and then you destroy yourself. >> this is cnnbreaking news. >> it is 10:00 p.m. here in charleston, south carolina. a community reeling after the massacre of nine people just right behind me. thank you so much for join us. we have exclusive video just moments before that deadly rampage. you can see the suspect in the corner. he is 21-year-old dillen ralph, qualmtured this morning about 245 miles away in north carolina and flown back here just a short while ago. the killings being investigated as a hate crime now. three men and women shot to

death after the gunmen shot with them for an hour. i want to begin tonight with the powerful information on the suspect. his uncle, here's what he's telling the washington post. and this is a quote. he says i'd be the executioner myself if they will allow it. here, with me now is cnn's martin savage. >> let's talk about this video now. taken inside of this church behind us. they welcome him in. we can see him in the video. >> there's actually two things that we have going on. we spoke earlier to sylvia johnson. she has talked to witnesses who are inside and she sort of

recounts listening those witnesses and exactly what transpired. we all know, it was a bible study. that's why they were all there. everything goes fine until the bible study goes to an end and that's when roth begins the shooting spree. to think of someone shooting and then carefully reloading and then firing again five times is almost beyond comprehension. around then at one point, there's a young man, a parishioner, who jumps up and says stop, stop. and then the quote that is attributed to the gunmen, he says no, you are raping our women, your taking over our country. i have to do what i have to do. and then he shot and killed that young man. after the spree is over, he's allegedly going out the door. he turns to her and says have i shot you? and she says no. >> is this the woman he spares? >> right.

>> its's interesting the quote you gave asht raping our women. that is the one that got this to the hate crime level. correct? >>. >> it was not just that you had a white man walk into a black church and begin killing black people. there was more to it than that. the actions that you took that have launched not only an investigation with the murders of nine people, but now a federal investigation for the possibility of a hate crime: the victims range in ange from 26 to 87 years old.

i wish i could have met you guys under better circumstances. thank you so much for joining us here. how are you guys doing this evening? >> taking our time. doing as good as we possibly can right now. just thinking about the family. thinking about our charles ton family. growing up here, you know, you hear about tragedies and things that happen around the country. but you never expected to happen at home. on top of that, you never expect it to be one of your best friends. >> even in death, he's shedding some life on what happened with snap chat, the exclusive video. many people think that that's from god to get to know what happened in there. >> i would agree with that. down to the, you know, his last

snap chat which i wasn't able to see until a couple minutes ago. down to his last instagram post. >> tell me what kind of guy your friend was? >> a loving friend. a loving family. he talks about his mom every day. anything you asked him to do, he would do. if you met him, you knew you had a good friend on your side, regardless of anything. happy all of the time. always smiling. >> i'm going to show you this.

this is the post from jackie robinson. it's from one day ago just before this happened. >> it would have been a couple hours before he actually went into the church. >> how is the family? >> i was actually surprised when he went to go visit my family. i don't know how she's so strong dealing with this. it's still kind of early. i don't think it's really sunk in. >> now, i heard from different people that he may have been trying to save his aunt? or help someone else in the room? >> i was told he was trying to

protect his aunt. >> like i said before, he had your back no matter what. >> have you been watching the coverage? >> i'm glad they caught him. hopefully, he just realized what he had done. hopefully, he can apologize or give us some explanation about why he would do things like that. it just doesn't make sense at all. >> what does this community need now.

>> i've seen the community come together stronger. you get it everywhere. but, for the most part, the way we grew up, white, black kids, we're all together. >> thank you. appreciate you having us. >> thank you. our hearts are with you. you know, this is really shocking. >> joining me now, the former director of neighborhood partnerships and cnn is going to join me in just a little built. but jsh want, you know, last night, as we were all trying to figure out what had happened here, joshua was one of the

first people that shed some light on this in a series of tweets. so tell us about the tweets. >> my father is in nashville, tennessee. >> so afterwards, i was on the phone with him. he was on the phone with some of the folks in charleston who had direct contact with him and some of the folk who had been with him. i was sort of reporting contemporaneously about what had happened in the church. >> joshua, do you think churches will need some kind of security? less welcoming of strangers in the future.

>> i know what churches are not going to do. they're not going to be intimidated. they're not going to be afraid. the doors of the church are open and i think they will continue to open their doors. but they're going to take some strategic steps to make sure that their congregations are as safe as possible. >> they're also speaking of the broader issues of supremacy. >> it's really an act of suprema supremacy, but it's also an act of coward else, as well. so much emotion you heard from the loved ones that you've heard today.

ef from the president of the united states, your former boss, take a listen. >> i've had the make statements like this too many times. communities like this have had to endure tragedies like this too many times. we don't know all of the facts, but we do know, once again, innocent people were killed, in part, because someone wanted to inflict harm had no trouble getting their hands on a gun. >> this is the 14th time president obama had spoke after a shooting. what do you think he'd want to say. >> what the president is basically saying is that we can't just keep going after killers and not talk about the weapons that they are using to kill people and the ideology that motivates them as well. he went onto quote\from dr. martin luther king. four little girls with king

saying listen, we can't just address the folks who killed these girls. we have to address the systemic issues, as well. this is not just a loan gunman. this man was motivate ds by an ied yolg and was motivated, unfortunately, by our racial past in this country that we have not yet dealt with. and i think that's what the president was eluding to today. >> is this terror? >> i think it is. i think we need to call it what it is, which is domestic terrorism. >> and will they seek the death penalty in this. >> i think there's no question that they will. we're talking about a mass murder here. we're talking about nine people.

what's interesting is south carolina dunts have a hate statute. out of five state that is don't have a statute, i don't think this needs to be prosecuted as a hate crime. you can prosecute this case as a first degree murder case nine times. >> it's really a beautiful place. it's very progressive. feel are realing from it, but a lot of people are shocked. grant it, there is a history here, but people are telling me white, black, all races have come together. and there really is a sense of hope. >> all right, sunny. thank you. and we'll continue to cover this. we have more live from charles ton when we come right back. the incredible story of how the

church massacre suspect was captured.

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our breaking news, a city grieving tonight. the alleged gunmen back in south carolina tonight following his arrest, this morning, in north carolina. a driver spotted his car. she called her boss who alerted police. and then moments ago, i spoke to the owner of fratie's flors. >> let me just say right off that i think you guys are heroes and i think most people will agree with me. . you're on your way to work. what happened. >> i was just on my way to work, taking my normal way coming into king's mountain.

just on my way to work and i had heard the news last night when i left church myself. i was praying for the people when i had seen the car and i had seen the pictures of the car, and i had seen the pictures of the young man. as ichs coming to work, i seen the car and i don't know what drew my attention to the car. i seen that it was black and i saw that it had a south carolina license plate on it. >> were you scared? >> not at that time. maybe just a little jitter, nervous about everything that had been going on.

>> just the fact that it was similar to what i had seen on tv. >> how did you and todd connect? todd, what did she say to you? >> she said yeah, i think this is the guy from charleston who shot the people. i said where are you at? >> she had pulled off by then. i said we have to call the police to notify them that it may be him. i said it could be them. we called the police while she was on the phone and she got back on 74 and had to catch e catch up with them. he had probably traveled four or five miles before she could catch up with him.

>> so you told her to go back and make sure it was him. you made her follow, but you said don't get alongside of him. so, debbie, you were trailing him trying to get a license plate? >> he didn't make me follow him. i told him i didn't know what to do. i said after i got off of the business exit, i told him that i was going to go back out onto 74. and that's when he called the police. i was going to go back out to 74 and see if i could catch up with him and at least get a tag number. there was something inside of me that just didn't look right to me. i had seen the little tag on the front of his car and everything was kind of, you know, i even noticed the haircut that he had. everything inside of me said it's possible, but everything inside of me didn't want to believe it, either. he didn't make me do that.

he stayed on the phone with me. >> so, you finally got the license number. he's on the phone with police, he's also on the phone with you. you finally get the license plate number and the description and all of that. and then police realize that this is the guy because of your help, how long did it take the police to get there and resolve all of this and get him? >> they were right there within seconds. i was right behind him at a stop light. i was able to get his tag number and write it down. within 10, 15 minutes, they were there.

>> out of all of the people, you guys worked as a team. out of all of the people, it was you. i think i read where you said god had a plan. it put you in the right place at the right time. what do you make of that. >> that's what it was. it was him all the way, it was him from the beginning. it was him that made me look at that car. it was god who made this happen. it's all about him. he made this happen. he annalsed the prayers of those people that were praying in charleston last night that were in those circles holding hands and praying. he just used us as vessels to get that work done. >> you're two amazing people. thank you, thank you both.

>> thank you. >> thank you very much. and now i want to bring in john mullens. he knows the suspect and joins me now by phone. you were class mates of dillen. what can you tell us about it? >> he was just an average teenager, i guess. it's just crazy. >> what do you mean it wuchbt anything anyone could have pictured back then? what was his personality like? >> he was just calm, i guess. and like i told people today,

you never thought he'd be one to go out and murder all of these people like that. i don't know, man. it's insane. >> was there anything odd about him? >> everyone's got their odd personalities, in my opinion. back then, i never really judged him fr being different. but, you know, now -- >> what do you mean by different than most people? >> he was still kind of quiet and stuff. he wasn't the most popular boy in school, by any means. there are photos of dillen with

a confederate flag on his license plate. were you aware of any hatred he had toward black people? >> no, the odd thing about that, he would make racist slurs as jokes, but they were never taken seriously. and not only that, i knew him through black friends of mine. it's weird, but a lot of done. >> what kind of racist jokes? >> it's not that it's not weird, it's the way he said them. i don't know how to properly say it. >> he would say it around our black friends and stuff. >> so it was mutual between you.

it's kind of, as some would call it [expletive] talking. >> have you heard from any of his friends, any of his black friends, as you say he had, that he would joke with? >> i actually do attend college with one of them. i'm not going to disclose his name over the air like this. i know another dillen who went to the same high school together. and we were talking about the two different ones.

>> hey, john, i've got to go, but was storm really his middle name? >> i believe so, yes. >> okay. all righty. that's one of the web sites for a neonazi group. we were just wondering. thank you very much. >> okay. >> go ahead. >> i know a few people named storm, so i wouldn't -- that might be his middle name. >> all right, john mullens, thank you very much. is it also an act of domestic terrorism? we're going to get into that deeper next.

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welcome back, everyone, to our live, breaking news coverage. dillen ruth under arrest for allegedly murdering nine people at a church right behind me, killed because they were black. meanwhile, a little over a hundred miles away, the con fed rat flag still flies.

also with me is sedrick alex ander. the director of the center on extremism for the antidefamation league. i've been looking forward to speaking with you dwies tonight. mr. king, i'll start with you. your father gave a speech at this church 19623. what would his response be right now. >> >> i don't know that any of us could see what his response would be. but he would certainly be greatly moved. and the first thing he would do is send his condolences to the families. but then secondly, to look at what is creating this climate in america. he used to say i can't be critical of the world without realizing that my own nation is the greatest purveyor of

violence on the planet. that's a very strong staemt made in 1966 or '67. >> let me ask you this. i want to give everyone time here. i've been speaking to some people and they're concerned that their country is on the brink of a race war. do you think that's hyperbole? >>. >> what i believe is certainly anything could happen. but i think americans and south carolina today showed us charleston, when people black, white, latino and hispanic, asian, young or old, came together to engage in the tragedy. people should not ever accept tragedies. we are a better nation than we saw from this one young man

today who obviously this has been promoted to create this kind of hatred in america. >> mark, i want you to talk about this. what's the significance of these symbols? the photograph he had of himself, one patch was the flag of south africa, and the other patch was the flag of rodesia. >> one does not accidentally choose those to put on their body. there's a purpose behind that.

we believe these are some indications that he had some inhurricane ernesto to white ideologies.

>> there are a lot of people on there who will do the right thing. today, we saw the governor who works right there in that state capitol. made herself known to that community and was very saddened and tear flt ful in terms of wh happened to her great flag today. >> i'm really more concern ed about the issue. >> do you think this is an act of material rhode island? >> i do believe it easter rich. just like in 1963, when people took bombs and put them in churches and blew up children. definitely, this is an act of terrorism. >> mark? >> this tragic act meets all the

standard definitions of terrorism. this was a violent act that seems to have been done for ied logical reasons. it was a horrendous act of terrorism and also a hate crime. there's no doubt it was ter rich. >> yeah, no doubt. it certainly has all the elements it created fear and there was a lost life behind it. i would tend to say, too, don, that act of terrorism was also driven by hate. et's a combination of tore rich and acts of hate. >> when we come right back, the wake of this massacre. will the city ever be the same?

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we're back now with the state's former governor. good to see you.

>>. >> so everybody's watching now. is this your view of south carolina? >> absolutely not. what i saw about an hour ago is people were lighting candles, laying breathes and bringing flowers. folks of all walks of life to mourn the loss of what had happened less than 24 years ago. >> we have the candle lit. what do we do about guns? what do we do about racism in this country?

>> i think those are long questions. i think you need to honor the lives that were lost. he was a man who walked his faith. reverend davis gave himself a eulogy. and how all of us could be part of racial healing in this country. but one neighbor to a neighbor, one business associate to another one. >> i would challenge you that he would say if you're going to honor the people who lost their lives here, then you need to address the live issues of importance. how do you honor him. >> what i'm saying, that's getting off the hook too lightly.

>> i think it's all of us. i can't produce legislation. but what i can do is treat my neighbor just a little bit better than i've been treating. white, black, whatever the ethnic background. i think thoo that is part of the formula. can their be legislative community on some parts of this? >> yes. but what can happen tomorrow is everyone can treat us with a little bit greater dignity. >> it would be disingenuous to say there isn't a race problem in this country.

>> do you see the results of that? >> again, we have 300 million people in this country. and to toik a young person who is incredibly misguided i mean, you get in the car and you drive a hundred miles go to a church with great historical significance. go to bible study and then murder everybody in the room? there's something wrong. that is not within the standard deviation with some people get along. so that's way out there. >> only three people survived the massacre. >> i'm going to spare you and tell you what happened to them. but when we come right back, what we've learned about the victims. that's coming up. ♪

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live in charleston, where the suspect is accused of killing nine people, reportedly because they were black. joining me now, a former south

carolina state representative. also with my is chairman of the charleston county council. >> you were immediately called right after this happened. >> yes, sir, in charleston, we activated immediately because when we heard the potential, we didn't know what all could occur. but, yeah, we moved quick. it was a tough night. one of the hardest calls i had to make was to some friends of mine abour good friend. it's been hard. we lost the county employee. if you've heard. it's been tough. >> just talking about it to people, they seem okay.

and then you start talking about it and see people cheering up and becoming emotional. >> the voice was a bar tone voice and it's so deep because he was carrying the voices of so many unheard in his district. >> we share districts. the i-95 corridor. the task was to say where kids go to school, where their heating and air doesn't work, to turn that into a court of hope. he was a great man and on sunday, he's going to have two daughters that won't be able to fix brunch for their father anymore. and that's a tragedy. and we have nine funerals. we have nine bodies to bury. i'm only 30 years old and i'm just tired and weary and it sucks to have to keep doing this over and over again. >> we lost a former county

employee. and we lost a 31-year county employee. she got killed because she wanted to go to church. it's just hard not to cry. >> your dad is the mayor of north charleston? and look what happened with walter scott. is this a setback? >> no, i think charleston is belter. we're a community that loves each other. >> i think what it is, that we, as a community, when we embrace each other. we see tragedy, we pray in the

street. this gentleman, that wasn't here. i can't get inside the brain of that officer or this fellow, but i'll tell you right now, they're both deranged. >> i don't necessarily agree with everything my friend says here today. i think there's a lot of love. but what you're saying is they are communities that are filled with despair. and that is why this communication is good. this progress we've made is very fragile. while we're standing together, we don't want that to fall apart. but this communication has to happen. >> we're not a perfect community, but we want to make it better. >> thank you. >> thank you very much. i appreciate it.

>> we're going to continue on with cnn. our continuing coverage is going to continue. but this is the end of our show. and i want you to listen to the very powerful words who called on all of us to end hate. good night. >> that we may be filled with your love so that we know that only love can conquer hate. that only love can bring all together in your name. >> together, we come in love. together, we bur ri racism and bigotry and to advise love, compassion and tenderness.

we prayed that you would bless all who are here to share the love. we ask now in all rev rengs and holiness. may together, we say amen.

good evening. a gunman opening fire inside a church, this church just behind me. murdering nine people in cold blood as they studied the bible. tonight, we have exclusive images that showed just how kal clated this attack was. one of the victims actually took these images in this image, you can see the gunman sitting at a table. that's the back of his head. witnesses say he sat quietly there for roughly an hour. we obviously had no inkling of what was about to happen. tonight, the suspected is in custody. here he is boarding a plane a few hours ago in