you are watching continuing breaking coverage here on "cnn newsroom." thanks for staying with us. i'm errol barnett. >> i'm rosemary church. a mass shooting at a predominantly black church. the white male in his 20s is still at large at this hour and the community there is reeling from what is being called a hate crime. >> you tell people to go to work and do right and go to church.

these people were in church. and they violated the sanctity of that. the ramifications are way beyond what happened tonight. this is unacceptable. >> we are communities trying to live and survive. we need peace and we are asking you to stand behind that. >> now authorities have not identified any of the victims just yet. the mayor and police chief will hold a briefing at 7:00 a.m. local time. the video you see here is from a prayer circle from earlier. and this video taken just two weeks ago inside of the emanuel african methodist episcopal church where this mass shooting took place just a few hours ago. we don't know exactly where in the building the shooting took place. you can see the rows of pews

inside this historic church which was formed back in 1816 and during the time of slavery in the united states it was an important point in the underground railroad helping the slaves find their way to freedom. it is in downtown charleston. >> this gives you a sense of the history of the church. this is a photo of dr. martin luther king jr. at the church. they tweeted support for the community. they said we have to be conscious how a social media response can be detrimental. >> and our cnn producer is tracking the developments and joins us from the scene with the latest. so ashley, of course there was a

hope that we would hear from the police in this hour, in fact. but now we are hearing it won't be until 7:00 a.m. that's about three and a half hours from now. it is 3:32 in the morning right now. but talk to us about the scene where you are right now, what is being said, and if there's any indication that police are closer, perhaps, to tracking down the killer. >> sure. i'm on calhoun street, about a block from it. i can see the church. earlier a large part of the street was blocked off. now they opened that part up and we're also to walk down closer to the church again. but they are still being cautious. they still don't want a lot of people out and around the area. earlier there was a bomb threat going on. that is one of the reasons they closed down this perimeter. they are not worried about that bomb threat any more.

but the suspect is still at large and so they are still looking for him. >> and there was also word when we heard from the mayor and indeed the police chief a few hours ago, there was word of a possibility of announcement of a reward to entice people co-tom forward with more information to try to track down the suspect. any more information on that? >> no more information about the reward. they did release a description of what he looked like, a white male in his young 20s and a description of his clothes. they are asking the community to be on the look out for this person. but as of -- in terms of the victims as of an hour ago they are not identifying any of the victims. and so there is a lot of anxiety. people are still wanting to know who was killed in that. and they are just waiting to tell all the families before they get that out publicly.

>> and it's errol barnett here. the leader of the church is one possible victim but we don't know yet because the officials have not confirmed who the nine deceased are. we are looking at live images from downtown charleston. we see a bit of police presence and some of the road closed off. but considering this suspect who has already killed nine people is still on the loose do you get any sense that the police know which way he went let alone where he is? >> no specifics. they just said that he is dangerous and that's all we know in terms of his stance of his mission right now. so we are trying to get those answers. there is anxiety in the community. there is a couple of bars that closed down earlier in the night after they heard what happened. so people are feeling a little bit more scared than usual. i talked to a couple of taxi

drivers who said they always feel safe in this neighborhood. but tonight they are feeling a little bit more scared. but they said they are not running away afraid. >> this is a place that attracts tourists from all over the u.s. and the region. and the church has been an institution there for a long time. understandable why this has been met with shock and anger and the police chief saying this was in fact a hate crime. and the mayor saying there is no other reason someone would walk into a church during regular prayer sessions and do such a thing. that is our cnn producer in charleston. and we will continue to check with her throughout the morning as things unfold. >> if anything more comes in we will share it with our viewers. police in upstate new york have released enhanced mug shots showing what richard matt and david sweat may look like after two weeks on the run. authorities have expanded their

hunt for the fugitives and are handing out wanted posters across the u.s. border. >> dan simon sat down with a forensic artist to show the way that the killers may have changed their appearance. >> i'm looking at what i consider immediate ways to disguise a face. >> reporter: he received training for the fbi has been doing these sketches for 20 years. >> you're a former police officer and a forensic artist. when you look at this case in new york, do you think that these guys have totally altered their identities? >> well, i would say that that's probably a very good possibility. my experience has been that when they're out and they're trying to get away they're going to do everything they can to disguise themselves and make sure that nobody recognizes them. >> reporter: zamora is not

involved with the new york case but we asked him to come up with additional ways that the fugitives might have changed their appearance. first richard matt, here is the original and the altered creation. >> he could evade capture? >> at least initially, definitely. i gave him what i considered a full beard. there's a possibility he could be dyeing his hair. >> and with eye wear, the public would have a difficult time recognizing him. >> well, i think they would think twice. i wouldn't say they would immediately pick him out. >> reporter: now david sweat. this is the original mug and this is how zamora imagined what he could do. >> changing the clothing and extending the facial hair, and then also adding some eye wear to kind of distract people from looking at their eyes as well. >> reporter: hair on the face and head, he says are the two main ways in which men could

change their appearance. just like harrison ford did in "the fugitive". >> i didn't kill my wife. >> i don't care. >> reporter: these real life fugitives could be doing simple things to their faces and it's possible that no one would spot them at least immediately. that's why these photos could be instructive or instrumental in cracking the case. >> reporter: anything that keeps the public aware and keep this case alive for people to be on the lookout is extremely valuable. >> reporter: dan simon, cnn, san jose, california. still to come for you here on cnn, isis takes deadly aim at yemen's capital. next, the toll taken by four car bombs in sanaa.

back to our breaking news in the united states now. police in charleston, south

carolina say nine people are dead after a white gunman opened fire at a predominantly black church. the shooter is still at large. police say he is in his early 20s and was wearing a gray sweatshirt and blue jeans. the police chief says he believes this was a hate crime. the shooting happened wednesday night at the emanuel african methodist episcopal church. and this video shows people praying outside the church after the shooting. a vigil is planned hours from now at another charleston church. now to other stories we are following, isis is claiming responsibility for four car bombings in yemen's capital. they targeted pro-houthi locations in sanaa. there are conflicting reports on how many were killed. but at least five people died. syria's civil war is posing

a growing threat to people who live in neighboring countries. the druze are a racial and ethnic ethnic minority caught in the middle. >> reporter: smoke rises from a syrian town less than a mile from a military frontier. as we watch the fighting one shell hits near a druze village of 2500. for the druze the war in syria has just come a little bit closer. most are in syria and lebanon and some in israel. on tuesday smoke billowed but

the druze refused to flee. >> we want to stay in their houses and their place. >> reporter: this man, a druze from the israeli golan says he has spoken to the druze. many have rallied for the druze in syria after a video claimed to show druze shaikhs killed in syria. a member an israeli druze says the community in israel has pledged millions of dollars in aid to syrian druze. >> they need supporting machines and system to fighting. they need medicine, other things, but they are not need people. the druze going to prepare 100,000 soldier now to fighting

daesh. it's a big army. >> reporter: israel has military vehicles near the frontier fence and a field hospital but the military faces a dilemma, how to help the syrian druze without getting pulled into the conflict. and we go live to the golan heights. talk about the fighting on this day right now. >> reporter: rosemary we have heard sporadic firing of mortars and off to my left near the syrian golan. what's so important about this area is the mountain behind me, the highest mountain here, it's a strategic outlook, it looks over southern syria. on a clear day you can see

damascus and the village at the base of the mountain came under fire a couple days ago. there is a working agreement to stay away from that village. but the civil war that has been raging for years, difficult to predict how it goes and the druze watch this very carefully. >> thank you. pope francis is bringing climate change to the forefront. coming up next a look at the controversial letter that has the world talking.

pope francis is weighing in on the global debate over climate change. the catholic leader will release a long awaited and highly controversial public letter called an encyclical in a few hours from now. >> drawing his weekly audience at the vatican on wednesday he said the planet is being ruined and it's everyone's duty to protect the place we call home. >> for more on the story let's bring in delia gallagher who joins us live from st. peter's square this morning. and pope francis is expected to

talk tough on climate change. how seismic and powerful a statement is it that he is dedicating his encyclical to this one topic? >> reporter: well, that is the keitha he could have written about anything, he chose to write about the environment and chose the use the highest teaching document available to him, the encyclical. clearly he means it to be a top priority and wants everybody to listen. as you mentioned yesterday he gave us a preview of what we might expect from the document when he said that climate change is affecting everyone but especially the poor. so from that we can assume that the pope, who has already been a champion of the poor is going to draw the lines between climate change and the responsibility of individuals, of big business, of governments and finance to take care of the environment for the effect that climate change can have on the economies of poor

countries, errol. >> when you look at what the climate change panel at the u.n. has said is that as sea levels rise low lying areas will be most at risk, they make their livelihoods off the water and have few resources to move. why was that version of this encyclical leaked early? some see that as a poke in the eye to the pope. >> well, in reality, i think that was part of what happens here at the vatican sometimes as we know, documents get leaked but without, in this case, a kind of conspiracy theory behind it. if one wanted to damage the pope, that wasn't the way to do it. it had the effect that we have been talking about since monday. it's getting more attention possibly than it would have. but i want to point out to your point about the controversy that

the pope is going to have to address and that is that many within his own catholic church are wondering why the pope is choosing to ally his name with the u.n. experts. the u.n. has been at odds with the vatican over some issues. how does the pope address that? there are climate change skeptics who say the science is still shaky. so there is a bit of controversy going in here and people will be watching closely what the pope says about it. >> if you think back to what the pope has said and done already he feels it is a moral issue. it is not political or to pick a side it's something that is good for all of us. delia gallagher at the scenic st. peter's square this morning. thanks for your time. we want to recap our top story breaking from charleston,

south carolina. police say nine people are dead after a white gunman opened fire at a predominantly black church. this happened just a few hours ago. one other person was injured and is now in the hospital. officials have not yet released the names of the victims. police chief greg mullens says he believes this was a hate crime. authorities are searching for a white man in his early 20s. the emanuel african methodist episcopal church is the oldest ame church in the southern united states. slaves would go there for refuge as they fled north to freedom. this story is touching the world of politics as well. jeb bush cancelled a scheduled town hall in charleston on thursday due to this church

shooting. and you have been watching "cnn newsroom." i'm rosemary church. >> i'm errol barnett. we will see you here next week. our coverage will continue with early start in the u.s. and elsewhere, "cnn newsroom" continues after the break. :. .

this is cnn breaking news. >> the breaking news is nine people dead at a black church. a killer on the run. the victims murdered inside this south carolina church. charleston, south carolina, overnight. happening right now, an intense manhunt for the shooter. good morning. welcome to "early start." i'm john berman. >> i'm christine romans. it is thursday, june 18th. 4:00 a.m. in the east. a gunman is on the loose right now after shooting and killing nine people at a prayer meeting in a charleston, south car