it is our 11:00 a.m. hour of cnn news room which begins right now. a u.s. marine reservist held in mexico for months is now free. sergeant andrew tahmooressi landed in the u.s. for the first time in seven months and in i15 minutes the family holds a news conference in florida. we'll take you there live. and a spaceship breaks up in the sky. >> space is hard. and today was a tough day. >> the pieces plummeted to the ground. we're live in the mojave desert straight ahead. and it is the frenzied last weekend of campaigning before midterm elections. candidates across the countrying are calling in the big names. and we dig into the key races

that are so close. let's begin with a long awaited moment of freedom after seven months in a mexican prison. a u.s. marine corps reservist is free. sergeant tahmooressi touched down moments ago in florida. he was arrested march 31st after he crossed into tijuana with three guns in his truck. he told authorities he took a brong turn near the border. nick valencia joining me. you have been following the story from the beginning. a mexican court official says he was released to psychological grounds. this related to the ptsd. >> right. very high levels in the mexican government the bhewheels were i motion. a lot of people there don't believe his story. and say it doesn't add up. so there was a lot of pressure to keep him in jail and not cave

to the u.s. and supporters here. but ptsd, officially it is not treated in mexican prison. so them deciding to withdraw the allegations and that leading to his release. you see him there earlier this morning, getting ouch off a plane, private jet. a lot of people played a part in getting his release. >> wow. so what do we know about his condition, physically, mentally. >> we've done a lot of reporting here and on other platforms. we've spoke on the him several times. his condition every time i've spoken to him over the phone was getting worse and worse. >> in what way? >> mental health. he was becoming more withdrawn. becoming more introverted. he was already a quiet individual and because he was suffering from this clinically diagnosed posttraumatic stress. his family says this time in prison, this seven months in

confinement audited up. allegations of the abuse. family says he was tortured. shackled on all fours at one point. he admits he tried to take his own life. his family maintained all along he's not mentally well. and they tried to secure his release. now the mexican side saying we don't have the resources to treat ptsd so we've got let him go. >> interesting players involved here here. montel williams coming off the plane as well. what is the story behind this conglomeration of people who how they were able to use their status to try and win his freedom? it is a myriad of players. bill richmo bill richardson. montel williams, does a lot of work with vet skpererans and me

health. he felt it was his job. and it's actually worked out very well. and you also saw chairman ed royce of the house foreign affairs committee. and all played a part very early visiting andrew tahmooressi in prison early on. so much work has gone into this. and it may seem this sort of came out of nowhere but according to the family they tell me that the wheels have really been in motion the last ten days. and thought they were going to get the release on tuesday and ends up they got the lease on friday. we're wait for the press conference in about 15 minutes where the family will come out. not tahmooressi or his mother jill, but the family smokesman will come out can talk about what happened. and the materials there. >> what kind of materials?

>> we don't know. we know husband car, his truck seized still in mexico. they are going talk about that i'm told. as well as other documents they have. some from the mexican government. we just don't know the specific torus details. but a lot of people waiting to see if andrew will be there. we're told he's not. but a lot of people waiting to see his first interview. >> thanks nick for bringing that us to. of course 15 minutes from now when the family takes to the microphones we'll take that live and bring to it you from westin, florida. and thanks again nick. >> virgin galactic ceo richard branson is expected to arrive at the spaceshiptwo accident. the space plane fell apart two minutes after it released over the mojave desert. it is the second private space disaster this week.

earlier a rocket exploded on the launch pad. stephanie elam is live near the launch site. there are questions about the fuel mixture apparently used. what more are you learning? >> reporter: there are a lot of questions about what went wrong. and from what we can gather about the fuel mixture, it is something had been ground tested but perhaps not necessarily in flight. we also know that according to people here on the ground that it did not look out of the ordinary, what happened when spaceshiptwo took off as part of the whiteknighttwo. which is the aircraft that lifts it up to 50,000 feet and then allows spaceshiptwo to disconnect and head into that low area of space. well from what we can gather everything looked normal. it is what didn't happen about 2:00 into the flight that seemed to be a problem there.

you are talking about a vehicle that is supposed to go 62 miles above earth. to allow just regular common people to experience what it is like to go into space and having about 6 minutes of weightlessness in that time. at this point though we know that this spaceship cost about half a billion dollars to build. and they were hoping to get people up into the skies as early as next year. obviously all of that has to be reevaluated when you look at the loss of life and the loss of machinery, fred. >> and stephanie, what more can you tell us about the pilots? we know one perished the other remains hospitalized. what more can you tell us about their expertise, their commitment to project? >> reporter: we do know from what i can gather from some of the information we've seen that they have been in the community in this space exploration aeronautics community for a long time. who they are, we still don't

know. we do know that the injuries sustained by the person who lived are very serious. he parachuted out but it doesn't like it was just completely without injury situation for his or her at this point. so when you look at the situation it still seems very scary and we're waiting to get more details on that hopefully as the day continues on here fred. >> stephanie, thank you so much on in mojave desert there. and now to sad news out of washington state. a third teenager has died after last week's high school shooting north of seattle. 14-year-old shalely schiechlnas kit. one other died on the scene and another student sunday night.

shalen fryberg invited his victims to the same table by texting them and then took his own life that same day. and a oregon woman is hospitalized and quarantined. she had been self monitoring and discovered she had a fever friday morning. she is 21 years old and moved from liberia to portland on tuesday. health officials say she did not have any known exposure to ebola. meanwhile a in nurse has reached a deal with a judge. he ruled that kasey hicase hick. does not need to quarantine herself as long as he maintains

monitoring. >> i'm glad that we're on the right track. this disease has been reeking havoc and now no longer can we ignore this outbreak. >> he must let officials know if she wants to travel or shows anymore symptoms. here we go. election day three days away now. so candidates are out in force this final weekend to win over voters and bringing out the big guns as well. hillary clinton is expected to speak for kentucky democrat allison lundergan grimes. and mcconnell and other republican candidates aren't just blasting opponents on the campaign trail. they are also taking aim at president barack obama. aaron mcpike explains why.

>> reporter: president obama making a last ditch effort to push women to the poles. >> we have to raise our voices to do away with politicians and politics who blind in ha madmen episode. >> but he made those remarks in rhode island where there is no senate election tuesday. he hasn't campaigned in the eight states with the most competitive senate races. with approval rating of 45 percent republicans are using him to drag down democrats. >> i'm not on the ballot this fall. michelle is pretty happy about that. but make no mistake these policies are on the battle. >> with no over riding single issue republicans say it is president obama's incompetence on the policies mostly recently

on the ebola and other threats driving women begich pretty mud with the president on just about everything. >> these four democratic women who've spent months distancing themselves could be key to his last two years in office. but this republican woman in iiowa. >> i'm jony ernest. i grew up castrating hogs on a iowa farm. >> the state that put obama to the white house and kept him there could be the final chapter if his presidency. >> aaron mcpike live from the white house. is the president making any campaign appearances himself this weekend? >> fred, just a few. today he is heading to detroit. and helogic will campaign for t

democrats in michigan. and then tomorrow to connecticut and later to philadelphia. again he's going to be campaigning for democrats who really don't have much of a republican threat. he is not making appearances in the really tight states with tight senate races, fred. >> thanks so much aaron. be sure to tune to cnn for all your election night coverage. it starts this tuesday evening. midterm elections, 5:00 p.m. eastern time. but next we take you into some of the critical races that could change potentially the balance of power, which states the political pro you need to watch. after this. ♪

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runoffs and not decided for months. democrats control the senate with 53 members and two independents. the republicans need six seats to regain power for the first time since 2007. joining me now -- and dougood t all of you. david, you first, what is at stake here? >> what is ate stake here? a lot. a next two years and that is a wrapup to the big enchilada in 2016. people forget that barack obama has more than two years left in office. and it is a big issue whether we attack the underlying problems of the country or whether we have two more years of prals. the longer the paralysis goes on

the tougher to fix the problems. and the big big issue is if the republicans take the senate and if you were playing poker today you would much rather have the republican hand than the democratic hand. they have more high cards. but if they win the senate the question becomes how do they govern? can they get together? that would be the optimistic scenario. >> doug, how optimistic should voters be that perhaps there will be more of this sense of people working together post midterm elections because of so many lessons learned already. or whether indeed, you know, the balance of hour will mean more gridlock out of washington. >> i think the answer is both honestly. it is going to be difficult to get really large things done. wholesale tax reform, immigration. but a republican senate can do

something a democratic senate hasn't done something in two years. and that's govern. and we passed several appropriations bills and a budget. these are things a democratic senate couldn't do. if the republican senate is in place it will pass budgets and do the small things of governing that hasn't happened in a long time. >> and sally. >>. [ laughter ] look if there is any more unpopular than president obama right now it is republicans in congress. and people say well why are they doing so well in the elections. first in a six year of a presidential election term usually the other party does much better than they are doing now. and second republicans fair well in red states but nationwide the people are unhappy with these gridlock and largely blame it on republicans. and if republicans take the

senate there is going to be more pressure to, you know --. >> what's interesting here sally because if that seems to be the conventional wisdom that people are frustrated with the gridlock and people are angry at the republicans, then it's perplexing why so many republicans would use president obama as their opponent. because that i guess is a continuation of the criticism that people are articulating. that there is frustration, that there is this, you know, republicans versus the president. but then that seems to be directing the campaigns in all of these states forward to win those additional six seats in the senate. >> i must say i think it is contradictory to argue that in a year republicans are likely to win back the seat maybe pick up six or more senate seats.

that reveals underlying frustration with republicans. i think there has been frustration with republicans. this is a lot of anti voting not pro voting for republicans. but at the moment the obama presidency is much more in the forefront of minds and driving some of these really contentious races. we'll have wait and see. but no question as in the past, usually in the sixth year the in-party loses some seats and that is because the in-party president has become more sour taste in the mouth of voters. and with the president down in the mid 40s and lower in some of these races that is driving these republican victories. >> so this anger at the republican vote or anger at the president vote? >> it's not just red states. blue and purple states.

my home state of north carolina has gone for obama and against him. that's a tight race. new hampshire is certainly a tight race. and gardner is going to win in colorado. also not a red state. >> it's an antiincumbency year. the reality is the policies are on the table. and when the american people actually all vote, they support democratic policies. that is truism time and time again. the issue is is look at the head of the republican party said, there is a party that can't lose a midterm and can't win a presidential election and the red places are popular at the margins. but future elections especially as more young people and people of color start voting, you know, there is not much hope for the republicans. >> we'll see how it all turns out on tuesday.

of course cnn will have all of your election night coverage. that is tuesday starting at 5:00 p.m. eastern. okay. so it has been a very nervous waiting game in hawaii, as lava creeps along getting even closer to homes. just a football field away from many of those i houses. the latest from hawaii next. [ male announcer ] tomcat bait kills up to 12 mice, faster than d-con. what will we do with all of these dead mice? tomcat presents dead mouse theatre. hey, ulfrik! hey, agnar! what's up with you? funny you ask. i'm actually here to pillage your town. [ villagers screaming ] but we went to summer camp together. summer camp is over. ♪ [ male announcer ] tomcat. [ cat meows ]

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heavy rains in ventura county california led to dangerous mud slides early this morning. police i vacuated residents from eleven homes as a precaution. and a man was trapped in one home but he was found safe. and many people in hawaii are still on edge. lava continues to slowly flow out of a volcanic crater and it hasn't taken any homes yet. but it is now less than 100 yards away. and history shows people are right to be concerned about thaib their homes there. >> reporter: the lava now

flowing towards the town is now coming out of a vent about 13 miles up the slope. the problem sit kind of flows and stops. and authorities admit if you are the town in its path or someone who's e vaevacuatevacuated, tha painfully frustrating it is a matter of worrying about whether the lava will do. but if residents really want a glimpse of their possible future they only need to go about nine miles to the end of the road. >> this is where the road ends and i brought you here because this is something to see up here. >> this was a town. hundreds lived here. lava from the kilauea volcano

ran over this area burning and burying it. in his kitchen, 75-year-old uncle robert counted the number of homes spared. >> five house. >> were the only survivors. >> yeah. from in this area. >> just as in pahoa now, then he says when the lava first game many thought it would miss them. they were wrong. >> no place is safe. >> before the lava stopped more than 150 homes were destroyed. this is a postcard of the beach back then. absolutely gorgeous. and where i'm standing now is where the water line used to be. the lava pushed the beach a quarter of a mile away. so is pahoa now doomed to the same fate. >> i think it would be premature right now to say that.

things could happen with the magma supply maybe to starve this. >> but the this were to happen uncle robert offers this advice. >> i would say just accept. be open. understand that we have no control. >> back in kalipaana there are signs of life. a as new residents are begun building new homes on the old town that lies buried under 85 feet of lava. >> there are two types of lava. this is lava with the trademark of the flowing and stopping and flowing again. >> coming up in the next half hour a i'll talk to a resident and ask what he and his neighbors are doing to get ready.

and a marine is back on american soil. and next the reaction from a former u.s. ambassador who was instrumental in his release and how andrew tahmooressi is doing. to your company, your customers, and all your data. cyberedge from aig is more than insurance. it's proactive technology and specialists to help keep you ahead of the curve. claims specialists and advisors to protect you as cyber risks evolve.

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welcome back. i'm fredericka whitfield. federal officials are investigating the spaceship accident. the space plane broke apart and fell just 2:00 after the launch

over the mojave in california. one poilt is dead and another seriously injured. a new fuel mixture in the test flight is being investigated and a florida band member being found guilty in a hazing case. a student died after being hazed on a bus in 2011. he could be sentenced to more than 20 years in prison. and a u.s. marine is free today and back home with his family in florida. he was released late last night after spending 7 months in a mexican prison on gun charges. among those instrumental in his release was former ambassador to the u.n. bill richardson who spoke to cell body's nick valencia last hour. >> we thought he was going to be released tuesday several days

ago. and i went down there with a congressmen, a bipartisan effort, with montel. and it became very agonizing. because there was a delay on the part of the judge who i think in the end made the right decision based on humanitarian grounds, ptsd, to proceed with the release. but we were working the phones. we were working -- not pressuring the -- but diplomacy with the mexican government. the state department helped. but it was a really a combined effort. i went to visit tahmooressi last week in prison. i told him i thought it was impent his release. and and there were a number of factors and the mexican government was not pressured but they made the right official decision. based on ptsd which they don't

have much experience with in mexico that they made the release. >> you talked about the diplomacy. president obama never spoke about this case and that was really a thorn in the side of supporters. the highest federal official weighing in was john kerry. should the president have gotten involved? >> well i think the president deployed his people. like for instance, the assistant secretary of state jacobson she was in constant contact with me. you have to be careful you don't overpressure the mexicans. they are very sensitive. they are our neighbors and emerging as a major economic power with the energy reform and a new president that's strong. so you can't just blunder bus them. and i think we used to correct mix of diplomacy and legal strategy and patience.

i know that andrew suffered because, you know, i visited him in prison. and obviously he has medical treatment that needs to happen. but, you know, i think this is a good story amidst all the gridlock and bad news. an american comes home. we stand behind our veterans when they are at war and in civilian lifer life. so, you know, we had an ecstatic ride back from san diego, s tijuana. he's just got back. spending time with his family. wants to get some steak and stone crabs. he is good young man. a war hero. and we have to stand behind him. maybe a mistake was made. think hi he took a wrong tourney coming into the mexico maybe because of the confusion or the ptsd but he is a good young man. >> and moments ago a family

smokesman addressed the media about tahmooressi's release. >> they are now together as that family and i think will remain so for some time. and i think at the appropriate time and place he will speak for himself. and i don't want to -- i think there's been far too much projecting opinions. and whether you want to call it ideological predispositions upon him. and, you know, he's perfectly capable of speaking for himself and after he has some time i think he will speak for himself. >> and we'll continue following today coming up at 2:00 tyke to congressman ed royce from california who was also a key player in his release. >> and releasing a the nurse many maine from her quarantine since he tested negative. and then what was the danger in the first place. >> i'll ask a former cdc

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. a nurse many maine remains free from quarantine today. she can leave her house but does have travel restrictions and must take her temperature twice a day. after returning from sierra leone, she tested negative twice for the ebola virus. bringing in a former detective for the centers for disease kroll control and prevention. is kasey not playing safe or was the quarantine in maine unnecessary. >> the maine judge ruled against the order saying that local public health officials didn't provide a strong enough public health argument as to why this nurse should be quarantined.

really it's another argument saying the policy has to align with the science. and one of the safe ways of the checking for that is making sure they have active monitoring. taking temperature twice a day every day for 21 days. that is the key here. before any symptoms, nobody can transmit the ebola virus. >> is she says, this is really a victory. and if anything this should send a strong message that everyone needs to be better educated about ebola, about being asymptomatic. being symptomatic, all of those things. would you agree with her? >> absolutely. when there is fear sometimes that really over rides the facts and the politics and the policy are based more on the fear than the science. and we're seeing this has a very definite impact fredericka. today there is about to be a big international meeting of experts in l.a. and louisiana state has said they will quarantine anybody in west africa and those three

countries and of course that's where all the ebola experts have been. so they are now not able to meet and share their expertise. and that could be detrimental to stopping the outbreak. >> is it your opinion there remains some configuration because there are some mixed messages being sent by the u.s. military being quarantined even though they don't have direct contact with ebola patients while they are overseas setting up these clinics. >> inconsistencies are really breed insecurity among the public. so we have members of the public saying new jersey is weighing one thing. network another. the military one thing and cdc is this. so whose doing the right thing? so because there is so much inconsistency it can make the public more anxious. it would be helpful to have more clear communication across the

board. >> and now we understand that dr. craig spencer, who is at bellevue hospital in new york, he is in stable condition. what do you read into that? if anything. about how he is being treated, what his condition is, how this speaks to americans who are being treated in the u.s. who have contracted ebola whether it be overseas or from contact here in the states? we. >> we know quick diagnosis and quick treatment can make all the difference. having the medical treatment in place to give treatment quickly. that can make all the difference. we also know with ebola the time you really worry about patients is particularly day 7 to 10 after they get sick. that is when they can become the most ill and you have to be really careful. so it is reassuring to hear he is stable. and we really hope he makes it through and has a quick

recovery. >> doctor, thanks so much. >> thank you. >> control of both chambers of commerce hangs in the balance on tuesday. our executive political director breaks down what states are game changers and why you should care.

all right. tuesday's elections could change the balance of power in the senate. republicans could become the majority party for the first time in nearly a decade. and it could all come down to a few key races that are razor close. cnn's executive editor of politics mark preston joining us live from washington. good to see you, mark. so just how close is the gop from taking over the u.s. senate? >> well, very close, fred. in fact, let's go through these numbers for you just to show you how close the republicans are at taking over the senate marjts. let's look at this first number right here, look at these first three races. republicans right now are expected to win these races. they include montana, south dakota, west virginia. now, if republicans win those races, the magic number's no longer six, it's really three. these are republican seats. georgia, kansas and kentucky. let's assume republicans actually hold on to these seats. we're still at the number three at this point.

but look at where democratic could have problems. six of these races are incumbent democratic senators, alaska, arkansas, iowa, louisiana, new hampshire, north carolina. to retain majority they would have to win five of seven of those races. all told, all prrepublicans nee is a net gain of six seats. >> that's an incredible outlook. if republicans do take over the senate, how likely is it that this will kind of set up the momentum into the next election, the 2016 election cycle? >> well, the momentum could be short lived in fact because when we're looking at races that are on the board in 2016, republicans need to defend 23 seats in 2016 however democrats only need to defend nine. if democrats lose the senate majority by one or two races, you can see the chambers switch right back. that's a presidential election

year. you will see a higher turnout and you might even see a higher turnout among democratic voters, fred. >> traditionally midterm elections turn out very well, but it will be very interesting to see if that changes if history will be made this go around. appreciate that. cnn will have all of your election night coverage 5:00 eastern time. do join us. and another violent attack on police with an ax. this time in the nation's capital, washington, d.c. how close it came to hitting the officer right after this. creeping up on you... fight back with relief so smooth... ...it's fast. tums smoothies starts dissolving the instant it touches your tongue ...and neutralizes stomach acid at the source.

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find new ways to save energy and money with pg&e's business energy check-up. police in new york and washington, d.c. are on alert for potential criminals wielding axes now. in the last two weeks there were two separate attacks on officersp this photo you're about to see shows an ax lodged into a police officer's windshield. renee marsh has more. >> reporter: these attacks have prompted an immediate increase in security for officers in new york, now d.c. is on high alert. the question remains was this latest attack a copycat incident or is there a terror connection? a large ax lodged inches from a d.c. police officer's head as he

sat in the driver's seat. it was another attack on a uniformed officer. this time it happened overnight in a residential d.c. neighborhood. >> he was ambushed. he did not see the person coming, and he was ambushed by the ax. he was able to get out of the car and actually chase and tackle the suspect. >> reporter: the ax missed the officer, but he dislocated his shoulder in a scuffle with the suspect who wis still on the ru. it's the second attack on an officer in a matter of days. just last week in new york city an ax wielding man was caught on camera charging towards police officers, striking one in the arm, the other in the head. before being shot and killed. the bloody weapon left behind, nypd called it an act of terrorism. >> certainly is alarming. hard to say at this point whether it's a trend, obviously, there's been two incidents and two incidents is even too many in any situation where we're

having people take the liberty to attack police officers. >> reporter: this comes at a time when radical jihadists have threatened attacks against uniformed officers in the west. a man in canada with jihadist connections shot and killed a guard at canada's national war memorial. before opening fire in parliament just two days after a canadian soldier was run over and killed by a man police say had been radicalized. this week homeland security secretary jeh johnson ordered increased security at more than 9500 federal buildings across the u.s. >> any time you have these things happen, it makes it very easy to -- for the environment to produce copy cats. hopefully the one today was a random act and police had have this person in custody soon. >> reporter: they don't have an explanation for this morning's ax attack, but at this point nothing has been ruled out. >> when we talk about high alert

in new york city, officers have been told they must travel in pairs, a buddy system. and in d.c., the police chief says she's been sending two to three messages a day to officers reminding them to remain on alert. >> thank you so much, rene marsh for that. much more in the newsroom starting right now. all right. here are the top stories we're following in the newsroom. the search for answers under way after a second private space flight ends in disaster. this as we wait for another update from the ntsb about the virgin space flight accident. and breaking news on the 'lease of andrew tahmooressi. and the calendar may say november 1st, but several parts of the country are about to be blasted with an early taste of