the schools that ike attended here in abilene were integrated and it was here that the future president first displayed what would be a life long aversion to bigotry. a high school coach, harassed and dismissed a black athlete from the football team. team captain eisenhower told the coach, if he can't play, i won't play either. other players lined up behind ike, the coach reinstated the black player. however, the fact that eisenhower was no big on the, you will hear that word however and but a lot today. i'm sorry. i tell you, it's work. the word big on the did not mean he didn't hold the racial views of his day. he entered a u.s. army, a u.s. army that remained behind the scenes what greenspan called the hidden hand. it was this policy in moderation, constructed around the principles of gradualism, caution, minimum government intrusion that eisenhower believed would offer the best sense, best chance, in other words, of solving the difficult problem of desegregation. we put this strategy to the test when he completed to be segregation of the armed forces and schools in washington, d.c.

>>out of this small frame house in abilene, kanasas came the man dwight d. eisenhower. >>he was kind of the candidate from the heartland. >>coming from outside washington to come in and kind of clean things up and you have that repeating year after year. you have jimmy carter the peanut farmer, then ronald regan is going to come in and clean things up. governor bill clinton coming in from the south an other southern governor. so it's always time for a change in american politics and that seems to keep a lot of campaigns going. but the washington outsider strategy doesn't always work. >>who's the best qualified person up here on the stage to create jobs? >>current tv's look at campaign ads that changed history is brought to you by pradaxa. a great tasting mint core, frosted in powerful cooling crystals. ice breakers frost. feel the frost. >> we are back on the young turks. we were telling you last week about a heinous bill in virginia involves transvaginal ultra sounds, which is gross. the governor backed down and said all right, we're going to take that part out, but th

special "20/20" oscar special before they were famous including viola davis for her portray hall in abilene in "the help." >> my sister diane said in order to get out of poverty, you have to have a dream. >> she grew up poor, the youngest of six in central false rhode island. her acting career began at eight when she and her sisters put on a skit in a talent show. tune in to abc2 news tonight, a special with robin roberts, "20/20" "before three were stars." you can see the oscars this sunday starting at 7:00 with the red carpet live show followed by the big show with your favorite host billy crystal, sunday night. >>> if you think you're cutting calories by drinking diet soda, you are, but at what cost? >>> plus, how you can manage your relationship without all the screaming and hollering. >>> bad news for diet soda drinkers. there's a 43% greater risk of a heart attack or stroke compared to those hop don't drink any. the study followed more than 2500 people over a decade. researchers found a positive connection. those who drink the diet soda may have more unhealthy habits. >> high fructose

once again you feel like you have to defend your choices as a black artist, and i felt like with abilene more so because she is so internalized, her life is internal dialogue, and by the time it reaches the screen, most of its is cut, and what is left could be seen as mammy, and might issue a lot of times with black characters is we always have to be loud and in your face. very seldom are there subtleties, and i am an artist. i believe in subtleties. i did not feel people would get her, that no one would take the effort to understand there are so many things she was holding, and therefore i would be labeled as a black actress who took for role timeas mammy. but we differed not respectfully, because i did not have a issue. if i am going to law school, who is going to tell me what case not to take. as i am going to be a doctor, who is going to tell me which patients not to take? you have to fulfill your own dreams and destiny and hope that whatever your art is, if it is received, great. i respect you for receiving it. if it is not, great. you have to keep pushing it on. >> you feel no burd

now thunderstorm reports here from abilene, wichita falls, south of oklahoma city. late today we will see a few strong storms, maybe a few isolated tornadoes, talking from areas of east texas in louisiana, damaging winds the biggest threat with the strongest storms, maybe we could see two or three weaker tornados during the day we don't expect a tornado outbreak if you're from lake charles, port arthur, down to new orleans, late today in the evening when you have to deal with storms. the forecast today, quiet in the rockies, middle of the country the wet weather on and off with the showers, maybe downpours with thunderstorms, dallas, you won't be too bad today, best chance of wet weather is early, later this afternoon you should be just fine. east coast is dry, very warm, new york city going to be 53 degrees today in the middle of february. then tomorrow, all that wet weather heads to the east coast, and looks like all rain event, lynn. a little minor buzz about the possibility of a nor easter sunday, i'll talk about that later in the show. >>> bill, thanks so much.

he went to dartmouth and went to the library of congress, spent considerable time in abilene. he lives in los angeles and never came to the nixon lean raer. that's the lock and the short of it. it's an ingrained nature among a certain subset of very, very influential people that looked at nixon from the beginning of his vice presidency and for that matter dwight eisenhower was a twit in the books written about him in the late 50s and early 60s and sometimes even now, but it, for whatever reason nobody really passionately looked at the papers of either dwight eisenhower and richard nixon, if you want to give another plug. then the major berries and there's the yeah lfr mae done p/e if yoi twosh peruse it in

spent considerable time in abilene. he lives in los angeles and never came to the nixon library. that's -- that's the long and the short of it. it's an ingrained nature among a certain subset of very, very influential people that looked at nixon from the beginning of his vice presidency. and for that matter, dwight eisenhower was a twit in the original books written about him in the late '50s and early '60s and sometimes even now. but for whatever reason, nobody really passionately looked at the papers of either dwight eisenhower and richard nixon. and to give another plug, if you're interested, one line and in the major libraries, there are the private papers of the presidency of dwight eisenhower as well as his early years. it's only 21 volumes. so if you wish to peruse it in a half an hour, it should be no problem. but vaney and galambose did this brilliantly. and those manuscripts that were put into book form are terribly, terribly underutilized. >> another question up here? >> yeah, my name is jeff kimball, and i have a comment and question about psychohistory. i agree that

this storm system bringing some snow in through the panhandle of oklahoma and in and around the abilene, texas, area and lubbock, texas. that will move toward the east. as it does it will drag in colder air out of canada. speaking of cold air in canada they have been extremely cold up towards northern canada and alaska. all the cold air has been trapped up there all winter long, and we have remained on the mild side of things. but that's going to change this weekend. we're going to be open to the arctic, so to speak. that arctic air making its way all the way down toward the south, even around jacksonville florida, they'll get in on the action with temperatures in the 30s. for us overnight low temperatures in the teens on sunday morning. future weather forecast, nice weather today with all the sunshine we saw. tomorrow starting sunny. here come the clouds an here come some moisture. most of us will see rain. back to the west, the blue ridge and west of i-81 that's where we could see snow. in the day on saturday, a storm system will bring through the cold air and i think everybody has a

living for the first time in a long time, and as a matter of fact the day i got a scholarship to go to abilenehristian university is right around the same day my father called me and asked me, hey, how much does it cost to get this guy killed? >> brian says his father told him his distant cousin, an 8-year-old girl who lived in california, was being molested by her father. the girl's grandmother and mother wanted to pay brian to kill the man. >> so told my father i would call him back and after a few days of thinking about it, i decided to come out to california and kill paul myself. >> a short time later brian flew out to the west coast to carry out the hit. he knocked on the man's door, but when a young boy answered, he got nervous and left. he went back a second time, but nobody was home. >> and by this time the two ladies that paid me, they're crying on the phone, screaming, telling me that their daughter, she cannot spend another day around this guy. they're afraid of what he's going to do. by this time i'm so tired of it if i get caught or i don't, i just cannot let this guy spend anothe

this was a two-horse race between viola davis, who played abilene spark in the help, and meryl streepiron lady." she really embodied margaret thatcher. and again yesterday everybody said if meryl streep doesn't win this award it's going to be a complete upset. >> people were disappointed viola didn't win, but meryl obviously is a legend to say the least and viola is just now breaking through. we're not done seeing her by stretch. >> bruno, all the chatter about this being a safe oscars and billy crystal was back for the ninth time. do you think it was safe besides maybe the mishap from j. lo? >> well, after the brett ratner and eddie murphy controversy, billy crystal was safe. at time his shtick looked like it was more catskills or bore borscht belt. but the academy needed something that was safe. last year we had anne hathaway and james franco and they totally bombed. billy crystal managed to pull it off. >> let me go back to some of the categories. best supporting actor, i thought it was the most eloquent speech of the night, christopher plummer. >> oh, my god. not only that but he'

>> reporter: for her heart-felt portrayal of abilene in "the help" she's found inspiration at home. >to have a dream. i thought i would be a writer, a painter, then settled on acting. >> reporter: lofty dreams for a girl that was the youngest of six. her career began at the age of 8. >> we lived in a condemned apartment building with tiny closets. i would go in for an hour or two just rewriting the skit. >> reporter: viola was hooked by the acting bug. there's someone she's kept bumping into. she's appeared in three, count them three, of george's films. in out of sight, she's investigated by a cop. and she plays an astronaut in "solaris." >> every job you thing, this is it. this is what's going to make people know me. and it's not. >> reporter: but we know she not her big break. and her mantle already has awards. will the oscar trophy join it? we'll find out on sunday. you can see more on a special "20/20," "before they were famous" that's tonight. >> we're counting town. the moment we have been waiting for. sure, the artist is leading the pack for best picture. uggie already won the

austin, abilene, wichita falls, dallas, oklahoma city, wichita itself. this is all rough. we think some of this in louisiana and well near oklahoma city today could get tough storms. particularly in those zones. most of the country is dealing with warmth. look at atlanta, 63, nashville, 65. washington, d.c. at 50 degrees. >> happy friday, everyone. ororor >> happy friday, everyone. there's -- something missing. robin, george? >> right here. i think we'll take care of that in a moment. >> straight to indianapolis. josh is live out there for our super bowl blowout. sunday's showdown between the giants and patriots. look at that smile. how you doing, josh? >> hey, guys. how are you? first of all, can we discuss those chicken wing cupcakes? i'm still trying to gather myself. what on earth was that? of course, chicken wing cupcakes can only mean one thing, super bowl xlvi. it is this sunday, it will be america's defacto holy day, reflecting the national mood and character. two teams from the northeast corridor playing in it. you think new york and new england, you think yankees

austin, abilene, wichita falls, wichita itself. we think some of this in louisiana and well near oklahoma city today could get tough storms. particularly in those zones. most of the country is dealing with warmth. atlanta, 63, washington, d.c., at 50 degrees. this is a beautiful look at the tidalse over basin this morning. there's the lincoln memorial and the jefferson memorial on the screenand side of the cooler thanticeably of days.couple manassas and even degrees in hagerstown and frederick. pretty straight forward today sunny and cooler today. a little uncertain about the weekend >> happy friday, everyone. there's -- something missing. robin, george? >> right here. think we'll take care of that in a moment. >> straight to indianapolis. josh is live out there for our super bowl blowout. look at that smile. how you doing, josh? >> hey, guys. how are you? first of all, can we discuss those chicken wing cupkax? i'm still trying to gather myself. what on earth was that? of course, chicken wing cupcakes can only mean one thing, super

which is i loved abilene. their whole lives, dreams, hopes, everything just took place in their spirits. >> you talk so candidly about your childhood, about being bullied and teased, being called ugly. that you were a black child in a predominantly white neighborhood. i'm wondering if you've heard from any of those people now, looking at you going hello viola. >> couple of them. a couple of them. although i don't think they have any memory of the names that they called. i don't -- i'm past that. so i don't feel like i should remind them of that. but yes, i have heard from them. >> what do they say? >> viola, i always knew you would make it. >> they always do say that. >> it's amazing. >> you look so beautiful now. >> you do. >> back to your mom. how does she feel about all this extraordinary talent that you have shown us so often? >> she said, after i won the s.a.g. award, she cried and she said, that's my baby. that's my baby. but i just think that my mom, who has eight grade education and it's like someone s

i was touched by the human feeling that abilene bring to the movie and to the child, eventually got downot down on her knees. and it bring me back to so much that i myself went through as a domestic worker ando other nannies go through from day to day working adomestics. you know, for instance, i was a nanny working for a family seven years, loved the children i work with, and then the family would go out at night, sometimes my workweek would be six days, working 16 hours. >> right. >> and they would go out at night, time for me to finish my shift and go home, and come back at 1:00, 1:30 in the morning. and i would be on the street at 2:30 trying to get home without fare for a cab. >> right. this is the challenge. on the one hand, wanting to acknowledge that there is a possibility for human compassion, love even across status differences and race differences. but also acknowledge that fair labor practices matter. i mean, the work you do is not, oh, don't worry because we care for children, we don't -- we love the children, we don't need cab fare or reasonable working hours. we may in fac

host: we go to a republican in abilene, texas. caller: help. the conservatism -- hello.the conservatives are born to help jobs come back to america, if they do that, we need to revisit the trade agreements. nobody ever talks about that. the trade agreement that we have -- there are 17 active. we have a trade deficit with every one of them. all this does is make the republicans up here to be for big international business. everyone of these agreements need to be revisited so that we do not continue to gut the industry out of this country. we are being homogenized and down to the worker bees. host: do you support free trade agreements? guest: i do. we need to look at these one at a time. we need to recognize that manufacturing is good. sometimes, you get these radical environmentalist to tie up our ability to develop resources. we have a lot of coal and natural gas in utah. we cannot develop and extract those to the degree we can. we are 70% owned by the federal and state government. when you look at permitting, this is going out to almost zero. that is scary for somebody