and a basic promise. - a nation that rewards the effort and determination of every single american. - so the least among us shall have an equal chance to achieve the greatest things. - and the doors of higher education will be open to all. - no matter what your circumstances or where you are, you are part of the life of our great nation. - it s one thing all our presidents agree on, each in their own unique way. [patriotic music winds down] - have a good life. we will see you soon. - and to get that good life, all we had to do was follow the instruction manual on how to do the right thing. study hard, be nice to your brother. - get him! - go to college, graduate, and voila, achieve the american dream. but at some point. [clattering] - the us economy shrinking. - they re not getting married. they re not getting homes. they re not getting jobs. - we ve been looking at 40 years of flat wages. - those doors to opportunity got harder to open. [light laughter] - this is a big one
- adults tell you, you have to go to college. - i did what i was supposed to do. - and it feels like somebody lied to you somewhere along the way. - traveling the country. - glad you showed up, man. - tremendous focus. [whimsical chords] and steely determination. - it is a problem. did congress even know what it was doing? - it s keeping me up at night. - this was a legislatively manufactured crisis. - this is a scam. - it s the greatest robbery in modern american life. [moody, heavy chords] [punchy music] - so how did this whole long saga begin? i worked for years in politics and journalism. - here s blake zeff. he s a politics editor at salon.com. - and buzzfeed contributor blake zeff. - he s a washington insider who s worked for president obama. - blake, what can the president do on guns to give himself a point in the history books? - well, i ll tell you the first thing is. but behind the confident demeanor
- i m a person who feels very strongly about things like integrity in government, doing something about the drug problem. - rudolph giuliani is now in his second day of private practice at the upscale law firm of white & chase. giuliani watchers agree his time in private practice is a holding action until he makes a bid for mayor. - rudy giuliani brought this whole idea, this shtick, about going after the mafia. he thought, i could use the same method, the same tactics, used in rounding up the mob i could use the same tactics in rounding up black people. - street crime is growing, driven by new york s soaring crack problem. half of the new yorkers surveyed in a recent poll said they were victims of some sort of crime in the last year. [punchy music] - by 1989, 90, it was a rough place.
- i m a person who feels very strongly about things like integrity in government, doing something about the drug problem. - rudolph giuliani is now in his second day of private practice at the upscale law firm of white & chase. giuliani watchers agree his time in private practice is a holding action until he makes a bid for mayor. - rudy giuliani brought this whole idea, this shtick, about going after the mafia. he thought, i could use the same method, the same tactics, used in rounding up the mob i could use the same tactics in rounding up black people. - street crime is growing, driven by new york s soaring crack problem. half of the new yorkers surveyed in a recent poll said they were victims of some sort of crime in the last year. [punchy music] - by 1989, 90, it was a rough place.
this shtick, about going after the mafia. he thought, i could use the same method, the same tactics, used in rounding up the mob i could use the same tactics in rounding up black people. - street crime is growing, driven by new york s soaring crack problem. half of the new yorkers surveyed in a recent poll said they were victims of some sort of crime in the last year. [punchy music] - by 1989, 90, it was a rough place. the 80s boom had kinda come to an end. the kinda horsemen of the apocalypse were running. you had crack, aids, homicide. - we had just come through the trauma of the fiscal crisis of the 70s. and the city frankly just reached a low point. there was never a time where the streets were more dirty and dangerous than in the late 80s into the 90s.