i also would like to very much welcome and recognize alan and francis numbers of the simon wiesenthal board of trustees who have taken the time to come here this evening as well. thank you for that. a few brief words of introduction for my part. one of the reasons that i was so led i jumped at this effort and the was because this work and the work of professor davis has meant such a great deal to us. personally my own work has benefited from some of professor davis's writings particularly years ago when i was researching and preparing anti-semitism and anti-catholicism a minute to give you an example of the breath of professor davis's work. also we are greatly indebted to professor davis in firmly confronting anti-semitism reticulated a few decades ago when it was a time of great controversy and great tension and yet he stood out and forthrightly condemned what needed to be condemned and did it in a scholarly and dispassionate manner that left a great impression. in many ways it is an natural fit for the salmon -- simon wiesenthal center -- a person who after liberation devoted his li

he sees simon wiesenthal as the architect of a campaign against him and he delves deeply into this subject and repeatedly over and over writes out a chronology of his life and writes letters describing what happened at the camp and defend himself but becomes fascinated with what he sees as war crimes committed in the israeli war for independence by americans in vietnam. all in search of a fragile architecture of apology or of innocents for himself that he spent literally decades crafting. >> host: what did it feel like to hold those documents ? was it weird? >> absolutely. it is an actual connection to these events that neither of us was alive during the of four and hear that can that most likely operated on living and healthy people and killed them in the process is right out these explanations and apologies. >> in english german and french. >> as well as some arabic he tried. >> host: you find out he formally converts to islam. >> not immediately but there are different accounts because some say he also felt threatened after on wires a shot had the treaty with israel and he thought now a

and he sees simon wiesenthal as the authority of architect of a campaign against him, and he delves deeply into the subject. he repeatedly, over and over again, writes out a chronology of his life, writes letters describing exactly what happened, you know, at the camp, defends himself. but he also becomes fascinated with what he sees as war crimes committed in the israeli war for independence, war crimes committed by americans in vietnam all in search of a sort of fragile architecture of apology or innocence for himself that he spent literally decades crafting. >> what did it feel like to hold those documents? what did it feel like to actually read this stuff? was it weird? >> absolutely. i mean, it's an actual, you know, connection to these events that, i mean, neither of us was alive during the war, obviously, and here, you know, here the hand that most likely operated on living, healthy people and killed them in the process is writing out this, these explanations and these apologies. >> in english, german and french, right? >> as well as some arabic. >> some arabic he tried. >> you disc

. >> reporter: sterling's foundation donated $30,000 to the simon wiesenthal center's museum of tolerance says it won't accept money from sterling ever again. >> we used that $30,000 to combat the kind of racism, hatred, and anti-semitism that sim bombizes what sterling said in that tape. >> reporter: cnn's calls to sterling's representatives have not been returned. and some organizations that have benefitted from sterling's fortune want nothing to do with him now. >> philanthropy has a long history of turning bad money into good, so what shouldn't happen, somebody shouldn't be getting more praise than really deserved. >> reporter: poppy harlow, cnn, new york. >> thank you. i'm brooke baldwin. "the lead" with jake tapper starts right now. >> all i've got to say, those proverbial may flowers, bet beer be extra beautiful after this. i'm jake tapper tapp this is "te lead." the roads, washed out. terrified people, fleeing to their attics hoping for rescue. this torrential rain is not yet done with the east coast. >>> also in national news, well, it had the desired effect, he's dead after all,