in fact, the ernest withers museum is set to open in his old beale street studio in memphis. the allegations are a blow to withers' family, fearful they could stain his legacy. >> he left images that are in our minds giving us a true picture of what took place. and to say that he betrayed african-americans is a false statement. >> reporter: images of the country's troubled history and the man behind them, drawing new headlines decades later. ron mott, nbc news, atlanta. >>> and that's our broadcast on a tuesday evening. thank you as always for being here with us. i'm brian williams. and we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. and we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> dramatic dispatch calls being heard for the first time tonight at nbc bay area gets exclusive information on the explosion of natural gas pipelines. good evening, i'm lisa kim. >> and i'm tom sinkovitz. >> we have several reports on the san bruno explosion tonight

in fact, the ernest withers museum is set to open in memphis. allegations are a blow to withers' family, fearful they could stn his legacy. >> he left images that are in our nds giving us a true picture of what took place. and to say that he betrayed african-americans is a false statement. >> reporter: images of the country's troubled history and the man behind them, drawing new headlines decades later. ron mott, nbc news, atlanta. >>> and that's our broadcast on a tuesday evening. thank you as always for being here with us, i'm bria williams. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

how do we know you're not another ernest withers?" >> warner: earl caldwell, thank you very much. >> thank you. it's my pleasure. >> brown: again, the major developments of the day: tea party activists and outsiders celebrated another round of primary upsets. mexico marked the bicentennial of its independence, under the shadow of drug violence. and tropical storm karl hit the yucatan peninsula. it's expected to cross into the gulf of mexico and strengthen into a hurricane. and to hari sreenivasan, in our newsroom, for what's on the "newshour" online. hari? >> sreenivasan: we have a series of mexico dispatches from jose luis sierra. tonight's is about residents of tijuana defending the safety of their city. on yesterday's primary in washington, d.c., education correspondent john merrow looks at what the defeat of mayor fenty means for the overhaul of the city's schools and for chancellor michelle rhee. plus, we talk about the new face for twitter.com and why it happened with c.e.o. evan williams. all that and more is on our web site, n

. >>> ernest withers is accused of providing information to the fbi for years, including information about the meetings from martin luther king jr. and militants. he was allegedly named as an fbi informant. his daughter says these fly in the face of his father's -- her father's work, capturing the struggle of the civil-rights movement. >>> the famed rotunda at the university of virginia will get a facelift. it will be replaced with part of its columns restored, and it should cost about $23 million. the university hopes the state will pay $13 million, and the rest will come from private donations. >>> and still to come on abc7 news at 6:00 -- >> in northwest washington, one person is honored for his work in trying to prevent sexual assault. i will tell you about it. >>> and a picture perfect wednesday. bob ryan is next with the complete forecast. >> it was a picture perfect day in atlanta. wait until you see. and the ravens are tryi >>> a unique approach to problem. men can stop rape. >> it teaches masculinity and nonviolence, and some d.c. students are being honored for their work to

his name was ernest withers.any of the era's most important events are in history because he captured them on fim. withers told the fbi about the workings of the civil rights' inner circle. wit withers died in 1997. his family doesn't believe the attlez are true a allegations and his family will fight them. >>> great night out there. it will contue to be a great night, great day tomorrow, and guess what? more great weathern store. outside right now, a very nice shot of the international airport, reagan international. we saw high temperatures today and a high of 84 degrees. still nice today even though we did seeuite a few clouds out there, those clouds maki their way in from the west. currently we're sitting at 69 degrees. dew point and hudity at69%. 71 in hagerstown, maryland. 72 back towards mart inzburg, so the higher elevations getting a little more warmth there. quinton, maryland coming in at 58. we did see some clouds in the west today, and it's now sinking to the south as our frontal boundary does the same

other own ron mott has more on these refer lagss about the photographer ernest withers and the reactionit. >> reporter: the times were turbulent, the nations were on everyone and he was there, up close and personal. the pictures he took during the civil rights movement, unlike anyone else's, he tremendous access, yet none of his famous and or not so famous subjects knew he was cleblgtsing more than snapshots, the center piece of a double exposure, withers was also allegedly on the payroll of j edgar hoorcher's fbi as informant me 338 r. he died three years ago. >> what was going on in the heart of a man who was a strong believer and supporter of civil rights but at the same times were working hand in hand with the fbi. >> reporter: the newspaper used federal documents to chronicle his coverage of the civil rights movement. >> anybody who might possibly threaten the establishment or might be a celebrity of any kind and this was a good conduit for getting that information. >> well, the fbi was using him, he was using the fbi. >> reporter: the reverend joseph lowery is among those withers

all the work of the late ernest withers, considered the original civil rights photographer. >> well,ographers that you want to know. and loved the movement. >> reporter: or did he? the memphis "commercial appeal" has unearthed secret f.b.i. files. withers was also a paid snitch, selling information and photographs to the feds. one entry "dr. king checked into the lorraine motel prior to going to a strategy meeting." it was april 3, 1968, the day before king was murdered. the files refer to withers as "m.e.338-r." the "r" stood for "racial informant. >> it's an act of betrayal to even let the f.b.i. think that they could get someone from among us to do us harm. >> reporter: in the late '60s, f.b.i. director j. edgar hoover seemed determined to destroy dr. king. everyone in the within the movement's leadership knew it. >> we always operated under the assumption that we were under the microscope and that our telephones were tapped. >> reporter: withers marched with dr. king, ate with him, sat in on strategy sessions with leaders of the movement. a known and trusted face, he had access a

his name is ernest withers. many his most important events are preserved for history because he captured them on f m film. those events include the moments that immediately followed the assassination of dr. martin luther king, jr. withers told the fbi about the workings that movement's inner circle. he's also accused of informing on people who supported the cause. withers died back in 2007. his daughter says the family denies the allegations and will fight them. >>> nfl officials are looking into whether members of the new yo jets crossed the line and harassed a female reporter. on saturday, the reporter from mexico's tv teca said she felt uncomfrtable. she told her story on the "today" show this morning. michelle franzen has our report. >> reporter: a popular spts reporter from mexico's t tv azteca. now, ines sainz is part of a sexual harassment complaint against the jets. she's glad the nfl has agreed to investigate. >> i preferred that the nfl make the adjument, becaus they have all the pieces together >> it

but according to new reports, ernest withers was also an fbi mole.ithers covered events from the emmitt till murder to the 1968 sanitation strike that brought martin luther king, jr., to memphis where king was assess until thed. the memphis commercial newspaper reports that witters was an fbi informant from 1968 to 1970 passing along tips about the civil rights and antiwar movement. withers died in 2007. >>> a common asthma drug could be used to help treat those with ms. >>> growing concern for doctors. a drug resistant bacteria turns up here in illinois and other states. >>> and you may know his impressive acting career. did you know jeff daniels is a serious musician? we are fortunate to have him >>> dwayne wade and his ex-wife are squaring off. >>> julian crews is live at the daley center. >> good afternoon. this bitter custody trial could last as long as the month. dwayne wade's lawyers say his estranged wife tried to turn the two boys against their father and repeatedly tried to obstruction dwayne wade's efforts to see his own children. >> much