flooding, with or without a hit from hurricane joaquin. it's 5:30 on the east coast, 2:30 out west, and this is "way too early." good morning, a somber one. it's friday, october 2nd, i'm amy holmes. we begin this morning in roseburg, oregon, on the campus of umpqua community college as we learn more about the mass shooting that left ten people dead and another seven injured. we now know the gunman, a 26-year-old man named chris harper mercer is among the dead. police say he was not a student at the school. meanwhile a parent of a student who was in the classroom where the shootings occurred tells nbc news that the gunman asked at least a few people what religion they were before firing.

multiple law enforcement sources telling nbc news that four weapons were recovered from the scene. three handguns, and a long gun similar to an ar-style rifle. here's the douglas county sheriff addressing the media last night. >> let me be very clear, i will not name the shooter. i will not give him the credit he probably sought prior to this horrific and cowardly act. media will get the name confirmed in time. but you will never hear me mention this name. focus your attention on the victims, and the families, and helping them get through this difficult time. we do know that we have at least two heroic officers who responded into the building within minutes and exchanged gunfire with the suspect.

>> just before 11:00 a.m. local time, police dispatchers receiving the first 911 calls from the school. the gunman reportedly opening fire near one of the classrooms in the science area. here's how one student described the scene. >> -- my bag, my phone, my wallet, my car keys, everything, we just dropped everything and we ran. and when we ran out of the building, everybody went every which way. it was so chaotic and we, i think we were the first class to know that something was up. because everybody else was still in their classes. as we were running by we were telling people you have to get out. you have to go. you have to move. you know. we don't know what's going on but you have to get out. we went to the book store. she told v hey, we think there's a shooter we don't know what's going on. you need to call the police. and then the next thing we know we hear three or four more gunshots. and everybody just looked at each other. and we knew. we knew something was going on. and like this is real.

>> umpqua community college classes are canceled until monday. we're awaiting the next press conference which will take place in the next few hours. let's bring in nbc news correspondent jacob rascon who is live at mercy medical center in roseburg, oregon. what's the very latest? >> this is one of the hospitals where some of the seven who are injured are being treated. the three most critical were shot a combined 34 times. just a horrific scene. the community college is only a few miles from where we are. and it was the first week of the fall semester and the busiest time of the day, about 10:30, when everything happened. authorities say chris mercer walked onto campus with four weapons and opened fire in and around at least two classrooms. and some of the witnesses tell me very interesting things about what happened inside. i spoke to one young woman whose brother survived, and she tells me that he watched as the shooter asked his victims to

stand up and he asked them whether or not they were christian and if they answered yes he reportedly shot them in the head. and if they answered no or they refused to answer then he would shoot them in the leg. i spoke with another young woman who lost her brother josh, he was 23 years old, he was studying to be a veterinarian, and of course she was just heartbroken. she was one of many hundreds of people from the community and beyond at a vigil last night. the shooter himself is still a mystery. there is some reporting on him that he lived in southern california for much of his childhood. that some people who knew him describe him as a recluse. there are reports that he had posted some warnings on online chat rooms about the shooting. and some of the reporters spoke to his father, ian mercer. he didn't have much to say to those reporters. >> i can't answer any questions right now. i don't want to answer any questions right now. obviously it's been a devastating day. devastating for me and my family. so all i ask is i know you guys

are here to do your job. all i ask will you just respect our privacy. and so far you've been that. -- >> is there any [ inaudible ] >> shocked. shocked is all i can say. >> the motive, of course, is not clear here. the investigation, as they say, is just getting started. the community college is the only college in this city of about 22,000 people. there were about 3,000 students, it is estimated, on campus at the time. the students anywhere from high school age taking some college credits, all the way to students in their 50s and 60s. amy? >> jacob rascon, thank you for your reporting. such a dreadful tragedy. so often in the wake of tragedy there are calls to mourn first and get into policy and politics later. well, yesterday in an impassioned address to the nation, president obama said that thoughts and prayers are not enough. >> we are not the only country on earth that has people with

mental illnesses, who want to do harm to other people. we are the only advanced country on earth that sees these kinds of mass shootings every few months. somehow this has become routine. the reporting is routine. my response here at this podium ends up being routine. the conversation in the aftermath of it. we've become numb to this. we talked about this after columbine, and blacksburg, after tucson, after newtown, after aurora, after charleston. and, of course, what's also routine is that somebody somewhere will comment and say, obama politicized this issue.

well, this is something we should politicize. it is relevant to our common life together to the body politic. this is a political choice that we make. to allow this to happen every few months in america. we collectively are answerable to those families who lose their loved ones. because of our inaction. and now on to our other top story. right now residents up and down the east coast are preparing to get swamped. even without hurricane joaquin. states of emergency have already been declared in new jersey, maryland, virginia, north carolina, and south carolina. bill karins is here, and bill, you are tracking not one, but two storms coming at us. >> that's right. the first one is the biggest of them, and what's going on in the central bahamas is just kind of off the charts, worst case scenario. a category 4 hurricane lingering

over these islands for about 24 hours. i can't imagine what it's going to look like. we'll probably get pictures not today, but maybe by the end of tomorrow. the latest in from the hurricane center. still a category 4. the path well off the east coast. so that's great news for us. even should miss bermuda. still have to watch closely out there in nova scotia, possibly cape cod for some glancing blow type things. for the most part we're not going to worry about joaquin too much more. now the rainfall is just problematic. already torrential rains. this is not from joaquin, this is say separate storm that's located over the top of alabama and mississippi. it's drawing tropical moisture to the coast and we are going to see torrential rains for about three days straight. it's focused right now through north carolina up through about virginia beach. then it's going to pivot back during the next couple of days towards south carolina, sit over south carolina, and that's where my greatest flooding fears are. it's all base the stationary front, you felt it if you live on the east coast, it was hot, humid, colder air moved in. now the tropical air is trying to move in and we have like two forces pushing up against each

other. and the air has to go somewhere. so shooting up and it's forming all of this heavy rain and the torrential rains will fall. washington, d.c. to charleston, almost to savannah under flood watches back towards knoxville, almost to the atlanta area. how much rain could fall? in general a widespread three to six inches. but when we get down here to north carolina, especially south carolina. we're still looking at the potential for over a foot of rain, and a large area, not isolated, large widespread and all that rain has to focus and funnel into those rivers. and when it does so, it's not like just a foot. then it gets like two to three feet higher. that's why we're expecting major flooding in areas of the carolinas. in the other story. this is already starting to take place now, it will get worse during the weekend, coastal flooding. we have coastal flood warnings from virginia beach to hampton roads area all the way up towards the jersey shore. and amy we're going to be watching each high tide cycle getting worse. by the time we get to sunday, some areas are going to see water levels six feet higher than where they should be and that's going to cause watt near homes in some cases, and also a lot of roads will be washed out.

>> wow. we hope people stay safe. bill karins, thank you so much. turning to the middle east, at least 13 people, including six u.s. service members were killed early this morning when an american c-130 transport plane crashed while taking off from jalalabad airport in afghanistan. the casualties also included five civilian contractors with the nato-led mission to train and advise afghan security forces. two local afghan civilians were killed on the ground. there was no indication of hostile fire in the area at the time, according to a military official. though an official cause of the crash has yet to be determined. elsewhere in the country, fierce fighting continuing between afghan troops, and taliban militants who seized the strategic northern city of kunduz earlier this week, despite government claims that it had regained control of the city and killed as many as 200 insurgents in an overnight assault thursday, backed by u.s. air support and nato special

forces. fighting broke out again by morning, as security forces fought to clear the center of the city where residents hunkered down and said they could still hear explosions and gunfire. meanwhile, in syria, for the second day in a row, russia delivering a round of airstrikes on syrian provinces occupied by u.s.-backed rebels. this morning the defense ministry claiming they destroyed an islamic state command point, and training camp. that's according to reuters. and russia's duma committee head said that the airstrikes will intensify and to expect an operation lasting three to four months. meanwhile, in an interview with nbc affiliate whdh, 2016 democratic presidential candidate hillary clinton weighed in on how she would move forward with the syrian crisis if she were president. >> i personally would be advocating now for a no-fly zone and humanitarian corridors to try to stop the carnage on the ground, and from the air, to try

to provide some way to take stock of what's happening, to try to stem the flow of refugees. i think we have to take more refugees in the united states and we have to help all those other countries that are doing that, as well. >> and a sharp rebuke from israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu who the u.n. general assembly yesterday. netanyahu criticizing world leaders for supporting the iran nuclear deal, saying that it only makes war more likely. but no part of his speech was heard louder than the intense moment of silence where he stood and stared. >> 70 years after the murder of 6 million jews, iran's rulers promise to destroy my country, murder my people, and the response from this body. the response from nearly every one of the governments

represented here has been absolutely nothing. utter silence. deafening silence. >> netanyahu's silence lasting for 45 seconds. he picked up, saying, quote, perhaps now you can understand why israel is not joining you in celebrating this deal. now let's turn to capitol hill. kevin mccarthy, the house republican who's leading the pack to become speaker of the house, is in damage control mode. short on votes to win speaker outright, he met with the freedom caucus to shore up support. but he also tried to clarify his comments about the mission of the benghazi select committee on fox news while conservatives cried foul.

>> what kevin said sounds like something you might hear in a smoke-filled back room on "house of cards." it's not appropriate here in congress, and unfortunately, the democrats are right to criticize him. i would criticize him. i think he owes an apology to the families, and he probably owes an apology to chairman trey gowdy because he's diminished the work that chairman gowdy has done. >> the point i was trying to make, and i want to be very clear about this. i wasn't saying the committee was political. that committee is solely to get the truth out. what happened within the truth you found out about a server. this committee's sole purpose is to find the truth why four americans were killed that night. and that's the work they have done. that's the hearings they have done. they've been -- they've been applauded by all sides of the aisle. so it was never my intention to say that. no one questions trey's integrity or this committee. it was never my intention to ever imply that this committee was political. because we all know it is not 73

>> stale head on "way too early," another massive data breach. this time from one of the big credit bureaus. and much more from roseburg, oregon, the small community rocked by that deadly mass shooting. we'll be right back. beyond natural grain free pet food

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police. these incidents always lead to the heated debate on guns. a pew poll from the summer says that more than eight in ten americans favor background checks for all gun sales. this includes 88% of democrats, and 79% of republicans. a quinnipiac poll taken just two weeks ago shows support is even higher at 93%, and a cbs poll found a combined 52% say stricter gun laws would help prevent violence while the rest say not much, or not at all. now, some bad news for t-mobile subscribers. the mobile carrier revealed yesterday that it had been the victim of a major hack. the potentially exposed the personal information of some 15 million of its customers. the breach occurred when hackers gained access to the database that contains t-mobile's information, which was run by the global credit tracking firm experian. the compromised data includes names, addresses, social

security, driver's license, and passport numbers. according to experian, which said that the breach specifically affects people who submitted credit applications from september 1st of 2013 through september 16th of this year. time now for sports. we begin with the steelers hosting the ravens on thursday night football. to pittsburgh, the steelers with a number of spoiled opportunities last night. a pair of missed field goals and an inability to convert on two fourth down attempts, including this overthrown pass by michael vick on fourth and one overtime baltimore justin's tucker nails a 52-yard field goal in overtime and the ravens hang on for a 23-20 victory. their first win of the season. now to major league baseball in new york the yankees wrap up the franchise's 10,000th win after a 4-1 victory over the red sox last night. clinching a spot in the american

league wild card game in the process. it will be the yanks' first playoff appearance since 2012. and in arlington, texas, the rangers clinch at least a wild card spot with a 5-3 win over the angels last night. the rangers magic number now sits at one to take the a.l. west crown, which means they need just one more victory or loss by the second place astros to win the division. and, finally, what happens when a group of sorority sisters head to the ball park for some late night season mlb action? >> selfie time. bottom four, chase field -- >> do you have to make faces when you take selfies? >> wait, one more now. better angle. check it. that come out okay? >> that's the best one of the 300 pictures i've taken myself today. >> every girl in the picture is locked in to her phone. >> oh, lord. >> every single one is dialled in. they're all just completely transfixed by the technology.

oh, hold on, i'll take a selfie with the hot dog. selfie with the chur row. shelfee with the selfie. >> can we do an intervention? how about we send baxter out there and he collects all the phones. >> bill karins as a former cheerleader i take exception with the tone of that piece just now. >> why -- >> we don't all, you know, purse our lips into selfies at sporting events. >> the male sorority -- male fraternity was there doing the same thing. >> yes? giving a sexy look? >> yes. i don't know about the sexy look, but -- a little fun at the ball park, right? as far as the rain goes, obviously it's going to be historic as we go throughout this weekend. i got a bunch of different computer models that give me guidance and i kind of cope with the forecast from there. the behind the curtain a little bit. this is our gfs model predicting between about a foot of rain in areas of south carolina. the european model right now is estimating between about 6 to 10 inches.

that came down from yesterday a little bit. the worst of it over south carolina. our rpm model which is an in-house model only goes out about three days and this brings some insane recallfall amounts towards myrtle beach and wilmington. we'll hope that's incorrect because we don't want 30 inches of rain anywhere. and then our gfc from our weather channel friends their in-house model and they have about 15 to about 12 inches through widespread south carolina. that's why we're saying everyone in south carolina needs to be prepared for the worst flooding over the next three to four days. as far as the hurricane, in case you're just joining us, it's going to be off the coast and bring us large waves over the weekend and rip currents. the heavy rain and the coastal flood something a totally separate storm than joaquin. >> joaquin. it always seems like these storms arrive just in time for the weekend. >> it always seems that way. do you want to work with me this weekend? want to help me out? >> no, i think i'll stay home and watch tv. >> watch me. >> all right. okay i'll watch you, bill karins. >> that's great. >> okay 73 thank you, we appreciate it.

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we heard two men arguing, and then a few seconds later it was just multiple gunshots. like everybody was screaming, go underneath the table, do this, do that. one man ran out the classroom i believe he got shot. another lady she opened the door and the guy shot her arm and her stomach and she fell back in the classroom and told us to close the door but as she fell back she closed the door. so she saved us from him proceed

nothing our classroom. >> one of the witnesses from yesterday's mass shooting sharing her story. that does it for me and "way too early." "morning joe" picks up coverage from roseburg, oregon, right after this break. (road noise) what's happening here... is not normal, it's extraordinary. 291 people, 350 tons, 186 miles per hour... you're not sure what's on the other side to that time after you land. but momentum pushes you forward. you are a test pilot, breaking through where others broke. this is why you take off. same reason the pioneers before you went in canoes and covered wagons, with wild eyes and big fevered dreams and it's why we're with you. 80 thousand people now... on the ground. in the air. engines on.

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last night, my bag, my phone, my wallet, my car keys, my car keys, we dropped everything and ran. when we ran out of the building everyone went every which way. i think we were the first class to know something was up. everybody else was still in their classes. as we were running by we were telling people to get out, go, you have to move. we don't know what's going on. we followed her down to the bookstore. we told everybody we think there's a shooter, we don't know what's going on. you need to call the police. next thing you know we hear three or four more gunshots and we knew something was going on. we were like this is reel. >> this morning we continue to learn more about the mass shooting on