. here's a young man suspected of gunning down churchgoers d during a bible study session. we are now learning about claims of his racist past. >> plus, gun control back in the spotlight. the u.s. president is is taking on the issue yet again. >> and later, we learn about the

reverend, the track coach, and the librarian and others, who died in the shooting. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm george howell live in charlston, south carolina. >> and hello, everyone. i'm natalie allen, at cnn center in atlanta. this is cnn newsroom. >> welcome to you. we begin hoere in charlston, south carolina. this church behind me known better as mother emanuel. it welcomed a stranger in, welcomed in assuming he wasn't a threat. to-year-old dylann roof, the important police believe opened fire in the methodist emanuel episcopal church.

police caught roof just across the border in shelby, north carolina. investigators and the mayor say they are treating the shooting as a hate crime. >> i don't know how you define terrorism. i do know, i think i would consider it a hate crime. i think obviously for him to pick an african-american church, and shoot african-american members, there is something weird and bad and hateful going on in his mind. >> then there's this picture from social media, from the app snap chat. it shows the bible study taken by one of the victims, tywanza sanders. you can see the suspect highlighted there. there was a possible sighting of suspect, a florist on her way it work says she recognized roof's car and recognized his hair cut. >> something told me to, i'm

telling you, divine intervention, i'm telling you, god had me where i needed to be. i'm telling i was scared. i just kept saying, lord, you know, if i can just get there and can i do it safely. i wasn't going to try to put myself or anybody else in danger. if i can do it safely, get list tag number. >> she said god had her where she had to be to catch this suspect. with more on how wednesday's shooting unfolded, here is cnn's anderson cooper. >> multiple people down. >> wednesday night bible study erupts this gunshots. >> responding 110 calhoun street. >> the shooting at emanuel methodist episcopal church, one of the oldest churches of the south, and part of the underground railroad during slavery. eight pronounced dead, six females, two males, another dies later in the hospital.

>> an active shooter. give me at least four medic units on that call, please. >> the gunman manages to evade officers and a manhunt ensues. the charlston police department releasees this photo of a young manent aring the church wednesday evening. >> we have investigators out tracking leads that are coming in and we will continue to do that until we find this individual who has carried out this crime tonight and bring him to justice. >> as daylight breaks on thursday, the manhunt continues and the suspected shooter is identified. meantime, the community tries to comprehend what is incomprehensible. >> we woke up today and the heart and soul of south carolina was broken. and so we have some grieving to

do, and we've got some pain to go through. >> the president noticeably shaken. >> any death of this sort is a tragedy. any shooting involving multiple victims is a tragedy. there is something particularly heart breaking about a death happening and a place in which we seek solace. and we seek peace. in a place of worship. >> by mid morning authorities receive a tip from someone who thinks they recognize the shooter's car driving in shelby, north carolina, some 250 miles west of charlston. >> 10:43 a.m. officers observed the vehicle. traveling west. officer stopped him at 10:24 a.m.

the officers identified o the only occupant of the vehicle still in route. mr. roof was taken into custody at 10:49 a.m. he was transported here to shelby police department. >> the gunman still armed is taken into custody during traffic stop without incident. >> the subject is now in custody. the immediate threat to the community no longer exists. and we will let the legal process run its course. >> as our anderson cooper reporting there. he is back in the state where he will face charges. now sparking the debate over gun control in the united states and tough are restrictions. just take a listen to the great great granddaughter of emanuel ame's founder. >> when i received the message that six women and three men had been murdered. i was sandened. but i was also angered because america has not been serious about a policy of gun control.

therefore we must make every effort to call upon our governmental officials to enact serious policies to control guns so that we can eliminate some of the sickness going on in america. >> this is a topic that has come up before from sandy hook to a shooting inside a movie theater in denver. president barack obama is renewing stricter gun control. >> reporter: a problem that dogged president obama like no other. mass shootings in america. >> i've had to make statements like this too many times. >> reporter: this time, the president and vice president, knew one of the victims. the pastor of the church where the nation's late rampage occurred. south carolina state senator

pinckney. this is an all too familiar wake-up call. >> it doesn't happen other places with this kind of frequency. and it is in our dpour something about it. >> reporter: he has spoken out on mass shootings at least 14 times during his presidency, tucson, oak creek, newtown and the nation's capitol. one happened to gabby give ordereds. >> what if sasha and malia were at the movie theater, just assome kids are everyday. >> this is the worst while in office. >> these tragedies must end and to end them we must change. >> reporter: the president bushing for a new measure that would require background checks on firearms sold at gun shows and on-line. >> gabby giffords deserves a

vote. families of tucson and blacksburg and countless other communities with gun violence, they deserve a simple vote. >> reporter: but after a massive lobbying effort by the national rifle association, the proposal was defeated. >> the amendment is not agreed to. >> there were no co-hernt arguments as to why we couldn't do this. it came down follow ticks. >> reporter: rand paul condemned violence in charlston but argued more gun control isn't the answer. >> there is something terribly wrong o but it isn't going to be fixed by your government. >> reporter: jim acosta, cnn. >> let's talk more about this church. tonight it is a sober, somber feeling. when you think about what happened inside in building and the impact of this attack while it's whorrific under my

circumstances, it is magnified by where it happened. cnn's tom foremanan explains. >> reporter: located less than a mile from charlston's historic slave market and established in 1816 deep in the slavery years, emanuel has always been more than a place of worship. as the oldest africa methodist episcopal church in the south, it is a living testament to the trials of black america. here one of the church founders tried to organize a slave rebellion almost 200 years ago. only to see the church burn to the ground when it was discovered more than 300 alleged plotters were arrested, 35 were executed. here, run away slaves were secretly helped on their perilous journey north. here, martin luther king jr. invited new generations to march for equality even as white

supremacist were still hoisting their own crosses. through it all, emanuel has been a leading force for ame churches an outspoken churches p. >> folks like harriet tubman and sparks. >> the church has been our fr freedom house. >> dean at howard university school of divinity, says emmanuel led the way for so many black churches by being a place where african-american politicses, leaders, organizers, teachers and more could find acceptance when they were barred from so much of america. >> you know that you will come there unfiltered. you will come there without recrimination made against you. so no matter the disparages of the larger social order, you come here, and you can learn how to be as fully human as you are. as that. that emanuel meant. >> yes. and part of that means the affirming of every single person

who comes inside our doors and those who are within the communities around us. >> reporter: tom foreman, cnn, washington. >> the shooting suspect, dylann roof, is back in washington at a detention center. police say he allegedly told church goers at the bible study he was there to quote shoot black people. earlier one of roof's former high school classmates spoke with cnn. he said roof had african-american friend at that time but also made racist jokes. >> i wouldn't say he was much of a loner. he mingled between all of the people. >> did he have any african-american friends? >> he did. actually, my friend, trey, my friend trey and leslie. i won't say their last names. but that's how i associated with them, most of the time, is through them. >> did you see that he held any

an mouse towards african-americans? >> no, he would say things in a joking manner but it was never taken seriously. it never occurred he was being serious. >> what kinds of things would he say? >> i don't want to say these kinds of things. nothing too bad but they have racist feel to them, i guess. >> one of the shooting survivors says she heard roof say, you raped our women, and you're taking over the country. i have to do what i have to do. authorities are now trying to determine if he had any links to hate groups. a photo on roof's facebook page shows him wearing a jacket with patches of two flags on it seemingly glorifying white rule over blacks. and can you see there the look on his face. the one on the top is the flag of a apartheid o era.

it is used by groups. the other is zimbabwe. there is a photo of roof sitting on the car with a plate that says confederate states of america. the image came out thursday the same day the u.s. supreme court ruled the state of texas is allowed to reject license plates showing the confederate flag. many associate that flag with slavery during civil war. yet in south carolina a confederate flag remains flying at the say the house. cnn asked a u.s. congressman from south carolina if a change needs to be made after this alleged hate crime. here is what mark sanford said. >> again, another intense debate within south carolina for some folks that represents heritage. for others it represents hate. it is for that reason that confederate flag was brought down off of the state capitol and put on the memorial of the state house ground. that's the compromise formed

some years ago. i think we have to be atentative to where my brothers in christ are coming from on this debate. lonnie randolph, reverend darby, a long list of friends who believe passionate it ought to come down from that place, at the memorial. but i have a number of friends who say my great uncle died in this effort. for me it wasn't about slavery. it is about state's rights. it is an intense debate. i do know that it was the first governor in south carolina to apologize for the orangeburg massacre. there are things we can do o. but it is premature o go into an intense exhaustive emowingly draining debate on what we might do there before we first had time to mourn the passing of these families and lives that have been impacted. >> a south carolina heritage act protects the flag on o the state house grounds. still, many people on social media are urging lawmakers to

remove it. george? >> we are live in charlston, south carolina where this community is mourn ppg nine people, their lives cut short in a senseless shooting. we'll be right back after this. i ppg nine people, their lives cut short in a senseless shooting. we'll be right back after this. people, their lives cut short in a senseless shooting. we'll be right back after this. people, their lives cut short in a senseless shooting. we'll be right back after this. people, their lives cut short in a senseless shooting. we'll be right back after this. cut short in a senseless shooting. we'll be right back after this. t short in a senseless shooting. we'll be right back after this. short in a senseless shooting. we'll be right back after this.

and we could soon become number one in oil. because hydraulic fracturing technology is safely recovering lots more oil and natural gas. supporting millions of new jobs. billions in tax revenue... and a new century of american energy security. the new energy superpower? it's red, white and blue. log on to learn more.

welcome back to cnn "newsroom." i'm george howell live in charlston, south carolina. there's a great deal of mourning given what happened in the church that stands behind me, there is also a lot about dylann roof. he was arrested in shelby, north carolina. authorities believe set man who opened fire, who allegedly killed nine people inside this church. we will have much more on this developing story. still ahead here on cnn "newsroom." >> other news we are following a tht hour, health officials in south korea say the recent outbreak of respiratory syndrome there has levelled off. >> translator: given the current developments we have judged that it has levelled off. but we need to monitor for any further spread, further cases, from the so-called intensive controlled hospitals.

>> a total of 24 people have died from the mers virus in south korea. earlier this week the world health organization said the mers outbreak in south korea is a wake-up call for other countries to be prepared. now to malaysia where the country's navy has retaken an old tanker hijack bid pirates. all 22 crew mates on board are alive. one, though, suffered a gunshot wound. malaysian ships and helicopters were following the hijacked ship since it was spotted thursday. the pirates even tried to camouflage the ship by painting over its name. they fled in a life boat overnight. officials are still searching for them. >> wikileaks has posted a new batch of internal documents from sony. you may recall wikileaks published a data base of every sony e-mail and documents stolen by hackers last year. that hack exposed embarrassing e-mails written by top

executives and resulted in the resignation of sony pictures co-chairwoman. this has internal sony calendars and expense reports. european leaders will hold an emergency summit monday after debt bailout talks with greece failed fro produce a deal on thursday. both the euro group and greece both say there is still enough time to find a solution before gross's repayment comes due on june 30th. >> reporter: after five months of talks, still no deal. both sides, just not preparing to budge. euro president did mince his words. he said too little progressed been made. too little measures forward. he called on greeks to o come up

with and that time is running out. optimistic a deal can be done but the close oer you are to the june 0th deadline the harder it is to approve any sort of deal because a parliamentary procedures o. take a listen to what he had to say. >> today we send a strong signal that it is time to have new proposals overcoming days. within the framework of that statement of february 20th. as of today, it is still possible to find an agreement. and extend the current program before the end of the month. but the ball is clearly in the greek court to seize that last opportunity. >> reporter: there were all blunt word from chief to that measures be put through on the same day. this on the day where she told,

she warned gross, there will nobody grace period if they do not pay the imp the $1.16 billion you're yoes by the enof the work. this adds pressure fot greek government to try to reach a deal, some sort of reforms. and this is its worrying for the greek government because we are seeing so much money be withdrawn from october of last year to april this year. 30 million you're yoes has been withdrawn. there are reports circulating a tht moment that 2 billion euros have been withdrawn from greek banks in three days. all this is putting huge amounts of pressure on the greek people who have taken to the streets protesting euro protest saying enough is enough. now, greece must reach a deal. cnn, athens, greece. >> and we have breaking news on o greece's debt crisis right now. it appears the greek government may be listening. joining us live on the line with

more on this development from athens. alinda? >> reporter: we had a statement from the prime minister that there will be a solution based on their respect. and i quote of eu rules than democracy. that would allow greece to return to growth in the euro. now all of the indications we have from athens is that the government here is very pleased about this upcoming summit. always having support about a solution can only be reached at the highest political level. so the build-up we are getting here towards that summit and now with that statement from the greek prime minister is that indeed the greek government is trying to figure out a solution that will keep greece in the euro and will promote growth. >> alinda, it seems that while the greek government had their back up against the wul and maybe no other alternative to strike this conciliatory tone after such combativeness on both sides leading up to this point.

>> reporter: there was a lot of concern especially in the banking sector. we heard about a lot of money leaving greek banks just this week alone. this is not something the greeks can confirm at this point but a lot of concern about what is going to happen simply because the clock is ticking. we know that greece will find itself out of the time, the bailout, at the end of the month. and the deal needs to be clenched before that if greece is going to be able to receive outside funding. so what we are getting in athens is that tone is changing since yesterday, the euro group, and we move towards this eu summit, there seems to be some indication back from the greece greek government prepared to soften its tone. >> thank you for bringing us that breaking news. live there from athens, thank

you, alone inda. now george. >> thank you. we get back to the continuing coverage of o the church massacre in charlston. after the break, a chilling account of what happened here on wednesday night. in charlston. after the break, a chilling account of what happened here on wednesday night.

my name is jeff richardson, the vice president of operations here at c.k. mondavi. to make this fine wine it takes a lot of energy. pg&e is the energy expert. we reached out to pg&e to become more efficient. my job is basically to help them achieve their goals around sustainability and really to keep their overhead low. solar and energy efficiency are all core values of pg&e. they've given us the tools that we need to become more efficient and bottom line save more money. together, we're building a better california.

welcome back to our viewers in the united states and around the world. >> and i'm natalie allen in atlanta, georgia. you're watching cnn newsroom. >> continuing now with our coverage of the deadly mass shooting inside a place of worship here in charlston, south carolina. the 21-yeaol