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South Carolina Church Shooting Suspect Arrested; Church Member Recounts Her Friend's Ordeal; Racism And Guns: A Lethal Combination In America; Charleston: A City In Mourning; New York Fugitives Go On Most Wanted List; ISIS Leaves Its Mark On Tal Abyad; Church Has Rich Civil Rights History; Greek Prime Minister Confident Of Debt Solution; The Moral Case On Climate Change; Remembering The Victims. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired June 18, 2015 - 03:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: 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.

NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: 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.

HOWELL: Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm George Howell live in Charlston, South Carolina.

ALLEN: I'm Natalie Allen at CNN Center in Atlanta. And this is CNN NEWSROOM.

HOWELL: Welcome. We begin here in the city o of Charleston. This is a city that is struggling to cope with a devastating loss and it all happened behind me, inside a church building. Its members welcomed a stranger inside 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.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL (voice-over): The accused killer in the Charleston church massacre caught more than 200 miles from the crime scene in Shelby, North Carolina. The 21-year-old Dylann Roof waived extradition and seen here wearing prison stripes flown back to South Carolina to face charges for cold blooded murders allegedly motivated by hate.

JOSEPH P. RILEY JR., CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA MAYOR: A terrible human being who would go into a place of worship where people were praying and kill them is now in custody where he will always remain. HOWELL: This video from a Snapshat shows the bible study session Wednesday night taken by one of the victims, 26-year-old Tywanza Sanders from inside the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Captured just before the shooting, 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.

UNIDENTIFIED OFFICER (via telephone): EMS command page advising of an active shooter multiple people down.

HOWELL: 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 you have to go." The gruesome mass shooting at this historic black church more affectionately known as Mother Emanuel AME Church is now being investigated as a hate crime.

LORETTA LYNCH, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: Acts like this have no place in our country and no place in a civilized society.

HOWELL: Among those killed the church's pastor and state senator, Reverend Clementa Pinckney. Witnesses say he was preaching when he was shot and killed. Mourners drape the black cloth over his seat in the legislature.

TODD RUTHERFORD, SOUTH CAROLINA STATE LEGISLATOR: This is someone that should be revered and respected and all of us want answers. We want know why this young man chose this church, why he chose Senator Pinckney.

HOWELL: Three worshippers inside the church got out alive, a 5-year- old boy who reportedly 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.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: 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.

HOWELL: And in South Carolina, the state's governor gave voice to this community's grief.

NIKKI HALEY, SOUTH CAROLINA GOVERNOR: We woke up today and the heart and soul of South Carolina was broken.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[03:05:03] HOWELL: 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 Charleston, South Carolina. He arrived at North Charleston Detention Center late Thursday after his arrest in Shelby, North Carolina.

Investigators are trying to gather more information about him. They 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, who was killed in this attack. A close friend of Johnson's survived and Johnson talked with CNN's Anderson Cooper about what her friend witnessed, listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[05:35:05] SYLVIA JOHNSON, COUSIN OF REV. CLEMENTA PINCKNEY: What I heard is after shooting a couple rounds, her son tried to talk him into not committing anymore murder. He tried to talk him down. And her son and grand baby had already planned that they were going to just act as though 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.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "AC 360": You have raped our women and taking over the country?

JOHNSON: I have to do what I have to do and he shot the young man, his mother was there. She witnessed -- she pretended as though she was dead, that she was shot and dead, but she watched her son fall and laid there. She laid there in his blood.

COOPER: She laid there in his blood?

JOHNSON: Yes, she did. Her entire dress was drenched in blood. She said that's my son's blood. He was a good boy. He was a good boy.

COOPER: And he passed?

JOHNSON: And he passed, him along with one of her aunts.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: She laid there in his blood, I mean, it's just chilling to think about what happened inside this church. The shooting here is also touched the U.S. president, 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 legal analyst, Sunny Hostin, and former South Carolina state representative, Bakari Sellers, about their views on this debate. Here's what they had to say. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: 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.

HOWELL: Sunny, from a legal perspective, Dylann Roof will be coming back here in this state where he will face killings. This state has a death penalty. Do you see this as a case that would be death penalty case?

HOSTIN: I think there's no question about it. I think this case begs for the death penalty. And even those that are 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, Bakari was telling me it is just 1 out of 5 in the United States 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.

HOWELL: Bakari, 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, but also around the United States?

BAKARI SELLERS, FORMER SOUTH CAROLINA STATE REPRESENTATIVE: Well, those are two vastly different questions. Let me answer the first one about race relations and I can paint a picture. Today the American flag in front of the capitol fly at half-staff, the South Carolina flag flies at half-staff, but the confederate flag flies as high as it ever did.

[03:10:10] So that should tell you the image that's portrayed here in South Carolina, but nationwide, there's a generation of people that is very tired, very weary. This is not new. I mean, this is the same line for me as Trayvon Martin. This is the same line as Mike Brown. Same line as Eric Gardner and Tamir Rice and the young woman who actually had a police officer sit on her back while she was swimming.

And you know, this is not new for us. This is a larger discussion that has to be had 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 that's necessary so we can kind of bridge some of our differences and begin to have some substances and some changes in our policy positions.

HOSTIN: And I think that many people -- the debate is going on as to whether this should be classified as domestic terrorism. And I think we should also be comfortable with having that debate and having that discussion. I think if you look at federal law, George and Bakari knows this as well, I think this is clearly an act of domestic terrorism meant to intimidate a group of people, a population of African-Americans. Maybe we need to talk about that this is domestic terrorism, call it what it is and what do we do about it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: And the attack is, of course, devastated the community of Charleston. Earlier, CNN's Anderson Cooper spoke with Charleston's mayor about the mood in his city right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RILEY JR.: it is heart breaking. And the pain that families feel and the community feels, the enormous outpouring of love and support from this community has been extraordinary. Today, there were prayer vigils all over the community. Interfaith community meetings and services, and we created a fund midmorning announced so people could have something to do to help. Calls started flooding and contributions they wanted to make and this is really --

COOPER: Calls for the families of the victims.

RILEY JR.: For the victims and for the church that lost his pastor. Heart break throughout the community, for the historic Emanuel AME Church and to have a broken heart by 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Our coverage continues here on CNN NEWSROOM live from Charleston, South Carolina include an in-depth look at this historic church. It's a place of worship that was turned into a chaotic scene of massacre.

ALLEN: Also ahead here, Greece, 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.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOWELL: 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 Charleston church shooting.

Welcome back to CNN Newsroom. I'm George Howell live here in Charleston, South Carolina. We will have the latest on the shooting coming up. But first let's get back to CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. My colleague, Natalie Allen, has a check of other stories making headlines this day -- Natalie.

ALLEN: Thank you, George. Two missing prisoners are now on the U.S. Marshall'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 to 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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Does Lyle believed that his wife was the only employee inside that prison who may have been helping with these escape plans?

PETER DUMAS, ATTORNEY FOR LYLE MITCHELL: 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: 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 leveled off.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KWON DEOK-CHEOI, ASSISTANT MINISTER OF HEALTH CARE POLICY, SOUTH KOREA (through translator): Given the current developments, we have judged that it has leveled off. But we need to monitor for any further spread, further cases, from the so-called intensive controlled hospitals.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: 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 can now return home to their town of Tal-Abyad after Kurdish fighters liberated it from ISIS. The town was strategic for ISIS militants in order to carry supplies into Turkey.

[03:20:04] CNN's senior international correspondent, Arwa Damon traveled there to see what ISIS left behind.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This was 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 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 Koran. In these 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 guarantee to the 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 is laid claim to them marking them with state.

Most of them did belong to Abyad's Kurdish population. There were 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.

People relieved at this stage that not that much damage has been done to Tal Abyad, but many of them have yet to return. Arwa Damon, CNN, Tal Abyad, Syria.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: 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 helicopters were following the hijacked ship since it was spotted Thursday. The pirates tried camouflage the ship by painting over its name. They fled in a lifeboat overnight. Officials are still searching for them.

HOWELL: Back here in Charleston, South Carolina, as you can imagine, there is a great deal of pain and grief in this community, 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 circle, just talking to each other, trying to help each other cope, to try to make sense of what happened inside this church, a church that has a great deal of history in this community.

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 Charleston. 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.

ALLEN: Also, Pope Francis is taking on climate change urging the world to take note before it's too late. The pope's word also ahead here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOWELL: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm George Howell live in Charleston, South Carolina.

ALLEN: I'm Natalie Allen at CNN Center in Atlanta. Our coverage of the shooting massacre in Charleston continues now -- George.

HOWELL: 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 gunman 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 Charleston.

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 shooting and then take a look at this. This is a still image from a very chilling Snapchat 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 Emanuel AME church is 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.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Located less than a mile from Charleston'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 African Methodist Episcopal Church in the south, 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 runaway slaves were secretly helped on their perilous journey north. Here Martin Luther King Jr. invited new generations to march for equality even as white supremacists were still hoisting their own crosses. Through it all, Emanuel has been a leading force for AME churches and outspoken leaders.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People like Frederick Douglas, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks belonged to it and the AME church is always about human rights and civil rights.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The black church has always been our freedom house.

[03:30:07] FOREMAN: Alton Pollard is a dean at the Howard University School of Divinity, and he says Emanuel led the way for so many black churches by being a place where African-American politicians, leaders, organizers, teachers and more could find acceptance when they were barred from so much of America.

ALTON POLLARD III, DEAN, HOWARD UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY: You know that you will come there unfiltered. You will come there without recrimination made against you so no matter the disparages of the largest social order, you can come here and you learn to be as fully human as you are.

FOREMAN (on camera): That's what Emanuel meant to you.

POLLARD: 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.

FOREMAN: Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: So as we have been reporting, a hate crime investigation is now under way. The U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch made that clear in her announcement on Thursday. So it now raises the question, just what is the legal definition of a hate crime in this country. CNN's senior analyst, Jeffrey Toobin lays it all out for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: It illegal, obviously, to kill someone, but what Congress and the state legislation have decided it's actually more harmful to society when you commit an illegal act, like a homicide, with harmful negative racial intent.

The key issue with hate crimes intent, in normal homicide all you have to show is that Person A shot and killed Person B. But what makes a hate crime different is that you have to show why Person A shot Person B and you have to prove that there was some sort of racial hostility, racial animus at the root of it.

Terrorism can be a hate crime as well, but not all hate crimes are terrorism. Terrorism is meant to threaten a large group of people. You can have a hate crime that is essentially just a one on one. So they are overlapping categories but not exactly the same.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Jeffrey Toobin there explaining that. There's some new images of this alleged killer circulating online and they are sparking renewed debate over a very old conversation in this part of the world, the confederate flag here in South Carolina.

This photo shows Dylann Roof sitting on a car with a license plate that says confederate states of America. Many associate that flag with slavery during the civil war yet in South Carolina a confederate battle flag remains flying at the state house.

Earlier CNN asked a U.S. congressman from South Carolina if a change needs to be made after this alleged hate crime. Mark Sanford declined to weigh in saying, quote, "for some folk the flag represents heritage. For others of us it represents hate."

He said now it is not the time to discuss the confederate flag debate, but instead it's time to mourn.

ALLEN: Earlier I spoke with CNN law enforcement analyst and former assistant director at FBI, Tom Fuentes, while the massacre appears to be racially motivated, I asked him about other possible motives for murder like fame and whether this crime might be classified as a form of domestic terrorism.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Take it from the mind of someone like this that would want fame from something like killing nine people in cold blood. He is so very young, but there were signs from his personality that shows signs of trouble.

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: We see so many different possibilities for him in terms of the motivation to do it. Obviously one we say OK, he hates black people and that's why he committed this crime at this time and place at a church like that.

But you know, a lot of times the people that want to kill others are looking for a celebrity. Someone that want to assassinate the president of the United States or another world leader or the assassination of John Lennon, for example, and other celebrities from movies or music.

And you know, so we've seen that. We've seen celebrities that have been stalked. We have seen people go into the theaters and do mass shootings of people there. And of course, here in this country, the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary a couple years ago senseless slaughter of 5-year-old children by an individual with an assault rifle.

So we see a variety of these cases, of people with some degree of mental illness and then of course, in addition that, having access to guns. ALLEN: Yes. Absolutely. And the Sandy Hook shooting did not have an effect of changing any laws as far as gun control goes. Let's talk about the fact that officials call this, Tom, a hate crime.

[03:35:07] But actually in South Carolina, there isn't a hate crime statute, is that correct?

FUENTES: That's true. In this case, the exposure he has legally in South Carolina from state law is the nine murders he committed and any other related offenses to that, the hate crime statute that could be applied and probably won't because it carries a lesser penalty, would be a federal hate crime statute.

A lot of people feel, think that FBI got involved in it because strictly because of the hate crime possibility. But actually, the FBI helped local law enforcement any time they request it. When an event happens like this happens in the beginning, it could be a loner that's doing it because he is mentally deranged and wants to do it.

But in this case, the chief of police reported that the head of the FBI in South Carolina called him as he was driving to the scene of the shooting. So the FBI was involved in this literally from the first minute of the investigation.

Just to provide assistance or in case it turned to be out an act of domestic terrorism, it turns out that this individual had been a member of a white hate group in the United States, one of the many domestic terrorist groups that we have from Ku Klux Klan to Aryan Brotherhood, to Neo-Nazi groups, Neo-Confederate groups.

So if it turned out that he was part of something like that, it could still be a federal crime and a federal prosecution for terrorism.

ALLEN: We'll wait and see. Tom Fuentes, thank you so much for your time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: U.S. President Barack Obama is calling the massacre that happened inside this church a tragedy and he is also urging the country to revive the debate over gun control in the United States. Listen as he addresses the media earlier about this divisive issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I've today make statements like this too many times. Communities like this have had to endure tragedies like this too many times. We don't have all the facts, but we do know that once again innocent people were killed in part because someone who wanted to inflict harm had no trouble getting their hands on a gun.

At some point, we, as a country, will have to reckon with the fact that this type of violence doesn't happen in other advanced countries. It doesn't happen in other places with this kind of frequency.

And it is in our power do something about it. I say that recognizing the politics in this town, for close a lot of those avenues right now. But it would be wrong for us not to acknowledge it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: The president earlier today or yesterday at this point. We want to bring you another story that we're developing from Greece. Greece's prime minister says there will be a solution to his country's debt crisis.

In a statement released about an hour ago, Alexis Tsipras says Greece will return to growth while staying in the Eurozone. His comments come just a day after debt bailout talks with European leaders failed to produce a deal.

Elinda Labropoulou has been following these developing stories. She joins me from Athens with more. Why this sudden burst of optimism, Elinda?

ELINDA LABROPOULOU, JOURNALIST: There seems to be a need for optimism in Athens today, which is why Mr. Tsipras probably made this statement this morning. From what we've been hearing is that a lot of money has been leaving Greek banks. As a result, the prime minister probably felt he needs to tone down all of these arguments that we've been hearing recently and also pacify Greek people about what's happening.

The same has been happening on Greek media that we have been monitoring all morning. There have been anchors and journalists telling people, well, explaining what a bank run would mean.

All of this at the same time that we've been hearing that Greece has asked the European Central Bank to look into upgrading or giving more money into the ELA, the emergency liquidity funding that has been providing to Greece.

This is not confirmed yet, but it's something that's been widely circulated here. Also time really is running out. So this by now is probably Greece's last chance before the end of the month to strike a deal.

And I think what the prime minister did with his sentence is indicate that Greece is really ready to compromise as everyone had expected that it will at some point.

ALLEN: And Elinda, with people flocking to ATMs to withdraw money, can Greece's financial system withstand this?

[03:40:09] LABROPOULOU: Well, if people do start running to ATMs and withdrawing more and more money the truth is that no, Greece's system would in fact collapse, which is why time is so much of essence. We have been hearing about possible capital controls.

This is again something that we cannot confirm, but again what the Greek government is trying to do is try to tell people to stay calm that a solution is near, that there will be a deal that it will be positive for Greece and will keep the country in the euro.

And just days ago, we had several polls indicating that the Greeks believe there will be a deal. A last-minute deal, but a deal all the time with 9 of 10 Greeks saying a deal would be struck and 7 of 10 saying it is probably not going to be a great deal for Greece.

ALLEN: Elinda Labropoulou, thank you for bringing us the latest.

Pope Francis releases a controversial document on climate change and he is pointing the finger at humans for being so wasteful. We will give you the details after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: Throwing the full weight of the Catholic Church into saving our planet, Pope Francis says humanity has a moral imperative to care and act now warning that dooms day predictions about climate change can no longer be met with irony or disdain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE FRANCIS (through translator): This is our home. It is being ruined and damaged and it is affecting all of us especially the poor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: The planet, the pope said, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth. His message comes as an encyclical which is literally a circular to be distributed to priests and the more than 1 billion Catholics around the world.

Drawing directly on the teachings of his namesake, the pope says, St. Francis of Assisi taught us to care for all creation.

[03:45:02] "We are not God," he writes, "We must forcefully reject the notion that our being created in God's image and given dominion over the earth justifies absolute domination over other creatures."

While promising he is not recommending a return to the Stone Age, the pope is calling for a lifestyle revolution away from the cult of capitalist consumerism an take a swipe at modern day progress saying, "Our immense technological development has not been accompanied by a development in human responsibility values and conscience."

Here to talk about some of the signs of our changing planet is our meteorologist, Derek Van Dam. You got admit, the pope makes some good points about our wastefulness. There are some simple things we can all do to help protect.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, poignant facts from the pope and some big statements with a lot of weight behind them as well. Evidence continues to mount up, Natalie.

First, since the year 2000, our oceans absorbing more and more of the CO2 from fossil fuels that we burn every single day. That continues to create more acidity in our oceans as well impacting some of the marine life as well.

So what do we look for? As climatologist, meteorologist and people who study climate for a living to give us this indicator that our climate is changing and our earth is warming. We look at extreme weather events.

Not that we have extreme coastal drought, heavy rain, coastal flooding, and heat waves before, it's just that they are becoming more severe and more frequent.

Take for instance, this year's heat wave killing thousands in India and also think about the ongoing drought in California and Brazil. It's all thanks to the heat trapping greenhouse gasses, Co2.

This time, reaching measurement values, 400 parts per million, something that the world has not seen for 800,000 years and what is it doing? Well, it's warming our planet. Think about the duvet getting thicker and thicker around the earth's surface allowing us to become warmer and warmer and warmer releasing more heat-trapping gasses into the atmosphere.

This is impacting the poor in a very disproportionate way. We have 20 of the most at risk countries plotted on this particular map. This is extreme weather. But interesting to note is that 15 of these countries are considered lower income countries.

What we are experiencing here is as we become more and more vulnerable, the more people we have living closer to coast lines for instance, the capacity for us or that low income economy, to adopt and change to climate, it becomes more and more difficult and that will continue to marginalize the poor.

Even a slight shift can create even a new idea or new idea of poverty that we haven't seen or experienced before across the planet. In fact, 97 percent of displaced individuals thanks to well in fact Mother Nature in this phenomenon is in countries including Asia and Africa.

Sea level rise in India is a major concern, Bangladesh, the Philippines, anywhere with large coastal areas including China. We look at population estimates going forward into 2050 and we have millions and millions more people that will put themselves in the way of danger, rising sea levels, drought, heavy rain, tropical storms, typhoons.

And again, it all comes down to human-induced climate change and that's what the pope was revealing in encyclical.

ALLEN: Wasn't last year one of the warmest or the warmest year?

VAN DAM: The 2014 was the warmest year on record. The 2015 could easily break that.

ALLEN: Yes, today, right with it.

VAN DAM: Sure.

ALLEN: All right.

VAN DAM: It's an urgent matter.

ALLEN: Yes, a science is a science. Derek, thank you. People across the world are mourning the loss of nine church goers, innocent victims killed inside a historic church as coverage continues here on CNN NEWSROOM, we remember the people who lost their lives.

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HOWELL: Back here live in Charleston, South Carolina. This is a community in shock and disbelief, mourning the loss of nine of its own, nine church goers who were innocent victims, all gunned down inside Emanuel AME Church, six women and three men between the ages of 26 and 87 years old. As our Anderson Coopers shows us they all shared a love of their faith.

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ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Reverend Clementa Pinckney, leader at the Emanuel AME Church was well known in Charleston, not only as a religious leader, but also a state senator. He became a pastor at age 18 and was elected into state office at age 23, making him the youngest African-American state legislator in the history of South Carolina.

Friends remember him as a gentle man with a strong voice recognizable to all who knew him. Reverend Pinckney spoke out after the shooting of Walter Scott by a police officer in North Charleston and pushed for legislation requiring police officers to wear body cameras.

REVEREND CLEMENTA PINKCNEY: It has really created a real heartache and a yearning for justice. People, and not just in the African- American community, but for all people.

COOPER: Today his desk at the state senate remains empty, draped in black. Clementa Pinckney was 41 years old.

Tywanza Sanders was participating in bible study on Wednesday night, a recent graduate from Allen University, he was known as a quiet student who was committed to his education and to his church.

[03:55:14] Sharonda Singleton was another reverend to the church, speech therapist and track and field coach at Goose Creek High School. Her son, Chris, posted this picture of the two of them on Mother's Day with the caption "Happy Mother's Day to my beautiful number one fan that has always been there when I needed her."

Cynthia Hurd worked in the Charleston County Library System, a manager of one of its busiest branches. She dedicated her life to helping people, especially helping them become educated.

Depayne Middleton-Doctor worked at Southern Wesleyan University. She also served at the church as a minister and leaves behind four daughters. Susie Jackson was at bible study with her cousin, Ethel, both of them long time members of the church. Ethel, a beloved grandmother worked for 30 years there, most recently as the janitor. Ethel was 70 years old. Susie was 87. Daniel Simmons was a retired pastor, who faithfully attended the church every Sunday for service and every Wednesday night for bible study.

Myra Thompson was teaching bible study at church when the gunman opened fire. She is described as person who loved the Lord and wanted to serve in everything she did. Anderson Cooper, CNN, Charleston.

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HOWELL: There is no doubt that this is a community that is hurting, but it is focused on healing, determined to unite. We thank you for watching this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell in Charleston, South Carolina.

ALLEN: I'm Natalie Allen. "EARLY START" is coming up for viewers in the United States and for viewers elsewhere around the world, stay with us for CNN NEWSROOM. Thank you for watching.

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