happening now. breaking news. deadly force. hurricane dorian ravages the bahamas, striking as one of the most powerful storms on record and still pummeling the islands more than 36 hours later. tonight, millions of americans are under evacuation orders as the storm aims for the southeastern united states. dangerously close. that's the forecast for dorian's trek towards florida. we have a new timeline on when the life-threatening hurricane conditions are expected. even slight shifts in this monstrous storm could make it even more perilous. dive boat horror. as many as 34 people may be dead after a fire engulfs and sinks a diving boat just 20 yards off california. sleeping tourists trapped by the

overnight inferno. and the killer's motive. we're learning more about a mass shooter who went on a weekend rampage in texas leaving seven dead and 23 wounded. why did he respond to a routine traffic stop by randomly opening fire with an assault-style weapon? we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. we're following breaking news on the catastrophic hurricane set to turn its power on the southeastern united states. a just-released forecast shows dorian is packing 145-mile-an-hour winds as it threatens florida and continues to hammer the bahamas, causing unprecedented damage there and leaving at least five people dead. now a category 4 storm, dorian is on track to move dangerously close to florida's east coast tomorrow. hurricane warnings were just

extended farther north in florida. millions of residents now are under mandatory evacuation orders from florida into south carolina, as the region braces for hurricane force winds and life-threatening storm surge s. our correspondents, experts, and other guests are standing by as we bring you this cnn "situation room" special report on hurricane dorian. first, let's go to cnn brian todd in stewart, florida, for us. brian, give us an update right now on conditions and hurricane preparations. >> reporter: right, wolf. the storm surge here is getting stronger tonight, as it will be for the next 24 hours. these low-lying areas behind me, more and more vulnerable to flooding tonight, as this area braces for the storm that has just shredded the bahamas. tonight, as florida braces for hurricane dorian, the bahamas are taking a direct hit. grand bahama island bearing the brunt of more than 150-mile-per-hour winds and

rain. for more than 36 hours, the life-threatening storm has been pummeling the bahamas. some marsh harbor, bahama residents, have been tracked inside homes that have been destroyed. >> we need help. please, someone, please come help us. >> reporter: near florida, more than ten coastal counties are under a mandatory evacuation. >> it's important that residents heed those calls. you know, get out now while you have time, while there's fuel available. and you'll be safe on the roads. >> reporter: with the storm approaching, medically dependent and special needs residents have to be moved, too. residents from more than 90 florida assisted living facilities, hospitals, and nursing homes have already been relocated, according to the governor. along the barrier islands, which could get the brunt of the storm as it hits, concerns that those who don't heed the mandatory evacuation orders could be cut off. it's going to be difficult for us to get out to the barrier islands after the storm. we have a lot of partnership with the sheriff's office and our fire rescue.

where we're able to bring assets out to them, but it's going to take some time. this is a slow-moving storm, so we're concerned those folks might get isolated for a time until dorian passes and it's safe for our first responders to get back out there to them. >> reporter: residents in the town of stewart are particularly vulnerable to storm surge and flooding. many live in low-lying neighborhoods near two rivers and a canal. chris geragos is closing up his house right by a canal and getting out. >> flooding is the main concern, for sure. i mean, they release lake okeechobee and then it comes up, and if this thing hits on high tide, we're screwed. >> reporter: now, tonight, as officials try to get people offm off of these islands tonight, but they're telling them to drive te of miles and don't drive hundreds of miles. they are still concerned that too many people are going to get out on the road. their inclination will be to drive north. they're worried they're going to get stuck with the storm as it

moves north. they'll get stuck in it, as it moves, wolf. >> brian todd on the scene for us. now to the newest forecast on dorian's power and its path. our meteorologist, jennifer gray is in the cnn severe weather for us. jennifer, this monster storm is hovering off the southeastern united states tonight. >> it really is, wolf. and it's only going to get closer. and i want to add something to what brian just mentioned, with people just moving a little bit of a ways inland, you're still going to get hurricane force winds. so make sure that you're in a sturdy building, because you could still get hurricane force winds, and they could get 4 to 7 feet of storm surge along that portion of the coast. so just keep that in mind when you are evacuating, that you do get to a safe spot. 145-mile-per-hour winds, gusts of 170. it's stationary, not moving at all. still getting the worst of the winds right over grand bahama island, and it will still be impacting and battering that island as we get into tomorrow morning. we're already seeing rain bands push onshore in florida. we'll get gusty winds with

those. we'll get very heavy downpours. and we'll only see more of them as we get into tomorrow morning and into tomorrow afternoon. so, tuesday afternoon, this will finally start to pick up a little bit of forward speed. look at that very close draw with florida. we could see a possible landfall. y you're not out of the woods yet, because portions of florida here still in the cone and the center of the storm could lie anywhere inside that cone. so don't let your guard down yet, florida. this is a very big storm. this could be a major hurricane just off the coast of florida. and so, you're playing with fire a little bit, because this storm is so big and we're counting on it to stay just enough offshore for it not to have the category 3 impacts, but still, it's still too early to tell. as we go forward in time, we could see category 2 conditions in charleston, as well as the outer banks of north carolina. these are very vulnerable areas. charleston, you are already in

that hurricane watch. and i want to show you the trend, the history of this track. not to say that the hurricane center was wrong, by any means, because they're some of the smartest people in the field and they know exactly what they're doing. it's been a decent track, but they shift, and we've seen plenty of shifts with dorian over time, especially once it was approaching puerto rico, we thought it was going to hit puerto rico, you can see that there. and then it ended up going a little bit farther to the east. just like farther down the track where we saw that we thought it was going to cross through florida and go into the gulf of mexico. that was a possibility. of course, that didn't happen, either. and there are these minor little shifts can mean big differences in the big scheme of things, especially when you're talking about potential landfall and how the impacts are going to stack up. that's very important with florida. the track has been very consistent over the last couple of days. of course, when this storm starts to pick up a little bit forward speed, once we start to see that actual shift, more of a

northerly direction, northwesterly direction, we'll know more. but it's still a little too early to tell, wolf. and that's the scary part. because with this storm being so big, so close to the shore, if you wait too long, it's going to be too late to evacuate, because this is a monster. wolf? >> so scary, indeed. jennifer gray, thank you for that update. let's go to another city in the hurricane warning zone. pour national correspondent, miguel marquez is in vero beach, florida, for us. miguel, residents, i take it, are bracing for dorian's powerful winds and those life-threatening storm surges. >> reporter: yeah, they are. and the big question for people here is, when is it going to take that right-hand turn and start moving north? nobody really knows. there is a lot of concern, buildings are boarded up all along the beach here. most people have left, but a lot of people are still holding out, because this storm is moving so slowly. this is the atlantic right now. it has been pretty much steady winds all day long. some rain has been coming in,

but it is the wind has really started to pick up over the last couple of hours. not by a lot, but very slowly and surely, this is an area that is under mandatory evacuation orders. this is also an area that is under a hurricane warning. so people are preparing for the worst. there are a lot of people still on the islands, waiting to see what happens, but those bridges that would take people to the mainland, they are still open until the wind hits 45 miles per hour and then authorities will shut them off. people are coming here, securing their homes, seeing what's going on here, but most of them are planning to get out and get to the shore. one big concern that people have is not just the wind, but those tides. what they call a king tide here. the position of the moon and earth are such that you will have the highest tides of the year at the same time that the storm surge comes in. so water and wind could really be deadly here.

wolf? >> miguel, thank you. miguel marquez, also on the scene for us. tonight, at least five people are dead in the bahamas, as hurricane dorian keeps thrashing the island nation. cnn's patrick oppmann is in freeport, for us, right now. patrick, dorian first hit as a category 5 and it's still very, very powerful tonight. >> reporter: yes, it's still a category 4 and we are still getting battered here, nearly 48 hours after dorian first hit the bahamas. it's been a full day of this year in grand bahama, wolf, and i've never experienced anything like it, where you still have the strength and ferocity of a storm that has stalled out over us and if i were not in this protected area right now, if i tried to walk out into the street, i would get blown into the ocean. we are still seeing very strong winds, hurricane strength winds, ripping through here and that is really complicating the rescue work, even though people have

been under the gun all day long, emergency rescue workers have not been able to get to them, because of this wind, because of the storm surge. so we are hearing on people that are waiting on the roofs for rescue. people who have had to cut a hole to get out of their house. people whose homes have been completely flooded and have of rescue at this moment just because it is so dangerous to try move around on this island with dorian overhead. some good news, though, the coast guard has sent a rescue helicopter to nassau. it is in the abaco tonight, the island that was first hit, absolutely devastated. and they've begun rescuing people in the abacos. a little bit of good news in an island that absolutely needs them. the bahamas is devastated tonight, they have never seen a hurricane like this one, like dorian before, wolf. >> yeah, it's an awful, awful situation in the bahamas for us. patrick, we'll stay in close touch with you. let's get some perspective now from the mayor of vero beach,

florida, val zoodans who's joining us right now. thank you so much for joining us. i understand parts of your city are under mandatory evacuation orders? are people complying with those orders? >> thank, wolf. yes, they are. we actually have very good community. they're listening to everything that's being recommended for the most part, and we're ready. there's a little bit of cabin fever. we've been ready for several days, and when it got slowed down, i think people were kind of thinking it wasn't coming, but now they know. the winds have really, really picked up today and i'm just happy, in my town, that people are listening, they're getting out of town. we're running out of time here, because we're -- once we get to tropical storm force sustained winds, which will be later tonight, you won't be able to leave the island and you're stuck for the duration. it's not safe to go out on the roads at that point. so i'm very hopeful everyone made their plans and i think they have. and i hope everyone just stays safe. >> are you worried, mayor, that

some people are just counting on this hurricane missing them and they're staying put? >> i think that, unfortunately, when you have near misses like we did with irma and with matthew, some of the people just going to assume it's going to be the same thing and you never know. i'm a little worried it just stalled in the bahamas. you don't know for sure exactly what's going to happen. if it goes to the west, we will get hurricane force winds up to 110 miles an hour. and so, it's -- i worry about that. i worry about the storm surge. we're having particularly high tides, king tides this time of year. and so it can be significant. but for the most part, i think people are listening. we have an incredible emergency response team for our police departments, all of our local police departments and our firefighters and emergency responders. so i'm confident that people have listened and they're going to be safe and i just want to remind people, we only have about 24 hours left. once we get those tropical storm

winds, it will probably only be for about 24 hours, and then we're done. and then we start the recovery. >> so just to be realistic, and i want you to elaborate a little bit, mayor. what sort of conditions do you expect over the next two or three or four days. >> it really -- it really depends on what happens, as the storm comes off the bahamas. if it goes on the current track, we're going to see tropical storm force winds for sure, up to 24 hours. if it turns to the left and goes closer to the coast and there's a direct hit on the coast, we will have up to 110, which is a level 2 category winds here. storm surge, as they've said, if you're getting a direct hit is 4 to 7 feet on top of 3-foot king tide with waves on top of that. and so that can be devastating. most people who die in a hurricane is because of storm surge. and just be careful, be safe.

there still is a couple of hours where you can potentially go to a shelter, if you're getting nervous and you want to do that. otherwise, you've got to stick to the plans that you had, because once the winds go up, it's not safe to be on the roads. they will not let you go over the bridge and you don't want to be out on the road, either, in the middle of a storm. so we're getting near the very end. i think people have prepared and i hope that they stick to their plans and everyone is safe. >> critical potential life-saving information from the mayor of vero beach, florida. good luck to you and everyone in florida and indeed in the southeast coast of the united states. we're going to have a lot more breaking news just ahead on this "situation room" special report. the danger from hurricane dorian is escalating tonight as the storm grows closer and closer to the united states. and we're also getting word that multiple deaths have been confirmed in that fiery dive boat disaster off california. at fidelity, we believe your money

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we're following all the breaking news on the hurricane dorian disaster. the category 4 storm is aiming at florida tonight, as it keeps thrashing the bahamas with

145-mile-an-hour winds. also breaking, 34 people are presumed dead after a fire that sank a commercial diving boat just off the coast of california. cnn's nick watt is near the scene for us. nick, i understand some bodies have been recovered. >> reporter: they have, wolf. now, we know that five people, crew members, who were preparing for the morning drives, they managed to jump off the ship. 34 more people were sleeping in bunk beds down below decks. four bodies, as you say, have been found. and wolf, as each hour passes, it seems more and more likely that of those 34 people sleeping below, that not even one of them escaped with their life. a mayday call just before 3:30 a.m.. >> mayday! mayday! mayday! conception, platts harbor, north side, santa cruz. >> reporter: 30 miles from the mainland just north of los angeles, first responders beaten

back by the inferno. >> it keeps being extinguished and reflashing, possibly due to the amount of fuel onboard. unsure why. >> reporter: five crew members escaped. >> the crew was actually already awake and on the bridge and they jumped off. five people were evacuated aboard a good samaritan pleasure craft. known as the great escape. >> reporter: one brought ashore on a stretcher, rushed to the hospital. one limping, an injured ankle. two shoeless and shocked. 34 others were below decks. four bodies have been found. 30 more still unaccounted for. we're told there are numerous fatalities. listen to the dispatcher on that mayday call, asking questions. >> roger, are they locked inside the boat? rorn roger, can you get back onboard and unlock the doors so they can get off? >> reporter: we cannot hear the answers and the coast guard says the boat was in compliance. bears repeating, 30 still missing. >> we are combing the shoreline.

we have vessels, two vessels from the coast guard station to the harbor. we have coast guard helicopter and air crews. we are throwing everything that we have in the nearby area to search for these missing 34 people. >> reporter: the boat sank in 64 feet of water just 20 yards from the shore of santa cruz island. the "conception," a 75-foot dive boat, seen here in video on a previous trip had left santa barbara saturday morning. the cause of that fire that destroyed her still unknown. the ntsb is en route and the coast guard is working with the vessel's owner, but the priority right now, the fight, with hope fading, to find anymore survivor survivors. >> and the santa barbara sheriff has taken over from the coast guard as the lead agency on this, which is not a great sign. and they are going to be holding a press conference in about a half hour from now. but wolf, i've got to say, we're not expecting any good news out of that. >> totally, totally devastating,

awful story, indeed. all right, nick, thank you very much for that report. the breaking news continues next. we're going to get the new forecast just out for dorian as millions of americans now brace for a catastrophic storm. plus, disturbing new detail gunman and the phone calls he made to authorities before his rampage. fun fact: 1 in 4 of us millennials have debt we might die with. and most of that debt is actually from credit cards. it's just not right. but with sofi, you can get your credit cards right - by consolidating your credit card debt into one monthly payment. you can get your interest rate right - by locking in a fixed low rate today. and you can get your money right. with sofi. check your rate in 2 minutes or less. get a no-fee personal loan up to $100k.

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breaking news this hour, hurricane dorian threatening the united states tonight as a category 4 storm with winds of 145 miles an hour. we're also learning of deaths from dorian. at least four people now confirmed killed in the bahamas. our meteorologist, jennifer gray, has a new forecast just out from the national hurricane center. jennifer, this storm is threatening millions of americans. >> it really is, all up and down the southeast coast, especially florida. that's the million-dollar question, is how close is it going to get to florida? the closer it is, the more impacts you're going to have with the wind, the storm surge, the rain. right now, it's not moving at all. stationary. that was the biggest nugget out of the 5:00 p.m. advisory. winds of 145-mile-per-hour, gusts of 170. still getting the worst winds right around grand bahama island, as this gradually will start to pull away tomorrow,

conditions will slowly improve there, but that only means that conditions will worsen in florida. we'll continue to see these rain bands, winds will continue, especially once those showers pass. that's when the winds will gust up a little bit. and then maybe die down temporarily. but overall, we'll start to see that general wind pattern pick up. it should pick up forward speed by tomorrow. 125-mile-per-hour winds, it should slowly start to decrease in intensity, but that doesn't mean your impacts are going to lessen. we're going to see a lot of storm surge, wind, and rain all up and down the florida coast. and with its closest approach, wherever that is, that's going to be where the biggest impacts are going to be, and possibly the most damage. as we go forward in time, places like charleston, the outer banks need to keep a close watch on this. those are very vulnerable places. we could see category 2 conditions by the end of the week, along the south carolina and north carolina coasts. and with this storm, so close to florida, these are your current wind gusts, 28 miles per hour,

which doesn't seem like a lot, but once this storm gets closer to you, the winds are going to pick up. and you could possibly feel hurricane-force winds across the state of florida, even west of i-95, as we go forward in time. all depending on how close this storm gets to you. so the hurricane watches and warnings are in place. hurricane watches all up and down the south carolina coast, georgia, sboon florion into flo hurricane warnings in place. and there's your storm surge, 4 to 7 feet across much of florida. those barrier islands that are only accessible by bridges are really the most vulnerable spots in florida. but even if you move far enough west, make sure that where you are is a sturdy structure that can withstand hurricane force winds. and you're also safe from 4 to 7 feet of storm surge. that's very, very important. 2 to 4 feet, of course, in palm beach county, and then the rain. we're forecasting anywhere from 4 to 6 inches, possibly 10 inches along that coast. and wolf, it's all really depend

upon how close this storm gets to florida. all of these numbers could go up if that storm veers a little bit farther to the west. >> yes. still a lot of uncertainty in the bahamas. i should point out, five people we've now confirmed were killed in this storm. jennifer, we'll check back with you shortly. let's get some more on the breaking news right now. joining us, republican senator, rick scott of florida. he's the former governor of florida. senator, thanks so much for joining pups >> wolf, you know, you can rebuild your house, but you can't rebuild your life. and as jennifer said, you know, we don't know for sure exactly where this storm is going to go and we're already talking, even if it stays off the coast, of 4 to 7 feet of storm surge. i mean, that is deadly. if that's coming into your house, you're not going to survive 7 feet of storm surge. so i want everyone to continue to watch, follow the local law enforcement that are telling you whether you need to evacuate. but thank you for doing this to keep people informed. >> well, thank you for what

you're doing, as well. we see the tracking of this storm, where it will hit. what sort of preparations are you making at the state level right now, you and your colleagues? >> well, i was with the president, i talked to him last week, i was with him at camp david for a brief time in the afternoon. i was with him at fema. they're out there with a lot of different agencies. i've been talking to our sheriffs and emergency management teams around the state. the governor has called up the national guard. so everybody is doing right now, i think people are trying to get ready, but you have got to do your part. if you need to evacuate, evacuate now. if they close the bridge because the wind comes up, you're not going to get off of these islands. the water is going to come up first before the wind is going to come up. and even if that all works, you might be out of power for a week. so have seven days of water, seven days of food, get your medicines around, do all of these things to take care of yourself. because during the middle of the

storm, the first responders can't help you. >> when you look at the awful images coming in from the bahamas and the preliminary numbers coming off the bahamas, including the death toll, what are your top concerns right now, senator? >> well, my top concerns are, people look at that track right in the middle and they don't look at the cone and don't understand that the national hurricane center, i was there again today, i've had briefings all day, they're doing their best. but these storms are an act of god. there is no perfect path. two-thirds the time, the storm goes outside that cone of uncertainty sp uncertainty, so you have got to take this very seriously and take care of yourself. we have tourists here, we have a lot of people moving here. just think about, the first thing we heard out of bahamas was a 7 or 8-year-old boy loves his life. you don't want to lose your family, lose a pet. you've got people in your neighborhood, they probably need help. be part of solving all of these problems. >> but as you know, there are

floridians, and this is normal, they're always hoping the storm turns away from florida, from their area in florida. they're deciding to stay put rather than evacuate, even though they've been ordered to evacuate. what's your message to them? >> wolf, let me tell you about the story of a lady down just south of tallahassee, i think it was three or four years ago with irma. she thought, 6 feet of storm surge would be fine. when 3 feet came in, she said, i'm not going to survive this. and she got out of her car and she would have died, but there was one last high water vehicle leaving and they picked her up, or she would have passed away. she got 6 feet of storm surge through her house, she wouldn't have survived it. so i can tell people story after story. because as governor, i got to talk to a lot of people. and don't take a chance. the water is probably the most likely thing to kill you, storm surge, flooding, be careful. don't drive into standing water. we're going to get rain.

so just be careful and take it seriously and take care of your family, take care of your pets, take care of people you know on your street or your neighborhood that are disabled and might need more help. take care of each other. floridians do that and i'm sure they do it in every other state, too. >> we're told, senator, that more than 70 nursing homes, assisted living facilities in your state have been evacuated right now. can you assure us that the rest of those facilities are safe? we always are worried about the elderly in florida. >> you know, if you are responsible for somebody else, if you're running a hospital or a nursing home or a skilled nursing, then you need to make sure you have the backup power, you make sure you're not in an area with storm surge, you're very comfortable that you can survive this. if not, you do the right thing and evacuate. that's my expectations of every nursing home. but you as a person, you should be taking charge and asking your nursing home or skilled nursing facility, do you have the backup generation? do you have the backup power?

you know, are we in an evacuation area? and if you are, make sure they do the right thing. >> i remember all of us, what happened in hollywood, florida, they lost power. >> it makes you mad. wolf, what were they doing? it makes you mad. of all our nursing homes and skilled nursing, there was one place in the state, with a hospital across the state, they did not evacuate and we had those individuals that passed away there. that's wrong. >> yeah, it was awful. awful, indeed. and i hope all the lessons have been learned throughout the state. what about florida's undocumented population? will they be safe from immigration enforcement, for example, if they go to shelters? well, wolf, i've never heard anybody during the storms i've had with shelters that that's ever been an issue. no one's ever asked me that, but i've never heard that to be an issue. that shouldn't be an issue. we're at a time where we are

saving individual's lives. it doesn't matter, wherever they're from, we are there to take care of them. and i know it's going to be important for us to also take care of the people in the bahamas, who -- i mean, they just have been devastated. so i'm sure that our shelters, they're doing the right thing and taking care of people. >> that's very encouraging. i only ask the question because some undocumented immigrants have raised the possibility they may be afraid to go to a shelter. but it's very encouraging to hear what you just had to say. snarpt sco senator scott, thanks so much for joining us. dpl good luck to all the folks in florida. >> thanks, wolf. our "situation room" special report on hurricane dorian will continue. we have more on the urgent preparations underway right now from hurricane florida, all the way up not only through georgia and the carolinas, but through virginia, as well. and as the storm looms, president trump goes golfing and tweeting. we're going to hear what the white house is saying tonight. when cravings come on strong, be stronger... with new nicorette coated ice mint.

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breaking news tonight, the danger from hurricane dorian increasing by the hour, as the category 4 storm looms off the florida coast with winds of 145

miles an hour. while millions evacuate under states of emergency, president trump went golfing today. our senior white house correspondent, pamela brown, has the latest for us. pamela, the white house says the president is being briefed hourly on the hurricane. what are you hearing? >> yeah, that's right. that's what the white house is saying, despite the fact that he has spent most of his day today at his golf course in sterling, virginia, the white house says he is still being briefed on hurricane dorian, as he pummels the bahamas and threatens the united states. but what's interesting here, wolf, is of course, this is a president who has criticized past presidents, including president obama, about spending too much time on the golf course, saying that there's too much government work to do at the time and that it costs taxpayers too much money. and so it is worth noting that this is how the president chose to spend his day on this labor day, golfing at his golf property. he has spent many days as president golfing on his golf property. and he has also spent a good portion of his day tweeting, wolf, about issues having nothing to do with hurricane

dorian, targeting james comey once again and the media. though he has sent out several warnings over twitter. in fact, one of the warnings about the hurricane that he sent out prompted a tweet from the national weather service in birmingham. because the president had said that the hurricane was expected to hit alabama hard. well, then the national weather service had to correct him and say, no, that's incorrect, that it's not supposed to hit alabama. now, as we know, wolf, the president went to fema headquarters yesterday to get a briefing and he said he was stunned, essentially, that a category 5 hurricane even existed, which is certainly notable, because, wolf, there have been four category 5 hurricanes since president trump has been in office. and he has made five such remarks that he didn't even know a category 5 hurricane existed since 2017. so if any president should have intimate knowledge of a category 5 hurricane, it's president trump. wolf? >> cnn's pamela brown at the white house for us. thank you. and there's more breaking news just ahead. our "situation room" special

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breaking news coverage of hurricane dorian continues in a moment. there is also breaking news in

the west texas shooting rampage that left seven people dead and almost two dozen injured. police say the gunman made multiple calls to police and the fbi. very disturbing new details emerging tonight. >> reporter: they are indeed. investigators say that on saturday, the suspect made at least four different phone calls to law enforcement agencies, two of those phone calls were before the shooting rampage happened. and investigators say that actually while the shooting was happening, he was calling 911 multiple times to describe himself as the person who was doing it. dispatchers in the meantime were frantically trying to figure out what exactly they were talking about. investigators say that seth ator was spirfired from his job as a truck driver earlier that day.

by the time police got there he was already gone. he was later pulled over by state troopers and that's when the shooting rampage started. fbi investigators say the firing from the job wasn't what sent him on the rampage. >> he showed up to work in a very distressed mental state. it's not because he got fired. this does not happen because he was fired. when he showed up to work, he was already enraged. >> reporter: and wolf, there is also serious questions being raised tonight about where exactly this gunman obtained the assault-style rifle weapon that was used in this shooting spree. investigators say at some point the gunman failed a background check, but somehow managed to obtain the firearm. investigators say they are aggressively trying to pursue where he obtained it from. in the debate around gun control right now, this raises a lot of

serious questions about what exactly was in the background check, why did he fail it initially and how he was able to obtain a firearm of this magnitude. a lot of serious questions revolving around there. late this afternoon, the city of odesza put out the final list of the victims, seven victims at all. one of them was a 35-year-old man from el paso which is as we all know has dealt with a tragic shooting of its own. >> very sad. stay with us. there is more breaking news just ahead. anyone can deliver pizza. only marco's can deliver america's most loved pizza. hot and fresh, and right to your door. every day at marco's, get two medium, one-topping pizzas for just $6.99 each. hello to the italian way. hello primo. they give us excellent customer otservice, every time.e. our 18 year old was in an accident. usaa took care of her car rental,

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our business is you. get the lowest price guaranteed on all choice hotels when you book direct at choicehotels.com. our breaking news coverage of hurricane dorian continues in a moment. we are also covering israel and hezbollah exchanging fire in the most serious crash unfour years. these hostilities come about two weeks before the israeli election. what's the latest? >> reporter: they certainly do. all morning we were on the border with israel and lebanon. we heard drones as the israeli military remained on high alert and the border was tense. still a very different story today than what we saw yesterday. it was about 4:15 p.m. local time that hezbollah in lebanon fired a series of anti-tank missiles at israeli military

positions including a military vehicle not far away. hezbollah put out video of firing the missiles in a boast about it. in response, israel says it fired something like 100 artillery shells as well as using what the military says was very limited use of helicopter strikes to respond to those anti-tank missiles. israel says no injuries or casualties in the strikes. just as quickly as this started, it was over. within two hours of the anti-tank missiles starting, israel lifted restrictions and that is a very strong indication that at least for now israel believes this is over. that doesn't mean this all happened all that quickly. israel had been expecting a response for the last week and a half or so after israel struck hezbollah. hezbollah leader had vowed to respond and because of that the idf was on high alert. that response came. wolf, you pointed out this is

the most violent exchange we have seen in years. that would go back to early 2015 when we saw a very similar exchange. that, too, was limited in its scope and depth. it seems this one was, as well. >> thanks very much. cnn's special breaking news coverage continues right now with erin burnett outfront. outfront next, breaking news, hurricane dorian unleashing devastating conditions, ripping homes apart across the bahamas. also breaking officials recovering four bodies, dozens remained missing feared dead after a dive boat catches fire off the coast of california. cnn learning the gunman responsible for the west texas mass shooting called the fbi right before the attack. that's not the only call he made. let's go outfront. i'm erin