he told them he was not going to go to morehouse , then he went to morehouse.hink it is one of the best decisions you ever made. amy: de'jaun, i want to go back to you in 2011 during a democracy now! special broadcast where your uncle troy, where his execution was carried out. we got a chance to speak to you. this is part of what you said that night before your uncle's execution when i asked you what your uncle troy taught you. >> most important, dignity, honor, and just how to recognize injustice, how to recognize fairness, how to recognize peaceful o over the world. he always told me to keep my head up and educate myself. since i know those things, it is my right as a human being to stand up and fight against those things. jaun, that is you in 2011. your thoughts? ben, you put out this amazing tweet as de'jaun was graduating from morehouse where you talked about his remarkable accomplishments. it uncle make -- making through your uncle's execution and then a few weeks later, your mother, who i met you with numerous t times, martina korea, honored as the leadi

but the one grabbing headlines happened at morehouse college in atlanta. graduates there got a lot more. >> reporter: black college, let's face it. all-in, costs $48,000. but for every member of the year's graduating class, a billionaire's surprise gift means they can chase their dreams, instead of their debt. >> on behalf of the eight generations of my family who have been in this country, we're going to put a little fuel in your bus. >> reporter: morehouse college graduates received way more than their o . this isy class, 2019. >> reporter: billionaire robert smith dropped a $40 million surprise, stunning students and administrators. >> my family is making a grant to eliminate student loans. >> reporter: a promise to pay off every penny of their student loans. smith is the founder and ceo of a private equity firm. according to "forbes" magazine, he's worth an estimated $5 billion. >> just imagine the weight lifted off your shoulders, when you have a clean slate coming out of college. >> reporter: dwight lewis just graduated with a degree in business admi

a dream come true, a $40 million gesture giving the morehouse college class of 2019 a lot to smile about. >>> christine, congratulations on hitting the 20 year mark here at cnn and thank you so much for being such a great colleague, you are a fantastic reporter and anchor. you always make sense of financial news and you explain what it means and how it's going to affect people. what i really admire you for is that you're always always kind and encouraging and you're a great mom. congrats my friend. >> i did not see that coming. >> i would second all of thousands thoughts. >> that is so sweet. >> i didn't even realize it was my 20 year. i knew it was this month. i wasn't aware. feels like yesterday. >> i had that date circled on my calendar. >>> welcome to my "early start," i'm christine romans, i started here when i was 10 years old. >> happy 20th anniversary with the network. a lot more ahead. monday, may 20th, 4:00 a.m. in the east. just when tensions with iran seemed to be easing. president trump reignited them. he is now leiterally threatenin to exterminate the iranians. never threat

morehouse's president called it a liberation gift.nvestor robert smith. morehouse says the total amount he will eventually pay is to be determined, but guaranteed it will be in the millions. mark daniel shelton is a morehouse man, proud grad, price of 2019, and his proud mom, tina shelton are joining me from atlanta. congratulations. >> thank you! >> goose bumps just watching that, goose bumps! all right, mark daniel, it's a beautiful day, my hometown of atlanta, it's 80 degrees, you're sitting there, you're graduating, if you're like me, you kind of had one ear on the commencement speaker and then he drops this life-changing bomb. dipped you hear him or were you like, what? >> and that's the funny thing about it. everybody was enjoying the speech, a very good speech. and then i told my friend, i think we should perk our ears up, having no idea what was about to happen. and then he said the line, i'm going to put a little fuel in your bus, and then i see ears start to perk up, within ten seconds the, the entire class was standing up i

he's challenging them to support morehouse college as alumni by giving.g them to support their community by giving. the reality is that the average morehouse student will wind up being in the top 5% of individuals in this country by income by the time they're 50 years old. that's a great thing. now they have to take responsibility for helping others. and i think robert smith challenged them to do that starting now. >> and robert smith, he typically does these things quite quietly. >> very quietly. >> so it's just an incredible gift from him. and what a tremendous gift to these students. david thomas, thank you again for taking time with us. >> thank you. >> thank you so much. >> all right. thank you. >> just amazing, isn't it? all right. well, coming up, the day "game of thrones" fans have dreaded. the show's eight-year run is over. we will dissect the end of this phenomenally successful show. back in just a moment. biopharmaceutical researchers. driven each day to pursue life-changing cures... in a country built on fostering innovation. here, they find b

the commencement speaker at morehouse college giving students the surprise of their lives literally,ouncing he will pay off all their debt. >> robert f. smith is a tech investor known as a quiet billionaire until he made the cover of "forbes" magazine surpassing oprah as the wealthiest black person in the country. >> abc's stephanie ramos has more on his generous gift and what he hopes it will accomplish. >> reporter: it was already one of the proudest days of these young men's lives at morehouse college, but the reality of what their commencement speaker told the nearly 400 graduating seniors is sinking in. >> this is my class, 2019. and my family is making a grant to eliminate their student loans. >> reporter: a graduation gift estimated at $40 million. wiping out the student loan debt of the entire class of 2019. the announcement surprising those on stage. parents in shock amid the cheers. >> i asked the person to the left of me. i asked the person to the right of me, the person in front of me, the person in back of me. is this really what he said? >> reporter: for ernest holmes t

now he can adhere row at morehouse to his resume. the alumni association released a statement?> this is not only a gift that impacts the class of 2019. robert smith called on all alumni to support more students and we look forwarded to rising to the challenge." >> i know my class will make sure they pay this >> and how cool is that. prior to this big announcement, smith had already pledged $1.5 million to the school as a gift. reporting in the studio, jobina fortson, abc7 news. >> i have to ask you. smith did nottained morehouse himself. >> he did not which i think speaks so highly what he wanted to do for these students starting off with a clean slate, how many kids, how many people do we know still paying today. life a changing. > $40 million. life changing. > yes, it is. >> thank you very much. >>> still ahead on abc 7 news at 11:00, it's been called a dream job working and living on a private island in the bay area. we'll introduce you to the lucky couple who got the gig. >> it may have been raining for the bay to breakers race. we'll show you the highlights from the zany e

morehouse college is an all-male historically black college located in atlanta.otal amount he's pledging to donate is $40 million. the total debt students have is being calculated. >> life changing gift. that's just amazing. >> i love what he said. just remember, pay it forward. >> exactly. diane king hall at the new york stock exchange. thank you, diane. >> you've got it. >>> still ahead, defending his title. brooks koepka conquered the course to win the pga championship for a second straight year. win the pga championship for a second straight year. out of the hospit. don't take entresto if pregnant; it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren, or if you've had angioedema with an ace or arb. the most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure, kidney problems, or high blood potassium. ask your doctor about entresto. ♪ the beat goes on that was great! i heard there guwere fleas out here.r? and t-t-t-t-t-icks! and mosquitoooooooooooes! listen up, scaredy cats. we all have k9 advantix ii to prot

>> me and my brother ernest made a pact to donate $100,000 to morehouse by the time we 32.5,000 to pay back to morehouse giving me that money to donate or to add to my pact. our pact. >> a special $100,000 club in morehouse alums donated and we got to meet them and need to be a part of that club. that's why we made this pact. do it in ten years. >> amazing. makes me think about the sort of caveat doctor smith put on this amazing gift. right? he said, i'm doing this, but you have to pay it forward. right? he said you guys, every single one of you in this crowd needs to pay it forward. how do you plan to do that? through that $100,000 commitment you had already made or other ways you're thinking how to make this pay forward? >> definitely. on top of the pact, actually started two scholarships with my sister who went to stone college, jc holmes, two scholarships. one for a student from my hometown planning to go to an hbcu and the other for a student of color going into computer science. so that's another way that we're trying to make, just pay it forward. >> supporting -- bot

he's challenging them to support morehouse college as alumni by giving. he's challenging them to support their community by giving. the reality is that the average morehouse student will wind up being in the top 5% of individuals in this country by income by the time they're 50 years old. that's a great thing. now they have to take responsibility for helping others. and i think robert smith challenged them to do that starting now. >> and robert smith, he typically does these things quite quietly. >> very quietly. >> so it's just an incredible gift from him. and what a tremendous gift to these students. david thomas, thank you again for taking time with us. >> thank you. >> thank you so much. >> all right. thank you. >>> and one of the world's most prestigious military academies is preparing to make history later this week. >> 34 african-american women are expected to graduate from west point. that is the largest class of black women to graduate together in that school's history. this year's class will also include the highest number of female hispanic gra

we can speak now to aaron mitchom, who's just graduated from morehouse college.ke us back to that moment when you heard those words. what was going through your mind? honestly, i thought he was joking. really and truly. we all kind of looked around and would like, wait, he really said what he said. and tears started flowing down to me and my other morehouse brothers eyes, like oh my goodness. we are really debt—free, the emotion overtook us. it was more so the emotion overtook us. it was more so inspiring and very humbling moment in my life, the most humbling moment in my life, the most humbling moment in my life, the most humbling moment in my life i've ever had. what does it mean to you and your family? what does that mean to start off in the world, and i had that debt around your shoulders? oh my goodness, it means so much to me and my family. goodness, it means so much to me and myfamily. —— goodness, it means so much to me and my family. —— have that. 0ver my four years, i my family. —— have that. 0ver my fouryears, ididn't my family. —— have that. 0ver my f

>>it's a gift of a lifetime for morehouse college's class of 2019. robert smith and now. >>i realized oh wait hours to class. >>but shocking for 22 year-old jordan long who left the school over debt. >>i couldn't continue like adding the debt and that outside family members. those are due to rise and that there's no way on them not like beating myself up about it sunday was supposed to be long graduation dates. >>the oakland native left more house 2 years ago the school is an all-male historically black college in atlanta georgia. long says he was drowning in more than $60,000 in student loans. he decided to move back home where he is now attending community college studying business communication and marketing. >>may is my home and i'm happy to help my home. and that's like been watching all along has plan. >>long is challenging the energy to the need a free quality education as a right. >>and we invested in education and invest in ourselves. then i went in and everyone else wouldn't have some was causing the first place is small there a long time o

dr david thomas is president of morehouse college and he's in atlanta georgia.announcement and you seem reacting just after that announcement and you seem thrilled. when you heard what this investor was going to do. well, thrilled ca ptu res was going to do. well, thrilled captures it. i was also amazed. i had no idea. robert smith was going to make that announcement. i was thrilled and amazed and gratified by his generosity. it means so much in the lives of our students. how unusual is it for an alumni of this university or indeed any university 01’ university or indeed any university or college to do something like this? it's unusual. i've been in academia is a professor, a dean, and academia is a professor, a dean, and a president for over 33 years and i've been to many graduations and i've been to many graduations and i've never seen a gift offered like this at a graduation to erase the student debt and it's particularly important for morehouse because over 95% of our students leave with some student debt to support their couege student debt to support their

some graduates of morehouse college took home much more than diplomas this weekend.ou might have heard about billionaire robert f. smith. he said he would pay off the student loan debt for the entire class of 2019. 43 million americans collectively owe about $1.5 trillion in student loan debt. here's mark strassmann. >> this is my class, 2019. >> reporter: at morehouse college, billionaire investor robert smith's commencement speech included a congratulations card stuffed with cash. >> we're going to put a little fuel in your bus. my family is making a grant to eliminate your snt >>eporter: smiil e enbts of at graduating seniors. did you know it was coming? >> i had no idea. >> reporter: morehouse president david thomas. >> people were stunned. if you look at any of the film footage, you see the students turning to each other, what did he say? what did he say? >> for me, graduation was a text from my mama, are you serious? i'm like, he's serious. >> reporter: graduate dwytt lewis is from compton, california, where as a kid he was homeless. the 21-year-old business ma

. >> the morehouse college class of 2019 has a lot to smile about, their student loans will be paid off. >> from all of us here in the situation room, congratulations on 20, yes 20 years at cnn. i think christine might have been drafted right out of high school, but we'll have to fact check that. cnn is so lucky to have her. we wish her so many years of success. >> thank you, you guys are so sweet surprising me, i didn't realize it was 20 years this week. >> very very happy. >> time flies when you're having fun. i'm christine romans. >> i'm dave briggs, it is monday. they did it again, it appears, leaving a water bottle in one of the sets just like they did that food services cup that everybody thought was a starbucks cup. we'll show you that later in the program. we start overseas, president trump reigniting tensions with iran just when they seem to be easing. he's threatening to exterminate the iranians, saying if iran wants to fight, that would be end of iran. never threaten the unitedstates again. let's bring in cnn's nic robertson live from a. >> reporter: you have the iranian fore

doctor david thomas, president of morehouse college told me how he felt as the news of this incredibleca ptu res he captures it, i was also amazed. i had no idea that robert smith was going to make that announcement. so i was thrilled and amazed and gratified by his generosity. it means so much in the lives of our students. how unusable is it for an alumni of this college or any to do something like this? it's very unusual. i mean in academia is a professor, a dean, and a president for over 33 years. and i've been to many graduations and i've never seen a gift offered like this at a graduation to raise the student debt —— erase. and it's particularly important for morehouse college, because 95% of students leave with some form of student that to support their college education. we saw some of the students' reaction, they seem thrilled and disbelieving at the same time. what have student said to you since this announcement was made? exactly that. they are thrilled and they've asked me if they heard correct leave. and i've also had students talk about the ways in which this helps them ma

>>bo beth yates reports on how his announcement still has the morehouse community stunned. >>i mean invited you back. i would definitely raving guideline house graduate or mia's was static but not because he's graduating because of the announcements their commencement speaker robert smith made at the end of his speech as my. >>and he is making a grant to eliminate the student. >>wright the billionaire who owns private equity firm vista equity partners agreed to pay off the student loans for the 396 morehouse graduates me is that means about $90,000 will be forgiven by started off with 40. >>7,045 1000 around the time freshman year. and it's a mess of it you know at every 2 years of tuition goes up more president even to miss says schmitz give has an estimated value of $40 million to remove that burned. >>allows them to start this phase of their life. with so much more potential that david had when they sat down this morning. as they can now go do anything they want to do thomas says he and smith recently spoke about student debt. >>but he had no idea the conversation would

robert f smith, morehouse college, a lot of people in the uk have never heard of them.o me is, morehouse is one of those places where the air that i breathe is something special, it's different, when you look at me, you're not going to get scared, you're going to be inspired, i want to get to know you, not just by be inspired, i want to get to know you, notjust by the colour of your skin. 0k, paying it forward. itake it you are going to answer that call of action from mr smith. i have to. definitely, we do plan on doing something. doing something for our next reunion when it comes time to give back and pay it forward since we are debt free. what a way to start your career. and we'll be taking an in—depth look at the papers with our reviewers the political commentator, lance price and the former fleet street editor, eve pollard. that's coming up just after the headlines at 11:30. now it's time for the weather with nick miller. it's that time of year, the bank holiday weekend seems to come thick and fast, another is approaching, how to match the amazing weather over easte

same opportunity going forward.>> morehouse is a historically black college for men. a wall street journal report found students there had disproportionately higher loans compared to students at other c for, and why the sharks have additional problems other than being down, we will tell you all about that coming up.>>> still at fans react to today's devastating loss and say they are still in holding out hope that the sharks make the finals.>>> game of thrones ended with a series finale. portland's today celebrated the epic with the adorable canines in game of thrones costumes. the prize went to game of bones. ♪ flintstones! meet the flintstones. ♪ ♪ they're the modern stone age family. ♪ ♪ from the town of bedrock. ♪ meet george jetson. ♪ ♪ his boy elroy. with i electric cars are here. plug into the present. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >>> the western conference finals, a disastrous day for the sharks. >> it was bad. they lost game five on home ice today against the blues. the sharks are now on the brink of elimination. henry lee tells us fans still think the sharks will make it

smith, as well as his mother and the president of morehouse college, david thomas. great to see all of you here this morning. what a weekend you've had. charles, let me start with you. tell me about what was happening inside your brain as the wheels were starting to process what you just heard robert smith say about picking up the tab on everybody's debt. >> good morning. i was thinking -- i was looking around at everyone and a lot of people were kind of looking down, kind of asleep because the sun and we were really hot. then when i heard what he said i looked around and said did he say that? i looked on the stage and i could see all the people is going wild, also all the students going wild. after that when we heard that, it was pretty crazy. >> i think it took a while, frankly, for it to sink in because he didn't announce it the way, like, oprah would have, say, where -- and you get a car, and you get a car. he didn't do that. he was sort of understated. he just said it and you could see the kind of buzz then picking up in the crowd when people, after the kids pr

the class of 2019 at morehouse college got some stunning news at their graduation today. the historically black college counts dr. martin luther king among its alumni. and now the school's newly minted alums have a whole lot to celebrate. >> on behalf of the eight generations of my family who have been in this country, we're going to put a little fuel in your bus. >> the surprise of a lifetime after receiving an honorary doctorate, the commencement speaker, billionaire philanthropist robert smith shocking the graduates with an unexpected gift. >> my family is making a grant to eliminate their student loans. >> paying off every penny of debt for the nearly 400 graduates. cheers for the $40 million lifeline. >> for him to lift that burden off our shoulders, off our parents' shoulders, off our guardians' shoulders, we're at a loss of words right now. >> in 2018, "forbes" listed his net worth at $4.4 billion, making him the world's richest african-american. and his generosity is much needed. the student debt crisis hit record levels in 2018.avage federal debt for graduates of

. >>> next to a man who is instant hero to the graduating class of morehouse college. the billionaire investor giving a commencement address and millions of dollars to pay off every graduate's tuition debt. you heard us right. abc's stephanie ramos with the shock and gratitude after that stunning announcement. >> reporter: it was already one of the proudest days of these young men's lives at morehouse college. but tonight, the reality of what their commencement speaker told the nearly 400 graduating seniors is sinking in. >> this is my class, 2019. my family is making a grant to eliminate their student loans. >> reporter: a graduation gift estimated at $40 million wiping out the student loan debt of the entire class of 2019. the announcement surprising those on stage. parents in shock amid the cheers. >> i asked the person to the left of me, i asked the person to the right of me, the person in front of me, the person in back of me, is this really what he said? >> reporter: for ernest holmes, that means erasing the $10,000 he still owes. >> i think we're all still in sh

the graduating class of morehouse college when this man make as stunning promise to all 400 of them. m. at at&t, we believe in access. the opportunity for everyone to explore a digital world. connecting with the things that matter most. and because nothing keeps us more connected than the internet, we've created access from at&t. california households with at least one resident who receives snap or ssi benefits may qualify for home internet at a discounted rate of $10 a month. no commitment, deposit, or installation fee. visit att.com/accessnow to learn more. . >>> president trump today weighed in on the represent abortion ban passed in a number of states. >> he indicateed the new abortion law passed in alabama goes to far. he says he's against abortion except in the case of rape, incest or protecting the life of mother. >> teing the abortion debate. alabama preventing women from terminating pregnancy, even in cases of rape and incest. wisconsin considering a bill that could send doctors to jail for life if they refuse to treat a baby. the issue divided republicans and democrats in w

he promised the entire graduating class at morehouse college he'll pay off all of their student loanscnn victor blackwell is live in atlanta with more. victor, it seemed like the administration of morehouse didn't see it coming either. >> reporter: they didn't. alisyn, if robert f. smith had pledged to pay off the student loans of just one graduate, that would have been enough to qualify for the good stuff segment, right? to do it for nearly 400 graduates is nearly unbelievable. what seemed like a typical commencement address at morehouse college -- >> class of 2019, you look beautiful. >> reporter: -- turned out to be an unprecedented gift to graduates. >> this is my class, 2019. my family is making a grant to eliminate their student loans. [ cheers ] >> reporter: billionaire investor robert f. smith announces he's paying off all of the student debt for the 396 graduates of the historically black college estimated to be tens of millions of dollars. the stunning announcement leaves students speechless at first. >> we were like, i don't think he really said that. let's try again. when

billionaire giving the commencement speech at morehouse college offering to pay off all of their student loans.s. details coming up. those are our top stories, live from paris. genie: we will start first in ukraine with the man who once played a president on television . he has now become one in real life. standup comedian volodymyr zelenskiy inaugurated this morning after winning a landslide victory against incumbent president petro poroshenko. he is the youngest ever post-s-soviet president. he has announceded he is dissolving parliament to hold early elections. as the leader of a country dependent on international aid, zelenskiy will also have to deal problems and tense relations with r russia.a. our international affairs analyst joins us to talk more about the situation in ukraine. let's start with the decision to dissolve parliament. what is behind that? the difficulty is there is no base for him i in parliament at the moment. does have mr.r. zelenskiy is a certain amount of goodwill among ukrainian voters. he won in a landslide against petro poroshenko, admittedly not with a massiv

billionaire robert smith pledges to pay off student loans for the morehouse college class of 2019.actions right ahead here on andrea mitche"and report reports", only on msnbc. on msn. this memorial day, start your summer off right in a new chevrolet. oh, wow!! it's time to upgrade. you guys out did yourselves there. i'm gonna go and get a chevy. an exciting summer begins at your chevy dealer. and now, during the chevy memorial day sales event, get 0% financing for 72 months on these select chevy models. or current gm owners can get twenty seven fifty total cash allowance on this traverse. find new roads at your local chevy dealer. total cash allowance on this traverse. my time is thin, but so is my lawn. now there's scotts thick'r lawn 3-in-1 solution. with a soil improver! seed! and fertilizer to feed! now yard time is our time. this is a scotts yard. ♪ when you have nausea, ♪ heartburn, ♪ indigestion, ♪ upset stomach, ♪ diarrhea... girl, pepto ultra coating will treat your stomach right. ♪nausea, heartburn, ♪ indigestion, upset stomach, ♪ diarrhea... try pepto with ultra coating.

during a keynote address at morehouse college, billionaire robert f. smith dropped this bombshell. pay off the seniors' student loan debt, all of it, totalling about $40 million. he encouraged those grads to pay it forward. this announcement was met with a standing ovation and cheers of mvp. watch this. >> on behalf of the eight generations of my family who have been in this country, we're going to put a little fuel in your bus. this is my class, 2019. and my family is making a grant to eliminate their student loans. >> all right. let's talk to one of those students in the crowd. elijah nestle dormuous, one of the morehouse college graduates whose debt will be paid off by robert smith. elijah, i love seeing your great smile tonight. what was your reaction when you first heard this announcement? >> so initially, in the first few seconds of hearing it, i was stuck. i am hearing him talk a lot about, you know, one, how his life trajectory deals with how we need to adapt and maneuver into how we can be more successful by taking these series of steps. so when he says it, when he spoke a

he left morehouse with a bachelor of arts in english, lifelong friends, and -- >> no debt. what more can i ask for? >> reporter: it's all courtesy ofillionaire investor robert smith, who after speaking with students the day before turned his sunday commencement speech into the surprisef a lifetime. >> and my faly is making a grant to eliminate their student loans. >> in the matter of like five seconds it went from everybody just sitting there to shouting. i was sitting in the fifth row, so as far as we were concerned, iwas, oh, my gosh, it was huge. >> reporter: as for the proud parents in the audience? >> what did he just say? and then we go ahhh! to see another parent or family be absolved of this financial debt was just so gratifying. >> reporter: in an instant, the debt of nearly 400 students was set to be paidin full. to quentin, though, while the money matters, a you can't put price on inspiration. >> the same way you say education is meant to inspire, he inspired all of those people to do that, even the os that aren't in that class. >> reporter: the money does come w

>>commitment while delivering the commencement address at morehouse over the weekend. cnn's victor blackwell reports. >>what seemed like a typical commencement address at morehouse college. >>classmates class of 2019. >>turned out to be an unprecedented gift to graduates. >>this is my class as 2019 family is making a grant to eliminate the student. >>billionaire investor robert f smith announces that he is paying off. all of the student debt for the 396 graduates of the historically black college estimated to be 10's of millions of dollars. the stunning announcement leaves students speechless at first. they're like. >>i don't think he really said that no let's try again but then we thought about it will like. yes, yes, sir, he said it then they are rubbed in chance. >>the announcement even surprise of the faculty and staff on stage. >>i've seen lots of graduations i've raised hundreds of millions of dollars. and i've never seen a gift like this. >>in his speech smith stresses the importance of community, especially the many people who helped him along the way and it is

he just graduated from morehouse. mom even moved to atlanta from the east bay to cut down on expenses. they were in the audience when smith made his announcement. >> there was this weird pause and then initially we were just like, really, did we hear what he said? was that correct? >> when he said it, we were all excited, jumped right up. it was an historical moment. so it is still -- it still hasn't really sunk in yet. >> reporter: both young men plan to pay smith's gesture forward, even jordan who doesn't get to enjoy it. in oakland, eric thomas, "abc 7 news". >> somehow i think those two men will both turn out just fine. >> oh, i have no doubt. i think you're right. >>> okay. will the weekend turn out just right? >> i don't know. >> that's the question. >> not as bright maybe. >> that is the question. let's get started. here is live doppler 7. we have a calm and dry, mild conditions right now across the bay area. clouds are increasing at the coastline as you can see low clouds, looking westward from emeryville. cur

. >>> an unexpected surprise for the graduating class at morehouse college in atlanta. how the commencement speaker offers to give graduates financial relief. >>> welcome back. new this morning, the chairman of the fcc says he recommends approval of t-mobile's proposed merger with sprint. the chairman says commitments made by t-mobile and sprint will help close gaps. some democratic lawmakers are against the merger. 37 democrats signed a letter saying the deal, will lead to higher prices. also new this morning, reports that chip makers, have told their employees they will no longer supply chinese company, technologies until further notice. this follows the trump administration's action on friday, banning u.s. companies from doing business, which says it is a security risk and maybe helping the chinese government spy abroad. android operating system is the number two smart phone brand. >>> president trum ued another harsh warning to iran. the warning came after a rocket was in baghdad. lucas has more from the pentagon. >> u.s. forces in the middle east on high alert. on

of some of the fire victims, looking back at it is and as the of my life, graduating seniors at morehouse university get some amazing news from a local tech billionaire. >>7 tail correctional officer is in custody tonight. >>charged with molesting a little girl. he wants a baby said good evening, i'm pale more. >>and i'm katharine hayden and for can wane. he appeared in court friday is expected back in court tomorrow for a bail reduction hearing and to enter a plea khan first of all bellow is live in redwood city and has the latest noel. >>pam and catherine from what i've learned of the accused and the victim in all of this. we're neighbors living just a few doors down from one another but just a few months back. the victim told a counselor that she had been molested between the years of 2012 2015 by that neighbor, joel a laws of all the dino and he's sitting in jail on a $45,000 $450,000 bond excuse me and that is what his attorney is hoping to change. >>all is said and done he'll be vindicated. paula canny plans to enter a not guilty plea tuesday for 25 year-old joel a lot about the din

hundreds of morehouse college students student loan debt. >>yeah, which is great for those lucky as students but tonight we're hearing from a bay area man who he missed out on the gift after he withdrew from the school because he had so much debt. but bail on she is live for us in oakland and she spoke to that guy today and has his story gayle. >>what jordan long is feeling bittersweet who would end and he is happy at for his friends and classmates at morehouse college ever since he's spoken out about leaving and missing out he's gotten national attention and he's using of that as a platform for college debt. >>and he is making a grant to eliminate the student. >>it's a gift of a lifetime for morehouse college's class of 2019. billionaire technology investor robert mcnamara. >>i realized oh wait hours to class. >>but shocking for 22 year-old jordan long who left the school over debt. >>those are due to rise and that there's no way on them not like beating myself up about it sunday was supposed to be long graduation day. the oakland native le

joining me is david thomas, president of morehouse college.sident thomas, you really had no idea this was going to happen? >> i had no idea that's what robert smith was going to say. >> and your reaction at the time? >> amazement. great gratitude to mr. smith and joy for my students because i realize that in that moment, because most of them haven't started to pay their loans back, they don't realize what a gift of liberation this actually is. because we know that there are people in their 40s, maybe even their 50s still paying off college loans. and you know -- >> do you know how this is going to work? lt details, anything? >> one thing about doing something that's never been done before is we're inventing the aspect. >> but that's okay though. >> that's fine. >> sorry to cut you off. >> my ear piece came out. we're glad and we're hoping that we're setting some precedent and that this will happen in the future at other institutions. >> i just want to go back and talk to you about something you said. you said most of these students have not ev

a lot of happy people at morehouse, thank you. this coming up on "america's newsroom." we'll ask andy puzder about this gift. >> sandra: if you've been asked to deliver a commencement address the bar has been set pretty high. >> jon: you'll be asked to write big checks. >> sandra: a happy day for those grads. >> jon: good for them. >> president trump: we're changing laws as rapidly as we can get them through the courts. it will go before congress. it will have tremendous republican support. i hope we can get enough democrat support to get it passed. >> sandra: the president pushing to overhaul our immigration system as the department of homeland security changes course with plans to send migrants to florida. what prompted the switch. >> america's economy is not working for working people. so then supposedly they walk around talking about oh, the economy is great. the economy is great. >> jon: 2020 hopeful senator kamala harris down playing the recent economic boom. one of the contenders out slamming the president. now the presiden

so for this group of, you know, 400 morehouse graduates who got their debt wiped out. i mean they wasn't life lottery. and it really issh doeow how-- how effective that, you know, student debt is in sort of, you know, determining your life outcomes. >> nawaz: the life lottery this one class has won, it's gnificant not just because of the way that smith made the gift, but also the fact that it's at morehouse. 's an h.b.c.u. it's a historically black e llege. talk to me a litt about debt for these students compared to the larger debt landscape. >>ebt is a struggle for all graduate of races and ethnicities. t the reality is a blck student is less likely than a white student to have had at family tould contribute a lot of money to education. now, my parents paid for my sister'sisters and i to go to ee private colleges. many black families love their children just as much, but they don't have the nd of money to t aside to do that. on average, there are about 30% of black udents graduate with $100,000 in debt. that's three times thlevel of a white student. these are-- these

so in 2017, my brother was at morehouse, i was at morehouse, and my sister was at spellman.ncial strain it had on the femal family. so to have the opportunity to have my debt completely wiped out is truly astonishing. people don't realize that college can be a burden not only on the student, but truly an am opportunity. i'm just thankful to be a part of it. >> how are you going to give back? when the gift was granted, he got up there and said this isn't a one off. this is a pay it forward. it's your turn to do something great. what's the plan? >> we are talking this morning about how we can start that. we plan to start a campaign with our class to help raise money throughout our year. so the the first year as alumni has been covered by the alumni association. any donation we make will be a donation to the college. we're now starting plans to make donations to the college for the next following year for the class of 2020. >> if you could say anything to robert smith, we hope he's watching. what would it be? >> truly just want to thank you on behalf of the clasp that you mutt

now he can add hero at morehouse to his resume.alumni association released a statement reading in part, quote, this is not only a gift that impacts the class of 2019. robert smith called on all alumni to step up to support more students and we look forward to rising to the challenge. >> i know my class will make sure they pay this forward. >> reporter: jobina fortson, abc 7 news. >> smith had already pledged a $1.5 million gift to the school. i was read iing. mike, sorry that didn't happen for your kids. >> me, too. lucky for them. i don't think they're going to have much debt. ni. if anything, i'm pragmatic and a planner when it comes to money. start those 529 plans as soon as you're with ch does. >>> a look at the richmond side of the bridge, you can see still damp and you'll find that on the roads this morning. partly cloudy and milder today. it will be dry until the evening hours and unsettled and cool through thursday. our best chance of rain is tonight in through tomorrow. we can start returning to the outside without having

. >>> a bay area graduate is benefiting from the generosity of the morehouse graduation speaker, andhe is saying about yesterday's announcement. >> ♪ coming from the bottom ♪ she should be understanding ♪ except when she is prosecuting ♪ ♪ and she is scary listen to your mom, knuckleheads. hand em over. hand what over? video games, whatever you got. let's go. you can watch videos of people playing video games in the morning. is that everything? i can see who's online. i'm gonna sweep the sofa fort. well, look what i found. take control of your wifi with xfinity xfi. let's roll! now that's simple, easy, awesome. xfinity xfi gives you the speed, coveragend control you need. manage your wifi network from anywhere when you download the xfi app today. >>> new video showing prince william and kate and their three children at the flower show. it was a fun playful visit for prince george and princess charlotte and prince louie and they spent an hour in the back to nature garden yesterday. there was a treehouse, a stream, a swing and all for the kids to enjoy, and isn't that how cute they are

. >> robert smith told the morehouse college grads he was paying off all of their student debt. today we're heing from one of those students who lives right here in the washington area. >> news 4 cory smith is in the newsroom with that story for us. cory, tell us about this. >> reporter: i absolutely love thisstory. student debt being at an all-time high, you cannotun derscore how big of a deal this is for all these young men. billionaire investor robert smith giving the commencement sech and he just drops a bombshell telling the nearly 400 graduates his family would provide a grant to payoff theira student ln. this gift could reach anat estimed $40 million, but to soml loca grads, the inspiration smith has provided to the class of 2019 is absolutely priceless. what that does for me and other students is really just allows us to live the mission that morehouse college has preached to us so dearly, disciplined minds and lead lives of leadership. >> it does come with one condition, but it's rooted in the morehouse tradition. all these graduates must simply pay it forward. i'll tel

he left morehouse in atlanta with a bachelor of arts in english, lifelong friends and -- >> no debt.hat more can i ask for? >> all courtesy of billionaire investor robert smith who after speaking with students turned his sunday commencement speech into the surprise of a lifetime. >> my family is making a grant to eliminate their student loans. >> in a matter of five seconds s it went from everybody sitting there to shouting. i was sitting in the fifth row, so as far as me, it was oh my eosh, it was huge. >> as for thproud parents in the aatience. >> wdid he just say? then we scream. >> for you to see another parent or another family be absolved of this financial debt was just so gratifying. >> in aninstant, the debt of nearly 400 students was set to be paid in full. while the money matters, you inspiration. rice >> the same way education is meant to spire, he inspired all even the ones not in the class. >> the money does come with one condition. oy it forward. quinton's welln his way. he'll be back in the classroom in a few weeks teaching middle school. >> it really just allows us to

smith stunned the entire graduating class of 2019 at morehouse college in atlanta.e announced he would pay off their student loans. the estimate from him, $40 million. here is the news from atlanta. jonathan. >> and that kind of money could buy a lot of fuel for a bus, harris. the billionaire's gift expected to go into the tens of millions of dollars and it comes with a challenge. take a listen. >> because we are enough to take care of our own community. [cheering] >> we are enough to ensure we have all the opportunities of the american dream. and we will show it to each other through our actions and through our words and through our deeds. >> robert smith calling on alumni to pay it forward. his announcement greeted with cheers from some students, but others had to double-check to make sure they were hearing things correctly. listen. >> check my phone instantly, it was all over social media. i was like, this is real. i was blessed. this is a blessing. >> according to the school, morehouse graduate acquire student debt from $30,000 to $40,000. harris, this huge dona

kind of sad. >> jordan long spent two years at morehouse college after graduating from owing tech. he man's on getting an education and changing the world that you money got in the way. his dad, james, owns several t-shirt stores throughout owing in the past and he is fixing up this kiosk to open up a new one. it became difficult on come one the $48,000 a year in tuition jordan was forced to drop out before the school year started. he started a go fund me page because he still owes $60,000 which led him to this conclusion. >> it should be free and high call for everyone. >> with tasha and her son jackson. he graduated lomas he has $150,000 in student loans. they were in the audience when the announcement happened. >> did we hear what he said? is that correct? >> we were all excited and we jumped right up. it hasn't really sank in yet. >> he promises to pay for it forward even if he didn't get the money. abc7 news. >>> emeryville is taking action after learning dublin decided not to raise the pride flag over city hall. it became contend shus. the emeryville city councilmember decide

not some and that's just morehouse college you know you know how ridiculous should be universities be like can dent i mean don't they have enough money to survive at this point that they shouldn't have that student loan any $1000000.00 that a football coach but they also don't pay the players and they say they're giving them a free education but you can't really enjoy a free education because you have to practice x. amount of times a day you have to travel with the team you don't really get a chance to have a real college experience out of you know i agree with the governor i think this i think it's crazy made a point i would make the d.s. point on this as well is and remember if you're a student athlete great in high school you get that scholarship you break your leg year well guess what the next year you don't have that scholarship anymore so you're not getting that free education they make it straight out of school well and let's also look at those guys guys guys i'm not just talking about the student athlete and all that how can the universities have. that kind of money available

and it is founded in the morehouse tradition. pay itorward.ntdin is well on the way and will be back in the classroom in a feeeks teaching middle school. cory smith, nbc4. >> good for him. and good for them. >> yeah, absolutely. and how cool are -- what a great example of when you are so outrageously rich you can be so generous. >> yeah. >> great lesson for students and for the rest of us. >> how about north great forecast. amelia? >> well another comfortable day today. >> oh, look. >> i know. we're going to do the weather. so i'll pass him the microphone. you have 15 seconds, take it away. >> 15 seconds. so today it is abut6 degrees. this weekend i'm voting for a grilling weekend. i know it says rain on monday, i'm saying no. and then we'll get into a hotted weekes it ends about 90. thank you very much and it is great to be here and enjoy your weather. >> amelia, you have coetition. >mp> >>> you'we're live in five, fou three, two, one. >> theinner of the "voice" is -- maelyn jarmon! >>ais. you heard him, maelys n jarmon. what a journey fornd

typically morehouse graduate versus total combined student loan of 10 million a huge amount of money but what's cre yaft is it was so spur of the moment, it was such a surprise, that oprah moment. you get a loan you get a loan at a time when everyone is talking about what to do about the students loan crisis it solved the problem for these students in one da i. >> it wound up being from "gam of thrones" last night is you can't kill a good story. >> you can kill a good character. >> when you have 400 million people affected in a massive way, it's a lot different than having a 50 million glant to have a school named after you after a prestigious ivy league university i only say that because it'sy alma mater that's fine w. 400 people like that you are having a personal impact for every one of them everyone has a story to tell >> i think the logistics might work out are these considered gifts tax wise >> it's a good point >> part of the problem is how do you devise how much each of them owes, who do you pay back? >> it's going to be very complicated. all of them should do a documentary a

imagine the surprise of of morehouse college class of 2019.f smith making this promisees to all 396 graduating students at their can commencement. >> we're going to put a little fuel unyour bus. n i've rr got the alumni over there. this is my class, 2019. and my family is making a grant to eliminate their student loans. >> wow. wow. joining me is david thomas, president of morehouse college. president thomas, you really had no idea this was going to happen? >> i had no idea that's what robert smith was going to say. >> and your reaction at the time? >> amazement. great gratitude to mr. smith and joy for my students because i realize that in that moment, because most of them haven't started to pay their loans back, they don't realize what a gift of liberation this actually is. because we know that there are people in their 40s, maybe even their 50s still paying off college loans. and you know -- >> do you know how this is going to work? >> one thing about doing something that's never been done before is we're inventing the aspect. >> but that's