university. mola lenghi is live with more from howard tonight with reaction. what are you hearing? >> reporter: whether it's a question of identity or a matter of alleged discrimination, it seems the issue of race has been present in rachel dolezal's life, at the very least going back to her days as a student here at howard university. before rachel dolezal was a white woman pretending to be black she was a white student at historically black howard university. >> it's bringing negative energy. it's kind of like bad energy coming towards howard. >> reporter: while at howard dolezal who was rachel moore at the time filed a lawsuit against the university and one of its art professors claiming discrimination based on race, pregnancy, family responsibilities and gender as well as retaliation. she also alleged the university blocked her appointment to a teaching assistantship, rejected her application for internship and denied her scholarship aid. a judge ultimately dismissed the lawsuit. in an e-mail response to wusa9 a university spokeswoman wrote, "howard university considers this ma

the court document showing her married and known as rachel moore sued howard university when she was in graduate school. she claimed the university and chair of the department denied her financial aid at the historically black college because she was white. more discrimination based on race and gender as well as her retaliation. the court of appeals ruled against moore. moore revealed no evidence that howard's failure to hire her was motivated by race or any other classification. >> it bothers me because she's dishonest. >> i think she's just confused. i think there's a lot of other issues in there. >> a university student told us she finds this case to be insulting on many levels. >> i can't go around and say i'm going to be a white woman today, or i'm going to be an latino today or a native american. you can't do that. >> we asked officials to respond to this lawsuit. they declined. back to you. >> murder suspect darren wint is in court. he faces charges. police believe he did not act alone but no other arrests have been made. we will have updates on wjla.com and abc 7 news at noon.

our mola lenghi is at howard university where dolezal earned her masters degree. >> reporter: race is a difficult thing to get people to talk about especially on camera to estranger, a stranger, but we asked anyway. >> if you think you're black, why not? >> reporter: can someone be transracial, the idea race is a feeling, that you can connect to a race emotionally, culturally, intellectually or any way other than biologically. >> i understand her need to identify with another race, but i think the whole idea of being transracial is kind of make believe. >> reporter: why? >> because you can't be what you're not. >> reporter: reggie elliott says claiming you're a particular race doesn't make you that race, but he adds you don't need to be of a particular race to identify with the culture within that race. >> can a white woman say that she understands the plight of a black woman? >> she can say it and she may actually understand it based on person's history. >> reporter: then there's another take. if you feel it, you can be it. >> why not? it's more than a category when you can relate to

she sued howard university because she was discriminated against. >> sued howard university she was discriminatedt as a white woman, as a white woman. after that she made this transition to this being a black woman or whatever. and of course she committed fraud. unlike caitlyn jenner, she committed fraud on applications. you can't do that. so she's, first of all maybe a crook. and couple of screws loose in the head for sure i think. >> you know, i had a question about this because i was doing some research on this story and you only had to go as far as the spokane chapter's twitter page to find a picture of her in baltimore. because i thought she looked so familiar to me i couldn't figure out where i had seen her. you know where i saw her? protests in baltimore in may. on the ground, whooping up the crowd with no justice, no peace. telling stories of how as a black woman she felt discriminated against. and then this picture popped up. she is with the prosecutor marilyn mosby. she went to her office. there they are together. that is why she looked so familiar to me. so here is my question. does sh

. >>> a howard university alum at the center of a growing controversy. tonight, the backlash amid reports that a civil rights leader lied about her own race. >>> and they captured headlines the day they were born. not just in d.c., but across the country. now nearly 20 years later >>> ever since the thompson sextuplets were born we have been following their story, we were with them at george up to university hospital, with them for birthday parties and tonight catching up with them as they prepare for an exciting new chapter. been a little more than 18 years since the thompson sex ten lutz made history. >> talk about time flying, now time for another milestone. two of the girls are getting ready for graduation day. as news4's zack zachary kiesch shows us a great time to reflect on the family's amazing journey. . anybody can do t. >> reporter: today a reason to celebrate, graduation and celebrations. >> this is emily thompson octavia thompson richard thompson stella thompson who is graduating, used to cry and ann marie thompson. >> reporter: jackie thomps

diane cho is live near howard university where she attended graduate school. diane: the naacp president and ceo wouldn't answer any questions today surrounding the controversy, students here on campus are certainly talking about it. the naacp spokane chapter posted the now former president's resignation letter on facebook today announcing that she is stepping down from her position. >> i felt like she resigned because she was under pressure. diane: in the letter, dolezal states in part the controversy surrounding her racial identity has become a distraction from the naacp focus. >> i don't see why she went out of her way to do that. diane: students here at howard university where dolezal attended graduate school had mixed reaction. >> there are misconceptions. i support her and the movement. >> it's completely ridiculous that was allowed to happen for so long. diane: dolezal's resignation letter says while challenging the construct of race at the core of te solving human consciousness we cannot afford to lose sight of the game changers such as justice, public

we learned the howard university alum sued howard for discrimination.k in 2002 she claimed her artwork was taken down from a student exhibit and replaced with pieces done by african american students. a judge dropped the case after finding no evidence of discrimination. cbs' chris martinez has more on dolezal's resign from the naacp. >> reporter: through a facebook page rachel dolezal gave up her position as naacp chapter president without clearly answering lingering questions about her ethnicity saying in part in the eye of the current storm, i can see the desperation of family and organizational outcomes is in the best interest of the naacp. controversy has been building around dolezal for days after accusations that she was misrepresenting her background. >> if i was asked i'd definitely say yes i do consider myself to be black. >> reporter: pictures from her childhood in montana show a blond haired, blue eyed, freckle faced girl. her parents say dolezal has lied about her past for years. >> our daughter is primarily german and cheque and european de

. >> accused of posing as african-american sued howard university for more than a decade ago. claimed at the time she was district nated against because she was white. >> jackie benson got a ruling and she is live on the howard campus now. jackie? >> this lawsuit filed in the district filled in blank spots in this strange story. now it does confirm that rachel dolezal did attend graduate school here on a teaching scholarship and that when she was here, she did not appear to be trying to pass as african-american. this 2005 d.c. court of appeals opinion upheld the original findings in the lawsuit against howard university by rachel dolezal, known by her married name, rachel moore in 2002. she claims she was a victim of discrimination while a graduate student at university. she claims officials removed some of her artwork in a 2001 art exhibition in order to favor african-american students. the court ultimately ruled in howard's favor. with curiosity and a measure of compassion for dolezal who resigned as head of the spokane, washington naacp. >> a lot of kids go home in the summe

we know rachel dolezal attended howard university. there's word about a lawsuit filed against the school. >>> young man driving an ice cream truck another guy comes up and pumps two builts into himllets into him in front of a group of kids. coming up how police were able to find the guy who did the shooting. >>> police are changing the way after they are going after drug dealers after hundreds of >>> chris lawyer lean here with the latest on the naacp director who resigned after being accused of trying to pass her off as a black woman. a report says rachel dolezal sued howard university for denying her a scholarship because she was white. we got our hands on that lawsuit. news4 has confirmed that dolezal did attend howard university. and the smoking gun is reporting that she was going by the name rachel dolezal moore at that time. the lawsuit was filed in washington, d.c. superior court. and in it rachel moore claims school officials blocked her from getting a teaching post and denied her a scholarship because of her race, gender and

in 2002 she unsuccessfully sued howard university for discriminating against her because she was, atme at least white. joining us criminal defense attorney johna spill bore mercedes colwin great to have you both here. >> great to be here. lou: this is -- suing howard university, all of the curfufel, if she weren't the head of the naacp, would there be a problem here? >> there would be a problem obviously what she's been doing the course of her life is being white when it serves her to be white like suing howard university and being black when it serves her to be black. the problem i have if you are claiming to be anything i don't care what race you are claiming to be, you are going to get a benefit but it's not your genuine race you are committing a fraud. she should be in jail for that. i don't care how sympathetic claiming she identifies with the black experience the black experience is culture. lou: president obama calls himself black. he's biracial why should he be more forthcoming on the issue of checking black when checking a box, it's repugnant that we have to say what race we

and as you know, dolezal attended howard university as a white graduate student. in 2002 dolezal sued howard saying the school discriminated against her because she was white. among her claims, she says officials removed some of her artwork from the exhibition in order to favor african-american students. the court ultimately ruled in howard's favor. howard students were curious but showed some compassion for her position. dolezal -- >>> the massive data -- breach that affects so many federal workers will be the subject of an intense hearing today. this morning every member of the house oversight committee will receive a briefing on the hack. jeh johnson will be one of the officials delivering an update on capitol hill. hackers got access to as many as 14 million federal workers' private information. that number could go up since the breach started in december. but it wasn't detected until april. >>> donald trump signaling a possible presidential bid. many say that he appears much more serious this time around. trump is expected to share the details of his personal

s howard university was also thrust into the spotlight. former naacp leader attended grad school at howard. and she filed a lawsuit against that school in 2002 claiming that the faculty discriminated against her for being white. dolezal addressed that issue during an interview with nbc. >> [ no audio ] >> we had technical difficulties there dolezal's parents are firing back, saying her comments on nbc were inconsistent and don't make sense and disappointed she is still making false statements. >>> whur broadcasts from howard's campus so this hits close to home. troy johnson is here with today's talk around town. what are folks saying about her? >> listeners that i spoke to say they feel like dolezal essentially is fraudulent when she really doesn't need to be. she can be as authentic as she wants to be but i think her narrative and her story is something that folks are saying, this just doesn't sound right. they kind of are feeling what the parent have been saying as well and she was already embraced by the community. apparently, doing some

it's an historical black university. >> reporter: i'm a graduate of howard university.an tell you when she was there, she graduated with a masters in 2002. that's when she filed a lawsuit. she was claiming she was discriminated against based on race also pregnancy, family responsibilities and gender. it's important to point out that her parents have told us when she applied to howard university she applied as a white woman. there was no box to check about what race she was and that at that point people said she looked very much like a white woman. it's interesting to see how this changed. we know a judge threw out the case saying there wasn't enough evidence on her side to prove her case. >> thank you very much. now that con troetroversy adding to the question what would lead this woman to completely change her race or to say that she's a race she isn't? i'm joined by a psychologist and a professor of behavior medicine as well as our own don lemon. let me show the picture. as a teenager she's a pale-skinned white kid. here she is obviously darker skinned, different hair

we went to howard university to find out what people think about a concept called transracial. >> if you are black then, why not. >> reporter: does it work like that? can someone be transracial? the idea that race is a feeling that you can connect to a race emotionally or culturally or intellectually or in anyway other than biologically? >> i understand like her need to identify with the other race but don't think -- i think the thing is make believe. >> reporter: why? >> because you can't be what you are not. >> reporter: reggie elliot says claiming you are a particular race doesn't make you that race. but he adds that you don't need to be of a particular race to identify with the culture within the race. >> a white girl say she understands the plight of a black woman. >> she can say it and she may actually understand it. based on her the person's history. >> reporter: and experience. >> reporter: and kareema scott's take if you feel it you can be it. >> why not? it's more than a category when you can relate to a culture. it's a lot of things going around white and black right now a

. >> the conversation is sparked by the revolution that a howard university graduate and naacp leader may be a white woman who has been posing for years as black. bruce leshan has reaction to rachel dolezal's story. >> reporter: is that your dad? >> yeah. that's my dad. >> reporter: she is rachel dolezal, the spokane, washington naacp president and her first reaction to questions about her race was white. are your parents white? at howard university and in earlier media interviews she has called herself biracial or black, but her white parents' early pictures of her show a child who is blonde haired and fair skinned. >> rachel has wanted to be someone she's not. she's chosen not to just be herself. >> i don't give 2 [ bleep ] what you guys think. >> reporter: dolezal says her parents have no part in her life. >> yes. i do consider myself to be black. >> somebody is trying to pretend to be something they're not. i don't know why she would try to pretend to be black. >> reporter: on the street and in the lunch spots of d.c. lots of questions. >> that's terrible. that's trash. i can't en

she claims howard university, historically black university, denied her a job as a teacher assistancewhite. earlier today, she resigned from the naacp amid -- claims for years she was black her parents said last year her. >> joining us now. take up some of the interesting twists and turns of presidential politics former white house chief of staff john sununu author of new book, the quiet man. >> thank you lou. lou: we want to recommend this to everyone, hw, bush, i love the idea. he was indispensable. >> a time when there was a huge opportunity for u.s., and world to take advantage. bush handled it in terms of creating the alliance if you will with thatcher and gaining gorbachev's confidence, allow that to happen without a shot fired. >> fortunate enough to see what happened. up close. and off of record, traveling with some president's delegations to moscow. it was a remarkable time, i also lament that we didn't do more, in succeeding years in clinton era to really cement what could have been a person bond between russia former uss rstates and europe and the u.s. >> that is say relati

>> she sued howard university for suing against her for being white. i don't know what she is at-this-point. i think her parents come off as normal ones. i would go to media too if my daughter was holding up pictures of a black guy they met 3 weeks ago saying this is my father. she has some issues, some serious issues. kennedy: she took one of her adopted brothers. >> and rechristianed her as her own son. kennedy: here is my son. so, something is amis. but you know, who am i to say. >> to the point, when people say is a construct. this is an argument to made she is doing that. taking it -- constructing her own house. >> it is deceptive to say i should be to police oversight committee and head of naacp, when everyone is wait, you are not black? kennedy: what are you going to do 6 and 1? more with panel. hillary clinton runs in to trouble with the press, they are trying to follow her on the trail, but who would suspect that hillary might be dodging reporter? >> and topical storm, blowing through the rock gets into a car crash with fans, then things get i

and didn't like how she was treated at howard university which is a predominantly african-american school she decided to hate white people and rachel makes a fine black liberal don't be mad at the us be mad at who wronged you. >> we could focus on the race but that is not the issue and we could go down a road that is not helpful in this situation. this chapter needs someone to run it. if they handled this properly and she had not lied -- >> she had such a long history in the case of lying. it is not like she said it for this job. it has been many applications, it has been accepting a scholarship at school if you pretend to be any color for personal or financial gain that is fraud and lying and that is what the issue is about. i thought it was amazing her parents said of all her faults this was the worst. this isn't just a one-time thing. this is a whole field events. her brother said in reports she asked them to lie for her. this has been going on for a long time. >> she threatened her brother and said don't out me. >> time for counseling. >> two things from this. her family members when

reporter: she went to college in jackson, mississippi before earning a master's degree from howard university02. throughout her career she has fought for racial equality. here she is with baltimore prosecutor marilyn mosby. she was appointed to oversee equality in the police department. but she indicated she is white, black, and native american. now the city is checking to see if this has violated any policies. >> the truth that she is a white woman who is trying on the blackness, everything but the burden and she can always walk away from it. >> reporter: cnn tried to reach her for comment. as for the naacp? the organization is saying, quote, we encourage americans of all stripes to become members and serve as leaders in our organization. >> you don't have to be black to be a leader in the naacp or to go to howard university. but what is puzzling so many people is that she has been known to be an effective leader when it comes to race relations and many don't understand her need to lie. >>> new developments in the new york prison escape. a woman who worked with the inmates is in jail herself

. >> we have learned dolezal filed a lawsuit against howard university claiming she was discriminated against because she was white. the historically black university denied her a job. they were in african american students it says. the school was permeated with discriminatory and ridicule. they found no evidence of discrimination. coming up on "fox & friends" one of rachel dolezal's brother joins us live to talk about his thoughts on her resignation. >> for the third time in six years the chicago block hawks are stanley cup champions. >> game 6 of the nhl finals. the first time the blackhawk fans saw their team win their title at home. they are making sure to live it up in the streets of chicago keeping the party alive late into the night. >> it is now 10 minutes after the top of the hour. brand new details about the back-to-back shark attacks as witnesses describe that horror. >> what we have just learned about what the victims are doing doing -- how the vic testimonies are doing today. >> a photo shoot leaves families fearing for their lives. all in good fun or crossing the line? w

." >> reporter: rachel even received a full scholarship to the historically black college, howard universitych never inquired about her ethnicity on her application. >>:"eyes were popping, and jaws dropping when she walked in to finalize her registration in person." wrath >> reporter: but the dolezal's say they became estranged from their daughter when she began to assume a new black identity. rachel married an african american man, kevin, with whom she had a son----who posted a video about their love. later rachel would post facebook pictures of one of her adopted brothers as her own son, refereed to her "natural curls" and identified herself on a job application as part- black. as professor of africana studies at eastern washington university---rachel was clear. >>:"i would definitely say yes i do consider myself to be black." >> reporter: but it was the questionable death threats and reported hate crimes against rachel and her family which led to an investigation and questions about her race. in january the spoke-anne chapter of the naacp posted a picture of this black man who rachel clai

howard university hospital began as a friedman cost at all. of the many different hospitals that closed during this time, that one survive. one of the major points that the medical division had to respond to was a smallpox epidemic. not only were free slaves suffering from illness starvation dysentery, and other diseases but a smallpox epidemic breaks out in washington, d.c. in 1862. by the early part of 1863, it spreads to the upper south. by 1864-1865 it is in the lower south in the carolinas, and moves west to the mississippi valley and louisiana. what we begin to notice is the number of black people far outnumbered the number of white people who become sick with smallpox. it is very easy to fall back on a race of logic -- racist logic. 19th-century newspaper reporters and doctors see images like this and immediately blamed the health condition on black people. in fact, i have a few quotations. "the nation" wrote, there has been considerable speculation as to the effect of freedom on this physical condition of the former slave. by many, the

once at howard university hospital, he like wish undergirding -- languished on a gurney without treatment. >> this is about attitudes and all the things we found when i brother was killed. reporter: the family filed suit against the hospital and against the d.c. government. the establishment of the task force was part of the settlement. >> we have a long way to go in terms of meeting the guidelines the district made. reporter: the task force set of 36 recommendations with the goal of improving response in treatment of those in need. an audit found that nine years the department is adopted just 11 recommendations. six partially. it did adopt for in an later rescinded or reverse them. it is yet to adopt 15 of them. the biggest fate -- failure is achieving an all hazard agency. despite these findings there is optimism on the part of the city's auditor and on the part of the rosenbaum family. they said there is new leadership at the helm of the department of fire and ems and here in the city. they are optimistic the recommendations will soon be adopted. steven tschida, abc 7 news. jonathan: c

what we just learned about her application to howard university. >>> we continue to follow that breaking news at this hour. we will be going live to south carolina as the community reacts to the massacre. >>> plus, we will take a closer look at the suspect and why facebook pictures reveal clues >>> and we continue to follow that breaking news out of south carolina this evening. the gunman accused of killing nine people inside a charleston church last night is now behind bars. police captured 21-year-old dylann roof four hours away in north carolina. back in charles ton, the community is coming together this evening to support one another and deal with the aftermath of the deadly attack. jay gray in charleston now with the latest and reaction. jay in. >> reporter: hey there jim, you're right they are coming together, many vigils already here. we expect more tonight. a community that still is stunned, sometime reeling after the massacre and like investigators struggling to understand how and why all of this happened. the shock and mourning outside theeman ul african methodist episcopal chu

she obtained a master's degree from howard university which is a historically black university. she spent time working at north idaho college and was most recently an adjunct professor at eastern washington university. you don't have to go back too far to see her connection to the area. last month she met with baltimore prosecutor marilyn mosby at a naacp convention. she took part in a protest against the death of freddie gray last month outside the baltimore fraternal order of police. jonathan: it's now illegal to smoke electronic cigarette in public places in montgomery county. it's been banned where moking was banned. it now goes into effect today be. warned. let's talk about what is happening outside. if you get outside for longer than ten minutes we are all smoking it's so hot out there. you steam first and then you start to smoke. alison: uncomfortable. steve: you start to sweat and then you melt. end of story. we are looking at hot weather for the rest of the evening but not round tomorrow. a lot going on tomorrow and around the d.c. area. sunday a little break. alison: w

her parents say she went to howard university on a full ride scholarship because she said she was blackteaches a class called the black woman's struggle but the naacp says she has been a good president and key social justice advocate. here she is with baltimore state's attorney the naacp says one's racial identity is not a qualifying criteria or disqualifying standard for naacp leadership. the naacp stands behind her advocacy record and for now it appears she will remain the president. >> thank you. this is an unusual story on many levels. joining me now to talk about this richard fowler chris harris executive director of unhyphenated america and a criminal defense attorney and former member of the naacp. welcome. very good to have all of you with us tonight. chris, i want to start with you. what do you make of this? >> when i first heard the story i kind of smiled because i found myself thinking the number one question is is she black? of course i found myself thinking it depends upon what the meaning of the word is. at this point what difference does it make? >> sounds oddly familiar.

in 2002, she sued howard university for discrimination as a white woman. claiming she lost scholarship money and a job opportunity. a judge and then an appeals court found no basis for her claims and he was ordered to repay court costs in 2005. it's unclear when she started to publicly identify as being black. in 2010, while teaching the africana studies program at washington university she identified as black with an african-american father and white mother. >> much more than just an astettic. >> reporter: he became a fierce defender of civil rights and a leader in the black community there. in 2014, she was appointed to a commission that provided civilian oversight for the spokane police department. on her application, she identified herself as african-american, white and native american. in a posting from january on the organization's facebook page, this man is identified as rachel's father. she was questioned about that last week. >> is that your dad? >> yeah. that's my dad. >> reporter: that is the moment when rachel dolezal's story began to unravel.

she attended the historically black howard university on a scholarship, was once married to an he african american man and teaches africana studies at a local college. >> i think united states has a perverse relationship with race. race is so fraught in this country. one of the things i think this entire event does is expose how ludicrous the social phenomenon has been. it's had hardful effects incredibly detrimental effects on our society. we make fun of it. we make light of it and here is someone who actually exposes i think through her case how situational, how contextual the notion of raise can be, how voluntary the identity can be. >> the naacp issued a statement saying we respect this person's identity and racial identity is not a qualifying or disqualifying quality for our association. rob reynolds, spokane washington. >> robin forester walker has more from daku. >> this is the spectacular event we would expect from are amajor athletic ceremonies. lots of music lots of pyrotechnics and topped by lady gaga singing a rendition of john lenlennon's imagine. critical stance of israeli a

we've reached out to miss dolezal and howard university, waiting for confirmation back from them.was saying, as far as her appearance she could have presented herself as a white woman with dread lock extensions done her hair in an afro all of those things and been quote-unquote down. and still would have been able to perhaps -- >> she'd be iggy azalea then, right? >> and still be able to help out. a lot of people think that's fine. a lot of people appreciate the work she's put in. some people i've talked to think she was a really good leader and don't want her to stop doing that. she seems committed to the issues when you read her letter she talks about it. i think the issue here is not that she was down with the cause or that she wanted to be a part of it it was about the fact that she didn't tell the truth about who she was, so far as we know. >> we'll leave the conversation there, pick it up shortly in the next hour. stephanie elam don lemon, thaps to both of you. >>> the top leader of al qaeda's most dangerous branch is reported dead in a u.s. drone strike. in a separate u.s.

she left montana to go to college in jackson mississippi before earning a masters degree from howard universityn in 2002. throughout her career she has fought for racial equality. here she is with baltimore prosecutor marilyn mosbey. also apointed to oversee equality in the police department. on her application however, she indicated that she is white, black, and native american. now, the city is checking to see if this new revelation has violated any policies. >> the truth here is she is a white woman is exercising extraordinary privilege to try on blackness, some people say to try on everything but the burden to decide how and when she wants to be the thing she can always walk away from. >> reporter: cnn tried to reach her for comment. the naacp is standing behind her saying "we encourage americans of all stripes to become members and serve as leadersen our organization." >> and it is worth point outing that you don't have to be black to be a leader with the naacp and you didn't have to be black to go to howard university. these are some of the issues people are pointing to. at issue is why s

and went to howard university. he never held public office before winning the election in november but is no stranger to government service. he's worked as an appointee of maryland's previous governor and former president george w. bush. in his current position as lieutenant governor he leads the governor's heroine task for and economic development council. >>> a big heads up for senior citizen homeowners coming up. there's a new scam. there's a couple pulling off that's going to try to get into your house and steal your valuable valuables. we'll tell you about that. and a huge hit in getting a new home. why a show about the presidency is moving away from the district. ♪ ♪ ♪ turn around ♪ ♪ every now and then i get a little bit hungry ♪ ♪ and there's nothing really good around ♪ ♪ turn around ♪ ♪ every now and then i get a little bit tired ♪ ♪ of living off the taste of the air ♪ ♪ turn around, barry ♪ ♪ finally, i have a manly chocolatey snack ♪ ♪ and fiber so my wife won't give me any more flack ♪ ♪ i finally fou

once at howard university hospital he might was on a gurney without treatment until it was too late. >> this is all to do with attitudes and all the things we found when my brother was killed. reporter: the family filed suit against the hospital and against the d.c. government. the establishment of the task force was part of the settlement. >> we have a long way to go. reporter: the task force had 36 recommendations. an audit just released found the department has adopted just 11 recommendations. six partially, and it did adopt four bit later rescinded or reverse them. it is yet to adopt 15 of them. the biggest failure achieving and all hazard agency. >> where everyone is trained on the fire suppression side in the medical services side. maureen: that was steven tschida reporting. leon: we have a lot for you to report. doug: the immediate area has cleared up quickly. there is one area i want to show you live now that is at the heart of this severe thunderstorm. we're looking at the benedict bridge. i'm not sure which where we are looking. we're looking from the charles county side lo

it started when rachel dolezal was accepted to howard university. they assumed she was black. all of her paintings had black subjects. good work, howard, you fell for the 1980s soul man. well done howard. at this time mind you, she was white. and she ended up, this is true. she ended up suing howard. she felt as a white person she was treated unfairly this. is true. true. hold on. okay. she lost the lawsuit, right. so after that she decided fine, i will be black so i will never be discriminated against again. that was her thinking. that's how it works. right. [ applause ] >> larry: okay. alright. fine. she says she's black fine. alright. she has worked with the naacp. there must be something good out of this? should fake black lives matter? maybe? i don't know. the problem is you guys rachel ace lies cast doubt on being victim of racial harassment. she has made claims of receiving hate mail. >> hate mail sent to dolezal back in february was never processed by the postal service. postal inspectors said the threatening energy was put in dolezal's mailbox by someone with a key. >>

eyebrows were certainly raised when it was revealed that rachel dolezal sued howard university for racialed on race pregnancy, family responsibility and gender and retaliation and ultimately the suit dismissed by a federal judge. the documents do not mention her being white or caucasian and indicate she was discriminated against partly because she was not african-american and here's more from the exclusive with rachel dolezal explaining how that suit came about. >> the other piece of this then is the new revelation about a -- excuse me, a suit over and against howard law school -- excuse me, howard university during the the time you were a student there. >> right. >> again, people pointing to that as though it's about you attempting purposely to profit from a racial identity. talk to me about this. >> well i was seven months pregnant and, actually helped cat liz the first howard university on artist academy over the summer before the second year of grad school. super proud of that. high school students that have potential, artistic potential, experimenting in college and we had a whole sh

rachel went to college in mississippi and grad school at howard university, a black institution on anile she didn't identify herself as black on the application because there wasn't an option to her parents believe the school thought she was. >> because her portfolio was all african-american themes they only saw she wasn't black when she arrived. >> eyes were popping when she went to finalize her registration. >> reporter: howard honored the scholarship and married moore. the parents are on either side of the newlyweds, and the adoptive siblings. she sued howard for discrimination as a white woman, saying she lost a job opportunity. a judge and appeals court found no basis for her claims and she was ordered to re-pay court costs in 2005. it's unclear when she started to publicly identify as being black. in 2010 while teaching a studies program at eastern washington university she idend fied as black with an african-american father and white mother. >> black women much more than an aesthetic. >> reporter: she became a defender of civil rights and a leader in the black community there.

she graduated from howard university and in this photo called this man her dad.cp issued a statement on friday supporting her. >> to our vote, 2015 coverage thousands of supporters came out to u.s. former secretary of state and precedential hopeful hillary clinton. >> america cannot succeed unless you succeed. >> is that the why i am running for president of the united states. >> that rally was held roosevelt island, new york. she called for new era of shared prosperity saying american workers can trust her to fight thor them. she was running for president more than two years ago and today was her first major campaign speech. >> former congress woman gabrielle giffords attend aid meeting to chris ina ship with her name. u.s.s. gabrielle giffords is 16th naval vessel to be named after a woman and 13th ship since 1850 to be named after someone still living and joe biden's wife jill was there hope invasion suspect remains criticaldition tonight inside his home on the 5900 block of b street in the city olney section to find an intruder standing in the bedroom doorway

disingenuously to me because it seems it is more opportunistic and she got the scholarship to howard universitybut then she also got a position as the president of the naacp. she's also a professor of africana studies. so that tells me that she is black when it is a good opportunity for her, but white when it isn't, and so i think what we're seeing is a lack of authenticity and quite frankly, just someone that is lying. >> john gaskin if she had been honest and i know that's a large chunk of this, but let's put that to the side and she's obviously told a lot of lies and as you see in the introduce continues to is there a constructive conversation to have about the racial identity and to have about the idea of being transracial. >> i want to make it clear just because rachel happens to be caucasian doesn't mean she can't be an effective leader in the civil rights community. you look at someone like walter white in the naacp who was not african-american but was a very influential civil rights leader especially in the naacp. her track record in terms of civil rights advocacy is quite commendable,

pick up on the last exchange with rachel dolezal and melissa where she explains why she sued howard universityaying basically she was in survival mode surviving on oatmeal there. is that a valid explanation for suing the university saying they discriminated against her because she was white? >> well i think many of us across the country can relate to being in survival mode. i can't speak to the litigation but what i can simply say is this. taking up the calls in social justice is something one does conscientiously. taking on a racial identity, that's a more complicated perfection. she's resigned as leader of the n a a krrks naacp. she did so, as she said in that letter because she wants the branch to focus on that work. i can't speak to the litigation but i can say the cost of racial justice goes on and that's what's important here. >> i know that you and the organization released a statement just yesterday planning a huge rally, america's journey for justice, and you have called on for people of all races to join forces. could rachel dolezal have joined the movement without saying that she wa

howard -- juan howard university. she sued howard university claiming she was discriminated in favor of blacks. they removed her art she said because of black students. how could dyson or anybody say this is okay? she's using race to further her career. >> one way or the other. what's astounding to me is to hear people make excuses for mental disorder. at some point this woman's troubled. >> right. >> okay. you can say i have sensitivity and compassion. but look, clearly this is a troubled person who has tremendous psychological issues. he wants to put some kind of construct on it to excuse it. the fact is when she was pretending at one point she says i'm being discriminated against as a white person when she filed her suit against howard. now she's being discriminated against as a black person. she can't even deal with reality. yet she wants to appeal to others to behave on a moral basis, to achieve justice? how can you say that when you have no integrity? she has zero zilch. >> and dyson is enabling this sickness. k

. >> dolezal went to howard university as a graduate student and hired as part time professor in washingtong africaner studies. >> when it comes to hair hair is for black women much more than just an aesthetic. >> she should know often experimenting with natural hair styles. she is an artist painting works that depect the struggles of people of color. some priced for more than $10,000. art work featured in the video. >> we have older white men on our currency. what does that do to us as an image, it is part of our history. >> here on this application for city job with spokane police commission she declared herself as three races, white, black, native american. the spokane chapter, posted a picture of rachel and this man who she said was her father. claiming he couldn't visit spokane because he was battling bone cancer. a local reporter from affiliate kxly confronted her. >> is that your dad? >> yeah that's my dad. >> this man right here is your father? right there? >> do you have a question about that? >> yes ma'am, i was wondering if your dad really is an african-american man? >> that's a

. >> dean at howard university school of divinity says emanuel led wait forsome black churches by being a place where african-american politicians, leaders, organizers, teachers and more could find acceptance when they were barred by so much of america. >> you know you will come there unfiltered. you will come there without recrimination made against you. no matter of the disparages of the larger social order, you come here and can you learn how to be as fully human as you are. >> that's what emanuel meant to you. >> yes, absolutely. part of that means the affirming of every single person who comes inside our doors and those who are within the communities around us. t

is there any way that -- she went to howard university. did she attempt to get any scholarships based on race or ethnicity? >> no. >> no, and her application to howard university, there was no designation for ethnicity, and because rachel was coming from jackson, mississippi, college because her portfolio of art was all african-american portraiture, she assumed she was black and only found out she was not after she awarded her a full ride scholarship and she was not. >> was there any follow-up to that? >> the way we understood, eyes were popping and jaws were dropping when she walked in to finalize her registration in person. >> but for that application i do not believe rachel was deceptive as she has been more recently. >> ruthanne and -- go ahead. i'm sorry. >> you need to understand that in '95 when she left to go to bellhaven college in jackson, mississippi, she was there when she applied to howard after graduating from bellhaven, so they're talking to her from howard in jackson, mississippi, and so she sounds -- she's immersed in the

but in 2002 she sued historically black howard university where she was a student for discrimination because she was white. that case was dismissed. her true ethnicity last week, said now is the time for her to seek help. >> i think that she needs to step back and regroup before she lungs back in. >> reporter: naacp president cornell william brooks says integrity is the real issue. >> people trust us. they believe in us. they had anything impugn our name is very offensive. >> reporter: the city of spokane is now investigating whether dolezal lied about her ethnicity when she landed an appointment on its police oversight board. >> that was wendy gillert reporting. >>> a high you're call to combat climate change. documents reveal pope francis' argument for taking action to protect the earth. >>> the newest dogs joining the roster of the american kennel club. yet i'm so awake? did you know your brain has two systems? one helps keep you awake- the other helps you sleep. science suggests when you have insomnia, the wake system in your brain may be too strong and your neurotransmitters rem