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Argument. but he says during this hearing he plans to call no witnesses and to present no mitigating evidence. prosecutors on the other hand plan to call as many as 38 peincluding relatives of the nine parishioners who died after the white supremeist opened fired at the church back in june of 2015. >> bill: what does roof and his decision dismiss his attorneys and defense team and gone back and forth on this as you know throughout the course of the trial. what does it say about him? >> you know, it really depends on who you speak with. just before the long holiday weekend, his defense team ent...

That doesn't mean he's not competent to actually defend himself. >> okay. he's not going to call any witnesses and he's going to present no evidence. so is that part of the competency hearing actually? will the judge try to determine what exactly dylann roof wants to do in court and base his decision on that? >> reporter: he will in part look at the strategy of what dylann roof is trying to accomplish by being his own counsel. this is not a circus proceeding. the judge has the responsibility to preside over the proceedings and the actual case. however, you are entitled not to call a witness. y...

If he represents himself and he has a sixth amendment right to do so, he could on cross examination confront the survivors as well as the family members of the people he murdered. >> right. that won't be good before the jurors deciding whether he gets the death penalty. >> that will alienate the jury. >> they will have no sympathy for him whatsoever. >> behind closed doors right now, the judge is holding a competency hearing. you may recall before the guilt phase he did the same thing, determined that dylann roof is competent to stand trial. is the judge doing it again before the penalty phase...

Dylann roof says his competency hearing will be closed to the public. roof is defending himself in the penalty phase of the trial. the judge said opening the hearing to the public could hamper roof's right to a fair trial. president-elect trump is speaking out on the staggering murder rate in chicago this past year. tweeting, chicago murder rate is record-setting. 4,331 shooting victims with 762 murders in 2016. if mayor can't do the job -- can't do it, he must ask for federal help. trump's comments come after the chicago police department released the figures calling them unacceptable and l...

Stephanie ruhle. time now for your morning primer, everything you need to know to start your day. we begin with new photos from the pushish police of the suspect in saturday night's terror attack in istanbul. isis has claimed responsibility for the attack. north korea's leader says the country is close to testing an intercontinental ballistic missile. kim jong-un threatened to boost military capabilities unless the u.s. ends war games with rival south korea. he has conducted two nuclear tests in just the past year. the shooter convicted of killing nine people at a charleston, south carolin...