amazing grace. ♪♪ ♪♪ how sweet the sound ♪♪ >> as the president honors victims of a mass shooting, we look at a legacy of slavery. >> you'd never know these are the fingerprints of the slave. brick. >> also tonight, love wins. meet two dads behind a landmark decision by the u.s. supreme court in favor of same-sex marriage. >> look at your dads right now. what do you want to say to them? >> i'm really proud of you for doing this for everyone. >> good evening.

thank you for joining us. what a day at the u.s. supreme court. think of this, just one decade ago, states were passing constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage and now it's the law of the land. many people are asking why this one. a lot say it's the children of gay and lesbian children that turned this debate on its heels. for the last few months, i've been following the story of two kentucky dads leading the charge for equality and today we witnessed their family win at the supreme

court. their case was called -- legal analysts predicted their appeal would be the row v. wade of same-sex marriage, the case that would go to the u.s. supreme court. it did. >> we certainly did not think that we would be a case going to the supreme court. we thought that would be played out long before. there were so many other states in the queue before us. we thought this would be settled before that.

sure enough, all the other circuits have ruled in favor of marriage equality. we're shocked. >>reporter: the sixth circuit is often called unpredictable and it was here they lost their appeal. the federal appeals court upheld the same-sex marriage bans in four states, kentucky, michigan, ohio, and tennessee. in the only appeals court ruling that upheld bans, judge jeffrey sutton wrote the states create an incentive for those who procreate together. couples of the same sex have children in the same way as couples of opposite sexes. that's obvious to michael and grant. they adopted their two children. bella and isiah. they've jumped through numerous legal in

hoops. >> one of us is a legal guardian. michael is the adoptive parent. i'm the legal guardian. many things have had to be taken into account because we don't married. >> so all the work you've done, are you still lacking the same rights as hetero sexual chum couples? >> very much so. but the big thing for us is being able to put both their names on their birth certificates. >> that's what motivating us. we've been parenting these children together for 16 years and still as far as the state of kentucky is concerned, i have no

legal claim or status. i am a legal guardian but -- >> your name is not on their birth certificate. >> and it's not. they would tell you that, yes. >> so these are things that are important to us. >> in typical teenage fashion, isiah backed up his fathers. >> you want to talk? >> about what? >> whatever this guy wants to ask you. this is adam. >> what's it like to have two dads in the state of kentucky? >> awesome. two awesome dudes. they've been parenting me since i was 3 years old. and everything that i am and the reason why i am the man today is because of these two. beautiful, hand some young gentlemen. >> he really lays it on thick. >> a tear in my eye. >> he wants money or something. >> if something were to happen to michael and greg has no legal

rights to his children and that doesn't make sense for anyone. these people raised these children. when i look at them, i see a family. doesn't matter. >> shannon is part of the legal team representing michael and greg and a handful of other kentucky couples who also are already married in other jurisdictions. michael and greg tied the knot in ontario on the canadian side of niagara falls in 2004. but that marriage meant nothing in the state of kentucky. >> it's referred to as kentucky married and federally married. >> what's the real impact on that for clients that you represent? >> our clients can't both be the legal parents of the children together. >> it's a perfectly reasonable position to think that a child grows up best with a mother and a father. it's reasonable for government

to encourage that. >> martin, a conservative christian writer helped lead the campaign ten years ago to ban same-sex marriage in kentucky. the 2004 constitutional amendment passed with 74% of the vote. one of the highest votes against marriage equality in the nation. his group, the family foundation of kentucky, brief. >> there's no reason kentucky should have to rely on california to make our marriage policy. or 37 other state >> do you want the supreme court to strike down all marriages? >> no. i just want it to allow states to set their own marriage policy. >> but now the supreme court and the president see this change differently. >> this morning the supreme court recognized that the constitution guarantees marriage equality.

in doing so, they've reaffirmed that all americans are entitled to the equal protection of the law. what was going through your mind when you saw what it was

actually happening there? >> oh, gosh, i don't know that i was thinking very much but just absorbed in the moment. i was standing in front of a gay man's corus and they started single the star spangled banner. >> did you anticipate this result? did you think there was any question? >> there was a little tiny bit of a question of what would happen and they could have ruled in different ways but i think as soon as the crowd heard that justice kennedy was reading the decision that was enough of a signal to the crowdna this decision was going to be good >> as a member of congress, does this once and for all put gay lesbian members of our country on an equal footing with everyone else now that marriage rights have been granted?

>> well, the supreme court threw a huge, big wedding bouquet out to same-sex couples all over the country. but i have to say they're going to -- some are getting married right now and as soon as they post pictures of their weddings on facebook, many of these people in many parts of the country are going to face the prospect of being fired from their jobs, being evicted from their landlords and possibly in some states, there's some governors, that they may not be treated fairly in store >> discrimination in the country. what can we do about that congressly? >> we can act on as soon as we introduce it in the session, the comprehensive lgbt civil rights

act. procedurely just as say with the immigration goal that passed, the majority of the house, the republicans in the house, can procedurely stop that legislation from being considered on the floor. even though there's possible a coalition of house members that would probably vote it into law, we have a proequality majority in the house if we can -- >> if leadership allows it. >> yes. >> all right. that sounds like the next battle ground in the gay rightings movement. thank you for joining us. >> my pleasure. thank you. >> up next, a day of healing in charleston. as the nation remembers nine people slain in a church.

president obama delivers a powerful eulogy. and later, slavery's long shadow. in charleston exploring the city's dark and seldom-talked about past. >> challenge the way you look at the world. >> talking about big subjects. >> telling human stories. >> rising waters taking their toll... we go to the threatened marshall islands... to talk to the peole affected most >> is there a plan?

>> investigating a dark side of the law >> they don't have the money to

puchace their freedom... >> for some...crime does pay... >> the bail bond industry has been good to me.... i'll make a chunk of change off the crime... >> fault lines al jazeera america's hard hitting... >> today they will be arrested... >> ground breaking... they're firing canisters of gas at us... emmy award winning investigative series... chaising bail only on al jazeera america a day of healing in the wake of last week's shootings that left nine people dead at eh emmanuel a.m.e. church last wednesday. today the president was in charleston and delivered a very powerful eulogy at reverend pinkney's funeral service to honor and celebrate his life. >> preacher by 13.

pastor by 18. public servant by 23. what a life he lived. what an example he set. what a model for his faith. and then to lose him at 41. slain in his sanctuary. with eight wonderful members of his flock. each at different stages in life but bound together by a common commitment to god. cynthia heard. suzie jackson. ethel lance. de payne middleton. tawanza sanders. daniel simmons.

sharonda singleton. myra thompson. good people. decent people. god fearing people. [applause] >> explorer and environmentalist jean-michel cousteau. >> we are visitors and we need to respect that. >> surprising secrets of the ocean. >> if it wasn't for the ocean, we would have a lot of problems today. >> and the harsh reality facing our planet. >> enough is enough. >> i lived that character. >> we will be able to see change.

for your apple and android mobile device. download it now welcome back. as charleston buries victims of last week's massacre, many are urging a new push to appreciate the wounds of the past. we traveled to charleston to meet with black and white residents, descendants of slaves

and slave owners. they reveal the costs and consequences of failing to acknowledge that city's terrible legacy of slavery. here. i find these things. you'd never know that these are the fingerprints of the slave that made that particular brick. so i go around the city and look for those fingerprints and i found these fingerprints right here. >>reporter: joe who works at charleston's slave mart museum scours the wall of of his city for signs of a hidden past >> that's an indication that it was a female or a child. small fingerprints. making these bricks. >>reporter: there's no reference of this place even being built by slaves. you never know. >> yeah. >>reporter: charleston is a city that celebrates its past. cobblestone streets. historic churches. carriages of tourists looking for a sense of the old south.

but the vision of the antebellum times -- if you know where to look. >> these folks were being bought and sold here in charleston because charleston already established itself as a prominent place for people who were slaves. we're surrounded by buildings of places where these people were being sold. >>reporter: some 40% of africans who reached these shores came to the port of charleston. some black residents even for the massacre last week have said charleston pays too little attention to the city's troubling past and see the roots of the murder in the legacy of racism and slavery.

>> there should be a marker every time you're walking about what happened here. >>reporter: he came to charleston for a masters in history and stayed. >> i try to tell the students any point of history you give me any point of history and i can tell you something in charleston that affected the nation. >>reporter: why do you think charleston chooses to only be showing one bit of history? >> the other side of history for charleston is very deep and traumatic and sad. >>reporter: his last name comes from the man who owned his an zesters, john c. calhoun. a

statue of calhoun stands at the heart of charleston only a block away from a.m.e. ehmmanuel church >> every day i drive down calhoun street and see that statue and there's not one statue i've hated more in my life. he was a vile, racist, quote, unquote, states rights man but everything that he stood for goes back to the oppression of my people, my an -- an zesters. i hate that man. he oppressed my people. >> this past week, someone spray painted his statue. a similar message left at a civil war memorial.

one of the few indication's of charleston's troubling past is museum. >> how many slaves were sold here? >> thousands. we don't have any records to indicate how many exactly but going through the museum, we can see prices, buildings where they were housed. this market was one of 40 in downtown charleston in the mid-1800s. >>reporter: the battle over commemorating the past came long before last week's massacre. a statue honoring one of the church's founders was only

erected in a city park after decades-long struggle. he was executed in 1822 along with dozens of his followers after authorities discovered his plans for a violent slave rebellion. >> that man, he fought his own freedom. he started a church. and he basically did -- basically took a by any means necessary approach. the church's original building was burned down because of its association with him. but residents of charleston say that times have changed here pointing to the response of a city across communities rejecting the ideology of shooter dylan roof. >> never dreamed something like that would happen in charleston

or anywhere. certainly not in charleston. coming together of the people in charleston, the outpouring of love has been just inxre henceable for me and i'm from here. and more importantly to hear the victims' families speak in such forgiving and loving terms to me is mind boggling. the hate that came into this city and did that act is foreign to charleston. i don't believe, i don't know white -- i know a lot of bad people. i was a defense lawyer and a prosecutor. i've seen a lot of horrible acts in charleston and i just don't think that is, you know, that is something that is part of charleston. >> for richard stony, the manifest toe along with the gallery of photos posing with

confederate flags show a young man stuck in the wrong vision of the past. >> when you go online, you can see pictures of him posing with the confederate flag. what do you think of that? >> as a southerner, the confederate flag is such an emotional as a son of confederate war veterans, it's an emotional image because we all want to believe that the war was fought for reasons other than slavery when we all in reality and any student of history and anyone true to their heart that the civil war was fought 99.9% as a result of slavery. it's been labeled as states rights. so -- but it was fought. it's over. it's been a long, long time. the confederate flag belongs in a museum. the

confederate flag should not be flying in colombia on state property. >>reporter: the massacre at the church appears to have created momentum to remove the flag from south carolina's capitol grounds but some feel the history of african-americans in this town is still not fully acknowledged. an international african-american museum is in development but it's raised only 40% of needed funding. another charleston native retired history professor will methodist hospital frazier is trying to create a museum to african-americans. >> for a long time the story of african-americans fe officially omitted. we did not really start to tell the story of african-americans except in the black community context. >>reporter: he believes the massacre last week grew out of

ignorance. >> he could not have murdered nine people unless he believed they were in some way not people. there is a law in south carolina that actually -- we pushed to pass it in the 70s, that says you have to teach african-american history but it is not done and because it's not enforced and not done, it was possible for a young man to come up in the time he came up and not recognize at all what african-americans have contributed to his state and to his city. a lot of folks are satisfied with the gone with the wind, mint juleps, hoop skirts. a lot of folks are comfortable with that and going beyond that is kind of offensive and abracive to some.

but it's still the story and needs to be

>> hello there i'm shiulie ghosh with the world news, thanks for joining us. let the people decide. the prime minister calls for a referendum in greece. and a nuclear program in iran, another