Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton Sound Off On Orlando Massacre
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- The presumptive Republican and Democrat presidential nominees were asked Monday morning about what should happen now in the wake of the massacre in Orlando that left 49 dead as well as the gunman.
TRUMP: THIS IS GOING TO GET WORSE AND WORSE
"We need justice, we need vigilance, we need great intelligence gathering systems, which we don't have," presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump told "CBS This Morning." "We had them in New York City as an example, probably the best in the nation, and the new mayor just broke it all up and disbanded it, he thought it was inappropriate... that was unbelievable, that was one of the best of all systems. We need intelligence gathering like never before."
Trump was apparently referencing a controversial NYPD program that was ended by Mayor Bill de Blasio. Under the program, plainclothes officers infiltrated Muslim student groups, put informants in mosques, monitored sermons and cataloged Muslims in New York who adopted new, Americanized surnames.
In a flurry of TV interviews, Trump redoubled his call for banning Muslims who come from other countries, although the shooter in Sunday's Orlando nightclub attack was an American citizen born in New York. While Trump focused in particular on keeping out refugees from Syria, he said a ban should apply to people from "different parts of the world with this philosophy that is so hateful and so horrible."
The presumptive Republican nominee also appeared to suggest that President Barack Obama may sympathize with Islamic terrorists - a stunning statement about the current commander in chief.
"He doesn't get it or, or he gets it better than anybody understands," Trump said on Fox News Channel's "Fox and Friends." ''It's one or the other. And either one is unacceptable."
Trump also took issue with the lack of reporting of worrisome behavior of some people from within the Muslim community.
"The people know who the bad apples are, where the bad seeds are, and they don't report them," Trump said. "There is very little reporting of people like this. You'll find out very shortly that many people knew that he was bad, many people knew he had some sort of idea for an attack, it happens all the time."
Trump suggested some American-born citizens were being radicalized in part by people coming in to the country. He reiterated his controversial call for a ban on Muslims coming into the country, focusing on Syrian refugees.
"We have to stop people coming in from Syria. Hillary Clinton wants a 500% increase of people coming in from Syria," Trump said. "And you have many people coming into the country right now who are just as bad if not worse than the maniac that did this this horrible act yesterday."
Trump suggested more attacks were likely.
"This is just the beginning, OK? This is going to get worse and worse," Trump said. "All I want is safety. I want safety for this country. What happened yesterday will happen many times over with a president like Obama that doesn't even want to use the term 'radical Islamic terrorism.'"
During a speech at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, Monday afternoon, Trump reiterated he would suspend immigration from countries "with a proven history of terrorism."
"We need to tell the truth about radical Islam and we need to do it now," the presumptive Republican nominee said.
Trump said that radical Muslims are "trying to take over our children."
Trump also said Omar Mateen's family should not have been allowed in the United States from Afghanistan.
"The bottom line is the only reason the killer was in America in the first place is because we allowed his family to come here," Trump said.
Trump added, "I refuse to be politically correct."
Mateen was born in New York.
CBS2's Brian Conybeare reported that Trump said Clinton is not a friend to the gay community.
"Hillary Clinton can never claim to be a friend of the gay community as long as she continues to support immigration policies that bring Islamic extremists to our country and who suppress women, gays and anyone else who doesn't share their views or values," Trump said.
Trump's hardline approach to fighting Islamic terrorism was a hallmark of his primary campaign. Besides proposing a temporary prohibition on foreign Muslims from entering the country, he has and advocated using waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods to try to stave off future attacks.
CLINTON: GUNMAN USED 'WEAPON OF WAR'
Hillary Clinton also answered questions on "CBS This Morning."
"Even as we figure out more about what happened, we've got to defend our country from these so-called 'lone wolves' and work with our allies to dismantle the global networks that fuel this kind of radicalization," Clinton said. "It is a complex challenge, but I am absolutely convinced that we are up to it."
Clinton also said this was not the moment for political debate, but rather for "statesmanship, not partisanship."
The presumptive Democratic nominee warned against demonizing an entire religion, saying doing so would play into the hands of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria group. Like Obama, Clinton has often avoided using the phrase "radical Islam," which has deeply angered Republicans. On Monday, she said "it matters what we do more than what we say."
"We can call it radical jihadism, we can call it radical Islamism," Clinton said on CNN's "New Day." ''But we also want to reach out to the vast majority of American-Muslims and Muslims around this country, this world, to help us defeat this threat, which is so evil and has got to be denounced by everyone, regardless of religion."
She also renewed her call for an assault weapons ban that would outlaw one of the weapons used by the Orlando shooter. "We know the gunman used a weapon of war to shoot down at least 50 innocent Americans," she told CNN
Clinton said she would set up a team exclusively dedicated to detecting and preventing lone wolf attacks, adding that it will require working more closely with technology companies to prevent online radicalization.
"Whatever resources, whatever manpower, whatever technological abilities are needed, we have got to provide them," Clinton said. "This is a different threat, a different kind of challenge that we face. I want us to be sure that we are really focused on providing everything that can make a difference."
Clinton also urged members of Congress to pass a provision that would prevent people who are on the no-fly list from purchasing guns. She also suggested people "who come across the attention of our law enforcement" are also on that list.
"It's also going to take common sense gun safety laws," Clinton said. "And we've got to keep weapons of war off our streets like the one used in Orlando, as well as blocking suspected terrorists from buying guns."
"If you're too dangerous to fly in a plane, you're too dangerous to buy a gun. If you're brought to the attention of law enforcement because of your comments about supporting violent terrorism, maybe that should also go in a database. We've got to look at all of this," Clinton said. "This is not an ordinary time, and we need to act with a great deal of urgency in order to protect the people who have every reason to wonder 'Why? Why is this happening? Why is this hatred being put into action through these weapons?' So we've got to have a very clear mission here that we address on both the terror side and on the gun side."
On Monday afternoon, vowed to make stopping "lone wolf" terrorists a top priority if elected president, saying that while the shooter in the deadly weekend attacks in Orlando may be dead, "the virus that poisoned his mind remains very much alive."
In a sober national security address in Cleveland, the presumptive Democratic nominee also called for ramping up the U.S. air campaign targeting ISIS.
"The terrorist in Orlando targeted LGBT Americans out of hatred and bigotry and an attack on any Americans is an attack on all Americans," Clinton said.
She pointedly called out U.S. partners in the region by name, saying Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar must stop their citizens from funding terrorism.
Clinton did not mention Trump by name during her speech, but said anti-Muslim rhetoric harms the vast majority of law-abiding Muslim Americans who reject terrorism.
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