To upholding the rule of law and the sacred principles upon which this great nation was founded will inspire future generations of americans. laura coats joins the conversation. laura, you know well as an attorney, as a former prosecutor, the impact that this has on people like you, but as a black women as well, what does this moment mean? it s almost surreal. surreal in the fact you ve got this extraordinarily qualified black woman who really has an embarrassment of riches. her resume reads like every first year law student s dream. she was the ideal student. i don t floknow if you call a student. we are her students. it s surreal it s the first time it s happening. there has been, as you can imagine across the history of
Sending a message to the rest of the world that just because something happens to you because of you you are, no matter what you do, people will always have your back. and has that been true with the kids in your school? friends and folks like that? have you been getting some support locally as well? yes. i ve been getting a lot of support locally. irving, texas. that s great. overwhelmi. i want to bring? someone else whose voiced their support for ahmed. dr. shonda prescott weinstein, an astrophysicist at m.i.t. which ahmed has called his dream school. doctor, you re there. anything you want to say to ahmed about m.i.t. and what kind of place it would be should he want to check you out there? ahmed, i m so happy that you re coming out on top and i just want to say by the way you are my ideal student a creative independent thinker like you is the kind of person who should be becoming a
School. doctor, you re there. anything you want to say to ahmed about m.i.t. and what kind of place it would be should he want to check you out there? ahmed, i m so happy that you re coming out on top and i just want to say by the way you are my ideal student a creative independent thinker like you is the kind of person who should be becoming a physicist. as a theoretical physicist i would love if you took an interest in the mathematical side although you re clearly adept with your hands and building things so i hope you ll think about theoretical physics. if there s any possibility that you can visit us at m.i.t. i would love to give you a tour of the center for theoretical physics and the institute for astrophysics and i m hearing from my former advisors at harvard college that they would love for you to come to the center for astrophysics, the harvard smithsonian center so i hope you ll visit us in cambridge. it would be fantastic to have you. you are the kind of student that we
So i failed. reporter: back at his high school in columbia, kentucky, meyer would not have been forecast as medal of honor recipient. by his own admission he was not an ideal student. he didn t go with the blow. any troubles that dakota had when he was young, the coach at green county high school said it s because he thought for himself. the coach spotted it out here on the practice field and called it leadership. he was always a lone ranger. i always said she a guy that was on his own and wanted to improve and be the best he could bo at all times. reporter: that lone ranger attitude came in to play in afghanistan. that s why his retired marine grandfather will use the word hero. he handled everything all the way up through his life. i just can t say how proud i am of him. that independent thinking explains why when dakota was asked if he had any requests while in d.c. he requested a beer with the commander in chief. meyer has left the marines and tried to move past what he