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CNN Special Reports
The unforgettable Horror in Orlando. Aired 10-11p ET
Aired June 30, 2017 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
[22:00:00] ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: That's it for us. Thanks for watching 360. Special report, The Pulse of Orlando: Terror at the Nightclub starts now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The following is a CNN special report.
COOPER: On June 12th, 2016, 49 people were murdered here at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida. It was one of the worst of mass shootings in U.S. History. In the year since, many of the survivors, as well as those who lost family, friends and loved ones, have tried to find purpose in their pain and turn their grief into action. This is their story.
(BEGIN VOICE CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Emergency 911.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi. I'm calling because there was a shooting in Pulse the nightclub. We're hearing gunshots like crazy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How many people are shooting?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's two. I don't know.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We'll get some help for you. Can you tell me anything?
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are in the bathroom in Pulse.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tell me what does he look like? What are you seeing?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Coming in here now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's loading up now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's reloading in the bathroom.
(END VOICE CLIP) CHRISTINE LEINONEN, CHRISTOPHER LEINONEN'S MOTHER: My son was at the nightclub with his boyfriend and other friends. And I know that his boyfriend has been shot multiple times and is in the emergency room. But I don't know where my son is. No one can tell me where my son is. If he's been shot, if he's dead no one knows. But they told me there are fatalities.
COOPER: We're going to try to keep the focus where we think it belongs, on the people whose lives were cut short. And we're going to start by honoring them. They're more than a list of names. They're people who loved and were loved. They are people who had families and friends and dreams.
Edward Sotomayor, Jr., his family said he was witty, charming. And he always left things better than he found them.
Stanley Almodovar III. He was just 23, Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo. Luis Vielma, he work at the Harry Potter ride at Universal in Orlando. Juan Ramon Guerrero, his cousin said Juan came to his family just this year. He was afraid they might not accept him by they did and they've raised his boyfriend, as well.
Christopher Andrew Leinonen known as Drew. he was Juan's boyfriend. And his says he established the gay straight alliance at his high school.
Where does your strength come from and you're smiling. You're able to talk about your son. I think there's a lot of people talk about him.
LEINONEN: Because I love him. I could be sad, and I have incredibly sad moments. And I could be angry, and I've been given license to be angry. But when you want to know about the love, the love is going to usurp the hate. That's a given.
COOPER: And you feel that love.
LEINONEN: I feel that love with Christopher, with his friends, with you, with the Orlando community. Christopher was Orlando's child. Even though I gave birth to him, Orlando is now the adoptive mother.
I'm Christine Leinonen, and my son Christopher was brutally murdered along with 48 others on June 12th, 2016. I feel like the last day of my innocence was June 11th. Then June 12th, everything changed. It went from just being simple and quiet to being horrific. Loud, loudly horrific.
COOPER: He was incredibly lucky to have you as a mom.
LEINONEN: My luck started when I gave birth to my son.
COOPER: Christine, thank you so much for talking to us.
LEINONEN: Thank you.
COOPER: I appreciate it.
(APPLAUSE)
[22:04:58] ANGEL COLON, ORLANDO PULSE NIGHTCLUB SURVIVOR: I was shot about three times in my leg, so I had fallen down. I tried to get back up but everyone started running everywhere. I got trampled over. I shattered and broke the bones on my left leg. All I could hear was the shotgun, one after another. And people screaming. People yelling for help. He's shooting everyone already dead on the floor, making sure they're dead.
I can hear the shotgun is closer. I look over. He shoots the girl next to me. I'm laying down thinking, I'm next. I'm dead. So I don't know how but by the glory of God he shoots toward my head but it hits my hand. Then he shoots me again and it hits the side of my hip. I had no reaction. I was just prepared to just stay there, laying down so he won't know that I'm alive.
My name is Angel Colon, and I'm a survivor of the June 12th Pulse Nightclub shooting. There were bodies around me. Blood everywhere around me. And I could just not believing what I was seeing. I would pinch myself. And you know, expecting to wake up from this dream, you know. I would tell myself, Angel, wake up. This is not real. This is not real. You know, I never woke up from that dream.
(APPLAUSE)
OMAR DELGADO, PULSE NIGHTCLUB FIRST RESPONDER: When I arrived on scene I was able to go inside, I noticed it was kind of dark. I just began yelling, "hey, guys. Come on out. Come on out. You know, we got you. We got you." And just unfortunately, it took a minute, but realized that they weren't faking. It's just they couldn't get up.
COOPER: There's not many police officers who have seen what you saw.
DELGADO: You can see one or two bodies. But when you see that many, you know, it is a massacre.
My name is Officer Omar Delgado, first responder the night of June 12th 2016 for club Pulse. I, for the first time in my life, felt like I wasn't coming home.
COOPER: How do you deal with the things you saw?
DELGADO: It's rough. It's difficult closing your eyes, trying to go to sleep. You get nothing but flashbacks. People say, oh, that'll eventually go away. Just waiting for that to happen.
JEANNETTE MCCOY, ORLANDO PULSE NIGHTCLUB SURVIVOR: My name is Jeannette McCoy, and I'm a Pulse survivor. It was all about survival. Survival. Get out. Get out. Don't get shot. Once I've finally exited the club, I saw my buddy, Juan, and he's shot in his leg. And automatically, of course, I'm taking off my shirt and I wrap him up really tight.
It's hard to tell yourself that you believe in God, but it is hard to say that I am here because of God. Because, I'm sorry, I don't believe that God would take those people the way that they were taken. I felt bullets passing me. I felt them. I felt the heat. I felt the fire. How did it miss me?
Sometimes, I tell myself, gosh, if I could have just maybe taken a bullet for somebody, they'd still survive. There is nothing proud about being a survivor, not for me. There's nothing proud about that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please help me welcome the Pulse Orlando family.
(APPLAUSE)
BARBARA POMA, OWNER, PULSE NIGHTCLUB: My name is Barbara Poma, I'm the owner of Pulse nightclub. It was -- it was so sad. It was so sad to see something so happy become so awful.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We opened Pulse to be a place where you felt safe, and we're going to rebuild that Pulse. You can bet on it, Orlando.
POMA: All of this outpouring of love to people of Orlando who showed up at these vigils, and they're for us and stood with us and cried with us, we find comfort in all of that. I think for all us, we just wanted to go back. Like we just -- we didn't want it to have happened.
[22:10:00] Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera. His friends says he was always willing to help everybody and sacrificed a lot for his family.
Peter O. Gonzalez Cruz, he can make anyone smile, his friends said. Kimberly KJ Morris. Anthony Luis Laureano Disla. Jonathan Antonio Camuy Vega. Cory James Connell, he was 21. Geraldo A. Ortiz-Jimenez. Enrique Rios, his friends he was cool and a funny dude who could tell people don't let the world hold you back from your dreams. Eddie Justice, he was an accountant who texted his mother from the club, saying, "mommy, I love you."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ready? Right there.
COLON: I was shot six times.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Slowly back down.
COLON: The shooter left to another room. Few minutes later, that's when I heard someone coming in the patio door. And I looked up and it was Omar Delgado.
DELGADO: I grabbed my flashlight and scanned the floor. Nothing but bodies. And I noticed a couple of people starting to move. That's when I went into action. He's got, you know, bullet wounds in him, and he's bleeding out.
COLON: I put my hands out, yelled out, and he came straight to me. He grabbed me, and he took me out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Baby steps as you go.
COLON: If Omar would not have saved me and I stayed in that club, I'm afraid I would have passed away from all the blood. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We so appreciate that you're here, angel.
COLON: In the press conference I did, I explained that I wished that I could meet the officer that saved my life. And they made it happen.
DELGADO: How you doing, Angel?
COLON: I'm good. How are you?
DELGADO: Good. My name is Officer Omar Delgado. I'm one of the ones that helped you get out of harm's way, man. I need a big hug from you, man. I appreciate it.
[22:14:59] I'm glad you're doing good, man. So glad you're doing good. I'm so glad you're alive, man. I'm sure your family is very glad you're alive. Glad I was there to help you out, man. I know you were in pain, man. I saw it. But you're better now, man.
COLON: Thank you so much.
DELGADO: You're going to be OK.
That hug, I guess, sparked it all. I sat in my room for a day or so just wondering, did anybody make it? You're talking an individual that you never met before, and the way he held me that day, I mean, I can still feel him. He didn't want to let me go. And I didn't want to let him go. Because it was closure that I need. Knowing that he made it. He was alive.
Everyone experienced something different. We'll get through it, man. I'm glad you're OK though. I'm really glad you're OK.
COLON: This man is going to be in my life forever. You know, he saved my life. There's really no way I can repay him.
DELGADO: Very glad to hear that you are OK.
COLON: Yes.
I felt that love, you know, the first hug we gave each other. It was special.
DELGADO: I try to go back to work fourth of July weekend. Of all weekends to go back, you know, the fireworks and so forth. That night, I was with my partner. He made a traffic stop. Some guy fled out of the car. For some odd reason, the sonic boom hits. It freaked me out.
All I kept thinking about was that night of Pulse. I can recall how everybody was positioned. I can recall the blood. I can see where a lot of the gunshots, the rounds, went into these people. There are so many things that trigger the remembrance of that night.
An iPhone ringing. Hearing that sound for hours and knowing that there's a loved one trying to call that other person that was inside that club. I mean, it was so bad that there was a phone that started floating away in blood because of the vibration of the phone. It literally moved feet away.
And just knowing that these people were never, ever going to pick up the phone, that is the worst feeling in the world. That was the night where I spoke with my sergeant and said, listen, I'm not ready -- I'm not ready to come back.
LEINONEN: It takes about five minutes for a church bell to ring 49 time times. I know this because last month, my son Christopher, his boyfriend Juan, and 47 others were murdered at a club in Orlando.
The first time that I spoke out was in desperation to find my son. And unfortunately, he doesn't have a voice anymore. I'm obligated to speak for him.
The weapon that murdered my son fires 30 rounds in one minute. One minute for a gun to fire so many shots. Five minutes for a bell to honor so many lives. I'm glad common sense gun policy was in place the day Christopher was born, but where was that common sense the day he died?
(APPLAUSE)
I consider myself just a common sense gun safety advocate. My son's killer was a crazy, violent young man who couldn't figure out how to be happy and had easy access to weapons.
[22:19:59] The way to help us is to ban mentally ill or domestic abusers from having access to these weapons. And we would all be safer.
MCCOY: I do believe in my constitutional right to bear arms. I'm a huge believer in that. And of course I need to make sure I have my concealed weapons license. Prior to Pulse, I had my gun inside my home. After Pulse, I made sure to carry it with me.
Let's do this. Back in the mindset. Let's go. So beyond me being a personal trainer, I compete in body building competitions. It took me about two months to step foot in the gym. My girlfriend took me to the gym finally, because I just couldn't do it. I was shaking. I was sick. I was nauseous.
The way I stand in the gym, I like to be in a position where I face the windows, just to see the people who are coming in. You know, but at the end of the day, any time you're anywhere in this day and age, you're really not safe. You're not.
I don't want to find myself in that situation like Pulse ever again. I never want to be in a situation where somebody has a gun and I don't. Because I would feel too helpless. That night, I was helpless. The point of the hallow point is once it connects and once it hits the body, the bullet opens up. So it creates more damage. And it is going to stop the person who, you know, is obviously trying to do you harm.
That's what I like to see. I think about that one shot. It's all it takes. The sounds of the gun still bring back memory. You know, you just learn to cope with it. I absolutely feel that if I or anyone in that club would have had a gun, the situation would have been different because we would have been the good guys.
Would I have tried to kill the guy who's trying to kill everybody in that club? Absolutely. Without a doubt. I wanted so badly to take one of the officers guns to go in there. Because for me, I felt I had more balls than they did.
My friends, my family, everybody was in there. There's a lot of feelings. You know, bringing my brother -- my brother there, my friends there. They came that night to support me. So I feel like I brought all of this on everyone. It's not a good feeling. It isn't. That's why I tell myself that I never want to be in that situation. So (AUDIO GAP)I want to be prepared. It's like I'm guaranteeing myself a different ending. A positive ending.
Mercedez Marisol Flores, her father says she was a happy girl with so many dreams. Deonka Deidra Drayton. Miguel Angel Honorato. Jason Benjamin Josaphat. Darryl Roman Burt II. he was 29. Franky Jimmy De Jesus Velazquez. He was 50.
Amanda Alvear. She was a nursing student at the University of South Florida, was 25. Jean Carlos Mendez Perez. Perez' long-time partner Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon, he was 37. They died together.
[22:25:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: What did you want Pulse to be?
POMA: I wanted to create a really beautiful space that the gay community could be really, really proud of.
COOPER: Because it was a place for gay and lesbians, for transgender people, friends and family to come together.
POMA: Yes.
COOPER: A safe spot?
POMA: Yes.
I established Pulse in honor of my brother, John, who passed away from HIV/AIDS complications in 1991.
COOPER: Was the name Pulse, did it have a particular meaning to you?
POMA: Yes. It had dual meanings. It's like pulse of Orlando and, for us, it's like keeping his heart beat alive.
COOPER: Keeping your brother's heart beat alive.
POMA: Right. So it was, it had a dual purpose. And that's why it was the most perfect word that we could come up with.
COOPER: I can't imagine what that first time going inside was like.
POMA: I equate it to when you think it can't get worse. You think, OK, I've made it this far. And then something else comes and you learn that there is actually a darker place to go. And that was a really, really dark moment.
TERRI STEED PIERCE, SENIOR PASTOR, JOY METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY CHURCH: My name is Terri Steed Pierce. I'm the senior pastor of Joy Metropolitan Community Church, created for and by the LGBT community, open to all. Hate walked into a club. 1.4 miles from here. And that young man thought hate would silence us and take us back to closets that were not meant for anything but clothes and shoes and fabulous ones, at that, right?
(APPLAUSE)
Pulse is a community in and of itself, but it is part of our community.
[22:30:00] The attack here in Orlando caused each of us to rethink our own safety and our own ability to be out. I'm more afraid now than I was then. I'm more conscious of people walking in with backpacks or something large. I don't close my eyes during the prayer anymore. I used to. I don't anymore.
I call Pulse and many other LGBT nightclubs sanctuaries because churches have been so against the LGBT community, particularly the Evangelical church. They have Christianized the hate. After the Pulse attack, Dr. Joel Hunter wanted to meet with me, the lead pastor of one of the largest Evangelical churches in the city, if not the state.
JOEL HUNTER, SENIOR PASTOR, NORTHLAND A CHURCH DISTRIBUTED: I'm Dr. Joel Hunter, the senior pastor of Northland, A Church Distributed, a congregation of about 20,000 people. The Pulse event hit me so hard, not because I had so many relationships in that community, but because I had so few.
PIERCE: Instantly, our conversation was like two old friends, like we'd known each other for a very long time.
HUNTER: Reaching out to her gave me a special kind of education. I had known gay people or the gay culture in how vulnerable that community was, rejected by their own families. And because of my conservative Evangelical background, I'm part of that rejection. I've been part of the hurt, which really hurts as I think about it.
PIERCE: It always moves me because not only is it my story, it is the story of so many people -- thank you -- that I meet. And it's -- it hurts every time I hear it. It doesn't change.
HUNTER: The magnitude of this kind of devastation shakes everybody so personally to their core. How can I be a different person? So, that I'm not a contributing factor to this ever happening again. I'm not complicit in something like this. It's the unintended benefit of a heinous act like this, is that it teaches you how much compassion that you never would have had before, but it's in there. And something like this draws it out.
PIERCE: Hate builds walls. It was the beginning of an unlikely but wonderful friendship. Tragedy levels social topography. I believe that was one of the ways that Pulse will bring more people together. I'm grateful. I want you to rise up however you can. Be love. Do love. Show love. Even when they don't. Even when they don't.
(APPLAUSE)
COOPER: Martin Benitez Torres, he was a college student visiting family in Orlando. Juan Chevez-Martinez, he was just 25. Jerald Arthur Wright. He was 31. Leroy Valentin Fernandez. He was 25. Tevin Eugene Crosby, he was just 25. Angel L. Candelario-Padro, he was 28. Gilberto Ramon Silva Menendez. He was 25. Javier Jorge-Reyes. He was 40.
Shane Evan Tomlinson, he was 33. Brenda Lee Marquez McCool, she had 11 kids, beat cancer twice, and often went dancing with her gay son. She supported him that much.
[22:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHRISTINE LEINONEN, CHRISTOPHER LEINONEN'S MOTHER: We think of things and sometimes in degrees of numbers. And it was nine days before Christmas, and I had to identify my son's clothing because I was signing for them.
And there were nine bullet holes, so I was -- for me, that was so, so hard. I just kept saying, nine days before Christmas, my son got shot nine times. How much hatred or anger or evil must somebody have to shoot someone nine times?
COOPER: Grief is different for everybody. I think for people who haven't, you know, experienced the loss of, certainly in your case, a child, it is hard for them to sort of imagine.
LEINONEN: It really -- I consider grief to be my friend now.
COOPER: How so?
LEINONEN: And it's almost like a she. I call her a she. That she decides when she's going to behave, and she decides when she needs attention. And she decides when she's going to act up. So she's just a constant part of my life.
That's a connection that I feel like I have with you because you understand grief from a horrific loss of your brother. And so we're a family now. So that's one way that I am dealing with grief. I made this family of people who understand it.
[22:40:03] Today, I'm headed to meet with other victims' moms. Cecilia.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.
LEINONEN: So sorry.
I started a group for the mothers or children or survivors of those who have died.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nice to meet you.
WILHEMINA JUSTICE, EDDIE JUSTICE'S MOTHER: I know that evil spoke to my son. He asked him, was he black? My son said, yes. He said, well, I don't have nothing against you all, because you all suffered enough. And he still shot him.
LEINONEN: If I have a way to deal with a certain grief, the same strategies could work for them, whatever it is. Whether it is becoming an activist or an advocate.
MARIA WRIGHT, JERALD WRIGHT'S MOTHER: Guys, we have to do something. Our children are dying.
JUSTICE: Yes.
WRIGHT: It's not just ours. I mean, we have -- it's an epidemic.
JUSTICE: Yes.
LEINONEN: We can support each other when we need it because this is going to be now the rest of our lives. So that's the secret for our happiness to move forward after this horrific tragedy.
JUSTICE: All our children are in heaven. I honestly believe that. They're in heaven.
JEANNETTE MCCOY, ORLANDO PULSE NIGHTCLUB SURVIVOR: Just recently, me and my girlfriend, we had the opportunity to be a part of a very, very huge campaign together, the love has no labels.
It was a different type of kiss cam. They had all different kinds of couples. Me and my girlfriend were the lesbian couple. Then we kiss. It was -- it was a proud moment. So just to stand there, to be proud, to have my hands up.
The crowd cheering. It feels good. It feels good because you feel accepted. I think that the LGBT community now is thriving here in Orlando. Do I feel that in certain parts of the country, we've taken a couple steps back? Hatred starts coming back.
You know, sometimes, you hear cars passing by, to this day, passing Pulse, and you hear somebody scream the f word, faggot. So there's still hate there. We've created something great in regards to the legacy, but hate is not something that's going to disappear.
So tonight, we are celebrating my mom's birthday. Omar Delgado is here tonight with us, as well. He is meeting a few of my family members for the first time. They're super excited because them, as well, they're very appreciative of what he did.
OMAR DELGADO, PULSE NIGHTCLUB FIRST RESPONDER: There's been plenty of times that I've been down and Angel stepped up and returned the favor. It's been a struggle ever since day one of June 12th. I'm suffering from PTSD and depression. I feel he's -- he has saved my emotional state.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Omar.
DELGADO: I strongly believe a friendship like we have will continue making the city of Orlando stronger. Because if our relationship has boosted each other up, imagine this community. When you see thousands of people gather around and accept the LGBT community, it's just going to keep growing and growing.
ANGEL COLON, ORLANDO PULSE NIGHTCLUB SURVIVOR: Feeling that love from other people and knowing that they're there for you is amazing. And Omar has done that a lot. So, this is I think, brother to me and I love him.
COOPER: Should we go inside?
BARBARA POMA, OWNER, PULSE NIGHTCLUB: Sure. So this is the space. And that was the front -- that's the front door.
COOPER: Was anyone actually killed outside, or was it all inside?
POMA: Inside. It's inside.
COOPER: So the shooting didn't begin until--
(CROSSTALK)
POMA: Yes. He didn't start shooting until he was in the main room. So--
[22:45:00] COOPER: What's it like for you when you come back here now?
POMA: It is two things. Sometimes, I come here because I'm actually really anxious. My anxiety gets really high, and I will actually just come here and care for the property or walk through it. It kind of calms me a bit, which I know sounds crazy. Because there are people who can't come here at all. And then sometimes I come here and have a minute. And you just let yourself feel it. Sometimes it's a -- never know what it is going to be like.
COOPER: Around here?
POMA: Yes. This was a bathroom. This is the hallway between the bathrooms. And then this is the other bathroom. Someone left flowers here.
COOPER: And so both -- all these walls were blown out?
POMA: Yes, they were all blown out.
COOPER: So this is where SWAT teams entered.
POMA: Yes, this is where they entered. It's my first time back here.
COOPER: It is?
POMA: Yes.
COOPER: To see this up close, it's very--
POMA: Powerful.
POMA: Yes.
COOPER: What do you want the spot to become?
POMA: I want the spot to become whatever the community wants it to become. You know, it may have been a memorial for my brother when I did it, but now it needs to be a memorial for those 49 families.
COOPER: Simon Adrian Carrillo Fernandez. Oscar Aracena-Montero. Rodolfo Ayala-Ayala. Frank Hernandez. Xaxier Emmanuel Serrano Rosado, adn Christopher Joseph Sanfeliz. Lewis Daniel Conde. Juan P. Rivera Velazquez, he the partner to Luis. Akyra Monet Murray, she was just 18.
[22:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLON: We are headed to the aide's walk. This is the first time I'm actually speaking at the event. I've become a voice in the community.
Hi, I'm Angel. Sometimes I feel like a target that's so open out there. After going through a tragedy like that, it's something that you're constantly thinking about. But no, I'm trying not to let that stop me from, you know, doing better for this community.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would like to introduce Angel Colon.
(APPLAUSE)
COLON: I think about the night of June 12th every day.
May we bow our head in prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you for this beautiful day that crow have given us, Lord.
Before June 12, I didn't know I had, you know, so much courage and strength. After June 12th, I saw how strong I can be. I saw how inspiring I can be. I saw how much I can help others. I've become a better person after this.
POMA: What began as a place for fun and joy is now a sacred ground. Today, it is with great privilege to announce the establishment of the One Pulse Foundation whose purpose will be to support the construction of a permanent memorial for the 49 angels. We will not let hate win. We will heal together and Pulse will always continue to be the heartbeat of Orlando. Thank you all for coming today.
(APPLAUSE)
COOPER: You talk about the Pulse family. How do you try to keep that family together?
POMA: We still have a monthly that night event at a different venue here locally to give them a home who probably don't have one. They don't want their home taken away from them. They want it back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take control of your life. It's time to defeat hate. We will not be defeated. (Inaudible) One, two, three.
(CROWD CHERRING)
COLON: It's one of the biggest LGBT events that there is. They do so much for the community. They're beautiful.
LEINONEN: Thank you. For this event. I'm representing Christopher and I'm representing all of the 49 who died.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just about one year ago on June 12th, we woke up to awful news. Tonight we are honored to be joined by Christine Leinonen, a mom who is pushing for LGBTQ equality after losing her son Drew, and by Angel Colon, Brandon Wolf who not only survived Pulse but are now working to unite Orlando's LGBTQ community.
Let's recognize those we lost and promise them that we will fight together. We will not stop. That their lives were not taken in vein. Let's clap, stomp, hauler so loud that our voices go beyond Hollywood, beyond this room, beyond all across America and around the world.
(APPLAUSE)
(PERFORMER SINGING "IMAGINE")
COLON: I want the legacy of Pulse to be this tragedy is not going to break us down. As a matter of fact it made us stronger.
[22:55:03] LEINONEN: We're in this hole together and together we're going to get out of this hole.
POMA: The way the world and Orlando responded give me hope. If we don't have hope at this point in time for change and then we have truly failed.
MCCOY: I think the legacy amongst all the hate that we're surrounded with, spread love to everyone and anyone. And don't look at people as if we bleed different. I don't bleed the gay flag. I bleed red just like you do.
PIERCE: Love did win, even though he tried to bring hate, love wins.
COOPER: Antonio Devon Brown, Alejandro Barrios Martinez, age 21. Joel Rayon Paniagua was 22. Jean C. Nieves Rodriguez was 27, Yilmary Rodriguez Solivan was 24, and Paul Terrell Henry was 41 years old.
I think it's important that you hear their names.
[23:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
