the united states department of defense is ready to carry out those options if that would occur, that would occur also in coordination with our international court. >> now battle-ready, the u.s. gets support from the arab league and key nato partners for limited strikes against syrian military targets. >> we've seen in syria appalling scenes of death and suffering because of the use of chemical weapons by the assad regime. and i don't believe we can let that stand. and intelligence officials are preparing to declassify the evidence of what secretary of state kerry called a cowardly crime and cynical attempt to cover it up. >> what we saw in syria last week should shock the conscience of the world. it defies any code of morality. let me be clear, the indiscriminate slaughter of civilians, the killing of women and children and innocent bystanders by chemical weapons

is a moral obscenity. and 50 years later, the dream lives on. our special coverage of the anniversary of the march on washington. today, i'll talk to one of martin luther king's top lieutenants in the fate for civil rights. legendary singer, actor, activist, harry belafonte. >> to be in washington was for me today a beginning really, a kind of a climax to generations of hope. good day, i'm in washington where u.s. officials tell nbc news that limited military strikes again syria could begin, could, in a matter of days. rebel leaders have told chief foreign correspondent richard engle that they hope the u.s. acts before assad launches another chemical attack. >> if there is no action, we are

afraid that in the coming days, not the coming weeks, bashar will use chemical weapons and chemical materials against very wide areas. i'm afraid to see of -- that a number of the killed will be 20,000 or 30,000. >> richard engle joins us now from turkey near the syria border. well, richard, the concerns that the rebels have, they believe the evidence is solid. we heard from secretary kerry yesterday. he would not have said what he said. still, the intelligence officials i'm told are still vetting that intelligence, and it may be delayed a couple of days. they want to get -- to make sure that we don't relive what happened back during the wmd debate over the iraq war. richard? >> reporter: yeah. and the -- what you're also seeing is the deep concern from the syrian rebels. if you heard that statement, he said, "we're afraid the next

attack could kill 20 or 30,000." a real panic has set in among people, among the syrian opposition, that unless there is some sort of action that bashar al assad will think he got away with it. in terms of the intelligence, today syria's foreign minister made an open challenge to washington. he said, you believe that you have such great intelligence, let there be a public debate. we've allowed the inspectors in. the inspectors are doing their work. why is the united states rushing to attack syria, to launch a war when we're cooperating with the inspectors. that's the line out of syria. he says they should present the evidence and let there be a debate about it. >> one of the reasons why secretary kerry was making it clear they are not waiting on the u.n. weapons inspectors is that they believe the evidence was degraded because of stonewalling by the syrian regime, that you can't wait five or six days and still get the same kind of samples. and you know, build the evidentiary case. they believe they have

independent evidence already. and among that -- among those facts on the ground are the rockets, the rockets used to deliver these chemical attacks. richard, you know better than i or anyone else, they're seeing the kind of rocketry that is only possessed by the regime, not by the rebel forces. >> reporter: we've been told in the interview more details about how these attacks allegedly took place. they say around 2:45 in the morning on the day of the attacks last week, rockets were launched, 29 rockets. unclear how many were tipped with chemical agents. and that they were launched from four different locations. all of them military bases. one of them the military airport in damascus. and that they fell on about ten different towns and villages to the east and north of damascus. that initially the people in the areas didn't think much of it because there is a lot of attacks in the area. the civilians who are living in the rebel-controlled districts are surrounded.

they are frequently shelled. they thought it was just another attack. but then quickly, dozens and then hundreds and then thousands of casualties started to rush into hospitals. people began to douse the casualties with water and vinegar, hoping to wash off the chemical agent that was choking and causing so many people to suffer and some to die. they said the babies were the first ones to die. unfortunately, they were dousing water on people and just washing off the material on to the ground, creating pools of chemically infected water that the volunteers and the other victims were splashing in and transferring this toxic material from one person to another. the final death toll according to them is well over 1,000. it's claimed more than 350 have died of their injuries since the initial attack took place. we have not been able to confirm that number. >> that's all very important information.

thank you very much, richard engle, along the border between syria and turkey. now let me recap for all of you what is happening now at the white house. we're going to the briefing momentarily. jay karcarney has said there is doubt that chemicals were used and on a massive scale august 21st by the regime. that the syrian regime is responsible. that the regime contained control of the stockpile and options being considered by the president are not whether chemicals were used by the regime but how to respond to it. let's go to jay carney right now. >> the fact that he's in position to take this step on thursday seems to indicate something -- >> we are -- well, no, nothing has been decided. as i said in response to your first question. we are in direct contact with prime minister cameron and his government and the president himself has spoken with the prime minister. as he has with other foreign leaders. and those consultations will continue. and we share the views of the

british government about the appalling nature of the transgression that occurred in syria. and are consulting with the british and other allies and partners about the pell grant response. yes? >> you were firm in saying just now that there's little doubt that the syrian regime was in fact responsible for this chemical attack. so in that context, what is the purpose of this -- the report? is it to legitimatize, to get rid of any remaining doubt and, therefore, legitimatize and respond to the international community? >> i'm not aware of any doubt that exists. i think that maybe if you take bashar al assad seriously on those matters, you might have some doubt. but there's no evidence to suggest that he has any credibility when it comes it his statements about the use of chemical weapons in syria. the actions taken by his regime in the response and the immediate aftermath of this

heinous attack demonstrate his lack of credibility. and we believe that a careful review of the facts leads to the conclusion that the regime was behind this. again, it's undeniable that chemical weapons were used on a large concealed carry. we know that the regime maintains -- large scale. we know that the barak obama maintains use of chemical weapons in syria and uses the rockets that were use today to deliver chemical weapons on august 21st. the opposition does not. we also know that the opposition does not have the capabilities that the syrian regime has. and as i mentioned earlier, we have already had an assessment by the intelligence community with a high degree of confidence that the syrian regime has used on a smaller scale, chemical weapons, in this conflict already. so suggestions that there's any doubt about who's responsible for this are as preposterous as suggestions that the attack itself didn't occur.

>> jay carney there making it very clear that they have no doubt and previewing the intelligence assessment that will be declassified sometimes we believe later this week. jerry lee bash served as chief of staff to former secretary of defense and cia director leon panetta in both posts and joins us now. let's go over what the mission is. take us behind the scenes in the war room, we're at the pentagon now where you served as chief of staff. they are going over the day-to-day intelligence on targets because targeting changes by day to day, they'll go after air fields, they'll go after --not chemical stockpiles, that's too risky. but trying to degrade the delivery system so that saddam hussein -- excuse me, different war. one of the reasons why we're see careful about this is all the mistakes that everyone made last time, the media included. they are being very, very sure that they have the right intelligence, that they pick their targets. and they don't make mistakes because assad is clearly capable right now of moving things

around. >> great to be here, andrea. let's talk military options. the operation that the president will likely be considering that he'll likely have on his desk are to do three important things -- deter, punish, and degrade. to deter assad from using these weapons again. to punish him for breaking that international norm and using chemical weapons against his own people. and to degrade his ability to do this again. as you mentioned, the targets that they'll be looking at will be anything that assad holds dear. what does it mean it deter someone? it mean to hold at risk something that assad values. he values his military command and control modes, his communication nodes, his military air fields. will probably crater runways so planes can't take off. we'll try to hit planes on the tarmac. we'll take out military positions, firing positions that richard engle referred to that are on the outskirts of damascus. anything that assad could use to hit people -- to hit his own people. it's not necessarily the

chemical sites themselves. >> let's take a look at the assets. let's look at the map because we've been talking about where are warships are. we know we've got the warships, the submarines, in the mediterranean. we also have two carrier groups in the region. one on the move in the wrong direction which might have to circle back. >> let's look at where our forces are. first of all we've got forces from the sixth fleet naval assets in the eastern med. they will undoubtedly be used to launch potentially cruise missiles against the assad regime. now looking at the persian gulf, you've got the nimitz. she's about 5.5 months into her cruise. she's probably going to stay on station there in the persian gulf. she just did a port call in bahrain. but we have the "uss harry truman," the carrier strike group led by the aircraft carrier, that just was near cypress last week. it transited the suez, down the red sea, and was at last check near the port of aidan. we'll probably turn it around, send her back up through the suez again and into the eastern med. why is that important, andrea?

because if you're going to hit assad and if he escalates against turkey, against jordan, against israel, you're going to want to have more firepower on station. now we've got air bases in turkey, weather fighters can deploy from. we've got a carrier air wing on the aircraft carrier that can be used to send sorties do syrian airspace. once you put a pilot over syrian airspace and given the capability of air defenses, you'll want to have combat search and rescue, helicopters and people ready to go into the water or on the beach. you'll want to have intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance, either drones or satellite imagery to look at the bomb damage assessment and figure out what have you hit and what weather do the targeters have to adjust gridpoints. you'll want other tape abilities including electronic war shear and jamming. you may want to have a cybercapability to jam via cyberoperations some of syria's capabilities. this is a complex operation. but it will be limited and surgical. >> what makes you think we would use fighter jets to actually go

inside syrian airspace given their strong air defenses? >> we may not. that's a decision that will have to be made when the situation arises. i know our military professionals will want to be prepared. the planners -- the planners who are responsible for the operation together with their colleagues, the joint staff and european command responsible for that eastern port in the mediterranean, they'll want to know that they are ready in case assad escalates and they've got to go in. >> what are the unintended consequences? what if assad chooses which -- we're told by officials they don't expect, but what if he were to go after israel? what if he goes after other allies? what if he goes after turkey? >> i think there's another scenario. what if iran comes to his rescue and takes action against our forces, either against the "nimitz" strike group in the gulf or in kuwait, qatar, air base, or releases hezbollah to take terrorist operations against israel or the united states? there are a range of

responsibilities. that's the reason why our military professionals have been so reluctant to get involved here militarily during a 30-month civil war. that's why i think the president has probably arrived at the conclusion we can't end this war with this operation, but we can punish, detectors and degrade. that is an important military objective. >> officials tell me they do not believe that this will change the balance of the power on the ground. this is not entering the civil war. when you're in the field with richelle engle, he points -- richard engle, he points out that anything that degrades saddam hussein -- there i go again, sorry. anything that degrades bashar al assad's commands and control does help the rebels. >> it does. it levels the playing peeld somewhat. that, of course was our objective in june when we announced military support for the rebels. when assad crossed that red line in june, when the evidence was clear and now it's undoubtedly clear as jay carney and secretary kerry pointed out, our objective is to help -- continue to help the rebels and level the

playing field. >> jeremy, we were told on february 5th, 2003, that we were absolutely sure of the intelligence. it had been vetted, it had been cleaned up. colin powell had gone in and pushed back against dick cheney and others who were trying to influence the cia, had spent the weekend at langley. we all went to the u.n. security council. i was there, i reported that night. we were all wrong. the secretary, the former secretary of state has admitted that he was wrong. he says he was misled. how do you know that this is not another part of intelligence not wittingly being doctored but not well vetted or understood? >> i think the key difference between 2003 and 2013 is back then we were trying to understand and divine regime secretses, we were trying to figure out whether at that time saddam hussein was lying to the world. and we had an intelligence case, we made it, it turned out to be dead wrong.

here, there are regime secrets. it's on display for the entire world to see, splashed across youtube and all the networks. it is evident, clear, international, ngos, doctors without borders have testified to what they've seen on the ground. governments is seen what's going on. this is not a secret. this has been on full display for assad. deteren has evaporated. it's time to re-establish deterrence. >> and -- wow. jay carney just reiterated, i want to make clear, his quote, "the options we are considering do not involve regime change." in one scenario, the administration doesn't even want regime change at this moment because a vacuum would be created. and al qaeda has been among some of the factions. >> i think the joint chiefs going to marry up ends with means. the end of toppling assad will not be achieved with a limited surgical military strike. and probably not with any military intervention that will

currently be contemplated. the objective of deterring assad and degrading his capabilities and punishing him and saying this international norm cannot be so easily broken without a level of consequence, that's what our military will work it achieve. >> what does bashar al assad do? >> i think he probably will -- will reel from these attacks if they go forward. he'll probably take stock of what's left of his capability. and it's possible he will escalate. we have to be prepared for that. it's owls possible that he'll -- also possible that he'll back down, cease attacks on civilians, and moderate his effort going forward. that potentially could give more room if you will for a negotiated end to the civil war. i think that's the hope, but i think that unfortunately that may not be so likely. >> jeremy, thank you very much for your experience. >> thanks. stay with us as we take a special look coming up at the march on washington. i'll talk to the legendary singer, actor, and activist harry belefonte.

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50 years ago tomorrow when dr. king led the march on washington his friend and civil rights activist harry belafonte was close by. now his voice of an important part of the dialogue that pushed the movement forward. in a remarkable round table discussion on the day of the "i have a dream" speech, a group of hollywood actors and leading intellectuals talked about the meaning of civil rights to them. let's listen to some of what harry belefonte -- harry belafonte said on that day. >> many of us have felt, i particularly as a reporter around the world, i've seen

things happen in certain countries at a given moment where what the french call a sudden awareness takes place. i know in your case this hasn't been sudden. you have been active in the civil rights movement, have you not? >> yes, i have. >> could you tell us a bit about your own role in civil rights? >> civil rights is something that i inherited, struggled for civil rights. i got it from my mother, my father, and they got it from their mothers and their fathers. and to be in washington today was for me an accumulation of a number of jepgz generations of americans who have been trying to appeal to the conscience of white supremacy and a superior force that has denied and disenfranchised the negro for so long and that to be in washington was for me today a -- a beginning really, a kind of a

climax to generations of hope. and having been deeply immersed in the civil rights struggle and having been there at the beginning of so many important civil rights issues in this country and demonstrations, it was indeed a -- a very powerful moment to see 200,000 people, mostly black people. also white people, and to know that a nation such as america and the reason that i struggle with it so hard and i grapple with it so hard is because i really believe in the potential of this country. and this country has not realized its potential, it has not even begun to scratch the surface and the humanities. and because i do feel strongly about that potential and because of the kind of inheritance i've had, it was necessary for may to be this. >> and we are very happy to have harry belafonte joining us now on the program today from new york. mr. belafonte, looking back,

what do you think about the promise of dr. king's dream, of everything you worked for? what has been achieved? what still need to bes to be ac? >> i do believe that that moment was filled with dreams of over two centuries of expectation that came from the african-american community. and a big part of the american community. we have enjoyed a great journey in achieving the victories that we did. now today i think that we are under a great threat of having those victories reversed. i think there's a new consciousness that's emerging within america, not just black america, the very -- all the movements that are begin to evidence themselves that we got to be mindful of the fact that many things in the power of our government has turned against the best interests of the victories that we achieved in

civil rights. >> think back when we look at the images back on 1963, what is the emotion that comes to mind? >> well, it's that this was this unbelievable display of seeing america as many of us wanted to see america, and many who wanted to see america as america was seeing itself. to look out at over 200,000 people standing in that mall, all different classes, all different races, gender mix. everything said that america had achieved its moment of al gory in filling out what our constitution said all of the citizens should experience. for us, it was an epiphany. a moment that said this is what america's about, let us not lose

it. let us work to strive the greater promises. >> can you remember what dr. king's response was, seeing the turnout, the panopoly of age and color in the crowd in front of him stretched out across the mall? >> i think it was a great sigh of relief. i think it was a time for him to no longer whether or not what we were talking about was a valid idea before the american people. all of america showed up, all of the america that needed to be there, and he was deeply satisfied and people had spoken. they had responded, they had validated him. they had validated our cause. and our cause was honorable. and i think he was -- he was deeply touched by that moment. and said so in the way in which he spoke. >> i was really struck in watching the replay of the "meet the press" from the sunday before with roger wilkins sr. and dr. king being questioned by a panel of white male

journalists who kept repeatedly asking in a patronizing way about the likelihood of violence coming from the -- to use their phrase, the negros who were all coming to washington. how much pressure was there on dr. king from the white house, from -- learned from john f. kennedy according to john lewis and others who were there about worrying about the -- the violence that was supposed to come from the very people who had been the victims of violence during the movement. >> well, that was not a casual thought. the their are forces within the united states government -- there are forces within the united states government, particularly j. edgar hoover coming out of the justice depend that had moved agents it deliver all sorts of justifications for why he was right in thinking that that would become not a demonstration of the best in america but become a blood bath in a racial conflict. i mean, that was constantly being put before not only john kennedy but bobby kennedy, as well. and this -- this authoritative

voice coming from our system, our justice system, j. edgar hoover, carried a great weight. and the president felt he had great reasons to be concerned. there were a large contingent of national guards and forces on the ready in the periphery waiting to move at any moment of provocation. much to everybody's delight, especially the president of the united states which is one of the most beautiful days in the american experience. and at the end, not only did john kennedy praise dr. king for his speech, but felt very proud of the fact that that which he was most anxious about was laid aside. that america had spoken to the best of its image, and i think that j. edgar hoover really went into a decline that continued to expedite itself deeper into the

rest of his life. he was a cruel man, and he wanted very much to undermine our cause. he did much with the bauer oh to infiltrate our community groups, to infiltrate our churches, to identify people as enemies of the communist conspiracy and all those things which carried weight. but we proved him wrong. and that was one of america's great moment. >> and of course he spied on the kings themselves. this was coretta scott king -- i think from your movie -- talking about you. let's watch. >> harry motivated martin because he was a man who didn't have to get involved and who did. >> i that's your documentary about the movement. the role of martin luther king and coretta scott king in carrying on his mission despite the horrible tragedy, tragedy for the country but the personal loss that she suffered, the

strength of that woman, pretty extraordinary. >> it was extraordinary. i don't think any woman serving any president with perhaps the exception of eleanor roosevelt who did such an incredible job at the behest of her husband and her own inner dynamics, i don't think any american woman had ever carried a burden and displayed it with the kind of dignity and courage as was expressed by coretta scott king. dr. king was very fortunate. we all were very fortunate that she was our first lady. >> harry belafonte, a great privilege. thank you for sharing your memories. thanks for joining us today. >> thank you very much for having me. and we'll be right back.

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power broker." congressman john lewis describes a ten meeting in white house the summer before the big march. >> whitney young jumped in and said, "president kennedy, which side are you on? are you on the side of george wallace in alabama, or are you on the side of justice and fairness?" it starts with something little, like taking a first step. and then another. and another. and if you do it. and your friends do it. and their friends do it... soon we'll be walking our way to awareness, support and an end to alzheimer's disease. and that? that would be big. grab your friends and family and start a team today. register at alz.org

♪ ♪ i've got something for you too. (announcer) fancy feast delights with cheddar. a meal that is sure to delight your cheese lover. now available in the classic form she loves. fancy feast. the best ingredient is love. to journalist and documentary filmmaker, bonnie boswell, boswell remembers her uncle speaking 50 years ago at the march on washington when she was justi 12 years old. >> this represents a grassroots

ferment, deep determination in the hearts of millions of brown americans to be free. it is a tribute to them that they have chosen to appeal to their government in this type of dignified manner. >> whitney young is the subject of boswell's film, "the power broker. : whitney young's fight for civil rights." later, boswell will introduce first lady michelle obama at the white house before a special screening of the documentary. she joins us here now. thanks for stopping here first. what a day for you today. the film has been shown on pbs, shown elsewhere. it's going to be shown at the white house and you'll be introducing the first lady whom i don't think you've met. >> i haven't. i'm thrilled about everything. >> this is a labor of love. you're a journalist, filmmaker. doing this about your uncle, tell me what you remember about the march on washington. >> i remember being in kentucky with my grandparents, whitney and laura young. and us sitting around saying, "junior's on tv," what he was

called. being excited because to me he was just uncle whitney. i never realized that he had this dominant role in the national scene. so it was exciting for all of us. >> and when you started researching the documentary, you did focus on some of the difficult times among the leaders because dr. king very controversially came out against the vietnam war. and your uncle whitney felt that the focus should remain on civil rights and economic freedom at home. tell me about that dynamic. >> well, exactly. i mean, everybody was really looking for great gains in terms of social gains and employment, jobs, these are the kinds of programs that lyndon johnson had worked close low with whitney young -- closely with whitney young to accomplish. in fact, much of what we now call the war on poverty came from ideas that whitney young had. so whitney young didn't want to jeopardize the movement forward in terms of civil rights with what was controversial at that time was the vietnam war. so it wasn't that he so much supported the war, but it was

strategically not to be able to interfere with johnson's determination. >> one of the people offed f offinterviewed for the -- people interviewed for the sfim henry lewis gates. watch. >> whitney young who i thought was cool, articulate, smooth, handsome, my man, i even liked the way he combed his hair. it was obvious the way he dressed, the way he talked, that his focus was different. his focus for the black community was more with corporate america. more on an economic-based revolution. >> all we're asking is that the same conscious, deliberate effort which was used for years to exclude negros you in be used to include negros in the mainstream of american life. >> to accomplish this, highway made itted to work with lbj. -- he needed to work with lbj, despite the fact he was the target of antiwar protests. that was a very difficult

divide. >> it was difficult. the nation was in great turmoil, and people lined up on one side or the other. whitney young was a pragmatic man. this was the kind of strategy that he was using throughout his career. >> another clip from the movie. >> mr. young was a results-oriented person. and so was lyndon johnson. lyndon johnson had a gargantuan ego. he preferred like-minded people. he liked that kind of practical, bare-bones, hard-knuckle, get-it-done kind of methodology and attitude. as well as being the kind of person -- liked a good drink, liked a good joke, liked a good party. that really welded the two of them together. johnson on the other hand never felt comfortable with dr. king. >> and there was another president in the mix later. richard nixon. who actually brought whitney

young into the white house to brief the cabinet. how did that come about? >> exactly. it was a time when the urban league was running out of money because corporate donations were falling off at that point. so also there was a bit of controversy because nixon was not seen as a friend to black people, but the urban agricultural needed some funds, so where were they going to turn at a certain point for these programs to help the poor. so he turned to richard nixon. and nixon brought in the entire cabinet. and as a result of that, they were able to receive quite a bit of money to implement these programs. >> just as we lost dr. king horribly to an assassin, and then whitney young's life was cut short apparently what was probably a heart attack, he was swimming off the coast of africa. >> yes, he had attended a conference there was africans and african-americans. and it was a business conference. meant to bring the two continents together. and he went swimming after the session had ended with some

friends, ramsey clark was one of them. and he drowned. i remember ramsey clark saying he was fooling around, having a great time. actually his last word were, "this is great." they realized he was actually struggling. so they tried to resuscitate him. they couldn't. initially they thought it was a heart attack, then ruled it a drowning. it was very sad and shocking. >> shocking indeed. ramsey clark and the former attorney general. >> exactly. >> well, bonnie boswell, a fascinating film. i was -- wonderful to see it on pbs last night. lots of luck at the white house today for your achievements. >> thank you very much. >> thank you for joining us. >> appreciate it. and next, more of our special coverage looking toward tomorrow's 50th anniversary of the march on washington. stay with us. [ male announcer ] for the original salon genius,

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vivian malone made history. she was the first black student to graduate from the university of alabama. in june, 1936, before dr. king's march, she tried to enter the university but was blocked at the door by then-governor george wallace who declared famously segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever. defying the law of the land. took an intervention by president john kennedy and his justice department for the governor to finally step aside, allowing malone and fellow student james hood to enrole. malone -- enroll. malone graduated and remained an active member in the civil rights movement until she passed away in 2005. dr. sharon malone is the younger sister of vivian malone and civil rights leader herself and joins me now. so much history. we were talking about the fact that your sister tried to enter the university of alabama june

12th, 1963, and that very night was the shooting of medgar evers. >> yes. it was a very action-packed day. they had just successfully integrated the university of alabama. and that evening, president kennedy addressed the nation in his famous speech on race. and hours after that, medgar evers was shot and killed in his driveway. >> now, it was only the intervention of nicholas katzenbach coming to the steps of the university and facing down george wallace. tell us more about that climactic moment when your sister tried to enter the university. >> yes. you know, they had been preparing for that moment for quite some time. but they -- up until that very last minute, they really didn't know what the governor was going to do. so that is why, you know, there is a lot of back and forth about whether or not they had to actually come back that day to confront the governor again because he didn't move the first time. so it was pretty dramatic. and i think people don't really

understand how unscripted that moment really was. >> you were a toddler, but from conversations with your sister and your parents, what was the family decisionmaking like to decide to permit vivian malone 20 years old to enter this fray when violence was on all sides? >> yes. well, you know, i think at that point my parents were very much of the mind that it was just time. and if you knew my sister, she didn't really ask for permission for a lot. so, you know, i think she went with my parents's support. but she made the decision that, you know, as a resident of the state of alabama that she was entitled to an education at the best university in the state of alabama. >> you know, having just seen lee daniels' "the butler," and i know you just saw it also with your kids. >> uh-huh. >> it's so resonant with the divide, the generational divide that existed in many families.

>> uh-huh. >> i was talking to friends last night at dinner about that, about in their own family how older african-americans were afraid, many of them, to join the movement or to be -- to be more movement or to be more activist. afraid because they'd lived through all of the terror for decades. >> exactly. they had seen the true horrors of segregation at its worst. my parents had lived through that because they had come from rural alabama. but i think they made a decision that it was time to move forward on this, and they decided not to be afraid. you know, everything in their dna sort of said this was the right thing to do. and they moved forward. >> did she need protection throughout her tenure at the university? >> she did. she had federal marshal protection for the entire two years she was there. just because the cameras went away the next day, the danger did not. she continued to get threats. her dorm was bombed. a couple months after she was

there. so the ever-present -- and even though people got used to her being there, the danger was ever present. you remember, she graduated in 1965. she graduated a month before bloody sunday. so this was all -- sorry, a month after bloody sunday. this all happened, you know, right there. so '65, the threat of violence was very present in alabama still. >> alabama was really the epicenter of so much that was happening. what about forgiving george wallace for what happened? >> you know, my sister, believe it or not, she did not meet george wallace for, you know, probably almost 15, 20 years after. actually, i want to say almost 30. she did. she said i've -- in her heart she forgave him. it wasn't until 1996 that he actually asked for forgiveness. they had never met face to face until 1996. >> and when you look towards the march and your own children and

the dream, the unfulfilled dream, your husband's in the cabinet, obviously, has the legal authority that bobby kennedy had as the attorney general, what do you think now is the most important next step? >> you know, i am acutely aware of what it took for us to be where we are today. and i think that we should not rest on those laurels because we've made a lot of progress, but we've still got a lot to do. it's amazing to me that 50 years later we're still grappling with issues of, you know, educational disparity, voting rights, you know, 50 years later. we've made a lot of progress, but we can't rest on that. >> dr. sharon malone, thank you so much. >> thank you for having me p andrea. >> we'll be right back.

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and that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." tomorrow we'll drive you live from it the historic 50th anniversary of the celebration of the march on washington. my colleague richard lui has a look at what's next on "news neig nation." >> thank you so much. in our next hour, ramping up. the u.s. could launch air strikes against syria as early as thursday. the pentagon says it's ready and is just waiting for the president to pull the trigger. the military options the u.s. is likely considering. plus, the effect this crisis is having on world markets. and an investigation underway after the death of a bank of america intern. we'll talk to the head of one group who says internships are not designed to push young people to the limit. and a controversial plan that critics say criminalizes homelessness in south carolina's capital city. it's our "news nation" gut check. [ dennis ] it's always the same dilemma -- who gets the allstate safe driving bonus check. rock beats scissors! [ chuckles ]

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right now on "news nation," immediate effects. stocks take a tumble as wall street reacts to a potential u.s. military strike against syria. no evidence. the lawyer for one of two teens it accused of killing an 88-year-old veteran insists there's nothing linking the boys to the crime. and one city's proposal to remove the homeless from its streets. hi, i'm richard lui in for tamron hall. we begin with developing news about what appears to be an imminent military attack against syria. in the last hour, the white house made it clear that syria's use of chemical weapons leaves it no choice but to act. >> what the president is engaged in is a process of deciding, as he consults with international allies and as his administration consults with congress, about what the appropriate response to this flagrant violation of international norms should be.