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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Charleston Church Shooting; Mitchell Admits Having Sex With Inmate. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired June 18, 2015 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news this morning, a horrific act of violence at an African-American church. Nine people murdered in what police are calling a hate crime in Charleston, South Carolina. A killer is on the run this morning. EARLY START continues right now.
Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Christine Romans. It is 31 minutes after the hour. This is the breaking news for this morning, if you're waking up, a gunman on the loose this morning after shooting and killing nine people at a prayer meeting, a bible study inside a Charleston, South Carolina church.
About 9:06 p.m. last night, the first 911 call came in from inside that church, first call to police. Right now, a desperate search is underway at this hour for the suspect. He is described as a white male in his early 20s.
The city's police chief describing the shooting as a hate crime. Anyone with information or anyone who may have seen this person flee the scene is told to call 911. Now what happened, this took place at the Emanuel A.M.E. Church. This is one of Charleston's oldest and best known African-American churches.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREGORY G. MULLEN, CHIEF OF POLICE, CHARLESTON POLICE DEPARTMENT: This is a tragedy that no community should have to experience. It is senseless and unfathomable that somebody in today's society would walk in a church when people are having a prayer meeting and take their lives. I can assure you we will do everything in our power to find this individual, to lock him up, and to make sure that he does not hurt anyone else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Let's go live to Charleston and bring in CNN producer, Ashley Killough. You heard the police chief and mayor of Charleston. We know there is a press briefing with those officials again in about an hour and a half. What is the very latest from officials on their manhunt?
ASHLEY KILLOUGH, CNN PRODUCER: Christine, we don't have a lot of information on the manhunt. The latest that we've heard was about an hour and a half ago. They said it is still underway. They have not found him yet. The last time we were officially briefed by the police chief and mayor, was an hour and a half ago, they said they are still in the area, but not giving specifics where they are looking or where they think he may be going.
BERMAN: Ashley, I want to play some sound of the mayor and the police chief last night. They are on the hunt right now for 21-year-old roughly white male who was wearing jeans, gray sweatshirt and Timberland boots. They are calling this a hate crime. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you believe this was a hate crime?
MULLEN: I do believe it is a hate crime.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that why the FBI is here?
MULLEN: It will be investigated as a hate crime, but the FBI would be here regardless because of the size and scope of the investigation. They are our partners. They are here to help us regardless. They are here for that specific person.
JOSEPH P. RILEY JR., MAYOR OF CHARLESTON: The only reason someone can walk into church and shoot people praying is out of hate, the only reason. That is the most dastardly act that one can possibly imagine and we will bring that person to justice as soon as possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The most dastardly act that anyone can possibly imagine. Ashley, describe the target of the dastardly attack, this historically significant African-American church.
KILLOUGH: Well, the church is a landmark in Charleston. It is located in the historic district of the area. It is a very -- it goes back for a long time. The church was established in 1816. It is known as a very significant place in African-American history.
I was talking to some tonight who said it was involved with helping slaves escape in the underground railroad. The place is significant in the community. There are a lot of churches in the area.
[05:35:06] In fact, the city has a nickname of the holy city. We saw a lot of those faith leaders and other community leaders in the streets tonight. They gathered in prayer circles where they locked arms and prayed passionately and intensely calling for a sense of peace and understanding to the horrific tragedy that happened last night.
ROMANS: We were just showing the pictures from inside church, in the sanctuary of the church. You could see, you know, this sort of a hallmark of all the churches. The fundraising sign against the wall and pulpit where Martin Luther King Jr. has actually preached during the civil rights movement. You can see the King center released this photo of him in that very spot. A couple of weeks ago, a local affiliate took the pictures of the sanctuary. The shooting did not happen in the sanctuary, though, Ashley. It happened in a conference room where the Wednesday night meeting was happening, which something that is very common, by the way, in Christian churches across the country.
KILLOUGH: It is. It is very common for people to gather for bible studies on Wednesday nights. We don't know how many -- we know there were survivors, but we don't know how many. We don't have names identified by police. The police are still waiting to inform family members. There are names out that are surfacing, but they have not been confirmed yet. We are hoping to get more details about that at this next press conference.
BERMAN: All right, Ashley, stand by. I want to bring in "Washington Post" reporter, Robert Costa, who has been on the scene all night in Charleston just like Ashley has.
Robert, I wonder if you can describe to me what you have seen overnight. You have been near the area where the families are meeting with law enforcement officials learning the fates of their loved ones.
ROBERT COSTA, "WASHINGTON POST" REPORTER (via telephone): It has been a horrific scene, a very human moment to watch all of these families learn the news. They've congregated at the Embassy Suites Hotel, which is near the church about a block or two away.
They have been on the second floor. The police have cordoned off the area. They learned the news over the course of the evening. Most have left over the course of the last hour. There were tears, screams. It's unlike anything I have ever seen. I think people are just grappling with the stunning news and turn of events.
ROMANS: There are eight people killed on the scene. Another died on the way to the hospital or at the hospital. That is nine victims of the shooting inside the Emanuel A.M.E. Church in South Carolina.
Robert, in some cases, is the police informing families and others church leaders who were there. There are still survivors. There are witnesses to this so the news may be filtering to the families of the deceased. The police are not releasing yet who are the fatalities are, am I right?
COSTA: That is correct. Certainly in the last hour, I've spoken with churchgoers from the AME Church. They said some prominent members of that church may have been killed. The police have not confirmed the names. I am watching and what other reporters are doing the same is church community grieving and coming together.
There are over 50 pastors here at the Embassy Suites and other churches nearby. They are already talking about a vigil scheduled for noon Thursday to try to keep the peace and keep people together.
BERMAN: I think people will come together. They need to come together. I imagine there will continue to be the outpouring of support for the members of the Emanuel A.M.E. Church.
Robert, I know you have been up all night following the developments. It is 5:38 a.m. Eastern Time. Sun rising soon in Charleston, people out on the streets soon in Charleston, and as far as we know, there is still a killer on the run. Any provisions being made, what are you seeing right now?
COSTA: The sun is actually starting to rise in Charleston. People are on edge. I ran into a group of college students from the University of Charleston a few minutes ago. They were startled and nervous. Some were other people opening businesses at 5:00 a.m., 6:00 a.m. this morning.
The most interesting development in terms of the police and in the course of the last hour has been the opening the roads. Roads that were closed when Ashley and I were there at 1:00 a.m. and 2:00 a.m. Now they are open. The search is continuing, but it looks the immediate area in downtown Charleston is not the area of search. Now it looks like the search is elsewhere.
ROMANS: Robert Costa from "Washington Post," thank you for that. We've also just learned that the 7:00 a.m. briefing with law enforcement has been moved up an hour to 6:00 a.m. We are going to carry that live. That is just in about 20 minutes from now.
[05:40:09] One of the big questions I have for law enforcement is you are seeing the streets opening up, but I think back to Boston with two men on the run. You did not know who was on the run after the Boston bombings. That city was on edge for days and virtually stopped.
BERMAN: We will learn more in about 20 minutes from local leaders in Charleston. Nine people killed at an African-American church. A manhunt underway for the shooter, describe as a hate crime. New details after this.
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ROMANS: Our breaking news this morning, a gunman opens fire inside a Charleston, South Carolina church. Nine people are dead. This city's police chief describes this as a hate crime. The suspect is described as white male in his early 20s. He is still at large. He has sandy blond hair and was wearing a gray hoodie, blue jeans with Timberland boots. The shooter's target is the historic Emanuel AME Church in Charleston's best known African-American church.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RILEY: This is a most unspeakable and heartbreaking tragedy in historic Emanuel AME Church, the mother church of the AME churches.
[05:45:01] People in prayer on a Wednesday evening, a ritual coming together praying and worshipping God to have an awful person come in and shoot them is inexplicable and obviously the most intolerable and unbelievable act possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMANS: Wednesday night bible study ending in bloodshed. There is going to be 6 a.m. Eastern, in 15 minutes, a news conference.
BERMAN: We could get new information at that news conference, again, in just 15 minutes. A manhunt still underway, we will keep you updated over the next few minutes.
First, though, we want to get so some other news. Surprising admission from the upstate New York prison worker accused of helping two dangerous inmates escaped. Joyce Mitchell confessed to investigators that she was having sex with Richard Matt, one of two killers on the loose.
Authorities are now looking into whether she plotted with the two convicts to have her husband murdered. It gets stranger and stranger. We are also learning that Richard Matt gave Joyce Mitchell a painting of her children before he broke out, a painting that Mitchell then gave to her husband as an anniversary gift.
Let's get more now on the investigation and the search for these killers from Jason Carroll.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, investigators have expanded their search beyond Dannamoa, redeploying their efforts, but still no solid leads. There is a lot of solid information coming in about that alleged murder plot involving Joyce Mitchell, the prison employee, and Richard Matt and David Sweat.
According to what the district attorney is saying, the Clinton County DA, he says that the inmates planned to kill Mitchell's husband, Lyle, after the inmates escaped out from prison.
Mitchell allegedly told investigators she planned to pick up the inmates after midnight on June 6th after they escaped then the plan was to drive back to her house where the inmates would carry out the murder. The district attorney picked up the details from there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANREW WYLIE, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, CLINTON COUNTY: She didn't tell us. She wanted Matt or she was going to have Matt and Sweat kill her husband. It was the topic of conversation that came out that Matt and Sweat would do that once they got out.
I have no information as to why it would happen or why they needed to do that? Why wouldn't they just leaving Dannamora and go south or go west wherever they had to go to get out of the area.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: John and Christine, I spoke to Joyce Mitchell's attorney who told me, yes, she knew about the murder plot and yes, she told her husband about the plot.
Also telling police and investigators about the plot, but he also says that Joyce Mitchell was not involved with the planning of that murder plot saying, quote, "Just because she heard something about it doesn't mean she was going to act on it." He went on to say I don't believe she was involved in any attempt to kill her husband -- John, Christine.
ROMANS: All right, Jason Carroll, thank you for that.
Our top story this morning, developing and breaking right now, nine people murdered inside their historic Charleston, South Carolina church. Police will be holding a news conference in about 10 minutes to brief us on where they are on this investigation and to tell us more about the nine people killed there. We will bring it to you next.
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ROMANS: Breaking news overnight out of Charleston, South Carolina Senator Clementa Pinckney is among the nine people, nine people who were shot and killed inside a downtown Charleston church late Wednesday night, the pastor of this church.
That information is coming from CNN affiliate, WCSC, citing local civil rights activists elder, James Johnson, as the source. He was a state senator and also the pastor of the church.
BERMAN: A pillar of the community there.
ROMANS: That's right. On social media, people have already posting RIP, rest in peace and noting that he was a consummate public servant both serving his state and his church.
A manhunt is underway right now for this gunman who opened fire in the church. Nine people killed. The city's police chief saying this is a hate crime. The suspect described as white male in his early 20s with sandy blond hair wearing a gray hoodie, blue jeans and boots.
Witnesses say he walked into the Emanuel African Methodist Church shortly after 9 p.m. last night and lingered for a time and then began shooting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RILEY: Our city police department and county police department and state law enforcement division, other municipalities and the FBI and other are all combined and working with us to make sure that we catch this awful person and bring him to justice as soon as possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Now in 7 minutes, there will be a news conference from police and local officials on this latest investigation. Obviously the key question is what is the status of the manhunt right now? The suspect is believed to in his 20s, a white male on the run. How close are they to capturing him?
Why was this church, this historic African-American church targeted? What information do they have on that? Again, we have a live news conference expected just a few minutes from now. Our breaking news coverage continues.
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[05:58:07]
ROMANS: Chris Cuomo is picking up our breaking news right now -- Chris.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you very much. We are following the manhunt for the shooter in South Carolina. A church was the target. Right now, there is a presser going on with the latest information. Let's check in with it.
MULLEN: -- the information out as broadly as possible. As I said earlier, this is a very dangerous and extremely dangerous individual. We need the public's assistance to identify him as quickly as possible. We've got copies of this flyer for you and we are also going to be e-mailing it to you.
As we said, please help us get this out as quickly as possible. The investigation is ongoing. We will be back here at 7:00 to provide more details about the investigation. At this time, we wanted to get this out as quickly as we could and ask you to help us to get this out broadly so we can identify this individual and arrest him before he hurts someone else either in the city or someone else in the general area.
If you have any specific questions about the suspect that we're looking for, I'll be happy to answer those at this time. Yes. It was at the location of the shooting. That's correct.
He is a white male. He's a younger white male. We are estimating between 21 and 25 years of age. He's approximately 5'9" in height. And as you will see, he has a very distinctive sweatshirt that has markings and I will point out that also the vehicle that you'll see has a very distinctive front license plate.
So again, hopefully these things will help us to identify this individual and out people, our investigators are standing by.
