She said to me, on that day, i want you to see what you can be when you grow up. I will never forget that day. I thought about that day while we stood here in this field. Now i said to bakari a few ago, this day has even more significance to me. At the time that we came here, i was also serving as chairman of the board of directors of the shaw boys club in charleston, South Carolina. Many of you may not recognize shaw. Me robert gould Robert Gould Shaw was the quiet kernel colonel who commanded the 54th regiment. And to see here today reenactors of the 54th regiment participate in this program and reflect back on that day, this day has significant meaning to me in the way that you would not believe. [applause] heres what i want to say about today. I dont know if i ever thought, while standing on these grounds 50 years ago, that i would be back here 50 years later, as your representative to the United States congress. But i am. And its because of what was launched that day. Remember wat
Agreement to destorerestore diplomatic relations for the first time in more than 50 years. Lets talk live in the cnn newsroom. Good morning to you. Im pamela brown in for carol costello. Thank you for being with us today. We begin with breaking news out of greeleyville South Carolina. Were expecting a News Conference to begin at any moment now. These are live pictures of their town hall. Officials are expected to speak about the fire that burned the mt. Zion ame church last night, the sixth black church to have burned in recent weeks. The fbi and atf havent linked these fires and there were reports of lightning in the area around the time of the fire. Our Victor Blackwell joins us from town hall in greeleyville South Carolina with r h. Whats the latest . Reporter were looking at members of the state house and state senate. I think theyre about to begin. Lets listen. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to greeleyville South Carolina that we affectionately refer to as the small town with a
grounds for good moving it to a museum. and ours later the pole that held the flag up for years came down too. people were filled with emotion. something i didn t think i would probably see in my lifetime. it s given people an excuse to be mean and ugly. and today it s a totally different ball game. it s a historical moment. it s been in the making for 53 years. i wanted to make sure that my grandchildren and my son would be able to tell their children when they get older about the confederate flag being removed from the statehouse grounds. joining me now from the statehouse are state representatives leon howard and caesar mcknight. thank you both for being here. thank you, reverend. thank you reverend sharpton. representative mcknight, what does it mean to you to know that, for the first time in your
tragedy that should never have happened. the fbi revealing today that the shooter in the charleston massacre should never have had a gun. he was only sold the gun because of a failure in the background check system. that revelation adding a special poignancy to the historic scene today. as we all watched the confederate flag come down at the statehouse. it s prompting new discussions of race and history all across the country. we saw one take place today literally in the shadow of the flag itself. i do not fly this flag in the name of race imor any type of white power or supremacy. okay good. what i want is for the state that represents all of us to not fly that flag. as an individual, we respect your every right to fly that flag. nobody is taking that flag from you. nobody is burning that flag. i respect to you. i m talking to you as a person because we are human. we are human beings. and we deserve that respect for the state that represents us all to govern itself tha
deal of remorse. but at the same time we are never without hope. and so weeping indeed endures for a night but joy always comes in the morning. and so the commitment of the membership, the pastor reverend john taylor is to move forward and i want to thank county supervisor stanley paisley who s already indicated that they will help in providing us with temporary worship site until we can move forward. so again, we continue to lift up the mt. zion church family and pray that things will work out. thank you. at this time i want to present the state representative caesar mcknight who serves as representative of this area. representative? good morning. thank you, elder parrot. it s with a heavy heart that we