Bible study, then opened fire. Investigators are calling it a hate crime. I spoke with im one of the skur vooifer ersurvivors. She said he reloaded five different times. Her son was trying to talk him out of doing that act of willing people. And he he just said, i have to do it. He said you rape our women and youve taken over our country. And you have to go. The Church Emanuel ame, known as mother emanuel, the souths oldest black congregation founded in 1816 burned down after a slave revolt in june of 1822. A sanctuary during the Civil Rights Movement for leaders like dr. Reverend Martin Luther king jr. Right now in charleston a prayer vigil is about to get under way. Just a few blocks away from the scene of the tragedy that has shaken the city, indeed, a nation to its core. Lets go right to msnbcs benji sarlon. Benji, youve been there all night. The shooting in charleston wasnt an attack on this church alone. What can you tell us now . Theres just been the News Conference about the capture of this suspect . Well, we have the news now that he was captured that it was in shelby North Carolina which is a considerable distance. And now we were told earlier, a lot of people were questioning. If they had lost track of this subject how do we know where theyre searching. They had been said there was wide spread cooperation up and down the region earlier today. And sure enough it paid dividends. The chief of police credited quote, unprecedented cooperation between local Law Enforcement, the fbi, state officials, with being able to apprehend the suspect at a traffic stop. Some considerable distance from charleston. So now with that process as of mayor joe riley put it they can begin the process of our healing together. It removes one of the most important barriers here which is that people were really dealing with this double blow of trying to come to terms with the pain of this tragedy while at the same time it not being over. The fear that this could happen again. Especially pronounced in the Faith Community which is so strong here in charleston. Leaders, not just christian leaders but Muslim Leaders as well terrified at the pros spelkt of Something Like this happening to them and whether they had to look every which way at whoever came into their mosque or synagogue or church. It was just a heartbreaking prospect. And so with that perhaps now the closure process can just at least begin. Well, im not sure that there can ever be closure for Something Like this. I think Eugene Robinson is with us as well. Eugene, youre from South Carolina. Uhhuh. This brings back every memory the memory of birmingham, the Church Bombings in 1963 the fact that mother emanuel, this Historic Church could be attacked in this fashion. Yeah. Andrea, this is i cant overstate the importance of this chump to the church to the community and charleston. Thats where my mothers side of the family came from. My great great grandfather had a Blacksmith Shop not far from where mother emanuel stands. It was, as you said an Important Church in back in slavery times and certainly during the Civil Rights Movement. You know first, lets hope this is indeed over. It looks to have been a lone wolf attack. But, again, if as has been reported, the suspect was involved with white supremacist activities. You know, we can only hope and make sure that there is nothing more organized going on. I guess the second thing i would point out is how many times a does this have to happen . How many times do we have to have these Mass Shootings . The one thing that ties them all together is the gun. Theres always the gun. I know were hearing the sirens. Im not sure whether thats from your location eugene or from benjis. Its not from 23450i7bmine. I think it was from benjis, in South Carolina. Eugene if you could pick it up there with your thoughts about how many times we have to see this. I have to say that in terms of the gun reference, the most emotional recent massacre that i can think of is sandy spring that brings to mind sandy hook. Sandy hook, rather that brings to find the motion of today and watching all night and of thinking about the history of South Carolina and the history of church attacks. Thats absolutely right. You know here there is the added component of race in this attack. But in terms of just the emotional shock, sandy hook aurora tucson Virginia Tech we can go on and on. One of the saddest days of my life i spent in at Virginia Tech after that mass shooting rampage rampage. And again, were going to be riveted by this disaster. It was an attack on the nation, in my view, not just on this one congregation. Im sure president obama will have something to say at some point. Im sure candidates for office will have various things to say. And we will all pay attention, but will we do anything about it . Will we take any steps to make sure that theres not another mother emanuel, which i guess is going to be the catch phrase for this tragedy. And, eugene thanks for referencing that. We also have a picture up of the White House Briefing room. The president was about to leave for the west coast and we know he has made several calls. He called nikki haley, he called the majorymayor, and we know hes going to be speaking in the Briefing Room. We saw moments earlier the picture from shelby North Carolina of that vehicle, the getaway car from the suspect. We saw the location wooded area where he was stopped. So we know that that at least, if this is indeed the only suspect, this was a very Rapid Response by a combination of Law Enforcement officials. Pete williams is at the Justice Department. Pete, we heard from Loretta Lynch earlier that this is indeed being investigated as hate crime which gave the force of the federal government to local authorities as they pursued the suspect. What do we know now from justice . Of course the federal agencies were involved from the beginning anyway to assist the Law Enforcement folks. Fbi, atf, other federal agencies u. S. Marshal service were all involved very quickly. Basically the Justice Departments investigation is a parallel one that should be thought of as one thats kept in reserve. Although the attorney general was careful to say that no decision had been made about how to prosecute, almost always in these cases the federal officials basically defer to the locals to carry out the prosecution. So now that there is a suspect, now that there is soon to be a defendant in this case almost certainly this will proceed as state prosecution. But we were here andrea at the Justice Department for a scheduled News Conference about a Massive Health care fraud case. It started a little after 11 00. And at 11 27 an official of the fbi passed fbi director james comey a note and he passed it on to attorney general lynch and that was a note informing them that the suspect had been arrested. So when the News Conference started at 11 10 he wasnt in custody. And the note of the word came here at 11 27 that he was in custody. Were told that he was arrested in shelby which is about 250 miles from charleston. So it would be about a 4, 4 1 2 hour drive. So if this shooting happened at 9 00 last night, there was ample time to get away. We dont know what vehicle he was in but the word is that it was a traffic stop and if thats the case that he was driving his own car, of course that helps to explain how the arrest was made. He was identified quite early this morning. Officials say that they by say, 8 30 9 00 they already had a number of potential subjects. They already had names that they were running down including his. And thats based, were told on a number of factors. Tips from the public tips from members of his family and also photographs of not only him but also his car and the car while the front of car was facing the surveillance camera apparently the and in South Carolina youre not required to have a license plate on the front or the back. There was some kind of distinctive image in that license plate holder in the front and that gave them something additional to check as they looked at social media photographs of their various subjects. And that played a role in this as well. But is a wealth of tips andrea because of this amazing Surveillance Video that they had, you know very obvious picture of who this person was. And, pete when they investigate further, im told that there were a number of things through social media on his jacket, the patches. One was wellknown apartheid insignia from apartheid days in south africa. That needs to be checked out. But there were a number of, you know wellknown White Supremacists and separatists insignias that they can be pursuing. It would appear that he wanted to be known. He made no effort to conceal himself. He parked his car at a place where it could be seen. He didnt make any attempts to disguise himself. So at least from just the bare facts of the case it would appear that he wanted to be known. If he allowed survivors to get out so they could talk about it all of those things put together it seems like he wanted to be known for this. And Gene Robinson is still with us. Gene, you know this region so well and youve covered so much of the movement. With the arrest if this is the one person how does this Community Come together . Well, thats a good question. You know first of all, charleston does have amazing leadership. Mayor joe riley has been mayor for more than 40 years in charleston. He is beloved across town by black, white, hispanic. Charlestonians for having orchestrated really a renaissance of a city that have sort of fallen was slumping when he took office and now is this thriving striving place. And, you know he organizes every year a huge multiday celebration of dr. Kings birth. I spoke there a couple years ago. And just kind of witnessed how the city comes together. So i have no doubt that charleston can renew itself and can recover from this tragedy. Of course it always takes time. And, of course never quite the same. Something like this does, you know changes a place. And so, you know well have to see how it develops but what a disaster. We havent even mentioned the fact that a state senator Clementa Pinckney, a rising star in South Carolina politics and a very charismatic and dynamic man in and around charleston, is apparently among the dead. And, yes, that was confirmed. Pete williams, before i let you go, i know youve got to run, what is the process now of getting the suspect from North Carolina to South Carolina . Does he get arraigned in North Carolina . Is there an extradition process . Well, that is going to depend on whether right for the moment hes in federal or state custody. Hes still in the state. So hes still in the jurisdiction of South Carolina authorities. They dont need to have they can just bring him back as far as i understand in terms of the state law, they can just bring him right back to charleston. If he was in another state no hes hes in North Carolina. Hes in North Carolina shelby North Carolina. Youre right. So they will probably have to have a court hearing. A removal hearing. Bring him before a local magistrate and then do a removal hearing to get him back, extradited would be the term get him back to South Carolina. Whether hes in state or federal court, that would be the same since hes in a different state. So thats the first thing, getting before a magistrate. But, you know its unclear whether theyre going to proceed with this in the initialle stages as a state or federal malt er matter. I would be very surprised if its not a state prosecution. The state can pursue the maximum penalty. Pete williams thank you very much. Benji sarlon youve been up all night there watching how this community has grieved, the anger, the fear the outrage. There has to be some as you said some relief that the suspect has been caught. What happens next there as you monitor the streets in charleston . Well, talking to people there was a lot of interest in the suspect being captured. First of all, just to relieve everyone the threat is gone but also because people are truly grappling with why this happened, how this could happen were there any policies that could have prevented it. And on a very basic level, how could anyone allow this to happen, how could anyone be deranged enough to do three with Something Like this, so filled with hate. I think people will be very intrigued about what we learn from this suspect, what he learn about his motivations. I think were going to hear a lot of that. One thing that really stood out to me was just how close knit it felt here between various different groups across class, across race. I think you really saw that personified in nikki haleys appearance, the governor at a press conference earlier. Her voice was trembly, shaky certainly the most emotional ive ever seen her in covering politics for years. She had some quotes that were very, very raw. She said the heart and soul of South Carolina was broken as she put it. At one point she turned and said we are a strong and faithful state. We love our state. We love our country. Most of all we love each other. That was the sentiment i heard expressed over and over from everyone from local politicians to faith leaders to individuals on the street. There was a real feeling of togetherness, that everyone felt so personally attacked. I believe at one point the police chief said in his very First Press Conference that they took this at tact personally. It wasnt investigating a crime, it felt like an attack on themselves. I think you saw that reflected up and down the chain at every level. Im sure a lot of people are relieved to see this to be together as this comes to a manhunt. Benji sarlin thanks. Chris jansing who has been on this since 9 00 last night straight through the night and into the morning. Chris, youre on the phone. You were at the News Conference and just spoke to the mayor joe riley. I did. And he was emotional, as you can imagine. Ive been in touch with him over the last oh, 12 hours or so. And you can just imagine the level of tension in this community, the fear. There was a woman who was working at the hotel and she was saying that her husband worked the night shift and how afraid she was being home alone last night and how she stayed on the phone with her motherinlaw. And i just spoke also to a state lawmaker who was very Close Friends with the pastor who died and he said you know when i dropped my children off at summer camp today they asked me about this they had heard about it and seen it and i had to explain to them that there is evil in the world. And i think that the emotion and the exhaustion of what has been a very long night and morning showed on the faces of the people that were at the press conference and the people i spoke to. And they also know this community has a long way to go for healing. And the mayor, the police chief, nikki haley, they are all heading to one of five Prayer Services that are being held across the state. And we see we saw pictures of them coming in into the front pew at one of the Prayer Services. Were also chris, awaiting the arrival in the Briefing Room moment daily we believe of president obama. You were down in South Carolina to cover a jeb bush events which of course was canceled today and then swung in to duty on this. This incredible tragedy. One of the great losses of course is the pastor state senator Clementa Pinckney who was a rising star politically and a great pastor of this Historic Church. Clearly you remembered by all down there, this struck down in his youth. I dont think its an exaggeration to say that he was beloved. I mean this is a man who had worked extraordinarily hard for his community had really taken on the mantel in what was a Historic Church a place that served as a place where in the underground railroad it was a place where the pulpit Martin Luther king spoke. A place of great history but made it very much an intimate part of this community. And i didnt go anywhere over the last almost well, day and a half day or so where people did not have a personal story about him and, you know it did the other thing that was pointed out at the press conference was that joe biden knew him an