to clinch the republican nomination with today's texas primary. but despite gop voters finally putting a ring on it, there is no time for a texas two-step because romney has just touched down in sin city for a $2 million las vegas fund-raiser with the big bloviater, donald trump. while the event is drawing many questions like, is it an open bar, who will use more hair product or will wayne newton be there, the main question of course is, why? why on earth would mitt romney want to share a stage with the guy who couldn't resist bringing the birther conspiracy back again, just this morning, on cnbc "squawk box." >> it wouldn't matter except if you're born in a foreign country, you know you're not allowed to be president. this is i minor detail. i'm not fanning flames. this is something that came out last week, a lot of people are questioning his birth certificate. >> and, no, donald wasn't done

yet. doubling down vegas style, with a full-on double dare to romney to really go after the president, tweeting, barack obama is practically begging mitt romney to disavow the place of birth movement. he is afraid of it and for good reason, he keeps using john mb cage as an example. however, john mccain lost the election. don't let it happen again. new york please, don't let it happen again, mr. romney. don't allow your campaign compatriot to make outrageous and inscendiary comments to go unpunished. without receiving a strong rebuke, from you mr. romney. your spokesperson said this about tonight's appearance alongside birther trump, quote, governor romney has said repeatedly that he believes president obama was born in the united states. the democrats can talk about donald trump all they want, mitt

romney is going to talk about jobs and how we can get our economy moving again. for mitt romney himself, up close and as personal as he can get, we got this entirely up front and honest response -- >> i don't agree with all of the people who support me. my guess is they don't agree with everything i believe in. i need to get 50.1 first or more and i'm appreciative to have the help of a lot of good people. okay. >> okay. so your entire campaign is as cynical as that, you'll raise millions from the donald because you'll do anything to gain the white house. let's bring in our panel now. with me here in new york, msnbc political analyst, jonathan alter, a columnist for the b bloomberg, david korn. juliana glover, founding

principal at the ashcroft group. thank you for joining us on tuesday. david, i can understand objections to mitt romney sharing the daj with donald trump. but doesn't this say everything about the field of candidates for this nomination? if romney wants to sound like a statesman, he can't really stand alongside rick perry because rick perry can't remember his own policies and if e -- do you expect him to stand on the side of herman cain, accused of putting his hand up a woman's skirt and forcing her head towards his genitals? compared to those two donald trump i believe is a statesman. >> i think it's a close call there. certainly there are a few other people out there that mitt romney could greg into a fund-raiser. the best theory so far is that they made a deal with donald trump when he endorsed mitt romney back in february, and to do a fund-raiser, and they want to get it out of the way sooner

than later, which is not usually how you react to surrogates. but yet again another moment in which mitt romney is not rising to the occasion. i'm still looking, i've been like -- a lantern going from column to column looking for one moment when mitt romney showed any degree, pinch, a smidgen of guts whether it was that woman saying barack obama's a traitor, anything, the spokesman attacked for being gay from the right, i'm looking for one moment when he would come across as a stand-up guy and that's not happening in las vegas for some reason tonight. >> juliana, donald trump's clear assertion now is that if john mccain had embraced this conspiratorial racist rubbish, he might have won in 2008. do you agree with that? >> well, i really think all of this is a little bit like groundhog day. first of all, the damage has been done. romney appeared next to trump

when he received his endorsement in february, also when as david said the deal was cut there would be additional fund-raisers not only with romney but mrs. romney in new york. this is not new. he's been a birther for a very long time. romney's been saying he does not embrace the conspiracy theorys. >> i want to ask you this question, the question is this, donald trump says that if john mccain had persisted with this racist rubbish, this nonsensical, ludicrous nonsense about the president's birth, john mccain would have won in 2008. the question i'm asking you, do you think that is true? >> i don't think any political strategist believes it's a wise thing to be talking anything about where obama was born at this day and age. >> thank you for that direct answer. the obama campaign has seizes on this, i'd like you to take a

look at an ad that they've produced. listen to this. >> i have read about him. he's an arab. >> no, ma'am. he's a decent family man, citizen that i happen to have disagreements with. >> why doesn't he show his birth certificate? he doesn't have a birth certificate. >> john, we know that mitt romney is a spineless individual. but shun he really cancel this event? >> well -- >> wouldn't that be the right thing to do? >> if not cancel then do something to put distance between himself and the birthers and the other whack jobs and what george will calls a bloviating ignoramuignoramus, h for donald trump. the question here that the obama people are trying to raise is one of character. political character remember back in 1992, bill clinton one

of the ways he got elected he had what they called his sister solja moments, an african-american rap who are made very intemperate remarks and bill clinton criticized her, and in order to say because you're on my team, my side of the political equation, doesn't mean i'm not going to call you out if you go over the line. so what this incident raises, martin, the question, where is the line for romney? there's got to be some line. >> david, david -- no, but -- but here's the question. >> has a fund-raiser for him, will -- on the other side, imagine what would happen if barack obama met with somebody who, for instance, accused mitt romney of performing posthumous mormon baptisms on holocaust victims what happen do you think the romney camp would be saying?

put the shoe on the other foot. >> david to that point, though, when romney says all he needs as he did on the aircraft is 50.1%, does that not suggest he would take the conspiracy of anyone, however bad their personal history? if a serial killer who murdered 17 women here in new york offered to endorse romney, he'd be immediately welcomed. >> a direct message from david duke, come on, we need you. but seriously -- >> obviously i'm being humorous david. >> romney's correct, we can't be responsible for people who support us, that's true, but you can be response inl for those people you bring on to the campaign to do things for you. not just hold a fund-raiser. they are auctioning off dinner with the donald for $3, shows you how much they thinks it worth, like the president did with clooney. i'm wondering what would happen

if gary busey wins. you can say we welcome everyone's support but you don't have to stand next to someone who is making these racist allegations, if not racest, completely unfounded, and some point romney has to say, enough of that stuff. but he just can't break to of whacko right. >> you said just now, that donald trump's reputation and this relationship with romney had already been ventilated by that moment when endorsed. the reality is tonight, the fund-raiser, and then they are, as david said, auctioning this dinner. this appears to us to be an ongoing relationship. this doesn't appear to be a one-off event in the distant past. the relationship between romney and trump actually has a future, doesn't it? >> well, i would dare say right now that the folks in boston are beginning to wonder whether there is in fact any way to ensure that trump can be perhaps

useful or even constructive in the future, because quite frankly i'm sure that astounded that trump went on and has been tweeting this afternoon. that's going to be very, very interesting green room, as spoke folks are waiting to go on stage and see what happens. it's clear that trump is enjoying this immensely. but he done necessarily care whether he's helping or hurting our republican nominee right now. >> what a surprise. >> trump has been saying for weeks now that he believes this birther garbage and he supports this official in arizona when he made these whack job comments, not just joe arpaio, but the attorney general in arizona. >> state attorney, yes. >> and so, you know, this isn't a surprise. talk about fake sense of surprise. they're not nearly as smart as i know they are. >> if they're surprised that

trump would use this event for his own purposes, i mean, let alone a birtherism, that shows that they're being naive as well. >> okay. >> you get in bed with trump and get out of bed with god knows what. >> stay with us. next, romney touts is foreign policy credentials. stay with us. >> i especially amount honored to be on the same stage with a great friend, a great man, a great governor, and a man who i believe is fully qualify. [ male announcer ] considering all your mouth goes through, do you really think brushing is enough to keep it clean? while brushing misses germs in 75% of your mouth, listerine cleans virtually your entire mouth. so take your oral health to a whole new level. listerine... power to your mouth.

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the president and mitt romney spoke of the honor and sacrifice of the nation's bravest and finest public servants on memorial day. romney, as usual courted our very worst fears. >> let's resolve in our democracy we can debate and disagree, even in a time of war, but let us never use patriotism as a political sword. >> i wish i could tell you the world is a safe place today. it's not. we have two courses to follow, one follow the pathway of europe, shrink our military smaller and smaller to pay for our social needs. or is to commit to preserve america as the strongest military in the world, no comparable power anywhere in the world. >> back with us, juliana, david. david, mitt romney we know enjoys making false claims the american military denewted by

the president. when you focus on romney's approach to foreign affairs he never mentioned 50 nations signed up to the lisbon agreement, held four different positions in six months on libya and i can't work out his position on syria. can you tell us? >> um, no, but i'm sure he will in the next day or two. his position is the obama position, which is we should get tough on syria and consider arming the opposition if we can determine those weapons won't go into the hand of al qaeda or unsavory elements. the thing about foreign policy and president. campaigns, it happens time and time again, it not reserved just for republicans. nonincumbent party, their foreign policy, whatever the guy in office is not doing, it's oppose, oppose, oppose. a couple of weeks ago when the case of the chinese dissident, romney all over that, declaring

the u.s. government and obama administration looked feckless. they don't talk about the 20 out of 30 al qaeda leaders obama has taken out. it's a lot of rhetoric. the bottom line here is you don't get the sense there's a lot of thinking behind romney's pronouncements of foreign policy and he's regurgitating what came up in the '70s, maybe some good days the '80s. >> what do you think of that complete and precise reputation of mitt romney's foreign policy cr credentials. >> you had jay carney come out and state unequivocally that further militarization in syria is not necessary or not appropriate at this time. i can imagine right now that the state department secretary suite is ringing the phone lines over at white house press office wonder what line that they've drawn in the sand saying no we're not going to do anything further than what we've done already.

in f. that stands as u.s. policy, the white house said they're not going to do anything else regarding syria, sounded like we're having europe lead again and perhaps if it's under obama in additional four years it will be towards qua s quasi european economic state. letting europe lead in foreign policy? libya, we were dragged, obama administration -- >> no. >> one second. okay. you' your talking points magnificent as well. john? >> libya worked out pretty damn well for the world. having the europeans take part of it with the united states pulling all of the strings, not a terrible way to go if you're trying to build an international coalition and they need to do that in syria. but the circumstances are quite different on the ground in syria than libya. in comparison -- the thing that amaze me about romney on foreign policy how popular it is with

veteran. he has a 24-point lead among veteran over obama. john mccain, who was one of the greatest veterans of all, only won by ten point as among veterans. romney didn't serve. he got an academic deferment, obama was too young for service, but it's interesting to me, puzzling actually, as to why he has a mammoth lead among veteran now. >> i'm afraid we've run out of time. thank you for joining us. stay with us. much more ahead. >> i'm committed to romney's election. giving this economy, this level of unemployment, deficits it's likely he'll win and you'll see it pull away in september and october. >> calling mitt romney a liar? >> yes. [ female announcer ] research suggests the health of our cells plays a key role throughout our entire lives.

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sfo what do john glenn, former tennessee basketball coach pat summitt and bob dylan have in common? they're among a group of remarkable individuals about to receive the medal of freedom during a white house ceremony hosted by the president and first lady. those pictures are live from the east room. and joinings now is nbc's kristin welker who joins us live from outside the white house. as you know the medal of freedom the highest civilian honor one can receive in this country. this year we have a pretty eclectic group. >> reporter: martin, i'll tell you a few of them that might be recognizable, secretary of state, former secretary of state, madeleine albright, who is of course the first female secretary of state. served under bill clinton. she is credited with expanding nato and also with really helping to lead the alliance that intervened in the ethnic cleansing in the balkans. she is currently teaching at georgetown. sort of on the other end of the

spectrum, you have bob dylan, i can tell you a lot of journalists buzzing about bob dylan being at the white house today. he's of course one of the most renowned celebrated musician is of the 20th century, received 11 grammy awards and also is credited with playing a role in the civil rights movement. martin, i checked, he has written 600 songs. incredible. >> wow. >> reporter: yeah. amazing, right? also incredible, john glenn. of course astronaut senator from ohio. john glenn was the third american to travel to space, the first to orbit the earth and the oldest american to travel to space at 77 years of age. and tony morrison one of the most renounced authors of our time, written "beloved,"

"jazz," sgs song of solomon." >> i haven't read song of solomon. how are these recipients selected? does the president himself make the ultimate decision or is there a group of people who decide on this award? >> reporter: well, based on the research that i did, he gets recommendations from his aides and ultimately he makes the final decision. this is his decision. this is something that dates back to harry truman who decided to hand out these awards to celebrate americans who were really making a difference in the united states. of course that was in the middle of world war ii, he wanted to celebrate civilians who were really making a contribution not only to national security but the cultural sphere of the united states. there was a little hiatus and brought back under jfk. so certainly an incredible mix of people this year. >> thanks so much. kristin, stay with us. we'll bring you the medal of freedom ceremony as it happens

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let's invest in our teachers and inspire our students. let's solve this. awaiting the president at the medal of freedom ceremony. where he'll be honoring a number of people. but first, from mitt's danger zone to the bloviating ignoramus, today's top lines your hired. >> batteries were made by washington, d.c. bureaucrats. >> it's likely he will win. >> there we go. there's a republican microphone. >> i was comparing what i thought was my far superior record to his. >> after a decade, under the dark cloud of war, we can see light of the new day on the horizon. >> i wish i could tell you the world is a safe place today. it's not. >> that's right. i am dangerous. >> i have something for you. my birth certificate. >> i'd like to see obama's. >> i don't know how many wives he has. i'm not saying a believe in

that. >> i'm not a wife. >> donald trump is redone dance evidence that if your net worth is high enough your i.q. can be very low. >> i've been known as being i smart guy. >> i'm asking the hard questions the lame stream media won't ask about mitt's unholy harum of sister wives. >> i don't agree with all of the people who support me. i need 50.1% or more. >> i'm not fanning flames. >> the cost of appearing with this bloviating ignoramus. >> see an insult to be called an ignoramus, i didn't know what it meant, i googled. >> somebody ought to whack him. >> donald trump has a great relationship with the blacks. until the blacks are a family of white people you're mistaken. >> donald wants to run for president. wouldn't be the first time he pushed the black family out of their home. >> mitt romney is a small business guy. he closed companies, he'd get rid of the jobs. >> we all know about your

credentials and breadth of experience. >> i walk down the street, people are screaming, pleat don't give that up. >> you mr. trump recognized the problem lack of leadership. you fired gary busey. these are the decisions that would keep me up at night. >> well, in addition to all of that, let's catch up with the first lady's media world. she has a new book out this week called "american grown" and she's busy promoting it on the daly show like any other author. unlike other authors the first lady did not accept an advance for writing the book. all proceeds will be donated to the national park foundation. msnbc contributor krystal ball joins us talk about the first lady's book tour. according to a very latest "the washington post" poll, the first lady enjoys an approval of 69% of the public. given how many conservatives during the campaign in 2008 attacked michelle obama, she's

just buried them, isn't she? >> she absolutely has. she's one of the most popular figures, really, in the world. people love her. i was listening to the president speak at a fund-raiser in and he mentioned her name and the crowd went crazy. he had to stop and pause for applause. he's had that impact. an it's an interesting balance. she's been publicly reticent about doing too much campaigning, too many events and in the same respect, the way that she has presented herself in public has been a very accessible way. going on "the view" doing those programs, push-ups with ellen deagain rushgs those are things that make people feel like they have a sense of her as a real person. >> she's chose the issue of healthier eating with regard to children. you and i would think this is a safe area for the first lady to enter but of course it isn't. there's something of an attack on her. take a listen. >> there are critics who say

wait a minute, don't need government telling me or telling my children what they should eat or should not eat. they feel it's part of big government. how do you respond. >> that's not what let's move has ever been about. we know there are many reasons why we are in this dilemma wit our children, one in three of our kids are overweight or obese. >> i think the interviewer was being gracious when she described people as being critical. i mean there are some people who believe that the first lady wants to remove fast-food joints from the country and decimate choice and offer a nanny state approach to eating. >> they've been led to believe that by an irresponsible conservative media outlets and irresponsible right wing leaders who have led people to believe that. but she's doing what other first ladies have done ed voe indicating and educating about healthy choices. she's not saying you can't eat the big mac. if you want to eat the big mac,

do it. she's reminding us of the impact. >> didn't sarah palin criticize the first lady regarding cookies? >> she did. she has faced criticisms from people that have tried to imply she's overweight, she's not thin enough to advocate for healthy lifestyles which is ridiculous. she's gorgeous, she's healthy. rush limbaugh has made egregious comments how well she's not exactly who we want to see on a "sports illustrated" catalog, i don't see how she can be advocating for this lifestyle. in general she's been this incredible role model. i have a 4-year-old girl and these are things i'm thinking through, how to balance the fast paced life with healthy eating and healthy habits. she's one who i look to, see how she's managing to balance it all. it's quite incredible. >> she's been in the vanguard of medical science warning us if we don't take control of other diets over 50% of the nation

will be clinically obese in 15 years. so this isn't something that she's made up as a political football. she's basing her compassionate desire to improve the eating practices of all of us on science, on warnings, from obstetricians and people experts in this field. >> yeah. if you talk to families around the country, moms around the country, they are very aware of the problem and concerned about it. the fact that she's an african-american woman as well, in minority populations, the epidemic of obesity is even worse. the fact she's an african-american role model this area is powerful. >> you referred to rush limbaugh's objections and appalling references to her body and so on. but what is it about her that triggers such hatred on the part of trubs? republicans? is it because she's an intelligent woman. >> it's the same mix that triggers such strong reactions

against the president though he's obviously a likable, well-rounded person that most americans like. and it's put them at odds with most of the american public who like the first family, if they are uncomfortable with the president's policies. they like him, they like michelle obama. they like the first family. when you see things like joe rickets coming out with a plans that going to attack the president personally, it shows that they're out of touch with what sort of effective arguments would be the selection cycle. people don't believe that michelle obama is so autocratic dictatorial nanny state mom who will tell you what your kids can eat. they think she's a nice person and a mom like they are, trying to make the best decisions for the family. >> except you'll tell ella what she'll eat. >> i have final word. it's negotiation. >> i'm sure it is. your daughter is beautiful. when we come back, the presidential medal of freedom ceremony live. stay with us. the wheat in every mini-wheat has gotta be just right.

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we are awaiting the presidential medal of honor ceremony at white house. 13 resif yens expected at any moment. we'll take you there live. first, time to clear the air. and there's been plenty of criticism about tonight's big fund-raiser in las vegas that will feature the presumptive nominee alongside a man whose hair is on fire. plenty of commentators on both sides of the political divide have said that romney is bound to be burned by this association. take george will, for example. >> the cost of appearing with this bloviating ignoramus is -- is obvious it seems to me. donald trump is redundant evidence if your net worth is high enough your i.q. can be very low and imprude into american politics. >> is this surprising giving the

candidates for nomination? if romney wants to sound like a statesman do we expect him to stand alongside this man? >> let's see. i can't, the third one i can't, sorry. oops. >> should we expect romney to stand alongside a man whose career has been littered with accusations like this? >> he suddenly reached over and he put his hand on my leg under my skirt and reached for my genitals. >> and in some ways romney has little choice about those he must associate with in order to win over the base of his party. so let's hear it for the romney/trump circus and let's hope what happens in vegas stays in vegas and doesn't poison the rest of the country. now to the presidential medal of honor ceremony at the white house which we're expecting to begin -- sorry,

reading. >> dolores huerta. >> adam daniel ropefell accepting on january karski. richard plaque, accepting on behalf of his great-aunter juliette gordon low. tony more -- toni morrison. john paul stevens. pat summitt. bob dylan.

>> we are awaiting the arrival of the president and others who will be honored at the medal of freedom ceremony that's taking

place in the east room of the white house. live pictures. i still have with me krystal ball, msnbc analyst. and i also have kristin welker, our correspondent at the white house. >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the us. >> here is the president. >> thank you. thank you very much. everybody, please have a seat. and welcome to the white house. it is an extraordinary pleasure to be here with all of you to present this year's medals of freedom. and i have to say, just looking around the room, this is a

packed house, which is a testament to how cool this group is. everybody wanted to check it out. this is the highest civilian honor this country can bestow. which is ironic because nobody sets out to win it. no one ever picks up a guitar or fights a disease or starts a movement thinking, you know what? if i keep this up in 2012 i could get a medal in the white house from a guy named barack obama. that wasn't in the plan. but that's exactly what makes this award so special. every one of today's honorees is blessed with an extraordinary amount of talent, all of them are driven, but you know we could fill this room many types over with people who are talented and driven. what sets these men and women

apart is the incredible impact they have had on so many people. not in short blinding bursts but steadily over the course of a lifetime. together the honorees on this stage and ones who couldn't be here have moved us with their words, inspired us with their actions, they've enriched olive and changed our lives for the better. some of them are household names, others have labored quietly out of the public eye. most of them may never fully appreciate the difference they've made or the influence that they've had but that's where our job comes in. it's our job to help let them know how extraordinary their impact has been on our lives. and so today we present this amazing group with one more a

accolade for a life well led. and that's the presidential medal of freedom. so i'm going to take an opportunity, i hope you guys don't mind, to brag about each of you. starting with madeleine albright. usually madeleine does the talk. once in a while she let her jewelry doing the talking. when saddam hussein called her a snake, she wore a serpent on her lapel the next time she visited baghdad. when slobodan milosevic referred to her as i goat, a new pin appeared in her collection. as the first woman to serve as america's top diplomat, madeleine's courage and toughness helped bring peace to the balkans and pave the way for progress in the unstable corners of the world. as an immigrant herself, granddaughter of holocaust

victims who ched her native czechoslovakia as a child mad len brought a unique perspective to the job. one of my favorite stories. once a man said only in mesh and refugee meet the secretary of state and she replied only in america can a refugee become the secretary of state. we're extraordinarily honored to have madeleine here. i think it's fair to say i speak for one of your successors who is so appreciative of the work you did and the path that you laid. it was a scorching, hot day in 1963 and mississippi was on the verge of a massacre, the funeral procession for medgar everers disbanded and a group of marchers was throwing rocks at heavily armed policemen.

a white man in short sleeves, hands raises walked towards protesters and talked them into going home peacefully. that man was john doar. he was the face of the justice department in the south. he was proof that the federal government was listening. and over the years johnyears, j escorted james meredith to the university of mississippi, he walked alongside the selma tim montgomery march. he laid the groundwork for the act in 1964 and the voting rights act in 1965. he gave civil rights workers a reason not to give up on those in power. and he did it by never giving up on them. i think it's fair to say that i might not be here had it not been for his work. bob dylan started out singing other people's songs, but as he says, there came a point where i

had to write what i wanted to say because what i wanted to say, nobody else was writing. so born in hibbing, minnesota, a town, he says, where you couldn't be a rebel, it was too cold. bob moved to new york at age 19. by the time he was 23, bob's voice with its weight, its unique gravelly power was redefining not just what music sounded like but the message it carried and how it made people feel. today everybody from bruce spring steen and u-2 owes bob a debt of gratitude. there is not a bigger giant in the history of american music. all these years later, he's still chasing that sound, still searching for a little bit of truth, and i have to say that i am a really big fan. in the 1960s, more than 2 million people died from

smallpox every year. just over a decade later, that number was zero. 2 million to zero thanks in part to dr. bill faghe. working in nigeria, he came up with a strategy that would later be used to eliminate smallpox from the face of the earth. when that war was won, he moved on to other diseases. in one remote nigerian village after vaccinating 2,000 people in a single day, he asked the chief how he got everyone to show up, and the chief explained he told everyone in the village to come and see the tallest man in the world. today the world owes that really tall man a debt of gratitude.

the day america blasted into space, america stood still. for a half hour, the phone stopped ringing in chicago police headquarters. on a new york subway, drivers offered a play-by-play account over loud speakers. president kennedy had a breakfast for congressional leaders and invited 100 million tv viewers to witness the first words, godspeed, john glenn. john glenn became a hero in every sense of the word, but he didn't stop there to serve his country. as senator, he found new ways to make a difference. on his second trip into space at age 77, he defied the odds once again. but he reminds everybody, don't tell him he's lived a historic life, he says, are living, he'll say. don't put it in past tense. he's still got a lot of stuff going on.

george herbiachi knew what it was like to stand alone. as a student at the university of washington, gordon was one of only three japanese americans to defy the executive order that forced thousands of families to leave their homes, their jobs and their civil rights behind and move to interment camps during world war ii. he took his case all the way to the supreme court and he lost. it would be another 40 years before that decision was reversed, giving asian americans everywhere a small measure of justice. in gordon's words, it takes a crisis to tell us that unless citizens are willing to stand up for the constitution, it's not worth the paper it's written on. this country is better off because of citizens like him who are willing to stand up. similarly, when chavez says at

the kitchen table they should start a union, she thought he was joking. she was a single woman of seven children, so she obviously didn't have a lot of time. but dolores was an english teacher, and remembered seeing children come to school without shoes so she agreed. and workers everywhere are glad that she did. without any negotiating sperps, delores helped lead a worldwide boycott that forced growers to agree with some hard-fought contracts. don't wait to be invited, she says. step in there. on a personal note, delores was very gracious when i told her i had stolen her slogan, yes, we can. knowing her, i'm pleased that she let me off easy, because

dolores is not polite. for years students knew he was a great professor. what they didn't realize was that he was also a hero. fluent in four languages, possessed with a photographic memory, yuan served in the darkest days of world war ii. one day across enemy lines, they told him the jews were being murdered on a massive scale and smuggled him into a polish death camp to see for himself. yuan took that information to president franklin roosevelt giving one of the first accounts of the holocaust and imploring the world to take action. it was decades before jan was ready to tell his story. by then he said, i don't need courage anymore, so i teach compassion.

growing up in georgia in the late 1800s, juliet gordon wall was not exactly typical. she flew airplanes, she went swimming, she spermexperimented electricity for fun, and she recognized early that in order to keep up with the changing times, women would have to be prepared. so at age 52, after meeting the founder of boy skoucouts in england, juliet said, i have something for all of america and we're going to start it tonight. a century later, almost 16 million girl scouts have gained confidence from the organization she founded. from the very beginning, they have also included girls of different races and faiths and abilities just the way that juliet would have wanted it.

to toni morrison. she is used to a little distraction as a single mother working at a publishing company by day. she would carve out time in the evening to write, often with her two sons pulling on her hair and tugging on her earrings. once a baby spit up on her tablet, so she wrote around it. circumstances may not have been ideal, but the words that came out were magical. toni morrison's prose brings us that moral intensity that few writers ever attempt, from song of solomon to beloved, toni reaches us deeply using a tone that is lyrical, precise, intense and inclusive. she lieeans toward the place whe meaning might lie.

during oral argument, justice john paul stevens often began his line of questioning with a polite, may i interrupt, or may i ask a question. you can imagine the lawyers would say okay. after which he would just as politely force a lawyer to stop dancing around and focus on the most important issues in the case. and that was his signature style. modest, insightful, prepared, razor sharp. else the third longest serving justice in the history of the court, and justice stevens applied throughout his career his clear and graceful manner to the defense of individual rights and the rule of law. always favoring a pragmatic solution over an idealogical one. ever humble, he would comply when unsuspecting tourists asked him to take their picture in front of the court. and at his vacation home in florida, he was john from

arlington, better known for his world class bridge game than his world changing judicial pickings. even in his final days on the bench, judge stevens insisted he was still learning on the job. in the end, we are the ones that learned from him. when a doctor first told pat summitt she suffered from dementia, she almost punched him. when a second doctor advised her to retire, she responded, do you know who you're dealing with here? obviously, they did not. as pat says, i can fix a tractor, mow hay, fix a bapatch call cows, but what i'm really known for is winning. in 30 years in tennessee, she racked up eight national championships, more than 1,000 wins. understand, this is more than any college coach, male or female, in the history of the ncaa. and more importantly, every