[applause] >> staff sergeant melvin morris. america authorized by act of congress, march 3, 1863 has awarded in the name of congress the medal of honor to staff sergeant melvin morris, united states army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life, above and beyond the call of duty. staff sergeant melvin morris distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as commander of a strike force drawn from company delta, special forces group, airborne, first special forces during combat operations against an armed enemy in the vicinity of the republic of vietnam in september 17, 1969. on that afternoon, staff sergeant melvin morris's affiliated company encountered an extensive enemy minefield and for subsequent engaged by a hostile force. staff sergeant melvin morris learned by reader that a fellow team commander had been killed near in the bunker and he reorganize his men into an effective assault posture before dancing forward and splitting off with tw

. >> reporter: for 72-year-old vietnam veteran, melvin morris, it was 44 years and coming. when president obama called with the news, morris collapsed to his knees. >> i was overwhelmed at that point. and he was saying, be cool, be cool, be cool. >> reporter: today at a highly emotional white house ceremony, president obama presented a medal of honor to 24 service members from world war ii, korea, and vietnam. all passed over at the time because they were hispanic, jewish or african-american. >> the ceremony is 70 years in the making. as one family member has said, this is long overdue. >> reporter: only three including melvin morris are living today. one by one for more than an hour, each citation was read. >> knocking out the enemy mortar position and destroying both bunkers and killing their occupants. >> reporter: the president presented the highest military honor to the families of those who dedicated their lives to their country. as one of the original army green berets, staff sergeant melvin morris volunteered twice for vietnam. a battle in 1969 was almost his last.

most days you can find melvin morris at home in port st. john, florida. 72 years old. retired salesman and a great-grandfather. you'll find him working on his boat, going fishing, reading the bible, spending time with his beautiful wife, mary. married 53 years this month. you're going to have to give me some tips. we're not that far along yet. today, we remember how 27-year-old staff sergeant morris, one of our nation's very first green beret -- one of our very first green berets. think about that. i mean, that's legendary. how staff sergeant morris recovered a fallen comrade in vietnam, took out several enemy bunkers, and kept going even after he was shot three times. and on most days, you can find santiago erevia at home in san antonio. he's a 68-year-old retired postal worker. he's fixing up his house typically, tending to the garden, going on walks with his wife, or doing some pushups to stay in shape. today, we remember how 23-year-old specialist 4 erevia under a hail of bullets in vietnam gave first aid to his wounded comrades and single handedly destroyed four e

most days you can find melvin morris at home in port st. john, florida. 72 years old. a retired salesman and a great-grandfather. you will find him working on his boat, going fishing, reading the bible, spending time with his beautiful wife mary, married 53 years this month. you are going to have to give me some tips. we aren't that far along yet. [laughter] >> today we remember how 27-year-old staff sergeant morris, one of our nation's very irst green beer a -- berets -- ink about that, that's legendary, how staff sergeant morris recovered a fallen comrade in vietnam and took out several enemy bunkers and kept going after being shot three times. and on most days you can find santiago erevia at home in san antonio. he is a 68-year-old retired postal worker. he is fixing up his house, tending to the garden, going on walks with his wife or doing some pushups to stay in shape. [laughter] >> today, we remember how 23-year-old specialist 4 erevia, under a hail of bullets in vietnam, gave first aid to his wounded comrades and single hand he hadly destroyed four enemy bunkers

most days you can find melvin morris at home in port st. john, florida. 72 years old.ired salesman and a great grandfather. you'll find him working on his boat, going fishing, reading the bible, spending time with his beautiful wife, mary. married 53 years this month. you're going to have to give me some tips. we're not that far along yet. today we remember how 27-year-old staff sergeant morris, one of our nation's very first green berets -- one of our very first green berets. think about that. that's legendary. how staff sergeant morris recovered a fallen comrade in vietnam, took out several enemy bunkers, and kept going even after he was shot three times. and on most days you can find santiago erevia at home in san antonio. he's a 68-year-old retired postal worker. he's fixing up his house typically, tending to the garden, going on walks with his wife, or doing some push-ups to stay in shape. today we remember how 23-year-old specialist 4 erevia, under a hail of bullets in vietnam, gave first aid to his wounded comrades and single-handedly destroyed four enemy bunker

most days you can find melvin morris at home in port st. john, florida. 72 years old. a retired salesman and a great-grandfather. you will find him working on his boat, going fishing, reading the bible, spending time with his beautiful wife mary, married 53 years this month. you are going to have to give me some tips. we aren't that far along yet. [laughter] >> today we remember how 27-year-old staff sergeant morris, one of our nation's very irst green beer a -- berets -- ink about that, that's legendary, how staff sergeant morris recovered a fallen comrade in vietnam and took out several enemy bunkers and kept going after being shot three times. and on most days you can find santiago erevia at home in san antonio. he is a 68-year-old retired postal worker. he is fixing up his house, tending to the garden, going on walks with his wife or doing some pushups to stay in shape. [laughter] >> today, we remember how 23-year-old specialist 4 erevia, under a hail of bullets in vietnam, gave first aid to his wounded comrades and single hand he hadly destroyed four enemy bunkers

[applause] >> sergeant first class of melvin morris. >> sergeant first class melvin morris distinguishedimself by acts of gallantry above and beyond the call of duty while serving as commander of a strike force drawn from company d. fifth special forces group airborne, first special forces during combat operations against an armed enemy in the vicinity of the republic of vietnam on september 17, 1969. on the afternoon, staff sergeant morris affiliated companies encountered an extensiv extensiy minefield and were subsequently engaged by a hostile force. staff sergeant morris learned by radio that a team member had been killed near a bunker and immediately reorganized his men into an effective assault poster before advancing forward splitting off with two men to recover the team members body. observing the maneuver to force had fire on staff sergeant morris' element in successfully wounded both men accompanying him. after assisting the two wounded back to the force winds, staff sergeant morris charged forward into the withering enemy fire with only his men's suppressive fire cover. while e

most days you can find melvin morris at home in port st. john florida. 72 years old. greatgrandfather. you'll find him working on his boat, going fishing, reading the bible, spending time with his beautiful wife mary. married 53 years this month. y you're going to have to give me some tips. [ laughter ] we're not that far along yet. today we remember how 27-year-old staff sergeant morris, one of our nation's very first green berets. think about that. that's legendary. how staff sergeant morris recovered a fallen comrade in vietnam, took out several enemy bunkers, and kept going even after he was shot three times. and on most days, you can find santiago eravia at home in san antonio. he's a 68-year-old retired postal worker. he's fixing up his house typically, tending to the garden, beginning on walks with his wife. or doing some push-ups to stay in shape. today we remember how 23-year-old specialist 4 eravia, under a hail of bullets in vietnam, gave first aid to his wounded comrades and single handedly destroyed four enemy bunkers. these are extraordinary americans. t

>> 78-year-old melvin morris lives the life of a typically retiree. fishing, enjoying his boat. he looks the part too. and like many here, the hat he proudly wears speaks of military service. >> how many years were you in service? >> 23. >> first class morris joined the oklahoma national guard in 1959 and enlisted in the army. he joined the special forces and was one of the first soldiers to wear the green be ber bere trve. >> our job was to find the enemy and get some results. >> in 1969 he was on a mission where a platoon of south viet dmavietnamese inviters. other u.s. soldiers were hit and down. morris made a decision. >> we can't leave nothing for enemy. we'll never leave another fallen comrade. and i turned over to chuck and he was dead and i gave him last rites. my way. and i finished giving last rites i mean they open up. >> in a hail of gun fire the green beret carried the body out and went back for a fallen map case. >> what is in that case? >> sensitive material. >> a map? >> maps, documents, whatever. >> something you don't want the enemy to have? >> we don't want th

el sargento santiago heredia y josé rodela, hispanos recibieron la medalla, también el sargento melvin morrisdas por el tiempo en phoenix, arizona. >>> Él nunca me platicaba qué pasaba por allá, y yo no le preguntaba. >>> no sabía que estaba casada con un hombre de valor extraordinario. >>> me siento muy orgullosa de él ♪. por todo lo que pasó ... >>> también recibieron la medalla de honor, dos soldados nacidos en méxico, pedro cano y jesús durán. >>> el esfuerzo nació en el 2002, cuando el congreso pidió una revisión de los récords de los soldados hispanos y judíos que habían recibido la medalla en la guerra de iraq y vietnam y asegurarse que no se le había discriminado. >>> hoy se corrigió la historia dijo el presidente barack obama, en la casa blanca, lourdes meluzá, univisión. >>> honor a quien honor merece, qué lástima que muchos no estén para recibirlo. >>> gracias; buenas noches. >>> hasta pronto ♪ amor, amor, amor . ♪ no me sueltes de tu mano . >> ¿quÉ haces aquÍ? >> nada. me vine a trabajar a la casa, en la fonda no me podÍa concentrar. >> ah. >> ¿a ti cÓmo te fue? >> mal, pÉsimo. mi

up with of the other men honored, staff sergeant melvin morris, 72 years old.ays there is no way, really, to prepare them for the emotional extremes of war, trauma for some, and moral injury. it's a violation of the senses here. and now we have these men, and i should read the third person here, sergeant first class jose rodela. the third living vet. he received the medal for bravery during fighting in vietnam in early september, 1969. to note that some of these are vietnam vets. my dad, a vietnam vet. colonel, and we know the sensitivities that -- and rightfully so -- that many vietnam vets have in the way they feel they've been treated. >> very unpopular war. we had a draft, so it was not universal service. if you could not escape, you wound up in the service. and it's interesting that all those people, a large majority of people who wound up in the service, many against their will, performed bravely and valiantly, when we're all in it together, we all fight for each other. one last thing, we go through reviews all the time, recently, of some years ago, there

among them was army staff sergeant melvin morris. he was one of the country's irst green berets. he took out a bunker after being shot three times. here he is receiving his medal tonight. congratulations to the recipients and their families. that concludes our broadcast. you can continue to watch us on our 24-hour news network. check your local listings for our channel number. to reach me and most of the team, go to twitter. thanks for watching, and please tune in tomorrow. >> make sense of special news at "bbc news". >> funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, newman's own foundation, giving all profits to charity and pursuing the common good for over 30 years, and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to understand the industry you operate in, working to nurture new ventures and help provide capital for key strategic decisions. we off expertise and tailored solutions in a wide range of industries. hat can we do for you? >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet, los angele captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer product

melvin morris, santiago, and jose. >> new video from the moments after a news helicopter burst into flames in downtown seattle. they are working on what caused the chopper to crash into the street. witnesses say they heard unusual noises coming from the helicopter. pilot gary fitsner and the photographer were both killed. three cars also caught on fire because of the burning helicopter debris. a passenger in one of them is still in serious condition with burns over 20% of his body. >> investigators say they have found the source of the leake that caused a deadly explosion last week. it was discovered in a gas main next to one of the collapsed buildings. in the meantime the first lawsuit has been filed by resident who lives nearby. that suit blames utility company con edison and the building owner for failing to keep the premises safe. eight people were killed in that explosion. >> tomorrow the fire department lieutenant at the center of a controversy involving a dying man outside a d.c. fire station will get to tell her side of the story. what happened the night 77-year-old medrick mills d

nearly half a century later, melvin morris received a long-overdue phone call. >> i got on the phone. he says, this is president obama. >> his first reaction was, oh, my god. what have i done? [ laughter ] >> and i kinda, like, went down a little bit. he said, be cool, be cool, be cool. >> when i told him it was all good, the medal of honor, i could hear it though the phone he almost passed out. >> reporter: today, sergeant first class morris was 1 of 24 soldiers, who had been denied the nation's highest military honor, most because of discrimination. only three are still alive. >> in the thick of the fight, you were the first. >> one of the first to wear the green beret, morris charged into enemy fire repeatedly, armed with as many grenades as he could carry. >> staff sergeant morris recovered a fallen comrade in vietnam, took out several enemy bunkers, and kept going even after he was shot three times. >> reporter: what gives you the ability to do that? to run in the direction of enemy fire? >> we don't join the military to back out when it gets tough. we got to do what we've gotta

there are three survivors, master sergeant jose rodella, sergeant first-class melvin morris and sergeant santiago rivea. they will be in the east room along with relatives of those who have passed on when president obama will award the medal of honor. >> this is different from other ceremonies? >> this will be the first time there will be such a large group. one single group of people being awarded the medal of honor at the same time of course, most of them posthumously. >> and different in the way the awards came about. yeah, what happened was they were looking for anomalies. for example in an earlier review involving japanese americans they noticed that the 442nd combat unit that fought in italy had been the highest decorated regiment in world war ii but none of the members received a medal of honor. the question was why. obvious answer discrimination. the pentagon acknowledged that visited throughout the u.s. military. that instance, they awarded 20 medal of honors including one who became a u.s. senator inoe from hawaii. >> and this also came about because of colin powell who wanted

erevia, jose rodela, and melvin morris are the only ones still living and they all served in vietnam.at the defending guy. >> reporter: in may 1969, erevia took out not one but four enemy bunkers that were raking his unit with tbier. >> and on the fourth guy he came out of the spider hole, and he was just, like, as far as you are from me. and i took him out with the m-16. >> reporter: his company commander immediately put erevia in for the medal of honor but instead, he was awarded the nation's second highest medal the distinguished service cross. >> i put it out of my mind for 44 years until president obama called me and he said, "we're going to give you the medal of honor." >> reporter: a review of army records found 24 soldiers who deserved to have their distinguished service cross upgrade to the medal of honor. jose rodela was a sergeant with the green berets in september 1969 when a viet cong machine gun opened up on his unit. >> they were laughing at us because they were firing a machine gun. >> reporter: the enemy was laughing at you. >> yes circ they were lawflg at us because

. >> 72-year-old melvin morris lives on florida's coast? >> my biat right in here. >> leisure days down by the boat. he looks the part, too, and like many here, the hat he proudly service. service? >> 23. >> 23 >> uh-huh. >> sarge first class morris joined the oklahoma national guard in 1959 and enlisted in the army. he joined the special forces and was one of the first soldiers to wear the green beret. he volunteered for deployment as commander of strike force 5. >> we were a search and destroy unit. our job was to find the enemy and, you know, get some results. >> in 1969, he was on a mission with a platoon of south vietnamese fighters. the result of that max near chi lang would change his life. in a fierce fire fight other u.s. soldiers were hit and down. morris made a decision. >> we can't leave nothing for the enemy. we will never leave another fallen comrade. and i turn him over, you know, to checking on him. he was dead. and i give him last rights. >> that's my way. as i finished giving last rig rights, i mean, they opened up. >> in

. >> the review led to not prejudice of days' past but rather on existing honors. 72-year-old melvin morrisan, is one of only three honorees still living. he was awarded the nation's second highest honor and now the pentagon has upgraded that to the nation's highest, the medal of honor. >> when i received the single service cross, i thought that was it. i wasn't worried about anything else above that and it makes me feel very proud that they are going back and looking at records and rewarding people for being missed. >> reporter: morris served a full 23 years in the army. he joined at age 19. >> going into war, it didn't bother me. when the call came, i knew i was going to meet it. >> and he did. in 1969 he earned his medal in vietnam that left many on his team wounded and their leader dead. >> it came to me that i had to recover his body. >> leave no man behind? >> leave no man behind at any cause. >> reporter: under heavy enemy fire, he recovered the body of his sergeant and then he went back in to retrieve sensitive documents, maps that had fallen on the battlefield. >> i went in throwin

melvin morris, and santiago rivera and rodella. most say that he is a quiet man who mows his neighbor's lawns. >> jose is such a humble guy who did not mention this to his neighbors who are going to be shocked to turn on the news tonight to see that the guy that cuts their lawns is getting the medal of honor. >> president obama noted that all of the resip yents faithfully served a country what did not see them as equals, and reminded us that sometimes the here e rows are those who are right in front of us. >>> and a report of why a little girl was taken out of foster care and put back into the home weeks before she was murdered. >>> narrow road and lots of car. isnarrow road big enough for a bike lane? adam tuss with that story coming up. >> and the jackpot >>> now, at 6:30, outrage over to the death of a toddler in maryland, and some say that the justice system failed her by putting her back in harm's way. >>> and new details on a story we broke first on news4. the controversiatakedown on dash cam video, and why the charges gaiaga

. >> his name is melvin morris. the army didn't have to draft this kid from oklahoma to vietnam.e signed up. >> we seen a few guys around. they looked good in their uniforms. >> when he heard the army was creating a new kind of special force, he signed up. >> the word around is they were snake eaters and sneaky peek. >> and you wanted some of that? >> i wanted that. >> and these were the green berets? >> right. >> barely out of his teens, melvin saw a lot of action, dodged a lot of bullets but nothing like the morning he walked into a village in september of '69. >> i'll never forget, she was cooking outside and my stomach was in knots. that was a bad sign. >> minutes later, his captain was shot and his team sergeant killed. he had no choice. he had to wade into that fight to get the body of his friend. >> i gave him last rites and two with me got wounded. i had to take them out. while they were dragging the body out, the map case fell out of his pocket. all the hand grenades i could get my hands on and i started growing grenades. i get the map case and while i'm doing this, one

sergeant first class melvin morris is being recognized for directing and leading indigenous soldiers and helping his fellow soldiers to safety even after he had been wounded. and master sergeant jose rodela disabled an enemy rocket position even while he dodged enemy fire. seven of the posthumous medals of honor will go to private pedro cano, private joe gandara served in the parachute regimen and was injured in france fighting german forces. staff sergeant salvador lora, master sergeant manuel mendoza, sergeant alfred nietzel and first lieutenant donald schwab. corporal joe baldonado's heroism was detailed in the book "disaster in korea," fought valently on hill 171, but his remains have never been found. six other korean war recipients, sergeant victor espinoza, private first class leonard kravitz. master sergeant mike pena, private first class demensio rivera and private vera as well as sergeant jack weinstein. five of the eight vietnam recipients will receive the medal of honor posthumously today. specialist four leonard, staff sergeant felix conde-falcon. sergeant jesus duran an

melvin morris received a long overdue phone call. >> he said, this is president obama. >> his first reactionoh, my god, what have i done? >> i kind of we want down a little bit. he said, be cool, be cool, be cool. >> when i told him it was all good, the medal of honor, i could hear through the phone he almost passed out. >> staff sergeant morris's heroism. >> reporter: he was one of 24 who were denied miest military honor because of discrimination. >> in the thick of the fight you refused to yield. >> one of the first to wear the army's green beret, morris charged into enemy fire repeatedly armed with as many grenades as he could carry. >> took out several enemy bunkers and kept going even after he was shot three times. >> reporter: what gives you the ability to do that, to run in the direction of enemy fire? >> we don't join the military to back out when it gets tough. we've got to do what we've got to do. >> reporter: as for the long delay, he harbors not a hint of bitterness. 24 individuals who should have received this medal years ago. are now receiving it. >> it's better late than never

. >> his name is melvin morris. the army didn't have to draft this kid from oklahoma to vietnam.he signed up. >> we seen a few guys around. they looked good in their uniforms. >> when he heard the army was creating a new kind of special force, he signed up. >> the word around is they were snake eaters and sneaky peek. >> and you wanted some of that? >> i wanted that. >> and these were the green berets? >> right. >> barely out of his teens, melvin saw a lot of action, dodged a lot of bullets but nothing like the morning he walked into a village in september of '69. >> i'll never forget, she was cooking outside and my stomach was in knots. that was a bad sign. >> minutes later, his captain was shot and his team sergeant killed. he had no choice. he had to wade into that fight to get the body of his friend. >> i gave him last rites and two with me got wounded. i had to take them out. while they were dragging the body out, the map case fell out of his pocket. all the hand grenades i could get my hands on and i started growing grenades. i get the map case and while i'm doing this, one

sergeant first class melvin morris crossed enemy lines and single handedly destroyed enemy forces attackingis battalion. he was shot three times as he raced back to friendly territory with american casualties. jose rodela dodged enemy fire for 18 hours, bringing survivors to safety, attending to the fallen and disabling an enemy rocket position. these men faced a familiar battle when they returned home, fr prejudice. served honorably in world war ii, korean war or vietnam but went unrecognized because of race or ethnicity. president obama makes things right when he awards the entire group of 24 the medal of honor. today's ceremony follows an exhaustive congressional review of whether service members of jewish, hispanic or african-american heritage were wrongly denied the honor. most members of the group passed away, still waiting. erebia, morris, rodela are the only living honorees and all three will be at the white house today. i'm joined by jack jacobs, himself a proud medal of honor recipient for his service in vietnam, also a msnbc military analyst. and goldie taylor who served in the u

just three are still alive, vietnam veterans santiago erevia, melvin morris and jose rodela.a charged into oncoming fire to knock out four enemy bunkers, then tended to wounded soldiers. morris, a former green beret, was wounded three times recovering the body of his fatally wounded master sergeant. rodela repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire during an 18-hour battle as he tried to check on casualties in his company. after recounting those heroic efforts, the president invited all three men on stage for a special tribute, reciting tennyson. one equal temper of heroic hearts, made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. >> santiago erevia, melving morris, jose rodela. in the thick of the fight. for your comrades and country refused to yield. on behalf of grateful nation, thank you for inspiring us with strength, will, heroic hearts. please given them a round of applause. ( applause ) the soldiers recognized today represent the largest single group of medal of honor recipients since world war two. >> ifill: the president read

staff sergeant melvin morris risked his own safe to recover the body of his fallen team leader.as well, jose rodela's actions prevented injuries during an attack. it starts at 3:40 p.m. eastern time. the full list of medal of honor recipients is up on jansing.msnbc.com. are you still sleeping? just wanted to check and make sure that we were on schedule. the first technology of its kind... mom and dad, i have great news. is now providing answers families need. siemens. answers. [ cellphones beeping ] ♪ [ cellphone rings ] hello? [ male announcer ] over 12,000 financial advisors. good, good. good. over $700 billion dollars in assets under care. let me just put this away. [ male announcer ] how did edward jones get so big? could you teach our kids that trick? [ male announcer ] by not acting that way. ok, last quarter... [ male announcer ] it's how edward jones makes sense of investing. ♪ >>> it's time to start taking rand paul seriously. that's the big headline in "the washington post" today. and it's clear the kentucky senator is taking a possible presidential run in 2016 serious

melvin morris is one of three who are still a live that served in vietnam. a high honor well deserved. >> the fact the families can celebrate the recognition finally. >>> so the weather yesterday, how about that? colder, turned out to be a snow maker for d.c. indra is watching that. it's on its way out right? >> there was another system behind it this morning. this guy also making its way out. keep in mind there's a little freezing rain around virginia this morning. what is this guys? it's supposed to be spring, right, two days away? we are talking about another system coming out of the midwest making its way to the ohio valley and eventually east tomorrow. keep in mind, it's not going to have a lot of rain and snow. definitely windy conditions. the bulk should be rain as it makes it's way across. upper portions of the midwest, minnesota out toward michigan, highest points could see heavy amounts of snow. everyone else, only a half inch of rain as this kicks through. the winds are the concern. possibly flight delays, 40 to 50 miles per hour as it continues t

among those who will be honored is retired staff sergeant melvin morris, who served in vietnam. he is one of only three who are still alive. all were previously overlooked for the medal of honor because of their ethnicity or religion. >> we will now talk about the weather around the bay. >> here is a live look from the james lick freeway. we're waking up to clear skies. if you like to yesterday's conditions you will like days. there is a lot of--low 70's and tomorrow the sunshine will continue at one things up and the rest of the week we're looking at springlike days with a mild and pleasant conditions. into your weekend, the temperatures right now are in the 40's and 50's. 49 for san jose and upper 40's for oakland. the high pressure will be--we had breezy conditions and were concerned about the when but the wind distain to the north. so, there will be no need for a wind advisory. you can see there is a lot of sunshine. >> the highs for today, another beautiful day with 72 being the highest. a lot of low 70's and clothing san rafael and napa. 68 degrees for san francisco and da

. >> reporter: for 72-year-old vietnam veteran melvin morris, it was 44 years in coming.ent obama called with the news, morris collapsed to his knees. >> i was overwhelmed at that point. he was saving "be cool, be cool, be cool." >> reporter: at a highly emotional white house ceremony, president obama presented a medal of honor to 24 service members from world war ii, korea and vietnam, all passed oaf because they were hispanic, jewish or african-american. >> as one family member had said, in is long overdue. >> only three are living today. for more than an hour, the citations were read. the president presented the nation's highest military honor to the family of those who dedicated their lives to their country. as one of the original army green berets, the battle was almost his last. >> i went in and threw hand grenades everywhere. >> reporter: under relentle lel enemy fire, he was shot three times. that same year, santiago was pinned down by enemy fire, the soldier next to him shot dead. morris doesn't believe he was the victim of discrimination, on or off the battlefie

staff sergeant melvin morris will be here to receive his for courageous actions as a green beret in 1969t i think it's such a wonderful thing that that's being looked at now. we're not perfect. someone stepped up to the plate and said we need to go back and look at things. that's being done. i'm very proud of that. >> he says he got a call from president obama and initially thought it was a scam. back to you. >> it would be shocking to get a phone call personally from the president. wendell, thank you very much. joining us from the white house. >> 20 minutes before the top of the hour. have you seen maria? >> no. have you? there she is. >> we can see her now, although yesterday we were about to discover she kind of disappeared. >> yeah. because she was not wearing yellow like she was today. you were wearing green. >> that's right. i was wearing green. and actually i tweeted that. i had a green dress on. went to the weather center and when they do the chrome, it disappeared. that was all thanks to our green room. christian had the idea for -- kristen had the idea of me taking a selfy. pre

vietnam war vet, melvin morris, one of only three honorees still alive, was shot in the chest, arm andsualties out of the lane of fire back in 1969. chris? >> all right, john, thanks for the headlines. >>> now it is time to turn inside politics on "new day" with mr. john king. john king, always great to have you. >> chris, good morning. we are gonna start driving our day inside politics, hillary clinton talking about some issues on the world stage, also talking about whether she will frourp president in 2016. with me this morning to share their reporting and insights, julianna goldman of bloomberg news and cnn's peater heavy. she gave a speech in montreal yesterday. she didn't talk much about her role in the u.s./russian relations, the reset which republicans say a-ha, look what's happening now. listen to what she is talking about vladimir putin and her hope that things don't get worse. >> i hope there's not another cold war. obviously, nobody wants to see that. i think that's primarily up to putin. >> did we learn anything, julianna, about what she would do differently? she was a tad

morris and susan, thanks. that's a wrap of "weekends with alex witt." see you right back here tomorrow. craig melvin up next.thing? they could be all around you right now. [ gasps ] ♪ how would you deal with them? um... ninjas. [ male announcer ] no need for ninjas. reduce up to 95% of inanimate allergens becoming airborne from fabrics with new, dermatologist tested febreze allergen reducer. get fresher air and breathe happy. febreze allergen reduc... ...er. febreze allergen reduc... explaining my moderate to severe so there i was again, chronic plaque psoriasis to another new stylist. it was a total embarrassment. and not the kind of attention i wanted. so i had a serious talk with my dermatologist about my treatment options. this time, she prescribed humira-adalimumab. humira helps to clear the surface of my skin by actually working inside my body. in clinical trials, most adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis saw 75% skin clearance. and the majority of people were clear or almost clear in just 4 months. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes