jungle. i could see bodies all over. >> when you're running, they're still shooting? >> i'm still hearing shots. >> they had identified people they wanted to kill. >> we were on top of a powder keg. >> it's almost impossible to fathom, even now, more than 900 americans dead in the jungle at jonestown. >> it was something out of a horror movie. >> you're telling me this man said, drink this poison, and they drank it? >> that's right. >> we take you inside the mission that exposed the dangerous truth. >> don't you touch my kids! >> i'm thinking, oh my god, it's true. everything we feared is true. >> the only video camera there to capture it all belonged to nbc news. >> he said, i could never put this camera down. >> rare pictures, powerful details from those who survived. >> they were shooting point blank -- >> my whole shirt was dripping with red blood. >> all of a sudden, i was hit. i thought, oh my god, this is it. >> a riveting look at the story that still haunts the world. >> the enormity of it all -- >> and the insanity of it. >> it still comes up and you just can't push it down. >> hello, and welcome to dateline. jim jones led nearly 1000 americans a remote area in south america promising a religious paradise. what followed was more like hell on earth. the horror, almost too tragic to believe. just what happened in that jungle? you are about to hear from a handful of eyewitnesses to live to tell the tale. here is josh mankiewicz with jonestown, an american tragedy. >> it is a moment frozen in time. a group of journalists posed anna jungle airstrip in south america. one day later, three of these men and the u.s. congressman they were traveling with would be murdered by members of an american cult. a few miles away, hundreds of members of that cult would also perish in an orange-y of mass murder and suicide. >> good evening. in one of the strangest cases of mass suicide and murder ever recorded, the government of guyana said today -- >> this is the story behind the story of an american tragedy called jonestown. as it was recorded and reported by the journalists of nbc news. >> we do have a particular interest in it. to nbc news been were shot to test their. >> our story begins in san francisco in the mid 70s, where a charismatic preacher named jim jones was making a name for himself and attracting a particular flock. >> he considered himself a socialist and san francisco is a very liberal community. >> tim rider man was a young wire service reporter at the time. >> he was perceived as an activist preacher, somebody who practiced what he preached. somebody who brought in poor people, helped poor people. >> jones had migrated to california from the midwest in the 60s, preaching a gospel of racial harmony and communal living. in san francisco, his peoples temple ran elderly homes, offered drug counseling, and fed the poor. jones was a darling of democrats. politicians like mayor -- and governor jerry brown courted him. but the reverend jim jones was also controversial. he claimed to be christ reincarnated, a socialist god who could heal the sick, make the blind see, and the lame walk again. >> jones had established a reputation as a faith healer, as someone who could remove cancers from people's bodies. and much of this was, of course, fakery. but it did bring people through the door. >> while researching a story about jones for the san francisco examiner, writer men said he met with former followers who told him harrowing stories about jones that differed from the public image. stories of disciplinary beatings and public humiliations. >> on one occasion that was described, he had a woman in the inner circle disrobe in front of everybody so that they could make fun of her body. >> this was also disciplined, teaching somebody? lesson >> yeah, do away with your ego. identify with the group. the group alone. >> jones had to have known, if reporters were closing in, trouble wasn't far behind. so in the summer of 77, shortly before press reports critical of the peoples temple were to be published, jim jones left town. he resurfaced thousands of miles away at a jungle compound the temple had established and diana. a small country on the northeastern edge of south america. >> why guyana of all places? >> for one reason, it's an english speaking country. and it's small enough and poor enough that the temples, the natural resources would buy a welcome. >> over the next few months, jones brought roughly 1000 of his followers there. >> in promotional films, jones portrayed his jonestown settlement -- as a tropical paradise. >> nothing like that heat. -- >> and the new settlers urge family and friends to join them. there >> it will be nice when things get worked around if you can come down and share our freedom, complete freedom here in the promise land. >> but guyana move abruptly divided many families. johnson's followers gave up property and paychecks to the temple, and according to former matters, jones demanded that those moving to jonestown surrender their passports. families brought their concerns to bay area congressman leo ryan. >> -- from constituents prompted him to form a fact finding mission to find out whether the people who were living in jonestown, including the children, we are free to leave or not. >> and congressman ryan went down there to see what was really true? >> exactly. and he went with him. >> i had essentially invited myself along rob >> it was shortly before the 1978 midterm elections that nbc news assigned correspondent don harris and a camera crew to accompany ryan to diana. >> what first impressed me in meeting the nbc crew was that they were all experienced, somewhat covered wars. >> with little time to prepare, harris joe into the john sounds torre. he interviewed temple supporters, critics, and high profile defectors like a grace stone. >> you have to understand my ignorance is so great at this point, i'm doing research at the same time we're doing the taping, which is not how we typically operate. but there wasn't enough time. >> i just want to tell, you will never meet up with another man like tim jones. i'm telling you the truth. >> with grim foreshadowing, debbie layton blaikie, a defector, told harris that jones sometimes ordered his followers in guyana to drink from a vat that supposedly contained poison. >> everyone stood in a line, went out and drank this red, you know, kind of a a, tasted like you, what's that thing? the drink that children drink? a >> kool-aid? >> yes, kool-aid. without sugar. it had a horrible taste initially, and maybe there is something in there, he said it will take 45 minutes, you need to sign several people to faint, to pretend they were dead. >> how many people would you say were there than? >> between 11 and 1200 people. >> you're telling me this man takes 1100 people and gather them together. >> he does every day, yeah. >> and said, drink this poison. >> yeah. >> and they drank it? >> that's right. >> you drank it? >> yeah. >> just before leaving for diana, bob brown called his wife connie and said this about his latest assignment. >> he said, you know, if these people, these people are very strange. but of half of what they're saying is true, this is a terrible story. this is incredible. >> coming up -- the first look inside jonestown. >> when we met him the first day there, he struck me as just evil personified. >> i'm thinking, oh my god, it's true. everything we feared is true. >> when dateline continues. i've never been healthier. shingles doesn't care. but shingrix protects. proven over 90% effective, shingrix is a vaccine used to prevent shingles in adults 50 years and older. shingrix does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients or to a previous dose. an increased risk of guillain-barré syndrome was observed after getting shingrix. fainting can also happen. the most common side effects are pain, redness and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, tiredness, headache, shivering, fever, and upset stomach. ask your doctor or pharmacist about shingrix today. kiddo: mom, can i go to the movies? 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on top of the worlddddd!!! before advil. advil targets pain at the source of inflammation. when pain comes for you, come back fast with advil liqui-gels. nature's bounty hair growth. clinically shown to help grow thicker, fuller hair with just one capsule a day of advanced hair complex. conquer hair thinning... ...and fall in love with your hair all over again. only from nature's bounty. josh mankiewicz: when nbc's news crew packed for the trip to guyana in november 1978, this is what they carried-- >> when nbc's news crew packed 70 pounds of camera gear-- for the trip to guyana and november 1978, this is what they carried. 70 pounds of camera gear. at the time, that was state-of-the-art. and boxes full of clunky 20 minute video tapes. sound tech -- did much of the heavy lifting >> i had to carry the tape dak, weighs about 30 5:40 pounds. and there's no remote control. it just really feeds directly into the machine. >> so you've got to be directly plugged into the cameramen at all times? >> all the time. >> a journalist would enter with -- half of them from nbc news. >> cameramen bob brown and work for all three networks, covering riots, shoot outs, and more. >> i'll tell you what bob told my brother before we went to vietnam. >> brown's wife, colony. >> nick said to him, how can you go into a war zone without a gun? and bob said, well, first off, i figure if it's that bad, they'll be guns line around. but if i don't have a gun, i can assure you i'm going to get the picture of the son of a [bleep] who shoots me. >> like brown, correspondent -- had covered rights at home and war in vietnam. >> the m16s are old and battered. but they say they have enough ammunition. >> he always said it's going to be okay. you know, i'll be fine. >> surely all overheard a lot of that during her 20 year marriage to dawn. >> i tried not to worry too much. he was in vietnam for five weeks on the front line. and they called him mr. lucky because he always came back. >> leading the nbc team was veteran field producer bob flick. >> he was a big, strong, a bowl of a man. >> san francisco chronicle reporter ron -- >> a t-shirt that said god rides the harley. and had a big white golf cap. and we bonded right away. >> along with jabbers and writer men were washington post reporter charles krause and san francisco examiner photographer greg robinson. >> he said it looks like i'm going to south america. i'm gonna do an assignment. their >> gregg sister, andrea robinson. >> i said are you serious? we were both so excited. >> it took 26 hours for the ryan entourage to travel from san francisco to georgetown, guyana. but once there, jim jones refused to let them visit his compound. >> i still hope we can work out something -- >> for three days, they waited while the congressman negotiated with temple lawyers. nbc correspondent don harris interviewed concerned relatives like jim cobb. >> what are you doing down here? >> i'm here essentially to try and see my relatives. i have a mother, three sisters, and a brother that i haven't seen my sisters and brothers in about four years now. >> 28-year-old jackie speier was congressman ryan's legislative a. she'd helped arrange the jonestown trip. and knew enough to be afraid. >> i was concerned about making that trip. >> temple defectors, she'd interviewed, had told her jonestown was a virtual prison camp. a place where members were brain camp -- and ready to kill for jim jones. >> i was in the process of purchasing a condo, my first home in arlington virginia. and i literally made the contract contingent on my surviving the trip. >> almost like you had some omen? >> almost like i had a premonition about. it >> was friday, november 17th, 1978 when jim jones finally agreed to see the ryan group. >> so far, so good. >> after landing in the small village a few miles from johnstown, the ryan group has taken the rest of the way in the back of the temple dump truck. it was after dark by the time the reporters finally arrived in johnstown. too dark to see anything except what jim jones wanted them to see. >> we see people all lined up in the -- welcoming us to come in. >> they start with music, singing, like welcoming party for us. >> so at that point, it's what you thought? everybody is happy? >> you can see the videotape where people are happy and we are coming in. >> they have some very good musicians down there, with some really good music. >> washington post reporter charles krause. >> i also noticed that there were people who were comatose who were clapping, but without any kind of nothing related to the music. >> that's a pretty clear sign that everything maybe isn't as it seems? >> that's right. >> presiding over all of it was jim jones. >> when we met him the first day there in johnstown, he struck me as just evil personified. and we were almost sure that he was on drugs. and at one point, he had asked his wife marceline to give me a pill. and she was overheard saying, no pills. >> in the spirit of the moment, congressman ryan took to the stage and complemented his hosts. >> i can tell you right now that the few conversations i've had with some of the folks here this evening that whatever the comments are, there's some people here who believe in this and think it's the best thing to happen in their whole life. [applause] >> everybody chairs. and the sense you get is, well, everything's fine. >> it was almost a manic cheering, almost to the point that it made you a little uncomfortable. >> it was during that raucous applause that someone passed a note to nbc correspondent don harris. the node signed by two people read simply, please help us get out of jonestown. >> don brings this note over to us and says, you might want to see this. and leo ryan looks at it and hands it to me and i'm thinking, oh god, it's true, everything we feared is true. >> don harris's son jeff humphrey was 17 when his father went to ghana. he believes he knows exactly how his father responded to that note. >> this is my dad's nbc news notebook. it says it's jonestown on the front of it. he was trying to write this note to somebody without anybody else knowing about it. it says find me tomorrow, whether you find me or not, i'll help. >> that secret plea for help is just the beginning. tensions reach a breaking point as reporter don harris confronts jim jones and the fragile order at jonestown starts to unravel. >> coming up -- >> you bring those kids back here! >> word started to get out that people were leaving. >> division in the compound. danger was just ahead. >> suddenly, the knife was around my neck. >> when dateline continues. josh mankiewicz: after the show was over that first night, jones insisted the reporters return to port kaituma, where he'd arranged for them to sleep in a local bar. after >> the show is over that so we ended up sleeping on the floor. first, night jones insisted the reporter return to port -- where heated range for them to sleep in a local bar. >> so we ended up sleeping on the floor. >> there would be a little rest while the nbc crew had a nightcap at the bar, tim writer men and the other reporters were approached by a local constable who wanted to talk about jonestown. >> he said that on multiple occasions there were people who were evacuated from jonestown, flown out of port kahuna after receiving injuries and he felt that some of them had been beaten. and he described a pit. >> what do you mean, a pit? >> a deep hole in the ground that people couldn't climb out of. >> it be placed in it for punishment. >> the next morning, the print reporters told don harris about the pit. and harris showed them the note he'd gotten the night before. >> and he rolled down his combat boot that he had on, and in there was a white tablet not that big that said please help us get out of jonestown. >> by the time the news man passed through the temple gates later that morning, they were no longer a collection of rivals. they were a team. >> i think i said let's just each of us fan out and each reporter get as much stuff as you can get. and then we'll get together again and we'll share it all. and everybody said absolutely. >> the temple monitors shadowed there every step, making it impossible for reporters to speak privately with jonestown residents like maria cancerous. >> are you happy here? >> i'm very happy here. >> you know that your father and your brother are convinced that you're not? >> well, i'm very happy here. i don't know what else i can do to convince them. >> her brother anthony, who flew in with the ryan group, wasn't so sure. >> it's hard for me to know what to think. for me, to be satisfied, i'd have to see it somewhere else. >> we're just a news team. we don't care one way or the other. are you happy here? >> i should say i am. i've never been any happier in my life. >> her son, jim cobb, was skeptical. >> are you satisfied that they are not under duress at this moment? that they can talk to you? >> i know they can talk with me right now, sure. >> back at the main pavilion, however, other residents were stepping forward to tell jackie speier that they wanted out of jonestown. >> your name is? >> brenda parks. >> brenda parks? and what is your wish today? >> to go back home. >> word started to get out that people were leaving. and then more people wanted to leave. >> congressman ryan said he was willing to take anyone who wanted to leave. and though jim jones pleaded with the defectors to stay, their minds were made up. >> just know that we -- there's always a place where you with us. >> running short on time, harris and the nbc crew set up to tape their interview with jim jones. >> last night, someone came and passed me the snow. >> that's what you're talking about, they wanted to be -- they want to be sunny here. means the one i'm just talking about. this is the man i want you to -- >> does it concern you that this man, for whatever reason, one of the people in your group -- >> people play games, friend. they lie, they lie, what can i do about liars? if you leave us, i just beg you, please leave us. >> all of a sudden, the skies just turned dark and it down to this torrential rain. and it was almost like some sort of evil omen. >> a sign from above. >> struck everybody that way. it was so eerie. >> when the rain let up, the mood turned ugly as families divided over whether to stay or go. >> don't -- you bring those kids back here! you bring him back! don't you touch my kids! >> as congressman ryan stayed behind to take care of some last-minute logistics, a dump truck loaded with -- and defectors pulled away for the trip to the airstrip. >> and then a shout went up for the people behind us. and you could hear this ah! what are they doing? >> and leo ryan came out he headed toward us, and the shirt was all bloody. >> the congressman had been attacked by a temple member, who held a knife to ryan's throat. >> the congressman was unharmed, but in the struggle over the knife, his attacker was cut. ryan was clearly shaken as he climbed into the truck for the trip to the airstrip. >> we get to the airstrip, we unload, get ready, of course, the plane isn't there yet. so the press people decide have a press conference with congressman. >> suddenly, the knife was around my neck and i was in danger. >> after his interview with the congressman, don harris seemed to sense trouble coming in. watch his eyes. >> don harris push against me and said, get away, there must be trouble. you guys get ready. >> in this video, we se what don harris saw. three men who harris knew to be close to jim jones suddenly approach as if looking for someone. after conferring briefly, son says, the man waved away bystanders. he walked toward a red tractor that had just pulled up. >> don >> harris knew something was going on. >> yes, don knew exactly what was going on. >> coming up -- two shots at the airstrip. >> we dive on the ground. >> they were shooting point blank. >> my whole sure was tripping with red blood. >> i was plain dead, and all of a sudden, i was hit >> when dateline continues. or to a previous dose. an increased risk of guillain-barré syndrome was observed after getting shingrix. fainting can also happen. the most common side effects are pain, redness and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, tiredness, headache, shivering, fever, and upset stomach. ask your doctor or pharmacist about shingrix today. want the power of 5 serum benefits in 1? 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(soft music) - after military service, you bring a lot back to civilian life. leadership skills. technical ability. and a drive to serve in new ways. syracuse university's d'aniello institute for veterans and military families has empowered more than 200,000 veterans to serve their communities and their careers. from professional certifications, to job training, to help navigating programs and services, we give veterans access to support from anywhere in the world. >> i'm katie phang with the hours top stories. in tennessee, six people are dead and at least 23 are injured after a tornado struck nashville and the town of clarksville. officials say the number could increase as crews search for survivors overnight. multiple tornadoes were believed to be on the ground across the stripe. the university of pennsylvania's president liz mccullers resigned from her post after facing fierce criticism from the white house, lawmakers, and high-profile alumni over comments that she made during a congressional hearing on campus antisemitism. now, back to dateline. now, back to dateline. now, back to dateline. after congressman leo ryan promised >> welcome back to dateline. to help anyone who wanted to leave, i'm craig melvin. jonestown was in chaos. after a congressman leo ryan promised to help anyone who wanted to leave, he was attacked by a true believer, shaken, but unharmed, ryan and his team fled to a small airstrip, where they hoped to escape. but the worst was yet to come. back to josh mankiewicz with jonestown, an american tragedy. >> the reporters had their story. in less than 24 hours, they'd interview jim jones, witnessed more than a dozen defections, and an assassination attempt on a u.s. congressman. >> i think i may put on the tape just like i told you. >> as nbc cameramen bob brown rolled tape, two planes were been prepared for takeoff. and then, suddenly, gunshots. only this snippet of that moment remains. >> we dive on the ground, both of us, because we're really connected to each other. >> with that cable. >> with the cable. we're like marriage, cannot be separated. >> i saw orion running under the plane. i followed suit, and i hid behind one of the wheels. >> pop, pop, pop, pop,, pop, pop pop. and i had never heard a gunshot before in my life. >> bob brown was shooting at the truck with fire going off. he sat up and said ouch, don't get up. >> he did, that's why he draws attention. they blew his head off next shot. >> bob brown was dead. true to his word, brown had -- did get a shot of the man who killed him. a few feet away, steve was still tethered to brown's camera. >> they hit my shoulder. they have a scar on my arm and i was carrying the heavy case, the leather saved me. >> the big leather strap? >> that saved my life. >> i felt myself get shot in the left arm and wrist. >> when you get hit with a rifle bullet, it knocked me on my gas. >> neither javers or rider mainstay for a long. both sprinted for cover in the jungle. >> and while you're running, they're still shooting? >> i'm still here in shots. >> my whole shirt was tripping with red blood. >> on the airstrip, the killing continued. >> i was plain dead. and all of a sudden, i was hit. and i thought, oh my god this is a. i'm dying. >> nearby, congressman ryan was down, severely wounded. >> they were shooting point blank at us there on the ground. >> that's when you were hit? >> that's when i was hit. that's when the congressman was killed. >> i was told ryan was shot dozens of times. >> i was told he was shot 45 times. >> they had identified people they wanted to kill. >> congressman leo ryan, dead. nearby, another target, nbc correspondent don harris, also murdered. >> across the airstrip, a temple gunman who pretended to be a defector open fire, wounding two passengers on the smaller plane. his gun jammed. the other passengers disarmed him. the attack had lasted only a couple of minutes. and then, silence. the reporters who've made it into the jungle slowly crept back towards the airstrip. >> there was the happiest site i ever seen. there was bob flick, his big white hat, and his god writes a harley white t-shirt. bob was going around kneeling down from one person to the next. >> i worked my way out to the plane and rick robinson was near the gangway. he was dead. and congressman ryan, he was dead. bob brown was a short distance away and he was dead. don harris was nearby too. and near the gangway, patricia parks, who was one of the defectors, died. >> five dead, ten wounded. shortly after the shooting stopped, the guy in these pilots left and the only plane that could still fly. leaving the wounded to fend for themselves. >> i should've died on that era strip. i should have. but it was not part of the plan. my whole right side of my leg was blown up except for the femural artery. had ephemeral artery been severed, i would've died in 90 seconds. >> you had to be wondering whether you were going to plead to death? >> i think it was tim -- he'll used a t-shirt to tie, what's the word, -- >> tourniquet. >> tourniquet, yeah. to stop the bleeding. he saved me that way. >> bobsled came a number of times during the night and brought me guy needs ram. >> which was the closest thing to medicine they had? >> right. and i was forever grateful to him for doing that. >> while the rest of the survivalist waited for help in a rome shop near the airstrip, some of the jonestown defectors darkly speculated about what might be happening in jonestown at that very moment. >> someone was saying, and i remember this, you know, they're killing him, man. they're killing all the babies. >> coming up -- ominous reports trickle out of the compound. >> when you ran, where people already dying? >> yeah. and iran, yeah. >> and the journey back to jonestown. the world was about to learn the unimaginable truth. >> it was something out of a horror movie. >> when dateline continues. tinues or almost clear skin. it's like the feeling of finding your back... is back. or finding psoriasis can't deny the splendor of these thighs. once-daily sotyktu is proven to get more people clearer skin than the leading pill. don't take if you're allergic to sotyktu; serious reactions can occur. sotyktu can lower your ability to fight infections including tb. serious infections, cancers including lymphoma, muscle problems, and changes in certain labs have occurred. tell your doctor if you have an infection, liver or kidney problems, high triglycerides, or had a vaccine or plan to. sotyktu is a tyk2 inhibitor. tyk2 is part of the jak family. it's not known if sotyktu has the same risks as jak inhibitors. find what plaque psoriasis has been hiding. ask your dermatologist about sotyktu for clearer skin. so clearly you. sotyktu. 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>> this is not a war zone. this is in the middle of a jungle where there are mostly americans around you. >> in georgetown, the next morning, flick recounted the slaughter of the night before. >> there were many shots, and every time somebody would fall down wounded, they would walk over and shoot them in the head with a shotgun. as bob flick boarded his flight home, the story that had left him so shaken exploded in a new unthinkable horror. >> it's a nightmare. >> according to temple members who just gave from jordan stone overnight, jim jones had ordered his followers to swallow fruit flavored drink laced with cyanide. >> when you ran, where people already dying? >> when i ran, yeah. >> remember days earlier in san francisco, defector -- describe something that now sounded like a rehearsal. >> you're telling me this man said during this poison, and they drank a? >> that's right. >> according to jonestown escapee odell roads, anyone who resisted was forced to take the poison. >> there was a little girl named julie reynolds that was being forced to take it. she was about 13, i guess. and the one it supervised her and one of the nurses were actually forcing her to take it. she kept spreading it out. and they were forcing her to take it. >> fred frances knew he had to get to jones down. >> nobody would fly me to jonestown. >> and then i found the airplane with the bullet holes in it. and i negotiated a prize of $10,000 with the pilot to fly me out there. and part of that fee was to the ground staff of that airport that nobody else should fly out there after us. so you're protecting your exclusive? >> i spent $8,000 on a pilot, $2,000 to close the airport any other pilots. works for me. >> once he landed at port -- frances said he and his crew hitched a ride to jonestown on an american army helicopter. >> when we started rotating in a helicopter, in the army helicopter over jonestown, we could see this massive quilt. we had no idea what we were looking at. and as the helicopter made another pass and we got closer, the stench came up, even with the rotor wash into the plane. and then we realized what we were looking at. there were hundreds of bodies down below us. >> lying on top of one another? >> it was something of a horror movie. >> we couldn't tell whether they were men or women or children until we got on the ground. and that's when we had to use the perfume and the scarves. >> this is the way fred francis reported that story in 1978. >> when the poison was being passed out, men were around this auditorium area with crossbows that we're acting as guards. anyone tried to leave, these were used. >> i remember walking through jonestown and being stunned. what being emotionally blasted. >> it stays with you? >> yeah. the kids. adults, adults are gonna do what they want. but children, they took 304 kids. and killed them. it's amazing. >> coming up -- one more unbelievable discovery, the madness of it all captured on tape. >> they tortured some of our children here. we cannot have this. >> it still comes up, and you just can't push it down. >> when dateline continues. does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients or to a previous dose. an increased risk of guillain-barré syndrome was observed after getting shingrix. fainting can also happen. the most common side effects are pain, redness and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, tiredness, headache, shivering, fever, and upset stomach. ask your doctor or pharmacist about shingrix today. after advil dual action back pain: yo. who. haha. [dog barks] what? my back feels better. [rewind sound] before advil: [grunts] oh. advil dual action back pain fights back pain two ways. for 8 hours of relief. hi, i'm ben and i've lost 60 pounds on golo. fights(guitar music) ways. with other programs i've tried in the past they were unsustainable, just too restrictive. with golo i can enjoy my food and the fear and guilt of eating is gone. what is cirkul? cirkul is the fuel you need to take flight. cirkul is the energy that gets you to the next level. cirkul is what you hope for when life tosses lemons your way. cirkul. it's your water, your way. welcome back. cult leader jim jones ordered nearly 1,000 followers to kill themselves and their children >> welcome back. with cyanide. and called leader jim jones ordered neither 1000 followers to kill themselves and their children. with cyanide. those who refused were threatened by crossbows. but how, how did he persuade so many to willingly embrace death. you are about to hear in his own words the preachers chilling final commands. here is josh mankiewicz with the conclusion of johnstown, an american tragedy. >> it was a gruesome crime scene. hundreds of bodies stacked three and four deep in places. pungent in the stifling heat. >> the government of guyana told the united states late in the dead that it wants the victims returned for burial. it would take weeks for american soldiers to recover all of those bodies and ship them home. in the end, 909 bodies were found at joins town. investigators determined jim jones and his nurse died of gunshot wounds, likely self inflicted. all the rest, it seemed, either trying to poison or had it injected. >> and it wasn't a painless death. >> former nbc correspondent fred francis. >> some of those who escaped talked about how the people were with the rain around the pavilion. how it took some of them many minutes to die. >> and in the five did from the airstrip ambush and for more from another location, and the total death tally was 918. it was while combing the compound for clues that investigators made another discovery. jim jones had actually recorded jonestown's final death scene. >> how very much i've tried my best to give you the good life. >> recorded shortly after the murders of congressman ryan and for others out the airstrip -- we jones tells his followers that suicide is their only option now. >> the congressman's dead. please get us the medication. it's simple. >> according to jones, the guy in these army word gef, would soon be arriving to destroy their paradise. >> please, get it, before it's too, late they'd be here. get move, and get moving, get move. and don't be afraid to die, even -- if these people and out here, they'll torture some of our children here. the torture of people. deltona sure are seniors. we cannot have this. >> according to eyewitnesses, the children were the first to die. >> where is the vat? the vat? the vat? the vet with the green sea in it please. bring it here, so the adults can begin. >> just before the tape ran out, jones can still be heard pleading for obedience, rationalizing madness. >> we didn't commit suicide. we committed inactive revolutionary suicide, protesting the conditions of an inhumane world. >> among the dead, maria -- and jim cobb's mother, brother, and three sisters. today, this mass grave in oakland is the final resting spot for more than 400 of jones tones dead. >> for the survivors, jonestown became a life to finding event. after nearly dying on that airstrip, jackie speier followed in congressman leo ryan's footsteps. >> he was a great mentor. a great mentor. i learned a great deal from him. >> and you have a seat now? >> and now i'm serving in his seat. >> it is so bittersweet. obviously. >> speaker served 15 years in congress before retiring in 2023. the reporters who survived the airstrip ambush all wrote books about it. after jonestown, bob flick left tv news and had a second career with entertainment tonight. he died in 2015. steve son became a video editor and occasionally worked on stories for dateline. steve is retired now. >> brett francis, nbc news, -- >> fred frances went on to have many big assignments in his 40 year career at nbc news. but he says jonestown is the one story he just can't shake. >> this one always seems to poke at me every now and again. >> the enormity of it all. >> and the insanity of it? >> the insanity of it. that smell, even though i couldn't resurrected, it's with me all the time. it was so powerful. >> the dead remain ageless in the minds of those they left behind. bob brown's widow, kane brown henderson -- >> bob has now been dead longer than he was alive. but he sure packed a lot into 36 years. >> photographer greg robinson, who took many of the iconic johnstown pictures, was only 27 when he was murdered. >> even the slate, later is still comes up and you can't push it down. it's so bizarre. >> his sister andrea still struggles with his loss and the thoughts of what might have been. >> we both had plans to have our lives together. all those dreams were just shattered. >> don harris left behind a trunk full of memories for his family. among the most prized is this letter from one of the airstrip survivors. >> and he wrote this letter to my mom. or even at the very end, he, my dad, took the time to help me. as i lay crouched behind the wheel of the airplane, don told me, don't move, don't make a sound. just be still and pretend like you are dead. i can't understand why i'm alive or. one more time. he said i can't understand why i'm alive and such a fine man like your husband isn't. >> it's been more than four decades, but like much of what happened at johns town, it's a question with no answer. >> that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. >> i'm craig melvin. >> and i'm natalie morales. >> and this is dateline. ♪ ♪ ♪

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