp, yevery night, ys are always there and i will love you guys forever. Angel colon. I think i speak for all viewers in the United States and around the world, we will as well and thank god you are alive. We heard from other people who survived the shooting and heres i dialed 911 while continuing to hear gun fire. And sometime went by. And kind of quiet down a little bit. I finally heard the police arrive. I heard police yelling. Drop it. Hands up. And but i dont know what was going on. So, eventually, kind of quieted down some more. I was bleeding. My friend jeff was bleeding a lot. I was in on the ground in a pool of blood. I wasnt sure whose it was but i felt like it was my friend jeffs because he was hit right around here. I can see a bullet hole right here. He was sweating. Just looked overall really weak and in bad condition. And my thought process was, you know, do we stay here and wait for the shooter to come back or do we try to leave . So i tried maneuvering so i can exit underneath the stall but them people, you know, they were like, no, stay here. Dont go anywhere because youll get killed. So i stayed there for a little while longer. But everything just kind of quieted down and all i heard was Police Chatter on the radio from the distance. I didnt hear anymore gun fire. So at that point, i decided to little by little drag myself underneath the stall to exit the handicap stall where we were. Witness i got out of there, there i saw that there was a body in front of the door on the opposite side. I didnt see anyone else around. So i couldnt walk so i had to drag myself out of bathroom toward the bar area where i was initially. And until i actually saw like the face of a police officer. So when i finally saw an officer, i had my cell phone in my hand and waving the light to see me. And at that point, the officers instructed me to with my hands drop whatever i had in my hands and they instructed me to drag myself toward them. He said, hey you to someone on the floor. Inside the bathroom. And shot them, shot another person and then shot another person who happened to be directly behind me who im told through the eyes of tiara shields me when their body to make sure that i wasnt hit. I dont know who that person is. I dont know the name of that person. If theyre somewhere watching, thank you. Thank you. For saving my life, literally. Very powerful words from survivors at the hospital. Meanwhile, investigators believe the terrorist gunman omar mateen conducted surveillance on at least two locations leading up to the massacre. A Law Enforcement official says mateen visited the pulse nightclub and a disney shopping and Entertainment Complex in early june. Also, a club performer said mateen came to pulse about twice a month going as far back to three years. President obama travels to orlando to pay his respects to the families of the victims. The president met with the National Security team earlier this morning at the white house. He say there iss no indication, at least not yet, that isis directly forced or directed the orlando attack. But the gunman was inspired, the president says, by terrorist propaganda out there on the internet. National security analyst peter bergen is here with me and also joining us is Moammar Shaikh who became a counterterrorism operative and author of undercover jihadi. Gentlemen, thank you for joining us. Im anxious to get your thoughts on this specific individual. Why do you think he was radicalized the way he did and decided to kill all these people at a gay nightclub . You know, its his identity conflicts are becoming obvious. I mean, we know from since 9 11, actually, he made statements supporting the attacks, some people were, of course, disturbed by that. Hed been expressing this kind of ideologically based beliefs for a long time. But along with that, he was also gay. And i think he couldnt deal with that, reconcile the two identities and went off and decided he was going to destroy one identity by shooting all those people in orlando. Well, we have not 100 confirmed, peter, he was gay although there are reports out there that he was frequenting gay websites and went to the club for about three years. We just dont know. He could have been doing careful preparation for a long time. Very long time. Presumably. But in the whole notion of islam, the isis version, if you will, of islam, and gays is a brutal interpretation and that they hate the gays. Indeed. Of course, the taliban, as well. They would bury people under rocks, they throw them off buildings, similar to isis. Certainly for islamist militants, its not allowed. The attitude toward gays by these isis extremists, the terrorists if you will, you have studied this closely. Update the viewers on your thoughts. Well, of course, its easier for i mean, for somebody whos trying to say hes doing it for isis, again, i mean, this guy was extremely confused. Other reports were indicating he supporting hezbollah and then al nusra and isis and all three at war with each other. But on the home sexuality front, of course, in that part of the world, muslim or christian, even, they absolutely do not have any kind of sympathy or tolerance or even basic humanity for homosexuals and when you take it, thats just the general, thats not even extremists. Then when you get to the extremist side, it is much worse. The idea to execute homosexuals. Many countries imprison them and in the case of isis, throw them off of buildings and kill them in other creative ways. When you were a jihadist, did you believe that . I hated gays, yes. Absolutely. I, you know, i bought into the line. I was always, yeah, antigay, antigay. And one day actually i was having a conversation with somebody about how it was, you know, wrong and bad and, you know, we should not accept it in society and western society and at the end of it he told me, he said, you know im gay, right . It actually completely changed my perspective. This guy is like normal just like i am and thats the message i think muslims an christians and everyone else need to understand. Whens it say to you, peter, one point he expressed support of al qaeda, al n you sra, hezbollah, isis . Sort of groups at war sometimes with each other. Yeah. We saw this also in the San Bernardino case if you recall, wolf, perpetrator husband interested in sal sal shabab ann isis and didnt exist until 2014 and radicalizing before 2014 and interests in other groups, antiamerican, antiwestern groups before he was identifying with isis. Mubin, will this terrorist attack in orlando inspire other radicals out there to engage in this kind of terror attack, copycats, if you will . Whats going to be the impact on social media by isis, for example . Yeah. The impact is already being felt. I mean, all of us who are watching, you know, since, of course, that man gave the threat of ramadan a month of pain for the nonbelievers, you know, people are acting out. And its showing people that response, of course. The response, thats why its important the way we respond because if i sis sees the chaos that ensues, the decision in society that comes from it, it will empower other people to say, hey look. This is exactly what isis wants to achieve. Its being achieved so i might as well go and do it because i know the public, the divisive narrative is a cycle of it and well achieve my objective. How should the u. S. Respond, mubin . You know, i dont want to get political. I mean, im canadian and no business commenting and not going to comment politically but the comments that your president made, candidate clinton made, look, it makes sense. I said this a couple of days ago, saying radical islamic jihadism is a not a counterterrorism ab rcadabra. You dont want to alienate the communities. Without human intelligence you wont get the intelligence you need to thwart further plots. Sting operations, im a fan of sting operations. I think you need more of them. We have seen many plots interdicted and foiled so i think thats an enforcement side and same time understanding, look, you have to work with the communities. You just cant avoid this. Thanks very much. Peter bergen, thanks to you, as well. Thats it for me. Our special coverage continues right now. Wolf, thank you so much. Im Brooke Baldwin live here in orlando, florida. You are watching special breaking coverage of the terror attack inside the pulse nightclub. The scene of the deadliest mass shooting in american history. Im Anderson Cooper outside the orlando regional medal center. 27 patients are still being treated. Six in critical condition. Youre about to hear a survivor tell his chilling account of what happened and president a,