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At This Hour

Update of the Church Shootings Investigation. Aired 11:30-12p ET

Aired June 18, 2015 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

BAKARI SELLERS, FORMER SOUTH CAROLINA STATE REPRESENTATIVE: Know that on Wednesday night everybody knows that in a black church, you're in bible study. That's when you go to bible studies. You probably have - you probably have choir rehearsal on Tuesday or Thursday and then you're in church all day Sunday morning. And so, he was large, he loomed large in both of the political arena and the religion side.

JOHN BERMAN: We did just hear from the FBI confirmation from the FBI itself that the alleged shooter, Dylann Roof, 21 years old, is in custody in Shelby, North Carolina about 3 hours and 45 minutes here. And anyways, we don't want to put too much attention on this alleged killer. The attention should be on those who suffered. But has this church ever been a target before?

(CROSSTALK)

SELLERS: Oh yes. Well not recently, but this church - you have to understand it was like co-founded by Denmark Vesey.

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: Who staged the slave rebellion...

SELLERS: Slave rebellion. I mean, that's our - this is one of the oldest churches in the south. This is not just any church. But this reminds us of Birmingham. This reminds us of the four little girls. This reminds us of Henry Smith and Samuel Hammond and Delano Middleton in 1968. This reminds us of (Meg Robertson) and (Matille). This reminds of Walter Scott and Jimmie Lee Jackson. There's so much pain. And hopefully we can - I don't know, I'm 30 but tired of seeing it.

BERMAN: I'm 43. And I think we're all tired of seeing it. But you do understand - we do understand that it's - that this man - that he wanted to kill black people in there. And if that is your deranged goal, this is a well-known target to do it.

SELLERS: Well you know Mr. Berman, if you can't be black in the church, where can you be black in this country anymore?

BERMAN: Good point. It is being investigated as a hate crime right now. What's the community doing over the next several hours in separate cases? (CROSSTALK)

SELLERS: Hugging, kissing, and they're the old - you know, they were going to get on our bended knees with our faces in the rising sun, and just pray. "Oh Lord and just help us on this day."

BERMAN: Your friend, the state senator, Reverend Clementa Pinckney, I think he'd be proud of the message you're sending today. So thanks so much.

Kate?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thanks so much, John. We're going to get back down to the ground in Charleston, North - South Carolina in just a moment.

I want to head over to the White House though right now. Bring in our white house correspondent, Michelle Kosinski where she is standing by right now. The President will be speaking shortly. He will be making remarks about this shooting massacre at the church in Charleston. Michelle, what are you picking up?

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi Kate. Right. You know, all morning we've been waiting to hear a statement from the White House. We expected them to put out a statement. We've been waiting for that for hours as everyone seems to be waiting on this.

Now we know why the White House has been silent up to this point that the President himself will deliver a statement just about, I guess, 20 minutes away right now before he departs on a trip to California.

We did hear the attorney general, Loretta Lynch, speak on this, not too long ago. You probably heard some of that, saying that, "This acts like this have no place in this country. No place in this civilized society."

We expect him to reiterate that. And we also found out a little bit more about the victim, the preacher in the church that not long ago, a couple of years ago, he had - within a state senate in South Carolina, he had proposed this resolution of gratitude to President Obama directly for speaking at an event down there in South Carolina.

So it seems that President Obama may have had contact with him. May even know this man personally. We're waiting to here if he'll something along those lines too. Maybe his personal reaction to that and having spent time in South Carolina, the very least at this event.

In the last several months, we've seen lots of statements from the White House. Several statements on race, specifically from President Obama, and this is...

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: Michelle?

KOSINSKI: One more instance where he's going to have to weigh a lot in this (INAUDIBLE). Yes, Kate?

BOLDUAN: Michelle, standby with me. Let's go head back over and listen again to Attorney General Loretta Lynch. She's speaking once again about the shooting...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ATTORNEY LORETTA LYNCH, ATTORNEY GENERAL: What might have been in play there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will this be prosecuted by the state?

LYNCH: You know, when we have a case like this, we look at where the facts take us. Certainly this is an egregious crime. Certainly this is a homicide investigation. And we understand that there are families who are, in grieving incredibly for the - for the loss of their loved ones. But again, we will now be looking at all of the facts, all the motivations, all the things that led this individual, if he is in fact the shooter, to commit this crime, and will determine which are best ways in which to prosecute the case.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it says the state can pursue the death penalty. What would be the better - what would be the factors that would lead you to have it, you know, federal prosecution?

[11:35:00]

LYNCH: You know, at this point, it's really premature to determine which is the best venue, either state, either state or federal to pursue this matter.

First we must confirm that this individual is involved in it. We must confirm the nature of his involvement. We must confirm his motivations, his intentions. So it's really premature at this point to say what would determine that. We do look at a number of factors.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can I ask a question to Director Comey please? If that's possible.

First of all, great graduation speech that you gave the other day. It was very inspiring. And so this is not really an example of effective communication. But I have a multipart question on the same topic. Is there anything that you can tell us that you've learned about the motivation of this individual? Where he obtained his firearm, whether there was any threat to the church ahead of time? And whether, has there been any threats to any other churches? Anything at all that you can tell us on this point.

JAMES COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: I'm going to walk all the way over (INAUDIBLE) and give you another answer or I'll let the (boss) give you the same...

(CROSSTALK)

LYNCH: No, we were not going to be revealed - discussing details of the investigation at this time. Certainly - and as I've mentioned before, now that we do have someone in custody, we will be conducting as full and as thorough an investigation, rising out of that circumstance, building on the cooperative work that we have with our state and local partners in South Carolina.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Director Comey, on related topic, is there any guidance that you're giving field offices in terms of outreach to faith communities after this?

COMEY: As a result of the shooting last night?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

COMEY: The answer is not yet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But you will?

(CROSSTALK)

COMEY: I don't know. I think the attorney general can answer this better than I can as well. It's something we think about and do quite often.

(CROSSTALK)

LYNCH: Well I can say that with respect to this particular case, as with all cases that involve a faith-based institution, be that your church, or a mosque. We do have outreach efforts. We do coordinate at the local level to reach out to members of faith-based community who maybe either directly affected by this, or certainly would have concerns about a matter like this.

The type and nature that outreach would depend upon the nature of the case of the prime. And also, you know, where our people are located. But certainly, there is outreach going on that will continue. I can also let you know that the Department of Justice's civil rights division is on the ground in Charleston. And the community relations service or our CRS division is also on the ground in Charleston. And they will work with all aspects of the community, when there's been an event like this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have any plans...

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Attorney general, can you provide us an update on your investigation to hack of (OPM) as by the Chinese.

LYNCH: You know, at this point, that's still is a matter also under active investigation. So I'm not able to provide any specifics about that. I'm sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Director Comey, as long as we're off the topic here, may I ask about a different concern these days? And that's this increasing number of arrests we're seeing in ISIS cases.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BOLDUAN: We're hearing right now, they're from the Attorney General Loretta Lynch, giving an update as we've been listening in on what she knows and what she has to say about the shooting, the shooting massacre, the mass shooting in Charleston, South Carolina.

The attorney general calling this an egregious crime, she says. She says it's absolutely obviously a homicide. And they are looking into all of the facts and the motivations behind this shooting. She obviously acknowledge that they have a suspect in custody, obviously looking to confirm and to see if this person, this man that you see right here, 21 year old Dylann Roof.

If he is the suspect, they have him in custody, if he is the gunman. And she did discuss, they say they're still looking into and they'll be consider - taking more time to consider, if this is a case that will be prosecuted on the federal or state level.

We're going to be waiting. Right now, we're waiting to hear from President Barack Obama. We've been informed that he's going to be speaking, making a statement, about this mass shooting. Probably obviously want to hear his thoughts.

As we wait and we've - seen on some social media that he has also reached out to some local politicians in South Carolina. We're going to be getting an update from the white house very shortly. Let's now head back to the ground on, John Bolduan's on the ground in Charleston. John?

BERMAN: All right. Kate, thanks so much. We will also be hearing from Charleston police very shortly on the news that the suspect Dylann Roof, 21 years old, is now in custody in Shelby, North Carolina, which is about three hours and 45 minutes from here.

We will go to that news conference as soon as it happens to learn more about this man, who perpetrated this heinous crime, allegedly behind me right now with mother Emanuel, the oldest African-American church in the South. The center of political and social growth and development in this city and throughout the South, for well over 100 years.

We want to focus if we can on those who were killed here, the victims so brutally murdered at this church. We only know the identity right now of one victim. And he was an enormous man in this community. The pastor of this church, the Reverend Clementa Pinckney, also a state senator.

Joining me right now is a friend of this man, known by everyone I have spoken to as Clem. Todd Rutherford is the house minority leader. The House Democratic leader here in South Carolina. Tell me about your friend.

[11:40:00]

REPRESENTATIVE TODD RUTHERFORD, MINORITY LEADER SOUTH CAROLINA STATE HOUSE: Clem was somebody who was guided to do what was best for his community at an early age. He was called to the church accordingly that one he was 13. He was ordained as a minister when he was 18. Elected to the house at 21. And elected to the senate at 27. He died at age 40. He died far too young, but he died trying to do the work for the people of South Carolina, for the people in this country.

That was all that he did. He traveled frequently, but always for his church family. Always looking out for his constituents here in Charleston and throughout the local country.

BERMAN: And he has two young kids.

RUTHERFORD: Yes two young kids. President Obama called me this morning to make sure that I expressed his sympathies from the president, the first lady, to Senator Pinckney, to his family, and to the Charleston family at large. And I can assure you this, his death will not be in vain.

BERMAN: How is his family doing?

RUTHERFORD: Yes I haven't talked to anyone but I'm sure they're devastated by the loss. With two young kids, and this is a father. This is somebody who never had a harsh word to say about anyone. Who always, any time he was in the heat of battle, would take a breath before he said anything.

So this was someone that should revered and respected. And all of us want answers. We want to know why this young man chose this church. Why he chose Senator Pinckney. What, you know, what groomed him to do the evil that he did last night?

BERMAN: Can you ever get any answer that would, in any way, be satisfying?

RUTHERFORD: No. Not at all. Not at all But what we can make sure that we do is make sure that his death is not in vain. That we make sure that we do his...

(CROSSTALK)

RUTHERFORD: Clem's death is not in vain. That we take the mantle and then run with it. Make sure to rest your legs, to see if that'll earn a stake. Make sure that people don't think that churches are good targets to go in and sit and pray with people before you decide you're going to kill them...

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: The worst kind of target. The most heinous kind of target. Standby right now with our representative. The police here in Charleston are briefing right now on this news that a suspect is in custody. Let's listen.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF GREGORY MULLEN, CHARLESTON SOUTH CAROLINA POLICE: The different law enforcement agencies, as well as the community that has been partnering with us since last night, when this horrific tragic event happened in the city of Charleston, one that we will never forget. And one that we will continue to pray to the families of the victims. We will continue to pray for our entire community.

With that, I am very, very pleased to announce that we have made an arrest in this case. We've arrested Dylann Roof, R-O-O-F, from Lexington, South Carolina. Approximately 30 minutes ago, he was arrested in Shelby, North Carolina, during a traffic stop.

At this time, we have not only FBI agents there, but we also have SLED, and city of Charleston detectives, preparing to fly to Shelby, North Carolina to begin the interview process, as well as the evidence recovery. This case could not have been cleared as quickly as it has been. If it had not been for the cooperation, the unparalleled cooperation of all the different agencies that were involved in this investigation.

I cannot say how thankful I am, and how appreciative I am, of all the people who came together during a very tragic situation, a horrific situation, and one that has touched the heart and soul of every person who lives in this community. And they have come together, and some of them have worked tirelessly, running down leads. Some of them have been working with their agencies in various states. The cooperation that we've received from the federal government with all the resources as well as the state government has been unparalleled.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right. We heard this little thing as the police chief here in Charleston, Greg Mullen, make the official announcement that the suspect Dylann Roof, aged 21, is in custody. He's in custody in Shelby, North Carolina, about 3 hours and 45 minutes.

And we did learn a fascinating new detail. He was apprehended at a traffic stop in Shelby, North Carolina. The police chief here in Charleston, Greg Mullen, wanted to thank law enforcement, local state and federal, and obviously law enforcement in North Carolina as well.

This is a triumph of sorts for law enforcement, and the fact that this man was apprehended not 14 hours after the crime. Let's listen back in.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

MULLEN: In the prosecution stage. So again, I want to thank you for your vigilance being here. I know we've had you here several times. And you've helped us get information out. And again, it's a partnership working with you, working with law enforcement, working with community. And I want to thank these gentlemen on my right for their cooperation and their assistance during this investigation.

Right from the very beginning, I know that the elder came out, and said, we're together, we're galvanized, we're working together, and that's what this has been throughout the night. And I am so pleased that we were able to resolve this case quickly, not only for the families, but for our community, for our state.

[11:45:00]

And so that nobody else is harmed by this individual, who obviously committed a tragic, heinous crime last night in the city of Charleston. Mayor?

MAYOR JOSEPH RILEY, SOUTH CAROLINA MAYOR: First of all, I want to publicly commend Chief Mullen and the men and women of our police department. We invest - we understand that public safety is the first responsibility of the government.

We invest substantially in resources and the quality of the men and women who work for our police department. And under Chief Mullen, there is not a better-led police department in our country.

As Chief Mullen said, we've had extraordinary cooperation from other law enforcement professionals. And when you have a chance to work on a difficult matter and see the skills and the commitment of people who have dedicated their lives to law enforcement, it is so inspirational. And because of all that work, this very important news today is announced that that awful person, that 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.

It's important for everyone wounded by this act, which is the church family members, the community members, and the people of America. But in this great country, we hold sacred the places where people come and practice their faiths in safety and in peace.

So the arrest of this awful man is an important part for all of us in this community and in our country to begin the necessary process of our healing together. Governor Haley is here to speak in a moment. And I want to thank the governor for coming down to Charleston and the support we've had from state law enforcement division.

From the other - as I've mentioned, other law enforcement agencies, and the FBI, and the ATF, the country has been extraordinary. Thank you Governor Haley for your presence and interest and support.

Also want to announce that I received a personal call from Vice President Biden. He knew Senator and Reverend Pinckney, and was familiar with the Emanuel AME Church and Morris Brown, where we'd be in just a few minutes. And he himself, we all know, has had a tragically sad time, and he felt heartfelt grief, and offers his support.

Then I received a call from President Obama personally that conveyed his sympathy and for the citizens of America to let us know that they are with us, and his offer to make any federal resources available. I told the president that the FBI, the ATF, and the federal resources, and the justice department have been extraordinary.

A part of this sealing process, we all need to help. So, we have created the Mother Emanuel hope fund, started with a $5,000 contribution from the city of Charleston. And the Mother Emanuel, Mother Emanuel hope fund will be a vehicle for citizens in our community and around the country that want to do something to help, to contribute to that fund.

Obviously, the wounds of the church and all those who were killed, and all the expenses of the funerals, and all the loss and families, and so much more. What we have is the opportunity to help them. And when we help them, we also help their hearts, because we all know when we're grieving, that hug or that sign of love or support is a very important part of re-nourishing our soul and those souls who are injured.

So people can drop checks off at Wells Fargo.

[11:50:00]

Also, you can mail checks to Box 304 Charleston 29402. We'll get this out. So we have a way that we all can tell right away, right - that not 24 hours even after this dastardly event, that the citizens in our community, in our country, can help and positively respond.

And then tomorrow evening, we will announce the time, there will be a community prayer vigil at the College of Charleston Arena, which is not a block and a half from Mother Emanuel's. So we'll have a chance to come together in prayer and to mourn the losses, and to come together as the community with time of that event tomorrow evening will be announced soon, and we'll be getting that out into the media.

And I thank everyone who's here. And as Chief Mullen said to the media, we are able to arrest this awful person in Shelby, North Carolina, because we got the word out. And it's a good sign, wonderful sign, that in America, you know, we don't let bad people, like this, get away with these dastardly deeds. Thank you. Governor?

GOVERNOR NIKKI HALEY, SOUTH CAROLINA GOVERNOR: Thank you Mr. Mayor. And I want to certainly thank the mayor for his, he's always had great leadership. But during times of struggle, he steps up even more, continues to make Charleston proud, and I continue to appreciate your friendship and your partnership.

I want to personally thank Bishop Norris with the AME Church family. I spoke with him this morning and even though he is in recovery, he very much is in prayer and in leadership. And the fact that he has asked that we all come together for prayer vigil today at noon. And he will see all of us go to do that.

But you know, we woke up today. And the heart and soul of South Carolina was broken. And so, we have some grieving too. And we've got some pain we have to go through. Parents who happen to explain it to their kids. So they can go to church and feel safe. And that's not something we ever thought we'd deal with.

Having said that, we are a strong and faithful state. We love our state, we love our country, and most importantly we love each other. And I will tell you, there is a lot of prayer in the state. And you are going to see all of us, from these nine families up in prayer, because they need us. These nine families need us, the Emanuel AME Church needs us. The AME Church family needs us, and the people of South Carolina need us to come together and be strong for what has happened.

I want you to know the outpouring of emotion from across this country has been overwhelming. From presidential candidates to citizens who just traveled to the state, to any person in any walk of life. Every single person has had to put their feet in the shoes of one of those nine families today. And they all know what that feels like.

And so with that, where do we go from here? We allow ourselves to grieve. We allow ourselves to pray. We allow ourselves to question why this happens, and then we allow ourselves to heal. And so the healing process will start.

We are so thankful to Chief Mullen and his team, and law enforcement with SLED, with FBI, with everybody that came together. That refused to allow this to happen. I have never seen when we were going through the command center such passion and personal willingness to want to make sure they brought this person home.

And so I want to personally thank the law enforcement community, because you have allowed us to start healing. And we can now tell our children that that person is in custody. And we can now not only lift up our law enforcement community, who hasn't slept since this happened, but thank them and give them the credit and they deserve, and the courage they deserve.

But I want to remind everybody, South Carolina has stepped up today in a way that continues to make me proud. We are seeing love, we're seeing prayers, we're seeing support, we're seeing humility. And for that, I want to tell you that I'm thankful. We will continue to be on standby for all of the people, all the leaders that you see here behind us, are willing to do anything and everything for the families in need, and for the church in need.

But for that, I will tell you it is a very, very sad day in South Carolina. But it is a day that we will get through. It is a day that we will remember. And it is a day that will allow us to get stronger. Thank you.

[11:55:00]

MULLEN: OK. We'll take a few questions starting from the right.

(OFF-MIKE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And then after traffic stop. In the traffic stop initiated because you stopped him?

MULLEN: He was stopped because a citizen alerted law enforcement to a suspicious activity. And law enforcement went out. And they knew that once they arrived there, that that was the individual that we were looking for.

(OFF-MIKE)

MULLEN: (Gotten here).

(OFF-MIKE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was he cooperative for any of the...

(OFF-MIKE)

MULLEN: He was cooperative.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did anyone...

(CROSSTALK)

MULLEN: Excuse me?

(OFF-MIKE)

MULLEN: We're not going to talk about that right now. Thank you.

(OFF-MIKE)

MULLEN: We're not going to talk about that right now either.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Could you tell us...

(OFF-MIKE)

MULLEN: No ma'am. We're not going to talk about any aspects of the investigation that is still ongoing. There's still a lot of things happening. And we've got to make sure that we follow all of these processes. So we just can't talk about those details right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was his demeanor?

MULLEN: He was cooperative with the officer that stopped him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you believe that he acted alone?

MULLEN: I do. Yes. We don't have any reason to believe there was anybody else involved.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:: There's suspicious activity?

MULLEN: The citizen just saw a vehicle, and they felt like suspicious. And they did exactly what we asked citizens to do. They call the police. We will now check it out. And as results of that, we were able to make this apprehension. Yes ma'am?

(OFF-MIKE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I know it is early in the investigation, but do you have any indication (OFF-MIKE) to like allegedly one of the worst mass killing...

MULLEN: Right. Well that will be part of what we do when our investigators get there, and begin their interviews with him. We'll try to figure that out. But right now, we do not have answers to that. Yes sir?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where is he now?

MULLEN: Right now, he's in Shelby, North Carolina. There will be a process that we have to go through to get him back here. So we'll be working that very diligently with not only SLED, but the FBI, along with our detectives.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And was he in the vehicle?

MULLEN: He was in the vehicle when the, he was approached by law enforcement. (Paul)?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where is he?

MULLEN: Shelby, North Carolina police department.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Any reason he is tied to Shelby, North Carolina.

MULLEN: Not that I'm aware of at this point.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's about 250 miles from here (OFF-MIKE) how did he get so far away?

MULLEN: Well, he drove. I mean, it's not that far. He could drive those number of hours. And between what happened here and...

(CROSSTALK)

MULLEN: I don't know the answer to that question. I mean we are obviously...

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The interstate highway got him going out. It's not through the city.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you give us any information about how they got posted. (OFF-MIKE) How many leads you got? What kind of...

(CROSSTALK)

(OFF-MIKE)

MULLEN: Sure I'll give you a brief overview. That there's a lot of moving parts. Basically, the initial response was tremendous from all of our partners. We have people from various agencies that were here almost immediately.

As I was driving to the scene from my home, I was talking to Chief (Keil) and the FBI, in terms of their willingness to get involved. So by the time we all converged on the scene, we immediately started to partner.

There was resources that were brought up there. We were able to get up the 1-800 number very quickly. And once we got the surveillance photos out, and then we got the 1-800 number up, we started to receive tips. And that was what led us to have the ability to identify the individual that led to his arrest. Yes sir?

(OFF-MIKE)

MULLEN: I don't know the exact time. It was probably about 35 minutes ago. I'm not sure exactly what time it was. But I can get you that information.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did he make any admissions?

MULLEN: We're not going to talk about that today. More?

(OFF-MIKE)

MULLEN: We had a number of tips that were coming in. And everybody was following those tips. Every lead that came in, I mean, it was amazing the fact that we had teams that were standing by. They were almost, you know, they were wired to go.

And whenever we got a lead in, we sent out teams of SLED agents, of CPD officers, of FBI agents to run those down. We got agents in other parts of the country. We have agents on their way here from other parts of the country to aid us. So it was a tremendous effort. It really with the teams that we had working with us, and the teams that we had in the community. It was a tremendous push forward to make this a successful case.

And now what we have to do is continue on to make it a successful prosecution. Thank you very much. That's all we're going to do right now. Thank you.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Right, so what you're hearing right there were from many officials in South Carolina. The police wrapping up right there. We heard from the mayor as well as the South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley. The police chief laying out the important details right now. They do have the suspect Dylann Roof in custody. He was cooperative during the arrest.

[12:00:00]