he has some support like al sharpton, julian bond, melanie campbell and the reverend joseph lowery. ll sent him an open letter cheering his stance on same-sex marriage, and reverend lowery says it's time for the black community to come around. why isn't the black community more accepting, and why aren't they the first people raising their hands going, of course, all of us should be -- should have equal rights? >> well, i don't want to say what i'm going to say. >> but you're going to say it anyway? i know you. >> i'm going to say it anyway. there's a little hypocrisy here. we have had gay issues in the black church longer than we've been willing to discuss it. but we've got to come to the point, and we are coming to the point that we're going to accept the freedom of -- i mean, we're going to accept the fact that nobody has a right to dictate to you who you're going to spend your life with. >> back in october when i -- you know, when you had your illustrious birthday, right, i asked you about this issue, and you said that you were for same-sex marriage then. you said at first you thi

joseph lowery giving the benediction at the historic inauguration of president obama.nown as the dean of the civil rights movement, a founding member of the southern leadership conference with dr. t martin luther. the march on washington, freedom rides challenging laws across the jim crowe south, and the 1965 march for voting rights. at 90 years old, he is still making an impact. he joined us when we kicked off his rally. this year, aimed at new voter suppression. >> one of the things we cannot ever been in this crowd, and not understand, is holy ground. and we are here understanding that we are sent on a holy mission. >> and just this week, he and i joined other civil rights leaders in supporting brother obama's stand on same sex marriage with other brothers and sisters into the movement. 60 years into the struggle, he is still fighting for the rights of the powerless. standing not for one, but for all. joining me now, reverend dr. joseph lowery, it's an honor to have you with us. >> it's my honor, i'm happy to be here with you. >> why do you take a position supportin

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obama, but the president does have the confidence of civil rights leaders like al sharpton and joseph lowery who sent him an open letter of support. >>> yahoo! has fired its ceo scott thompson because he claimed a college degree he never had. thompson's official bio stated that he held two degrees in accounting and computer science, but it turns out his only degree is in accounting. yahoo! says its media chief ross levinshone will be named the company's new ceo. >>> a legendary bass guitarist has died. his name is duck dunn, and he played with some of the greats of rock 'n' roll. dunn played bass for booker t. and the mgs. he was also a member of the famed blues brothers and was in the original 1980s film of the same name. he performed in recordings with eric clapton and neil young. he died in tokyo. he was 70 years old. here he is playing the instrumental "green onions." ♪ good stuff. now to movies, "thor," "captain america," "the hulk" and the rest of the gang, they are on track to break a huge record. "the avengers" is slated to top $1 billion in sales worldwide this weekend. the superher

civil rights icon, rev rand joseph lowery. we're talking with him in just a moment. black churches have a lot oreconcile over same sex marriage. they are a major source of support. but as jones reports, many just won't follow him down this path. >> i love the president, but i cannot support what he does. >> to atlanta. >> i'm not mad with the president. >> to new york. >> it's no one's business. only the couples who are involved. it should not be of community concern. >> tackling the subject of same sex marriage sunday. >> he and his congregation have been praying for president obama every sunday for years and this day was no different. >> will this hurt the african-american support for the president in the upcoming election? i would hope not. we have got larger challenges that we have to face. [ applause ] . >> daryl weis, a member who was gay, said the president took a stand. >> as a black gay male and as a baptist, i feel that things will change and opinions will change. the only thing i have to do is lift it up to the lord. >> african-americans have been a strong

reverend joseph lowery and julian bond helped write the letter.ill their views carry weight in the african-american community and in the church? we could get some answers tomorrow when african-american pastors will be in the pulpit. >>> mitt romney makes a personal appeal to conservative evangelicals. mr. romney addressed graduates at liberty university. he never mentioned his own mormon faith directly, but stressed common ground on issues like service, responsibility, and the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman. tens of thousands of protesters in spain are fed up with their country's economic nightmare. they marched today in madrid and other cities, marking the one-year anniversary of a movement against inequality and sky high unemployment. >> >> now to the stories you're talking about. the conservative gay sheriff, forced out of the closet. now he's speaking out on a party divided. tough love for the gop. it's a cnn exclusive. >>> a magazine cover worth a bunch. boobs, it's what's for dinner. does mom need it more than the kid? >

ryan previs said he doesn't think same-sex marriage is such a big issue, but pastor joseph lowery disagrees. >> within the confines of the faith, we do marry, but it's a civil issue. and you can marry and divorce without the church. >> you should know that reverend lowery and reverend al sharpton wrote the president a letter supporting his stance on same-sex marriage. >>> the senate is getting involved with what caused the homeland national security, nine members to lose their jobs. congressman joe lieberman tells cnn he wants some answers. >> is the inspector general satisfied with the investigation of what happened on cardajina that the secret service did? secondly, were there indications before the colombian scandal of behavior by secret service agents off duty by assignment. there should have been a warning this was coming. third, what are you going to do, director sullivan, to make sure nothing like this ever happens again? >> the scandal erupted last month just before president obama's trip to the summit in america's colombia. the coo's yahoo john thompson left the company today. he o

ahead of sunday's services a group of civil rights leaders, include al sharpton and joseph lowery have written an open letter to the african-american community embracing the president's decision. it says, "we cannot fight to gain rights for some and not for all." in another part of the letter it says, "the president made clear that his support is for civil marriage for same kx couples, and he is fully committed to protecting the ability of religions institutions to make their own decisions about their own sacraments. there will be those who seek to use this issue to divide our community. as a people, we cannot afford such division." cnn's athena jones live out of silver spring, maryland with the latest public reaction to the president's decision. athena, what are you hearing and where are you in silver spring? >> we're actually at a market in downtown silver spring talking to a whole bunch of people. we've been talking to them all day. before i mention that, national poll numbers, gallop did the first national pole since wednesday when the president made the declaration for same-sex ma

you said to me during the commercial break after i spoke with julian bond and i spoke about joseph loweryvil rights movement and comparing this, what did you say? you said it was an honor to be -- >> yeah. just to be amongst those men, to be sitting here and having an interview with you. because we're not trying to -- you know, comparing civil rights, i don't want to steal civil rights, but it's a movement that we can learn from and a movement that can cause us to grow. and so, you know, doing this type of work, i think one of the things that keeps me going is reading the writings of mlk or gandy or things like that, because it's so easy to get discouraged. >> we talked about the black church. and listen, i know not all -- i'm generalizing. not all african-americans are going to be in church tomorrow, not all african-americans are christians, but a large portion of them are. and they will be going to church tomorrow for mother's day. and it's interesting that this came out. the letter, the president, the administration, as julian bond said, would be smart to get ahead of this. so how do y

reverend joseph lowery and julian bond helped write the letter.y weight in the africaer