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Prayer, Healing In Charleston, S.C., Following Shooting; Confessed Shoot Dylann Roof Wanted to Start Race War; Greece Presents New Proposal Hoping to Avoid Default; New Strategy May Be Working Against ISIS; Heat Wave Kills At Least 140 in Karachi, Pakistan. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired June 21, 2015 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:18] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: A community galvanizes in the face of a tragedy, from moving church services to a unity walk. We'll have the latest from Charleston as it tries to heal from the murder of nine innocent people.

A new lead in the weeks-long manhunt for two escaped inmates takes New York police back towards the prison.

And not since Tiger Woods has a player won the first two golf majors of the year. More on Jordan Spieth's nail-biting victory in the U.S. Open.

Hello, and welcome to viewers all around the United States and around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. Thanks for joining us. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

It was a day of unity, prayer and healing in the city of Charleston, South Carolina, the first Sunday since the massacre at the Emanuel AME Church. Nine people died in the gunfire. At sunset on Sunday, thousands of people marched across Charleston's longest bridge. It was meant as a show of support and solidarity. Sunday morning, it was standing-room only inside the church, known as Mother Emanuel. In the very building where that shooting took place, the acting pastor gave a sermon about resolve.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REV. NORVEL GOFF, ACTING PASTOR, EMANUEL AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH: The blood of the Mother Emanuel nine requires us to work until not only justice in this case but for those who are still living in the margin of life, those who are less fortunate than ourselves. That we stay on the battlefield until there is no more fight to be fought.

(SINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Powerful words and resolve in the face of hate. And outside the church, people gathered to sing and pray. They also left behind notes and flowers.

CNN's Nick Valencia has more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(SINGING)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Today was just another example of this community's integrity and grace dealing with extraordinary circumstances in stride. We saw hundreds fill the pews of Emanuel AME Church. Outside, more of the same. Hundreds brave the heat to come out to show their respect, pay some respect to the nine innocent lives who were lost.

Let me show you what we mean. This makeshift memorial started as a bundle of flowers at the corner behind the crime scene tape. As soon as that street was opened up, this is what happened. You saw people come from all over, not just here in South Carolina but all across the United States.

We spoke to a couple who came from as far away as France to pay their respects to what happened on Wednesday night.

UNIDENTIFIED FRENCH CITIZEN: We are here to join the people of this church and the United States to give praise to God to welcome those people who are now with him. And we know that only love can drive out darkness. Only love can drive out hate. That's why we are here. No matter where we came from we have just to keep praying and ask for God healing.

UNIDENTIFIED FRENCH CITIZEN: We're praying for the pastor who passed away and all of the members. For us, it's very touching and that's what we're here for. And I hope that God will bless them and the family members as well.

VALENCIA: The messages of healing apparent. People have written messages here, saying, "Love wins, hate will not conquer. "RIP to those victims."

And these conversations have just begun. The hope here in this community is that this unity that is so apparent here, that it doesn't just last for the day, that this continues to be something that people talk about long after the cameras leave. There is a lot of healing still yet to be done but the conversations here are just beginning.

Nick Valencia, CNN, Charleston, South Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: 21-year-old Dylann Roof has confessed to the shootings. He reportedly told authorities he wanted to start a race war. Investigators are looking at a racist manifesto posted on his website.

CNN's Alina Machado has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[02:05:00] ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even though that manifesto surfaced online over the weekend, the focus in Charleston remains those nine lives lost in this terrible tragedy.

The manifesto is about 2,000 words long and it has inflammatory language about blacks and also other minorities. The manifesto was published on a website registered to Dylann Roof and it talks about a possible turning point, citing the Trayvon Martin case as a catalyst for change with Roof, and perhaps what fuelled what happened. And also it talked about why Charleston was chosen as a target. I want to read part of it to you. The manifesto says, it ends with, "I have no choice. I am not in a position to alone go into the ghetto and fight. I chose Charleston because it is the most historic city in my state. And at one time, it had the highest ratio of blacks to whites in the country. We have no skinhead, no real KKK, no one doing anything but talking on the Internet. Well, someone has to have the bravery to take it to the real world. I guess that has to be me."

CNN has not been able to independently confirm that Dylann Roof was the author of that manifesto. But it was again registered to a website that was registered to him. We know that the FBI is carefully looking at that document. (END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Now to another story we are watching closely. Hundreds of police are combing an area around a maximum security prison right now, in fact, trying to find two killers who escaped more than two weeks ago. Police have not said what made them shift their focus to Franklin County, New York, but that is where they are searching for Richard Matt and David Sweat. It is 47 miles west of the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora. Police set up this command post in a town called Owl's Head and are using all-terrain vehicles to get around. Owl's Head is a popular hiking area in the mountains there. Tactical response units from neighboring Vermont are also helping. Meanwhile, officers wrapped up their operation in southwestern New York a few hours ago after being led there on what a source called a credible tip. And we will continue to watch that story and bring you the updates.

But now to a decisive moment in Greece's long-running financial crisis. An emergency summit gets underway in Brussels and it could determine Greece's future in the Eurozone. Over the weekend, the prime minister presented a new proposal to the country's creditors in the hopes of avoiding a default on its debts.

I want to bring in Michael Jacobides, from the London Business School for more on this, and he joins us live from Green.

I want to thank you for joining us. I hope I pronounced your name correctly.

MICHAEL JACOBIDES, LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL: All eyes of course will be on this E.U. summit Monday with the focus on the Greek debt crisis. We are seeing a reluctance on the part of the Greek government and its people to cut spending. What could happen if Greece rejects --

(CROSSTALK)

CHURCH: --- if Greece rejects the austerity measures and if this new proposal from Greece fails to avoid default?

MICHAEL JACOBIDES, LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL: You will allow me to separate two things, what happens in terms of the government and what happens in terms of the people. I don't think we should generalize from one to the other. The government was elected on the basis of two contradictory pledges. On one hand, they said they will end austerity but continue spending. On the other hand, they said it will continue to be in the Euro. Obviously, the partners agreed but they can't have it both ways. They would either accept continue supporting the Greek government if it undertakes some measures or they would allow it to drop out of the Eurozone, which is a very veiled threat in the beginning but became something that was a real possibility, that is a real possibility for today. The vast majority of the Greek people want to stay in the Eurozone. If you look at the polls around 80 percent of the people want to keep the Euro and a majority that would accept even a painful deal. The government, that is a different story. The government has backed itself into a corner by trying to push a fairly straight forward populous agenda of being really tough. And even if it wins the negotiations, in the sense of winning concessions from E.U. partners, the economy has worsened as a result of both being badly run and also as a result of the lack of collection of taxes that today's measures are going to be much tougher than the ones that made it topple the previous government.

CHURCH: So what do we know about this new deal that the Greek government is proposing. How far might it go, do you think?

[02:10:08] JACOBIDES: Well, it's quite clear that they have created this partly because they went on an agenda that said that we will rock the establishment and promised the world that the partners of Greece would not accept. Even if they wanted to take a deal, they probably feel that they have to come to the absolute last moment so that they showed tht they have made right on their own pledges. You also have to remember the government is very fractious. It has people that are on the far left, who may vote down any deal that comes. So Greece is very likely to have dramatic political changes even if a deal is taken. It is unlikely that the government will continue with a deal as is with a deal we think is being discussed in Brussels.

So possibility one, we have a deal and we have political turmoil in Athens. Possibility two is bad for all involved. But given its politics, the government may feel if it in a corner that it needs to defend. We hope that some agreement will happen. If it doesn't, it is going to be bad for the Euro group and bad for Greece primarily, but something that is bad for everyone is unfortunately not a guarantee for a deal that will be made. It's not just rational, it is politics. It's not normal government. It's a government of people who don't have experience as politicians and a government of activists. No one in the government, including the prime minister, has had any experience in being the government. The only one is the deputy prime minister, who 25 years ago, was a deputy minister. And very few have had any working experience. You see all of this pushing around that you would expect other people with this background. It may backfire.

CHURCH: We will be watching very closely to see what comes out of this summit.

Thank you for joining us, Michael Jacobides, joining us from Greece. Many thanks to you.

JACOBIDES: Thank you.

CHURCH: Well, two more people have died from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. South Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare reported the latest MERs deaths. That brings the death toll to 27. Officials also confirmed three new cases bringing the total number of confirmed cases now to 172.

A UNESCO site under militant threat. Still ahead, what ISIS has done in Syria's ancient city of Palmyra and how the coalition may have a strategy to defeat them.

Plus, a deadly heat wave hits Pakistan while many in the region are fasting during Ramadan. The details, that's next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:16:50] Welcome back, everyone. The Syria Observatory for Human Rights says ISIS militants have planted mines and bombs in the ancient part of the Syrian city of Palmyra. The group says it is unclear whether the militants plan to destroy the Roman-era ruins or keep government troops from advancing. ISIS took over the city last month. Palmyra is a UNESCO world heritage site.

Over the past year, ISIS militants have proven to be tenacious fighters but a new coalition strategy against them might be working. Kurdish fighters recently recaptured the strategic border town of Tal Abyad.

CNN's Arwa Damon was among the first journalists to visit the liberated city. This week, we will bring you exclusive reports on how the victory there could be the blueprint for defeating ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Even members of the YPG, the fighting force we were speaking to, were expressing how surprised they were at how quickly they were able to move through such vital terrain.

(voice-over): For two years, ISIS reigned with impunity over this rural landscape, a vital frontier to defend and supply the stronghold of Raqqa. Now, beaten back.

(on camera): There was a coalition air strike he was just saying, on that side of this underground tunnel that goes around the entire village. ISIS had moved into this particular area about two years ago. This obviously dug out with heavily machinery about three feet, three inches, a meter wide, and pretty high as well. And then you can see the metal ceiling, roof, that was put into it, running throughout.

ISIS's tunnel is fairly crude but still highly effective when it comes to giving them freedom of movement throughout the entire area.

This is the road that runs parallel to the Turkish border, and berms like this one cut it off completely. This is one of ISIS's defenses they had put into place.

What Arman (ph) is saying is that the air strikes that happened here were key. They took place just a few days before forces advanced into Mambruka (ph), and they were highly effective.

(voice-over): In just four weeks, the air strikes allowed the YPG to advance 80 kilometers, 50 miles, taking over key territory, including the town of Tal Abyad and the border crossing, cutting off one of the main ISIS supply routes.

"When the coalition against ISIS was formed, we were the only force that was committed in the fight against ISIS, the commander said. "The coalition saw this and coordinated with us."

He won't disclose specifics.

Here, the U.S. can say that its strategy has delivered a blow to ISIS. But the battlefield is vast and the blueprint for success hardly easy to replicate.

(on camera): One of the biggest challenges that the U.S. and the coalition will face in trying to replicate this strategy, if that is even possible, is trying to find similarly reliable partners elsewhere on the ground in Syria and Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[02:20:41]CHURCH: Arwa Damon with that exclusive report.

Forcing ISIS out is, of course, one task. Recovering from their oppression is another. What residents told Arwa was shocking, describing a regime of terror where seemingly minor infractions bring harsh punishments, sometimes in cells such as these and often in public.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAMON: This is the first time in two years that cigarettes are being sold in the streets of Tal Abyad, this man was just saying. And this is the first shipment he brought in.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

DAMON: He is saying that there is a cage in the round-about down the street, that they would put people in for punishments for selling things like cigarettes.

(voice-over): We're taken to see it and told of the story of a man who spent three days here for playing cards, also banned.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And even that pales in comparison to what Arwa heard about the so-called round-about of death, another ISIS punishment. Her view inside Tal Abyad continues tomorrow only here on CNN.

A heat wave in Pakistan's largest city, Karachi, has killed at least 140 people. That is according to Pakistani affiliate, Geo TV. On Saturday, temperatures reached 48 degrees Celsius, or 113 degrees Fahrenheit, the highest recorded temperature in Pakistan in 15 years. Temperatures are expected to drop to the mid- to upper-30s by midweek.

And we want to get more on the sweltering conditions. Our Pedram Javaheri joins us now.

Extraordinary to look at those temperatures with no relief. But there will be relief midweek. But, I mean, there's nothing people can do.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: These temperatures are hot but it's not just that. We are seeing Ramadan in observance right now, over a billion people around the world, mainly a lot across portions of Pakistan, dealing with these extreme conditions. But you think about this, for the first time in 25 to 30 years we are seeing Ramadan coincide with the summer solstice, which means the longest day of the year. So on Sunday, across the northern hemisphere, portions of Pakistan had sunrise at 5:00 in the morning and sunset at 7:00 in the evening and temperatures at sunrise were 35 Celsius, or 95 Fahrenheit. That's the coolest temperature you have. And you can't drink. And the temperatures climb up into the 40s. It's incredible and fatalities have taken place with the extreme heat.

I'll show you everything here because Ramadan and the observance is based on the lunar calendar. Every year it begins some 10 to 11 days earlier. You put in the summer solstice and daylight increased several minutes every day leading up to Sunday morning. This pattern sets you up for warmer temperatures and longer days.

Think about this, portions of Pakistan, it's humid and hot. Your body can cool itself off. When it's dry and you sweat, the moisture evaporates and your body cools off efficiently. When it's humid, as we see across portions of Pakistan, sweat just sits on top of your skin and it doesn't help much when it comes to the cooling of your body. You take a look, as we head out of June into July some of the hottest temperatures are in that region. And Pakistan sees it earlier in the season. It's the pre-monsoon heat that builds over the area. So 44.8 on Saturday. It cooled a little. Still about 10 above average. And the hottest temperature of all time, in the upper 40s back in 1938. Factor in the humidity, 58 degrees Celsius across portions of Pakistan, that is 136 degrees Fahrenheit, with the humidity. And that is what your body is feeling.

Back over towards areas in India, the heat has subsided and the rainfall in that region and that is beneficial after, about a month ago, over a thousand lives were lost because of the monsoons being delayed. Now they have caught up to Indian but now, of course, are pushed back into Pakistan. So rainfall hopefully in the coming weeks will cool us off as well. CHURCH: And we see the extreme temperatures. And then in other parts

of the world, people are soaking and in knee deep high in water.

JAVAHERI: Mother Nature has to find a way to balance itself. If you have extreme temperatures in one place, you will have another extreme weather element. That's how the pressure -- we talk about high and low pressure -- there is always a balancing point. If you have extreme at one end, you have another extreme in the other direction.

CHURCH: Talk about extremes.

JAVAHERI: Talk about it a lot, yeah.

[02:25:12] CHURCH: Pedram, always a pleasure. Talk to you soon.

We are following breaking news out of Afghanistan where a loud exPLOsion and gunfire were heard outside the Afghan parliament in Kabul. That's according to media reports. Right now, it's not clear what caused that blast or if anyone was hurt. Reuters reports the blast happened during a live TV broadcast and lawmakers were seen leaving the building. That's all we know at this point. We will keep you abreast of new details that come into us and share them with you.

A church, a city, and a community come to terms with a mass shooting. Ahead, leaders in Charleston, South Carolina, speak out on healing, faith, and gun laws.

Plus, man's best friend is finding more allies in the fight against China's Dog Meat Festival.

Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. We want to update you on our top stories this hour.

In Afghanistan, we are getting reports of a loud explosion and gunfire outside the Afghan parliament in Kabul. It's not clear what caused that blast or if anyone was hurt at this point. Reuters reports the blast happened during a live TV broadcast and lawmakers were seen leaving the building.

[02:30:05] In Charleston, South Carolina, crowds of supporters gathered outside the Emanuel AME Church in a show of support. People sang, prayed and left flowers.