a very good morning to you. i'm jim sciutto in new york. poppy harlow is is off today. we are following breaking news this morning. growing in size and churning toward the east ghost, hurricane dorian heads toward florida expected to become a powerful category three hurricane when it makes landfall. 26 counties in florida now under a state of emergency in advance. massive lines at gas stations, stores being cleaned out of bottled water and other supplies. overnight a close call, a very close one for puerto rico. dorian just missing the island. very good news for its residents still recovering these two years later from hurricane maria. the british and u.s. virgin islands not so lucky. they are seeing heavy wind and

rain. the storm rolling in as a category one there. chad myers is in the weather center following the storm trackers. what is it telling you right now both about direction, but also about gaining strength? >> reporter: 89 miles per hour from a hurricane hunter just in the past 15 minutes. that's the aircraft with four propellers flying through the storm right now. they don't use jets because the jet could flame out if the wind goes the wrong way through the jet. that's why they use propellers, which scares the heck out of me. 89 miles per hour. it's going to do it again here in about 15 minutes. we'll get a new update from the hurricane center at 11:00. now because there are no watches and warnings in effect anywhere, they're only updating us every six hours, not every three hours like they were. but here's the story. after midnight saturday night into sunday morning, this now number is 125 miles per hour, headed toward somewhere in the southern half of florida. but then all of a sudden it

starts to slow down. here, this is every 24 hours. 24, 24, 24, 24, and now watch the next 24. not so far at all. so it begins to slow down, begins to turn to the right, if, jim, if we can get this turned to the right soon enough, we may have just a swing and a miss. that would be amazing. if it gets on land and it starts to turn and slows down, that's when we have a flood event on top of our storm surge event, on top of the wind damage event. so all the storms here, dorian, francis, jean, hugo all kind of coming from the same area. this is the problem. it's very warm out there. the water is extremely warm, 89 to 90 degrees. not a lot of sheer out there to tear it apart. the storm is going to be strong for its entire life time before it makes landfall somewhere.

models are slightly confused but we're watching. >> we'll bring everyone updates as we get them. chad myers, thank you. nick valencia joins me live from daytona beach. the weather looks good there and it often looks good on the front end of the storms. that's not telling about what's going to happen in the next few days. what are they doing there to prepare? >> you've got that right and it's a beautiful day here in daytona beach and it is normal at this point. hurricane dorian is threatening to disrupt the normal see. you have the holiday weekend coming up and it's going to be busy holiday weekend. residents here and tourists alike are preparing for what could be a major category three hurricane. these residents in these states are accustomed to severe weather and tropical storms, hurricanes. you talk to anyone here and they'll list off a laundry list of storms they've been through. so officials always worry about residents and tourists heeding these warnings. but it appears at least this

time around there is a rush to preparedness. we're already seeing long gas lines. local affiliates were highlighting the fact that some stores are without water. of course that will be replenished in the coming hours and days ahead. but you're already seeing the rush for preparedness. emergency officials here at the state level are having conference calls on a daily basis. we're even seeing the kenned space station take precautions. when another update comes out about hurricane, they'll make a decision of whether they'll move a platform. if anything happens to the crawler, it could set our space program back years. there are some residents, and this is what officials really worry about, those residents who have been through storms before and are going to wait until the last minute. they're warning don't pay attention to the track right now. everywhere along the east coast of this state is vulnerable to be hit by hurricane dorian. jim. >> nick valencia in florida in

the path of the storm. >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. >> this is just in to cnn in the last few moments. the justice department's inspector general has released its report on former fbi director james comey and his handling of memos that he took during meetings with president trump in 2017. the inspector general was investigating whether comey improperly shared classified information after he sent some of those memos to a friend who later shared those memos with the media. this in the days following comey's firing by president trump. joining me now is cnn political correspondent sarah murray. i know you're just looking through the report now, but what do we know about the outlines of the report? >> reporter: as you know, this has been a long-awaited report examining the former fbi director's conduct in sharing these memos with one of his colleagues, who then shared them with a reporter. we're looking through it and it is an 83-page report. but we do know that earlier this year the inspector general did

refer james comey for potential prosecution over his handling of this. the justice department ultimately declined to bring a case. so we do expect there could be some things in here that are critical of james comey and the way he handled this information. but again, it is 83 pages. we just got it and we are digging through it now and we will be back to you as soon as we have more. >> we will bring you the updates as soon as we have them. thanks very much. right now other news we're following this morning, sources tell cnn that president trump is heavily considering a plan that would block hundreds of millions of dollars in crucial military aid to ukraine. while the move would likely spark bipartisan backlash here in the states, there is one person who would approve, russian president vladimir putin. that aid is intended to help ukraine fight invading forces from russia in that country. jeremy diamond joins me now. jeremy, what justification is the administration giving for suspending or blocking the aid? >> reporter: jim, it is important to note that while we do know that the president is seriously considering this

action, blocking $250 million in military aid to ukraine, it's not clear at this point whether the president is actually going to follow through with it. but one source is telling us that the white house has begun to notify relevant agencies and congressional committees about this possible action, but that source did stress that the president has not yet made a final decision on that. we have asked the white house for comment on this matter, provide some kind of an explanation for why the president is looking to block this aid to ukraine, and so far they have not responded to our requests for comment. but it is important to note that obviously support for ukraine is obviously often viewed as a sort of barometer for how strongly the united states is pushing back on russia, particularly as it relates to the conflict there. as you mentioned, those invading forces that are either russian-backed or simply russian. and obviously this administration has had questions surrounding it throughout the president's presidency as to his intentions with regards to russia.

this comes just after the president suggested readmitting russia into the g 8, which is now the g7, following russia's annexation of cry mee why and its invasion of parts of ukraine. so obviously a lot of questions about the president's intentions and it is already prompting firm ba backlash, particularly from some democrats. this $250 million in aid was previously approved by congress and now it's a question of whether the trump administration is going to move forward and actually provide that aid to ukraine. jim. >> jeremy diamond at the white house. thanks very much. let's discuss with the white house reporter for the "washington post" and national political reporter for "the new york times." lisa, there is one consistency in president trump's foreign policy, and that is friendly statements and positions on russia. g7 admission against allies wish wishes. removing this aid, which the

president has often cited as the prime example of no one being tougher on russia than trump, of course not a lot of evidence for that. what is the explanation for these repeated statements and positions that seem to support russia's statements and position positions. >> well, vgs that depends on who you ask. there's a lot of criticism from the president is too friendly with russia and he has some kind of nefarious link to russia, and you look at the election and the meddling which the president was not come out and condemned particularly strongly, these questions are swirling around. and i think it's sort of an open question whether they become damaging to him as he moves into his reelection campaign. >> fair question. what about congress here? you have democrats, of course, criticizing the move.

from republicans they are almost across the board reluctant to do so publicly, but you will sometimes see a private push. lindsay graham who has been somewhat of a hawk will make a phone call, et cetera. do you expect to see a bipartisan pushback against this? there's tremendous support for ukraine's position against russia among both parties. >> that's right, jim. there's been a difference between the actions and words of congress. i would expect a bipartisan condemnation of russia from these members of congress in words and statements saying they disagree with my efforts to maybe help russia by removing some of the aid that the u.s. has traditionally given to ukraine. when it comes to actions, we have seen a shift from the early months of this presidency when congress was willing to push forward bipartisan sanctions on russia. take actions that were not in step with the white house to punish russia for election meddling, but i would be surprised now if there was any bipartisan legislation or action

or sanctions just in part because things have become to polarized and republicans have been so unwilling to stand up to the president, even when they disagree with him privately to publicly put their name on a vote that would put them on a different side of the president on an issue like this. so maybe some tough words, but not much action from congress. >> even when the president undercuts a close ally. lisa, the economy certainly a focus of this administration. it has been president trump's number one selling point, the success of his presidency. you're beginning to get data that shows something of a slowdown. we're not talking recession at this point, we're far from that. but economic data revised down ward for the second quarter. the market is certainly nervous about trade talks with china and the economic effects of that trade war being felt. what is the level of concern in the trump white house that this would damage his chances of reelection? >> i think there's a fair amount of concern and we're even seeing some of that concern come out

publicly from the president himself at his rallies and events. there's a certain irony. for most of this administration, republicans particularly during the midterms were desperate for the president, they would say please talk about the economy. they felt it was a really strong selling point and he would hold his events and rallies and talk about all sorts of other things and the economy would sort of float by in passing. now that the economy is perhaps getting worse, you do see the president talking about it a bit more. and i think the concern here is really in these suburban swing districts. among those voters, maybe more conservative voters who don't like the president's tone or style but were with him because of the things he delivered. the supreme court and most importantly for them, the economy. so if he starts losing that selling point, that could potentially hurt him in these sort of critical swing areas. >> final thought before we go. what is the president's answer going to be if the economy slows

down? >> well, the president has already figured out a scapegoat. he's talked about jay powell, the fed chairman, his own choice for fed chairman. he's been saying he's an enemy and he can't back down from the trade war, even though there might be some short-term game. he's basically telling farmers and other people affected by the trade war to buckle down and hope for the best in the long term, saying if there's some short-term pain in the economy, that over the long term people will ultimately benefit. that's his argument and it remains to be seen whether or not voters in the last 16 months before he faces reelection sign on to that argument or whether they ditch him and potentially look at another option in november of 2020. >> voters tend to vote with their pocket books. thanks very much. we are following the breaking news this morning. the department of justice just released its inspector general report on former fbi director james comey's memos on president trump. conversations he had with the

president. cnn digging into that report as we speak. stay with us. we're going to have details in moments. plus lackluster fundraising, coupled with a poor showing in the polls, kirsten gillibrand drops out of the race for debate. i'm going to speak to tulsi gabbard coming up. towards bad b, receding gums, and possibly... tooth loss. help turn back the clock on gingivitis with parodontax. leave bleeding gums behind. parodontax. car vending machines and buying a car 100% online.vented now we've created a brand new way for you to sell your car. whether it's a year old or a few years old, we want to buy your car. so go to carvana and enter your license plate, answer a few questions, and our techno-wizardry calculates your car's value and gives you a real offer in seconds. when you're ready, we'll come to you, pay you on the spot, and pick up your car. that's it. so ditch the old way of selling your car,

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welcome back. the breaking news this morning, the justice department's inspector general has just released its report on former fbi director james comey and his handling of memos that he took during private meetings with president trump in 2017. the inspector general was investigating whether comey improperly shared classified information after he sent some of the memos to a friend who later shared those memos with the media. this in the days following comey's firing by president trump. joining me now is cnn political correspondent sarah murray. the ig found that comey nor his attorneys released any of the classified information, is that correct? >> reporter: they did. this is a mixed report and obviously james comey has gone onto twitter about the line that they found no evidence that comey released any of the

classified information contained in any of the memos to members of the media. so basically the classified portions of these memos were not the portions that were handed over to reporters from "the new york times." but the report itself is still very damming for the fbi director. it goes on to say that he violated fbi policies in the way he handled, retained and disseminated the memos. it says that comey set a dangerous example for other members of the fbi and it points out that he even had these conversations with president trump about how important it is to keep investigatory details secret, to not share information with the press. and then essentially says he was a hypocrite for turning around and doing the same thing himself. it also includes a couple of select quotes from interviews they did with comey's advisers where comey's advisers are telling the ig that they were stunned, they were shocked, it was disappointment to see that this is how comey had acted. again, this is the ig report. they sent this information over to the department of justice and it was up to the department of justice to decide whether to

prosecute comey. utter mitly they decided they were not going to bring any charges and part of that was they didn't feel they could prove that comey had intended to violate the law here. so again a damming document for his conduct but not something he's going to face prosecution for. >> sarah murray, thanks much. let's speak to former deputy assistant general williams. you served in the justice department. as you look at this document here -- the key allegation was whether he shared classified information in the memos. they clear him of that. they sometime ago decided they're not going to pursue criminal prosecution. they do say he set a dangerous example in an attempt to, quote, achieve a personally desired outcome. how significant is that? also, how significant is clearing him on having shared classified information? >> let's talk for a moment about how we got here in the first place. we can't forget that you had an fbi director, frankly, and a white house counsel, who every

time they were in the president of the united states chose to memorialize every single word they had with the president because they were so concerned about the president's conduct. that's the backdrop and that's what got us here. now certainly, it may have been the exercise of poor judgment to release those matters in contravention of doj policy, but we can't lose sight of frankly what the president's conduct was and why it was so alarming to senior doj officials for such a long period of time. and i think in the test of assessing comey's conduct it's easy for that to get kind of lost here. certainly we've spent a lot of time over the last two years talking about norms of government that has been violated and it seems to some extent the rules don't apply anymore if they're following what the attorney general and the president of the united states, how they've behaved in this process. and so to answer your question, it's significant in that, yes, it's a slap on the wrist for the former fbi director, but we can't lose sight of the conduct of the president of the united states that was just so alarming

to the justice department. >> we should note that his accounts of the conversations with the president were part of the mueller report and were presented as evidence of possible obstruction of justice by the president as noted by mueller. we're also joined by national security analyst shawn turner, former director of communication for the u.s. office of the director of national intelligence. shawn, good to have you on. it's a long report. we have the basic headlines from it, cleared on the sharing classified information. and i believe what was under consideration was the lowest level of classified confidential information. but also accused of having set a dangerous example by making an attempt to achieve a personally desired outcome. tell us your reaction to this report. >> yeah, well, i think if we go back to the beginning here, it was fairly clear that there was not a strong case here for prosecuting jim comey based on leaking classified information.

these were memos that were largely an account of his perceptions and thoughts of his meetings with the president. so i think that from that perspective there was never really a case here. i think your other guest makes a good point here. look, in the intelligence community and the national security space, there's an understanding that there is a confidence and that confidence actually does extend beyond the classification categories that we have for official information. so when the report talks about setting a precedent that is one of concern, i think that there is some -- certainly some weight to that argument. now, i take issue with the idea that the -- that jim comey was concerned with sort of a personal outcome. i think that jim comey -- and this is someone who i've had a lot of respect for and have worked with for years, i think that with regard to his desired outcome that what he was really looking for is a way to make sure that these extremely extraordinary times with regard to these interactions he was having with the commander in chief were somehow preserved and

that he was at least making a record of what had happened for future generations for the media for the american people to be able to deal with. >> and we know that he's not the only senior official who has taken that step during meetings with this president. elliot williams, what happens from here now? because this essentially ends the focus at least on comey, but you do have a continuing investigation of andrew mccabe and others under the justice department run by bill barr. >> of course, you will still see an inspector general report and frankly it's a nonpart tan report laying out the official view of the conduct of individuals here. jim comey will not be prosecuted and that's exactly what shawn was talking about here. they could not establish that he had sort of criminally intended to violate the laws regarding classification. but again to be -- so anyway, sorry, i lost my train of thought because i'm still reading this.

what we know is that laws governing classification to be taken seriously and so on, but again, we shouldn't get caught up in this question of comey's conduct being -- >> criminal. they did make a decision a short time ago and we knew that going into it. thanks to both of you as always. after she failed to make the next debate, another democrat has now pulled out of the presidential race, we're going to speak to a candidate who is sfaing in, even though she is also missing that debate. tulsi gabbard is talking about why she's continuing to fight and why she thinks the process is flawed.

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>> ahead of the next democratic presidential debate, kirsten gillibrand failed to make the requirements to make the september debate. about half the field has qualified and several more missed the cut after they qualified by donor numbers but not by the polling numbers as well. congresswoman tulsi gabbard is in that group. she's continuing her fight for the nomination. she joins us now live from iowa. congresswoman, tulsi, always good to have you on the air. >> good morning, jim. >> i want to ask you about this very briefly because the news

came out that the doj has cleared james comey of any criminal wrongdoing, but they do say he set a dangerous precedent here but they did clear him of any releasing any classified information in the memos he wrote. i know you haven't read the full report. what is your reaction? >> i would like to take a look and see what the doj report has said. >> fine. we'll set that aside. as you know, you did not make the next debate. you're staying in the race. how do you break through without that debate platform as we get closer to iowa where you are and to new hampshire in january? >> yeah, obviously the debates are a great platform to be able to reach a lot of people across this country, but it's not the only way to be able to talk to voters and to be able to spend time with them. that's exactly what i'm doing here in iowa and i'll continue to do across the country. being able to get out into these

small towns and big cities, getting to people's living rooms and sitting around the kitchen table really talking about the issues that are important to them is the kind of people-powered grass roots campaign that we are running and i look forward to be able to continue to have the opportunity to do that. >> you told fox news last night that the debate qualifying process lacks transparency and that people deserve more transparency because the people will decide the nominee. >> yeah. >> the fact is, as you know, the polling standards, they've been public since the beginning here. why is that not transparent? >> there's a lot of questions that have been and are continuing to be raised around those qualifications. there's no explanation or transparency around why certain polls are qualifying while other very credible recognized polls are somehow not qualifying. the frequency and who they're -- there's a lot of different questions here and frankly the

dnc has not provided any transparency to voters about how they're making these decisions. and that's my point here. this should be a very fair transparent process so that the people, voters in this country, have the best information to make their decision about who they want to be their nominee. >> i guess i just don't understand what you base the argument on when they've been out there, they make judgments about particular polls as to whether they meet their standards, but they have advertised what those polls are for some time. so how is that not transparent? >> we could get into a whole bunch of details about, you know, demographics and where exactly these poolls are taking place and more importantly where they're not taking place. i don't think we have the time to get into that. but there's a lot of questions that have come up as we're going through the process that point to a lack of transparency beyond what the dnc put out, which was just a simple saying, hey, we're only going to recognize these

polls but not a whole slew of other polls. >> folks at home might not be aware that you just completed two weeks of service, completing your service commitment. as you're aware, the trump administration has introduced a new policy that makes it more difficult for service members deployed abroad, for their children to automatically get citizenship in the u.s. they have to go through an application process, et cetera. this will also affect state department employees, for instance, who are serving their country abroad. as a member of the military do you find that change acceptable or warranted? >> this is deeply troubling and i'm gathering more information about exactly how this will in a practical way impact our service members, as far as civilians who work for the united states federal government who are in these posts, assigned overseas, continuing to do their job and serving our country. again, looking into more details, but on its face i think it is offensive to them as they're serving our country in

these different ways to -- if they have a child overseas during that service, to not have that child be born a u.s. citizen, just as they would be if they were doing the service here at home is a very big problem. >> no question. you spent time during your two-week deployment just recently with members of the military, and i'm curious, as you're speaking to them as a candidate for the democratic presidential nomination, what are they telling you their priorities are going into 2020? >> looking for strong leadership, understanding that the most important responsibility that the president has is to serve as commander in chief and, you know, we as service members across all branches of the military are the ones who experience directly firsthand the consequences of the decisions that are being made by the president of the united states and, yes, by congress as well. one of the things that we really focused on just during this training exercise where we had

both soldiers and airmen there, we were working with the ind knees yen military, but it was really focused on a problem solving mindset that's essential for military operations. it's something that's drilled into me over 16 years as a soldier, but it's something that's really essential for leaders in our country to have as they're making decisions, both about our foreign policy as well as our domestic policy. and we can see the failure of that problem solving mindset, which is you've got to understand the situation, define the problem and you've got to come up with an achievable objective or goal. and we see how many times this has not happened in our country's past, especially as it relates to us as service members, vietnam, syria, libya, iraq, afghanistan. and the consequence, the result of this, is that our brothers and sisters in uniform are killed in combat needlessly because leaders have failed to

do this. >> the deployed service members pay the final price for that. you didn't make this debate, you're sticking in the race. but the fact is you're well behind what is a pretty established group of front-runners in this case. if you don't win the democratic nomination, will you run as an independent? >> i will not, no. i've ruled that out. i'm going to contine to focus on moving our campaign forward, continuing this grass roots campaign, continuing to deliver our message to the american people and ask for their support. >> congresswoman tulsi gabbard, we wish you the best of luck. thanks so much for taking the time this morning. >> thank you, jim. >> two americans desperate to come home. this after being trapped in china for more than a year. they say the chinese government will not let them leave the country. i'm going to speak to one of them from china. that's coming up. let's see, aleve is proven better on pain

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two americans are trapped in china, ploblocked by the chines government and they're desperate to come home. in june of 2018, they traveled to china to visit their ailing grandfather. but when it came time to leave, the chinese government said no. through the use of an exit ban, all three u.s. citizens, we should emphasize, were prevented from leaving the country. earlier this year, they released a video saying she and her brother wake up every morning terrified. they have been separated from

their mother and have not seen her or spoken to her. joining me now from china is cynthia's brother victor. good morning, victor. thank you for being able to speak to us this morning. >> thank you for having me on, jim. i really appreciate it. right now i am beyond terrified being in china and just speaking with you. i'm seriously concerned about my safety and my family's safety. and i desperately need to come home to the u.s. as soon as possible. >> and for folks who don't know your case, you're a u.s. citizen not allowed to come back to the u.s. china accuses your father of financial crimes. do you believe you're being held hostage there to pressure him to come back to china? >> that's exactly why we're being held here. that's what the authorities here have told us and it's surreal and it makes me angry and it pains me to know that because of my estranged biological father whom i must note abandoned by

family many years ago, whom i haven't seen since and i believe has another family now, because of what he allegedly did when i was just 8 years old as an american, elementary school student in 3rd grade living in massachusetts, my family and i are being made to suffer and we are being used as human bait to try to get him to come back to china. >> and held there for more than a year now. has the u.s. government come to your aid? what is the u.s. doing? of course, you're a u.s. citizen being held by a foreign country. are they negotiating with the chinese government? what kind of pressure are they applying that you're aware of? >> this has been an extraordinarily difficult time, jim, for the last year and two months that we've been here. it's been the most difficult period of my life, period. but i would like to say that really the only source of solace and comfort that we get has been

the tremendous support of the u.s. government, especially coming from the trump administration. i do want to take this time to say thank you to ambassador bolton who came out publicly last year on twitter and demanded our return home. i also want to express my gratitude to secretary pompeo, my home state senators marky and warren, and especially trank president trump, who has engaged on our behalf. and knowing that we have the support and backing of the u.s. government, my sister and i are extremely proud and thankful to be americans. but unfortunately, the reality of the situation is, as you pointed out, we have been here for well over a year now and we desperately need to come home. more needs to be done on our behalf. and i just want to take this time to address the president directly, if i may, and say this. president trump, you are the only person who can bring my sister and me home. we need your help. we need it urgently. >> i can only imagine just the

difficulty of going through this, in addition to being separated from your mother there. what communications do you have with the chinese authorities? do they speak to you? do they follow you? do you have a sense of being watched? tell us what it's like there for you now. >> jim, i wake up every morning scared for my safety and for my family. and on top of that, i feel alone. i feel like i kind of don't really have a purpose anymore, but then whenever i'm outside, you're right, i do have to look over my shoulders and just make sure that nobody is following me. safety is something that, frankly, i don't think i have here in china. and to answer your question, we have not had any contact with the authorities, probably because -- and they've made this clear to us, we no longer have really anything to do with the investigation. that's really been clear from

the beginning and we are still held here, we believe, for political reasons. it's been extraordinarily difficult and i would say that it's gone so hard that actually over the summer, after a year of living in fear without any normalcy in our lives, my sister and i had to go seek medical attention because of mental health issues that have arisen from all of this. and doing so obviously is something that can not be done completely without fear of surveillance here in china. and during our diagnosis, both of us were diagnosed with depression. my sister also had severe anxiety. and just this past month i have seen her suffer severe anxiety attacks. it's absolutely terrifying here, jim. we need to come home as soon as possible. >> you do need to come home. i can only imagine the stress

and fear and i know what the chinese government is capable of. we're going to continue to make people aware of your case, victor. pleased send our best to your sister, to your mother if you're able to communicate with her as well. thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you, jim. >> we'll be right back. i get so much in return. join our family of home instead caregivers and help make a world of difference. home instead senior care. apply today. billions of problems. morning breath? garlic breath? stinky breath? there's a therabreath for you. therabreath fresh breath oral rinse instantly fights all types of bad breath and works for 24 hours. so you can... breathe easy. there's therabreath at walmart. bleech! aww! awww! ♪ it's the easiest because it's the cheesiest. kraft for the win win.

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listen to this story. police in north carolina say they foiled a mass shooting plot after finding a misting, shotgun and ammunition in a college student's dorm room. martin savage has the details. >> despite the potential horrible consequence here, it's actually a good news story and that story begins with the actions that wre taken by university students at high point university in north carolina, and by university officials who tipped off authorities that 19-year-old paul stebar, a freshman, who had been on campus less than two weeks, who apparently was planning some kind of mass murder attack. in fact, after he was taken into custody, he told authorities that he had actually been thinking about this since december. but he started really planning and preparing for this last weekend when he reportedly

purchased two firearms, a 9 millimeter handgun and a double barrel shotgun in north carolina. authorities are still trying to determine whether he purchased the weapons legally. and he had also been studying videos of mass murders and mass killing attacks, including charleston, south carolina, to name just one. apparently he was doing that to sort of learn what to do and what not to do. authorities say that as far as motivation, there are a number of things apparently he told police that were going on at least in his head. he said he was not going to be an outcast any longer. although, that he had been rushing for a fraternity on campus and apparently said that if his roommate made it but he was somehow denied, he was going to kill his roommate possibly himself and that might have been the kind of triggering event for this kind of mass murder attack. authorities say he is being held without bond and he's been expelled from the school. and one other interesting note is that the whole reason he said he moved to north carolina to go

to school was the fact that he felt it would be easier to purchase firearms in north carolina than it would be back in his home state of massachusetts. jim. >> the laws make a difference. hurricane dorian is now expected to be a powerful category four storm when it reaches florida. that's up from category three. we're going to have all the details. stay with cnn. ♪ feels like i'm taking flight. ♪ [sfx: poof] [sfx: squeaking eraser sound effect.] ♪ i am who i wanna be ♪ who i wanna be ♪ who i wanna be. ♪ i'm a strong individual ♪ feeling that power ♪ i'm so original, ♪ ya sing it louder. ♪ i am, oooh oooh oooh oooh ♪ ehhh ehhh ehhh ehhh ♪ i am, oooh oooh oooh oooh ♪ i am was in an accident. when i called usaa, it was that voice asking me, "is your daughter ok?" that's where i felt relief. we're the rivera family

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hello, everyone. i'm fredricka whitfield in for kate bolduan. right now we are getting a brand new update on the path