from the church. the police pushed us back a couple of blocks down the street where they said they would talk to us. they did confirm a bomb threat. they would not give details about the bomb threat or potential device they found. so we are awaiting word on that. >> so you are saying they did find a device of some sort because there have been a lot of chatter on social media about that as well. >> they just referred -- the spokesman that just came out, referred to it. he did not give information on a device. there's been chatter on the scanners here about a potential device. hopefully they will talk more about that. >> describe to us the scene there as this unfolds. of course we know there's a white man still on the run. we know that police are trying to hunt him down. at this point there's a lot of people going to the church. explain what you are seeing right now.

>> sure. we just saw a circle of men that look like they were part of the church. they gathered in a hotel across the treat from the church and they stood in a circle and prayed loudly and passionately and they were saying, god, we know that everything's going to be okay and it was a very intense moment. there were tears. but this is a historic charleston, downtown area, very touristy. were shocked this happened.who - they said things like this don't happen here. >> if you are just joining us in the united states or around the world. it is one past midnight on the u.s. east coast. roughly three hours after the report of a suspect opening fire at a dedominantly black church in charleston, south carolina. at this stage, we are getting reports of multiple fatalities

an the most frightening aspect is as far as we know the suspect is at large and on the loose. he's described as a small, slender white male, wearing a gray sweatshirt and blue jeans. timberland boots and clean shaven. our producer is there and brings us up to speed on the latest information as we stand by to hear from the chief of police because we're concerned, but of course people in the community we have just heard have been told to evacuate because of some kind of bomb threat. all of this early information and we are waiting for confirmation on all of it. >> ashley is still there. she is a cnn producer on the scene. talk to us about this church. we understand it is predominantly black church. also one of the largest and oldest in southern united states. talk to us about that. and what people are saying there on the ground, those people who

attend that church. >> sure. it's the largest african methodist episcopalian church. large church in the area. it goes way back. some of the history involves helping people escape through the underground railroad. people here are surprised. it is a landmark in the city. >> we are looking at the live pictures. police officials on the scene. you mentioned a moment ago -- sorry, these images from a few moments ago, police on the scene. now you are seeing some live images. tell us the security situation, if there is in fact some kind of bomb threat and people are told to evacuate, it's the middle of the night in charleston. are people on the street, where are they supposed to go? >> there are still people on the street outside of the perimeter that the police have set up. they just expanded the perimeter a few minutes ago and they pushed the media back.

they haven't evacuated some buildings around the church. they are in a hotel across the street. right after they evacuated the immediate wra and people are in there. they weren't clearing people out of the hotels. they are still some activity around the area. there's choppers circling around and lots of fire trucks and police cars, as you can imagine. >> ashley, of course, as we speak to you, we are awaiting this news conference, the mayor and chief of police will hold this news conference because so many people want to know what happened. there's a lot of people on social media who have said nobody's telling us anything. that's frustrating for a lot of people. talk to us about why the information has been so slow to be confirmed, to be coming out of the charleston police department. >> it is frustrating. there haven't been a lot of people that we can approach. the police officers, security officers that we do approach

don't know anything. they are trying to keep things in order. hopefully the next few people that come out here will be able to give us more details. things have been pretty quiet as some of this has been unfolding during the last hour. so. >> give us the sense of the community there. i know it is a popular tourist destination. people head to charleston. but this incident happened at a church and already there's been kind of a prayer circle held by the local community, as well. give us a sense of who's really impacted by what is happening at this moment. >> it is a touristy area. a lot of folks who know the area have come down. right now there's another prayer circle that is happening close to where the media is gathered. i'm not sure if you are able to see those images right now but it is bigger than what we saw earlier and they are praying passionately and asking for

understanding and they -- you can tell they are very upset by this. >> ashley killough please stand by as we wait for this news conference. congressman mac was on the scene tonight in charleston and is stressing the importance of community unity. let's listen to what he had to say. >> we need more people involved. we need better relationships with law enforcement we need to crackdown on crime, all crime. we need neighborhood associations to come together and be real communities again. >> if you are just joining us here on cnn, we are following a breaking and developing situation in charleston, south carolina. what has already been a frightening evening for so many people. looking at live pictures. one of the many prayer circles that have emerged in the wake of what appears to have been a mass shooting at a predominantly

black church in the city. at this early stage, all we know is there are multiple fatalities and the suspect is still at large. >> understandably, people are upset. they don't have very much information at this point. they know there was a shooting. there are fatalities. we don't have any numbers on that. for these people, they want some answers at this point. we can see the frustration there on the streets. but in just a few minutes, we are hoping to hear from the mayor and the chief of police who will hopefully explain what has happened here and what is going to happen in the minutes and the hours going forward. you can see these prayer circles, people gathering. they want answers at this point. >> police have released a bit of information via their twitter account on the suspect. all they have said at this early stage is that as far as they

know he's in his early 20s. he has a small, slender build and last seen wearing timberland boots and a gray sweatshirt, blue jeans and described as clean shaven. you may have seen images bouncing around on social media earlier of a white male in police custody. we don't know if that is the suspect or in what way he might be connected to what's happened because this is still a developing situation there in charleston. as rosemary just said, we are waiting to hear from police and hopefully the mayor to get the latest information because folks will be very afraid. >> i think ashley spoke to that. you are still there, i understand. those pictures of that young man, he was not associated with this is my understanding. did you get confirmation of that? >> yeah. there's -- we have not gotten confirmation from the police whether he was related or not related. we were asking the police as he was -- as they were leading the man away. the police would not say anything. the man would not speak, as

well. he was very cooperative. he was not protesting. it was a very quiet affair that happened. >> ashley, you know, we are looking at these pictures right now of the prayer circle. beyond, that of course, it is very difficult. it's a small frame. this is what we are seeing. what are you seeing? describe to us, if you could, what is happening there beyond what we are seeing in these pictures. >> sure. there's about a couple dozen people. they are standing in a circle holding hands. they are shouting. they are praying for guidance on what has just happened. they are saying, lord, we understand that this is, everything is going to be okay but please help our family and friends and this is an intense and passionate moment. we saw something similar happen earlier but this is a larger circle. there are more people who have joined. >> the churches are typically

places in communities that bring people together, that yien night people. that's what makes a shooting at a church sound so brazen and horrific to describe. ashley, in the wake of what have been some racial tensions in the united states, with the possibility that because it is a white suspect and a predominantly black church that possibly it is a hate crime. can you speak to race relations in a place like charleston, south carolina. >> we really don't know if this is race related, but as you said, race tensions have been a big issue this year with regard to a shooting that happened earlier this year when a police officer shot a local resident in north charleston. that was all caught on camera. yes, it's a sensitive topic right now. it's -- local residents here aren't sure what happened. one person said whoever did this was mentally struggling.

there's a lot of open interpretation as to what happened. once we get final word hopefully we will understand better. >> ashley, are you getting an idea of just how soon -- because we understood this news conference would take place a few minutes ago. are you getting any indication of timing on that at all? >> no. they said they were coming out shortly, but that is what they have been telling us all night frankly. when the spokesman from the police department came outside that was the most assurance we have gotten tonight that something was about to happen soon but as you know it hasn't happened yet. hopefully it will happen any minute. we don't see anyone walking toward us right now. there's a long stretch where we could tell earl general when someone is walking toward us and we don't see anything like that now. >> certainly residents are aware the suspect is at large and will be desperate for answers right now. they want to know what happened earlier and what police are

doing to make the police stafe. about the geography in the downtown area, it is surrounded by water, so if areas are shut off, people don't have much space to move. do you have a sense of how much space is closed off because of this? >> we don't have a sense. i am on the perimeter and there's three open streets around us. . it is just the street we are on is closed off. when i was driving up here tonight, i did not see closures on the street. but you are right it is a dense area. the streets are narrow. it's a packed neighborhood. if there were closures, it would cause a lot of disturbance in the area. we're not seeing a lot of that yet. >> it is a beautiful part of charleston. it is near meeting street near the main street. talk to us now. are you finding that more people are coming to the scene now? >> there are a few more people

who have gathered. to be honest, there were a bit more people earlier when we first arrived. some of them have scattered now. most of people are part of the prayer circle. you can tell they -- a lot of them know about this church and there are some other people who are standing by, kind of trigging out now what's going on. there's a little activity but it is not a huge swarm of people who have come here. >> i can let our viewers know that a local reporter there with wfmy news said he has been told not to leave the restaurant where he is. rosemary mentioned you have meeting street there. there's a lot of restaurants in downtown tourist area. this reporter saying there are helicopters still circling above and ashley killough our producer on the ground mentioned certain streets blocked off.

a large police presence as residents don't know what else to do but this, come together in a prayer circle since the shooting happened inside of a black church, predominantly black church there in charleston, south carolina. fluid situation and details still coming in to us in unnerving situation for people there. of course added to that is this lack of knowledge of what exactly is happening. it can put people in to a state of panic when they don't know what's going on, when you have a shutdown situation like this. but people out on the streets there near the church praying in these circles we are seeing, waiting for some answers. we are waiting for some answers from the mayor and chief of police. of course they have to make sure they have got all of their details, all of the information is right because you don't want to set off alarm bells where they shouldn't be. so you have to be very careful. >> one source we have now, official information is from the

charleston police department. you can see their latest messages on the screen. it is in fact where earlier they confirmed they are still looking for the shooter behind all of this on calhoun street. that's the location of the church. if you can just read that most recent message it reads police have not asked anyone to evacuate their home. you may have heard a short while ago our producer telling us there was some shath chatter and conversation about people evacuated possibly because of a bomb threat. at least we know, according to the latest information from the police there that no one has been asked to evacuate their home at this early stage. still a fluid situation. >> we are just getting word. jeb bush, who just announced his candidacy for the elections, he's just cancelled his event that was to be held in charleston today. of course it's just after midnight. so it is only just thursday morning.

but he was going to be holding that event. he said that his thoughts and prayers are with the individuals and families affected by this tragedy. so getting that news that jeb bush will not go to charleston in the midst of this. we're going to take a short break right now and we'll be back with more when we return.

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welcome back. you are watching cnn newsroom. we are following breaking news out of charleston, south carolina. police are searching for a 21-year-old white man suspected of a shooting at a predominantly black church in the downtown area. an official close to the investigation tells cnn there are multiple fatalities. officials there are still working to identify some of the bodies. >> now this incident happened just a few hours ago. roughly three hours ago according to early records. emanual ame is the site of the shooting. it is said to be the oldest black church in the southern u.s. >> all right. we will continue to cover that. let's move to other stories until we get that news conference that will give us

more information. he's been off the air for months but now there's word about the future of nbc news anchor brian williams. >> according to sources, williams has come to an agreement with the network to stay on after his suspension ends in august. cnn correspondent is joining us from new york to talk about this. we wondered this brian williams will keep the "nbc nightly news" chair and his sources will not be back. >> he will stay at nbc but will not be back at his chair. when this scandal erupted a lot of media pundits guessed he would never come back to nbc at all. they guessed he would have to leave the network all together. in the past few days, williams

attorneys and executives have been able to strike a deal where he will stay as nbc but not as the "nbc nightly news" anchor. that means lester holt will be taking over the "nbc nightly news" permanently. i don't want this to be overshadowed. lester holt has earned this job by filling in for brian williams for a decade and he will be the first solo weekday african-american news anchor in the united states. there have been african-american anchors in the past on the weekend shift, in co-anchoring jobs but it's an historic moment to have lester hospital, the first solo anchor on a major forecast. >> really you have two major bits of information that we're digesting here. we will get back to lester holt in a moment. but brian williams, the network had many options to consider, keeping him on but not putting him on "nbc nightly news" avoids

the worse-case scenario where he is fired and banished from the network right when he essentially became a star. now the network needs to strike the right balance in whatever his next role would be. he showed an interest in hosting programs. might it be a step away from journalism or what do we think on that? >> there was speculation about him going off and doing a talk show. he was a fun of late-night shows with jimmy fallon and he is apparently sticking with the news side of things. he will take a role on msnbc, which is nbc's cable news channel which competes with cnn in the united states. he could be a breaking news anchor on big news days on msnbc. that will feel like a step down but often times when we see people do second acts will whether in politics or celebrity or somewhere else in the culture you see them take a step down but not out. a step down but a way to regain credibility, regain trust, certainly for a news anchor

that's brian williams challenge now. generally we see a forgiving culture. i look on facebook and twitter and see people want him back on television. >> especially as more time moves on. >> on lester holt, when might we get confirmation he is in fact the new host. >> he happens to be on vacation this week. maybe they want to make the announcement while he is on vacation so he doesn't have to report the news himself. you can imagine that might be an awkward with situation. it is unclear if they will confirm the news on thursday. so far, nbc is not commenting. >> thank you so much for your time today from new york. >> thanks. all right. we want to turn to upstate new york for the latest on the manhunt underway for those two escaped killers. investigators subpoenaed prison worker joyce mitchell's cell phone records, but at this point they don't believe fugitives

richard matt or richard sweat used her cell phone inside the prison. >> we have also learned the honor block where the two lived in the prison has been shut down and will be turned in to a regular cell block. it housed inmates who had gone years without with significant disciplinary action. and all of this as officials admit richard matt and david sweat could be anywhere right now. that's after more than a dozen days on the run, which is stunning. police say they have more than 1400 leads and are shifting the search area for the fugitives across the border. jason carroll has more on that. >> reporter: wanted posters of the two escaped killers are now handed out along the canadian and mexican borders. this as the search is expanding and shifting to other areas surrounding the clinton correctional facility in dannemora. officials admitting today the hunt for richard matt and david sweat, at least at this point, is not promising.

>> i can tell you right now, as well, that we have no information that they have been able to leave the area. that being said, it doesn't mean they haven't been able to escape this area, but we have no information. >> reporter: there's new information about the woman who allegedly helped them escape, joyce mitchell. the 51-year-old prison employee warned her husband lyle, also a prison employee, the two inmates planned to kill him. his attorney said his client knew of the plot but said, just because she heard something doesn't mean she was going to act on it. while lyle knew about the plot to kill him, his lawyer said he was unaware his wife was having sexual relationships with at least one of the inmates. a source tells cnn that mitchell had sex with matt in the same tailor shop where mitchell and her husband worked. the clinton county sheriff talked about her demeanor now she is behind bars.

>> i think it is a little early for that. there's a lot going on around her as you can see with the media attention and i think she is consuming and absorbing that to express too many feelings. >> reporter: mitchell's attorney said he has only had one opportunity to speak to his client face to face since her arrest and that was monday, the day of her court appearance. as for her husband, there have been questions about whether he knew about the escape plan. >> as of today, we had no information that he had prior knowledge of the escape or that he participated or actively assisted in the escape of the two inmates. >> reporter: those two inmates still very much on the run. every lead being followed. searchers waiting for the one that leads to them. jason carroll, cnn, dannemora, new york. we are still following the breaking news out of charleston, south carolina. multiple fatalities reported at a church with the suspect still

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welcome back, everyone. you are watching cnn newsroom. if you are just joining us, we are following breaking news out of charleston, south carolina. police are searching for a 21-year-old white man suspected of a shooting at a predominantly black church in the downtown area. an official close to the investigation tells cnn there are multiple fatalities. officials are still working to try to identify some of the

bodies. >> this incident happened just a few short hours ago. emanual ame is the site of the shooting. said to be the oldest black church in the southern united states. we are still waiting to get confirmation and official flfgs the city. the mayor and police department are giving us a bit of a warning here a heads up saying they may have an update all in the next 10 to 15 minutes. as soon as we get that and see it taking place in charleston, we will bring it to you live. >> certainly will. let's move on to other big stories. pope francis is weighing in on the global debate over climate change. just a matter of hours, in fact, the pontiff will release a long-awaited and highly controversial public letter called an incyclical. >> the document the pope is expected to challenge skeptics who don't believe in man made global warning. the pope said our planet is

being ruined and it's everyone's duty to protect the place we call home. >> mine is an appeal to the responsibility on the basis of the task that god has entrusted to men in creation to cultivate and guard the garden where god has placed men. >> pope francis essentially warns that damage toe this environment hurts us all but he said especially the poor. >> svara sidner spoke to one of them that spoke to the pope on this issue. >> reporter: along with dozens of the world's best-known thinkers and scientists he concluded global warming is a moral issue. so how is global warming affecting the poor? is it worse than everyone else. >> they will be the worst affected. a two-year drought is sufficient to wipe wipe them out, make them

homeless, make them slum dwellers and who knows what happens to the children. >> reporter: it's a message that he delivered to pope francis at the vatican before the encyclical on climate change was written. >> you had two minutes to talk to pope francis in the parking lot. >> this was the best parking lot pitch i made. i told him first two things. the climate change and the next sentence i said is we are most concerned about the poorest three billion have that have the at least to do with this but will suffer the worst consequences. the pope, of course, gave disarming smile. somebody said, the holy father wants to know what he can do about it. so i told him, in your speeches, if you can please include us people to be better stewards of the planet. >> there are groups out there, a couple of conservative groups who have come together to say we

do not believe that human beings are the cause of global warming. what do you say to them? >> the changes we will see in the next ten to 20 years will be so large. it will be experienced by everyone, including the skeptics and the top 1 billion. there will be no doubt in anyone's mind that's what's happening is something new and what's happening is caused by us in he's convinced science and religion must come together if anything is going to get done and he's hoping pope francis will be the mess eenger to the world. >> are you catholic? >> no, i'm not. >> reporter: why do you think the pope can have such an impact? >> he has such a global reach. for someone like me, who had worked on this problem for 40 years and became depressed last ten years that i see the change happening but no action taken.

we see him as the hope. >> reporter: vara sidner, cnn, la jolla, california. >> thank you so much for joining us here on cnn. of course we know that a copy of the pope's encyclical has already been leaked but the catholic church does warn it's not the final version. what are you expecting pope francis will say about climate change? >> well, i think we can assume, based on comments he's already made that he is going to affirm that climate change, global warming is the result, a lot of it is the result of man's activity. so with the heating of the earth and with fossil fuels, he'll talk about those specifically, i believe because he has spoke about them before and he will critique the way in which we have not moved forward to renewable energy and depended on this energy that is in fact heating up the globe.

>> i want to ask you this, why do you think the pope's encyclical was leaked? who benefits from that? >> i'm not sure why it was leaked. there's some speculation that those not too happy about him in the vatican leaked it or perhaps a journalist passed it on to somebody else. journalists love scoops and this was a scoop for the italian paper that published it. although the one that publish ed it has hell to pay now because he's been banned from any vatican interaction for a while. they are getting their come uppings for it. it could have been to embarrass pope francis they are saying. >> of course we are hearing pope francis will likely blast those who deny global warming and conservative political leaders won't like that. given the pope's not afraid of controversy, how will he likely

respond to his critics do you think? >> i'm really not sure he will respond to his critics. i think the pope is banking on the fact that he is speaking on the side of science here. that the majority of scientists affirm that climate change, global warming is man made. in addition to some environmental influences. but that man has a hand in this. so i think with science on his side, he's pretty confident. i think what we will see is the pope putting everything in the context that we are not the center of the universe. that god has created us. that we have an interrelatedness to all of creation and to one another. and we have to respect that interrelatedness. this is a theme the pope has spoken on again and again. so we are going to see a critique of the world economy that oppresses the poor. he's going to say that the poor are the ones who are affected the most by this raping and pillaging of the environment.

so it's also going to be a sociopolitical statement on economy and the way in which the poor are treated in our world. >> it will certainly be interested, too. the timing of this just before some global meetings on climate change. we will see what sort of impact and influence this has on those meetings that are yet to come. father edward beck, thank you so much for tausking to us here on cnn. >> my pleasure. >> and for more on pope francis's landmark letter on climate change, you can head over to cnn.com. we'll take a very short break but we are still waiting to hear from the mayor and chief of police in charleston covering that shooting at a church there where there were multiple fatalities. we will have more in just a moment. do stay with us. ♪ a good host, is a good host no matter where he's hosting. ♪

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you are watching cnn newsroom. if you are just tuning in, we

are following breaking news out of charleston, south carolina. we're getting word that officials should update the media potentially within the next five minutes. it's a serious situation there now because police are frantically searching for a 21-year-old white suspect who reportedly shot a predominantly black church the downtown area. a white male is sought at this hour. there are multiple fatalities at the church and officials there are working to identify some of the victims. >> the incident happened just a few hours ago. emanual ame, the site of the shooting, is said to be the oldest black church in the southern united states. >> we are following more breaking news coming to us out of hong kong. lawmakers have rejected a plan for electoral reform there. let's bring in our senior international correspondent ivan watson who's joining us live from hong kong.

ivan, what happened? >> reporter: >> just moments ago, the legislative council held its vote. as expected, the proposal for a new election system of election regulations was voted down. so that has already been declared a victory by members of the so-called pan democratic bloc who was arguing that even though the new proposal would allow residents of hong kong to, for the first time, elect their own chief executive in 2017, basically one man, one vote as it's been described. they are celebrating that has been voted down arguing it would result in not a real election because the procedures would allow the central government in china to vet the few candidates that could stand for office. this, of course, has been denounced by supporters of the

government in beijing. there was a major walk out from the assembly room in the midst of the voting. so in the end out of 70 council members, only 37 were present. 28 voted down the motion. eight voted in favor. the second highest official here in hong kong carrie lam before the vote took place she said it looked like the motion would not pass. she said, quote, i'm sad, disappointed and do not know when democratization will move forward in hong kong. so this basically showdown over a proposed election system for 2017 has resulted in a setback for the authorities in hong kong who had endorsed the proposal and a setback for the ruling communist party in mainland china, which had also endorsed this program. chinese officials and chinese

state media on the mainland basically denouncing the opponents of this election proposal, calling them radicals and in some cases even linking them to an alleged bomb plot that hong kong police say they foiled earlier this week. errol? >> ivan, despite that, we saw for the most part the protests this week were peaceful and even last year this umbrella movement led mostly by young people and by student s who wanted more independence for their vote for local officials. they didn't want chinese interference or feedback from beijing. how is this demographic likely to respond to this motion failing? >>. >> one of the prom dent student leaders who rose to prominence during the so-called umbrella revolution, he said he is not

predicting anymore occupy-type actions coming this year. but what he opposition basically does is you needed two-thirds of legislators to vote in favor for this to pass, and they voted it down. back to you, errol. >> ivan watson live in hong kong for us where lawmakers reject the beijing-backed reform package. thank you. we want to return now to the breaking news we have been covering of the church shooting in charleston, south carolina. we are moments away from the mayor and chief of police holding a news conference. we understand that could happen any moment and of course people want some answers here. they don't know what happened. only information we really have is there were multiple deaths in that shooting. this 21-year-old white man is now still on the loose, no one has been able to track him down. we know that helicopters are

over that area. it's near meeting street in charleston. that is basically all we know. >> that's right. it happened roughly three or four hours ago. early indications are the suspect entered the church and there are multiple fatalities as a result. we want to get details on what police know and what took place. at this moment gregory mullin, who is the police chief in charleston is with joseph p. riley, jr., the mayor of charleston and a few moments ago you may have seen some of that shaky footage as they were on the streets getting ready to update the media on all that's happened. as happens in these situations, people turn to social media to get details. some of the information there is inaccurate. people were speaking of being evacuated because of a bomb threat. charleston pd saying they have not asked anyone to evacuate at this stage. we want to know what is happening there. as soon as they step toward the microphones and address the media, we'll bring it to you

live. >> let's go to ashley killough, a cnn producer who happened to be in charleston when this happened. ashley, what are you hearing and how far away are we from this news conference? >> hi. we have the conference starting right now. the mayor and the chief of police. >> all right. we are listening in now. >> the city of charleston and we are all praying and our hearts go out to the victims and their families, as well as this community. at 9 cl:05 this evening we reced a call of a shooting that occurred here at the church on calhoun street. when officers arrived they found a number of victims inside and we had also individuals that were transported to the musc

emergency trauma center. as the investigation continued, we were able to determine that there were eight deceased individuals inside of the church. two individuals were transported to musc. one of them has died. at this point, we have nine victims in this hideous crime that has been committed. right now, we are working with all of our partners. we have members of the charleston police department, charleston county sheriffs department, s.l.e.d., the fbi and many other, the atf and many other federal agencies are here. we have a unified command that is working this investigation. we have investigators that are out tracking leads that are coming in. we will continue to do that until we find this individual who has carried out this crime tonight and bring him to justice. we are looking for a white male,

approximately 21 years old, sandy blond hair, and he obviously is extremely dangerous. what we are asking is anyone in the community has information about this particular individual, that you contact law enforcement immediately. we have all of the resources that are available to us, not only locally but from the state, as well as federal agencies. we have resources that are being flown in right now from washington, d.c. that will help us not only track leads but also work this investigation. i can say we will put all effort -- we will put all resources and we will put all of our energy in to finding this individual who committed this crime tonight. as a i said earlier, this is a tragedy that no community should have to experience. it is senseless. it is unfathomable that somebody in today's society would walk in

to a church when people are having a prayer meeting and take their lives. i can assure you that we are going to do everything in our power to find this individual, to lock him up and to make sure that he does not hurt anyone else. >> any word on the victims' names? >> we are not able to release any of that. the coroner is now working that particular part of the investigation. just let me say, i know there was with some questions earlier about why we weren't coming forward. as you can imagine, this was a very chaotic scene when we arrived. we had a lot of moving parts. we were tracking this individual with k-9s. we were making sure he was not in the area to commit other crimes and as all of this was going on, we received information there might be a secondary explosive device in the scene. so we had to make sure not only

our responders but you and others in the community were safe. so i promise you we will keep you updated. we will give you regular updates as quickly as we can. but please understand that the primary role right now, the primary emphasis is us catching this individual before he hurts somebody else. >> we'll take questions after the mayor speaks. >> this is the most unspeakable and heart-breaking tragedy. in historic emanual ame church. by the church of the ame churchs, people in prayer on a wednesday evening, a ritual, coming together, praying and worshipping god to have a awful person come in and shoot them is, is inexplicable.

obviously the most intolerable and unbelievable act possible. as chief mullens said, our police department, county police department, state law enforcement division, other municipalities, the fbi and others are all combined and working with us to make sure that we catch this awful person and bring him to justice as soon as possible. we just left speaking with members of the family. a heart-breaking scene i have never witnessed in my life before. i told them that this community sends forth their love to them and that we are all in this together in this community to help those who have lost a loved one get through this time and give them our love and support

and encouragement as we bring this awful person to justice as soon as humanly possible. >> is the city offering any reward in hopes of capturing the shooter? >> we will be offering a reward. we will have to look at that tomorrow to see what the amount will be but i guarantee tomorrow we will announce a reward. what i will ask, as well, is obviously if you, as the media receive any information at all, in any form or fashion, please make sure that you get that to us as soon as possible because you might be getting information via your resources. >> a call from a gentleman claiming responsibility, any legitimacy to that? >> we are looking at all leads. we're not going to talk about how the investigation is proceeding. we will be happy to answer questions that are nonspecific to the investigation. >> are there any survivors right now? >> there are, yes. >> how many?

>> we're not going to talk specific numbers but there are individuals. >> the man brought in to the marriott in cuffs, can you speak to his involvement in this? >> we're not talking about investigative activity at this time. >> do you think the condition of senator -- >> we are not identifying victims. so i'm not speaking to the condition of any individuals. >> do you believe this was a hate crime? >> i do believe it was a hate crime. >> is that why the fbi is here to investigate it as a hate crime. >> it is investigated as a hate crime but the fbi would be here because of the size and scope of the investigation. they are our partners and would be here regardless but they are here for that specific reason also. >> the only reason someone can walk in to church and shoot people praying is out of hate. the only reason. it is the most dastardly act that one can possibly imagine. and we will bring that person to justice as soon as possible.

>> how does the hate crime investigation -- how does that differ from a regular -- >> the methods and techniques that we will use in the investigation will be the same thing. what occurs is as we go forward with any type of prosecution that's where those particular regulations would come in to play. >> there's only one gunman, is that right? . >> as far as we know right now he's still out there. >> we can only answer one person. so. >> we have seen some prayer and anger, as well. what's the message to the community right now? >> the message to the community is this is an opportunity for us all to unite because of a significant tragedy that's occurred. what we need right now is we need everybody to come together and pray for these families. we need them to come together and help us find this person so nobody else is hurt. what we need is for the community to look at this and say, we have had enough of this

violence. if we stand up together we can stop this violence. that's what we need the community to do. i understand that people might be angry. i understand they might be upset and that is certainly emotions we would all understand but what we need to do is come together and help us, to support the families, support our community and catch this person so he doesn't hurt somebody else. >> the message is that this is one, one hateful person. one hateful person that did these dastardly deeds. one hateful person. so if all of the rest of us need to work to help find this person, give the police any leads you might find and then give love and support to the family members of those whose lives were taken. >> we have a member of the church, an elder of the church. >> let me take this opportunity on behalf of -- my last name is

goff. i'm the presiding editor of the south carolina annual conference -- >> what is norvel. on behalf of richard franklin norris. the entire state of south carolina there's only one voice that speaks for the ame church in south carolina, that's bishop norris. as a presiding elder, i'm here to report that bishop norris also reinforced what the mayor has already spoken with mayor riley and support the statement of the police chief. we have more than 500 some odd ame preachers on the grounds at the embassy suite hotel. we will hold a prayer vigil at 12 noon tomorrow at morris brown church here in charleston where reverend watkins is the pastor. we want the entire community to pray for safety for our people. and that we would hope this

person, who has committed this heinous crime, which is a hate crime, be brought to justice. we stand in solidarity and solicit your prayers for the family members who have lost loved ones here tonight. thank you so much. >> do you have a sense how many people were in the church at the time? >> i can't answer that. >> we are finished right now. we will be back in a couple of hour and notify you when we are coming back. [ tau [ talking at once ] >> is there still a bomb threat? >> how many people were in the church. >> anything that people in homes nearby need to know in terms of safety. >> the bomb threat is over. that's the reason why we are here briefing you and we weren't here before. what we want is for people to remain calm. they can stay in their homes and avoid this area that would be the message we'd like for them to have. >>