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Discovery Channel HQ given 'all clear'

(CNN) - Authorities gave an "all clear" early Thursday after sweeping the headquarters of the Discovery Channel in Silver Spring, Maryland, where police shot and killed a man who was holding three hostages.

Montgomery County Police said no active explosive devices were in the building, but authorities didn't say if any bombs had been found there. Earlier, Police Chief J. Thomas Manger said a number of devices in backpacks would have to be rendered safe.

The suspect killed by police was identified by Manger as James Lee. The hostages were unharmed, he said.

Manger said hostage negotiators negotiated for almost four hours by phone with Lee on Wednesday afternoon while police officers watched and listened to Lee on the building's surveillance system.

"At times during the negotiations, he was calm, but I wouldn't call him lucid. The conversation was indicative to me he was dealing with some mental issues," he said.

Manger said the three hostages were lying on the ground, but were not otherwise constrained. He said Lee mainly dealt with the hostage negotiators and did not communicate with the hostages. Read more

Earl strengthens, heads toward East Coast

See local coverage from CNN affiliate WVEC. Is Hurricane Earl affecting you? Share images and information with CNN iReport.

(CNN) - Hurricane Earl took aim on the Outer Banks of North Carolina early Thursday as the powerful storm prepared to take a swipe at the Eastern Seaboard.

Hurricane warnings and watches stretched from North Carolina to Delaware, and covered parts of Massachusetts as Earl strengthened late Wednesday.

President Barack Obama signed a disaster declaration for North Carolina on Wednesday evening.

"The president's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency, to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures," a FEMA statement said. Read more

A Soldier's Story Update
As the U.S. military forges ahead in the final wave of the surge CNN's Jason Carroll shows us how one soldier is making the last few preparations before his mission gets underway, in our ongoing series, A Soldier's Story. Follow his updates on twitter, @jasoncarrollcnn

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