alabama is as an s.e.c.nal championship contender. >> brian: there were so many questions coming in. not just quarterback, talking with the coach, the questions at corner, the way it ended a year ago, and sylve playing, continue to have the question. andlinebacker. those are two questions that i think they're going to continue to have as the first month of the season goes on. >> dave: there's sims off play action, and jones dropped it. and it was almost picked off on the redirection by k.j. dillon. third down and 12, about a 37 yard field goal if they can't move it. >> brian: that's the second time that christion jones had the ball hit the ground. he's sure-handed, on special teams and a great return man. those are the kinds of plays -- with a quarterback that's new, make the plays. biggest decision he's going to have to make. you don't have to get a first down here. that's what you have to have in the back of your head. >> dave: can't take a sack. out of field goal range. and a little bubble screen, yeldon,

john hewitt became the first african-american sheriff's in lambs county, alabama. lambs county was the toughest county in alabama in terms of its resistance to civil rights. it was the county that the settlement montgomery march actually mostly took place in lambs county. some were in dallas county. and then the next 50 miles of the march were through lambs county before you get to lambs county and montgomery county. at the time that the march started in lambs county there in 1965 there were no african american voters in lambs county at all. 80% of the population was black and there were no african americans to vote. john hewitt became one of the first two african-american people until lambs county to register. and it was 1965 before that happened. there was violence in lambs county. the detroit housewife who came down to the march was murdered in lambs county. a little bit after that jonathan daniels a white supporting urch was it. so he became the most visible leader in lambs county and actually was a -- was a -- one of the founders of what became the black panth

for women in the state of alabama, for the state of alabama. how final is this ruling today? >> well, it's a huge win because the federal court in alabama called out the politicians that passed this law for the underhanded tactics that they're using and said this is not a law about advancing women's safety, it's about a law that's going to hurt women's health because it's going to close clinics. and that the state is unjustified in its reasoning, and it's a very, very important decision that comes after other positive decisions in this area that we've seen. >> can you explain -- i think for sort of the layperson who's just sort of following this maybe for the first time or doesn't follow it that seriously, when they hear this idea of laws on the books that say, doctors have to have admitting privileges at local hospitals. that probably sounds like a reasonable thing. all things be equal, give one a doctor who has admitting privileges. why is that such a difficult thing for these clinics to fulfill? >> i think the most important thing to remembe

he has been unselfish for his four years at alabama. done everything the coaching staff asked him to do. and the teammates love him and follow him and go through a brick wall for him. but again, at the end of the day, can blake sims take you to an s.e.c. west championship, an s.e.c. championship and a national championship in the question is still unanswered. >> dave: i think the defense has to play better. >> brian: the defense certainly has to play better. and the special teams has to play better. b but, you know, i think he's earned another start. but they have to make a decision by the florida game. >> dave: and a fair catch made inside the 30 yard line by thompson. let's check in with robert in the studio. >> well, dave, clemson is wishing that todd gurley had made a fair catch on this kickoff return. after clemson scored back-to-back to take the lead, and gurley goes a hundred yards, you don't get the extra credit. it's a game-tying kickoff return, tied on espn and later, mike gundy and oklahoma state, opening up against number on

all of alabama's executions are carried out here.rison was originally built to house 540 inmates. today, that population is nearly doubled, and most inmates, including serious felons, live in one of five open dormitories. >> i've been locked up 12 years, and it's not getting any better around here. instead, they try to pile us in and pile us in more and more. >> at holman, 630 beds are dedicated to general population. 200 accommodate inmates in administrative segregation, and 172 are set aside for death row inmates. >> you have anything from a property offender here all the way to self-proclaimed serial killers. >> because of a lot of difficult inmates or inmates that other camps can't contain, they will send them to us, and we take them, and we deal with them. >> you'll be out in 30 damn seconds. [ pounding ] >> people can get tied up. people can get shot up, you know. people can get stabbed up. >> wrong place, wrong time. you might get hurt. >> so it's up to you to maintain and weave. you know what i'm saying? if you can't weave, t

wallace of alabama.tate is the only one in the country today whose schools are completely segregated. next week the issue heads for a climax when two negro students will seek to enroll at the university of alabama. governor wallace has been quoted as saying he will personally bar their entrance despite a federal court order and a threat of federal troops. >> can they be enrolled without the use of troops? >> of course i -- we'll have to wait and see exactly what transpires on that occasion. >> at the center of this potential storm are two young negro students. vivian malone and jimmy hood. she's 20 years old, made the national honor society when she attended a segregated high school in her hometown of mobile, alabama. he's also 20, was president of his class in high school at gadsston, alabama, and president of the student council. >> well, i feel like it won't be as much trouble as has been on other campuses. but it will be bad news when the n-- comes in. >> does the government plan to use federal marsh

alabama didn't elect republican senator by popular vote until 1980.hasn't elected a democrat since 1992, when voters picked richard shelby. he switched to gop two years later. this year jeff sessions is running unopposed after alabama democrats failed to field a candidate against him. the only state where a major party did not run a nominee. wow. republicans have held both senate seats in mississippi since the retirement of john stennis in 1998. in 2010 republicans in alabama won back the state legislature for the first time in 136 years. the gop currently holds 65 seats out of the 105 in the state house and 23 out of the 35 in the state senate. republicans took control of the mississippi legislature for the first time ever in 2011 and currently hold 65 out of the 122 seats in the state house. and 32 of 52 in the state senate. mississippi is 37% african-american, the highest percentage of any state, and it has the most black elected officials. the second district home to the mississippi delta and most of jackson is the state's only african-american ma

alabama and southern georgia settled ifave been not for this war. there was a thing called alabama fever, this land rush in the years following the war. that was the most immediate impact. and of course the removal act, this is sense of betrayal the americans felt at this sneak attack. the way they viewed it, there was a massacre. they felt betrayed because in previous years, people had tried their best to assimilate creeks and this was a clear response they did not want to become americans. that gave a lot of force for the removal proponents to move indians out of this area. the conquering spirit was used by the federal agent to the southern indians. when he first got wind of the red sticks movement, which was largely religious and also militaristic, he said the red sticks were possessed of a conquering spirit by the master of breath, the great spirit figure. and so i thought that was appropriate for that perspective and also when the americans are attacked at fort mims, their response is to respond in kind. i thought that captured the essence of w

they are available at alabama booksmith.com. the folks sitting here will also soak up the ambience from this early 20th century movie palace that has been lovingly restored to its original charm. the final perk of being present is that one lucky patron will walk away tonight with this 50th anniversary edition of "to kill a mockingbird" with a book signed by harper lee. the rest of the evening format will be opening remarks by our distinguished visitor, a conversation with replies to our inquiries, questions from the audience that you have written down as you entered the theater and then the drawing for the price. this podium will soon belong to the author of the hottest book in america. we just found out about two hours ago that you were the first to know that it will debut this sunday on "the new york times" bestseller list at number four and it has only been out for a few days. [applause] and you own a signed first edition. it has been praised and damned by "the new york times," the "washington post" and almost every other new

now, michelle, you went to alabama to look at another solution. >> i was in greensboro, alabama, andople were down on their luck but trying to turn it around by using a weed growing in their backyard. real understanding... >> where you scared when you hear the bombs? >> al jazeera america real... news... ♪ ♪ >> hi guys, welcome back to techknow. i'm phil torrez. i'm here with marita and rachelle. you went to alabama. >> i did go to alabama, i got to see how the town is using bamboo to revitalize and pull itself up by its boot straps. >> let's check it out. >> deep in the heart of rural alabama. the once thriving town of greensboro is struggling for survival. a quarter of the population lives below the poverty line. work is scarce. the catfish capital is fighting to keep its head above water. >> what was the economy like when you got here? >> about 75% of all the shops in shut down. >> but there's one thing they have plenty of. >> we have a lot of bamboo. if you have a lot of bamboo you have got to have a product to make out of it. >> pam door a big city clothing designers chucked tha

of alabama press has reprinted and the children ever written, a perfect book. i know where you can get a copy. >> guest: barnes and noble. >> host: no more vodka. >> guest: you are not going to town. my impression was they had such admiration for their father and the roles he played in their small town and that seemed to be one of the things. >> certainly true. >> was true there too. >> host: you gave me another great introduction. those of you who have read lori and brent, two of the greatest books of all time, sea biscuit and unbroken, many of you knows that for most of the time she wrote those books, she never left her room. she had chronic fatigue syndrome, and road literally most of those books in her bed. health has been a factor with you in the time you spend in monroeville and writing this book like laura ellen brand, you spend the majority of your time writing this book in bed. tell us how in the world that was. >> i would be there. i did write most of the book in bed with lupus frequent rest is a help so i would work in what ever chunks i could but a

now, michelle, you went to alabama to look at another solution. >> i was in greensboro, alabama, andople were down on their luck but trying to turn it around by using a weed growing in their backyard. >> al jazeera america >> this is the very tail section it was burning when we got here >> unbiased reporting... >> the violence has continued >> the violence has continued just a couple of miles from here >> in depth coverage... >> we've got a military escort allowing us to feel a further than everyone else... >> real global perspective >> this was clearly an attack against them... >> from around the world, to the issues right here at home >> ...shouldn't been brought here in the first place... >> we're not here to take over >> real stories... real people... real understanding... >> where you scared when you hear the bombs? >> al jazeera america real... news... >> this, is what we do. >> al jazeera america. ♪ ♪ >> hi guys, welcome back to techknow. i'm phil torrez. i'm here with marita and rachelle. you went to alabama. >> i did go to alabama, i got to see how the town is using bamboo t

please welcome back to sweet home alabama marja mills. [applause] >> thank you so much i am thrilled to be here to see this gorgeous theater it was the privilege to get to know harper lee and her older sister and a privilege to share them with few. some of my favorite times around the kitchen table. i hope you just pull up a kitchen chair to celebrate the stories and listen about harper lee and her remarkable sister and her friends and family in that town to understand the context of their lives. please pull up the chair around the kitchen table. >> that was short and sweet senator i have then edited for some time as always try a to see if i can use fewer words which is not normally the first option. >> just what went through your mind when you were at the motel in alabama with a telephone in your room and the voice on the other and said hello? this is harper lee. >> guest: i wonder if we might meet? eyes tried to keep my voice from rising. it was as if the "wizard of oz" just called my motel room. i was surprised and thrilled that the ch

conner and it takes journalists to talk about the ghost of bull conner haunting the story in ferguson, alabama. if we don't know the lessons of history, then we're bound to repeat them. i think we're seeing that in the case of thomas jackson, the police chief there. he's chosen, of course, to impose a strong arm set of responses to the ferguson challenge. and in doing so, has evoked the very worst images of the nation in its historic treatment of african-americans and no place is better emplifying that problem than birmingham, alabama, of 1963. after all, it was eugene bowls conner who was the public safety director who chose to use fire hoses on the little children of

georgia and central alabama, at places like augusta, athens, macon, atlanta, columbus, montgomery, and selma, i have u drawn another symbol by those cities, a solid square with a straight line off one of the h a upper corners of that square and a squiggly line off the top of l that straight line, a symbol to represent what?y factories, manufacturing, processing, transportation, ansa warehousing, and distribution.by by 1864, the new confederate government had created in central georgia and central o alabama what we in our day woulr think of and call a military industrial complex. a military industrial complex that was keeping southern armies in the field. a capacity that had allowed the confederate states of america, just three months after the ntha surrender of the garrison of ft vicksburg, to return most of those men surrendered there on the mississippi to the field.

but as an overview that is alabama. >> in contrast to alabama , florida has been opposed aggressively to the affordable care act. the current governor spent $5 million of his own money to oppose the passage of the affordable care act. you're all aware i think that the florida attorney general was the first person to file suit against the constitutionality of the act. the governor and the legislature have made it difficult to implement the act after passage. there is a continuation of opposition in the face of i think 983,000 people who have enrolled through the exchange and i expect this kind of opposition to continue because it's been largely philosophical and political. there were two or three things that were striking to me in the opposition of the affordable care act. one was the willingness of the governing party to abandon commitment to a core teach feature of this philosophy when these were associated favorably with the affordable care act. secondly, the extent to which the governor and the legislature fought implementation of the affordable care act with tactics and strategies

the alabama state concussion task force joined think first alabama in initiating a statewide concussion education and awareness program, and it worked. in that fist year, we observed a 500% increase in referral of youth athletes referred to the concussion clinic at children's of alabama, a trend that has held steady with about 350 youth athletes seen every year. rapidly increasing patient population, we developed a protocol in my appendix i following a zurich consensus -yard lines, athletes were kept out of sports or school until symptom-free, referred for neuropsychological testing when appropriate and supervised in a graduated return to play. a formal study performed in 2012 demonstrated that establishing this program resulted in significantly better concussion care. even though these efforts have resulted in improved recognition and treatment of cob cushion in -- concussion in alabama and other states, believe much needs to be done in order to prevented in the -- prevent in the first place. be as has been said previously, using existing helmet technology and other subjective ways of

then we hear about the impact of his work from an alabama historian. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] now, -- church right [indiscernible] thered shuttlesworth was black baptist minister who central nerve center of the civil rights movement in birmingham. he was an officer, one of the original officers of kings southern christian leadership conference, but they were more in thetes and friends ministry. it is often said the people around king are referred to as king's lieutenants. shuttlesworth was never a lieutenant in the sense that he never worked for king. although he was less known. so that the major demonstrations of 1963, which arguably are the watershed events of the civil rights movement, the first really big victory other than the montgomery boycott. those five weeks of demonstrations in 1963 were work on seven years of that shuttlesworth had done in birmingham, battling segregation and, of course, the commissioner of public safety whose icon -- who is an icon of southern resistance to integration, bull connor. there was

and this complex extended over into alabama. also, there were facilities located in montgomery, and nearby points like the textile mills at prattville. and another very large complex would be developed both by the confederate state's army, and the navy at selma, alabama. and the factories in selma itself, and the activities that were operated out of selma, such as some of the functions of the confederate mining bureau, by 1865, the operations right at selma itself, and in the greater region had as many as 10,000 employees. not right in selma, but at facilities in that greater region. the industrial capacity at selma was capable of producing even large rifle sea coast weapons, which were very important to the confederate naval operation. then, of course, there are all of the facilities in this, the gate city of atlanta, or the nearby

she didn't fly, and the rain, when she used to go to evergreen, alabama, no longer went as close. and so we decided, she decided that she would join me on this trip. well, i decided i needed to be prepared for any contingency. so i got water bottles. i got orange traffic cones. [laughter] i joined aaa. and i wondered if i should get a sign to put on my car like the taxis in new york have, but this one would say please drive carefully, national treasure onboard. [laughter] i didn't want to have to answer to the nation if anything happened on that drive, but we actually had, other than me hitting a rut this their driveway -- in their driveway before we were two minutes on the road, i think her comment was i'm trying to remember exactly, way to get off to the a good start, something along those lines. [laughter] we actually did end up having a smooth trip, and you imagine a better perp to be drinking more coffee with and talking about the country going by our windows as we drove? i remember thinking that all those years she took the train that the country hadn't seen much of harper l

he was a little voice in alabama politics.until he ran for governor in 1958 and was defeated by an opponent holster is racial -- who stressed racial segregation as the main issue and famously after that election and i have to say an ugly word to quote wallace accurately, he said "i will never be out-niggered again." he was the candidate of racial segregation and elected. he stood in the schoolhouse door if you will of the university of alabama in symbolic resistance to integration of the university. in 1964, entered democratic primary against president johnson in the north who thought like robert e lee taking the offensive and to pennsylvania. wallace took his campaign and to the north in 1964 and won 30% or 40%. in 1968, he was term limited, so he couldn't run for another term as governor of california -- governor of alabama. which politically was a major liability, because if you are the governor of alabama or most states, you can raise money easily from all the contractors and insurance companies and highway builders and ot

he got his wife elected governor of alabama in 1966.texas where paof ferguson was exceeded by ma ferguson. in 1968decided to run as an independent candidate. records talkal about anger and dissent on the left, it was wallace, and the kindest terms, who got 10 million votes. just as significant for the country's healing as events of 1968, the peaceful election. the high voter turnout. both party nominees to reach out to the dissident elements of their parties. the aftermath of the election. , the democratic congress, and both major parties work actively after the election and for the most part successfully to will those sectors of the electorate that were still alienated from the normal channels of constitutional politics and government. was driven from office partly through his second term for the crimes and other abuses of power he committed as president. during his first years in the white house, he surprised the left with his diplomatic openings to the country's leading enemies, china and the soviet union and the acquiescence to a wi

decatur, out of alabama. over the weekend we had record rainfall and we could certainly see an additional one possibly up to three inches. we picked up nearly three inches in decatur and there were reports cars seeing water at least halfway up their tires. looks like now, no flood warnings in place for you but we do have flash flood warnings up by jacksonville mississippi, any trabl plans along i-20 it is going to be a slow-go. over the last few days, drawing in the moisture between that low and the area of low pressure over the great lakes, we're going to see heavy rainfall, scattered storms and that include detroit where we have a flood warning in place. already this morning, 1 to 3 inches across southern michigan. not much in the way of rain across the northwest where we still have red flags up. del back to you. >> thank you for watching al jazeera america, toaf "techknow" featuring cancer goggles is next. "techknow" >> announcer: this is "techknow", a show about innovation, we explore humanity, and we'll

earlyin alabama by the 1850's. this man has a knack for meeting important people and using these people in his career as mentors, later as contacts. knott once this a tutor neartze, montgomery, to translate a famous book on race into english. this book was written in france. to translate hotze this book, a racial account that talks about how races are inherently unequal and can never be equal. why is that important? because in the south, people ideaknott would like that to take hold. then they can justify slavery. old, is only 20 years translates the book, but basically hijacks the book. he writes an introduction that is over 100 pages, in which this young man puts his own ideas about racial issues, and puts his own spin on racial issues, which is odd for a young man like this. but that kind of introduces to more people in mobile, and he starts to move in these circles. this translation that is called the moral and intellectual diversity of races -- she comes to mobile in 1856. after the translation comes out, to m

now, i want to talk to my friend from alabama and ask you this question >> isn't it true that alabamalost all recent major clean air act cases. alabama lost its challenge to e.p.a. to state air pollution rule in supreme court and alabama lost its challenge in mercury and toxic air rule in the d.c. circuit in the white stallion case and alabama lost its case in the endangerment finding and tailpipe standards in the case of coalition for standard coalition? isn't that a fact? >> i don't recall. >> you i don't recall losing those cases. i think you are right. >> i think that's important. let me just ask a question to mr. thomas. i know you have talked about the impacts in your home state of florida, that you are already seeing and i had the privilege of going in a helicopter over the miami region and it's just -- when you see how much water is there, it takes your breath away. i wonder if you could talk about how local communities in the state of florida are joining together to address the growing impacts of climate change and do many of these local actions have bipartisan support? let m

and alabama's civil rht

and this complex extended over into alabama. also, there were facilities located in montgomery, and nearby points like the textile mills at prattville. and another very large complex would be developed both by the confederate state's army, and the navy at selma, alabama. and the factories in selma itself, and the activities that were operated out of selma, such as some of the functions of the confederate mining bureau, by 1865, the operations right at selma itself, and in the greater region had as many as 10,000 employees. not right in selma, but at facilities in that greater region. the industrial capacity at selma was capable of producing even large rifle sea coast weapons, which were very important to the confederate naval operation. then, of course, there are all of the facilities in this, the gate city of atlanta, or the nearby gate city of atlanta. and while atlanta had some key facilities itself, like the rolling mill depicted here as a result of the abandonment of the city of atlanta in early september of 1864 in ruins,

he famously stood in the schoolhouse door, if you will come of the university of alabama.in a kind of symbolic resistance to integration of that university. in 1964 he actually entered some democratic primaries against president johnson in the north, sort of like robert e lee taking .he offensive into pennsylvania wallace took his campaign into the north in 1964 and 130% or primaries.e northern in 1968 he was term limited so he couldn't run for another term as governor of california -- governor of alabama, which politically was a major liability, because if you're the governor of alabama and you're the governor of most dates, you can raise money easily from all the contractors and insurance companies and highway builders and others who do business with the state. he was not going to be governor by 1968 when he wanted to run again. he got his wife elected governor 1966, barring a page from the state of texas paul ferguson was succeeded by ma ferguson back in the day. he ran as an independent candidate. although most historical writing about the 1968 election focuses on the

remember what i said earlier about the tom bigby valley over in alabama?fferson davis was alarmed that sherman would stop his advance, wouldn't try to go beyond the chattahoochee river, but would turn ned go southwest and then south along the chattahoochee river down to apalachicola, florida. that would cut sever railroad between the tom bigby valley and the confederate army in virginia. it was a very real possibility. as far as i know, sherman never seriously considered it, but the confederate government did not know that. johnston, without telling his government much xw what he had been doing, had retreated into the heartland of the confed raegs, opening up this possibility. that his retreat would enable sherman to cut off the supplies from the tom bigby valley. it at least rivals richmond, if it didn't surpass richmond, and johnson's reteeth threatened the loss of all of of that. therefore in mid july, july 17th, davis is thinking about removing johnston. he has sent johnston a telegram. i wish to hear from you so specifically as will enable me to antic

alabama wins 33-23. let's switch gears to baseball now.he nats playing these late games out in seattle on the west coast. steven stephen strasburg on the hill. nice play on the line drive and then later on, jason, 5.5 on the richter scale. nats leading this one 3-0 in the 7th inning. finally, let's get you out of here on a great play. finally, best play of the day. nebraska, you'll see a nice catch by jordan westercamp. look at the replay, guys. behind the back and the double toe tap. the double toe tap there. you only need one in college and he got two. that was great stuff. >> he is prepping for the pro days. >> that is an awesome play. >> that's amazing. >> coming up, a local college student picks up where wusa9's operation backpack left off. helping make sure all students have the supplies they need to go back to to prove a point about internet speeds, we slowed down an up escalator this is crazy like i don't get it, this one is working ladies, shouldn't up be as fast as down? yeah. shouldn't internet speeds match as well? yes. do your

there was a time tham if you were in alabama or that you were publically respectful toward an african american person you could get yourself and that person in trouble. i mean, it was that hard at times. and it isn't anymore. so i'm not saying racism is dead. it certainly is not. but -- but it's no longer respectable and you don't have to be afraid to be a person who treats people as human beings regardless of who they are. >> c-span's american history tour next friday focus on native americans. we start off with the battle of the little big horn also known as custer's last stand. also a tour of the new mexico pueblo. 9,000 native american the raphs in montana and history on converting native americans to christianity. > only the lyric was partially desegregated. white people sat on the first floor and black people sat in the second floor balcony. c-span got a tour of the theater from a university of alabama professor. >> we're in the heart of what really could be called the entertainment district. we have the lyric district. all these theaters were white theaters with the exception o

alabama and mississippi were pretty important states. stripping those states of their defenders would have opened up the rich agricultural region. they would have opened up important industrial cities like selma, alabama, columbus, georgia, would not have been a smart move. and it's highly debatable too, whether men could have created enough damage to in the long term for sherman to retreat. he went to some lengths to try to protect it and we can talk about the ways later if you're interested. on july 17th, 1864, jefferson davis makes the extremely controversial decision. it was controversial in the summer of 1864, it's still controversial today of relieving joe johnson of command. and replacing him with john bell hood. an officer probably all of you know who had gained a reputation in 1862 and 1863 as one of lee's best brigade and division commanders. he personally sacrificed a lot, you know the nature of his wounds, the loss of a leg the partial use of an arm here in gettysburg. the message that relieved joe johnson. as you have failed

in alabama. i tried it. >> you can't grow lettuce? >> collard green.on't see it, that's what i tell you. i ain't jesus christ. look what i told you. >> warden culliver is currently planning upgrades to the softball field to raise morale and lower tension. >> it has to be backed. this time of the year the softball field, that's your premiere event. in the afternoons the guys get out here and play softball, really don't have any problems out of them, keeps tension down. >> they get tired, go in, take a shower and go to bed. >> go to bed. no fights. it's the overall process of trying to improve the facility. >> though there's plenty of room for improvement, the inmates at holman get maximum use out of their softball field in its current condition. >> that's one. my percentage just went up. if you were able to transpose, imagine them in uniforms, take the wire away from the fence, just from the attitude of the guys, right, it would be any other male softball league in any small town america or usa, doing what they do after they've had a hard day's work min

johnson would then move west into alabama and then north up into tennessee.johnson's army was about 63,000 men and the bishop general, polk. polk had commanded a second army that was brought and called the army of mississippi and it became a core in johnson's army. the campaign began in the first week of may of 1864. it was for some modification. but sherman's plan was to have the army of the ohio and the army of the coupumberland northd west of dalton. mcpherson's army, then, would march west south and west of rocky face ridge. again, in the upper left-hand corner, the movements or you can look on your map there. and then break johnson's supply line in the vicinity of dalton. there was a railroad to atlanta, which is in the bottom center of your map. so both armies are relying on the western atlantic. it was a good plan. it was a very good plan. and, initially, it unfolded just as they hoped it would. mcpherson gets his march down. the confederates have left unguarded. they've been there all winter. and one of johnson's -- one of the criticisms you can level

my great, great grandfather migrated to the delta from alabama, and acquired land with a group of peopleut from clarksdale. called new africa. and when i read his letters -- because he stopped at what was then this normal school on the way out to mississippi -- and read his letters, it's unmistakable the idea of land was tied to the idea of independence and freedom and self-reliance and self-sufficiency, but this ills 19th century, mississippi. i think in 21st century mississippi, i'm not sure, one, i have no expertise on this, so i can't comment in any great detail or length on this, but my gut feeling about this is mighty tough to be a small landholder, and i'm not sure that the idea of owning a small farm is as connected to the idea of freedom and self-reliance as it was in the 19th century. but i stress that i don't have great expertise on that point. >> i do think that there is this social movement that emerged out of the ella washington, where the question of land -- my grandfather being 1893 graduate of tuskegee, when he went back to his little hamlet, one of the -- aside from edu

alabama and mississippi were pretty important states. stripping those states of their defenders would have opened up the rich agricultural region. they would have opened up important industrial cities like selma, alabama, columbus, georgia, would not have been a smart move. and it's highly debatable too, whether men could have created enough damage to, in the long term for sherman to retreat. sherman was acutely aware his supply line was vulnerable. he went to some lengths to try to protect it and we can talk about the ways later if you're interested. on july 17th, 1864, jefferson davis makes the extremely controversial decision. it was controversial in the summer of 1864, it's still controversial today, of relieving joe johnson of command. and replacing him with john bell hood. an officer probably all of you know who had gained a reputation in 1862 and 1863 as one of lee's best brigade and division commanders. he had a reputation of being a very bold fighter. he personally sacrificed a lot, you know the nature of his wounds, the loss of

the georgia brigade, and the alabama brigade, they had helped stop sherman's men. firing into the flank of sherman's assaulting columns on tunnel hill, was rome georgia's artillery, rearmed with products of the confederate military industrial complex. and less than five months after their surrender to the very troops who were assaulting them on that november 25, 1863, were now firing to stop those very assaults. this military industrial complex was the capacity that cause d one -- or someone walking the line of confederate cannon, captured on lookout mountain and missionary ridge, and displayed as trophies in front of the army of the cumberland's headquarters on walnut street in chattanooga, to observe that over one-half of the three dozen artillery pieces captured around chattanooga were products of confederate manufacturing. in fact, all of the standard -- or all of the standard cannon of the day, the 12-pound napoleon, were southern manufacturers. 13 of the 19 had been produced in georgia. in fact, on a clear copy of this photograph, you can read stenciled on th

alabama and mississippi were pretty important states.they would have opened up important industrial cities. it would not have been a smart move. we don't have time to talk about the ways u but you can later, if you're interested. on july 18, 1864, he makes the extremely controversial decision of relieving joe johnson in commands and replacing him with one of his core commanders. he personally sacrificed a lot. you all know the nature of his wounds. the loss of a leg, the partial loss of the use of an arm here at guess burg. in the message that relieved joe johnson, you are hereby relieved. so hood takes command. and he has a mandate, a very clear mandate that he has to fight for the city of at lan ñ hoe doesn't have a lot of room to maneuver. the attacks ended up being uncoordinating. there's a fine new book on the manner. we're only now getting detailed battle studies of the west. while there have been eastern battles for maybe decades. hood learns that the far left flank of the union troops that are approaching atlanta from the east is

alabama has not voted for a democrat for president since jimmy carter.bama's governor robert bentley is a republican and republicans control the state house. if democrats decide on birmingham, the city is going to have to get ready very quickly. the dnc said the chosen host city must meet the logics kl including fundraising and hotel and transportation. birmingham would need to raise in the area of $30 million for upgrades to the city with another $49 million coming from a federal security grant bringing the total price tag to $79 million. the city and the surrounding areas have the number of hotel rooms approximately 18,000 needed to host the dnc, media, and guests. but the public transportation system. uh-huh ranked 94 out of 100 in the nation's largest metro area. the host city is expected to be announced late this year or early next year. that does it for this edition of the "daily run down." jose will have a live record from ferguson , missouri. and an actress that credits robin williams for helping her breakthrough. really? because esurance saved m