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New Lead in Escaped Convict Manhunt; Leading S.C. Figures Say Confederate Flag Must Go; AME Church Killers Wanted to Start Civil War; Greece Must Reach Deal Before Debt Deadline to Avoid Default; Samsung Medical Center Apologizes for Its Handling of South Korean MERS Outbreak; U.S. Accuses China of Security Breach Prior to China's D.C. Meeting; Iraq Battle Against ISIS Force Families to Flee; Obama Uses "N" Word When Talking Race Relations; Obama Trying to Make a Point Using "N" Word; Inside White Supremacist Movement; Chile Declares Environmental Emergency; Taylor Swift Takes on Apple, Wins. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired June 22, 2015 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:23] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Two weeks on the run may be coming to an end. There are new clues in the manhunt on the killers who escaped from a New York prison.
ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: Race in America. Politicians weigh in on controversial symbols, the very ugly past.
VAUSE: And what could be the worse hack every on the U.S. government was actually much worse than first thought.
ASHER: A warm welcome to all our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Zain Asher.
VAUSE: And I'm John Vause. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
ASHER: Want to update you on our main story this hour. A promising new lead in the search for those two escaped killers in upstate New York.
VAUSE: This is the best lead they've had so far. A law enforcement source has told CNN investigators found DNA from Richard Matt and David Sweat in a cabin near the Clinton Correctional Facility.
Jason Carroll has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Searchers calling it one of their strongest leads yet. Tests being run on materials found in a cabin in a wooded area less than 20 miles from the Clinton Correctional Facility. Sources tell CNN the DNA matches that of escaped cons, Richard Matt and David Sweat. State police are still cautious about the findings.
MAJ. CHARLES GUESS, NEW YORK STATE POLICE: We have recovered specific items and ordered them to the appropriate laboratories, but we are not prepared to release that evidence at this time. CARROLL: Search teams descended on the area. Roadblocks set up,
alerts put out, warning residents to be vigilant.
On Saturday, nearly 300 miles away, word of another possible sighting of the fugitives near New York/Pennsylvania border in the town of Friendship.
GUESS: We have conducted a thorough search that has now ended. We have declared that area clear.
CARROLL: Also becoming more clear, how the men gathered materials to make their escape.
(on camera): A source familiar with the investigation tells me investigators are looking at whether tools or other contraband was hidden inside frozen hamburger meat passed on to Matt about a week before the escape. That meat did not pass through a metal detector, which is a violation of prison policy.
(voice-over): Officials are also looking into whether Joyce Mitchell, a prison employee now facing charges for her role in the escape, may have convinced a guard to pass Matt the frozen meat. Several guards are now under investigation, including Gene Palmer, who worked on the so-called Honor Block where Matt and Sweat were housed. His attorney says Palmer did not know of any escape plans.
ANDREW BROCKWAY, ATTORNEY FOR GENE PALMER: Hindsight is 20/20. Right now, he sees things now that happened over the past year to two years that have opened up his eyes. He's a very proud individual. He thinks that he has information that will be helpful.
CARROLL: Palmer knew both inmates for several years. He accepted several paintings and drawings Matt made for him. Investigators questioned Palmer for nearly 14 hours Saturday.
BROCKWAY: Gene was extremely truthful and forthcoming. He wants these two individuals to be caught, and anything he can do to help law enforcement do their job, he's willing to cooperate.
CARROLL: Jason Carroll, CNN, Dannemora, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Police have been removing resources to Owl's Head New York. The area is sparsely populated and dotted with vacation cabins.
ASHER: The town's sheriff spoke with our Alexandra Field.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN MULVERHILL, SHERIFF, OWL'S HEAD, NEW YORK: Even in the area where we think they were last seen, it's very rough terrain. It's not easy to get to. It's not easy to traverse. There aren't any year- round residences. It's all seasonal residences in that particular area. And yesterday the weather was just totally against the detail and against those inmates as well. You know, heavy rain, heavy winds, it's just -- it's been a rough sled, so to speak. And I think the information that's come in the last 48-72 hours has been more credible since the escape.
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These are dangerous guys. If they're aware they've been spotted, their next moves could be very unpredictable. What's your take?
MULVERHILL: Well, we need the public's help. This is going to come down to -- we've thrown a lot of technology at this. We continue to throw technology at it. It's a tool to help narrow areas down and exclude areas, but it's coming down to good, solid police work and help from the public.
The public needs to contact us if they see anything out of the ordinary, down to clothes missing off the line and small things like a garden hose is out of place. It could very well be a clue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[01:05:16] ASHER: There are over 1,000 law enforcement officers in that area. Police are using helicopters, cruisers and all-terrain vehicles to search the area. Matt and Sweat escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility back on June 6th, a little over two weeks ago.
VAUSE: OK, we move on to South Carolina where leading figures there say it is time for the Confederate Flag to go. That comes in the wake of last week's massacre at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal, which is a historical black church.
ASHER: The flag has long flown at the capital. It is a piece of history, but for others, it represents division, hate, racism.
On Monday, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and other politicians called for the removal of the controversial flag from capital grounds.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NIKKI HALEY, (R), GOVERNOR OF SOUTH CAROLINA: 150 years after the end of the Civil War, the time has come. There will be some in our state who see this as a sad moment. I respect that. But know this, for good and for bad, whether it is on the state house grounds or in a museum, the flag will always be a part of the soil of South Carolina. But this is a moment in which we could say that that flag, while an integral part of our past, does not represent the future of our great state.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: And the Confederate Flag debate has a top lawmaker in Mississippi calling for changes to its state flag as well. The Confederate battle emblem is incorporated into the top left corner of the Mississippi flag. The state's speaker says it has become offensive and needs to be removed from the state flag.
VAUSE: Meanwhile, Walmart has told CNN it will stop selling Confederate flag merchandise in its stores and on its web site. Sears will stop selling products which bear the Confederate Flag.
ASHER: In the meantime, U.S. President Barack Obama is going to be traveling to Charleston, South Carolina, on Friday, where he will deliver the eulogy for Reverend Clementa Pinckney, one of the nine victims of last week's shooting.
VAUSE: The first lady and Joe Biden will also attend the funeral. At least one other victim is being laid to rest this week.
And President Obama spoke casually about race relations in a podcast interview. Here's part of what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (voice-over): And it's not just a matter of it not being polite to say "nigger" in public. That's not the measure of whether racism still exists or not. It's not just a matter of overt discrimination. We have -- societies don't overnight completely erase everything that happened 200 to 300 years prior.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: That interview got a lot of people talking. We'll have more on the reaction to the president's choice of words later on in the show.
VAUSE: Now the admitted killer in that shooting, Dylann Roof, says he shot the black worshipers because he wanted to spark a race war.
CNN's Ed Lavandera has more on the investigation into a manifesto which was posted on a website registered to the 21 year old.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Investigators tonight are looking into the motives for the murders and focusing on a 2,000- word racist rant posted on a website registered to Dylann Roof just hours before his deadly rampage.
The pictures accompanying the manifesto are alarming. He is seen burning an American flag, waving a Confederate Flag and posing with a .45 caliber Glock pistol, the same caliber gun, investigators say, that was used in the church shooting.
In the words he writes a pattern of anger and bigotry.
(SHOUTING)
LAVANDERA: Roof states the Trayvon Martin case triggered his decision to kill, writing, "It was obvious that Zimmerman was in the right, but more importantly, this prompted me to type in the words "black on white crimes" into Google and I have never been the same since." His hatred expands beyond African-Americans, to Hispanics and the Jewish community, stating, "Most Jews are always thinking about the fact that they are Jewish." He chose Charleston for his terrorist act because, "It is the most historic city in my state and at one time had the highest ratio of blacks to whites in the country. We have no skinheads, 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, and I guess that has to be me."
UNIDENTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: What is your age?
DYLANN ROOF, ALLEGED CHURCH GUNMAN: 21.
LAVANDERA: Roof is being held on a million dollar bond, awaiting his next court appearance for murder charges set for October.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Charleston, South Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: We take you now to Europe. Eurozone leaders met in Brussels Monday. They're trying to keep Greece from going into default next week. There's not deal yet, but a new proposal from Greece over the weekend has garnered cautious support from its international creditors.
[01:10:10] VAUSE: Greece must reach a deal for more bailout funds before its June 20th debt payment deadline to the IMF.
The president of the European Council says negotiations are at least headed in the right direction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TUSK, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN COUNCIL: Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has assured us of Greece's seriousness and willingness to work constructively. As the last hours have shown, we can see all parties fully committed to finding a solution. The new Greek proposals to the three institutions are a positive step forward, according to the initial institutions. They will be further assessed over the coming hours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: For more on Greece's debt crisis, I want to bring in Linda Lavapulou (ph), joining us live from Athens, Greece.
Linda, these Greek proposals have a lot of people being very optimistic, a lot of people talking, especially in increasing VAT taxes, the corporate taxes, taxes on the wealthy, but there are still some sticking points that remain. What are those sticking points?
LINDA LAVAPULOU (ph), JOURNALIST: There are many sticking points. We don't know all the details of what has been discussed. We know that Greece has given way that it's been, it's moved back from its red lines to deal with pensions. But we really don't know yet what Greece is likely to be getting back for these concessions, this whole idea of debt relief that Greece has been pushing forward for a very long time, and for many, it's the only thing that would make Greece's debt sustainable in the long run. We don't know what's likely to happen with that. So, on a local level, this is something that people are waiting to see. They're waiting to see what the whole package will bring. They realize that whatever the case, more austerity is coming their way. This is not something that the majority of people have voted for to begin with. But also, there is a clear mandate that Greece wants to stay in the Euro zone. It's what people support, and at least one in two Greeks have said they will do what it takes to achieve just that.
ASHER: Yeah, and of course, there's that fear about default and about the Grexit.
Linda Lavapulou (ph), thank you.
VAUSE: Sounded like the wolves in the background barking in Greece.
(LAUGHTER)
ASHER: Barking.
ASHER: We'll take a quick break here. When we come back, a U.S. government security breach is expected to be larger than previously expected. We'll have details coming up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This bridge represents the only way for civilians to go in and out of the remaining 20 percent Anbar Province that's still under government control.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Ben Wedeman there reporting on the desperate conditions thousands of Iraqi families are living in after fleeing Anbar Province. This story also coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:17:08] VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. Samsung is apologizing for the way its medical center handled the deadly MERS outbreak.
ASHER: The vice chairman has delivered an official apology to the people of South Korea and offered condolences to those affected by the virus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY Y. LEE, VICE CHAIRMAN, SAMSUNG MEDICAL CENTER: (through translation): Our Samsung Medical Center was unable to stop the MERS influx and its spread and caused too much suffering and concern to the public. I bow my head in apology. We have failed to live up to the expectation and trust of the public.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Samsung Medical Center has accounted for about half of the 175 confirmed MERS cases in the country. The company says it will take full responsibility for the treatment of all remaining patients and support the development of a vaccine against the virus.
VAUSE: The U.S. says it will not let Russia drag relations back to the past. Ash Carter announced Washington will announce support to a NATO rapid response team.
ASHER: Russia's annexation of Crimea and incidents in Eastern Ukraine has triggered a series of military moves by the alliance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASH CARTER, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: We do not seek cold, let alone a hot war with Russia. We do not seek to make Russia an enemy, but make no mistake, we will defend our allies. The rules-based international order and the positive future it affords us. We will stand up to Russia's actions and their attempts to reestablish a Soviet-era sphere of influence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: And Moscow continues to deny sending troops or weapons to pro- Russian separatists in Ukraine.
John?
VAUSE: U.S. and Chinese officials are set to meet this week in Washington. But hanging over their heads are accusations from the United States, which are blaming China for a government security breach that could affect at least 18 million current, former and prospective federal employees.
Let's bring in David McKenzie live in Beijing with more on this.
David, U.S. officials say they will raise the issue of hacking by China in very direct terms. What's the likely reaction then from Chinese officials?
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, the public reaction from China has been steady through the months and, in fact, years of accusations of hacking, even before this massive hack, apparently, U.S. officials blame on China. And their response has always been the same, that they are a victim of hacking, that they are not a state sponsor of cybercrime and cyber espionage in this way, and also in this case saying that the accusation have been irresponsible and counter-productive. Who knows what goes into the private meetings between the two sides, but certainly, publicly, it's unlikely China will soften its stance on this issue -- John?
[01:20:10] VAUSE: Why would the U.S. be so reluctant to publicly blame Beijing for this cyber breach, because everybody else is?
MCKENZIE: Well, in this case, the Obama stresses, the White House effectively, hasn't pointed the finger. Now it could be because there's an ongoing investigation by the FBI and others into this massive breach, which you said, more than 10 million, current, former, prospective employees of the federal government could be affected. Particularly sensitive were those trying to get or who got security clearance, which could lead to all kinds of opportunity for private or say the actors. Now the fact that they haven't directly pointed the finger at Beijing could mean this is ongoing investigation, could mean that they don't have the proof made public in the past. Again, China says this is nothing to do with them. And the relationship between the two sides is far more complex than just the issue of hacking -- John?
VAUSE: Help me with this. We've been going back and forth on this for a while. China is sending 400 officials to Washington for these talks. I've been trying to work out, does that mean the relationship is in good shape with the U.S., or is it a sign that things are really bad?
MCKENZIE: Well, there could be strength in numbers. That's a lot of officials for a kind of regularly-scheduled talks, the seventh round of the strategic and economic dialog between the two sides. I don't know, your guess is certainly as good as mine. But certainly, China places a lot of importance on this series of talks and their relationship with the U.S. There's common ground between U.S. and China on the Iran potential nuclear deal, on North Korea's arsenal of nuclear weapons, and climate change. Those are three areas that China and the U.S. has common ground. Now the issue of hacking, the issue of South China Sea, there's been far more tension recently than in the past. Both sides are saying they're trying to limit the distrust at the moment, and certainly, the White House appears to want to find common ground and not squarely work with China only as a rival, but also find ways to work with it and cooperation, not just competition -- John?
VAUSE: Yeah, it has been dull and dry, maybe this year it will be interesting.
David McKenzie live for us in Beijing. Thanks, David.
ASHER: We want to take you to Iraq where the battles against ISIS have forced thousands of families to flee their homes in Anbar Province.
Ben Wedeman reports that many are stranded in makeshift camps just outside Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WEDEMAN (voice-over): It's the bridge of sorrows for those who have lost their homes, livelihoods and everything but for a glimmer of hope. On the bridge, known as Zabez (ph), soldiers check papers, on the look out for ISIS infiltrators.
But most, like this woman and her family are seeking a semblance of peace.
"There was an airstrike," she says. "Our house was destroyed and I was hurt. We left because of the fear and terror. We couldn't sleep at night." This man recently suffered a stroke. He was pushed over the bridge on a cart, clearly in pain. He's unaware of where he'll end up.
"I don't know," he says. "I have nothing."
Going the opposite way, food and other goods. There's a war on. But business never stops.
(on camera): This bridge represents the only way for civilians to go in and out of the remaining 20 percent of Anbar Province still under government control.
(voice-over): And even in that remaining 20 percent of Anbar, ISIS is present. Iraqi security forces recently rounded up more than 20 men suspected of being members of the extremist group.
Civilian cars sit idle on the far side of the river. Cars from Anbar aren't allowed over the bridge, for fear they may be full of explosives.
The only solace here, for boys only, however, is a dip in the river. Welcome relief from the scorching summer heat.
(SHOUTING)
WEDEMAN: Those without the means to go any further or someone to vouch for them to security forces end up in tents on the side of the road. They complain of lack of basic services, food and clean water.
"We have nothing," he tells me. "If you get sick here, either you recover or you die. A lot of the children are sick, but most of us don't have the money to send them to the doctor."
And so they must sit and wait in the heat and dust with their sorrows.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, Anbar Province, Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:25:25] ASHER: And please stay with us here on CNN. Coming up next hour, we'll have a closer look at what life was like living under the control of ISIS. Arwa Damon has an exclusive report from inside Tal Abyad, now that it's been liberated. She speaks with a resident there who told her it was nothing short of horrific.
ASHER: And a little bit of breaking news for you. A small plane registered to Oscar-winning composer, James Horner, has crashed, killing the pilot.
VAUSE: Right now we don't know if Horner was flying the plane. The FAA said the crash happened Monday morning near Santa Barbara. Horner is known for writing the music for "Titanic," "Brave Heart" and "Avatar."
ASHER: We have to take a quick break here on CNN. When we come back, U.S. President Barack Obama used a radio interview to speak very candidly about race. But his use of one word in particular turned attention to the topic. Details coming up.
VAUSE: Also details on a white supremacist movement which allegedly inspired the Charleston shooter.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:29:48] VAUSE: Welcome back. Thanks for staying with us. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live all around the world. I'm John Vause.
ASHER: And I'm Zain Asher. Let's give you your headlines.
More than 1,000 police officers are hunting down two escaped fugitives in Upstate New York. A source tells us DNA from the fugitives was found in a cabin not far from the prison more than two weeks ago.
Meanwhile, another source says the tools Richard Matt and David Sweat used in their escape were hidden in frozen meat.
VAUSE: Eurozone leaders say they are making slow progress towards a Greek debt deal. Greece proposed new economic details this weekend. Greece must reach a deal by June 20th or risk defaulting on its multi- billion dollar debt.
ASHER: Samsung is apologizing for its medial center's handling of the MERS outbreak, which accounted for about half of all confirmed cases in the country. Samsung says it will take full responsibility for the treatment of all remaining patients and support the development of a vaccine against the virus.
VAUSE: U.S. President Barack Obama is doing something he rarely does. He is speaking candidly about race in the wake of that racially- motivated shooting in Charleston, South Carolina.
ASHER: The country's first black president used the "N" word, which shocked a lot of people, during a podcast to explain what needs to be done to combat racism.
Here's our Michelle Kosinski with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (voice-over): Racism, we are not cured of.
MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The president with one word in a comedian's garage hits more bluntly than any speech.
OBAMA (voice-over): And it's not just a matter of it not being polite to say nigger in public. That's not the measure of whether racism still exists or not. It's not just a matter of overt discrimination. We have -- societies don't overnight completely erase everything that happened 200 to 300 years prior.
KOSINSKI: The shock value lost on no one. But the White House denies that that was his intent, that it was even planned, says it just came out.
JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president was merely making an argument in an informal setting.
KOSINSKI (on camera): He had to know that this was going to get reaction right?
EARNEST: I don't think he was surprised by that, but I do think it has prompted careful consideration of what exactly he said.
KOSINSKI (voice-over): It's the latest of several strikingly yes motional statements after the Charleston shootings.
OBAMA: Communities like this have had to endure tragedies like this too many times.
I refuse to act as if this is the new normal.
KOSINSKI: This may be the first time since the Trayvon Martin shooting three years ago that the president spoke directly, personally enough that it was controversial.
OBAMA: If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon.
KOSINSKI: President Obama has long fielded the criticism, including in the black community appearing reluctant to speak forcefully on race. He campaigned on trying to move the national conversation beyond race.
OBAMA: There is not a black America and a white America and Latino America and Asia America. There's the United States of America.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: The legacy --
KOSINSKI: As for the surprise over hearing the president say the "N" word, he did write it and refer to it more than a dozen times in his book "Dreams from My Father" how growing up shaped his private views on race, more of which we're hearing now.
(on camera): Some analysts say it is about time we hear President Obama speak so directly on this issue. And of course, not everybody's happy that he decided to use the word, and we're also hearing from people who say that they're surprised people are surprised by it. It's hard to imagine, though, that the president didn't think about the provocative power of using that word when he decided to, even if it was on the spot. I mean, this is a word that we don't even feel comfortable using when we're talking about that word. It's clear, though, that this kind of discussion is exactly what the White House wants.
Michelle Kosinski, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: For a president who chooses his word the carefully, maybe Mr. Obama was trying to make a point when he used the "N" word. But most of the conversation since seems to focus on the fact that he used a racial slur.
Goldie Taylor with the liberal website, Blue Nation Review, joins us from Washington.
So, Goldie, the president was trying to make a point that just because most Americans no longer use the "N" word doesn't mean there isn't a conversation. It certainly wasn't beneath the office of the presidency, why do we miss the point?
GOLDIE TAYLOR: BLUE NATION REVIEW: I think he gave the word emphasis without actually giving it emphasis. If you look back over the course of history and presidents, he's not the very first president to have uttered the word. You have Lyndon Baines Johnson, President Nixon, who used the word liberally among their colleagues, and not always in the nicest of terms. But if you look at Lyndon Baines, he was a champion of civil rights. He passed a series of bills that maybe would have failed under presidents. But if you look at Dr. Martin Luther King, he used the word in affection about Andrew Young. So the word changes in terms of its meaning with its context, despite the syllables and the consonants and vowels involved. If you use it in conversation, words to words from person to person. The word, like every word in our lexicon, it takes on a different meaning. This president used it in order to report it as a historical term, which I think was wholly appropriate.
[01:35:42] VAUSE: And in some ways the conversation has reflected what has happened in the U.S. It's much easier to focus on the hate speech rather than to find out where the hate is coming from?
TAYLOR: That is exactly right. We are living in a time when we are dealing more often with implicit bias from an officer who sees an African-American suspect who he deems may be more violent than, have a criminal past. These things calculate themselves automatically in our minds. So the president was talking about the kinds of systemic racism that goes on today rather than the kind of overt racism that we used to face you know in the 1960s and '50s. We're not seeing water hoses, not seeing violent dogs sic'ed on people. We're not hearing the "N" word hurled in polite company. But that doesn't mean that the systems have come down totally. And I think that was the president's point.
The difficulty for us today is we spent the entirety of the day, and maybe the difficulty for the president is we spent the entirety of the day, talking about how he crafted a single sentence or two, rather than the totality of his comments on that radio show. And, you know, I think that that is something that, you know, we have to take responsibility for. I think some of the responsibility belongs to the president.
VAUSE: One thing is pretty clear, the interview wouldn't have had the same significance if the president had not dropped the "N" bomb.
TAYLOR: No one would be talking about the interview at all.
VAUSE: And the whole thing would have been off.
TAYLOR: Absolutely. He made sure that it wasn't.
VAUSE: Goldie, good to speak with you. Thank you for being with us, we appreciate it.
TAYLOR: Thank you.
ASHER: That word by the president certainly got a lot of people talking.
VAUSE: If nothing else, it got the attention, and I think that was the bigger picture here by the president.
ASHER: Right, right.
The first black Republican woman elected to Congress is returning $1,000 in donations from a man named Earl Holt. Holt is the alleged white supremacist whose writings reportedly inspired the admitted church shooter, Dylann Roof.
VAUSE: He donated thousands to Republican candidates, Rand Paul, Senator Ted Cruz and Rick Santorum. All now say they're donating the money to the AME fund to assist families of the victims. It seems he did not give any money to Democrats.
ASHER: Earl Holt is also the president of the Council of Conservative Citizens, a white supremacist movement.
ASHER: The Southern Poverty Law Center identifies the CCC as a hate group.
And senior investigative correspondent, Drew Griffin, has more now on the movement.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Council of Conservative Citizens believes whites are under attack, that whites need to wake up before the race is destroyed. On its website, it listing black-on-white crimes, it says, go unreported. Points of view almost identical to the so-called manifesto and reasoning on the website owned by the Charleston shooter, justifying an attack on black people, praying in a church.
This is one of the movement's rallies posted on the Internet.
And the man speaking, Kyle Rogers, is, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a leader in the CCC movement.
KYLE ROGERS, COUNCIL OF CONSERVATIVE CITIZENS: There is only one argument that they use for every single cause on the left wing, and you saw it right here with the protesters one side, same message. Every single person that yelled something negative said exactly the same thing. It's the argument of a 3-year-old, you're racist.
GRIFFIN: Rogers runs a flag-selling website which includes rebel flags and Rhodesian flags and other flags associated with segregation. In speeches, he urges followers, no backing down to what he calls the left-wing media.
ROGERS: Just got to stand up to them. Don't go on the defensive. Always be on the offensive when you talk to the other side.
GRIFFIN: But today, at his home outside Charleston, he was anything but a firebrand racist. Instead, he hid behind his door.
(on camera): Kyle? Drew Griffin with CNN. How you doing?
ROGERS: (INAUDIBLE)
GRIFFIN: Can we ask you a question about the flags you sell? You can't say anything to us, Kyle?
(on camera): Rogers instead handed us a pierce of paper telling us to contact this man, Jerod Taylor, a spokesman for the movement, which condemns the shooter, but not what the shooter may have learned from the CCC website.
[01:40:08] JEROD TAYLOR, COUNCIL OF CONSERVATIVE CITIZENS: So what Dylann Roof found are facts, facts that are hard to find because they're essential taboo in the United States today. So we have absolutely no apology for publishing the facts.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): The fact is these white supremacists live mostly on the Internet. They blog and share their views that whites are being overtaken by blacks, Hispanics and Jews. And they all deliberately stop short of inciting any calls for violence.
BOB WHITTAKER, COUNCIL OF CONSERVATIVE CITIZENS: Like any other human being, I don't like the idea of somebody marching in and shooting people.
GRIFFIN: Bob Whittaker has been in the white supremacist organization for decades, and he says the shooter's actions are intolerable, but so are the actions of so many other shootings where blacks kill whites.
WHITTAKER: There are going to be a large number of murders this week, I can tell you that.
GRIFFIN (on camera): But there are very few murders where the shooter seems to want to start a race war, which is what he reportedly told police. Very few shootings like that. And very few shootings where a young, white kid, from a very white neighborhood --
(CROSSTALK)
WHITTAKER: Now wait a minute.
GRIFFIN: -- goes down to Charleston, South Carolina, into a very black church and kills nine people. WHITTAKER: Yeah. So what am I supposed to do about it?
GRIFFIN: Drew Griffin, CNN, Charleston.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: That was a great answer.
ASHER: Well, with that, we're going to take a quick break on CNN When we come back, hundreds of factories are being forced to shut down in Chile's biggest city. We'll have the reason coming up.
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ASHER: Welcome back, everyone. Chile's government is declaring a 24- hour environmental emergency. Santiago's air pollution has gotten so bad it had forced half of the 1.7 million cars off the roads.
[14:45:05] VAUSE: More than 900 factories must stop operations temporarily. It's the first emergency since 1999 and it can be extended if authorities think conditions have not improved.
Let's get more on the forecast, the fog and everything else in Chile and Santiago. Joining us is Pedram Javaheri.
They need a good strong wind or something to clear all this out, to go to that other environment, away from that real environment.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And what's interesting, June, July, August, the wettest times of the year, they have not seen any rainfall since marshes so this is pretty unprecedented, and of course the winter season, so a lot of coal burning, a lot of wood burning. You don't see this too often across South America. But look at this city. A majestic city if you've been down toward portions of Santiago. You have the Andes Mountains, the Coastal Chilean Mountains. If it's as dry as it has been, it sets up the scenario we're seeing here and the pollution is shooting through the Roof with the bowl-shaped valley. As beautiful as they make it, the mountains could trap the pollutants. We see this across southern California, northern India and portions of Beijing as well.
But here's the perspective. The air quality in the unhealthy scale. It was about the very unhealthy category earlier. The vehicles have been pulled off the roads there, but you look at the June numbers. March we picked up less than a millimeter. But here you go across Chicago. Want to share with you some spectacular photographs. Weigh had severe storms roll through portions of the Midwest. How about some mammatus clouds. Pretty impressive sight. We had reports of 12 tornados. No fatalities that we know of right now.
But another photograph to show you, courtesy of Scott Kelly from the space station. He says he has never seen these hues of reds with the aurora borealis. The most common is green. That's where the particles collide with oxygen. Then you go the purples, blues. It's the rarest of the variety, and that's when you see the reds. And another one from Scott Kelly showing you the night perspective. Just remarkable to see this.
And over the next couple days, pretty impressive, what we call the planetary index, the K.P. index brings it to about a seven. It's pretty impressive sight if you're watching this from some of these locations to be able to see the borealis the next couple days. And on Monday, the second longest day of the year. We're gradually pushing back as we're losing daylight. The summer solstice was on Sunday. You don't have too much daylight in the northern hemisphere to see this but --
(CROSSTALK)
ASHER: We never get to see daylight.
(LAUGHTER)
JAVAHERI: And then there's that.
ASHER: I might add.
VAUSE: Daylight, not losing heat.
JAVAHERI: Not losing heat. It's absolutely scorching out there.
ASHER: Thanks, Pedram.
VAUSE: Thanks, Pedram.
We'll take a short break, but singing sensation, Taylor Swift, she gets to push around Apple. She's that big right now. Details after the break.
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UNIDENTIFIED EUROPEAN SPACE AGENT WORKER: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
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[01:52:47] VAUSE: We will soon have an unprecedented view of planet earth. The European Space Agency launched its satellite into orbit. It's the first optical imaging satellite and the most comprehensive earth observation effort ever launched.
ASHER: It was sent into space by the Vega rocket launcher. It separated from Vega and was released into orbit shortly after liftoff. The satellite will release images of earth and gather information on agriculture, forestry and pollution.
VAUSE: Lester Holt at NBC made history on Monday night. He is now officially the first African-American solo anchor of a weekday network nightly newscast.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LESTER HOLD, ANCHOR, NBC NIGHTLY NEWS: As of tonight, this program has a new name, and I'm honored to say a new anchor. Your loyalty in viewership in a difficult time has been appreciated by all of us on this program.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: A happy ending after a very difficult few months for NBC. Holt was named the show's permanent anchor last week. He has been filling in since the network suspended Brian Williams for not telling the truth about several experiences.
VAUSE: Holt told CNN that the last few months have been awkward. You can read all about that at Money.CNN.com
She is just 25 years old, but Taylor Swift is proving to be one of the most powerful voices in music.
ASHER: Don't take our word for it. Just ask Apple. Apple learned first hand about Taylor Swift's power.
CNN's senior media correspondent, Brian Stelter, has the latest.
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(SINGING)
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT & CNN HOST, RELIABLE SOURCES: Not anymore, Apple changing the way it pays musicians, once again, proving the power of Taylor Swift.
(SINGING)
STELTER: On the same day her latest single "Bad Blood" hit number one across the country --
(SINGING)
STELTER: -- Swift prevailed in a standoff with the world's biggest company.
(SINGING)
STELTER: Swift has been withholding that song and a rest of her "1989" album from Apple's just-about to launch streaming service. She took to Tumblr saying she loves Apple but not its plan for a three- month free trial period. Apple Music, she said, will not be paying writers or artists for three months. She called it shocking, disappointing.
(SINGING)
[01:55:13] STELTER: But said it's not too late to change this policy. "We don't ask you for free iPhones, please do not ask us to provide our music for no compensation." Taylor's fan, Swifties, very swiftly shared their opinion, tens of thousands of times, a huge headache for Apple.
REGGIE UGANI (ph), COUNTRY MUSIC EDITOR: She's not really doing this for her. She's doing this for the music industry at large. This is a big deal, Apple music coming into streaming, and she wants to make sure that all artists are compensated fairly.
STELTER: Behind the scenes, Apple scrambled to respond. Company executives got a hold of Swift in Amsterdam. Soon after she got off stage, Apple said they were changing the policy. A key lieutenant of Apple CEO Tim Cook, tweeted, "Apple music will pay artists for streaming, even during the trial period. We hear you, Taylor Swift and Indy artists. Love, Apple."
Swift was elected. "They listen to us," she wrote.
For Apple, a bad P.R. moment now becoming free promotion for their streaming service.
Meanwhile, competitor, Spotify, still missing all of her songs seven months into a similar dispute over compensation.
It sure doesn't seem to be keening the pop star down.
(SINGING)
STELTER: Brian Stelter, CNN Money, New York.
(SINGING)
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(CROSSTALK)
ASHER: You have to love her boldness.
Thank you so much for watching, everyone. I am Zain Asher.
VAUSE: And I'm John Vause.
Errol Barnett and Rosemary Church will be up next with all the latest news from around the world. You're watching CNN.
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