>> people like douglas and tubman and parks belonged to it. it was about civil rights and human rights. >> the church has been our freedom house. >> dean at howard university school of divinity says emanuel led wait forsome black churches by being a place where african-american politicians, leaders, organizers, teachers and more could find acceptance when they were barred by so much of america. >> you know you will come there unfiltered. you will come there without recrimination made against you. no matter of the disparages of the larger social order, you come here and can you learn how to be as fully human as you are. >> that's what emanuel meant to you. >> yes, absolutely. part of that means the affirming of every single person who comes inside our doors and those who are within the communities around us. >> tom foreman, cnn, washington.

>> so as we have been reporting, a hate crime investigation is now under way. the u.s. attorney general loretta lynch made that clear in her announcement on thursday. so it now raises the question, just what is the legal definition of a hate crime in this country. cnn's senior analyst jeffrey toobin lays it all out o for you. >> it illegal, obviously, to kill someone. but what congress decided, is more harmful to society when you commit an illegal act, like homicide, with harmful negative racial intent. the key issue with hate crime sin tent. in normal homicide all you have to show is that person a shot and killed person b. but what makes a hate crime different is that you have to show why person a shot person b

an you have to prove that there was some sort of racial hostility, racial amimous at the root of it. terrorism can be a hate crime as well but not all hate crimes are terrorism. terrorism is meant to threaten a large group of people. you can have a hate crime that is essentially just a one on one. so they are overlapping categories but not exactly the same. >> jeffrey toobin there explaining. there's new images of this alleged killer circulating on line and they are sparking new debate over a very old conversation in this part of the world, the confederate flag here in south carolina. this photo shows dylann roof sitting on a car with a license plate that says confederate states of america. many associate that flag with slavery during the civil war yet in south carolina a confederate battle flag remains flying at the state house.

earlier cnn asked a state senator if a change needs to be made after this alleged hate crime. he said for some folk the flag represents heritage. for others of us it represents hate. he said now is not the time to discuss the confederate flag debate but instead time to mourn. >> earlier i spoke with cnn law enforcement analyst and former assistant director at fbi tom fuentes while the massacre appears to be rauchly motivated i asked him about other possibility motives for murder like fame and whether it might be classified as a form of domestic terrorism. take it from the mind of someone like this, that would want fame from something like killing nine people in cold blood. he is so very young but there were signs from his personality that shows signs of trouble. >> we see so many different

possibilities for him in terms of the motivation to do it. obviously one we say okay he hates black people and that's why he committed this crime at this time and place at a church like that but a lot of time the people that want to kill others are looking for a celebrity. someone that want to assassinate the president of the united states an another world later or the assassination of john lennon and other celebrities from movies on music and you know, so we've seen that. we've seen celebrities that have been stalked. we have seen people go into the theaters and do mass shootings of p em there. and of course, here in this country, the shooting at sandy hook elementary a couple years ago senseless slaughter of 5-year-old children by an individual with an assault rifle. so we see a variety of these cases, of people with some degree of mental illness and then of course, in addition that, having access to guns. >> yes. absolutely.

and the sandy hook shooting did not have an effect of changing any laws as far as gun control goes. let's talk about the fact that officials call this, tom, a hate crime. but actually in south carolina, there isn't a hate crime statute. is that correct? >> that's true. in this case, the exposure he has legally in south carolina from state law is the nine murders he committed an any other relate offenses to that. the hate crime statute that could be applied and probably won't because it carries a lesser penalty, would be a federal hate crime statute. a lot of people feel, think that fbi got involved in this strictly because of the hate crime possible oity. but actually, the fbi helped local law enforcement any time they request it p. when an event happens like this in the beginning, it could be a loner doing it because he is

mentally deranged and wants to do it. but in this case the chief of police reported that the head of the fbi in south carolina called him as he was driving to the scene of the shooting. so the fbi was involved in this literally from the first minute of the investigation. just to provide assistance or in case it turned to be out an act of domestic terrorism, it turns out this individual had been a member of a white hate group in the united states, one of the groups from ku klux klan to aryan brotherhood, neonazi groups. so if it turned out he was part after group like that it could be a federal crime and terrorism. >> thank you so much for your time. u.s. president barack obama is calling the massacre that happened inside this church a tragedy. and he is also urging the country to revive the debate over gun control in the united states.

listen as he addresses the media earlier about this divisive issue. >> i've today make statements like this too many times. communities like this have had to endure tragedies like this too many times. we don't have all the facts but we do know that once again innocent people were killed in part because someone who wanted to inflict harm had no trouble getting their hands on a gun. at some point, we, as a country, will have to wreckon with the fact that this type of violence doesn't happen in other advanced countries. it doesn't happen in other places with this kind of frequency. and it is in our power do something about it. i say that recognizing the politics in this town.

forclose a lot of those avenues right now. t but it would be wrong for us not to acknowledge it. >> the president earlier today, or yesterday at this point. we want to bring you another story that we're developing from gross. greece's prime minister says there will be a solution to his country's debt crisis. in a statement released about an hour ago alexis says greece will return to growth while staying in the eurozone. his comments come just a day after debt bailout talks with european leaders failed to produce a deal. alinda has been following these developing stories. she joins me from athens with more. why this sudden burst of optimism, alinda? >> there seems to be a need for optimism in athens today which is why they made this statement

this morning. from what we've been hearing, a lot of money has been leaving groek banks. as a result, the prime minister probably felt he needs to tone down all of the arguments we've been hearing recently and pacify greek people about what has been happen pg. we have been monitoring the media all morn pg. activists and journalists explaining what a back ground would mean. all of this at the same time we've been hearing and greece asked the european central bank to look into updwriding or giving more money into the the ela, emergency liquidity fund. this is not confirmed but is widely circulated here. also time really is running out. so this by now is probably greece's last chance before the end of the month to strike a deal. and i think what the prime minister did with his sentence is indicate that greece is ready

to compromise as others thought they would at some point. >> so can greece's financial system with stand this? >> well, if people do start running to atms and withdrawing more and more money the truth is that no, greece's system would in fact collapse. which is why time is so much of essence. we have been hearing about possible shores which we cannot confirm but the government is trying to tell people to stay calm that a solution is near, that there will be a dear and it will be positive for greece and will keep the country in the euro and just days ago we had several polls indicating that the greeks believe there will be a deal. a last-minute deal, but a deal all the time with 9 of 10 greeks saying a deal would be struck and 7 of 10 saying it is

probably not going to be a great deal for greece. >> elinda, thank you for bringing us the latest. the pope releasees a controversial document on climate change and is pointing the finger at humans for being so wasteful. we will give you the details after this. kellogg's® frosted mini-wheats®... 8 layers of wheat... and one that's sweet. for the adult.... and kid - in all of us. (supergrass' "alright") (plays throughout) ♪ kellogg's frosted mini wheats® feed your inner kidult...

the full weight of the catholic church into saving our planet, pope francis says humanity has a moral imperative to care and act now warning that dooms day predictions about climate change can no longer be met with irony or disdain. >> this is our home. it is being ruined and damaged and it is affecting all of us especially the poor. >> the planet, the pope said, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth. his message comes as an uncyclical which is literally to be sent to priests and the more

than 1 billion catholics around the world. drawing directly on his teachings, the pope says we are taught to care for all creation. we are not god, he write, he must forcefully reject the notion that our being created in god's image and given dominion over the earth justifies absolute domination over other creatures. while promising he is not recommending a return to the stone age, the pope is calling for a lifestyle revolution away from the cult of capitalist consumerism an take a swipe at modern day progress saying our immense technological development has not been accompanied by a development in human responsibility values and conscience. here to talk about some of the signs of our changing planet is our meteorologist derek van dam. you got admit, the pope makes some good points about our waist fullness. there are some simple things we can all do to help protect.

>> poignant facts from the pope and big statements with a lot of weight behind them as well. evidence continues to pile up. since the year 2000, our oceans absorbing more and more of the c co2 from fossil fuels we burn ever day affects the water and marine life. people who study climate for a living to give us this indicator that our claimate is changing and our earth is warping p. we look at extreme weather events. not that we have extreme coastal drought and heat waves before, they are just becoming more severe and more frequent. look at this year's heat wave killing thousands of india and think about the ongoing drought in california and brazil. all thanks to the heat trapping greenhouse gasses. co2. this time, reaching measurement values, 400 parts per million. something that the world has not seen for 800,000 years.

what is it doing? well, it's warming our planet. think about the due i have a getting thicker and thinkinger around the earth's surface, allowing us to become warmer and warmer and warmer releasing more heat-trapping gasses into the atmosphere. this is impacting the poor in a very disproportionate way. we have 20 of the most at risk countries plotted on o this particular map. this is extreme weather. but interesting to note is that 15 of these countries are considered lower income countries. what we are experiencing here is as we become more and more vulnerable, the more people we have living closer to coast lines for instance, the capacity for us or that low income economy, to adopt and change to climate, it becomes more and more difficult and that will continue to marginalize the poor. even a slight shift can create

even a new idea or new idea of poverty that we haven't seen or experienced before across the planet. 97% of displaced individuals thanks to well in fact mother nature in this phenomenon is in countries including asia and africa. sea level rise in india is a major concern. bangladesh. philippines. anywhere with large coastal areas, including china. we look at population estimates going forward into 2050 and we have millions and millions more people that will p put themselves in the way of danger, rising sea levels, drought, heavy rain, tropical storms, typhoons. a not good ten all comes down to human induced climate change. and that's what the pope was

reveali revealing. >> wasn't last year one of the warmest. >> 2014 was the warmest year on record. 2015 could easily break that. >> yes. today. right with it. >> sure. >> all right. >> urgent matter p. >> yes, a science is a science p. derek, thank you. people across the world are mourning the loss of nine church goers, innocent victims killed inside a historic church as cover coverage continues here on cnn newsroom, we remember the people who lost their lives. when were you first when you fell in love? when you got married? when you had kids? when did you first fight to be considered a family?

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back here live in charlston, south carolina. this is a community in shock and disbelief. mourning the loss of nine of its own p. nine invent victim all gunned down inside emanuel ame church. between ages of 26 and 87 years old. as anderson coopers shows us, they all shared a love of their faith. shows us, they all shared a love of their faith. ♪ ♪ ♪

>> reverend clementa pinckney, well known in charlston, not only as a religious leader, but also a state senator. he became a pastor at age 18. and was elect need state office at age 23. making him the youngest african-american state legislator to in the history of south carolina. friends remember him as a gentle man with a strong voice recognizable to all who knew him. reverend pinckney spoke out after the shooting of walter scott by a police officer an pushed for legislation requiring police officers to wear body cameras. it has really created a real heartache and a yearning for justice. people, and not just in the african-american community, but for all people. >> today his desk a the state

senate remains empty, draped in black. clementa pinckney was 41 years old. a recent graduate from allen university known as a quiet student who was committed to his education and to his church. sharonda single ton, another reverend, speech therapist and track and field coach. her son, chris, posted this picture. the two of them on mother's day with the caption happy mother's day to my beautiful number one fan that has always been there when i needed her. cynthia hurd worked in the charlston county library system a manager of one of its busiest brafrmgs. she dedicated her life helping people, especially helping them become educated. de payne middleton-doctor also

served at the church as a minister and leaves behind four daughters. susie jackson was at bible study with letter cousin, ethel, both of them long time members of the church. ethel, most recently a janitor, she was 70 years old. daniel attending church every sunday for service and every wednesday night for bible suddeny. myra thompson teaching bible study at church when the gunman opened fire. she is described a as person who loved the lor and wanted to serve in everything she did. anderson cooper, cnn, charlston. >> there is no doubt that this is a community that is hurting but it is focused on healing determined to unite. thank you for watching this hour of cnn "newsroom." i'm george howell in charlston, south carolina. >> i'm natalie allen.

early viewing is coming up for those around the united states. thank you for watching.