national stage in 2004. no other country on earth is my story even possible. reporter: in 2008 then senator obama s prospect of becoming the first african-american president was almost derailed when his pastor was caught making racist remarks. forcing obama to address race head-on. reverend wright s comments were not only wrong but divisive. divisive at a time when we need unity. reporter: michelle obama, too, felt under siege. what do you think is the one thing most people get wrong? about you? people don t think i love my country. i don t think there could be anything further from the truth. reporter: during obama s first term in the white house, he was rett stoent address racial straight to head-on. his so-called beer summit aimed at mending fences between a white police officer and a black college professor was widely panned. the backlash shocked him. and he winds up after the arrest of skip gates sitting down
this one. obviously, the president is denying it, but that s a troubling statement. it is. from the trump camp from their own aid. it is. there are other people in the white house trying to put some sort of a face on this. but look, before this story broke this evening, i was talking to somebody who s very close to a bunch of trump loyalists who spoke with numerous people inside the white house yesterday and the way this person described the people in the white house to me was disconsulate. that was the word yesterday. so and also, in talking to people who are close to the president before this story broke tonight, i can tell you that they describe him to me as a person who felt under siege, who didn t have kchd in anybody on his staff, and was kind of trying to think his way about what to do about it.