arrogant and that cocky and that brazen behind bars as quickly as possible. >> chad price thinks he can beat whatever the system has to present. technology is foolproof given the best circumstances. we had those circumstances. breaking news, direct hit. arthur makes land fall overnight. >> we are seeing strong winds as it makes its way to land. a vicious category two wind gusts. towns under tornado watches, trees toppled and power out for tens of thousands. >> please be safe inside your home and stay inside your home. >> hurricane windings lashing the coast as arthur makes the fourth of july march north. >> plus, bombshell hearing. >> did he discuss being afraid of children and his child dying? >> yes. >> a father accused of leaving

his son in a hot car on purpose. sexting underage girls, life insurance on the child and searching online about hot cars. the benefits of being child-free and how to survive in jail. how his wife's actions may provide more clues. this is a special edition of "new day." hurricane arthur hits. good morning, welcome to a special edition of new day. it is july 4th, happy independence day. it is a mess. itis 5:00 in the east. chris is off today. hurricane arthur made land fall overnight along north carolina. let's take a look at that. right now, it's working over the outer banks. it's now a category 2 storm with winds over 100 miles an hour. >> the hurricane will make it a turbulent holiday over the east

coast. >> the impact was evident. look at this rain. it's coming from all directions, even sideways whipping trees around the beach. thousands of people hit the road, but it was for evacuations instead of beaches and barbecues. the storm is going to hug the coast as it heads northeast. expect dangerous conditions all along the shore, up to maine. we are going to start with indra peterson in kill devil hills, north carolina. the eye of the storm just passed over? >> reporter: things literally are changing by the minute. 20 minutes or so ago, we were in the i wall of the storms, it was hard to move. steady winds about 50 miles per hour here. some gusts uche to 80 miles per hour. if you look at the radar or the satellite picture, the eyewall is making its way offshore. it looks calm right now.

we are starting to see the winds shifting directions. instead of being on the front of the eyewall, they are coming out of the north and west thchlt is key. we are talking all the water off the ocean. we are on the outer banks. two bodies of water surrounding us. the waves off the ocean. when you switch the direction, you have the more shallow water off the sound. this is the key period where we see the surge coming in. that's going to be key. we have a long way to go in the carolinas. things are being knocked over in front of me. a long way to go in the next few hours. at least 20 counties here in north carolina in a state of emergency. hurricane arthur making land fall at 11:15 thursday night. cnn camped out at the beach when it hit. >> reporter: the winds are strong. if you look at the skies it is lighting up. they are transformers blowing up.

that means people are without power at this point. >> reporter: despite the darkness, thousands without power were told to stay inside. >> wait for the storm to leave for a long period of time before you venture to the outside. >> it's living up to emergency managers fears. sustained winds of at least 100 miles per hour. storm surges and dangerous rip currents are warding off fourth of july beach goers. >> we want to warn the citizens up the coast and thousands of tourists dealing with this for the first time, this is a serious storm. >> reporter: this is a photo from inside the eye of the storm, of concern, the inner eyewall, shrinking in size. the danger? the smaller it gets the stronger the storm becomes. >> flooding inland and storm surges in the sounds and rivers further inland. >> the governor says rescue and emergency crews are at the ready

to assess damage and begin the clean up effort. for anyone in the area, they are thinking we got through the first half of the storm, i'm okay, the power is on. don't be taken off guard. the backside of the storm is stronger. add in the winds. the 100-mile-per-hour winds and the storm moving at 20 miles per hour. you have 120-mile-an-hour winds coming your way. when they are pushed in one direction away, it is shallow water. that brings a high storm surge in a short period of time. south of us, in 20 minutes, the water rose five feet. that is a concern here. we are going to be watching those closely in the next few minutes. >> calm is going to change quickly. we'll get back to you. north carolina really is bearing the brunt of arthur so far. this is a live look from our

affiliate. 20,000 customers are dealing with power outages in the area. take a look at the strong winds whipping through the trees there. remember, this is before the storm really made land fall. the ominous clouds, a clear sign of what was on the way. let's head roughly 200 miles south from kill devil hills to the beach where alena is. how are things looking now? >> okay. it's amazing what a difference a few hours makes. hurricane arthur, we felt it in north carolina. yesterday, for much of the day, we were seeing on and off periods of high winds and rain. it wasn't until 7:00 or 8:00 eastern time that really started to see the wind gusts pick up and the heavy downpours come

down. that's what we experienced last night. it was very, very powerful. the surf has been rough all day yesterday and into the evening. the concern now is going to continue to be the rip currents we talked about yesterday. that is going to remain as a possible concern for officials here as people start to venture out into the water. in terms of power outages, we heard of a few throughout the city but minor and minor flooding. here at the beach, for the most part, we fared well. christine? >> i'll take it from here alina. we'll see what the damage leaves behind. we are glad to hear it wasn't as bad as anticipated. the question is, what areas are going to get hit next. we turn to meteorologist ivanka brar ra. what do we know? >> we have been watching it all night. this is fascinating.

we are now into hour six from where this thing made a land fall. we are still dealing with 100-mile-an-hour winds as far as the category. still a category 2 storm. look at the eye emerging over the water at this point. it was mainly over water overnight with the incredible winds. we get the estimated winds from the national hurricane center, but we get the winds verifyed from the instruments on the ground. we have done that. we had wind gusts in excess of 90 miles an hour along this area, which remains under a hurricane warning at this hour. that continues over the next few hours. in about six hours we'll begin to get things calming down across the area and we'll track the storm as it heads off to the north and east. it will do so rapidly. it's getting picked up by the upper level winds. at 24 to 48 hours, it is going

to scream up to the north and east. we are looking at a storm is that going to be offshore. the wind feel associated with it is large enough that impacts are going to be felt. we are not looking at hurricane force winds across the islands of massachusetts or cape cod. the potential is there for tropical storm force winds that is why we have extended the warnings to the tip of cape cod, which is provincetown for the next 24 hours. this scoots off and heads toward halifax. the worst of the storm, no question about it, is being felt right now across the carolinas, specifically north carolina. by the way, this is the strongest hurricane to make land fall in the united states since back in 2008 when ike hit galveston. quite an impressive scene going on in north carolina especially in the month of july. cat 2 at this hour, 5:00 a.m.

advisory from the national hurricane center. >> appreciate that. it's a point to note. it's early, a month earlier than we see. >> it normally comes mid august to mid october. of course you wonder, what is this going to mean for the rest of hurricane season. le's get through this one first. we are more hurricane coverage throughout the morning. let's get to christine romans. in iraq this morning, large parts of the country fall to isis militants, the kurdish leader is calling for independence. they are saying the only solution is for the country to stay united as u.s. military officials say the door is open to step up american forces in iraq if isis militants pose a threat to the u.s. the pentagon grounded f-35 fighter jets while inspectors examined why one of these jets

caught fire last month. this is the latest setback for the lockheed martin fighter. in june an oil leak triggered an inspection. at $398 billion, the f-35 is the pentagon's most expensive weapons ever. the entire fleet is grounded. the mississippi primary isn't quite over. chris mcdanielle served papers to thad's son thursday. he plans to challenge the results. campaign staffers and volunteers combed through records and claimed to have found 5,000 irregularities. we'll talk to mcdaniel live, later in the show. the white house is celebrating independence day with military families. later, the obama's will hold a barbecue and fireworks viewing party on the south lawn for

military families and white house staff. it's a sweet occasion for the obama's. first daughter malia celebrates sweet 16. her 16th birthday. >> hard to believe she is 16 years old. we have watched them grow up. no excuse to forget her birthday. >> definitely not. both parents talk about they are excited about the birthday, but nervous. this means her getting behind the wheel. >> any parent has that fear, don't they? >> let's take a break. next on "new day" more on hurricane arthur as it pounds north carolina with heavy rain and up to 100-mile-an-hour winds. it's heading up the east coast. bombshell testimony in a georgia toddler's death. a boy was left in a hot car and died. his faster was sexting with a

half dozen women. we have the shocking details ahead. sea captain: there's a narratorstorm cominhe storm narrator: that whipped through the turbine which poured... surplus energy into the plant which generously lowered its price and tipped off the house which used all that energy to stay warm through the storm. chipmunk: there's a bad storm comin! narrator: the internet of everything is changing how energy works. is your network ready?" life with crohn's disease ois a daily game of "what if's". what if my abdominal pain and cramps come back? what if the plane gets delayed? what if i can't hide my symptoms? what if? but what if the most important question is the one you're not asking? what if the underlying cause of your symptoms is damaging inflammation? for help getting the answers you need, talk to your doctor and visit crohnsandcolitisinfo.com to get your complimentary q&a book, with information from experts on your condition.

from safety... to fuel economy... to quality... today's chevrolet has it all. and it's a great time to buy. during the chevy 72 hour sale, you'll get 0% apr for 72 months. plus no monthly payments for the rest of the summer. 0% apr for 72 months plus no monthly payments for the rest of the summer. hurry, the chevy 72 hour sale ends monday. find new roads at your local chevy dealer.

at this hour, hurricane arthur is now making land fall

here in north carolina. it's not packing a lot of rain in the position where i am. the winds are extremely strong. if you look at the skies, you can see them lighting up. that is not lightning, they are transformers blowing up. that means people are without power. again, not a lot of rain, but we are seeing very strong winds as it makes its way to land. >> that was our cnn reporter, renee marsh. the moment hurricane arthur made land fall last night in north carolina. we are going to get back to obvious think top story of hurricane arthur and the progress in a moment. first, stunning details in the case of a georgia toddler who died after being left in a hot car. a judge denied bail for the father. justin ross harris is charged of murder and child cruelty. we are learning while his son was dying, he was exchanging

sexually explicit texts with several women. that's part of the testimony. we are going to play more of what happened inside the courtroom so you can hear it yourself. more from victor blackwell. >> reporter: what was justin ross harris allegedly doing while his 22-month-old son, cooper, suffered in the back of his scorching suv? >> he was having up to six conversations with different women. the most common term would be sexting. >> reporter: raunchy text messages. >> he's got a separate life he's living. >> reporter: shackled and sullen. the detective detailed x-rated messages allegedly related with date cooper died, including with a then, 16-year-old girl. >> photos being sent back and

forth between him and the defendant? >> yes, there were photos of his penis, erect penis exposed and women's breasts. >> no reaction from the 33-year-old wife who sat with family and supporters in the packed courtroom. >> he was a loving father. he loved his son very much. we went on family vacations together. he was a good dad. >> reporter: just five days before cooper's death, the detective says harris watched videos online about the dangers of being trapped in a hot car and harris visited a web forum devoted to the child free lifestyle. >> you don't have evidence of that? >> true. >> we are so far from the events of june 18th. this has nothing to do with those events what so ever.

the status of his marriage and fantasy life has nothing to do with the events of june 18th. we are getting so far -- this isn't relevant to anything. >> judge, this goes to the state of mind to the two weeks leading up to the death of the child. >> this occurred within two weeks? >> yes. >> overruled. >> they had financial problems and took out life policies on cooper. >> the first is a $2,000 policy. >> the second, was that back in 2013? >> yes, november 2012 is when he signed up for it. >> did he still have it at the time of the child's death? >> that's correct. >> how much? >> $25,000 policy. >> he laid out the strange way harris reacted the day cooper died. >> he started off trying to work himself up. he's walking around, rubbing his eyes, looking like he's trying

to hyperventilate himself. no tears or real emotion coming out except the huffing. >> through the time you are talking with him about his son and his son's death, did you ever see any tears coming from him? >> no. >> reporter: even more bizarre, how leanna harris reacted when she heard cooper was never dropped off. >> all of a sudden she states ross must have left him in the car. >> they are like what? there's no other reason. no other explanation. ross must have left him in the car. they tried to console her. no, there are 1,000 reasons. he could have taken him to lunch. she's like no. >> were there injuries to the child's face? >> there were. there were subtle marks on the child's face that would have come from the child or a scratch

being made while the child was alive and not healing, not scabbing over or anything like that soon after he passed away. >> were there injuries in the back of the child's head? >> yes, abrasions to the back of the child's head. >> reporter: after three hours, the judge denied harris bond, defense maintaining. >> it's not criminal negligence, it's a horribl tragedy and accident. >> victor blackwell, cnn, georgia. >> it's a terrible hearing. it was supposed to go 90 minutes, it went three hours. there's going to be a lot to discuss before they head to trial. >> certainly damming. again, the defense has their work cut out for them. it will be interesting. >> it was just a probable cause hearing. next on "new day," hurricane arthur lashing the north carolina coast. indra petersons is in kill devil

hills can the latest. stay with us. the cadillac summer collection is here. ♪ ♪ during the cadillac summer's best event, lease this all new 2014 cts for around $459 a month or purchase with 0% apr and make this the summer of style.

it's not for colds, it's not for pain, it's just for sleep. because sleep is a beautiful thing™. ♪ zzzquil. the non-habit forming sleep aid from the makers of nyquil®. the non-habit forming sleep aid means keeping seven billion ctransactions flowing.g, and when weather hits, it's data mayhem. but airlines running hp end-to-end solutions are always calm during a storm. so if your business deals with the unexpected, hp big data and cloud solutions make sure you always know what's coming - and are ready for it. make it matter.

welcome back to a special hurricane arthur edition of "new day." take a look at this live picture of north carolina. they are dealing with violent wind, stirring up waves as rain pounds the beach there. any other fourth of july weekend, the streets would be bustling, they would be packed. tonight, they are abandoned. let's get to indra petersons with more. >> we are talking about the change in direction we had a half hour or so ago. we are seeing the eyewall making its way offshore. we have strong easterly directions here right when we were in the eyewall. steady winds, a good 50 miles

per hour. gusts up to 80 miles per hour. the eyewall is making its way offshore and the system is picking up speed. it's moving at 18 miles per hour. that means things are going to change quickly as the system now starts to switch direction. kind of in the middle zone. we are seeing the winds pick up. now, from the opposite direction. first coming from the north. then we see the winds kick up in the opposite direction from the west. this is key. first, when we had the winds from the east, we had strong waves coming in. you have the wind waves coming in. when you switch the direction now, you are going to have the sound on the opposite side of us, another body of water. the ocean, that is deep water, the sound is shallow water. all the water that got pushed off, it's going to want to quickly come back that's the concern. a strong storm surge is expected in the opposite direction. many out there who think they

got through the first half, it's different on the backside. it is stronger. you have to factor in the winds could be 100 miles per hour, then you have to factor in the motion of the storm itself, so add 20 miles per hour to that. you could have 120-mile-per-hour winds. that is making its way offshore. we are going to watch that very closely. south of us, they saw the storm surge rise five feet or so in 20 minutes. so dangerous. and wave height is the other thing we are going to see. closer to the eye itself, 25 foot waves. it's something we could see here as things shift around. remember, this is going to hold on to its momentum, go quickly, heading to the northeast, staying south of you, but either way, it's going to hold on 90-mile-per-hour winds near cape cod. here in the carolinas is the big

thing we have to watch the next hour or so. >> we appreciate you watching it for us. indra on the ground gives us a reality of what it likes there. north carolina is getting the worst of the hurricane at this hour. thousands are reported without power. it could get worse after the storm surge. we are joined on the phone by lieutenant general tim murphy for the north carolina. it's been a lot of work for you overnight. >> caller: yes, good morning. it has been long days and short nights. >> your personnel have been encountering overnight. >> caller: actually, what we have had is 100 of our north carolina national guardsmen activated. they have hunkered down along the route of the storm so