world. we begin this hour in the u.s. state of south carolina. history is being made there. lawmakers decided that the confederate flag on the state house grounds will now be coming down. that flag will be removed in just about nine hours time. then moved to the state s relic room. on thursday, something many people thought they would never see in their lifetime the state s governor nikki haley signed the bill until to law that authorized that flag s removal. we heard about the true honor of heritage and tradition. we heard about the true pain that many had felt. and we took the time to understand it. i saw passions get hot. i saw passions get low. but i saw commitment never ending. right. and so what we saw was another action. and that action is that the confederate flag is coming off the grounds of the south carolina state house. [ applause ]
governors of the state as well as family members of the nine emanuel church sheeting victims. members of the state highway patrol honor guard marched toward the flag. that s the same group that carried the casket of slain clementa pinckney. then with huge cheers from that crowd, after 54 years of flying on the statehouse grounds, the confederate flag was lowered. [ cheers ] the flag was folded placed into the hands of a member of the honor guard who happened to be african-american and carried back into the statehouse. it has since been moved to the state s confederate relic room
[ cheers and applause ] columbia south carolina with the confederate battle flag removed and now on its way to a military museum and the confederate relic room there on state grounds. it was a historic moment not just for south carolina but for the united states of america. thank you for staying with us as we roll into the back half hour now and not just in south carolina but the confederate flag is spurring strong emotions over on capitol hill. congressman john lewis saying the fight is far from over. it is a symbol of division a
not over a symbol. don lemon joining us from south carolina along with state senator marlon kimpson and also joined by former atf special agent in charge matthew horace. don, big day. you were there to see it. you talked to the governor. what else did she say? listen, it s important. look it s not fair. the flag is gone. and the pole is gone. and i think that s what the governor was working towards, at least these past three weeks. and i talked to her, i said you evolved over time about this. she said i didn t really evolve i just it never really came up. that s according to her in her time as governor to have the flag come down. but she understands that some people see this flag as a symbol of pride and heritage history. she said that doesn t mean that this flag should continue to stand and that it should be in a relic room where it is and it should be part of a museum. but it doesn t mean that it should stand on statehouse
decide how to handle it how it will be displayed. the director was telling me that they are an accredited museum. 15 years ago there was an intense debate about removing the flag from the top of the capitol and it was put at the confederate soldiers memorial. the other flag is in the neighboring museum from where we are, the relic room. so now that flag is there and it s not on display. it s in a storage facility right- now. it s not quite clear when it will be on display but they have until january 1st to figure all of that out. brooke? nick thank you very much. we also have don lemon in south carolina. he spoke with the governor there. governor nikki haley about why it was time for the flag to come down and also how lawmakers found a way to finally make this happen. it s important for people to know what it is like to be in another person s shoes and if