. >> tonight on "unguarded with rachel nichols," unprecedented. jason collins, the first openly gay athlete in major men's sports. in his first sitdown interview since signing with the nets. >> it's nice to have a positive impact on someone else's life. >> uncatchable. nascar's most popular driver, dale earnhardt jr. fresh off winning his second daytona 500. >> when i won in 2004, i didn't realize what it was worth. so now i get it. >> unforgettable, rachel recalls the amazing stories and characters she covered during the sochi olympics. >> the first thing i saw was this giant cutout of my daughter's face. so it was pretty cool. ♪ >> welcome to "unguarded." it's been quite a week. remarkable because openly gay college football player michael sam worked out at the nfl combine. remarkable because jason collins signed with the nets, becoming the first openly gay player in any of the four major men's sports. but perhaps the most remarkable, just two days after collins signed, his number, 98, had become the nba's top selling jersey, beating out those b

i'm rachel nichols.s it's not unheard of for school-age girls to compete alongside boys in traditionally male sports. but competing is one thing. cop sis tently beating the boys is another story. this is a story of julia ernst, fresh off her third championship. >> on the mat, the wrestler is fast, fierce and female. it is a rare sight, even now in this overwhelmingly male sport. but julia efrgs rnst is a rare soul. a young woman beating the boys at their own game. >> nice, julia. >> how did you start wrestling? >> i started wrestling that i have a great older brother that beat up on me, and i decided that i needed to learn how to defend myself. >> one of three females on the wrestling team, by freshman year the others quit and julia stood alone. >> despite the fact that i have supportive coaches and teammates, it's still an interesting feeling to walk into a room and be the only person of your type. >> so when you went to have matches with other schools, you encountered that quite often. >> definitely. y

. >> tonight on "unguarded with rachel nichols," unprecedented.e first openly gay athlete in major men's sports. in his first sitdown interview since signing with the nets. >> it's nice to have a positive impact on someone else's life. >> uncatchable. nascar's most popular driver, dale earnhardt jr. fresh off winning his second daytona 500. >> when i won in 2004, i didn't realize what it was worth. so now i get it. >> unforgettable, rachel recalls the amazing stories and characters she covered during the sochi olympics. >> the first thing i saw was this giant cutout of my daughter's face. so it was pretty cool. ♪

let's talk about the court crashers with rachel nichols host of unguarded.now what's going on. we were talking about this in the morning. i don't know if people are just feeling it but i can't say the words. feeling it. drunk. how could this guy with be sober? >> i don't think he was. he hurdled out of the stands and out on the court. the situation quickly escalated. they are underscoring that arenas are maybe not taking it as seriously as they should be. even when it's supposed to be for a happy reason. you saw them getting into it with the other team and even last month in south carolina they stormed the court after a big win. we have seen sometimes fans getting trampled or injured. the university president was one of the ones running on to the court. these kids are following in some cases the examples of their supposed mentors. it is a problem. >> obviously there was a problem with the tar heels storming the court too. just saying. i feel like we need boston red sox, please. i cannot wait tonight. >> your favorite. spring training had to go down and see t

rachel nichols has an interview. we'll see you in a couple of moments. >>> first though the lead pirate in the thriller "captain phillips." if you didn't see the movie, he plays musi opposite tom hanks. he's up for best supporting actor at the academy's 86th awards. we recently caught up with the somali actor in his hometown. >> in the bitter cold and snow of minneapolis. >> do you ever get used to the cold? >> it's hard to get used to the cold. >> emerges one of this year's biggest hollywood sensations. >> look at me. >> sure. >> i'm the captain now. >> 28-year-old barkat abdi ad libbed that now famous line as musi in "captain phillips" with tom hanks. the somali immigrant is a natural on screen, but his journey to stardom has been anything but. >> is this the route you used to drive? >> yeah. i drive a lot. >> he drove a town car for a living, barely able to pay his rent. he left war-torn somalia at 7, emigrating to yemen then minnesota. >> i remember the war. guns everywhere. >> at just six years old, he lay in be

our own rachel nichols got an exclusive interview with collins.ht the full interview on our show "unguarded." so many changes for jason collins. what did he tell you about what it's been like to be back in the game, back on the court? >> it's been a very positive experience. he was on the visiting team coming into colorado. but the denver fans gave him a nice ovation. that shows the support he's gotten around the league. he told me he is happy people are thinking of him as this big historymaker. but what he also loves with each game he plays people are starting to once again think of him as just another basketball player. take a listen. >> you have a great line when you first came out. you said i've been showering in the nba for 12 years. clearly it hasn't killed anybody. >> yeah. >> you're back in the locker room, back in the training room now. have you noticed any difference? >> no, it's the same environment. everything is the same. just like i said before, 12 years in the nba, not a problem, not an issue. year 13 not a problem, not an issue. sa

that's just one of the topics the hall of fame coach covered when he sat down with cnn's rachel nichols that interview tonight at 10:30 eastern on cnn. >>> after passing his physical, jonathan martin officially became a member of the san francisco 49ers yesterday. the dolphins traded martin to the niners for a seventh-round pick earlier in the week. martin says he's excited to have a fresh start. >> i've been out of ball for about five months, so i can't wait to get going now. we start in about a month, so just try to be reunited with coach harbaugh and to be in the bay area and playing for this great family and begin the work. >> good luck to martin with his new team. of course, it's probably going to be good that he's playing for his old coach, jim harbaugh, who he played for at stanford. >> makes sense to give it another try. thanks, andy. >>> 25 minutes after the hour. a lot going on this morning. the search for that missing malaysian jetliner is expanding, and the mystery just getting bigger by the minute. did the plane fly thousands of miles off course before crashing into the ind

. >> collins sat down with cnn's rachel nichols to talk about life in the nba and life in the lockercker room and training room. is anything different? >> no, it is the same environment. everything is the same. just, you know, like i said before, 12 years in the nba, not a problem. not an issue. you are 13. same old, same old. >> so check out more of cnn's interview with collins, go to cnn.com/unguarded. >>> a high school senior in the seattle area is not letting anything hold him back. in a wheelchair diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, josh is belting it out in "shrek the musical." ♪ are the things that make us strong ♪ >> love it. poignant for josh. he wanted to be in the school play to show his brother who also has muscular dystrophy that he can do anything. you can do whatever you want. >> certainly. >>> we are glad you are spending time with us here. we will see you back at the top of the hour. >> coming up right now on "your money," it is tax time. are you paying too much or more so the rich can get the breaks? >> christine romans and "your money" starts right now. >> swiss ban

rachel nichols sat down with the player in this american journey. >> so many changes for jason collinsason at the game he played in denver. he was on the visiting team, but when he came into the game, the denver fans gave him a really nice ovation and that's just an example of the support he's gotten around the league. jason told me he is happy that people are thinking of him as this big history maker, but what he also loves is that with each game he plays, people are starting to think of him once again as just another basketball player. take a listen. you had a great line. i've been showering in the nba for 12 years and have you killed anybody. you're back in the locker room, the training room. have you noticed anything different? >> it's the same. everything is the same. just you know, like i said before, 12 years in the nba. not a problem. not a issue. year 13. not a problem. not a issue. >> do you feel that you're inspiring people? have you heard goodi inthings? >> yes, i definitely have. i met some other athletes who are sort of in this same position as i am and we're sort of like