. >> that was john palmer breaking the news of the challenger disaster.ries he covered during 40 years at nbc. >>> from beirut to washington, he was that rare soul in the rough and tumble world of news. smart, brave, but always courtly. a southern gentlemen in the trench coat of a foreign correspondent correspondent. >> paris without the eiffel tower is like a frenchman without wine. >> he covered war and summits from the field and from the anchor desk on toechltds the pride of kings port tennessee, he got the first break in atlanta in 1960, just two years later he joined nbc news where he would spend the better part of the next 40 years. >> at times the fighting has been heavy using mortars and machine guns. >> his assignments were gritty. based in tel aviv, beirut and paris. until 1979 when he was named correspondent, covering five presidents jimmy carter ronald reagan, both bushes and bill clinton. >> the many chapters of his career are part of his memoire. written before he died last year. shared with us by his wife who we met while working here at wa

john palmer, nbc news, at the white house. >> the situation did not improve soon.hat was 15 years ago. 1999. when the man who is now attorney general was then deputy attorney general. and he sat the same time was president clinton's point man on trying to improve trust between communities of color and the police departments that are supposed to protect and serve them. it's exactly what eric holder is still trying to do now, 15 years later, as attorney general in the face of a continuing tide of high-profile police killings, particularly of black men. the abner louima case is one of the ace case that's was name checked in the nbc report from 15 years ago. legendary journalist mike mcalary broke that story in 1997 about abner louima. he was a young man, an immigrant from haiti, arrest bid police officers in brooklyn, beat nan their patrol car with night sticks and police radios. then he was taken to a police station house in brooklyn where officers violently raped him with a broken-off broom handle. he needed three rounds of surgery and two months of hospitalization

my perspective has been refreshed just this week because john palmer was just published posthumously. we just had a gathering in new york this sides. in looking through it, he writes that he came from being the senior foreign correspondent for nbc covering sa dat and arafat and beirut and traveling the world in africa and the congo and all over the world. when bill small came to nbc, he asked to become a domestic correspondent. they said come to washington like tomorrow. he was going to jimmy carter. one of the things he writes, as i learned my way around the carter white house, some were easy and some weren't. i found that if you wanted to, you could ask the president if you didn't abuse the privilege. if you had something you were working on, i was working on an environmental piece and wanted to ask questions. i asked for time with the president. that gives you an idea of early on. the greatest beat as white house correspondent. that was something going on at the white house. it was enough that john said i will check it will check it out. he on a suit and ran down to the west gate a