new details about the suspect in the el paso shooting. documents obtained by cnn shows he was targeting mexicans. president trump says the u.s. needs meaningful background checks. cnn talks with the foreign service officer who resigned and wrote a scathing op-ed blasting the trump administration. welcome to viewers in the u.s. and around the world. i'm natalie allen coming to you live from atlanta. "cnn newsroom" starts right now.

the alleged gunman in last weekend's rampage in el paso, texas apparently confessed at the time of arrest and told police he was targeting mexicans. the new details are contained in the arrest affidavit, a sworn document by police, about the fact of the case. we get more from cnn's brian todd. >> reporter: cnn obtained arrest affidavit of the suspected shooter patrick crusius showing he allegedly told police he was there to target mexicans. cnn spoke to the manager of the walmart. robert evans. he saw the shooter firing at victims in the parking lot. the shooting appeared deliberate. >> he seemed like he knew what he was shooting. he was very defined. he looked very focused. you know, precision on what he was aiming for.

it wasn't just a spray of gunfire. these were direct shots. >> reporter: el paso police told cnn the suspect surrendered a couple blocks away from the walmart and getting out of the car and telling the officer he was the shooter. he admitted to using an ak-47 to shoot multiple victims. the manager got hundreds of people out back entrances. saw one man shot in the back. he says one of his employees tended to the wounded man. >> i wanted to save as many people and get people notified danger. >> reporter: then evans said he circled around the back of the building and saw an elderly couple shot in the car. >> there were shots through the window. the passenger was a female. she was shot in the face and an area and she was pretty not responsive at the time. the man was moaning.

it appeared he was trying to drive away from harm's way and he parked crooked. he couldn't drive anymore. he was bleeding. >> reporter: cnn is learning more about what drove the alleged gunman, crusius, to el paso to commit the crime. three sources with knowledge of the crime, told cnn crusius did not want to carry out the attack in his hometown of allen, texas. shame is one reason he targeted el paso over 650 miles away. he believed if he did it in another city, his family wouldn't know he was responsible for carrying out the deadly attack. >> the fact the shooter traveled that far away from all the way from allen, texas to el paso in search of people that if you read the creed, did not look like him. this speaks to his mind set or

motivation. >> reporter: the fbi says the evidence response team is combing through the crime seen and will be for days. >> we were able to locate a call that came in on thursday, june 27th at approximately 11:15 in the morning. >> reporter: allen, texas police claim crusius' mother called the station with concerns about her son as first reported by cnn. >> the sole concern was the parent motivated out of concern that her son just did not have the training, firearm safety training and intellectual maturity to own this firearm. the call taker did a good job and comes around twice and says is your son suicidal. then says is your son threatened any other persons. both times it appears that there

was not a problem with that. >> reporter: since the mother didn't identify herself, allen police could not follow-up with more investigation. >> the protocol is you ask for identification. you can't force someone to identify who they are. >> reporter: to give an idea of the scene the shooter was walking into, one official tells us they believe 3,000 people were at the store at the time of the shooting. so far, no walmart employees were counted among the dead, but two were injured. brian todd, cnn, texas. >> all week heart broken families have been burying their loved ones. it is a scene replayed over and over on both sides of the u.s. border. at least eight of the victims were mexican nationals. because of the nature of the crime, the fbi is investigating it as a possible case of

domestic terrorism. in the aftermath of the shootings if texas and ohio and another days earlier in california, the u.s. president is offering vague assurances that something will be done to improve background checks on gun purchases. mr. trump has said similar things before after other mass shootings, but little has happened. for more about that here is cnn's kaitlan collins at the white house. >> reporter: in a week where 31 people were killed in mass shootings, president trump is claiming the republicans are behind him on background checks. >> i spoke to mitch mcconnell yesterday. he's totally on board. >> reporter: but his optimism is at odds with what the gop said publicly. the senate majority leader says he is open to considering new legislation. >> the key to this honestly is making a law and not making a point. >> reporter: his office is

making clear he has endorsed nothing yet. >> this is not a question of nra or republican or democrat. >> reporter: the president is convinced he can persuade the gun lobby. wayne lapierre. >> wayne and the nra will be there or maybe will be more neutral. >> reporter: after the shooting in parkland, florida, the gun lobby swayed the president. asked why the country should believe him now, trump denied changing his mind. >> i never said what i'm saying now. >> reporter: asked what his message is for the children returning to school who fear mass shootings, trump said they have nothing to worry about. >> study hard. some day you can grow up and be president of the united states. >> reporter: the president leaving washington for vacation as he is facing scrutiny over

his trip to el paso, texas. now a photo surfaced of him grinning and flashing a thumb's up while the first lady holds a 2 month old baby. trump is standing by the large scale immigration raids in mississippi which left children sobbing as they await what happened to their parents. >> they will be brought out. this serves as a very good deterrent. >> reporter: asked if democratic candidates labeling him a white supremacist would help with voters called trump a disgrace. >> i don't like when they do it. i am not any of those things. it is a disgrace. it shows how desperate the democrats are. >> reporter: we have breaking news in to cnn. the white house after the raid in mississippi instructed senior

i.c.e. officials to conduct more workplace enforcement operations this year. those operations can lead to be an arrests like the ones you saw where nearly 700 undocumented immigrants were arrested. kaitlan collins, cnn, the white house. >> let's talk about this with gina rinehart. she is at the university of essex. thank you for being with us. we heard the president there as he was heading to his break. the thing about it as he said there might be some changes with the gun laws. he kept referring to wayne. we all know wayne lapierre is the head of the nra. there is something about that showing that he is on first name basis with the head of the nra and consulting wayne. something is unsettling about that. do you think we are going to see

change in the nation's gun laws? this is three mass shootings in one week. >> i think that we are looking at a time when even the republican members of congress feel like they're being pressured to get something done. however, these emotions and feelings are often fleeting and if they believe that the american people and their constituents in particular are still supporting no control and no change in regulations, we're unlikely to see it. although the president denied it in the clip you ran, he did say that there would be a consideration of gun control and we would have stronger background checks after the parkland shootings. then did not actually see that through. that's largely because of the nra headed by wayne. the fact he is on a first name

basis with wayne and speaks about him that way, i think he uses to illustrate he has influence over wayne. that he and wayne are very tight. to try to show that he has knowledge of wayne's thoughts and that wayne is behind him. for many of us, it is unsettling. it means that they are quite close and that he will be swayed by what wayne says. wayne has said that his group does not support any greater regulations. >> overwhelming majority of americans favor background checks for gun purchases. 89% according to an npr poll. also an assault weapon ban did expi expire. there was one during the bush administration. the question is the president maybe on first name basis with wayne, but will this election year, could this election year impact this discussion this time

around? >> i think it might. the question is whether the republicans in the senate are willing to consider these measures. i think the assault weapons ban is more likely to be considered than the background check. >> i want to ask you this. at the same time, we saw the president went to el paso. he talked more about himself than showing empathy for many of the victims. we know. then there was this photo in kaitlan collins' story. the first lady holding an orphan baby in her arms. the baby's parents were murdered in the el paso shooting. the president is giving the thumb's up. what are the optics here and the possible impact this photo could have as this election season presses forward? >> this photo is obviously

created quite a stir. however, there are many other images that we have of donald trump that he will dismiss as fake news and his followers will believe are fake news as well. in other words, they will say he is just being awkward. perhaps he is trying to give the people a good show and no other media was in the hospital with him. that's his big complaint. he didn't get enough credit for the visits he had. i think this will be seized on by the opposition. i don't think it will sway any core supporters. i do think there is a chance it will bring some of the swing voters over to the democratic side. however, we have a long way to go in the campaign. the campaigns are well known for

bringing out photos and comments and even planting rumors that are untrue. i think that a photo like this, if it is used too often and referred to for too long, will make the opposition look like they really have nothing else to say. >> what about the immigration raids that we saw in mississippi? more than 600 people rounded up. although we saw crying children that didn't know where their parents were. we also hear now the trump administration plans to continue these. how do you think that will go over moving forward? >> well, with the opposition it is only going to make people more opposed to him. it has been noted that the people who were detained and are threatened in terms of deportation are all immigrants and that nobody has been detained who was in human resources or upper management.

no owners or anyone employing the undocumented workers has been detained or arrested. this sends a clear message. whether or not it was intended this way, we don't know. the message is that it is the fault of the people who are here and that any -- i'm sorry. the people who have come in and any actual documented american will not be at fault almost whatsoever. this is a heavy racial element considering the shooter in el paso was targeting latinos. it really does make the administration look questionable in terms of the feelings of racial equality. it doesn't do good for their image in that respect. >> gina ryinehart. we appreciate your insights. >> thank you.

south korea says the north has fired another round of proje projectiles. what is behind the latest launch? and frustrations simmering in hong kong after protests. they are not going anywhere. that is the hong kong international airport you see there. we will go there live next.

in the korean peninsula, seoul says pyongyang fired another round of projectiles in the sea on saturday. there were short-range ballistic missiles similar to others fired by north korea. we have ivan watson with more about what this could signal. >> reporter: the short-range ballistic missiles were fired around 5:00 a.m. local time. it fits a pattern now five times in two and a half weeks of the

launches. short-range ballistic missiles splashing in the sea. we had missile launches on july 25th, july 31st. a few days later on august 2nd and august 6th. now this launch saturday an morning. timed with the august 6th launch was a sternly worded statement coming out attributed to a spokesman for the foreign ministry of north korea denouncing what is expected to be a new round of joint military exercises between the u.s. and what is supposed to be its close ally south korea. north korea saying that is in violation of the spirit of the diplomacy of the u.s. and south korea and north korea have been engaged in in the last couple of years. so this is clearly a way for north korea to show its

frustration with its rival to the south and with the u.s. now hours before saturday morning missile launches, president trump was speaking to journalists about having received what he described as another very beautiful letter from not what he used to describe as little rocket man, kim jong-un, but now his apparent close friend the north korean dictator. listen to what he had to say. >> he really wrote a beautiful three-page from top to bottom, beautiful letter. he gave me a great letter. i would love to give you. i don't think it would be appropriate. it was a very personal letter. a great letter. he talked about what he is doing. he is not happy with the testing. it's a very small testing we did. he wasn't happy with the testing. he put that in the letter. he sees a great future for north korea. >> reporter: so he has again and

again gone on record saying he is not bothered by north korea's short-range ballistic missile tests. they are of concern of south korea. they are monitored by the northeast asian ally japan. instead, president trump has had tough words for south korea. continuing to argue it is taking advantage of the u.s. with roughly 30,000 u.s. troops stationed in south korea. demanding more money out of south korea for including that ally within the u.s. defensive umbrella. natalie. >> it doesn't really square that you have launches and very beautiful letters extending at the same time. it is hard to describe what's going on here. ivan watson, thank you for bringing us the latest.

hong kong's political upheaval is stretching into the tenth weekend. thousands of people occupying hong kong international airport on the second day of a three-day sit-in. its been a peaceful and crowded demonstration. protesters are determined to let travelers know about their grieve answewith the city's government. we have a report from the hong kong airport. we have ben wedeman with more. ben. >> reporter: natalie, this is a fairly effective venue for making their point. they are making it vividly. what we are seeing today is just as many, if not more people here, than yesterday. thousands of people have shown up within the last two or three hours. the airport is packed.

arrivals' how i should stress. it is getting difficult to move around. nonetheless, the atmosphere is positive. let's show you what we are looking at. a sign here. liberate hong kong. revolution now. that was originally hung by protesters from the overpasses here, but the authorities came around and made them take it down. the crowd shouted shame on you after the police made them take it down. a young lady with the sign on her back. fight for freedom. stand with hong kong. over to my right and your left you have baggage carts full of food and supplies to keep the protesters happy for the many hours they intend to be here. in fact, you mentioned, this is a three-day sit-in. what is important to point out this is not intended to interfere with the operations of

the airport. there is a focus on raising awareness among travelers coming in as to why they are holding the sit-in. they are handing out this six common questions when you travel to hong kong. it explains why they are protesting and explains what's going on this weekend. perhaps tourists would like to go and see some of the protests. there are some warnings. stay away from the riot police which they say tend to use tear gas randomly without warning. so atmosphere here positive. of course, the other side of the story which is the chinese civil aviation authority has told cathay pacific, the carrier for hong kong, it will no longer allow crew members on its flights to mainland china who have participated to be on the

flights and if any of the crew members are on the flights, they will not be allowed to go to mainland china. chinese authorities do appear to be making opposing price on hong kong for its political activism. natalie. >> you can certainly appreciate the resolve of these political activists there in that airport. ben wedeman, thank you. running for u.s. president is a wild ride. especially when candidates converge at the iowa state fair. next are the stumbles in the u.s. heartland. a u.s. officer quits and describes in a very public way. we will hear from him. since my dvt blood clot

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welcome back to viewers in the u.s. and around the world. we appreciate you watching "cnn newsroom." i'm natalie allen. here are the top stories. before president trump left washington for vacation, he once again voiced support for meaningful background checks on gun purchases. this after 31 people died in two mass shootings last weekend. the official arrest report in el paso, texas states that the suspect told police i'm the shooter.lleged gunman told poli he was targeting mexicans. it is the tenth straight

weekend of protests in hong kong. protesters are in the middle of the three-day sit-in at the hong kong international airport. with more than 20 democratic candidates running for the u.s. presiden presidency, it is more important than ever to stand out from the pack. it is hard for seasoned politicians to avoid missteps along the way. arlete seinz has more. >> reporter: the iowa state fair. a proving ground for hopefuls. shaking hands with fair goers and flipping pork chops and making their case to iowans. as the 2020 field swarms the hawkeye state, the candidates are taking aim at president trump. to several now calling him a

white supremacist. >> based on his words and actions, yes. >> reporter: others not going as far. >> i think it is important to call it what it is which is that we have a president of the united states who does not reflect the values of who we are as a people. >> reporter: meanwhile, joe biden dealing with a misstep after speaking to a group of mostly hispanic and asian voters thursday night. >> we have the notion that somehow if you are poor, you cannot do it. poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids. wealthy kids. black kids. asian kids. think about it. we think now we are going to dumb it down. they can do anything anybody else can do. >> reporter: his campaign issued a statement saying he misspoke and immediately corrected himself. that did not stop trump. >> joe is not playing with a full deck. he made that comment. i said whoa.

>> reporter: biden pushing back in iowa. >> almost the second anniversary of charlottesville. they need to do something. >> do they need to go through the campaign? >> yes. i have to. it is a legitimate scrutiny. >> from the campaign trail there with the democrats. donald trump shaking up the intelligence community. announcing a new acting director of national intelligence shortly after the number two official submitted her resignation. cnn's alex marquardt with the latest. >> reporter: sue gordon makes it clear. it was not her choice to leave. a hand written note saying it is an act of patriotism, not preference. you should have your team. a team she saw she would be no part of. >> sue did a great job. i like sue gordon.

>> reporter: the president praising gordon. she has represented what he has railed against. almost 40 years in the intelligence community. making her firmly part of the establishment he has long been suspicious of. tweeting after the chief's worldwide threat briefing they should go back to school. she reported to the cia director john brennan and then dan coats. the president a fan of neither of them. former cia director michael hayden told jake tapper, coats is a good man. trump doesn't understand what it means to be a professional intelligence officer. when trump did not name gordon the acting dni after coats resigned two weeks ago, the writing was on the wall. >> we need somebody strong that can really rein it in.

the intelligence agencies have run amuck. >> reporter: congressional leaders, including top republicans, wanted gordon to stick around. senate chairman richard burr called the departure a significant loss. saying i will miss her candor and deep knowledge. instead of gordon, the president named joseph mcguire the acting dni. he is a former navy s.e.a.l. and current corrector erdirector ol counterterrorism center. being macguire said he is not a yes man. >> i will give the truth as accurately as i can and more than willing to speak truth to power. >> reporter: it was not entirely unexpected that sue gordon would step down, it happened more abruptly than anticipated. my colleagues are reporting that during a meeting on thursday on

election security, gordon was in, the outgoing dni, coats interrupted it and asked for her resignation. gordon gave her letter to vice president pence after meeting with him instead of trump. alex marquardt, cnn, washington. a u.s. state department foreign service officer has very publicly resigned and written a scathing piece in "the washington post" where he criticized donald trump and said he could no longer serve in the so-called complacent state. chuck park wrote in part, i came into the government inspired by a president who convinced me there was still some truth to the gospel of american exceptionalism. a child of immigrants from south kor korea, i felt a duty to my parents.

over three tour as bros abroad, worked to spread values freedom and fairness and tolerance. more and more, i found myself in a defensive stance struggling to explain to foreign peoples the blatant contradictions at home. chuck park spoke with anderson cooper about his high profile resignation. >> the past three years have felt like the house is on fire and not only on fire, but a man purposely lighting more fires. so, you know, when i talk to my colleagues, it is not that they don't feel the same distress that i do. they absolutely do. it is not like they're not as concerned as i am about that house on fire. it's not they don't have compassion for the people in that house who are being hurt.

it's that they decide to keep their distance and hope that the house is still standing afterwards and for me that is the definition of complacency. >> you, in fact, say there is no deep state, but complacent state. look, foreign service officers are working for the american people and working representing america overseas. they are not representing any particular administration. there is an ambassador appointed. career foreign service person or sometimes a donor who knows nothing, but given a lot of money. and plenty of people serve overseas in administrations they don't like and don't agree with the policies, but faithfully execute the policies as is their job. >> that's absolutely true. >> is that complacency or service? >> so, let me come back to that particular question.

i'll say i thought about this for a long time. at least two and a half years if not more than that. what i say is i rationalize and swore an oath to the american people, not to a particular president or party. that's true. that is really abstract. when you read the commission of the foreign service officer and diplomat like me, you see it is written explicitly. we serve during the pleasure of the president. so what that means is the way we serve the constitution and the way we serve the american people is by working for the president they elected. and right now that president is donald j. trump. >> do you -- were there specific events in the united states or specific policies that you just felt you could no longer

essentially be the face of in a foreign land? >> you know, there's no single kind of straw that broke the camel's back. a slow build up and maybe i'll call moral distress with each successive tweet or action. it started with the muslim ban. executive order in january of 2017. then defending white nationalists after charlottesville. family separation. squalor in detention centers. was it just yesterday? federal agents kicking down doors and arresting parents on their children's first day of school. i only worked under two administrations. i have seen a lifetime of presidents in my lifetime. the unapologetic cruelty. that's the first thing. the second thing is the sheer

mana managerial incompetence. >> foreign service officers and others saying i can no longer stand by and do this job and i resign. it is rare that people then write an op-ed and provide a public resignation. why did you want to write an op-ed and send a strong message about why you were leaving? >> i have been asked that over the past 24 hours whether i'm calling people out. the short answer is yes. i'm not calling out my former colleagues in the foreign service. i'm not calling out other civil servants in the federal bureaucracy. they are doing their jobs and working hard. i am calling out the american

people. if you are concerned with what is coming out of the white house and if you are disgusted and dismayed by images of children in squalor detention centers. if you don't like your president using rhetoric that emboldened white nationalists, it is up to you to resist. you can resist by protesting, you can publish an op-ed, you can run for office or you can vote. so i hope to do one or more of those things now i'm out of government. >> coming up here, a powerful storm in eastern china turns deadly. now rescue operations are under way. the latest on the devastating typhoon with derek van dam. that's next. when we started our business

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in eastern china, a powerful storm left at least 13 people dead and 16 others missing. typhoon lekima battered with winds of 110 miles an hour when it made landfall on friday. it left some streets in coastal areas flooded. you see derek van dam watching this. taiwan just missed it. china was going to get it. they have. >> first in the islands in southern japan got the full brunt of the typhoon. now eastern china. southwest of shanghai. roughly 45 miles. small distance between the largest city in china and center of the storm system. you see the time lapse of the form evolving. by the way, there were 1,400 local fire rescue teams

dispatched to rescue people from building collapses. rivers on the roadways. here is an individual plucked from their home. it took several hours to get them out because of the building collapse. you look at the magnitude behind typhoon lekima. several stories here. you see the buildings in the backgrounds. it made landfall local time 1:00 a.m. saturday morning. it is about 4:00 p.m. local time in shanghai. we are talking about 14 or 15 hours after the original landfall of the storm system. it is no longer over the east china sea. it doesn't have moisture source any longer. it is weakening. that is good news. it will rain out over the east coast. travel delays ongoing across shanghai. winds in excess of 80 kilometers

an hour. over 230 millimeters over the shipu province. that was over 240 -- 140 kilometers per hour i should say. look the trajectory due north. it will include beijing and move out quickly. i have to bring you to luxembourg. this is a rare video here to cnn. a tornado in luxembourg. this is a town of petange. you see the debris that is getting wrapped around this twister. a rare sight. the circumstances were just perfect. the environmental conditions allowed for this to form in luxembourg of all places. >> you can see things going up in a spiral. >> you don't want to be in front of that. >> derek, thank you. four sisters separated at birth and who never knew each

other existed. well, they do now. they have been reunited. the incredible story of what finally brought them together right after this. rvive ged underwater for 30 minutes. wow. yeah, wow. not getting in today. not on my watch. pests never stop trying to get in. we never stop working to keep them out. terminix. defenders of home.

imagine searching for your roots. taking an online dna test and then discovering you had siblings you never knew. it happened in the u.s. for four sisters who had been put up for adoption at birth. despite being separated from each other their entire lives, the sisters found they had remarkable similarities. as vince reports from our station wbbm. >> we keep pinching each other. >> reporter: the ladies in the quart quartet are new sister act. >> you see they look like you. there is no denying they are your sisters. >> reporter: they have been around for decades. >> tan. >> reporter: they were amazed by the similarities. >> we both have scoliosis and had knees replaced and identical

b bunions. >> reporter: they were put up for adoption. never knowing each existed. >> it is the first time we met. >> reporter: online dna test brought them together in the past few months. >> a match. >> reporter: jennifer from nearby st. john. jodi from florida and tammy from arizona and fran have a lot in common. look closely and you notice a big difference. ages. jennifer is 53. jodi is 55. tammy is 69. fwr fran is 70. birth parents never married and had an on again and off again relationship that lasted for years. they may have had as many as eight children. each given up for adoption. >> i get a call from jodi. i'm your sister. >> reporter: another sister died in texas 30 years ago and brother craig now 63 and living in hawaii.

>> he says it is good i moved out of highland, indiana when i was 17. i would have been dating one of my sisters frm. >> reporter: they were all born in northwest indiana. most growing up a few miles apart. jodi and jennifer went to the same beauty school. learning they were polish. a visit to perogi fest was a must. they read a sister is god's way of making sure we never walk alone. jennifer who recently lost a son is founding that out. >> i don't have time to cry. when i cry, they pick up the pieces. >> reporter: a sentiment that runs in the family. >> not alone in life anymore. >> how about that? thank you for watching "cnn newsroom." we have another hour right after this. don't go anywhere.

as pressure mounts on u.s. president trump and congress for gun reform. president trump he's urging for background checks but some say it's talk. ten straight weeks of protests in hong kong. this time, thousands of demonstrators are holding a silt-in at the airport. we'll take you there live. also, scientists warn the trump administration is slowly reversing environmental protection. and those decisions are coming from the very top. we have a cnn exclusive report. welcome to our viewers here in the u.s. and all around the world. i'm natalie allen, coming to you live from