Gator Snatches Toddler in Orlando
COSTELLO: All right, I am back. Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. I want to apologize for our technical difficulties, but it's very, very hot and humid out here and I think our equipment simply overheated and we had to get a back-up generator in place. So we're back up on the air and I apologize to Larry Pratt and Tom Fuentes. I think that it is an important conversation to have about people on the terror watch list being able to buy guns, and we will again have that conversation in the days to come, in the hours to come on CNN. But right now I do have a bit of breaking news to share about that terrible gator attack at a resort in Florida, a Disney resort. Boris Sanchez has some new information for you this morning. What can you tell us, Boris?</s>BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, we're still waiting to find out about the whereabouts of this toddler. But just in the past few moments, Walt Disneyworld Resort officials tell CNN that they are actually shutting down all the beaches on the Walt Disneyworld Resort here in Orlando. It is an expansive, giant property. And they say that out of an abundance of caution they're going to shut down all the beaches on the property, just to be sure that their patrons and their guests feel safe. This is really an extreme move in terms of caution because not only are people not allowed to swim on these beaches, but this kind of gator attack is extremely rare. We had Jeff Corwin on earlier who was talking about how as more people move to Florida, essentially developments kind of encroach onto their natural habitat. And it's extremely difficult to keep gators out of even man-made lagoons, especially one like this, that is connected through a series of canals, through other large bodies of fresh water. So it's not uncommon to see gators in Florida, but having one -- animals that are very typically shy, having one come that close to a human and attack it is extremely rare. So, again, Walt Disneyworld taking a very serious step to try to make its guests and patrons feel safe by shutting down all the beaches here to ensure, taking that extra step to ensure that something like this does not happen again.</s>COSTELLO: All right, Boris Sanchez reporting live for us this morning. We'll get back to you when you have new information. Thanks so much. Back to the terror attack here in Orlando. With each passing hour we spend here, we're getting a clearer picture of the chaos that unfolded in the moments after gunfire began ringing out inside the Pulse Nightclub. CNN's Brooke Baldwin was exclusively allowed near the scene of the massacre. She talked with one of the first responders there and she's with me this morning. Good morning.</s>BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. You know, it's been extraordinary hearing these different survivor stories. We heard from some people also at the hospital yesterday. But now I really wanted to take a moment to talk to first responders, and especially firefighters. I talked to this lieutenant who allowed us actually in that area right around early evening yesterday. And he wanted to show me exactly what happened as Fire Station Five, which is, by the way, about 300 feet away from this nightclub, describe, you know, first initially getting the calls, multiple shots. You know thought maybe that would be just a few people. Heard the shots from within this Fire Station Five. And suddenly, in the wee hours of Sunday morning, it became a makeshift triage area. You can imagine just the -- ultimately the gruesome scene as though some of the walking wounded came to the fire station, to a bagel shop across the street. I mean when you talk about heroism, this fire department here in Orlando exemplifies that. Here is what he told me happened.</s>BALDWIN: We're standing in front of your fire station. Explain to me that night. So you start hearing the shots. And the first thing you saw was what, people running --</s>LT. DAVIS ODELL, JR., FIRE LIEUTENANT: People running across the street, just screaming and running.</s>BALDWIN: Screaming and running that way?</s>ODELL: That way. Just running away from the building. The Pulse is less than 300 feet up there and they were just running for their lives.</s>BALDWIN: And then show me -- so here's the front of the fire station. And people were brought in, into -- inside?</s>ODELL: Eventually, they were brought inside. But we had groups of people hiding and groups of people seeking cover behind that wall right there.</s>BALDWIN: People were hiding from the club?</s>ODELL: Yes.</s>BALDWIN: Behind that brick wall?</s>ODELL: Yes, they were behind that wall right there. And rightly so. They were trying to get anything between them and the bullets. So --</s>BALDWIN: Wow.</s>ODELL: You know, the firing was constant and, you know, it just kind of -- it's kind of sick to think about it, but each time he's shooting, he's shooting somebody in there. And what's more, you know, going about his business as methodically as he was at a gun range. I won't forget the steady pow, pow, pow. I mean this guy was deliberate about his business in what he was doing.</s>BALDWIN: And you heard it from here?</s>ODELL: Oh, absolutely. As soon as I stepped into the bay, I could hear the gunshots. And I go, this is not going to be a disagreement where I'm going to end it by shooting somebody. This was, as we've seen.</s>BALDWIN: So as people are running that way and are seeking shelter at your fire station, then you decide to send first responders and medics to the bagel shop?</s>ODELL: Yes. Right across there where that parking lot is over there, they were bringing the victims behind Einstein and putting them there. That put the building between them and the Pulse.</s>BALDWIN: As a protective barrier.</s>ODELL: Right.</s>BALDWIN: Lieutenant Odell, 35 years as a firefighter. You know, you train and you train and you train, but never, ever, ever in a million years would think you'd find yourself in this sort of situation. He is a father, and so he did quickly share with me his text to his wife in the thick of it all essentially saying, do not let the kids, when they wake up Sunday morning, to turn on the television because of what happened right here. Carol.</s>COSTELLO: And you're going to have much more on your show later this afternoon.</s>BALDWIN: Yes. Yes. Carol, thank you.</s>COSTELLO: Brooke Baldwin, thank you so much. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, new twists in understanding the killer's motive. What witnesses saw and heard during the attack that's raising new questions about his ties to radical extremism. I'll be right back.