dr. king. reminder coming at the top of the hour rebroadcast on c-span and on c-span3, live coverage from the crosstown concourse in memphis as civil rights leaders and the head of the children's defense fund reflect on dr. king's legacy. joining on the conversation, 202-748-8920 in eastern time zones. and in the western time zone, 202-748-8921. rochester, new york. i stayed home from work for this. when you think about 50 years of a remarkable man. a phenomenal man. a man who wasn't afraid to share a dream, that many people still think, even to this day, that it is not possible, but it is. it is a blessing to see we can commemorate a man who never gave up, and never gave in. when you think about the past couple of decades, you think about how far we have grown, especially with barack obama being president back in 2008. i voted to that year. the one thing i remember saying a lot is how people would prepare for barack obama's -- compare barack obama's election to martin luther king stream to a

this preacher, dr. kingston university, and in that course in philosophy, he heard dr. brightman propound the notion of personalism. that is to suggest that every person, regardless of race, creed, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender, are where your mama, your daddy were born, were entitled to being respected as a person and never treated as a thing, as a number of those people. we thank god that dr. king didn't let nobody mess with his religion. he had good religion. there's an old negro spiritual we used to sing, have you got good religion, and they would all say certainly, lord. have you got good religion, certainly lord. well, if you've got good religion, if you got a good faith, you know that religion and faith at its best does not push people aside. does not divide folks. does not beat up on folks. does not tell people how bad they are. but the religion shows folk how they can become better than who they are. thank you god for dr. king who embraced personalism, who said i'm not going to support

dr. king. i remember when he came to chicago in 1966 on a reuse greed with hatred. i remember the assassination, so vividly because my father had a famous cookie factory in chicago and the day after the murder he came home early from work and i said why are you home? he said a lot of my employees lived on the south and west side of chicago. their neighborhoods are on fire. they're going home to protect the house and the families. a few weeks after the rights he drove me to the neighborhoods because he wanted to see it for history. it's as drafted with since i was was a child. i knew the anniversary is coming up but it is an important occasion. it's the climax of the trilogy of books i've done on assassination in american life. abraham lincoln, john kennedy and now dr. king. for different reasons. they're all great american heroes and the series fell incomplete until i did this book on martin luther king. i've always wanted to do this. >> host: reading through this, you focus a lot on james ear

dr. king, dr.arshall, reverend walker, ernest willis, and others are demanding that we take our collective energy to ensure that the promise of america is realized by all americans regardless of the color of their skin or their sexual orientation. today is the day that urgency calls upon us to fight against injustice no matter where we find it. silence is not an option in 2018. so we must stand up and demand educational equality. we must fight against police brutality. we must fight against discrimination. we must fight against health disparity. and we must fight against targeted voter suppression that keeps people from the polls based on the color of their skin. we must fight. we must fight. stephon clark, michael brown, trayvon martin, and eric garner are saying to us from heaven that if you love dr. king, keep on fighting. if you love me, keep on struggling. never give up. so as we say in the house of alpha, we will fight until hell freezes over, and then we will fight on the ice. today, this fr

dr. king's .ovement means for today in short run saying is i think the legacy of dr. king's movement is about our future if we are lucky to make it so, it's not about our past. that's because it goes so deeply to the principles that are either going to take us forward or that we will be lost. i want to convince you in a short amount of time by reviewing dr. king's career that we are poised on a practices -- precipice of whether or not we recover its principles. me?are entitled to ask, why why a white southerner born in atlanta who grew up in segregated lanes have is here -- atlanta is here talking to you about the legacy of martin luther king. it is a fair question. i was a certainly not meant to do that. i grew up in a nonpolitical family. my father was a dry cleaner. i was planning to be a surgeon. i did not care of a politics. -- about politics. it is the tenacity of the movement that changed the direction of my life against my will because it lasted so long over a crucial period of my life

from dr king that inspired you to do so absolutely you know dr king said that it is our responsibility to bring about a radical redistribution of economic and political power and i think that's not only what motivates me but it also motivates so many young leaders across the country right now we're seeing a resurgence of black progressive leadership black grassroots activism. and it is really taking. taking taking. it is really moving forward with a lot of fervor and you know so here in memphis where we are seeing the same levels of poverty in equity that were here where dr king died we know that we need new progressive leadership we need to reduce to redistribute economic opportunity only the opportunity here in our city is still staggering it's still staggering at the levels of systemic oppression that exist and so that's what aspires me to write is because i think it's. shame that fifty years after dr king was killed we're still fighting the same people are still living under the same passion yet you're not happy. with how memphis has commemorated the sanitation march or the fiftiet

dr. king's most famous words. in the last speech he ever made the night before he died in memphis, foreshadowing, king said he'd been to the mountain top. >> and i have seen the promised land. i may not get there with you, but. i want you to o know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land. so i'm happy tonight i'm not worried about anything. i'm not fearing any man. mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the lord. al pneuma that can take you out of the game for weeks, even if you're healthy. pneumococcal pneumonia is a potentially serious bacterial lung disease that in severe cases can lead to hospitalization. it may hit quickly, without warning, causing you to miss out on the things you enjoy most. prevnar 13® is not a treatment for pneumococcal pneumonia... it's a vaccine you can get to help protect against it. prevnar 13® is approved for adults to help prevent infections from 13 strains of the bacteria that cause pneumococcal pneumonia. you should not receive prevnar 13® if you have had

dr. king, dr. take our selective energy to ensure that the promise of america is realized by all americans regardless of the color of their skin or their sexual orientation. today is the day that urgency calls upon us to fight against injustice no matter where we find it. silence is not an option in 2018. so we must stand up and demand educational equality. we must fight against police brutality. we must fight against discrimination. we must fight against health disparity. and we must fight against targeted voter suppression that keeps people from the polls based on the color of their skin. we must fight. we must fight. stephon clark, michael brown, trayvon martin, and eric garner are saying to us from heaven that if you love dr. king, keep on fighting. if you love me, keep on struggling. never give up. so as we say in the house of alpha, we will fight until hell freezes over, and then we will fight on the ice. it is the fraternity of brother king. saying on the place that he died that you did not

dr. king. he didn't have a key. they said they didn't have a key to any of the rooms. you had to go to the office and they would let you in. while i was here, i was doing research. maybe some people were here from the mississippi valley collection. an assortment of your ancestors and to some of you from that an almost biblical event happened here when dr. king was killed. let's gather information, oral histories so other people can figure it out because it goes very deep. in what is here in memphis pier 1 of the many collections was that they went out and they got all of the film footage from the memphis television station. what had been on the air and what had not. i went through all of this. i am sitting there looking at an outtake of a white reporter on the night dr. king was killed, in memphis, in the hospital, trying and the reporter was saying, what did you see? did dr. king say anything? did you see the shooter? he kept asking all these questions. i think he was in shock. i think he did

dr. martin luther king. thank you, dr. martin luther king. [applause] >> thank you.r to represent the state of tennessee today per when abraham lincoln went to dedicate the battlefield at gettysburg, he said that our words cannot make this day sacred, but it is the actions that came before us. it is the actions that still happen and that memphis because of what dr. king said. going into the most difficult schools and saying the school deserves the greatest teachers, as much as anywhere else. and the first state to have free community college and technical school for everybody in the state. it is when we have folks who say our judicial system is not only an equitable, it is not working. on behalf of all of that, thank you. we think the civil rights museum are putting on the celebration today, and we look forward to continuing that work. thank you. [applause] stage alphao the fight alpha -- alpha phi alpha. brother, this our brother we remember reverend martin luther king, jr. i am president of all five -- alpha incorporated. dr. king was and is a brother to all mankin

dr. king spent his entire life fighting for. while we have come a long way, and i agree we have, we have a long way to go. we must ensure it is woven into the fabric of our country. i tell my folks at fedex it is in the fabric, into the culture of our country. we must all play a vital role in this or it will not happen by itself. through his extensive focus on dr. king's life and legacy, taylor branch has paid an amazing tribute to both his story and to his humanity. i would like for us all to get a very warm memphis welcome to our keynote speaker, taylor branch. [applause] taylor branch: thank you. hello, memphis. i am happy to be here. i appreciate the introduction from david and fedex. i did not fly in on a fedex jet. because i worry about tom hanks. [laughter] but that is a great movie and a great company. i want to thank terry freeman in the museum and the university of memphis for sponsoring this amazing event which would amaze a lot of people in america and certainly a lot of people aro

dr. martin luther king jr.. we will bring you a cbs news special report that was broadcast on april 5, 1968. this includes coverage of the funeral in memphis, reaction from president johnson and some of the riots that followed. i am the resurrection and the light, sayeth the lord. he that liveth in me and believeth in me shall never die. the lord gave, the lord hath taken away. blessed be the name of the lord. >> good evening, this is harry reasoner. a day after the death of dr. martin luther king the nation has two questions. one, has the murderer been caught? he has not. authorities say they will catch him. two, what has the effect been? the nation has not caught fire, but there is a countrywide reaction. turmoil in a dozen cities were 40, including the capital city. regular troops are on duty there. the number of places that the national guard has been called out, probably set a record for domestic disturbance. many sides tonight are quoting dr. king who himself, never wanted to be cited in defense of violenc

dr. king had. we need more people descending on the state capitol and say kentucky deserves better. i was there with my daughter who is a public school student who wanted to be in frankfurt to support her public school teachers and to support public employees across kentucky. we made our way through the crowd speaking to people, high ing with people. and for both of us, we understood clearly why it was such a tight cap way to get for my office in the capital annex into the capitol building, now is just fine becausee were not the legislators trying to destroy public education or heard puic employees. -- hurt public employees. my daughter supports public education. we were not afraid to walk to the crowd. we walked through e crowd and we knew we were walking through a group of friends and family members who were there standing up for themselves while i went into the house chambers to fight for and with them full amy: can you explain, state representative scott, the whole issue of demanding a rev

dr. king's murderer. he said, the investigation has led several hundred miles beyond tennessee's borders, but there is quite a bit of evidence and although the killer has not been positively identified, he expressed confidence for a n early solution. clark said there is no sign of a conspiracy. nothing to indicate the assassination was anything more than the act of one man. for a film report on today's developments, here is ike, bill and peter. first, pappas with a reconstruction of the slaying. >> eyewitnesses say that dr. king left his room at 3:06 at the lorraine hotel to get some air. he walked over to the railing, at this spot and noticing some friends below, he leaned over and began to speak with him. police say, 205 feet away, in a window in a flophouse, the assassin waited. he waited, police believe, in a bathroom down the hall from the room rented but four hours earlier. to get a clear shot of his victim, the assassin apparently had to stand on the bathtub, leaning forward to brace his arms on th

well dr king got to get it was not perfect dr kill dr king was not was not complete he was he was a young man when he was when he was shot down and he was evolving rapidly in this conversation has just and i think he was he was being radicalized he was being radicalized because he was a leader with some menace integrity and he wanted to align himself with the with the feeling with the aspirations of the master he set up in class. at the end of the shows are going to say thank you to russell to reference to tattle to this conversation continues of course on line. thank you very much part of this conversation truly a profound take definitely. april on al-jazeera. from the stories beyond the headlines phone lines examines the u.s. is role in the wilds fifty years since the death of martin luther king we examine the impact of his assassination and the state of race relations in the u.s. today the winning show writes returns for another season with stories about solutions to some of the greatest manmade environmental problems as the first meeting since the friends it vote is set to take place

king i know i have a very. good job there even. today marks fifty years since the assassination of the american civil rights leader dr martin luther king in memphis tennessee we'll look at his legacy and the state of race relations in the u.s. and europe today. it's good to have you with us. tonight britain says it has defeated russian attempts to derail international protocol and that is after moscow failed in a bid to gain access to its investigation into the poisoning of sergei scriptural and his daughter yulia that attempt came at an emergency meeting of the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons now russia says it wants a united nations security council meeting on the nerve agent attack an attack in which it remains the main suspect. wait and see as meeting of the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons in the hague did not leave most school best pleased russia failed in its bid to become part of the investigation into the poisoning of the script files full to done by among others the u.k. . russia in common with other countries on the executive committee. has been sidelined from this investigation.

dr. king from a divine revelation what you enabled him to see through the eyes of fate. his shadow of death became a reality one day later on april 4, when a gunshot rang out over at the motel a few blocks from here. many declare that dr. king was just another false prophet, crying in an abandoned wilderness of despair. however we stand here this evening to proclaim and to declare that the promised land that moses and dr. king saw exists yet exists today. existence is not contingent upon who occupies the white house. nor is it reliant on the mutual cooperation of the united nations. it exists because you gave us a promise. it continues because your word is true and shall stand forever. notice tong, we serve all of the negative and oppressive powers that be that it is true that the mantle failed 50 years ago, but like elisha, we picked up that mantle. today we will leave here carrying a mantle of justice, liberty, fairness, mutual respect and most of all love. elisha called upon you, the body b

dr. king's assassination. this includes coverage of the funeral in memphis, reaction from president johnson, and some of the riots that followed. >>> i am resurrection and the lord. he that believeth in me though he were dead, and will forever liveth and believeth in me, that you will never die. the lord gave and the lord has taken away. blessed be the name of the lord. >> good evening, a day after the death of dr. martin luther king, junior, the nation has two questions. one, has the murder are been caught? he has not, and authorities think they will catch him and what has the effects been? there are two sides. the nation has not caught fire but there is a country wide reaction, turmoil in a total of 40 cities, including the capital city. regular troops are on duty. elsewhere the number of places the national guard has been called out probably set ace record for domestic disturbance. this is the decision, many sides tonight be quoting king kick. he himself never wanted to be cited in defense of violence. in m

[applause] dr king: i bless you. christ, my brothers and sisters, this is not on the program, but the holy me to ask myding brother, martin king, to come up and stand with me. [applause] dr king: i think it is important that we see two of the children who lost their daddy 50 years ago tomorrow. to an assassin's bullet. as we stand here tonight, he is going to speak in just a moment, and he will bring his family. let me just say that many people don't know, but the trauma that we have dealt with as a family has been overwhelming. daddy to an assassin's bullet. inlost an uncle mysteriously a swimming pool because he knew something about that assassination. we lost a grandmother to a when she was killed while playing the organ at our church when i was 11 years of age. but we kept going. and each of us have dealt with it in different ways, and as i stand here today and as martin stands here today, my brother dexter also stands here today. he is dealing with the grief in ways that are different than even me and martin, so

dr king mythology what's in it he is. so i actually one hundred percent agree with professor richard i think that the big issue here is that we fail to acknowledge fully bed during king's life he was really hated by a lot of kind of mainstream political leaders by f.b.i. agents by the most of the kind of narratives that we're thinking about today in terms of the color blindness post racialism a lot of that was leveraged against people like martin luther king jr and still today were fifty years as out from his assassination in a lot of cases we we had this kind of ideal it romanticized idea of who he was because that's a really more comfortable way of remembering him is sometimes we call it whitewashed or we call it. a more easy kind of learning right so it's very hard to learn that this person who was going to nobel peace prize was someone that was also hated in that head of his home bombed after he had his first child right that's not a really good narrative about america but it is the truth and it is the real history beh

dr martin luther king set out to do and the thing that worries me the most is the watering down of dr king's message you know fifty years ago dr king was a threat to national security and was one of the reasons why he was assassinated and now you see this administration on his birthday earlier this year sending out tweets about some of his statements how do you explain this i mean you know you and i both we belong to the generation that was born you know right after those terrible days in the late sixty's and you would think that two generations later the dream of these ideals would be cemented into the national fabric of the u.s. so what do you think happens. i think that you know people have held on to as you said dr he was murdered by a white supremacist and people have held on to this ideal not just in day to day but in capitalism in politics but also we see in interactions you know being here in berlin you would think it would be a free and open place but as we know the far right has is on the run is on the rise and has made games. to take a look at just some of the voices from t

it is a day to remember reflect and to use dr king's word to dream perhaps we first associate the name martin luther king with the struggle of african-americans or even southern u.s. blacks but his message reached beyond the north american shores and found a global audience the divided city of berlin is a prime example in september one thousand nine hundred sixty four dr king visited both west and east berlin in nearly identical addresses he emphasized an inescapable destiny which binds us all together more on his legacy right here in just a moment but first this report. a defining moment in american history in one thousand nine hundred sixty three civil rights activist martin luther king led the march on washington and delivered a speech that remains iconic to this day are have a dream. but one thing wow. there's a measure where all rides up. live out the true meaning of it occurring was two hundred fifty thousand people converged on the nation's capital that day demanding freedom and equal rights for african-americans the following year the u.s. congress passed the civil rights act w

dr. king debating carmichael as they walk along the streets of mississippi during the march in 1966 about the merits of violence and nonviolence. you told mewhat afterwards, not all of this is only film, but why do we have to be nonviolent? america american -- admires nonviolence of black people? but they admire james bond? he said i've been to jail 36 times. i am like a soldier. why do i have to keep inviting violence against me to get white america to do what it should have done in the first place? dr. king's i come you are right. it is unfair. nobody has the right to impose nonviolence on anyone else. all i am trying to get you to see is nonviolence is a leadership doctrine. where white of america is. if we step up to violence, we are going back to where they are. andt from the political practical issues of whether or not you can win nonviolence as a minority, a largely unarmed minority, in the morality, nonviolence is the leadership -- wene and it cannot must rise above the stigma -- stigm

dr. king's assassination. her i heard them live or read them in an article, here are some of my thoughts. as i marched arm in arm with martin luther king iii through memphis where his father was killed 50 years ago and joined him and his sister reverend bernice king and brother dexter at the crypt as he watched them stand there in the exact hour that their father had been killed. i was a little disturbed that a lot of people were paying more attention to dr. king's -- how he was killed than why he was killed. he was killed because he stood up against militaryism and stood up against the forces that have economic inequality and he stood up against racism. he fought for people that have the right to vote for union workers or organizers like lee sanders and others raised in memphis with the march this week. he fought against the military intervention in vietnam. he did not get hit by driveby shooting. it was those that wanted to stop a dream of equality, fairness and economic justice. it's yees easy to sit around

dr. king's assassination. this includes coverage of the funeral in memphis, reaction from president johnson and some of the riots that followed. >>> i am the resurrection and the life, say it the lord. he that believe in me though he were dead yet shall live. and whoever liveth and believeth in mesha shall never die. the lord gave and the lord has taken away. bless it be the name of the lord. >> good evening. this is harry raisener. a day after the death of dr. martin luther king, the nation has two questions, one, has the murderer been caught? he has not. but the authorities say they think they will catch him. and, two, what has the effect been? there are two sides to that, the nation has not caught fire but there is a country wide reaction, turmoil in at least a dozen more cities today for a total of 40 or so in serious places, including the capital city. regular troops are on duty there. the other places the national guard has been called out has probably set a record for domestic disturbance. this is the e

dr. king jr.: mean-spiritedness circulating, saying that i ought to imitate the worst in the white man in the west in our presence. who has lynching people and throwing them in rivers. all people are telling me i telling me just to stoop down to that level. oh no. [applause] dr. king jr.: i am not going to allow anybody to pull me so low. perpetuating evil throughout our civilization. i am tired of the war in vietnam. i am tired of war in the world. i'm tired of shooting. i am tired of hate. i am tired of selfishness, i am tired of evil. i will not use violence no matter who says it. [applause] harry: dr. martin luther king jr. has been struck down by the violence against which he preached and worked. yet, the cause for which he struggled is not fallen. the force that called for justice and brotherhood has been still. but the quest for freedom, to which he always gave eloquent expression continues on. men of all races, of all religions, of all regions now must join together in this hour to den

recognizing, as dr. king observed, that change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability but comes through continuous struggle. together we all rise. thank you. [ applause ] >> ladies and gentlemen, pamela alexander, ford motor company. >> well, good evening, everyone. how are you? on behalf of ford motor company and its philanthropic fund, ford motor company fund, welcome to an evening of storytelling. what a powerful day it was today honoring dr. king. yes, we can applaud there. and i know that -- is anyone else just emotionally full and making room for this evening? i know that's where i am. i know terri mentioned her staff, but i have to mention them again. i'm on the board so i've seen this process as it's gone over the past year-plus, so i have some idea how much work went into it but i don't think any of us can imagine how much it took to pull this off. so can we please give them some really strong recognition for what they did today? thank you. it's very important to ford to be part of this week

dr. king jr.memphis to sta part workers and was at the lorain hotel. >> how many of you knew dr. king was staying here when you checked in? none of you knew that at all. off awe none of us knew. >> their choir director knew and planned an impromptu performance for king. >> i think the thing that put a gleam in our eyes was to know that we were going to sing now for dr. king. our idol. >> i was trying to find my pitch. >> did you find your pitch? >> yeah. ♪ hallelujah >> one of the last performances king would ever hear. he was just overwhelmed with it. i could see it in his face. >> it lasts just 1:48. but the impact was beyond measure. two weeks later, king was shot and killed at the lorain motel. >> we know it was important to sing for him. but we did not realize the importance of what this man was really doing here in memphis. i would like to people to know that, the choir was part of the martin luther king movement. a very historic night for, for all of us. that is the "overnight news" for thu

dr. martin luther king jr. was assassinated in memphis. this week we are examining dr. and legacy. we asked prominent voices to reflect on the progress made towards realizing king's dream of justice and equality for all. they include general colin powell, first black secretary of state, loretta lynch, first black woman attorney general, six time, champion and mvp, cre kareem abdul-jabbar, and trombone shorty. ♪ we shall overcome one day >> people threw me out of a hamburger joint after i came back from my first tour in vietnam and had been injured. all i wanted was a hamburger. they wouldn't serve me. the nation was carrying the burden of discrimination and jim crowism. it was holding blacks down. also holding whites down the they knew better they knew this was wrong. >> free at last, free at last, thank god al mighty we are free at last. >> i went back to the same hamburger joint, july 4th. 1964, right after the civil rights accommodation act had been signed. and i asked my hamburger, yes, sir. and they handed me my hamburger. >> martin luther king was shot and killed t

whereas in the case of dr. king, , we saw and could tell that he was genuinely a revolutionary leader but he presented it in a christian context, which makes it even more threatening. king was very aware that his life was going to be shortened by the things he did. the black panthers were mostly teenagers, a youth movement with a handful of leaders over 21. and so the energy of the black panther party was a very, very different in the sense that we had chapters over the country, different programs, and we also focused on social and political issues that directly affected black people and had a huge impact on our generation and the children of that generation. host: professor joseph, you have elizabeth waiting in fort lauderdale, florida, on the line for 60 and older. caller: hello. present company excepted, it is -- i am agreeable with what is being said, but my point is, what gets me on a regular basis, women come on -- mostly women -- come on programs with these very serious subjects and smile and grin and laugh.

look at the price that dr. kings. >> yes, ma'am. >> that's nothing. that's absolutely nothing. >> yes, ma'am. >> so we had to -- after the sit-ins and after i left memphis, i did have a little trauma, and i didn't even want to talk about it, because i didn't know how memphis was going to receive me when i came back. so it took me a while. so i realize there was some stress there. >> right. >> however, during the time that it was happening, it was a job. it was a mission. it was a passion. there was no way that we were going to stop until those laws were changed. >> all right. amen. marianne wright edelman. something about a three-name black woman. and you are one of the most iconic presences among activists, highly cerebral and yet able to translate your intellectual credentials into care for the least of these. and often in unpopular fashion. so as a woman who worked right beside martin luther king jr. and robert f. kennedy and then generated out of your own passion a serious ministry to young people, without her e

dr. martin luther king jr.as killed in 1968, fighting for rights of workers, fighting, and he called it by name, police brutality. fighting for those that had no one to stand for them. 50 years later, we see the shooting of an unarmed man, killed in a ray of 20 bullets by police in sacramento. we see a state attorney general in louisiana refuse to prosecute police even after tape, an audiotape revealed the policeman said 90 seconds before shooting alton sterling, i'm going to shoot you mfer. and the president of the united states who tweets on players, who tweets on everything hasn't opened his mouth. not one word. maybe he thinks we'll remember that he was sued for racial discrimination in housing and called for the death penalty of five innocent young black and latino boys in central park rape case. but a packed show today including an interview with martin luther king iii and carrie kennedy, daughter of robert f. kennedy. before we get to tharkt, let's t to the latest on president trump. joining me is jeff m

dr. king was standing on the balcony of a second floor hotel room tonight when, according to a companion, a shot was fired across the stream. the bullet exploded in his face. police who have been keeping a close watch over the nobel peace prize winner because of memphis turbulent race situations were on the scene almost immediately. they rushed the negro leader to the hospital, where he died of a bullet wound in the neck. police say they found a high powered hunting rifle about a block from the hotel. he mayor has reinstated a dusk to daughter curfew. governor buford ellington has called out 4,000 national guardsmen. police report that the murder has touched off sporadic acts of violence in a negro section of the city. in a nationwide television address, president johnson expressed the nation's shock. >> america is shocked and saddened by the brutal slaying tonight of dr. martin luther king. i ask every citizen so reject the blind violence that has struck dr. king, who lived by non-violence. i

you know, "they shot dr. king. they shot dr. king. somebody shot dr. king!"reporter: ms. mary ellen, did you know, when you saw him, immediately that he was dead? >> no, no. we didn't think he was gonna die. >> reporter: you didn't? >> no. >> reporter: why not? >> he can't. >> martin luther king jr. was killed tonight in memphis, tennessee. >> reporter: mary ellen stayed at the motel for three days after dr. king was killed. as the country's spotlight turned to the lorraine. >> just plugged up the lines because we kept getting called from reporters. even the pay phone on the outside, did dr. king get shot? did dr. king get shot? >> reporter: while she'll forever be there, standing in the blurry shadows of history, mary ellen chooses to remember a different moment. with the man that inspired so many. >> the thing that really stands out to me the most is seeing all these people sitting on the brick wall, waiting to get a glimpse of dr. king. >> reporter: when people knee he was going to be at the motel -- >> they were there. >> reporter: they would come. >> the