a community in the united states copes with grief after

nine people are gunned down inside a place of worship. new details on the suspect now behind bars. also ahead this hour, a rare look inside the syrian town just liberated from isis. and the greek prime minister is saying he's confident of a solution to his debt crisis and that greece will stay in the eurozone. we're live in athens this hour. hello and welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm george howell live in charlston, south carolina. >> i'm natalie allen at cnn center in atlanta. and this is cnn "newsroom." welcome, we begin here in the city o of charlston. this is a city strug egg to cope with a devastating loss and it all happened behind me. inside a church building. its members welcomed a stranger insides its doors for a bible

study session. he spent time with them. he made them feel he wasn't a threat. then after an hour's time he ended up killing nine people allegedly. from what we are gathering, it was all about race. the accused killer in the charlston church massacre caught more than 200 miles from the crime scene in shelby, north carolina. 21-year-old dylann roof waived extra dig and seen here wearing prison stripes flown back to south carolina to face charges for cold blooded murders allegedly motivated by hate. >> a terrible human being who would go into a place of worship where people were praying and kill them. is now o in custodo in custody . where he will always remain. >> this video from a snap shat

shows the bible study taken by one of the victim. tywanza sanders from inside the emanuel ame episcopal church. you get a glimpse of the suspect sitting at the table with worshippers. police say he spent almost an hour inside that church before pulling out his weapon and killing nine people. >> ems command page advising of an active shooter multiple people down. >> witnesses told officials roof stood up and announced to those in the church that he was there to shoot black people. telling his victims when one pleaded for mercy quote you rape our women and you are taking over our country and have you go. the gruesome mass shooting at this church more affectionately known as mother emanuel ame church. >> acts like this have no place in our country and no place in a civilized society. >> among those killed the church

pastor, clementa pinckney. >> this is money that should o be reveered and respected and we want answered. we want know why this young man chose this church, why he chose senator pinckney. a 5-year-old boy survived by playing dead and one woman spared because the shooter wanted her to tell the world what he had done. it prompted an emotional response from u.s. president barack obama. >> there is something particularly heart breaking about the death happening and a place in which we seek solace. and we seek peace. in a place of worship. and in south carolina, state's government nor gave voice to this community's grief. >> we woke up today and the

heart and soul of south carolina was broken. >> from the governor there, nikki haley, to the president of the united states, you get a good sense of just the emotion, the pain, the somber mood given what happened in this community and at this hour dylann roof, the suspected killer, he is back here this charlston, south carolina. he arrived at north charlston detention center late thursday after his arrest in shelby, north carolina. investigators are trying to gather more information about him. they he want to know if he had any ties to any hate groups or any white supremacist groups. one person in this community sylvia johnson, she lost a dear cousin in this shooting. her cousin was the pastor reverend clementa pinckney, killed in this attack. a close friend of johnson's survived and he talked with

anderson cooper about what her friend witnessed, listen. >> what i heard is after shoot oing a couple of rounds, her son tried to talk him into not committing any more act of murder. >> her son tried to talk him down. >> yes, he did. he tried talk him down. and her son and grand baby had already planned that they were going to just ask that they were already killed. but the son was concerned about reverend clementa and he got up and that's when the gunman said, you know, after the young man tried to stop him from doing what he wanted to finish off, he

said, no, you raped our women and you are taking over the country. >> you've raped our women and you are -- >> you're taking over the country. i have to do what i have do. >> and he continued shooting. >> and he shot the young man, his mother was there, and she witnessed. she pretended as though she was dead. she was shot and dead. but she watched her son fall and laid there and she laid there in his blood -- >> she laid there in his blood? >> yes, she did. >> oh my. >> and for when i got to talk with her, her entire dress was just drenched in blood. and she said that's my son's blood. he was a good boy o. he was a good boy. >> and he passed. >> and he passed. him along with one of her aunts. >> she laid there in his blood. just chilling. to think about what happened inside this church.

the shooting here is also touched the u.s. president is, barack obama, on a very personal level. both he and the first lady, michelle obama, had been to the church and they knew the pastor who was killed. mr. obama has pushed for gun reform in the past and said this shooting should force americans to take another look at stricter gun control measures. i spoke with cnn's sunny hostin and state representative sellers about their views on this debate. here's what they had to say. >> i certainly think that we do need to at least discuss the possibility of some sort of gun reform. but after so many first graders were murdered in sandy hook, connecticut, i really thought we would see some sort of change. and we didn't see that change. and so i suspect we won't see that change here either. and i think that's something that as americans we need to start thinking about. >> sunny, from a legal

perspective, dylann roof will come back here in this state where he will face killings. this state has a death penalty. is this a death penalty case? >> i think there's no question about it. i think this case begs for the death penalty. and even those against the death penalty say that this case in and of itself is a classic death penalty case. we're talking about the mass murder of nine people. south carolina doesn't have a hate crime statute, you know, bacari was telling me it is just 1 out of 5 doesn't have a hate crime statute. but i don't think you need a hate crime statute for this kind of case. this is straight murder and death penalty case, very clear to me. >> this is your community. what does it mean to you when it comes to a terrible situation that plays out inside of a church. what does it say about race relations in south carolina and around the united states?

>> well, those are two vastly different questions. let me answer questions and i can paint a picture. today the american flag in front of the capitol fly he at half staff, the half carolina flag flies at half staff but the confederate flag flies as high as it ever did. that should tell you about something here in north carolina. but nationwide, there's a generation of people that is weary and this is the same loin for me as trayvon martin. this is the same line as mike brown. same as gardner and rice and the woman who had a police officer sit on her back while she was swimming. and you know, this is not new for puss. us /* this is a larger discussion and i challenge you all in the media because i think that the discussion about race needs to be first. it is a 50,000 foot view type discussion.

it is a discussion gnathat's necessary. and the debate is going on as to whether this should be classified as domestic terrorism and we should be comfortable with having that debate and having that discussion. if you look at federal law george and bacari knowes this as well, i this i this is clearly an act of domestic terrorism meant to intim dintimidate a grf people, a population of african-americans. maybe we need to talk about that this is do o mestic terrorism, call it what it is and what do we do about it. >> earlier, anderson cooper talked with the mayor about the mood in his cite right now.

>> it is heart breaking. and the pain that families feel and the community feels. the enormous outpouring of love. and support. from this community is extraordinary. from all over the community. interfaith community meetings and services. we created a fund mid morning announced so people could have something to do to help. calls started flooding in. >> calls for victim. >> for the victims and the church that lost his pastor. heart break through the community, for the historic emanuel ame church and to have a broken heart for this hateful

act of this person that didn't live here. lived 110 miles away. why he came in into this community and this congregation and sit in the church for 45 minutes, then pull out a gun and kill people, i can't possibly begin to fathom why. >> coverage continues on cnn newsroom live from charlston, south carolina. include an in-depth look. a place of worship turn node a chaotic scene of massacre. >> also ahead, a country on the brink of financial disaster. coming up, a look at a last ditch effort to save it from defaulting on a major loan payment. and then, a crucial town in syria is free from the grip of isis. we look at what isis left behind.

a lot of peoplei didn't believe in me. but things took off when i got a domain and built my website all at godaddy. now i can tell the doubters to stick it. hey, honey. stick it! stick it! stick it! nana? hi... stick it! can you give your mommy a message for me? stick it! get a domain, website and email starting at $1/month all at godaddy.

>> listening here to the toll of bells at the national cathedral

in the u.s. capitol. signifying a period of mourning for the victim of the charlston church shooting. we will have the latest on the shoot oing coming up. first let's get back to world head quarters in atlanta. my colleague, natalie allen, has a check of other stories making headlines this day. natalie? >> thank with you be george. two missing prisoners are on the u.s. marshal's most wanted list. new york state police released these images of richard matt and david sweat to show what they might look like now nearly two weeks after their escape. the woman who allegedly tried help them escape, joyce mitchell, had intimate relationships with both inmates but her husband said he knew nothing. his attorney spoke with cnn's alexandra field. >> reporter: does lyle belief that his wife was the only employee inside that prison who may have been helping with these

skres escape plans? >> no. but he doesn't know who else it could be. he doesn't think she could have done all of this stuff for them or with them. >> police are asking anyone living near the prison to review their home security footage and to look for anything suspicious. they are handing out flyers as far as the mexican border. other news we're following, health officials in south korea say the recent outbreak of middle east respiratory syndrome there has now levelled hoff. >> 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 outbreak in south korea is a wake-up call for other countries to be prepared. in syria refugees with

return home after kurdish fighters liberated it from isis. the town was strategic for isis to carry supply niece turkey. arwa damon traveled there to see what isis left behind. >> reporter: this is one of the main isis security buildings here in a town just liberated a few days ago by the kurdish fighting force, the ypg. a small unit of arab rebels and instrumental also were coalition air strikes as forces were approachi approaching. inside, the black isis flag. here on the wall, this is addressed to all of our brothers on the checkpoints asking if anyone has experience in teaching the ckoran. in the back rooms are various other papers, administrative pamphlets, booklets left behind and of course the isis flag

again. this one is if someone has committed a crime and say for example an individual wants to come in and garn teet isis authorities that that crime won't be committed again, this is the form that they would fill out. it is just a small indication of how much isis did run itself. like a fairly well organized state. people we've been speaking to and most residents have yet to return, were talking about how difficult life under isis was. they only stayed here because they didn't want to live as refugees. but many people did flee. for example, if you look across the street, the red writing there, that says state on it. you see it on a number of buildings and forefronts here. that means they were abandoned or that isis laid claim to them. marking them with state. most of them did belong to

abyad's kurdish population. there is horrific stories everywhere. there is a square called the square of death. there was a cage that people were telling us individuals that did minor crimes like smoking would be put into for a few days. not that much damage has been done but many are yet to return. >> malaysia's navy has retaken an oil tanker hijacked by pirates. all 22 crew members on board are alive but one did suffer a gunshot wound. malaysian ships and helicopter oers were following the hijacked ship since it was spotted thursday. the pirates tried camouflage the ship by painting over its name. officials are still searching for them. >> back here in charlston, south carolina, as you can imagine,

there is a great deal of pain and grief in this commune oity but it is a place where people are trying to come together. when we first arrived here we saw a group of people residents who just joined and formed a prayer cirque pell. just talking to each other. trying to help each other cope. make sense of what happened inside this church a church that has a great deal of history in this commune oity in a city that has a great deal of significance when it comes to race relations and slavery for the matter of fact here in the united states a very important city, very important church. and the center of a deadly shooting, a mass shooting. we will continue to have more on this story here on cnn newsroom. we've been hearing a lot about hate crimes as we report from this city. from charlston. coming up, a look at how this type of crime is legally defined here in the united states. plus, the church massacre is putting the spotlight back on gun control laws in america. that debate continues. we'll have more next.

>> also, pope francis is take awning climate change urging the world to take note before it's too late. the pope's word also ahead here. great job! okay! here you go. good catch! alright, now for the best part. ooh, let's get those in the bowl. these are way too good to waste, right? [ male announcer ] share what you love with who you love. kellogg's frosted flakes. they're gr-r-reat!

welcome back to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm george howell in charlston, south carolina. >> i'm natalie allen at cnn center in atlanta. our coverage continue is now, george? >> natalie, thank you. this city, it is the center of a great deal of pain on this day. this church behind me, it became

the center after crime scene on wednesday night after a dwunman walked in, allegedly motivated by hate. that gunman 21-year-old dylann roof, the suspect captured thursday across the border in north carolina. then brought back here to charlston. police say he spent an hour at wednesday night's prayer meeting before killing nine worshippers in cold blood. authorities opened up a hate crimes investigation into this shoot ppg take a look at this. this is a still image from a very chilling snap chat video. it shows that bible study. it was shot by one of the victims before the violence unfolded. and you can see if you look closely, the suspect highlighted there in the corner. the impact of this attack, horrific, it is magnified when you consider where it happened. in this mother, mother emanuel ame church, a landmark in the united states, and its significance in this country has a great deal of importance when it comes to the struggle with

race relations. our tom foreman explains. >> reporter: located less than a mile from charlston's slave mark and established in 1816 deep in the slavery years, emanuel has always been more than a place of worship as the oldest african methodist episcopal church in the south pf 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 no are equality even as white pr supremacists were still hoisting their own crosses.

>> people like douglas and tubman and parks belonged to it. it was about civil rights and human rights. >> the church has been our freedom house. >> dean at howard university school of divinity says emanuel led wait forsome black churches by being a place where african-american politicians, leaders, organizers, teachers and more could find acceptance when they were barred by so much of america. >> you know you will come there unfiltered. you will come there without recrimination made against you. no matter of the disparages of the larger social order, you come here and can you learn how to be as fully human as you are. >> that's what emanuel meant to you. >> yes, absolutely. part of that means the affirming of every single person who comes inside our doors and those who are within the communities around us. t