investigated for cheating. three principles have been fired in connection with the investigation. those are the headlines, "america tonight" is up next. you can always get the latest on aljazeera.com. i'll be back here at 11:00 eastern 8:00 pacific. ♪ boundary parents really go to jail for stealing education? >> handcuffed with a leather belt. >> with handcuffs. >> we went in jail. >> also tonight, more to come. new threats for tourists coming to the winter olympics. why there's reason to stay away from sochi.

and mud cat, sweet lou, so many greats. the american treasures who came after jackie robinson. on an era of pain, how a few good hits could level the playing field. >> why the blackball players attack that ball, you guys would simply attack it, simple, it was white! >> and good evening, thanks for joining us. i'm joie chen. when it comes to improving this country's public education, there are endless headlines about charter programs and districts that offer open enrollment for anyone who want

to be there. but for school choice movement the simple reality is that hundreds of thousands of students remain trapped in failing school districts because of their zip codes. as what "america tonight"'s special correspond soledad o'brien found out, illegallily enrolling in districts they don't belong in. >> it's 730 in the morning and jack larkin is getting ready to go to school. >> you need to do your writing journal. >> i did. >> your philosophy journal too? >> i did. >> jack and his parents live in milbourn, new jersey, some of the poorest neighborhoods in the state. luckily, his school system is one of the state's best. >> how about one of these nice

green apples? >> have it for snack. >> jack's mom stephanie has a personal and professional stake on the millburn schools. >> three bedrooms possibly four. >> she is one of the stop real estate agents in town and knows the schools are the selling point of the neighborhood. >> the suburbs are all about the elementary schools. i love you, bye. >> there are five elementary schools a middle school and millburn high school which consistently ranks as one of the stop performing schools of the country. a 90% graduation rates, juniors and seniors passing advance placement test. >> a great commute, a fantastic community and an excellent school system. it's really the three things that most people are looking for

when they're shopping for a home for their family. >> the schools are technically public. but the price of admission to live in this tony township is a whopping $1.3 million. that's the average sale price of a home here. average real estate taxes run around $20,000 a year. there are some lower price rentals but no officially designated affordable housing in millburn. >> the way the works in new jersey, you go to school within your zip code. >> lorna is author of the blowing nj left behind. >> any parent -- blog nj left behind. >> any kid would want to be enrolled in millburn. they have enormous access to their academic interests in all sorts of ways. >> a few miles down the road

it's a different story. >> if you live ten miles away from millburn say in north new jersey, then you might go to bering jer hig areer higher hig% graduation rate. almost no ap courses. most of the kids fail to reach proficiency in language arts and math and the reason those kids go to berger beringer, is becauy fail in math. they are stuck. they cannot go to another public school? >> no. >> and that seems to me so hellaciously unfair. >> not everyone is stuck.

new jersey does have charter schools and an interdistrict transfer program for a small number of students. less than 3% of the total. and the high performing school districts want to protect their borders. after all, it's mostly their local property taxes that are paying for the schools. >> schools try to the vigilant about creating a registration system that confirms that the children who are enrolled in the schools actually live in the district. because the people who live in a wealthy district are funding the education? >> they are personally funding the schools. it all comes on the backs of those taxpayers. so if you say well, there's a kid from newark who's trying to being sneak in, we are not going to pay for that kid. he doesn't live here. >> private investigator jimmy knows the extremes that schools will go to to keep students out.

he has launched his business on it. in response to the growing number of school districts that were reaching out to him to make sure all their students lived where they said they did. if a kind of suburban border patrol, from his surveillance van equipped with a secret pair periscope. he has tracked hundreds of students. >> how does it work? walk me through the process. does a school reach out to you and say we have a suspicion about a student? >> the school will reach out to me and they'll say we would like to you do an audit of the student roster. they'll run the student names through database but it might often come back as totally out of district, out of town, out of state. in new jersey we had a case where the students actually lived in pennsylvania or new york and we would be able to identify the kids.

>> there aren't any statistics on how many students are enrolled in districts outside of where they liver. they don't track that data but there are more than 500 school districts in this state and because in many cases there are poorly performing schools blocks away from highly performing schools, border-hopping happens all the time. >> it's very common for a hundred student every year to confront them, have residency officers that will confront the parent and say look, you don't live in the district, you have to register in the school district you actually belong to. >> how do you feel like in theory, everybody's school district should be equivalent, right? >> as an investigator i don't get involved in why people are doing what they're doing.

basically they're breaking the law. >> as an educator, it is a little more complicated. >> something i struggle with. >> he's a teacher in bergen county. >> as a teacher we know what we should do right? but as a superintendent we have stakeholders that we are responsible for. >> how much of your budget leer come from the taxes of the people who live in this district? >> roughly 90%. >> have you hired a private investigator before? >> we have. we've had to and it breaks your heart to do that but you know there's 5,000 community members that you are responsible for and you have the ultimate responsibility, as a superintendent. and as an educator that's the part that drives your heart. >> in ohio, pennsylvania and five other states plus washington, d.c, boundary hoppers can be charge criminally for theft of educational services and wind up serving

time. >> i never thought that i would go to jail for lying about my zip code. >> when we return, parents, locked up for stealing an educational. education. >> also ahead in our program. hardball in the civil rights era. mud cat grant and sweet lou johnson on deck in our american treasure series. two who broke the color line on the baseline and why their history protect the history of all of us. >> we somehow got to maintain a certain type of scenario where these guys are brought forth all the time. that's why i have all of these pictures in here. because of history of disappearance.

consider this. the news of the day plus so much more. answers to the questions no one else will ask. >> it seems like they can't agree to anything in washington no matter what. >> and welcome back. before the break our "america tonight" special correspondent

soledad o'brien reported on boundary hopping. that's a phenomenon when families sneak their kids out of the districts into good schools. sol ada o'brien introduces us to parents who suffer serious penalties for doing it. >> kelly is a 43-year-old mother and teacher's aide. she was also a convicted felon. she went to jail in 2011 for illegally enrolling her children in a school district. >> i had issues around my neighborhood. i had a prowler who broke into our home. i talked to my father about it. he said send them to our school. you're here all the time anyway so -- >> was it done to sneak it in? did you know i'm putting an address where i don't live?

>> right. i've been working for a school system for many years so i knew of a lot of students who did the same thing. >> find an address, put it down right? >> it wasn't like i just found it, it wasn't like burger king's address it was my dad's address. he lived in the township and i lived in the city. we literally lived five minutes away from each other. >> and they had better schools? >> yes, the township had better schools. she loved the schools. >> her daughter was enrolled in copley, fairlon. >> we had a computer lab, garden outside many our own greenhouse. and i was so grateful to have been able to go there for just two years. >> so tell me how you were caught. >> well, they -- what i understand is they had an

investigator from cleveland area i think, and woe come down and he would -- he would come down and he would watch my whereabouts like he would watch me go to and fro. and he came to the conclusion stating that they had clear and convincing evidence that i did not live or reside in copley. >> she withdrew her children in school and enrolled them back in akron. >> it was a huge difference. it was huge. we didn't learn that much. there was a lot of disruptive -- it was disruptive in classes, there was no resources, it was just completely different and i felt like i wasn't learning anything at all. >> williams bolar was surprised she says when 18 months later she was indicted. >> what were the charges? >> grand theft which was the money and signing -- >> forgery? >> forkary. >> the judge said she wanted to send a message to others like

her. >> i had the swabbing of the mouth, i had the finger printing. >> who was taking care of your daughters? >> the irony of all it was my father. he had to watch them, he had to many care for them. >> in the district they were never in? >> right. >> a petition to free her went viral and ohio's governor john kasick pardoned her. >> i wouldn't have done it. i didn't believe i would go to jail for lying about my drenls. there are so many reasons why a parent would want to take their child out of that district into another district. >> elicia andham let garcia were also charged theft of services or stealing and education.

>> we got handcuffs like criminals with leather belts. we went in jail, we spent a couple hours in jail. >> ham let garcia, an immigrant, married elicia, a ukrainian grant in 2008. they moved in elicia's father, a homeowner in nearby montgomery county. theorella enrolled in a school district. they decided to let fe isorella finish the school in grandfather's school district. that's when the trouble began. >> the school district contacted us in april, said there's a problem with your residency. so we came in to meet with the principal. >> and what happened?

>> she kept insisting that i never lived there. and she's turning us to the police. >> the superintendent wouldn't talk to us. but she made good on her threat and turned the case over to police. the garcias said they were cooperating, showing mail, alicia's voter registration saying she lived in montgomery county. >> we didn't hear anything for a month and then in august, he called us and said that we have a choice to turn ourselves in or he putting out a warrant to arrest us. >> what was going through your mind while they were finger printing you and processing you? >> disgusted, disgusting to everything in my head because -- >> i didn't believe this is actually happening in america over education. a five-year-old child.

and i pleaded with superintendent, i said look, we're good parents. we're good citizens. i'm a business owner, you know, i never did anything, i always you know walked a straight line. >> the garci garcias turned thes in. the trial is set for next week. in a criminal complaint the different allegation the garcias stole $10,000 tuition, a felony, punishable, by one year in prison. false information about their residency. in pennsylvania, as in all states, school districts get some federal and state funding. but property taxes are the primary source for funding public schools. the gap between rich and poor school districts is so vast, that the state earned a d on the

national report card on school funding. that report card is put out by the education law center in new jersey. >> there would be an argument from a school that would say listen, we fund this school with taxpayer money. some state and some federal funds. but the people in the community pay for this school that's in this county. so you're not from here. you don't get to attend. >> i can answer the argument. first of all my wife did live on that street. >> my father is a taxpayer who owns the house there. >> and i believe every children should have access to quality education. the economy the socioeconomic status everyone. >> and your school district is somewhere else, not in montgomery county. >> i answer her that is wrong, we are a member of the same state, actually, same country. do not treat me like an illegal

alien because i live in philadelphia. >> but you should stay in philadelphia, where you are paying taxes. >> if you are a person who doesn't have the money to live in montgomery county, that is not your fault that you can't make the same money, okay? >> is the school in your neighborhood in philadelphia, is that school unsafe? >> it is safe. they passed the ayp, the no child left behind law. >> the d.a. cancelled a planned interview with us. but the garcias think they are a test case. the moreland school district are, so far the only family being prosecuted is the garcias. >> the garcia family to make an example, to make sure everybody in philadelphia, this can happen

to you. >> this is an interesting phrase you used, across the border. >> that's the phrase they use. >> we are talking philly, not canada. >> there is a line they don't want people to cross. >> our special correspondent, soledad o'brien joins us. is there a likelihood that this woman will go to jail? >> there is a possibility the garcias could go to uranium. ijail. if you value that education as $10,000, it could be possible that they will spend a year in jail. some people will say they should get to probation. the case goes to court on the 28th. you never know. >> what about other families involved in this? >> there were ten other families had had a similar situation.

the garcias said we are being targeted. what about the other ten families? we are told that the families worked out a deal, they paid the tuition. the garcias say we have offered to pay back what we owe and we were rebuffed. that detail on which they are opposite sides, if they were able to work it out for these ten families what exactly happened in the garcias case we'll have to find out. >> that opposite up a broader question, how many are involved in this kind of thing? could there be a whole lot more? >> yes, i think there's a lot. we know it's in the thousands and when you talk to superintendents of certain districts they'll say when they did their canvassing of their roles, in fact in some cases they had to ask 200 students to leave. so in a place like new jersey where you're spending roughly

$18,000 per kid that's serious money. there's one or two kids every so often, sometimes they don't have any at all. it depends what border you're actually talking about. but in some districts it is a huge number and ultimately it goes to the bigger problem, inequity in education, which philosophically theoretically should be the same for every student who is in public school but in practicality and in reality it is really not. >> you hear that in the washington area we hear this so often. but think of i.t. districts are trying to control their costs in all this, i'm sure there's a need for taxpayers to think look you are supposing to take what the education system gives you. what is the solution? i mean aside from let's really making all the schools fair and how practical is that? twhas solution here? >> -- what's the solution here? >> yeah, it's a tough thing.

there are some programs where the schools can opt in to take some students. but at the end of the day, when taxpayers are footing the bill for, say, 98% of the cost, there is a sense from some people in town that listen, we actually pay for the overwhelming amount of tuition and we should limit who has access to it. they are sometimes spending a lot of money on a school that is just less good. they want access to other things. i think and most of the people you talk to say it's not a small fix obviously but it really is a fix that involves how do we feel about reform in education? it is really a massive problem. how do you make it equal for every student no matter what school they are attending? how do you possibly allow students from one district to access another district? new jersey mass a very tiny limited program and i think it's a matter of a bigger question, what do we value in public

education? it supposed to be fair across the board? once you answer that big questioning question, you can look for solutions. there's no big solution on the horizon i think. >> "america tonight"'s special correspondent soledad o'brien. thanks so much soledad. >> you bet. >> we're makin taking a look ats on "america tonight" tomorrow. the risks for some children, their education and even their safety. >> parents should have a right to oversee their children's education. parents should not decide whether or not a child gets an education. right now laws around the country when it comes to home schooling generally do not reflect that. i think a failing home school should be handled like any other school, it should be shut down.

and right now there's no method to do that. >> sheila macvicar brings us a story on home schooling. that's tuesday on "america tonight". connect with us at our website, aljazeera.com/americatonight. coming up after the break tonight, security at sochi. the new video raising concern and why u.s. lawmakers are now stepping in. >> every morning from 5 to 9am al jazeera america brings you more us and global news than any other american news channel. find out what happened and what to expect. >> start every morning, every day, 5am to 9 eastern with al jazeera america.

canada. this is going to continu

>> now, a snapshot of stories making headlines on "america tonight". following up on that enormous fire near los angeles we told you about last week. 3700 people were evacuated, 2,000 acres blackened and add least five homes were destroyed. the longest standing detainee in north korea kenneth bae spoke, and accused of using his tour business to build antigovernment groups.

and bown day fo up and downr iran. in exchange for stopping nuclear enrichment activities, it got some of its withhold capital returned. but tehran wouldn't agree for all of the conditions for the talks and so had its invitation to montreux revoked. direct warning to tourists to stay away. security has been a big concern throughout runup of the sochi games, especially after last month's bombings in volgograd. there are reasons to be concerned. this is the video that sparked new fears. it features two men who claim to be behind the new year's twin

bombings in volgograd that killed at least 20 people. the men in the video appear to have explosives and warn of a surprise package for tourists unless the russian government cancels the winter olympic games. the show goes on. the olympic torch arrived in volgograd, on its way to sochi, 400 miles south. security forces flooded into the seaside community that will be the home of the winter games. vladimir putin insistin insistss will be safe. >> the briefings i've received from the intelligence community to the fbi i know there are indications that there's serious concerns and we need to do a lot to step up security. we have 15,000 americans traveling osochi for olympics and i want to do everything i can to make sure it's a safe

olympic. >> other lawmakers including maine senator angus king say most likely they would stay away. >> i would not go and i don't think i would send my family. >> so how great is the risk? we're joined now by errol suthers, appreciate you being here. and we want to say you have quite a bit of familiarity with these big sporting events. you were recently in brazil and looking for the world cup and the olympic events there coming up so you have seen a lot of these facilities and these sort of circumstances. what do you think of the preparation for sochi? 30,000 extra forces going in there to help. will it be enough to make a difference here? >> well, joie thank you for having me. what is quite interesting about

this scenario are the articulated threats by a known terrorist organization and their demonstrated ability to carry these out. you had the caucasus emirates who being articulated these threats. you have to land in moscow or st. petersburg, and what they are looking at are the transportation hubs that will be moving people from the airports to the games. we have a very interesting scenario of approaching games and a known threat and incidents that occurred already, as was mentioned, thousands of americans that will be there and the requirement for us to have permission from the russian government to do anything if evacuations are necessary. >> what about, though, the tourists, the support, the family, the friends? i think it's one thing to say we can secure the athletes themselves, we can secure the

coaches, they are going to be in limited and controlled facilities. but what about the tourists themselves, what is the concern for them that is different? >> specifically identified tourists as the targets. and the tourists have to be if you will aware of and cognizant of the same things they have all over the world. unattended bags, people lurking standing around perhaps surveilling. i think if you reverse engineer the kind of threats that adversaries do, if tourists do have to be concerned they have to pay attention and follow instructions and really just hope that the appropriate security measures are in place and will be very effective. >> these circumstances though as we know you do have familiarity in china before those olympics, in brazil most recently, looking at the world cup facilities which are coming up quite

quickly and then brazil will hold its olympics as well. but russia is going to be a different situation isn't it? the difficulties they face in russia with these groups is different in china and brazil now, the political differences. >> it is disht. in china we have a situation where a number of people were at least detaped before the games. they too like russia assigned large numbers of government troops onto the games to protect them. in brazil we have an added issue now of the population that's revolting against or protesting against living wages. they're protesting against the lack of transportation and other infrastructure. but russia is quite different. you have the trifecta of threats, human rights which has arguably been challenged in russia with most recently the pussy riot rock band and

greenpeace, we do have protest that take place. gay rights issue, we are sending openly gay representatives from the united states and president putin says he wants to see politics and sports stay ra separate but that's interesting. although the footprint of these games are smaller than the other two eventual you as i've looked at, you still have to go to and from the games, have security force necessary place. and winter clothing is different than summer clothing. >> a senator saying look, i wouldn't go, what would you do if you had tickets if you were interested, would you go? >> if i had tickets i would go. i believe that first of all, near going to have appropriate security measures in place. however the russians have to understand the command and control of everybody and everything does not equal a zero

risk of an attack. but i think you'll see a very heavily protected games, i think you'll see a successful games but i do believe we need to the wary. but if i had tickets to be there i'd be there supporting our country. >> errol southers, thank you very much for being with us. >> thank you joie. >> on the holiday of martin luther king jr, we reflect on how much now is reality.

he

>> al jazeera america is a straight-forward news channel. >> its the most exciting thing to happen to american journalism in decades. >> we believe in digging deep. >> its unbiased, fact-based, in-depth journalism. >> you give them the facts, dispense with the fluff and get straight to the point. >> i'm on the ground every day finding stories that matter to you. >> in new orleans... >> seattle bureau... >> washington... >> detroit... >> chicago... >> nashville... >> los angeles... >> san francisco... >> al jazeera america, take a new look at news. >> honoring the memory of dr. martin luther king, jr. on this holiday that commemorates his life. it's hard to believe he would have been 85 this year. we have noted it's been half a century since dr. king gave his

iconic speech. but for millions of americans his dream of equality, employment and equity is very much in complete. tw20 years after his assassinatn is about $19,000. the most recent study of that gap shows that it's actually widened over the last 40 years. what would he say about the struggles america continues to face today? i spoke with dr. king's eldest son, and his namesake, martin luther king iii. >> he and my mom dedicated part of their lives by eradicating the triple evils. the evil of poverty, the evil of racism and the evil of militarism and violence. in race we've made strides but we still have a lot of work to

do. but poverty has probably changed dramatically or in a dynamic way over the next 30 years. in '68 we had about 21 million people living in poverty. today almost 60 million and the numbers are growing. so we've got some big challenges. and the final thing is militarism and war are at ep tellic levels. -- epidemic levels. there are those that feel that the programs of social uplift have failed. but going on when we look at violence in communities, we are not doing a about job addressing violence. we created a culture of violence. we've somehow got to find a way to create a culture of nonviolence to challenge us to a higher ideal and level. >> you know it strikes me we are getting prepared now for next week, the president giving the state of the union address and these are the very subjects we

understand he expects to take on. the issues of income and equality, of joblessness. these are still as difficult and intractable as they were in your father's time. this has to be a disappointment not only to his legacy but to all of us as we look at this. >> well, i certainly believe that it is -- it is spoig. spoig -- disappointing largely because we are better than the behavior we are exhibiting. when congress works together and forge an agenda to move forward, i don't believe there is any problem that exists that we cannot solve. we have the ability as a negate to resolve just about anything. we just have to identify the will. when ability and will meet then it yields results. >> in the final months before his passing, he was talking so much about the poor people's march, he was talking about

demonstrating on their behalf on the efforts to uplift those parts of the community that were not being sof snostled our world to -- solved in our world, to bring jobs to those people. his speech was about that difficult issue. i wonder what we could do to honor his memory now to make those things happen to actually get to resolution there? >> well i think firm you're absolutely correct in 1968, in some communities we've moved the minimum wage up. but dad was talking about a living wage in 1968. so he was way ahead of his time. in a real sense. and we certainly have not gotten there yet. one of the things we do this past weekend people have been involved and today in community service activities across our nation. hundreds of thousands to millions of people. and that is wonderful. but we cannot just be engaged on one day. we have to be engaged every

week, every month. from a week to a month, from a month to a year. if we're to engage in some kind of community service of 100 million plus people then we'll begin to see some changes. and the other thing is, in school systems we have to teach our children about entrepreneurship. we got to create more businesses and find a way to capitalize those businesses so they can be sustained. because most jobs are with small and developing businesses, not the large large corporations. what the large large corporations, it really is the small and developing business that keeps our economy going. >> martin luther king iii, honoring your father's memory and continuing that community service as well, we thank you for being with us. >> thank you for the opportunity. >> and ahead on our final thoughts on this evening, a great american pastime endures

trouble, we'll talk about a pair of american treasures. >> no doubt about it, >> no doubt about it,

>> finally this hour, the latest installment in our american treasure series. an important new project that will shine a bright new spotlight on an ugly time in our nation's history. "america tonight"'s michael oku has a story on two american treasures that refused to cry foul. up against a deadline. >> these are two american treasures great men with great nicknames. jim mudcat grant and sweet lou johnson. >> i didn't appreciate him because in 1965 the son of a biscuit eater hit a home run and won us that ballgame. >> grant was the first african

american pitcher in the american league to win 20 games in a season. sweet lou was the hero of the 1965 world series. hit l.a. dodgers beat mudcat's minnesota twins. but it was what they endured off the field as well as on that had researchers anenburg school of history. 25 years since jackie robinson debuted in 1957. usc has chronicle as many histories as they can. >> first of all because it's one of the most important things we can do. in the end, it is to me one of the most important things i've accomplished in my academic career. >> now there's a sense of urgency to the project. just last month, paul blair

passed away at the age of 69. dr. durbin would have loved to have interviewed blair for project. it is the same circumstances that were confronted by stephen spielberg and the members of his team 20 years ago. holocaust survivors were dying at an alarming rate before they could be interviewed. >> this is a situation here, many have died, most of whom are relatively old, who have important stories to say and if they don't save them, the they will be gone forever. that makes them particularly important. >> the conversation with mud cat was supposed to last a few hours, instead they went on for four days. including one session seen here, in front of a classroom full of students in a sports marketing

class. >> we got to remember, i'm a southern kid. you very rarely even talk to whites at that time. well, yeah! >> mudcat keeps an office of memorabilia in the crenshaw area of lo los angeles. >> i have a photograph me an satchel page. >> you don't? >> i do. >> that's where we met up with him. >> we somehow got to maintain a certain type of scenario where these guys are brought forth all the time. that's why i have all of these pictures in here. because of a history of disappearing. >> what kind of history exactly? well, stories that show the kind of restraint required of these men. >> maybe better. guy asked me one time, why does a blackball player, attack that

ball, man you guys really attack it. simple. white. that's the southern way. that is the southern way getting back at it. beat the (bleep) of that ball, into the white maze and i'm saying that because there are times i wouldn't have said it but it's the truth, okay? this is why i laugh, first and 15. i'm laughing tall way to the bank now, automatic deposit. >> that's right. >> you may not like me, you may not want me to stay in your hotel but the first and 15th i'm drawing a paycheck. >> what's amazing is that during any interview there will be a point in time at which everything seems to stop and the person being interviewed starts

talking about something that they haven't talked about with anyone else. >> like the time when an exhibition ballgame, got accrued backhanded compliment from hall of fame legend ty cobb. >> i'm mudcat immigrant and he said i'm deke language. and cobb says, i know who you (bleep) guys are. you guys are doing pretty well for yourselves aren't you? sometimes when times are hard i think about the laughter. >> it is the deeper stories of real, real serious issues in american culture that have resonance. >> the worst thing that i went through in my career, even though i was kicked by a policeman because i didn't say yes, sir, and of only the other

indignities that i suffered back at that time, including the ku klux klan, i think the worst time in my career was when those four girls were killed in birmingham, alabama. that was the worst time. because they have four little girls and have a ku klux klan guy put dynamite in the church, and killed these children. and even though i knew of other atrocities, and even though we were shot at, when we were kids, you know, by kluxes, i think that was something i couldn't hardly take. >> mudcat says he was so upset he got in a fight with a white team mate from texas who made a comment that would have normally just rolled off his back.

>> he says if we catch you in temp we will hang you from the nearest tree. i said i'm glad you said that, we are not in texas, we are in cleveland, oh highs yo! i and i hit him. i was suspended. recognizing that those girls were killed that eight railway, that was the worst time for me. i could have put up with a lot but that was the worst time for me. >> this project is not without controversy. one team did not send its alumni available. preferring to do its own interviews and sending the tape. he hopes that the team comes around and grats him access. if you think this is all about

horrible stories of access, then listen to this one. >> say the president would like for to you have breakfast for you this morning. and i said yeah yeah yeah. i hung up the phone. about ten minutes later the phone rings again. it says no mudcat, the president would like to have breakfast with you this morning. he knows that the indians are in town. and back in those days we were still getting threatening phone calls as well you know of. and i says listen. don't call my room anymore. and i hung up the phone again. well, they came up and they knocked on the door. and you can tell them anywhere. they dress alike, they looked alike. and i say oh, oh, this must be something. so they knocked on the door and i opened the door slightly and

they said we hate to bother you but true, really, president kennedy would like to have breakfast with you this morning. i said can you wait until i get dressed. he said yep. so i got dressed and i went down there and there was president kennedy's i'd like to have breakfast with you i hope you don't mind. i says no i don't mind at all. because i had on my -- i was tighten up i had on my coat and tie like that about. >> they mused about baseball. they discussed civil rights. when jfk asked mudcat if there was anything he could do for them, grant told him about the dilapidated conditions and lack of school supplies at his schoolhouse in lacoochie florida. >> we got books we got housing

which is still there that day. our school is still there to this day. and i got this photoof me and president kennedy together, shaking hands. on some things that he promised was going to happen that actually came true. >> promises kept indeed. "america tonight"'s michael oku reporting. both mudcat and sweet lou asked us to remember the suffering of the same indignity. duly noted here. who is the next player he would like to interview? that would be mr. willie mays. if you would like to comment on any of our stories, log on to our website,

aljazeera.com/americatonight. log on and let us know what you would like to see on our nightly public affairs program. we'll be here tomorrow. >> welcome to al jazeera america. i'm john seigenthaler in new york. consider is up next. first, here is tonight's top stories. thousands protest in the ukraine, a violent standoff with police in kiev. these are live pictures.

demonstrations lasted for weeks now. they are calling for a change in leadership and are angry over the president accepting a bailout deal from russia. >> the united nations invited iran to the geneva talks yesterday and rescinded the offer today after the invite was withdrawn syrian's main opposition group confirmed it would attend. >> sanctions are eased on iran after they starred to shut down sensitive work. the u.s. will release $4.2 billion in frozen funds. >> in the u.s. 138 eades u katers are -- educators are boning secret in relation to a cheating scandal. unusual patterns in test scores were discovered of the three principals have been fired. across the u.s. many spent the day remembering martin luther king junior. celebrations from marked with

marches, celebrations. "consider this" with antonio mora is next. i'll be back here live at 11:00 pm eastern. and the latest news is on aljazeera.com. chris christie facing new accusations of playing hardball. did his office play politics with hurricane relief money? >> a terror tape threat eps the olympics. >> american celebrates martin luther king. what would he make of the state of civil rights. >> president obama says marijuana is not worse than alcohol, but pop is a schedule 1 drug. is he sending a mixed message? >> i'm