keni thomas, tell us about your experience with your connection with "black hawk down." i was part of the 75th ranger regiment and we are part of the guys who went in on that mission. >> ninety-four? >> ninety-three. it was initially a raid. everything changed when the first helicopter got shot down, just like that. the course of our lives changed. so when i get from that is in way that will make it out of some to come you spend the rest of your life thanking the people that were on your left and you're right that day. because i know by the grace of god that's why i'm still here. you will use every opportunity to tell their stories, whether i do it through music or in the book i'm going to tell their story. >> keni thomas, walk us through the day. >> there is documentaries on that, we be her for hours but i can tell you -- >> your experience. >> my experience. we came in on a nation and every thought it was going to be a normal thing. daylight raids are a little risky. we didn't know is we would lose 18 guys and 70 were wounded. the 130 who went in. do the math, a ton of

obviously what i have to say is lead the way. >> keni thomas is the author of this book, "get it on"what it means to lead the way, veteran of. [laughter] down talks about his experiences. >> next, richard thompson ford argue civil rights laws have been distributed by individuals, special interest groups and the political left and right for personal gain. it's about an hour. >> good evening everyone. i am dan atkinson the director of -- university of san diego california extension and it's my pleasure to welcome you here for the opening event in our 2011/2012 series of forums. i want to begin by thanking the narrow sciences institute. they are very gracious hosts for this series and provided the use of this beautiful hall to us and other groups at no fee so he we tangled them for that. also i want to mention the la jolla -- he provides media sponsorship for this series and as you have all noticed tonight we have two film crews here to document the program. as is their custom we have ucs g. filming and they will be filming the event for teacher broadcast broadcasts and broadcast and we

keni thomas, tell us about your experience, your connection with blackhawk down. >> i was part of the75th ranger rebelment -- regiment, and we were part of the guys that went in on that raid -- >> '94? >> '93. close though. everything changed when the first helicopter got shot down, and just like that, the course of our lives changed. so what i get from that is anybody that's going to make it out of something others didn't, you're going to spend the rest of your life thank those on your right and left that day, so you'll use every opportunity you can to tell their storying or whether it do it through music or a book, i'm going to tell the story. >> walk us through that day. >> dude, there's been documentaries on that, we'd be here for hours, but i can tell you -- >> your experience. >> my experience, everybody thought it was going to a -- to be a normal thing. what we didn't know is we would lose 18 guys. of the 130 of us that went in, a ton of us got wounded and hit. those numbers would have been significantly higher had it not been for the level of the planning and the training. but

keny, tell us more. (s:reporter the mom's child is only identified as a 39-year- old woman but tonight police are saying she made one heck of a reckless decision by leaving her six-year-old alone inside this apartment hear along the 6400 block of rock force. officers say the little girl was trying to make toast when the toaster oven began to overheat. when asked where her mother was at, the six-year-old told police she had gone to the gym. when her mother came to pick her up she was charged for leaving the child unattended. she said she was not at the gym but rather she had stepped out to bay groceries. >> luckily nothing bad happened tonight, but this is a prime example of leaving your child unattended only for a few  minutes could be tragic. and, therefore, we highly -- it's slightly important that all parents understand the law. >> maryland law says no child under the age of eight can be left alone unless they're being supervised by someone who is at least 13 years of age. we understand that mom has