martin luther king jr., that is. in his place carrying on his incredible legacy his son martin luther king iii.ok forward to getting his insight on all of this. your father had to make speeches like those the president has made so often. react to the president's words. >> the president's words were certainly heartfelt but honest in relationship to where we are. we have to really examine deeply in our culture as to what is creating this climate of hatred and hostility and terrorism that is domestic terrorism. >> and you use the t-word. that itself became a flash point this week of some who said why aren't we using the word terrorism to describe this? >> well, it is just my personal view that this is terrorism just as in 1963 when members of the clan went into the 16th street baptist church and bombed that church and four little girls lost their lives. and my father, of course was the person who eulogized them. so there have been many number of incidents of terrorism, but we choose not to frame it that way from time to time. but that is exactly what it is. >> i want to show the audience how your

king's eldest son, martin luther king iii.ere tonight, martin. >> thank you, rev. >> you lost your father to gun violence and race and your grandmother you lost to gun violence. and you have committed your life to fighting racism and violence and here we are at this unbelievably tragic scene. nine people killed in a church. first of all your reaction to what is happening and what we ought to be coming out of this discussing? >> my first reaction and first thought was this was reminiscent to me because it was in a church. the first thing i thought about was the loss of my grandmother, not my father in this context because of the church. i was like, oh, my gosh, here we go again. the second thing i thought about was how these families would have to grieve and how many people would be grieving because of the loss of all these individuals. and then i thought about, you know, we live in an incredible nation but something has gone awry. we have promoted a culture of violence. and that is what is being embraced, when it's television

joining us from atlanta martin luther king iii. you to lead the program tonight because you are emotionally involved with this story. almost 41 years ago to the day your grandmother alberta king, was shot dead in a church in atlanta. your father preached at the emanuel church that was desecrated last night by roof and your mother also led demonstrations from that church. with all that in play, what is your feeling tonight? >> well, i certainly first want to say my prayers and condolences are with the family members of all of these individuals that were tragically gunned down. and as you said, my first immediate response was oh my goodness, not again because my second thought went back to 1974 when my grandmother was gunned down. and if one cannot be safe in the sanctity of their places of worship what has our society come to? now, the reality unfortunately is, from time to time we have seen these tragic incidents. in 1963, four little girls lost their lives in a bombing church in birmingham alabama. and over the last few years over

martin luther king iii is the oldest son of dr. martin luther king jr.ve been reporting emanuel ame is a cornerstone for black civil rights for people of faith. it's a home that is sacred to so many and your mom and dad. they've both been here. it was so important for your father and for other people in politics to pass through this church. when you heard about what happened here what was your first reaction? >> well, my first reaction was oh my goodness this is beyond tragic. you may know that in 1974 my grandmother was gunned down in a church. my father's mother. and i said, oh, my gosh yet again we have another incident. those were the first two thoughts that i had. and then i immediately went to the families thinking about what they were going through, having immediately lost loved ones. and then i began to think about how is healing going to take place in this great community that represents so much history for our nation and certainly for the state of south carolina. >> sir, why do you think, as you bring up your own grandmother's murder happening

also reaction from martin luther king iii montel williams and bernie goldberg. you are about to

sitting in the supreme court that day at the hearing with you and congressman john lewis, martin luther king iiind all of us when one supreme court justice talked about a racial entitlement, i remember you and i for years marching across from bridge in selma, remembering how we got this right in the first place, in your hometown. do you think -- i think that the senator said it right -- symbolism is great. i want to see the symbols down but the substance on protecting the right to vote is everything. if we don't get that taking the flag down will only be window dressing. >> i think you're absolutely right. you know i applaud all the efforts to take down the confederate flag. in fact, it's a long time overdue, but at the end of the day, it's about action. it's about substance over a symbol. and i think that i was honored today to be able to drop this bill, the voting rights advancement act with senator leahy on the senator side. so many activists groups have worked hard to come up with a modern day formula that will restore preclearance back into the voting rights act. those of us who are legacie

. >> martin luther king iii, thank you so much for being with us this evening. >> thank you rev. >> and thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. >>> the murder weapon. this is "hardball." >>> good evening, i'm chris matthews in san francisco. we'll get to the latest from charleston in a moment. but first, the president delivered a powerful statement late today to the u.s. conference of mayors here in san francisco. he said it's not enough to grieve after gun mass kearseacres like this. that the public needs to resolve to do something about them. and here he is. >> i know today's politics 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. every country has violent, hateful or mentally unstable 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

joining me now, a friend of pastor pinkne and a former south carolina state representative, martin luther king, jr., iiihe eldest son at the reverend dr. martin loother king, jr. and an inclusion expert. good evening, gentlemen. thank you for joining all of us. alabama brought down the four confederate flags flying at their capitol this mornings. but it's still flying as your friend's body lies in honor there behind you. still, are you impressed with movement we're seeing so far? >> well, i definitely am impressed. it just goes back to the saying that we've made a lot of progress, but we still have yet a ways to go. as i was standing on the steps with yet another assembly and the carriage came down main street, i can honestly say that that was the first time that i just felt consumed with rage and anger as his body was driven by that confederate flag. it wasn't until i got inside and his daughter actually reached up and hugged me that i was able to calm myself and realized that clint would want us to serve a higher purpose and to move forward. i'm very excited about the ro gresz that we're making but i