- Alright everybody we are back and today
I'm getting to meet some of our favorite guests
from last season, face to face, finally.
You may remember Kanisha and her nine year old son
AJ, AJ has autism and Kanisha said his behavior
can be unpredictable when he's stressed.
So she worried that as he grew up, law enforcement
might one day see his behavior,
his behavior, rather, as non-compliant.
So this mama bear took action.
Let's look back.
- As a black mother of a young black male,
there is this concern over the relationship
between my son and meeting, you know,
police officers. I set up to have him
take a tour of the local police station.
And we met this wonderful officer named Captain Hill
who kind of just really bonded with AJ right away.
They did the tour, he asked questions,
they did fingerprinting, it was
just really, really great to see.
- That's so cool. After AJ's initial visit
to the police station he and Captain Hill
developed a real friendship.
They started exchanging letters.
One of those letters had a huge impact on the Captain.
Check it out.
Well, you have the letter, like you just showed us
him asking you to be his godfather.
Can you read a, a bit of it?
- Oh yeah. He said, "Dear Captain Hill,
how are you? Are you staying safe?
I wanted to ask you if you would be my godfather.
Excuse me.
- No, absolutely.
- A godfather, a dad who will be there for my,
to be there for me when my dad can't.
- Jeez, hits me every time. We have
Kanisha and AJ here to share what's happened since.
So great to see y'all in person.
- See ya!
- Hi!
- Thank you so much, AJ! He did me a whole,
he brought me a whole little letter.
He did my dog, Henry, it's adorable.
Henry is my most beloved animal on planet Earth.
So Kanisha, I understand things have changed
for AJ since we first met, right?
- Yes, it's changed pretty dramatically
for him. AJ was pretty shy and kind of reserved.
And since the show last year he was in the third grade.
His teacher actually showed the show it
to his class and his, the, the students were just surprised
and shocked and started calling him a superstar.
- Oh, you're on TV!
- Which he loved, he loved the attention.
Just kinda opened him up a little bit more.
Even the new school year, his, his new teacher
his fourth grade teacher also showed the segment
to the class and it's been really great.
We now have like teachers who call him by his name
which is a good comfort for him.
And it really, really helps him.
So it's really brought him out more, so.
- Wow. Right on. Well, Kanisha are
AJ and Captain Hill still close?
- Yes they are, they're very close.
- He said, yep. I can answer it myself.
- There are lots of visits that they do with each other.
We've been to each other's houses.
AJ was not a big hugger initially.
- Wow, from that picture, wow!
- He did not like to be touched.
So to go from that to, now every time
he sees Captain Hill, there's,
there's always huge hugs and love for each other.
So their bond has really, really grown.
- Oh, that's gotta be beautiful thing as a mama to watch.
- Yeah. It's the best.
- Yeah. You watch your kid blossom.
- Yeah, definitely.
- Ah, well last time Kanisha and AJ were here
Pilot, the go to pen at the Kelly Clarkson Show
sent AJ a big old basket of G2 gel ink pens
to make sure he could exchange or keep
exchanging, rather, letters with Captain Hill.
So are they still pen pals? Y'all
still write each other?
- Yes.
- Oh my gosh. This is awesome.
- We're writing about, about a every week now.
We actually wrote before we came in on here.
- Oh my gosh. And that's just good for you
by the way, too. Just learning in general.
Wanna make my kids have a pen pal.
So AJ, I hear Captain Hill gave you
one very special gift. What was it?
- My very first spike.
- What?
- I love it.
- That's amazing! Oh my gosh!
First of all, I like how you ride in style.
You're like, that's like the same color as the bike
and the outfit, the helmet, everything, you look so cool.
- Yep.
- Well I know that you wanted Captain Hill
to be here today. Where is he?
- At the station?
- At the station.
- He's at the station right now while he is working.
You want him to be working I guess?
- Yep.
- But AJ, I told you Captain Hill sent a message
just for you so you wanna see it?
- Yep.
- Okay, all right, well, look over there.
It's gonna happen kind of over here.
That's what's happening. Oh wait he's here!
(applause)
Hello!
Have a seat.
Oh my gosh.
Oh my gosh, I'm so excited, we were wanting to surprise you.
That's right. He's actually here.
I love surprises. It was a good surprise, right?
- Yeah.
- I told him he looked so good with that bike.
I was like, did you plan that outfit? And he didn't.
I was like, he looked just like the bike.
It was so cool. Like a superhero.
So, so it's great to see you in person.
First of all, thank you so much for your service.
I'm gonna start with that. Thank you.
So have you been spending a lot of time together?
I hear y'all write maybe once a week.
- Yes. We've been, I've been taking this
godfather role very seriously.
Trying to stay an active role in his life.
- I know he is got the best smile.
- Yeah. So basically after you gave him the G2 Pilot pens
after the last episode, we had him over to the house
and built a really nice box together, cause
he's very creative and I like to do woodworking.
So he, he was a big help with putting the box together.
- Oh my goodness.
- After that we had our family get togethers and everything.
He absolutely loves my 16 year old daughter, McKenna.
He likes to, he likes to hide things
in her room and pick her he's he's just a joy to be around.
I can't imagine my life without him.
- Oh my God. What a beautiful cool story.
So, and, and, and now you've had additional requests
from the public to the station, right?
- Yes, we have. Since the last show aired,
we had people come to the police
department requesting tours. The Goose Creek
Police Department is extremely driven
by community oriented policing.
So we were happy to give tours similar
to what we did with AJ.
- Yeah.
- What surprised me even more than that was, I got a ton
of phone calls afterward from all over the United States
from people that heard our, heard our story.
And I was, humbled.
- So I, I know all of us on this stage want AJ to
experience the best of the best.
So we have a little surprise, another one,
Kanisha and AJ we are sending you to
Universal Orlando Resort to experience
all the action, thrills, and excitement.
Pretty amazing theme park, including
the Jurassic World Velocicoaster,
the apex predator of roller coasters.
I'm so excited about that one in particular,
plus you'll stay steps away from the fun
at Universal's Cabana Bay Beach Resort.
How's that sound are you excited about that?
You think you'll have a good time?
- Yes.
- I am 39 years old and I would have a good time doing that.