our breaking news this morning, massacre at church. nine people murdered in what police are calling a hate crime in charleston. the killer is on the run right now. "early start" following the

story all morning. welcome back to "early start." i'm christine romans. >> i'm john berman. 30 minutes past the hour. the breaking news is a gunman is on the loose in charleston, south carolina. after shooting and killing nine people at a prayer meeting inside the well known african-american church. the search is underway at this hour. local, state, fbi, all involved. the suspect is described as a white male in his early 20s. the police chief is describing this as a hate crime. it took place at the emanuel a.m.e. church. this is one of the best known church. >> this is a tragedy no community should experience. it is senseless. it is unfathomable that somebody would walk into a church in today's society when people are

having a prayer meeting and take their lives. i can assure you we will do everything in our power to find this individual to lock him up and make sure that he does not hurt anyone else. >> let's go live to charleston and bring in our producer ashley killough. she joins us from the phone. when you hear people on the scene, it is like no one can keep from breaking up. it is a sad story. tell us what we know now about the drag net and the search for the killer, ashley. >> reporter: we are still waiting to get more information about how exactly they're trying to find the suspect. so far, they only released a description of him. young white male in his early 20s. they described the clothes he was wearing. they are having the public to be on the lookout and call in if

they see someone who matches that description. they also talked about possibly offering up the reward. i think they will be giving us more information about that we they do another press conference at 7:00 a.m. eastern time in charleston. they are hoping to give more information about how they are conducting the search. earlier tonight, they had several streets closed down around the area because of a bomb threat at the time. they have cleared that bomb threat. it is no longer a concern of theirs. they started to open up the streets. people in the area feel cautious anyway. a restaurant and couple of bars closed early to be on the safe side. there is a lot of uncertainty in the area this morning. >> to be clear, a lot of tension in charleston. a killer on the loose. a suspect who gunned down nine people inside one of the city's most famous churches. ashley killough on the phone

with us. ashley, what can you tell us about the shooting itself? how many details at this point are known? what are witnesses saying? >> reporter: very little details that are known. we know the police officers received the phone call around 9:05 p.m. eastern time. typical. a lot of churches meet wednesday night. especially in the south. people were gathered for bible study tonight when it happened. we don't know exactly what happened at the time. we know there were some survivors. we don't know how many and what their conditions are at the moment. we were only told there were eight fatalities at the scene and one person passed away later at the hospital. >> reporter for "the washington post" told us earlier that sources told him this did not happen in the sanctuary, but in the conference room. the prayer service would likely

happen in a meeting room off the main sanctuary. what do we know about how many people were there and survivors? >> reporter: they are not being specific on the number of survivors. the last time we heard from them was a couple hours ago. i'm referring to the officials. they were still speaking to families. they did not want to release names. >> we would not want to any of out any identities until they are confirmed. we were speaking with robert costa of "the washington post" down there working the scene. he has spoken to community leaders who have been speaking to people inside the church who say the gunman was lingering inside for some time before he

opened fire and then fled. ashley, what do we know about the significance of this church in the community. we have seen pictures of the reverend martin luther king jr. at the church. it has been a pillar of the community for pethe people for well over 150 years. >> reporter: it is located in the historic part of the city. this has the nickname of the holy city because there are some many churches and religious institutions here. several community and church leaders came out from across the state and gathering to prayer and call for peace and justice after what happened tonight. a lot offering up prayer, but heartbroken as well. >> we are showing pictures on your tv screen right now of people after the service praying

together and coming together for some sort of solace. listen to the police chief. he has a beautiful message for what the community should be doing now. let's listen to what he said. >> this is an opportunity for us all to unite because of a significant tragedy that 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 no one else is hurt. we need the community to come together to say we have had enough of this violence. if we stand up together, we can stop this violence. i understand people might be angry and upset. certainly emotions we all understand. what we need to do is come together and help us to support the families and support our community and catch this person

so he doesn't hurt somebody else. >> coming together is the only way to respond to a henious act like this. people were gathering at the embassy suites learning about the conditions of their loved ones and the scope of the tragedy and immense of the grief is hard to understand. let's listen again to city officials. >> do you believe this was a hate crime? >> i do believe this was a hate crime. >> is that why the fbi is here? investigating as a hate crime? >> it is, but the fbi would be here regardless because of the size and scope of the investigation. they are our partners. they are here to help us.

>> the only reason someone could walk into church and shoot people praying is out of hate. the only reason. the most dastardly act that one can imagine. >> ashley, where this happened and when it happened on a wednesday evening which is pretty typical for a bible study or prayer service. it is common knowledge on wednesday night for that kind of gathering. a time during the week to step back from your job and recharge and refocus for faithful christians. hate crime striking at this time sending a horrific message from this shooter. do we know if the church had any kind of threats before? >> reporter: i have not heard of

any sort of threats or the security situation was like before tonight or why or perhaps was it targeted. we don't know those answers yet. we hope to get some answers when the officials come out. earlier, we spoke to the police chief and mayor as you saw on the air a few minutes ago. hopefully they can give us a better sense of why here and why last night. >> what is the police is doing? >> reporter: they are blocking off the entrance to get toward the church. there is caution tape as well. earlier, there was a stronger police presence. they had the streets closed off and choppers overhead.

more fire trucks and ambulances. a lot of that has died down. >> it seems the search has moved beyond the immediate area. this church is one of the nation's oldest black congregations. i believe the oldest black congregation south of baltimore. historically significant. that is what the park service says about the building. the building built in 1891. more than 120 years old. this is a black church founded before the civil war. it was key in a slave revolt. described by many in charleston as the heart of the community. nicknamed the holy city, charleston, for the number of black churches. >> we are showing you the king center releasing a photo of dr.

martin luther king jr. preaching in the sanctuary of that church. let's listen to the mayor. the mayor met with grieving families. this is what he said after that meeting. >> we just left speaking with members of the family a heartbreaking scene. i never witnessed in my life before. and 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 the loved one and give our time and love and support and encouragement as we bring this awful person to justice as soon as humanly possible. >> bringing this person to justice is key. a manhunt underway right now. local, state and fbi all out in force trying to hunt down this

killer. of course, grieving going on in this community. south carolina, this time of year, every four years, is the site of a lot of political events. hillary clinton was in charleston yesterday. jeb bush was scheduled to be in charleston today for an event down the street from this church. the location where he was supposed to hold the event was suppo now the command center. >> the south carolina governor issuing a statement. we will never understand what motivates someone to enter a place of worship and take the life of another. people in south carolina heartbroken. this is where you are supposed to be safe.

your guard is down. to enter -- this was no question a hate crime. >> we do not know the identities of the people who were killed. there are beginning to be some reports. we will try to get those confirmed. nine dead. such a tragedy. the killer on the loose this morning described at 21 years old, white male with sandy blond hair with jeans and boots. our breaking news coverage continues after the break.

breaking news this morning. an unthinkable act of violence in a south carolina church. a gunman opens fire and kills nine people as they gathered to pray. the city's police chief describing it as a hate crime. the suspect is a white male in his early 20s. he is at large. the shooter's target is the emanuel a.m.e. church. described as the heart of the historic city. >> this is a most unspeakable and heartbreaking tragedy in historic emanuel a.m.e. church.

mother church of the a.m.e. churches. people in prayer on a wednesday evening. a ritual coming together and praying and worshipping god to have an awful person come in and shoot them is inexplicable. obviously the most intolerable and unbelievable act possible. >> as the shooting began, police were dealing with a bomb threat made against the emanuel a.m.e. church. that complicated the response and forced them to evacuate the area. no explosives were found. >> state, local, federal law enforcement involved in the manhunt. streets have been closed down all night in charleston. helicopters overhead. now some of the streets are reopening. obviously that search is expanding at this hour.

the identities of those dead not yet confirmed. just a tragedy of epic proportions. you can see the grief. we will stay on the story and bring you the breaking developments all morning long. surprising statements from the prison worker who kept two dangerous inmates escape. joyce mitchell confessed to investigators that she was having sex with richard matt, one of two killers on the loose. authorities are now looking into whether she plotted with the two convicts to have her husband murdered. we are also learning that inmate richard matt gave him a painting. let's get more on the investigation and the search for the fugitives from jason carroll. >> reporter: john, christine, investigators have expanded the

search beyond dannemore. there is more coming in from the murder plot from joyce mitchell and richard matt and david sweat. according to the clinton county d.a., he said the inmates planned to kill mitchell's husband, lyle. she told investigators she planned to pick up the inmates after midnight on june 6th and the plan to drive back to her house where the inmates would carry out the murder. the district attorney picked up the details from there. >> she didn't tell us she wanted matt or have matt and sweat kill her husband. it is the topic of conversation that came out. that matt and sweat would do that once they got out. possibly. i have no information why it would happen or why they needed to do that.

why not leave the area. >> reporter: john and christine, i spoke to joyce mitchell's attorney who told me she knew about the murder plot and told her husband about the plot and police and investigators about the plot. he also says that joyce mitchell was not involved with the planning of the murder plot saying quote just because she heard something about it doesn't mean she was going to act on it. he went on to say i don't believe she was involved in any attempt to kill her husband. john, christine. >> all right. the big money news today is about your money. literally. a woman featured on the $10 bill. alexander hamilton will share the bill with the first woman featured on paper currency since martha washington more than a century ago. we don't know who she is yet. the treasury department wants your feedback.

eleanor roosevelt harriet tubman or rosa parks. a quick check of the market, asia and europe stocks lower. the fed reserve is still on pace to raise interest rates. greek debt, looks like a default is likely. the breaking news. nine people killed inside one of the most famous historic black churches in the south in charleston, south carolina. police are calling this a hate crime. this morning, a killer is on the loose. new details on the manhunt as our breaking news continues right after this.

breaking news this morning from charleston, south carolina. a manhunt underway right now for a gunman who opened fire inside an african-american church killing nine people. this happened at about 9:00 p.m. last night. the police chief down there calls it a hate crime. the suspect is described as white male in his early 20s with sandy blond hair wearing a gray hoodie and blue jeans. this is the oldest congregation

south of baltimore. the emanuel african-american methodist church. the suspect was lingering inside some kind of prayer meeting before he began shooting. >> our city police department, county police department, state law enforcement division, other municipalities, fbi and others combined and working with us to make sure that we catch this awful person and bring him to justice as soon as possible. >> again, this is a community reeling from this. this gunman is on the loose. if you are just tuning in, the person is on the loose. >> a briefing at 7:00 a.m. to give us the latest information on the manhunt. perhaps the identity of the victims inside the historic african-american church. >> we will follow every development, but let's break-away for the other big

story. pope francis about to enter the climate change debate. the physician encyclical is expected to be released today. calls on the 1.2 billion catholics to take better care of the home god entrusted to us. let's go to rome and bring in correspondent delia gallagher. >> reporter: good morning, christine. as you mentioned, a short time from now, the encyclical will be made public. the highest teaching document. he means it to be a big priority. we can expect he will call on individuals and on government and finance and big business to be responsible for the environment. not just for the sake of the environment, but for the connection with climate change and what it can do to the poor and economies of poor countries. the pope will have to answer critics within his own catholic

church skeptical of the science on climate change. we will see how he does that shortly. regardless of the details, christine, the pope aligned with the environmental movement and what it means to go green. >> delia gallagher, thank you for that. the breaking news tonight. shooting in charleston, south carolina. nine people dead inside one of the country's most historic african-american churches. the gunman is on the loose. our breaking news coverage ahead.

breaking news this morning, nine people dead. a killer on the run. the victims murdered inside historic charleston, south carolina church overnight. happening now, the intense manhunt for the shooter. good morning. welcomeo