. >> reporter: richard "tre" jenkins is valedictorian of his class at girard college, a boarding schooln philadelphia for gifted students from disadvantaged backgrounds. you must have pretty good grades. >> yeah, they're pretty good. >> reporter: but there's something else in his background that truly sets him apart. so, you were homeless? >> yes. >> reporter: for two years? >> yes. >> reporter: during middle school, richard got involved in mighty writers, an afterschool writers workshop for inner city kids in philadelphia. >> some people cry about it. tre was able to write about it here with mighty writers. >> it helped me gain a sense of confidence. >> reporter: he says kids used to bully him for trying hard at school. >> some people actually called me harvard back then, which is ironic a little bit. >> reporter: this fall, he's headed to harvard on a full scholarship. your mom must be so proud. >> my mom is crazy proud. she expected it, to be honest. >> reporter: from homeless to harvard. you nervous? >> i am kind of nervous. >> reporter: everybody is. everybody is. >> i would hope s

this times he's taking us to richard jenkins drone boat. jason: writes, in the middle of the ocean.know we had that much to learn. >> richard jenkins, i would describe him as an adventure of sorts and a sailor. he is from england, he spent his whole life building all kinds of boats for a period of 10 years from 1999 to 2009. he set out to break the world's land sailing record, which is where you have a sailboat on wheels and go across the desert. you try to make it go as fast as you can. in 2009, he did break the record. he took this crazy qwest and turned it into a company. today, he's the ceo of a company saildrone, a robotic sailboat based on his designs, and it goes out into the ocean and obtains all kind of data. jason: what is he finding? >> i was kind of surprised. we have very few researched ships available to study the ocean. the united states has 16 research vessels, these boats cost about $150 million to build, about a hundred thousand dollars a day to run when they go out. jason: i want to stop you there because that is an extraordinary amount of money. how does it cost

. >> reporter: richard jenkins is valedictorian of his class for gifted students of disadvantaged backgrounds. you must have pretty good grades. >> yeah, pretty good. >> reporter: but there's something else in his background that truly sets him apart. so you were homeless. >> yes. >> reporter: for two years. >> yes. >> reporter: during middle school he got involved in an afterschool writing workshop for inner city kids. >> some people cry about it, he was able to write about it. >> it gave me a sense of confidence. >> reporter: he says kids used to bully him for trying hard at school. >> some used to call me harvard back then, which is ironic, because here i am. >> reporter: this fall he's heading to harvard on a full scholarship. >> your mom must be proud. >> she expected it. >> reporter: from homeless to harvard. are you kind of nervous? >> i am kind of nervous. >> reporter: everybody is. >> i would hope so. i don't want to be the only one. >> reporter: bright future indeed. david wright, abc news. >>> and next for the parents who went to court to get their son out of their house. >> a judg

richard jenkin's story is remarkable.ullying and medical hurdles and poverty into an ivy league future and this is just the beginning for him. rich jenkins joins me now. so, harvard, all right. that is pretty darn impressive. how is that feeling? has that sunk in and can you take me back to the moment when you found out? >> yes. so when i first found out i was in paris on a school trip. and was on the phone with my girlfriend and i had been so nervous for hours because i was -- i was waiting all day to hear the news. and so we're on the phone and i finally decided i'm going to check my ivy league decisions because they all come out at the same time and check u-pen and i get wait listed and yale and i get denied. maybe time to start looking at other schools and i check harvard and i saw the world "welcome" and i threw my phone across the room. we are all jumping around. it is a crazy time. sorry. >> no. it didn't -- did you say -- sink in? go ahead. >> it didn't sink in until probably a couple of days later when i was on t

carol: we get more because this time around he's taking richard jenkins. the middle of the ocean. i love this story because i had thaten know we much to learn about the high seas. here he is. jenkins, i guess i would describe him as an adventurer of sorts and a sailor. he's from england, he spent his whole life building all a periodboats for of 10 years from 1999 to 2009. to break the world's land sailing record, which is basically where you sailboat on wheels and you go across a desert go asu try to make it fast as you can and in 2009, he did break the record. this wild, crazy it into aturned company. today, he's the ceo of a company called saildrone has -- it's a robotic sailboat that is based on yacht designs and it goes out into the ocean of obtains all kinds scientific data. >> what is he finding that's so attractive to the world at large? surprisedind of during this story. we have very few relatively speaking research ships that theavailable to study ocean. the united states through noaa has 16 research vessels. these boats cost about $150 aboutn to

i want to introduce you to 18-year-old richard jenkins.a philadelphia teenager who had to sleep in homeless shelters as a kid. bullies at school, they used to taunt him. they used to call him "harvard." just because he liked to read. well, today richard, living up to that nickname. after overcoming the odds, is he graduating this year as valedictorian and guess where he is going to school. that's right. harvard university's class of 2022 on a full scholarship. he plans to study computer science and his goal -- to create a more intuitive virtual assistant. congratulations, young man. we'll be right back. your brainy begins to change which may cause trouble with recall. - learning from him is great... when i can keep up! - anncr: thankfully, prevagen helps your brain and improves memory. - dad's got all the answers. - anncr: prevagen is now the number-one-selling brain health supplement in drug stores nationwide. - she outsmarts me every single time. - checkmate! you wanna play again? - anncr: prevagen. healthier brain. better life. where we

richard jenkins credits his love of books for helping get him where he is today.ng school in philadelphia. he he was made fun of and students gave him a nickname, harvard. little did they know that's where he would go to school next fall on that scholarship. >> i found that harvard has this great program if your family makes under $65,000 a year, they owe nothing. i was like okay. all i have to do is get in. game on. >> jenkins wants to study artificial intelligence and hopes to some day have his own company. a gofundme has been set up to cover school supplies not covered by the scholarship. >>> there's a new policy on protests during the national anthem. controversy is far from over. more on what is happening today. >>> and then coming up on the 9, relief for commuters in brentwood and antioch. the new bart extension opening this weekend. ♪ ♪ ♪ down where the summer and the late nights last forever ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ i feel most times we're high and low ♪ ♪ high and low ♪ if i had my way, never let you go ♪ ♪ never let you go enhance your moments. san pellegrino. tastefully

richard sherman and malcolm jenkins invite two women who are -- invited two women who are running for district attorney to attend. paul chambers reports. >> reporter: many of us are used to seeing them on the field, malcolm jenkins and richard sherman, with a proven track record in the nfl. but these men say it's more to them than what you see on the gridiron. >> i think people that --that say that we are getting too political are narrow minded and closed minded. >> reporter: that's why they came with fellow nfl stars to form the "players' coalition." the group uses their notoriety to effect positive change and to improve social justice and racial equality throughout the nation. their stop on this day, oakland's new parkway theater to discuss the alameda county district attorney's race. >> nothing that we're doing is endorsing the candidates. all we are doing is to encourage people to see what's going on in their communities. >> reporter: the players had specific questions and used others from the audience. some of the topics, bail reform, voter rights and police accountability. these

richard sherman and malcolm jenkins joined up to start the players coalition.is to for positive change and social justice for racial equality. today they invited the two women running for district attorney to stop by oaklands new parkway theater to take part in a wide ranging discussion. >> i am from competent desmond compton. -- i am from compton. we have a lot of the same issues as people in oakland. >> we want to put pressure on us to answer tough questions. >> the da did not attend, angela price did. they say they are not endorsing any candidate, just encouraging dialogue. >>> the nation's largest homebuilder has partnered with the largest online retailer to create a new smart home in the east bay. they now planned assessment plan to build many features into every home bills. we went to vallejo today to look at what the home and do. >> reporter: at lennar homes, one home is an amazon experience center. >> we decided we need to build homes for the way people live now not the way they would have. amazon helps bring that to life. >> reporter: with wi-fi basic

. >> reporter: many of us are used to seeing them on the field, malcolm jenkins and richard sherman, with a proven track record in the nfl. but these men say it's more to them than what you see on the gridiron. >> i think people that -- that say that we are getting too political are narrow minded and closed minded. >> reporter: that's why they came with fellow nfl stars to form the "players' coalition." the group uses their notoriety to effect positive change and to improve social justice and racial equality throughout the nation. their stop on this day, oakland's new parkway theater to discuss the alameda county district attorney's race. >> nothing that we're doing is endorsing the candidates. all we are doing is to encourage people to see what's going on in their communities. >> reporter: the players had specific questions and used others from the audience. some of the topics, bail reform, voter rights and police accountability. these players say these issues are important to them because they know firsthand about racial inequality. >> i'm from compton and watts, california. we do

to the democrats in the west virginia congressional seat to replace jenkins where you've got this really interesting democrat, richard as a populist democrat, blowgun, prolabor. it really made name for himself as fighting -- standing with the teachers. you are seeing the debate between antiestablishment and economic populism. >> martha: quick thought of what you are watching at this moment? >> i think at this point the big thing in west virginia because that's what we're talking about. i talked too much about ohio before. >> martha: we didn't get to the school board though. >> i could tell you. here's the thing that i would say about west virginia right now. in all seriousness, trump said don't vote for blankenship, they didn't pick one of the other two. if the establishment can split the vote we will see what happens. i think that's good for blankenship. >> martha: quick break, we will be right back with more. ♪ until exxonmobil scientists put it to the test. they thought someday it could become fuel and power our cars wouldn't that be cool? and that's why exxonmobil scientists think it's not small at all. energy li