when jesse owens came back he could not eat in restaurants in his own country. present-day, we will praise our athletes as our but whenon the field we have a conversation about education reform. all of a sudden we begin forcing the conversation, sports allows .s sports, comedy, and music bring us together because of ethnicity, gender, all those factors. we are all operating behind this one deal. those are three entertainment venues. we can get along and that is great. we go outside of that, your back in the real world. the problem i have in we have these conversations and is somebody who spent six years on cnn, i have been involved in media since i was 14. in the media we do the exact same thing in the real world. let's hurry up and end this conversation. let's move onto what we were talking about beforehand. with get off this stuff michael sam and dealing with race and gender so we can get back to playing games. we like to play games. verses dealing with the hard stuff. what i try to do is say wait a minute. you have to keep that conversation going. even if you

jesse owens. it wasn't just about running. what was going on at that time? at war, near war, world issues. at the olympics. this was literally the united states of america against germany. now being defined on a track. america's strength. 1968 olympics. john carlos decides to stand on the podium with a black glove on his hand and puts his fist up in the 1960's as a sign to the world of what was on his mind. life changed. never really anything for john carlos. our friend here. comes in to the nba and changes his name. you have a right to change her name. huge controversy in sports. cassius clay. -- i know where i where i was listening on the radio. you are either joe frazier fan , and that had one set of perspectives, or you are a mohammed ali fan. that had eight different perspective. they were both in each of those camps, trying to define, are you a radical or are you in an establishment? that is what has been going on. up,ainly from the 60's on issues playedther out on a larger scale in the united states of america. it is shaping attitudes and perspectives

jesse owens. it wasn't just about running. what was going on at that time? at war, near war, world issues. at the olympics. this was literally the united states of america against germany. now being defined on a track. america's strength. 1968 olympics. john carlos decides to stand on the podium with a black glove on his hand and puts his fist up in the 1960's as a sign to the world of what was on his mind. life changed. never really anything for john carlos. our friend here. comes in to the nba and changes his name. you have a right to change her name. huge controversy in sports. cassius clay. -- i know where i where i was listening on the radio. you are either joe frazier fan , and that had one set of perspectives, or you are a mohammed ali fan. that had eight different perspective. they were both in each of those camps, trying to define, are you a radical or are you in an establishment? that is what has been going on. up,ainly from the 60's on issues playedther out on a larger scale in the united states of america. it is shaping attitudes and perspectives

>> well -- and jesse owens and all of those things. it was about -- now, through sports, we know that we're not inferior. is that still the same fight we're having today? >> yes. yes. but here's what jumped out at me. '36 was positioned as america versus nazi germany. but jesse owens, when he came back, could not eat in restaurants in his own country. and so to bring it present day, we will praise our athletes as our warriors on the field. let's have a conversation about education reform and are they actually being taught in the very school that's praising them for winning on friday night? and so sudden when we begin to force a conversation, sports allows us because it is a unifying matter if you will, sports and comedy really -- sports comedy and music are the three areas where literally we come together regardless of background, depending on the price of the ticket, [ ground, ethnicity, gender all those different factors and we're operating behind this one deal. so a lot of times, cool, we can get along and it's cool and great. but t

when jesse owens came back he could not eat in restaurants in his own country. to bring it to present-day, we will praise our athletes as our warriors on the field but when we have a conversation about education reform. all of a sudden we begin forcing the conversation, sports allows us because it is a unifying matter. sports, comedy, and music bring us together because of ethnicity, gender, all those factors. we are all operating behind this one deal. those are three entertainment venues. we can get along and that is great. then we go outside of that, you're back in the real world. the problem i have in we have these conversations and is somebody who spent six years on cnn, i have been involved in media since i was 14. in the media we do the exact same thing in the real world. let's hurry up and end this conversation. let's move onto what we were talking about beforehand. let's get off this stuff with michael sam and dealing with race and gender so we can get back to playing games. we like to play games. verses dealing with the hard stuff. what i try to do is s

and jesse owens and all of those things. now, through sports, we show that we are not inferior. is that still the same fight we are having today? >> yes. yes. but here is what just got at me. 36 was positioned as america versus nazi germany but jesse owens when he came back continue eat in restaurants in his own country. and so to bring it present day, we will praise our athletes as our warriors on the field, but let's have a conversation about education reform and are they actually being taught in the various schools as praising if they are winning on friday night. and so all of the sudden, when we begin to force the conversation, sports allows us because it is a unifying matter, if you will. sports and comedy really are probably -- sports, comedy and music are the three areas where literally, we come together regardless of background, depending upon the price of the ticket, background, ethnicity, gender, all of those different factors and we are all operating behind this one deal. but you know all of those are three entertainment venues. so a lot of times, we like to, okay, co

that year's sensation was track star jesse owens, who shattered records and nazi claims of racial supremacy. and also louie sam bor iny who finished with a final sprint under hitler's watchful eye. from his home in the hollywood hills, now 93, he remembers. >> i was invited to meet hitler. and just a quick hand touch. and that was it. and he just simply, boy, that was a fast finish. >> even before japan attacked pearl harbor, louie had enlisted in the army air corps. he was assigned to drop bombs from this b-24, nicknamed superman. based in hawaii, louie bombed wake island and a phosphate plant on nehru island. >> we were told to flatten it. i bombed the runway, and the bombers, and the factory. and then i had one alternate bomb. and i dropped it on a shack that was a fuel supply. and a cloud of smoke shot in the air as high as we were, 8,000 feet. >> suddenly superman was being pursued by nine japanese fighter planes. >> we took bullets, right tail shot off. left tire flattened. blood all over the plane. and we had seven american seriously injured. got them back alive. one died. >> louie h

he competed in the 1936 berlin olympics where he was jesse owens' roommate.ended usc where he is the only national champion in the outdoor mile in school history. during world war ii, he survived a 47 days on a raft in shark-infested waters. after a plane crash, then spent two years in a japanese prison camp. zamperini would often share his inspiring life story to student athletes. rocky setto met him as an assistant football coach at usc. he felt a connection it a deeply spiritual man. >> accomplishments, war heroes, all those things described them but i believe what defined him was his relationship with jesus christ without question. >> reporter: zamperini had been battling pneumonia in recent days. his family released a statement saying after a 45-day battle for his life, he peacefully passed away in the presence of his entire family. in may, zamperini was named the grand marshal of the 2015 rose parade. he died at the age of 97 but even in his sunset years, he was known to enjoy rock climbing and skateboarding. jeff nguyen, kpix 5. >> zamperini's story wa