battle, she had earon's fighting spirit to pull through that. >> and that's all for this edition of "dateline". dateline i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. i'm craig melvin. >> i'm natalie morales. >> and this is dateline. it was just chaos. >> a day at the mall descends into mayhem. armed men turn shoppers in pray. >> a lot of screaming. a lot of fgunfire. they had a demeanor like they owned the place. >> panicked moms protecting their kids. >> i told them to be quiet like a mouse. >> i couldn't let him cry. this is it. >> you grabbed your brother and

just ran. >> from out of the blue, a hero. i called her to run towards me and she starts running. >> could he rescue the very smallest of victims. >> when porsha got up and ran, did you have a moment where you shau thought, oh, my god. hello, welcome to dateline. it seems like mass shootings have become all too frenquent i theist. overseas, carried out an even more deadly attack when gunman turned it into a scene of bloodshed. to also emerge that day were remarkable stories of courage and survival. here's kate snow.

it's the modern day town square, a gathering place that fulfills our every need. shopping, eating, socializing. a trip to the mall is an escape on weekends. not just in america, in nairobi ken kenya, upscale and modern west gate mall was the place to unwind at the end of the workweek. the last place you would expect something like this. [ gunshots ] armed men taking over every floor. shooting anyone in their way. the unbelievably blult scene th. just after the smoke cleared, dateline travelled to nairobi. we'll take you inside the mall attack with harrowing scenes of

how it unfolded and details from those who lived through it. you'll hear from two mothers caught in cross fire. >> it was pretty terrifying. it really was. it was very, very, very fearful. >> two mothers caught on camera. >> what's going to happen? i'm going to die. the kids are going to die. >> in a matter of seconds, these moms, an american, and a kenyan would go from strolling to the mall to being forced to make life and death decisions to save themselves and their children. forkatheri for katherine walton, it ban like any other saturday. she took their five kids to the west gate mall. a place all of them could be entertained, the teens and toddler toddler. >> just an opportunity to walk around. kill a couple of hours. i knew we would go home and have

naps and everybody would be happy. >> the waltons chose to move to kenya two years earlier from texas. for katherine and phillip, it was like going home. both children of missionaries and grew up in countries in west africa. met in boarding school in africa and married in the states and started raising their family. at the time of the attack, their son was 14 years old and one ten. porsha four, gigi two, and pet the baby 13 months old.

and then an explosion. >> so the first thing that tells you something is wrong, is a huge bang. >> yes. >> coming from where. >> it was the main entrance. it was off to my right and behind me. i remember turning around and looking at it and just seeing people screaming and running. >> in those first seconds, katherine was unsure what was happening. thought it sounded like broken glass or something falling. she immediately grasped that she and her girls were in danger. the chaos confused another mother not father from katherine on the main floor. faith was in the mall with her two children, nine-year-old daughter sigh and 21 month old son son ty. shopping for an anniversary present. in a flower shop when she heard

the noise. >> it was sho louuas so loud i must have been an earthquake and the building was collapsing. >> that's the point i'm telling my kids to lay down. scanning the area thinking where we're going to go. >> show how quickly the attack began. you shoe machine gun bullets going down the course as shoppers scramble and dive to the floor. >> then i saw rounds starting to hit the shops straight ahead. >> first thought, protect her kids. >> just instinct to grab the girls and run. we must not have gone very far and a kenyan woman came and scooped up porsha and we both ran right behind this display table, display cabinet. >> katherine, her girls and the kenyan woman took cover the only place they could. here they are couching under a

display table. >> p>> she was crying because i was laying on her. it was loud. very loud. very chaotic. >> what was happening around you. what the are you hearing. >> everybody was scramble. the shooting was coming from all directions. >> katherine knew her boys had been headed towards that department store. amid all the noise and commotion, she managed to call them and yell out a quick warning. >> don't come out. they're shooting. go run hide. do not come out. katherine knew the situation was dangerous, extremely dangerous, but at least she had some cover. faith and her kids were also trapped on the ground floor, but cowering out in the open. exposed to the gunmen stalking new victims. >> i'm telling the kids to lie down. then now there's this continuous loud sounds and i know they were shooting. i thought, wrong choice of

hiding place. i remember my daughter at one point asked me, mama, was this the best place we could hide. >> the assault continued. >> you're not hearing one gun n gunmen. >> it was all over. it sounded all over. in the building it was just echoing and reverberatreverbera >> you could look up and see other floors. >> where i was laying i could see across and up the different levels. it was just chaos. >> what's the smell like. >> the whole mall was cloudy and just smoke ever where. gun powder, burning, smell. >> did any of them come anywhere near you. >> i saw two of them that walked from the main entrance in front of the line of stores that were directly in front of us. >> hold on, what did you see? you saw their feet go by? >> no. i saw them. they were 50 yards, 30 yards away. i don't know.

>> what did they look like. >> the had tan and gray clothing. th were carrying very, very large weapons. very large guns. hearing the gunfire and screams echoing through the mall, both katherine and faith could tell the gunmen were spreading out, killing people as they went along. two mothers trapped with young children worried they would be next. and a growing fear seized katherine, her boys were no longer answering their phone. where were they? coming up, the terrifying uncertainty for those inside the mall and loved ones outside. >> i got woken by a phone call. your wife and sons are in for and they're separated. >> soon, a friend of katherines who has been texting with her would go from worried to frantic. >> when she sent that, my heart just sunk. when dateline continues. with amazing amenities like movie theaters, exercise rooms

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s. firing round after fatal round. katherine walton was hunkered down near where the shooting had started. couched in a small kiosk with her stranger and three young daughters. desperately worried about her sons somewhere out there, but she had to focus on keeping her

daughters quiet so they wouldn't attract attention. >> are you hiding from gunmen? >> yes, we were laying down on the ground trying to hide from them so they couldn't see us. porsha kept her fingers in her ears. gigi said mom i want my blanket and mouse and flashlight. she sleeps with those three things every night. she said she wanted her brothers and i told her we would see them later. >> katherine could only hope that was true. half a world away a phone rang in a hotel in north carolina. katherine's husband phillip a tech entrepreneur had gone back to the u.s. for business meetings leaving his wife alone in nairobi with their five kids. >> i get woken at 6:00 a.m. from a phone call from paul from our dear family friend so i knew it wasn't good. >> do you remember what he said. >> there's an attack going on at

west gate and your wife and family is in there and they're separated. >> paul had been at home recovering from surgery when he got an urgent text from katherine. >> what time did the first message come in. >> came in at 1252. >> what kid she say. >> she said pray. shooting in west gate. hiding. >> that's a message. >> i wrote her back really and she said yes, i don't know where the boys are. she said find bles. >> paul texted, but he didn't answer. >> i started looking on the internet. someone put out a statement on facebook saying don't call anybody. paul didn't call, but stayed in touch with katherine through text messages. her lifeline to the outside world. >> i send a text get me out of here. not like i really thought he could, but i was just desperate. >> when she sent that, my heart just sunk. >> katherine didn't text her

husband phillip. she knew he was too far away to do anything. knew she would only panic him. back in north carolina all phillip could do was weight. it was 6:00 a.m. and news of the attack hadn't hit the u.s. yet. >> i'm trying to imagine the feeling of getting that phone call and being so far away. >> i think helplessness is a pretty accurate world. you know there's nothing you can do. i was so worried the girls would be screaming like uncontrollably panicking and drawing attention. >> exactly what katherine was trying to prevent the girls from doing. >> i just kept telling them to stay little. stay very quiet. and the kenyan lady that was with porsha just kept patting her and soothing her and gigi just was curled up in a little ball. her breathing was so quiet and so shallow. i just kept rubbing her back and touching her because i was like

maybe she's hurt and i don't realize it. >> camped in her hiding spot, she was desperate to reach her boys. after trying and trying she finally got through again. i was able to send a text and said are you okay and he told me they were okay. and they were safe. >> you thought your boys had gotten out. >> i did. when he told me they were safe. i thought they had gotten out, but they hadn't. they were hiding in the back of the store. the cell phone video captured the battlefield the store became. the isles were bullet riddled maize. shoppers were stunned. some drawing fire. now gunmen headed toward katherine's sons. faith was the other mother trapped in this nightmare. she had her two young children with her and was worried about controlling her toddler son. they heard gunfire all around

them. >> i feel bad you know right now because i was lying on him trying to shield him at one point. i said lying on this floor and pressing down on his back. he must be so uncomfortable. at that point is when i put my fingers in his mouth, hoping to give him something to suck on. >> they remained like that frozen in place first for minutes and then for an hour. she was terrified her son would start crying and give them away. >> i can see his face creasing into a cry. and i know my goodness, he's going to cry. this is it. >> coming up. faith makes a fateful choice. i thought now, our cover has been blown. >> while our other mom katherine becomes terrified she and her girls are moments away from being discovered. >> you knew as those men came around behind us they could see us.

>> when dateline continues.

katherine was still trying to keep her daughters contained. it was a job that got harder as

the mall got quieter. >> there was a lull and patrick picked up the phone and playing with it and she tried to take it. then the shooting started again. one threw the phone and it got underneath our bodies and i couldn't reach it. >> you couldn't text anybody. >> i couldn't get ahold of anybody. >> couple of hours texting and no more texting from then. other people started calling and saying it's really bad. we've seen pictures of people being killed. >> and she's not responding to you now. >> no. >> just down the corridor, another mother struggled to keep her children quiet. she made an incredible decision to all play dead. her then nine-year-old daughter understood how important it was

to stay still. amazingly, her son, then two seemed so sense it as well. he didn't move except for an occasional blink. men with machine guns scoured every inch of the mall. >> we were right next to a corridor we could hear them passing from time to time, but there was no way i was going to change my position. >> as the minutes dragged into hours. knowing her son might stir at any moment, relieved when he dozed off a bit. >> lying on the ground. i didn't know whether he was alive. one eye was shut and the other was open. unusual way to sleep. >> hot, cramped with numb limbs, faith urged her kids to fight the need to move. my daughter, whenever it felt like she was twitching or changing position, i would squeeze a little bit and she totally understood that to mean, stay still. but then two-year-old woke

up. she wondered how long he could wake up. she pretended glass and cement were insects to keep him distracted. there's an insect coming. you need to watch it. so fascinated. >> continued to braisingly troll the mall floors looking for victims. cath win was worried they would finally see her and the girl. after all, she was seeing the gunman. >> no, they were walking very slow. almost had a demeanor like they owned the place. like they knew they were in control. >> did they see you. >> they looked my direction. i knew as the men came out and came around behind us, that they could see us. >> those men had already killed dozens of shoppers. in this video, captured by a security camera, a wounded person is prodded by a terrorist. other parts two graphic to broadcast show the gunmen

callously shooting people throughout the mall, even the injured. as the siege dragged on, the outside world was beginning to get some idea of how terrible it was. >> good evening, loud explosions heard tonight in the capital of nairobi. >> those trapped inside the mall couldn't know they were part of a terrorist attack. faith and her two kids we mained absolutely still. it was their only chance for survival, but her mind raced. >> thinking about my husband, where is he? how will he get to know about this incident. i'm wondering will any of my children get shot? will i get shot and my children have no minor after this. >> faith was determined to protect her children at any cost. >> i remember at some point covering the children, my son's head and my daughter's head and i said any bullet would have to pass through me first before it gets to the children. >> faith and her children had

been flat on the floor for a full three and a half hours when suddenly she heard something. >> we had heard voices from above us. higher floors. asking us to get up. mommy. mommy. mother, mother, mother with the children. you mother down there with the children. i knew they were addressing me, but immediately we got up to our knees and trying to get up to go t shooting started again. she thought by moving she had drawn attention to herself. >> we were scared at first. thought our cover has been blown. now they know we are really not dead. faith didn't trust anyone now so when a man approached, she was sure it wasn't good. >> that's when now when i felt somebody touching me, they've come for us. they know we're alive. so we just laid down there and telling my daughter. quiet. >> faith has to make a split second decision. their lives depend on it. should she trust the man talking

to her child. coming up. >> baby, baby. touching my daughter. baby, baby. >> and then a fresh shot for katheri katherine's husband. >> that was very traumatic to me. >> when dateline continues. for adults with advanced non-small cell lung cancer, previously treated with platinum-based chemotherapy, including those with an abnormal alk or egfr gene who've tried an fda-approved targeted therapy, who wouldn't want a chance for another...? who'd say no to a...? who wouldn't want a chance to live longer.

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was you had to pay to be on there, and i felt like the people who were on there really value a relationship. - for my family, we are three for three in our siblings for getting married. i thank eharmony for that. - [narrator] stop waiting,

the center for disease control reports even greater spread of flew. high flu activity risen to 39 in the last week. hawaii is the only state not reporting a widespread outbreak. in paris the river is expected to peek at 20 feet today. 13 feet higher than normal. flooding shutdown commuter train service until next week and louvre to close a lower level at the museum. now back to dateline. hello and welcome back to

"datelin "dateline." i'm craig melvin. gunman had taken over the mall and patrolling the building searching for more victims. the two mothers in the building both hiding with their children were hoping their time was not running out. >> for three and a half hours after armed gunmen stormed the west gate mall, two mothers had been trapped. katherine walton crouched for cover with three young daughters under a temporary kiosk. gunman patrolling nearby. and faith, she and her two young children played dead all that time. moved once and were instantly shot at. as a man approached them, faith held her position, but he wasn't a terrorist. he was a police officer. >> baby, baby. baby. touching my daughter. baby. baby. are you okay. and i said. wow, in my mind. i'm thinking this might be a good person. they want to find are we okay.

not are we alive. then he said. it's safe. it's safe. it's the police. >> faith's nine-year-old daughter was the first to move. my daughter put up her head. not quite hesitant and asked him will you with the bad guys because i mean i was still looking down. i was scared. i thought now they've come where we are. my daughter had really put her head up. too late to tell her to come back down. engaged the policeman in a conversation. then said mama, look up. then almost against her instincts, faith began to trust. >> when i looked up, i seen his civilian jacket. i didn't know who he was. i wasn't going to trust someone unless they're in a uniform. as he sat up, i saw his shirt. i was able to recognize the uniform. and then he said it's fine i'm going to lead you to safety. get up. >> desperately afraid to move, faith agreed it was time to make a run for it.

still worried that gunfire would erupt again, faith slowly got up and crept towards the exit with her children. >> i remember even seeing a body lying there on the steps as we ran out. i said i'm focusing on why we were going. there was this policeman, the one carrying my daughter was running too fast and way ahead. the one with my son was lagging and i'm thinking don't separate us. i kept saying my son. my son. >> after all those hours forced to keep her children quiet. they were finally out. >> i'm crying now because i'm finally free. there's tears of joy. >> in hotel room 6,000 miles away in charlotte, phillip walton could only hope his story would have a happy ending. he was coming through news reports he saw on social media. >> i remember one specifically where they said someone had just seem them bring a child's body out in a shopping cart.

they said it was a five or six-year-old little boy. and i thought to myself, well, i don't think anybody would confuse or boys we s for being or six, but could they confuse a little girl for being a little boy. that piece of news was very traumatic to me. >> in agony and alone he parade and started playing one song over and over in his mind. >> i think we do have a measure of grace that comes to us in very difficult times. for me, there was a u2 song that went off in the back of my head called 40. it's from the 40th psalm. i just started reading that psalm over and over again. it was exactly what i needed to hear. and so i took a lot of comfort from that. >> it's got that great -- i know the song. >> it's an awesome song. >> it became the inspiration of

hope. it gave me something to pray about during the time that i didn't know what was going on. >> he was comforted by his faith. it was impossible not to worry. by now he knew what his wife didn't. >> she's injured. >> that his entire family was caught in a carefully coordinated full blown terrorist attack. >> you think the worst. when you know that these are terrorists, and, you know, that their intent is not to steal something and get out of there, but it's to kill people. you know their intent is to hurt christians, you know their intent is to try to disrupt our way of life in kenya. you know, it's the reality of what they could mean are very

present. >> he had no way of knowing whether his family was alive or not. no way of knowing that soon some of his prayers would be answered. coming up, phillip and katherine's sons are trapped in the most violent part of the mall and a 14-year-old realizes it's up to him to protect his younger brother. >> i just thought, ian first, save him. me second. >> when "dateline" continues. with one a day women's. ♪ a complete multivitamin specially formulated with key nutrients plus vitamin d for bone health support. your one a day is showing. theseare heading back home.y oil thanks to dawn, rescue workers only trust dawn, because it's tough on grease yet gentle. i am home, i am home, i am home

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welcome back to dateline. phillip walton was in the u.s. far from his home in kenya when he learned his wife and children were among those in the building. all he could do is wait and pray. here's kate snow. >> three hours passed since flip walton was awakened by a call telling him his family was trapped inside the west gate mall. pinned down by gunfire. he had been on his computer all morning. checking for updates. then suddenly he received a facebook message from a friend with a freeze frame, a video and there in the bottom right-hand corner was an unmistakable site.

his two sons alive and outside the mall. >> it was my two sons standing with my business partner. very big, very noticeable man. >> paul weaver raced down to the mall area and confirmed the picture was real. the boys were out. >> and just seeing them, i mean, i don't think there's been any bigger hugs in the world. it was joy at the same time just seeing the anguish in their face and we just sat on the floor and just laid his head down and just all the emotions coming through him and greatest moment and one of the saddest moments at the same time. >> a joyful moment for phillip knowing his boys were finally safe, but two brief because he knew his wife and three young daughters were still trapped in that mall. the walton boys had endured three and a half hours in the most dangerous area. in the department store, where terrorists hunted down innocent

victims. terrifying for anyone, but especially for two boys. separated from their mother. this is blez walton. it was difficult for him to recount the story of what happened to him and his brother, but he wanted to tell it starting from the beginning. the two brothers had just paid and were still standing in the checkout line when they saw something strange. >> and what's the first thing you hear or see that's weird. >> everybody looks to the main entrance. and we all look as well. everybody looks. then a loud sound happens and three people go flying and that's when people realize what's going on and they run. >> three people go flying into the air. >> they just like fell backwards. it was scary. >> did you think it was a bomb or something. >> i thought it was a bomb at first, but then when i heard the two gunfire sounds, i knew it wasn't just a bomb. it was something else. >> he knew he had to protect

himself. and more than that, he knew he was responsible for his younger brother. >> you grabbed your brother. >> yes >> fast as you could. >> and just ran. >> were you pushing him. >> yes. >> you didn't want him to see anything. that's hard. that would be hard for me. it would be hard for a grownup. >> yes. >> at 14 that's pretty hard. >> really is. >> blez clutching his brother raced away from the gunfire with one thought. >> i just thought ian first, save him. me second. >> and you headed towards the back of the store. other people at that time were rushing back. we followed the crowd. >> they made to it a storeroom at the back. others were hiding there too. including an american mother with her own kids. without katherine there to comfort them t boys stayed with that mother. blez hoped they were far enough

away from the gun toting terrorists, but they weren't. surveillance video shows the terrorist made it all the way to the back hunting for more victims, but this wise 14-year-old did something ingenio ingenious. >> i finally pulled him aside. sat him down behind a thing of flour. there's one by one by one meters of flour on all of a sudden sides of him. >> we had pulled toilet paper on top of our heads to nobody would see us. >> why did you need to be hidden. >> we didn't know if people would be walking back and looking for us. we had pulled all stops. >> ten-year-old remembers how scared he was. >> did you see any of the bad guys. >> no. seemed like they were trying to shoot through it and throw grenades to blow it up. they never got through. >> who you heard a lot of loud sounds. >> yes >> and you said you were back there how long. >> like three and a half hours.

>> you thought about it a little bit. yeah. >> when you were there, i know if it were me, i would have been really, really scared. were you pretty pretty squared. >> all my brother and me did was just pray for our family and just laid there. >> they lay there and listened. >> and every once in a while we would hear gunfire, grenade sounds. and at one point the people came in and said we're the police, it's okay. >> the voices identifying themselves as police were encouraging people to come out. around him, blez heard people start moving. >> they walked out and about 15 seconds later you just heard loud machine gunfire for about 30 seconds and it just was quiet. >> so you think it was the bad guys luring them out. >> yes >> you did the right thing by staying where you were. >> the lady we were with told us what to do every step of the

way. without her, i think me and my brother would have gone out with the crowd. thanks to her we're still alive. >> the boys were holed up in the back room when eventually police were able to break down a door and get people out. this security camera shows the chaos and the crowd after being released. look closely. there's blez in red shirt and ian with backpack. free after three and a half hours of being trapped. relief washed over phillip walton when he saw his boys and the image his friend sent him. at least his sons were okay. >> i remember thinking at that time, at least i won't be alone. i remember thinking however horrific this day is, at least the boys and i will have each other if it turns out worse than we would hope or imagine.

his wife was still trapped under the table with the girls. now things were looking worse. a man with a gun is heading their way. >> coming up, who was he and a daring escape plan from an unlikely hero. >> i told the lady, now. >> what happened next amazed the world. when dateline continues.

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welcome back to dateline. walton boys had made it out of the mall. still a scene of terror. for more than four hours. hiding in a space closed off from the outside world, outside world. catherine didn't know she was was creeping toward her. >> at some point, you hear something, you see something. >> i think there was a little bit of commotion. and the kenyan woman said the

cops are here. >> but it wasn't the police. it was a kenyan man named abdul haji. the businessman and father of four received a text message from his brother earlier that morning. >> the message was very brief. it just read at waste gate. terrorists. pray for me. abdul bolted to the mall and was stunned by what he saw when he got there. carnage everywhere. he was terrified for his brother who worked for the kenyan service and received death threats from the same terror group that was now attacking the mall. >> at this point in time, the magnitude of the whole situation dawned on me. >> security forces were just arriving and abdul, licensed to carry a gun, decided in an instant to join them. they entered the mall on the top

floor. abdul's brother was still in the mall and not far from catherine walton and her girls on the main floor. he was hiding in a bathroom. abdul worked his way down to the main floor and as he did, his brother managed to escape. >> i reached my phone to try and call him and i see this message on my screen saying, i'm out, i'm safe, please come out. >> but abdul haji didn't come out, despite the gruesome scene, the blood, the bodies, the smell of smoke and constant gunfire, he decided to stay and help. abdul searched through the mall looking for victims. then he made a discovery that shocked him. >> i look down and i see somebody hiding behind a table. it was a lazy. she looked very scared. and i'm thinking, she was right in the middle of the crossfire. >> catherine spotted abdul, too, but sensed he wasn't a threat. >> how did you know they weren't

terrorists? >> they weren't carrying the large guns that we saw. >> with just a few words between them, they quickly coordinated an exit strategy. >> we opened fire towards the door just to scare the terrorists away. >> then it was time. >> then we hold fire. then i tell the lady now. and suddenly this young girl appears out of nowhere. and i just call to her to run towards me and she starts running. and immediately i'm thinking, what a brave girl. >> when porsche got up and ran, did you have a moment where you thought, oh, my god. >> i think i realized that it was precurious, but i was strufting that if they were telling us to run, it was safe. >> for catherine, it was a gigantic leap of faith. after shielding her daughters, she knew to save them she would have to let them go.

the image of 4-year-old porsha was one no one would soon forget. catherine wasn't far behind. and they weren't alone. these images show the terror on the faces of others being rescues by police in those same moments. in north carolina, phillip got a call from his business partner. >> i got confirmation from eric that he was standing there with them and they were all safe. >> your whole family. >> yeah. then i cried. then it -- you know, then you can let go. then you can just kind of -- you can collapse. >> later, a picture followed. his wife and children trapped in that mall for hours in terror were now in the safety of a friend's house together. >> simply the most precious thing i could imagine seeing

them all in safety and knowing they had come through it. >> phillip grabbed the first flight back to kenya. >> must have fell really good when he got off the plane. >> as a mom, when dad is not around, you feel like you have to keep it together and you have to be strong. and the kids were very excited to see him. they had been asked. they were releafed to finally be able to touch him and hug him and have that extra security. >> these images showed the devastation and does he instructi destruction of the westgate mall. terrorists with links to al qaeda claimed responsibility and the kenyan government said at least 67 people died. for the survivors, it was difficult to make sense of it all, to move on. faith went home, hugged her husband and two days after the attack there was cause for celebration and time for

reflection. >>. >> um great for for our children being alive. i'm grateful to be reunited with my husband. this incident has brought us more closer. now we don't want to leave each other's sides. >> faith and her children were reunited with that police officer who reached out to her on that terrible day, grateful he risked his life to save theirs. the waltons, too, said they were the grateful for friends, new and old, especially young porsha who beamed when we showed you a picture of her rescuer on a smartphone. >> is that mr. haji? >> yes. >> what did he do? >> he saved us. >> hello. nice to see you again. >> three days after the worst day of their lives, the waltons were reunited with their hero.

abdul haji is himself a father and a muslim. it's not lost on him that he is forever linked to a christian family who chose to live in kenya. >> and that's what humanity is all about. it happened that i was a muslim and they were christians, but at that time what i was seeing was a little girl and her mother. i was not seeing what religion that person was. >> as we've been able to tell this story and spend time with haji and, you know, to see the courage of a man like that, there's an inspiration for me. >> and bles walton said he had a new perspective. >> you have seen the worst of humanity and the best of humanity. >> same day. it's a miracle to be able to live beth of those in one day. >> and for catherine and her children, as dismal and as dark as the easts in that mall were, she refused to do anything but grow and be positive for herself and her family.

>> because i don't want them to come out of this and hate or be angry about what happened. >> it would be easy to be angry. >> it would be very easy to be angry. i don't want them to see the bad part of it. i want them to come, turn that bad situation into something positive. >> that's all for this addition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. i'm craig melvin. >> and i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "date line." >> when buttons are pushed, people get angry. you know, in my brain, they're at the top of the stairs and they're struggling. i eventually heard a lot of details i didn't really want to hear. i had nightmares for months. >> a young mother dead at the bottom of the stairs. >> things in this crime scene