much. great insight. that's it for me. i am brianna keilar in for jake tapper. i turn you over now to wolf blitzer in "the situation room." \s . happening now, breaking news -- forgiveness, the charleston church gunman makes a stoic appearance and in a motion of compassion the survivor of the massacre forgives him. what compelled the judge to call the -- how he got his weapon why a friend took it away from him only to give it back. domestic terror the justice department says it will consider terror charges as it investigates the church massacre. was the killing spree more than a hate crime? in mourning the nation grieves in the wake of the latest mass shootic. we're standing by to hear from

president obama and for a vigil in the shattered city of charleston. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." we're following the breaking news the dramatic and tearful court appearance by charleston church gunman dylann roof the 21-year-old who sources say has admitted to killing nine people in an african-american church in the hopes of starting a race war. we heard roof speak for the first time as he appeared by video, showing absolutely no emotion when a survivor of the massacre and relatives of the victims addressed him, many in tears, some offering forgive necessary. the justice department just announced its investigating the shooting as a possible act of domestic terrorism as well as a hate crime. and a media source is citing that he researched the church and targeted it because it turned out to be an historic

church. we're expecting president obama to speak out about the shooting in a few moments this hour and we're standing by for a vigil tonight in charleston. we're covering all angles of the breaking news with our correspondents our guesting including south carolina senator marlon kimpson. martin how did the hearing go today? >> reporter: you beau nonhearings are typical, but there was nothing typical about this particular bond hearing because of what we already know. family members were there, the suspect was not. it is the most powerful words i have ever heard spoken at any bond hearing. listen to the victims confront him. >> you took something very precious away from me. i will never talk to her ever again. i will never be able to hold her

again. but i forgive you, and have mercy on your soul. >> i forgive you and my family forgives you, but we would like for you to take this opportunity to repent. give your life to the one mo matters the most christ. >> we welcomed you wednesday night in our bible study with open arms. you have killed some of the most beautiful-est people that i know. every fiber in my body hurts, and i will never be the same. tywanza sanders was my son, but tywanza was my hero. tywanza was my hero. but as we said in bible study, we enjoyed you, but may got have

mercy on you. every's plea for your soul is proof that they -- they lived in love and their legacies will live in love so hate won't win. >> i acknowledge that i am very angry, but one thing depends always join in our family with is that she taught me that we are the family that love built. we have no room for hate so we have to forgive. >> the heartbreak you could hear in almost every word there. out of respect, the camera did not focus on the victims' families as they spoke. but there was also some controversy. the judge before the proceeding began, issued a statement, and he asked that there be consideration for the suspect's

family. >> we have victims, nine of them them but we also have victims on the other side. there are victims on this young man's side of the family. nobody would have ever thrown them into the whirlwind of events that they have been thrown into. we must find it in our heart at some point in time not only to help those that are victims but also to help his family as well. >> reporter: it was the feeling not so much that those comments aren't necessarily true just many felt it was inappropriate at that particular time with so many grieves family members inside that courtroom. we should also point out that the family members could see the suspect, but the suspect could not see them. there was no video return. he could only hear what was being said. lastly there was no bond in this particular case. the judge didn't have the authority when it comes to murder and there are nine murder charges against dylann

roof wolf. >> yes, there are. thank you, martin for that. we are learning new information about his behavior in the weeks before the killings including rants about race and a plan to quote, do something crazy. cnn's brian todd is working this part of the story for us. brian, what are you finding out? >> wolf we have breaking news this evening. we just got a statement from the family of dylann roof. this is the family speaking out for the first time in electronic form with a paper statement on this tragedy. here's what they said quote -- words cannot express our shock, grief and disbelief as to what happened that night. we are devastated and saddened by what occurred. we offer our prayers and sympathies for all those impacted about by these events. our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of those killed this week. we have been touched by the moving words from the victims' families offering god's forgiveness and love in the face of such horrible suffering. wolf that just in from the fa family of dylann roof.

also tonight, we have learned that dylann roof may well have been planning some kind of extreme act for some kind. there may have been a dispute within his family over his purchase of a gun and that he had violent ideas about provoking tension between the races. the license plate saying confederate states of america, patches on his jacket is the flags of apartheid-era south africa and rhodesia symbols of a life descending into behavior. >> he said he wanted segregation, a race war, wanted to be white with white, and black with black. >> what did you say in a? >> i didn't agree with his opinion ought all on that and we just argued about it. >> joey meek had been friends in middle school. they lost touch a few years ago, but reconnected in recent months. meek said roof said he a six-month plan to do something,

quote, crazy. he said one nice recently roof drank a liter of vodka, when he talked about a race war, and when meek decided to take action. >> that same night, i took his gun and i hid it. the next morning i didn't want to get in trouble and him say i stole his gun, so i put it back in the trunk. >> reporter: how do you feel about that now? >> terrible. terrible but then again, i can't go back. i was looking out for myself really. i didn't want to get in trouble for stealing a gun. >> reporter: meek says dylann roof's parents gave him money for his 21st birth today i which his grandfather confirmed. but meek says ultimately roof's parents seemed to give in. >> hi parents gave him the cash for it for his birthday in ani, and they both split the price of the gun in cash and gave it to dylann to buy the gun and put it in his name. >> reporter: we don't know if roof's parents knew he was going to use the money -- despite our

multiple attempts to speak to the family they haven't spoken publicly. the grandfather off camera said this is a horrible situation. the family's pastor relayed a message. >> what they ask and what i ask is that we continue to hold all these families in our prayers and that the whole world, our nation charleston our community understands we love them god loves tlim. >> reporter: there were other bizarre behavior. >> one day he asked me if i can videotape him burning an american flag and i said hell no he's crazy. >> reporter: now meek has his own message for the loved ones. >> i'm sorry this all happened to everybody, and it could have been prevented if -- if people would have taken him seriously, but dylann wasn't a serious person and no one took him serious, but if someone took him seriously, this all would have been avoided. >> reporter: joey meek says the

day before the shootings, he woke up and saw dylann roof outside him home. he said roof was sleeping inside his own car. meek said roof game him and other friends a ride to the nearby lake and said would be back that night or wednesday morning. he said that was the last time hi saw dylann roof. >> was this friend joey meek who notified the authorities about roof after the shootings, he actually notified the police when he heard that initial description, right? >> reporter: he did, wolf joey meek said he was watching the news coverage all night long and called the fbi the next morning giving de tailed descriptions of what dylann roof was wearing, giving them a de tailed description of the license mate on his car. joey meek believes he was crucial in helping the authorities to apprehend dylann roof. he says he doesn't want to be called a hero for this he just wants the family of families of the victims to know he tried to help. >> reporter: and in the

affidavit that was released today, they said the father and uncle of the defendant contacted the charleston police department and positively identified the definite and his vehicle as those they saw in the photographs. they also contributed presumably to the capture of roof. all right. brian, thanks very much. let's talk more about all of this as we await the president of the united states. joining us is marlon kimpson. he served with reverend pinkney and knew him well. dylann roof's family just released the first public statement. among other things they said this this is the family -- words cannot express our shock, grief and disbelief as to what happened that night. we have devastated and saddened by what occurred. we offer our prayers and sympathy for all those impacted by these events. what's your reaction when you hear that, senator? >> well i'm certainly happy

that they apologized. it was the right thing to do. >> what else do you want to hear from this family? . >> well i was listening to the commentary earlier, and one of the parishioners a family of the decedent -- by the way, they showed extreme courage not coming into that courtroom filled with hate but calling for repentance. it is only my hope being a person of faith, that he will truly repent for his sins. i can't speak for the criminal but i can tell you in the state of south carolina he will be brought to justice, and we will vigorously prosecute the case to the fullest extent including any and all punishment. >> it was pretty amazing to hear some of those family members,

the people who survived in effect actually saying at least one or two of them that they forgive roof. that's pretty conpeg, isn't it? >> it's very compelling and it's telling, very telling. you know these family members, their relatives who were mass akerr, they were here for prayer. they welcomed this criminal into their -- into the sanctuary. the doors of the church are always open at mother emanuel, and that is what most of the parishioners want. we will continue as to open the doors of the church and for those seeking to give them their lives to christ that's the whole purpose of the church. this community is a very resilient community. after our mourning we will come away with a proactive agenda. that's what i'm looking forward to do rolling up my sleeves,

and doing the work that is in the best interests of south carolinians. >> our cnn affiliate, wbtv is reporting a source as saying that roof actually wanted to target that particular church emanuel a.m.e. because it was a historic african-american church. when you hear that how angry does that make you? >> well it makes me very angry, obviously, but the question is, where do we go from here? and when i talk about prosecuting this criminal vigorously i'm really speaking about to the extent that we don't have laws on the books such as hate crime legislation. we want to enact those types of reforms. we also want to reform or gun laws. they need to be morz consistent. there are too many guns that can get in the wrong hands, and so we have a lot of work to do. the other thing is there's been

a great debate in the last few days about removing divisive symbols. be need to take symbols of the past down in south carolina and put those symbols in places like a museum where history is appropriately reported. >> friends of dylann roof say he wanted to spark a race war. when you hear that you sea, you know this -- it's beyond words, if you will but what goes through your mind? >> well, he's not. the people of south carolina are better than that. this is a small -- he will be a small footnote in our pages. we have the -- the community has galvanized just like we did recently with the walter scott shooting. we're going for galvanize with a positive agenda. he loses, the state of south

carolina will win, because we will move forward, ever resolved to ridding this state of hate and ridding this state of division. >> i want you to stand by senator. we have more to discuss. we're also awaiting the president of the united states. he's getting ready to address the mayors out in san francisco. he's had another day to reflect on what's occurred. much more with senator kimpson and the president, when we come back.

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news from the emotional court hears of dylann roof who appeared by video. most of the victims were allowed to address him. through tears, some of them offered actual forgiveness to the 21-year-old who showed absolutely no reaction. cnn affiliate wbtv is now citing a source as saying roof researched the church and he targeted it because it turned out to be an historic african-american church. we're back with senator kimpson, he served with the reverend pinkney, one of the victims of this massacre. what did you think about the statement that the judge made at the hearing today, when he also suggested that roof's own family were victims as well.

>> i think it was a poor poor choice of words. had i been the magistrate i would not have made the unnecessary comments. it was largely dicta. he is there to interpret and impose a sentence not editorialize his judicial sentence. i haven't heard all the words. i just heard a bit of the clip. it was announcing a sentence based on the facts of the crime. so it's an unfortunate poor choice of words that i would not have stated had i been the magistrate judge. >> we actually heard dylann roof the killer speaking for the first time. what was your impress of his demeanor in court? >> well i didn't see -- as you know i'm plugged up here.

i haven't seen his facial rye action but i understand he was pretty unfazed by the whole episode. >> he didn't show any emotion. he was totally stoic, and was looking without reacting in any way. you also -- you want to say something, senator? >> well, it's -- it epitomizes his attitude towards this senseless reckless massacre that he committed. this is a guy that has no heart, but we are going to prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law, and we're going to come away from this horrific tragedy focused on an agenda. >> you favor the death penalty? >> yes. >> the naacp president, the national naacp president, cornel william brooks he condemned the

shooting as in his words, an act of racial terrorism. do you agree with him? >> well as the facts unravel, i have to agree. the definition of terrorism is one who uses violent means to achieve a political objective. i think that's what this criminal did. i can't imagine any set of facts that he wouldn't meet all the elements of a crime, including a hate crime. to the extent that south carolina doesn't have hate crime legislation, we need to have that. to the extent we don't have an appropriate definition of terrorism, we need to do that. we also again, need to look at our gun laws and we really need to have a real discussion about the symbols in south carolina that divide us. you know this is 2015. 2015. and we've got to put artifacts

in a museum particularly artifacts that divide and polarize this nation. we need symbols that are of unity. i can tell you this many of my colleagues agree, that we intend to do something about it. if nothing else comes out of this we will come away focused on a legislative agenda so that we can move this state forward. >> all right, senator, thanks very much for joining us. senator kimpson of south carolina. by the way, we're standing by to hear from the president momentarily. we will hear what he's saying now that he's had another day to reflect on what's happened in charleston. the justice department in washington meanwhile is weighing terror charges against the gunman as well as hate crime charges. we're getting new information about the investigation. stand by. today is june 19th --

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he's thanking a lot of the mayos right now, but shortly he will be speaking about what happened in charleston south carolina. in fact let's go to the president of the united states right now. he's addressing all the mayors. he's going to be speaking about the south carolina. >>.francis visit. i know how the bay area is excited over the golden state warriors championship. i want to thank two outstanding public servants governor jerry brown and leader nancy pelosi who are here with us today. and i want to thank this year's leaders of the conference of mayors kevin johnson, baltimore mayor stephanie rawlins blake, and oklahoma city's mar yor cornet.

i also want to mention a few outstanding mayors who are getting ready to pep down. michael nutter of philadelphia has done outstanding work. greg ballard of indianapolis an outstanding mayor, doing great work with my brother. and parker of houston. and my dear old friend michael coleman of columbus, ohio. and finally a great mayor, one of my favorite people and i know one of the people all of you admire so much a great mayor, joe riley of charleston.

joe's back home doing one of a mayor's sadder more important duties today. honestly the entire country has been shocked and heartbroken by what happened in charleston. the nature of this attack in a place of worship, where consequence gre gantcongregants invite in a stranger who then shoots them down adds to the pain. the motivations remind us that racism remains a blight that we have to combat together. we have made progress but we have to be vigilant because it still linkers. when it's poisoning the minds of young people it betrays our

ideals and tears our democracy apart. but as much as we grieve this particular tragedy, i think it's important, all as i mentioned at the white house, to recognize thinks tragedies have become far too commonplace. few people understand the terrible toll of gun violence like mayors do. whether it's a mass shooting like the one in charleston or individual attacks of violence that add up over time it tears at the fabric of a community. it costs you money and it costs resources. it costs this country dearly. more than 11,000 americans were killed by gun violence in 2013 alone.

11,000. if congress had passed some common-sense gun safety reforms after newtown, after a group of children had been gunned down in their own classroom, reforms that 90% of the american people supported, we wouldn't have prevented every act of violence or even most. we don't know if it would have prevented what happened in charleston. no reform can guarantee of elimination of violence but we might still have some more americans with us. we might have stopped one shoot shooter, some families might still be whole f. you all might have to attend fewer funerals. we should be strong enough to acknowledge this. at the very least we should be able to talk about this issue as

citizens. without demonizing all gun owners who are overwhelmingly law abiding, but also without suggesting that any debate about this involves a wild-eyed plot to take everybody's guns away. i know in today's politics it makes it less likely that we see any sort of serious gun safety legislation. i remarked that it was very unlikely that this congress would act. and some reporters i think took this as resignation. i want to be clear, i'm not resigned. i have faith we will eventually do the right thing. i was simply making the point that we have to move public opinion. we have to feel a sense of urgency.

ultimately congress will follow the people. and we have to stop being confused about this. at some point as a country, we have to reckon with what happens. it is not good enough simply to show sympathy. you don't see murder on this kind of scale with this kind of frequency in any other advanced nation on earth. every country has violent, hateful or mentally unstable people people. what's different is not every country is awash with easily accessible guns. and so i refuse to act as if this is the new normal or to

pretend that it's simply sufficient to grieve and that any mention of us doing something to stop it is somehow politicizing the problem. we need a change in attitudes. among everybody -- lawful gun owners those who are unfamiliar with guns. we have to have a conversation about it and fix this. and ultimately congres acts when the public insists on action. and we've seen how public opinion can change. we've seen it on gay marriage. we've seen it beginning to change on climate change. we have to shift how we think about this issue.

and we have the capacity to change but we have to feel a sense of urgency about it. we as a people have got to change. that's how we honor those families. that's how we honor the families in newtown. that's how we honor the families in aurora. now, the first time i spoke in this conversation in 2008 i said that americans would be succeeding despite washington they should be succeeding with some help from washington. as president, i've made it a priority to partner with mayors like you. actual. the president making his statement on charleston once again making a very strong very strong statement in favor of more gun control here in the united states. similar to what he said

yesterday, although i think it was a bit more robust today in front of all of these mayors. we're going to continue to monitor what he's saying. he's moving to other sublgts, but i want some quick reaction to what we just heard from the president of the united states. sunny hosten is with us she's in charleston. what did you think, sunny? >> you know i think we've been hearing this president talk over and over again about gun control reform and i think what he said really rings true that no one better no public officials other than our mayors of our major cities understand the import of gun violence. as you know mayor rawlins blake of baltimore is a good friend of mine. we obvious talk about guns and gun control and gun violence. she is actually lyly now the president of the conference of mayors. i understand the mayors are going to be discussing that very

issue this weekend. so i think his remarks were just right on target given what we are seeing in this country, and especially given what we have seen the past few days in charleston. matthew morris is with us a former special agent in charge. he appointed out that 11,000 americans were killed in 2013 by gun violence. he said once again you don't see this kind of violence in any other advanced nation on earth. you see it here in the united states he says, because of prevalentens of a lot of guns. your reaction to that? >> drawing on mice experience at the atf, we used the motto we enforce the laws that congress enact. it's very frustrating at times, that everyone that has a gun that shouldn't is not prohibited. as sunny would tell you, we can only investigate for criminal misuse and possession so clearly there are a lot of people in this country that have firearms that shouldn't, but

they're not prohibited from. >> tom fuentes, you're our law enforcement analyst right now. if there had been tighter gun control, i think the president even acknowledges there's no guarantee this young guy couldn't have walked into that church and killed those people. >> no it wouldn't have changed a thing, wolf because, you know we're talking about trying to ban assault rifles after the sandy hook slaughter, and nothing changed then. we were talking about taking away armor-piercing shells in citizens the only country in the world that allows that and we hear that hunters need that, because moos i guess wear body armor, we have the most militarized public on earth. so the amount of guns 300 million guns for a population of 330, yes, it's absurd and it wouldn't change with handgun in this case. i want to bring in evan perez. what are you learning about this new phase, apparently new phase

in the justice department's investigation looking into whether or not it was actually murder not only a hate crime, but also an act of terror. >> wolf one of the fascinating things about this case is the fact that if this man had entered this church wearing some symbol from isis or al qaeda, there would be no doubt that this is terrorism, and so a lot of people have been asking the justice department why not this? we got a statement from the justice department essentially that the heartbreaking episode wassen doubtedly designed to strike fear and terror into this community, and the department is looking at this chemofrom all angles including hate crime and as a domestic terrorism act. i want to add one quick thing about the gun. in this case the fbi, the atf have been looking into the purchase of this gun. it was a legal purchase according to everything that they have seen. he had $400 he got from his father and he went and bought this gun with additional money he had on the side. the seller of the gun, which is a gun store there in south carolina is cooperating with

the investigation. they're providing all the information from all appearances he had every right to own it. >> he was charged with a felony but not convicted. it was still in adjudication. as a result he was -- it was legal for him to purchase that gun. >> exactly. the federal background check procedures rely on the states to provide information. if he hadn't been reported yet as somebody who was abusing drugs or somebody indicted in a felony or been found guilty of a felony there's really nothing you can do about it. i'll have everybody to stand by. we're following the breaking news. coming up renewed debate about the confederate flag that flies near the capitol. >> that symbol has to come down. that symbol must be removed from our state capitol.

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charleston south carolina reeling after the terror attack on emanuel ame church renewing a debate over south carolina flying the confederate flag near the state capitol. today the head of the naacp made a passionate plea for that flag to come down. >> some will assert that the confederate flag is merely a symbol of years gone by. a symbol of heritage and not

hate. but where we see that symbol lifted up at an emblem of hate, as a tool of hate, as an inspiration for hate as an inspiration for violence that symbol has to come down. that symbol must be removed from our state capitol. and where we have some of our leading policymakers in washington in columbia and in charleston very much aware of the heritage of the confederate flag. but coming to the moment in the mitt of reasoned debate in the midst of emotional tragedy, in the midst of an anguishing moment in our country. and we're all coming together and we're saying, yes, there may be multiple sides to this debate. but clearly we all have to be on the side of those who lost their lives in a church.

the flag has to come down. >> let's did us sus what we heard from cornell william brooks president and ceo of the naacp. janelle bowie is a staff writer at "slate." what'd you think? >> what i think is that whenever you have a symbol and that symbol is representative yes, of a heritage but it's representative of something far more than that something that was a past that is not a very proud heritage. something that we really can'tcan't at this day and age support in any fathom whatsoever. i think it is time it comes down. who amongst us hasn't been at a baseball game you do the seventh inning stretch or prior to that, at the beginning there's the anthem. we take such pride when we look at the american flag for all it represents. for all it has endured r. the land of the free the home of the brave. it's a symbol upon which we're so proud. at the same time, when you look at a symbol like this flag and

you look at the history and what it represents it's about time that we turn the page on that part of our history and really started talking about and representing the true history of this country, which is reflective in the other flag that we have the american flag that we have. that's what we really need to be patriating. >> jamel, you tweeted earlier the definition of terrorism in america is white supremacist attacks on blacks, the only way to understand this shooting. tell us what you meant by that. >> if you look immediately after the civil war, reconstruction beginning 1866 to 1877 you see the emergence of groups like the ku klux klan of a whole host of confederate nostalgic groups aiming to restore the status quo through violence against african-americans. this continues throughout the 19th century. and through kind of the early 20th century as well. the unifying fact of all these

groups by any definition were terrorist groups is that they saw black autonomy as a threat and used violence as an attempt to limit it. i think when you are looking at the history of american terrorism, in large part that is that history of extremist violence against african-americans. so what's so tragic about this incident in charleston is it lies in this long and sort of ignoble tradition of that kind of violence. >> you hive no doubt this was an act of terror? >> i have no doubt whatsoever. not only -- i'll put it this way. columbia, south carolina has a whole lot of black people. this kid lived in columbia. if he just wanted to kill black people he could easily have found somewhere in columbia to do it. if he wanted to kill black people in charleston the area is rife with african-american churches. he went to a particular church with historic significance in a city with historic significance to kill a leader of the community there. to me that is clearly motivated attack. >> legally speaking what's the

difference -- he's already going to be charged with murdering nine people. that potentially has the death sentence. he's also charged with a hate crime or act of terror legally speaking what's the practical impact of that? >> well from a legal practical perspective, wolf there's not a difference. why? because the killing of nine people makes you eligible for the death penalty and you get the worst of it which is the taking of your life. so the reality is that in the event that he is convicted, in the event that it is tried as a death penalty case which the jury so finds, that's it he's done. so the other part to this is that the federal government looking at it as a hate crime, wolf we should point out, when you charge someone with a hate crime, you have so prove the motivation for which they acted. what he's charged and he's tried for a murder and multiple murders, you do not have to demonstrate motive at all, simply that he deliberately did it. whether you call it a hate crime, whether you call it murder whether you call it

terrorism, i think everyone could agree it's an act that should not have occurred that he should certainly be held accountable for. but we know that the jury will hear that the basis of which he did it for, why he went to that church why he purchased the gun, why he was threatening and intimidating and striking fear in people because of his hatred in his heart. so no matter how it's prosecuted it's about account ability. and certainly i think that's what people are looking forward to find. >> thanks very much joey jackson, jamel beauy. coming up much more on the breaking news the emotional court hearing as victims' relatives speak directly powerfully to the charleston church gunman and some of them offer forgiveness. stay with us.

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happening now, families forgive as an accused killer makes his first court appearance. relatives of the victims come forward with words of forgiveness. and a survivor of the massacre speaking in public for the first time tells him, may god have mercy on you. you're going to hear her powerful words. new phase. as police say they're following up leads, we're seeing reports about what the confessed gunman is telling investigators. did he intentionally target the historic charleston church? we're going to hear from people who know him, including his family. common grief. this hour