Transcripts For KQED Frontline 20240712

New responsibilities. Narrator frontline has investigated the candidates. Americas best days are yet to come. Narrator who would be presiden i William Jefferson clinton, do solemnly swear. I believe we have to make the right choices. W will meet aggression with resolve and strength. Do everything in our power to change the wor. I, George Walker bush, do solemnly swear. Narrator the moments that i wont let you i wont. Let it be said we refused to let th journey end. That future is our destiny. Narrator the president s they would become. I, Barack Hussein obama, do solemnly swear. We have to heal the divides in our country. Ur i am oice. Narrator and now on ontline. That the end of this chapter of american darkness began here. Narrator the choice 2020. Frontline is made possible by contributions to youpbs u. Ation from viewers like thank you. And by torporation for public broadcasting. Major support is provided by the john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation, committed to building a mo just, verdant and peaceful world. More information at macfound. Org. The Ford Foundation working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide at fordfoundation. Org by the abrams foundation,ded committed to excellence in journalism. The park foundation, dedicato hghtening Public Awareness of critical issues. And by the frontline journalismund, with major support from jon and jo ann hagler. , overnigowing national unrest. Narrator with the nation in crisis. Mobs sowing chaos in cities across the nation. Narrator . This is the story of two candidates forged in their own crises. Political pundits said there was no way it be done if the city would gather around with us. Narrator . Personal tragedies. An Automobile Accident killed the wife and baby daughter of biden. Narrator . Public controversies. Trumps newspaper ads contribute to the citys racial narrator . Challenges that shaped them. Anita hill comes to washington. The donald is facing an incredible cascrisis. I cant breathe i cant breathe narrator . And show how they would lead a country now in crisis. Together, we are taking back our country. Narrator the choice 2020. In a battle for the soul of america. Narrator trump vs. Biden. America wants to know welcome to america wants to know. Im ernie anastas, and this is the. In 1992, i hosted a special ow in new york where viewers asked a lot of questions about their favorite celebrities. Many, of course, were interested in donald trump, and whate was like as a young boy growing up in queens. I managed to catch up with donalds parents, mary and fred trump, and asked them, what was donalds favorite game as a child . He played monopoly. Yes, indeed. He liked to play. He play with his brother. Uhhuh. He played with robert, but dre than monopoly, he pla with Building Blocks. Ooh. Always with Building Blocks narrator but Donald Trumps childhood was much more complicated. Early on, a family crisis, his moer seriously ill. When he was twoandahalf,mo my gther got very ill. Donald, who was at a very, very critical point in his development as a child, was sentially abandoned by her. He may not entirely trust women. He finds it difficult, if not impossible, to connect with them on any deep level, because i dont believe he ever was ab to with her. When you ask him how she showed her love, he has nothing to say. The complexity of that relationship, i think, plays out through l of his relationships with women throughout his life. With one wife after another. Theres a, an inability to reach any recognizable level of intimacy. Narrator young donald had his own crisis finding his place a famildominated by his father, fred, a stern and demanding Real Estate Developer. I strongly suspect thate d a relationship with his father that accounts for a lot of what he bece. And his father was a very brutal guy. He was a tough, harddriving guy who d very, very little emotional intelligence, to use todays terms. Donalds fathers overall message to his children was and it was a very differentto messaghe boys than to the girls to the boys, was,wi compete be a killer. Do whayou have to to win. Narrator inside the family, a harsh game of apprenwho would take over freds empire . The first in linwasnt donald, it was his older brother freddy. My father was sensitive, hewa kind and generous, he liked hanging out with his friends who adored him, and, maybe worst of all, although is t hasay, he had interests outside of the family business. My grandfather understood none of that. Narrator their father said freddy wasnt a killer. He wanted fly airplanes for a living. Donald thought that was crazy. He could not understand why fred did not go into the family siness and be a builder like their father was. But fred wanted to be pilot, and donald looked at that and said, well, thats sort ofus like being ariver. Why would you want to be a pilot . Narrator donald watched as freddy was cast out. My dad couldnt do anything right, and my grandfather made his life miserable. He was frustrated, and he began to realize that he, it wasnt going anywhere. Narrator his life ended early in alcolism and poor health. Through the years, donald would take a much different path. He wanted to avoid my fathers fate of, you know, abuse and humiliation at the h hands father. He took that lesson to heart. N rator he was determined to live up to his fathers ideal be a killer. trumpet fanfare plays ha ra nr but he was also tempestuous, impulsive. Ntand at 13, his father seim to military school. students chanting he must have sa, this kids going to grow up in a tough world, really tough worldn if ihim to succeed, hes iting to have to be tough. He talks abous almost this rite passage. He said to mthat whe arrived at the military academy, for the first time ilife, someone slapped him in the face when he got out of line. Narrator it would be a fiveyear lesson in how to be a bully. Donald trump yelled at his. Classmat he pushed them around. He even used a broomstick as a weapon against classmates who didnt listen to him when he told thewhat to do. All of us were part of this culture of, you beat on kids when they didnt do the righ thing. You got hit. You may have gotten slammed against the wall. You were put in, in. Go yoput artificially into fights. Uh. He he became a leader of cadets. He became one of the studento leaders d a number of kids under him in the dormitories, and he ruled the dormitory life with an in fist. Narrator inside that brutal world, donald had found his place. His mother told me that he was never homesick. He loved it. He loved all that stuff because it was also really competitive. Other kids didnt really like him all that much. He wasnt that popular because he was so competitive. He was always looking for the edge. But it was, it was an environment that he thrived in. Narrator with his father and mother by his side, donaldua grd. Hed become a killer, learned the power of bullying to get ahead a method hed carry into the future. military students chanting b eeping on countdown teach p. E. Ring hope to p. Two s. stuttering on s uh, s. Er si well, my. Father is very strict. Among the many causes of retarded speech are low intelligence, hearing loss, emotional conflicts, poor methods of the teaching of talking by the parents, brain injury, and many others. For example, a child may stutter as he comes out the earlyre stages orded speech. Narrator joebidens crisis was stuttering. He came of age in a, another time, in which people. Werent as open about disorders or disabilities or setbacks. stuttering when the common. Prescription was. Buck up. Deal with it. Narrator dealing with it a roughandtumble childhood f in delaware, hher a car salesman fallen on hard times. For little joey, catholic school. Nuns. He had an assignment he had toemorize. He had to stand up and deliver narrator the words were in front of him sir Walter Raleigh was a gentleman. When joe read it, it went. claps out rhythm sir Walter Raleigh was a gentle man. Say that again . Mmm. Sir Walter Raleigh was a gentle man. And this went on three times. He said gentle man instead of gentleman. And. The nun said. imitating nun mr. Bbbbbiden, whats that word . And this is a person ia. Position of authority, this is e on whos meant to protect you. It was so embarrassing and e enraging that biden walked out of the room,lked out of the school. He walked all the way home car mot starts narrator joeys mom, jean, marched him back to the school to confront his teacher. The sister starts telling her how disrespectful joe is, and my mother, stop. She said, just tell me, did yomake fun of my son . Well, i. Is r, did you me fun of my son . Well. And my mother said, well, ill answer it for you. You sure in hell did. And if you ever, ever, ever do that aga, im going to come back and im going to knock your bonnet right off your head. Do we understand each other . Stuttering is a fear problem. The person feels fear, shame, d ilt, tension. Hes always worrout what might happen. He might get into a situation, not be able to say his nam or the telephone rings and he cant answer it. I was surprised at how often this subject came up during my time with him. El itd me understand that so much of who he is comes back to that. That people are ready to make fun of him. That people will laugh. Narrator bullied, harassed, ridiculed, he was hellbenonut beating the r. Biden would stand in front of his bedroom mirror holding a flashlight to his face, and he would recite yeats and emerson. Narrator he kept pushing against the stutter, the llies and it paid off. People liked to be around him, he really had a presence. You knew him when he walked in. He was a little taller than most, and in very good shape. He was a star footbayer on their team. Narrator joey biden found another way to fight back ti po. In high school, hes president of his senior class. Honestly, thats when he gets a taste for it the stutter is still part of him school, where he hyear in high introduce his family at the, at graduation, and he has to stand up there and not stutter, and say this publicly. And he does it. We want joe we want joe narrator in the crisis of stuttering, a life method persevere. Just push through. More medical rearch to confer to conquer devastating diseases like cancer, and. T the end in, um, um, in themselves. The uaw ok ex crible cuts in their future. Many people would say bidens stutter is among his most visible weaknesses, if not number one. But its also a source of his strength. Its also. The main source of his grit and his. Determination to just be the, comting. This is the cbs eveningr news with walonkite. Good evening. For seven monthsnew york city has teetered on the brink another piece of new york fell by the curbside today for who knows how long. Narrator by the 1970s, new york city was in crisis. As part of the struggle k toeep the city frogoing bankrupt. N york city suddenly comes apart. The city, for the first time, was losing pulation, as well as jobs. And losing its economic base. siren wailing new york was in tatte then, but there wereun opportities everywhere you looked. The new york city of the early ik70s was made for someone donald trump. At narrator in risis, 25yearold donald trump saw a chanceor personal gain. He was struggling to make a name for himself, break out of his fathers shadow. Donald, from a very young age, wanted to exceed his father and go into manhattan and be the success that his father hadnt been in terms of notoriety and fame. Why . Whats going on . Narrator trump took his shot. Rt it s with a Rundown Hotel near gnd central station. The Old Commodore Hotel was in such sorry shape that it had boardedup windows, it had rodents all over the place. It was onef the markers of new yorks sorry decline. And trump saw this as grand opportunity. Unemployment is muher thanate of it is. Narrator it was an enormous gamble, but with the city on the brink. And so the city continues to stagger beneath the weight of its multiplying fiscal problems. Ar tor trump believed new york was desperate enough to pay him to transform the hotel. If the ci would gather around with us, we can produce,h lease, guaranteed by the state of new york, a new york city lease. Narrator but he was new to manhattan. He needed a guide. He found roy cohn. Roy, who was a roughandtumble fixer democr, power within the Democratic Power structure inw rk city, close friend of mayor abe beame, close friend of carmineesapio, the boss of the Manhattan Democratic Party i think he was, like, donalds ambassador to the rld of manhattan. Narrator cohn had en disgraced for leading mccarthyra witch hunts, but trump saw him as a killer. Roy cultivated an image as a bulldog. Nothing, nothing would stop him from tarring opponents or even doing illegal things. His pre and joy was bullying people and bribing people and maki deals behind the scenes he was a fixer. He was a connector. Roy cohn was the kind of master of the dark arts. He was the person who helped shape trumps approach to life. What he learned from roy cohn was never apologize, always attack. Attack the character of your opponents, that theyre somehow malicious, that theyre somehow doing the devils deed here. And,nd let the public know that. That was roy cohn. Narrator cohn knew just how to get the tax breaks trump eded to build his hotel. Roy cohn, because of his uniqueositioning within new york city at that time, was able to pull certain strings, to get tax breaks. To narrar new york taxpayers more than 400 million. R he is able to set up this asal, which the state bill a special new program, but isnt a special new program. It is just a giveaway to donald trump, a tax giveaway. Its been a long, hard fit. How do you feel . Well, im very happy, and i think the city of new york isry going to be appy. Narrator he transformed the commodore hotel. With cohns help, trump had thrived in crisis, used it to his advantage. The mayornd the governor of new york were among those on hand for the ribboncutting ceremony. He got it done. He got it done by bulling his way through, by pretending to have more backers than hreally actually putting lums ofhe was money into it when he really wasnt. He, and the con worked. He got the moneyot the permits. He got it done. You use deception, you usemi intion. You use all of the tactics that you can find. It is a uttey transactional sense of the world. D hats in it for me . Is kind of the founding credo. One of the things that nald learned from school of dad and school of roy was that almost everybody has their price. Atever. It might not necessarily be dollars, although it often is. It might be some vulnerabilityre that wont baled. But roy said that almostev yone, theres a pressure point. Me narrator it would be trumps playbook exploit crisis, in business, in life, in politics. Kennedy, kennedy, kennedy,nedy, kennedy for me narrator joe biden also hado a le model irish, catholic, goodlooking. Joe emulated what he could. Kennedy was drawn to politics, biden was drawn to politics. Jack had a photogenic wife and children. Joe had a photogenic wife d children. The kennedys had a family compound at hyannis port. The bidens would have a family compound in wilmington, delaware. Joe biden was always fascinated by the kennedy mystique. He really saw himself as a natural heir to that tdition. Un im joe biden and im a candidate for thed states senate. Politicians have done such a jon he people that the people dont believe them anymore, and id like a shot at changing that. Narrator but wilmington was no hyannis port. We, the bidens, we had no money. We had no power or influence. We idnt know anybody who was a big name who could help us. Hi, h are you . Hi, how are you . Joe bidens my name. Narrator like the crisis over his stutter, his polical start was a struggle. Behind in the polls, facing a powerful opponent United States senator cale boggs, an ally of president richard nixon. Joe biden asked me about getting involved in his campaign. I started off by telling him that theres no way you can win. Cale boggs was the candidate for the senate. Hed been a twoterm congressman. Twoterm governor. He was beloved aroe state. So i said that he couldnt win. Audacious is a good term to appliden back then. This is a guy who wasnt yet old enough to hold the seat. Narrator it was a time of crisis in the country. The vietnam war had divided americans. Opposition to the war in vietnam has set offns demonstration several major cities. Narrator . Igniting social unrest. In delaware, racial tensionsve boiled o the National Guard was called out in several cities to put down riots. One of these cities wa wilmington, delaware. To nar black residents were angry. Joe biden saw an opportunity to with race back when he wasnce 19, working at an inrcity pool. He was a lifeguard. He was one of the two white guys. Younglooking, goodlooking, elvis presleylooking kind of guy. Thats how he got to know some of thguys who were in the gangs. He just seemed to have a natural instin for getting to know g ople, getting to understand them, but not beraid to be around them. We became friends. We became friends. I was a very troubled child. Okay . Leader of a gang, no food at home, electric cut off, noso sometime no soap and water to take a bath, no hot water. Narrator joe and ricky he likes to be called mouse forged a lifetime friendship ter beating a shared demon they both stuttered. Understand, back there forla black, folks back those days, when you stuttered, yous tarded or you was, or youre something was mentally ong with you. Id start with. B so ically told me, go to the mirror, look at yourself, pronounce your words. Go and put your voice on tape. Well, my words did cha i started reading the papers from t back from the back to the forth, back and forth. Narrator mouse introduced joe all around the neighborhood. Over the years, biden kept in niuch, building relationships in the black com that would pay off. He would go through thispe onalizing with people. I never really heard him say, im going to change the community. Im going to deal with employment. I ing to deal with. You know, the typical politician mess that you hear. I always tell people, be wary o litician who tells you hes going to create jobs. Yo hes lying t sompeople are in politics because theyre in love with policy, but theyre not necessarily in love with humans. He loves the game of it. Loves the dance of it. He loves meeting people. Es he lugging strangers. Narrar it became his goto strategy. President nixons landslide didnt help the republicans. Narrator and in 1972, that method worked. Some of thoseho did lose had been considered the most certain to win narrator the black communitd hee joe biden a winner. In delaware. Narrator by less than 3,000 votes. Wh. Ped by 29yearold joseph biden. It was very close. W and peopere still surprised, you know, how this even happened. Ha all of yo done something that the political pundits said there was no way in the world it could be done cheering that night, all the college kids were soxcited. A lot of us went to the Hotel Du Pont ballroom. P and it wked, packed. And there was so much excitement in the air. I saw this woman coming through the crowd, and i realized that it was neilia, joes wife. And so i walked up to her, a i shook her hand, ani said, uh, congratulations on your win. And she said, thank you very much. And that was our exchange. The war of the trumps has ignited a battle of the tabloids. T unfolding saga of trump versus trump. A highoctane mix of the narrator they it thes. Divorce of t century trump versus trump. It was on page one, page two. I likened it to world war iii. I never saw publicity equal to that. T reports linking trumpa bevy of beauties. Narrator this time it was a crisis donald created himself. Passed as the other woman. Narrator hed been cheating on his wife, ivana. He was in a real crisis, and there had been scandal after scandal in the tabloids. His children were sobbing, ivanka was sobbing, donald, jr. , was apparent not speaking to his father. And donalds mother said to someone who was ve close to her, i dont know who my son is anymore. Narrator the marriage that produced the divorce of the century had begun more than aef decadee. She was a model ouhe town with friends. Donald came up andod ined himself. Hi, im donald trump, and i see that youre having a problem getting a table. So he went over to the maltre d, well, next thing you know, the girls had a table. Narrator an immigrant from czechoslovakia, she was going places. What fred trump would ll a killer. The interesting thing aboutco ivana is, ider her to be biery bit as ambitious as donald, and everas committed to remaking herself or creatg herself. Nartor ivana zelnikova had become mrs. Trump, but that was just the sta. She said to me, you know, im going to go work for donald. I said, what . Youre getting married and youre going to work . I never heard of anything like that. Dont you get married not to go to work . She goes, no, i told him that i wanted a job. Give me any job, i dont care at it is. I cant sit at home. I love to work. I like to see the final product. Hai just, uh, i dont care kind of business it is in, or what kind of work it is. I just adore to work. I cant sit home and look up at a ceiling, its st not enough for me. She was driven, too. Driven, dren, driven. Ivana trump was donalds. Like they were born from the same sperm. Donald and ivana mimicked each you know, so they were like a ball of fire. Its Opening Party was one to end them all. Guests thousands of them miled with le cliques. Narrator together, they headlined trums biggest real estate project trump tower. And as he expanded into Atlantic City, she beme c. E. O. Of one of the casinos. In manhattan, she torge of the iconic pza hotel. But it would not last. Ivana, inhe beginning, that was great, it was very refreshing. He had this powerful woman by his side, but itrew tiresome for him. And why did it grow tiresome for him . Because there are no costars in trumps orbit. Theres only one spotlight, and it on him. When things went well, heou became enoy jealous of the attention she got. S and when thint poorly, ic became extremely angry and insulting and vive toward her. Narrator during ivanas renovation of the plaza, tr. Ps resentmentoiled ov we came in and w the finished room, and the first thing, he didnt le the furniture,nd he started cursing out ivana. And he pulled the drawer off a piece of furture, he was so angry. I, i i never saw him so angry in my life. He was very scary that day. He was very, very gry. Do you all argue . Narrator in public, trumpt madeear how he felt. We should have world t. Cordsetting fights. But we really do we get along very well, and there is not a lot of disagreeme, because ultimately, ivana does exactly as i tell her to do. laughing, exclaiming see, wait a minute. Male chauvinist. Right, right, men . Is that right . Huh . applause cameras clicking narrator in the eye of the shtabloid storm, ivana saie ous doing everything she c to hold to her life and her power. She starts weeping. And i said, ivana, what is it . And she says, you, you dont know what its like. You just have to deal th him when you work for him. I have him 24 hours a day. And i felt so terribly sorry. I mean, she really did everything she possibly could to please donald, and i think she got the short end of the stick. A marital split between the billionaire builder. He wants out. Woman. S rumor of another and the wounded wife. Narrator but for trump, the crisis was madetoorder. He leaked stories to feed the media firestorm. One of the things he really learned from roy was the manipulation of the celebrity press, the socalled society press page six, the daily ws. He plays them like a piano. New yorks tabloids, having a field day, report. These tactics and techniques that he learned over time, that he picked up from roy cohn a his father, and everything he eaned from those people could be directed at the closest people in his life, including his wife. Narrator this personal crisis taught trump another lifs never share wer again. Weve seen it in trumps presidency. When aides bome too out front in their own right, he reactsor in ways thatof shove those figures back down to maintain the role of primacy that he noonly seeks, but needs. Narrator hes 30. Joe biden hait all. Three children, wife neia at his side, about to take a se in the senate. I was assigned to do a long, long piece on him. Something like, you know, young mr. Biden goes to washington. Thats when spent a good bit of time with joe. D had lunch with neilia in the course of doing this story, lfand i just thought to my you know, this couple, you know, really has everything. Its a love story. He met her on a beach in spring eak in college. They fell, within days, madly in love. Neilia was the love of his life and it was really a happilyeverafter tale. Until it isnt, abruptly. Narrator ben and his setting up the office, hiring a stf, when the crisis hit. The phone rings, and val gets it. And biden is sort of paying attention, and then he really harts paying attention wh sees her face. I got a call from jimmy biden. And he said, come home, now. Theres been an accident. And neilia was in the car, the station wagon, wh the three children, beau, hu, and naomi. Neilia was literally inging home the christmas tree, with the kids in the car, the three kids in the car. siren blaring narrator Campaign Flyers from the car helped identify the bodies. She was hit broadside by a actor trailer. And she and naomi, who sat behind her in the car seat, they died instany. And beau and hunter wered. Seriously inju and he. He knew, he knew. He knew from the look on her face. My brother looked at me and said, shes dead, isnt she . And i id, i dont know, joey. Jimmy told me. Narrator his sons were in e hospital hours away. The pain cut through like a shard of broken glass. I ben to understand howop despair led to just cash it in; how suicide wasnt just an option, but a rational option. In six short weeks, he went from being on top of the world to being a young widower, a father of two children, and a single dad and a man with, you know, a broken heart. Narrator he got to the boys; they were all that was left. Was alcut up and huntersbeau skull was fractured. Ince the accident, biden himselfs been living in a hospital in wilmington, delaware, taking care of his sons. Th todaysenator took his swearingin ceremony. Joseph biden, democrat of delaware. Ar tor somehow, biden pulled it together. They held a swearingin cemony at the hospital. It means a lot to me. I appreciate it, and i hopean that ie a good senator for yall. I make this one promise, that if in six months or so, theres a conflict between my being a good father and being a good senator, which i hope will n occur i thought would, but i hope it wont i promise you that i will,l ntact governorelect tribbitt, as i had earlier, and tell m that we can always get another senator, but they cant gehe anfather. Narrator the road ahead fore joe would be tough, like the fight against stuttering and the uphillba politicale. Once again, in crisis, he would persevere. Valeries going to help raise the children. Hes going to have a job in washgton and a home in wilmington, and hes going to ride that train back and forth. Hes going tbe home for dinner every night with his kids and his sister. And thats going to be the familynit. Its not the one he chose, but thats going to be the one. You dont lose a wife and child at the point ilife that he did and not grow from it. You learn from those kinds ofri exces. What you do, though, is, like, uh, muhammad ali said one time, ive never been knocked down. I was always been getting up. So joe just never been knocked down, hes always been getting. For some people, the ultimate goal. Narrator the question s rst asked on tv when he was 34 years old. Would you like to be theid prt of the United States . I really dont believe i would, rona. But i would like to see somebodp as tsident who could do the job. Narrator the question would not go away. Political, president ial talk tme, and i know people have talked to you about whether or not you want to run. Would you, would you ever . Probably not, but ii do get tired of seeing the country ripped off. Youve been hinting that you could do it better and you do intend to run for president at some point . No, im not goingn for president. Yeah, but if you want something done right. audience laughter not only does his ego get fed, he gets a nice note from richard nixon, whos seen him on television. Mrs. Nixon told me that you were great on the donahue show. She predicts that whenever you decide to rufor office, you will be winner donald proudly framed this letter and showed it to me at the time we were working together on interviews. Narrator hed made his mark in manhattan exploiting an economic crisis. Now hed take on another crisisr and raise his ile yet again. I t is Christmas Eve in new york and the talk of the town is not peace on earth, but theng violence as. Vigilante who shot and wounded four young men over the weekend. To have it happen in new york city, unbelievable. In the new york city version of a racial lynching. The man is dead, somebody got no justice for no peace narrator crime and racial tensions were tearing new york city apart. Nd aot one killing, a hundred killings, are going to stop us from going where we want to go. Nnerator trump seized on o headline. A jogger is fighting for her life after a brutal attack in central park. She is a white wall Street Investment banker, her black attackers being called animals t media. The savage beating and gang rape has provoked outrage in a city filled. It is the ages of the acsed, 14 to 17 years old, and thhorror of their alleged crimes that has caused a furor. The defendants are about to have their two months in court. Raymond santana, yusef salaam, antron mccray. They are finally through. Theres a rush to judge because theres a rush to solve the crime. Narrator yusef salaams arrest was at the center of the storm. We became what was wrong. We became expendable. Trump saw this classic tabloid story. He saw his role and his position instinctively. He knew in his heart that those guys wd. Narrator as in so many othet areas, his ae towas race was shaped by his father. He was being raised by a father who was discriminating against African Americans in the very first apartments with the trump name. He wasaised in a setting where the people of color and the black people that he saw were peop who were working for him it was his fathers driver. They we just a very racist family, you know. Pele of color, you know, African Americans in particular, jewish people, womewere all considered fair game. And, you know, racism, antisemitm, and misogyny were very common in my grandparents house, and. Was just the way it was. Trump took out fullpagety ads in four. Narrator trump took theao exrdinary step of buying a fullpage in four new york wspapers. Trumps newspaperdso contributee citys racial polarization. We havent even gone to trial yet. Two weeks passes, and we are essentially given a death sentence. With this ad. They should be executed for their crimes. Anger. Them to understand our i want them to be afraid. And then he signs his name the very bottom. On pe sign their name to things that theyre not proud of. The ads are basically a very strong and vocal. They are saying, bring back la der to our cities. This ad was a whisper into the darkest, most sinist parts of society. You better belie that i hate the people that took this girl and raped her brutally. You Better Believe it. And its more than anger, itsha ed. And i want society to hate them. Trump found a way to insert himself into the story, to signal where he was on these issues. And began learn t lesson that if you can capture that fear, and you can become the champion for those afraid people, that theres a lot of political opportunity in that. Hey hey ho ho all the racists have to go narrator in the process, trump had touched a nerve and found a sympathetic audience. Ive never done anything thats caused a more positive stir ive had 15,000, 15,000 letters in the last week and a lf. I dont know of more than two or three that were negative out of 15,000. Hes learning how to dip his toe in and out of thesere rkably racially incendiary issues. Hes learning how to dog h whistls learning how to signal, um, and also learning how to do at while keeping a little bit of distance. Th mor a decade later, new information has blown the case. There were cheers in a new york city courtroom today. Turns out they apparently got thwrong guys. The central park five were released from prison. It turned out another man entirely had done this rape, and these kids were innocent. Theyd been not only publicly exonerated, but officially exonerated. Narrator but trump would not apologize then, nor over the years when the subject came up. We went to prison for a crime that we didnt commit. Still to this day, we still have not been apologized to from the people who harmed us in that way, that political way, right . Narrator it was part of the roy co playbook that trump continued to use fan the fires of division, get what you want, move on. You can almost draw Straight Line from what he did with the central park five to i mean, there is something within donald trump that makes him drawn to those kinds of issues very, very divisive issues that are aimed at a particular part of the electote or the population, that, in one way or another, stir things up. Thank you very much. cheers and applause narrator after 14 years injo for the big one rng foring president. It was a family affair. The ys were older now. He had remarried, had a new daughter. You know, he said, lets just test the waters. And so i said, all ght. I mean, it sort of justan snowballedwe were into it, really, before we even knew it. Narrator but as he campaigned, he headed towards anotr crisis stemming from a persistent question what did he stand for . I think thats always been one of his challenges. As he tries to go esident, he casts about for what he wants to say. He casts about for the issues he wants to put forward, and what he wants to say he believes in. And it, and it feels cast about. Narrator then, one day, a video. A story that would give him something to say. Why am i the firstus kinnock in a td generations to be able to get to university . Narrator obsessed with the tape, biden studied it. He later wrote, the ad was riveting; i couldnt take my eyes off neil kinnoc as it because they were weak . Those people who could work eight hours underground and then come up and play football . Weak . Biden could put himself into in scranton, pennsylvania,mily , mily in the mines. And so, in a sen absorbed the kinnock story and making it his own. The Campaign Begins in earnest with the first votes for the next president in iowa. Theandidates spent much of yesterday fanned out. Narrator in iowa, during the primary, he took kinnocks words, made them his own. And now m biden. Thank you very much. I started thinking as i wasr coming orewhy is it that joe biden is the first in his family ever to go to a universi . He got up there and he gave his speech, and he got to the end, the last three minutes, and he gave kinnock, but he did not attribute it to kinnock. Is it because they didnt work hard . My ancestors who worked in the coal mines of northeas pennlvania and would come up after 12 hours and play football for four hours . Joe biden borrowed it and applied it to his own life, and made a moving sort of aria, a moving sort of part of a speech about his own life, whh in fact had been taken from neil kinnock. I hope youll consider me. Thank you very much. And that concludes the. Onomics for america deba democratic president ial candidate joseph biden today faces a controversy. Biden seems to be claiming kinnocks vision and life as his own. Narrator it became front page news. As bideneen caught with a sudden embarrassing comparison of his recent campaign speeches. The first example came from great britain. Why am i the first kinnock in a thousand generations to be able to get to university . And i started thinking as i wacoming over here, why is it that joe biden is the first inhi family ever to go to a university . Nartor his Campaign Said it was a mistake, that he had cited kinnock other times. On for a stime in two eks. Narrator but then, the avalanche. He looks like a joe biden windup doll, with somebody narrator allegations of failing to cite a source in a law school paper. Plagiarized a law review article. Narrator taking lines from his political idols, the keedys. One from John Kennedys inaugural, others from Robert Kennedy their words from the lips of joe biden. When he was accused of plagiarism, we felt that, you know, his character was being attacked. And it sort of took us back. Thank you for coming, i apologize for not being able. Narrator in trouble, biden tried to do what hed always done. Ph i did not say, to pase neil kinnock. I should have. Narrator apologize. D i shove known it was Robert Kennedys quote. I did not know that. Narrator admit his mistakes. Ive done some du things. And ill do dumb things again. Se narrator pre. But ill tell you one thing. My learning curve is moving onnt this presil race. And i wanna tell em all im in this race to stay, im in this race to win, and here i come thanks a lot, folks. applause narrator he thought he could put it behind him. But then. This does not mark the senator joseph biden. Week for today hes having to defend what heas said in public about his record at law school and what the record really shows. One real quick question,l what law schd you attend and where did you place in that class . Narrator insted, his anger was on full display. I think i probably have a much higher i. Q. Than you do, i spect. I went to law school on a full academic scholarship. Joe bidens always ery sensitive to the perception that hes being disrespected. And when that happens, those are the moments when he tends to erupt. O ty one in my, in my class to have a full academic scholarship. And, in ct, ended up in the top half of my class, i won the International Moot Court competition. But Syracuse University Law School Records released by biden just last week show he sought a partial, not full, sship, for financial, not academic reasons, that he finished t in the top half, but 76th out of 85 students. Joe biden comes off as someone who has a lot of self confidence, but obviously, theres an imposter syndrome dynamic at work here. Because if you fl like you have to make up stuff about yourself and invent stories that are not your own, and then do it in such a selfdestructiay in which you can be caught, that speaks to a level of character, and certainly insecurity, that is common among a lot of politicians. Delightful to see you all here. You know my wife, jill. Pulling out of the 1987 president ial race was really devastating to, to joe and to me and to our family. The exaggerated shadow of those mistakes has begun to obscure the essence of my candidacy and the essence of joe biden. He recognized that this was fatal blow to pes of winning the nomination in 1988. I think it was a very painful decision. Thanks, folks, my wife and i thank you very much. Narrator biden lost this fight. R delaware sejoseph biden dropped out of the ht. Joe biden blas mostly himself. Narrator he returned to the senate, continued hiod persevered through it all. Real estate developer donald trump opened his new casino, the taj mahal, in atlantic cy is this the eighth wonder of the world . The taj mahal shines as trumps slickesteal. Narrator the biggest crisis of Donald Trumps Business Career began with e giant bet. It certainly represented something bigger and bolder and probably what was gointo be the greatest statement ever made in Atlantic City. And so, it was a big deal. D. It was a big deal to don narrator the casino was the size of two football field trump said he spent 14 million on chandeliers. people talking in background people were mobbing donald. Ke i was shocd, i couldnt believe that, you know, asking him for his autograph and everything. I mean, he had just catapulted into this rock star. Narrator in tv reports, trump bragged that he was the reason the taj would be a success. The taj mahal needs to make over 1 million a day to cover exnses. Trump says his business sense and ego will make it happen. Ego is an interesting thing. I mean, ive always been referred to as somebody with a big ego, but i really believe that ive never met a suessful person without a very large egon if you dont have a big ego, youre not gonna be successful its as simple as that. Narrator ego was central to trumps method, but there was something el positive thinking. A chnique hed learned withth his father ais manhattan church. It was the place to be sn fo business leaders, socialites, politicians, and the trumps. Every sunday,uld show up at Marble Collegiate Church to go to Norman Vincent peale services. The god who made this world was a wise god he wants people who live life and like it. Love it. I think part of it was this positive message that peale had, that you could achieve anything you wanted there was nothing that could stop you. Narrator peales book, the por of positive thinking, taught followers visualization, envisioning the world that they wanted. One reason that the positive thinker gets positive results is, he is not afraid of a problem. Its this Toxic Positivity that perfectly fit in with what my grandfather already thought. Everythings great, you know, and if you think that way, thent evng will be great. The problem is, everything is not always great how, then, can you face the future with confidence . The three influences on Donald Trumpas i sometimes describe them, are school of dad school of fred trump schoolf roy roy cohn and school of Norman Vincent peale. Narrator it was peales kind of outlook that carried trump into Atlantic Citywith the vision of s name in lights trump plaza, trump castle, then the billiondolump taj, paid for with junk bonds. I donthink Donald Trumpsp t one minute worrying about debt. If he introduced doubt into his life, the whole, the whole thing would unravel. T narrator mp was warned repeatedly he was headed for disaster. But he dismissed the warnings. He doesnt really likews hearing bad ne. An optimist sometimes is so optimistic that they dant to hear anything, that even if cliff, they might not want to hear the news. What worries some analysts is the amount of junk bond debt trump has incurred to build the taj mahal. Narrator inevitably, reporters began to question whether trumps vision could be profitable. Rump says he believes they will. The taj mahal is going to bem a dous success. Narrator thats when trump turned to a key roy cohn lesson tack the media. When cnn tried to pursue some ofhese matters with trump, this is what happened. Do this interview with somebody else. We talked about this yesterday on the phone. Y this is exacat we talked about. Do the interview with somebody else, really. You dont need this. Do it with somebody else. And have a good time with it, because frankly, youre a veryti ne guy and i think its very unfair reporting. L gok. Its just classic denial. If youre an expert and you agree with donald trump, youre a genius, but if youre an expert and you disagree with narrator he igthe experts, but they had been right. Trump casino businessill file for bankruptcy next month. Narrator trumps casinos declared bankruptcy. The word is, youre bankrupt. Narrator after bankruptcy. All three casinos are facing bankruptcy. Narrato after bankruptcy. Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Narrator the collapse of the casinos devastated trumps investors and atlant city. Bankruptcy is a situation where people are losheyre getting pennies on the dollar. The bankclearly lost out. So did the people of Atlantic City, who lost jobs, whoost their tax base. Bankruptcy and thats what happened in these Atlantic City bankruptcies. Narrator ut trump, as always, refused to adm failure. That is sort of normanen vipeale, hold on tenaciously, hold on to this imagof yourself as successfu never let go of it. Never let the idea of faure enter your mind. And i call it a beautifulle pu narrator the crisis in Atlantic City also solidified another method trump would come to rely on. Mo i know about isis than the generals do, believe me. Narrator believe in yourself over experts. The experts are terrible. Look at the mess were in with all thesexperts that we have. Narrator reject the naysayers. We have it totally under corol. Its one person coming in from china. Narrator declare victory no matter what. Us and we have it under control. Its going to befine. President bush said he has no doubt Clarence Thomas will be confirmed to the u. S. Supreme court. Thomas will try to persuade the senate that he has. Narrator 1991. Joe biden, now the powerful chairman of the Senate Judiciary commite, was facing his biggest crisis yet allegations against Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. Thomas sexually harassed at former employee, anita hill. Good evening, we begin toght with the potential f political explosion on capitol hill. Clarence thomasan into trouble today. Questions are growing over charges of Sexual Harassment against thomas. Av it seems tobeen a nightmare for joe biden. As a m, he felt uncomfortable about it. As a white man, he felt uncomfortable taking clance thomas, a black man, on about it. Um, and the whole subject matter just made him incredibly uncomfortable. Another witness has come forward ainst thomas. News of a second woman who once worked for thomas. Narrator biden was at firsto reluctanave hill testify, but the story was exploding. There were actually three other women, oer than myself,o re willing to testify, who had actually said they calledde senator s office and, and offered their own testimony. Offered her own starkght allegations against thomas, which thomas denie he asked me, in one situation, what size breasts, my brets were. Me he tole wanted to date me. This is a man who has, who, in my opinion, has often spoken inappropriately to women. But Committee Chairman biden conceded tonight thanew information about the allegations has come in. It narrator the pressure mounting, biden agreed to let the women testify. The hearing will come to order. Welcome, professor hill. Professor, do you swear to tell the whole truth, and nothing but thtruth, so help you god . I do. Thank you. Narrator bidens committee was all white men. The men of the senate, as ey were called. There was not a single woman who might have understood her story from a womans point of view. Can you tell the committee what was the most embarrassing of all the incidences that you have alleged . I think the one that was the most embarrassing was his discussion of, of pornography involving the women with large breasts and, and engaged in a viety of sex with different people or animals. Th was the thing that embarrassed me the most and made me feel the most humiliated. Hes kind of inhe middle of the road. Thm a southern woman, and ive always heard thaonly thing in the middle of the road is roadkill and yellow stripes. And that you have to take a a positi you have to decide what you stand for. He didnt know whoseide to come down on. Thank you. Time is up under our agreement. Let me now yield to my friend from pennsylvania, senator specter. Narrator bids close friend, republican arlen specter, led the charge againsti. I find the references to the alleged Sexual Harassment not only unbelievable, but preposterous. Narrator he cast doubt on how reliable is your testimony in october of 1991 on events that occurred eight, ten years ago . Narrator he suggested she was exaggerating. You took it to me that judge thomas wanted to have sex with you, but in fact he never did ask you to have sex, correct . Ha no, he did not ask me t sex. That was an inference that you drew . Yes, yes. My, my red light is on, thank you, very much, professor hill. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, senator, thank you, professor hill. Joe biden allowed members of that committee to grill pressor hill in a way that was inappropriate and humiliating. He could have done something to provide her with some support,me omfort. But that didnt happen. Narrator biden gave Clarence Thomas the last word. He strongly denied the allegations. This is circus. Its a national disgrace. And from my standpoint as a black american, as far as im concerned, it is a hightech lynching for uppity blacks by at committee u. S. , u. S. Senate, rather than hung from a tree. Very powerful. I mean, what it did was, it shamed these white senators. And it certainly seemed to shame the democrats, who had just been accused of lynching a black man. gavel bangs narrator with that, biden moved to wrap up the hearings. An la wright and the other women accusing thomas would not testify. Hed end up voting against thomas, but his handling of the hearing damaged him politically. It ma him the face of an outoftou body. And really wounded his prospects of a fure run for president. He had some work to do, he had dsome reputatnal rehab b narratoen turned to his method for survival in crisis acknowledge the problem and repair the damage. Joe is always able to say, yeah, i didnt handle that quite right. Let me see what i can do better the next time. Carol Moseley Braun has entered political history. Shes the first African American woman elected to the u senate. Big changes here, a kind that have history written all over them. Narrator fixing things began by recruiting the firstn black woected to the United States senate. Brauns anger or the clarence thos hearin turned her into a candidate. Narrator biden wanteto make sure Moseley Braun joined his committee. I made a joke, which he didnt think was funny at all. I said, you just want anita ell on the other side of table. He did not laugh. He didnt thin. And he still probably doesnt. laughs narrator but he convced her D Dianne Feinstein to join the committee, beginning, onceo again,build. My names donald trp, and im the largest Real Estate Developer in new yk. I own buildings all over the place, model agencies, the miss univer pageant, jetliners, golf courses, casinos. Narrator having prevailed financial crises, ld trump c was now makirisis his brand. For 14 seasons, he played the role of a mogul, as if he were still one in real life. His finanal dynasty toppling like a house of cards. Narrator in the eckage of Atlantic City, trump had changed course. Trumps name once meant gold. Today, it means trouble. Nrator and doubled down on what had been a Side Business celebrity. Hes always saw himself as a potential tv or entertainment star. Its another part of his, his personality, is, he likes to be an entertainer. Donald trump. Narrator on tv. Od its the donald, oh, my yelps softly e use me, wheres the lobby . Narrator movies. Down the hall and to the left. Thanks. The donald is here. Narrator in the ring. He alwayplayed the same character himself. Hs laildly oh, my god the hoile takeover of donald trump. What he was selling w a brand. He learned that he just had to keep being relevant. He just had to keep being talked about, even if it meant being notorious. Narrator they built a falset boardroom vacant fifth floor of trump tower. M first time meeting donald trump, we walked into the boardroom, we were seated. And about 20 minutes later, the cameras starting rolling and donald trump walked in. The show transformed donald trump into this persona. Okay, folks, im really busy day, so were going to go quickly. Who almost completely redeemed the papprentice donald trump. As a little treat, ure gog to see the nicest apartment in new york city, its my apartment. In ways that are so substantial and so deepseated that, would the apprentice not be in the picture, i couldnt see him running for president. Narrator everypisode was a crisis. Youre fired youre fired. Youre fired. Youre no longerith us youre fired. I have to say youre fired. Please, please. I have no choice and i have to say that youre fired. Narrato the carefully choreographed drama hooked the audience, keeping them coming back for more. Whats the, the ethos of reality tv . Its that fighting is the best ate of human life. Its that life is a competition. Its zerosum. For you to win, somebodylse has got to lose. Donald trump. Narrator onald trump had become a reality tv ar, inside millions of homes every week for yea and years. After the apprentice, he was donald trump on steroids, you ow . Aughs its, like, this guy was bigger than life. He was everyere. Reality tv show host u. S. President . Narrator it was time for trump to take his brand to the next level. Donald trumps cent white house flirtation has gone above and beyond. Narrator he would run for president. He recognized that entertainment is now a central part of american politics. Donald trump actually decided that you can fuse ever that he had learned abouten celebrity anrtainment and ratings from having been on the apenticeinto a president ial campaign. Narrator his announcement mirrored the apprentice. It was staged just ke a Celebrity Apprentice thing. We had staged one of the Celebrity Apprentice things in that same ple, the camera angles were the same, the lighting was the same. He understood the drama of coming down the escalator. The orchestration of it recognizes his showmanship. s a showman above all. A crowd filled out with, yes, ewith actl actors who w promised 50 bucks a pop tom simulate enthufor him and play a role in a similar way to g e way that he was playina role. Ladies and gentlemen. I am officially running. cheering for president of the United States. Country great agaio make our narrator the developer who went bust, the reali tv star, was on his way, harnessing the power of crisis and conflict, image over reality. Another day, anher entry in the president ial race. Delaware senator joe biden is the ninth decrat to jump. Narrator it was 2007. Joe biden was running for president , again. But that very day. It sure it easy running for president these days. Narrator it all blew up. This was not a good day for joe biden, was it . No, it really wasnt, katie. Just got into the race today, and no soonerhan he did, he talks his way into a national controversy. Spent much of the day discussing these comments he made to a newspaper reporter about nator barack obama. I mean, you got the first sort of mainstream African American who is articulate and bright and, and clean, and ani looking guy, i mean, its, thats a storybook, man. Se people listening to those deriptions of obama articulate, clean heard racial overtes, or, at the very least, condescension. I think when people heard the clean and articulate line, there was a wave of eyerolling, certainly among african it was the kind of wellintentioned but benighted commentary that you expect from people who inhabit environments where there arent very many black people, and the united ates senate has historically been a prime example of that. Tonight, his campaign is doing damage control. Narrator hed been here before damage control kinnock, anita hill. J bidens apologizing for remark he made about senator barack obama, saying, i deeply regret any offense. Narrator he followed the aybook apologiz persevere. T. This i daily show with j stewart. cheers and applause n e to see you. Do you want to talk about the comments, specifically, that have generated the controversy . Well, yeah, sure, i mea. No, i dont want to talk about it. laughter re the philadelphia inq yesterday, you were quoted as saying, the one lesson i learned from my previous president ial run is, words tter. thats right. and you cant take words lightly, and then you came ou with te, all right, here you go. Listen to this one, this is great. Barack obama, i mean, you got the first mainstream rican amican whos articulate and bright and clean and a nicelooking guy. I mean, thats a storybook, man. exclaiming wel let me tell you something, i try, i spoke to barack today. I bet you did. laughter i also spoke to jesse and al sharpton and, and, and. Andichael jordan, and anybody you could get your hands on. The jackson five who else . Michael didnt call me. Michael didnt call me. It was a reminder that this was somebody who was capable of doing those kinds of things, who was, in many ways, his own worst enemy, whether it was becaus he, he didnt know when to stop seaking or because he cou things in the moment that would get m into trouble. The latest news is that joe biden is droppg out of the race joe biden is dropping out. Narrator once again, joe but he wasnt taking himself out of the game. Hed make it personal buil a relationship with obama. Out of competition came Mutual Respect, and Mutual Respect led to a realfr relationship, ndship. And joe biden became somebody that president obama looketo for advice and counsel. Senator. You are not goio getground anything out of me on the Vice President ial thing n. Narrator soon, that relationship would pay off, as obama soht a running mate. Nn i am say that ive, ive made the selection, and thats all youre going to get. I think obama really liked the idea of choosing the guy who had said these things about him, that so many other people found offensive, of showing this kinof magnanimity around racial issues and racial rhetoric, that i think was key to his winning. Narrator obama asked him to be on his ticket as Vice President. At the house in wilmington, the biden inner circle gathered. He was not going to. I mean, theres no doubt he was not going to do it. And we had another one of thos mily meetings and a few key, key people. The ks said to me, mom,o you havelk dad into running. And i said, joe, this is such a great moment in history. His ma said, well, well, joey she called himoey she said, well, joey, youre telling me that the first African American president in history thinks that you can help him get elected, and youre saying no . Game, set, match, it was over. laughs arack obama is projected to be the next president. Illinois. Barack obama of narrator hed turned a political crisis into a relationship, and became Vice President. He had already squared aw in his mind that he unrstood that barack obama was president , joe was Vice President. And joe understood the job of Vice President and, and, uh. And wore it well. Narrator in the obama white house, biden brought with himth sog the president didnt have relationships in congressi sp decades. Former colleagues,e knewly that he could call them and they would take his call, and that he could go and thrash issues out with them with a degree of comfort that president oba dit have, because he hadn known them as long as Vice President biden. Narrator biden became obamas trusted partner. The real question isnt what thing did you do, if youre Vice President. Che real question is, how influence did you have . And i think biden understands power and leveraging per. I think he had a genuine relationship with obama, and they spent a lot of time talking. But i think he was a very influentiaVice President , in that way, and an extremely loyal Vice President. Bestowed on biden somethingma special a kind of politicalal sainthood theyd the obama halo. Oe iden has the obama halo, Everybody Knows that. That is the cleansing of joebi n and everything that may have happened. Is d theruch a great irony, that someone who was the architect of the 94 crime bill, and a white man of this age, hien you think about anita hill, his crutch. The reason for his success is a black man with a funny name whos of skinny from hawaii by way of nsas. Cowardice areou serious . Apoloes for freedom i cant handle this narrator 201 Donald Trumps president ial campaign, a madefortv spectacle. cheers anapplause a showcase with all the conflict and crisis. Turn them go ahead, turn them. Go ahead. Knock the crap out of them, would you . Seriously. Just knock the hell. I promise you i will pay for the legal fe, i promise. cheers and applause youve called women you dont like fat pigs. Only rosie odonnell. laughter by the time trump arrives, running for president in 2016. How does my hair look . Is it okay . crowd cheering . He understds conflict, he understands celebrity. He understands the power of television. And he understands how to dominate. Narrator and against his opponents another strategy he d perfected personal attack. Little marco. This little guy has lied so much. Lyin ted. You are the single biggest aar, you probably are worse than jeb bush, y the single biggest liar. All of this is classic trum this is the person hes been, i think, since he was five years old. Me donald tolhat he is essentially the person he was id first and that he hasnt rely changed. Narrator but a month before the election. The trump camp has swiftlynt launcheddisaster mode. Narrator a bombshell. Ve a big, big pment in this campaign. That day, were up in theth looronference room, and its friday afternoon, about 2 00. And hope hicks was notified by the media that they had donald trump having a conversation with billy sh that said a number of incendiary things, and they were going to publish the transcript. Bo she got this transcript. And shes, like, to cry, she goes, oh, this is terrible. Narrator the trump team watched it online. Whatever you want. laughs like, whoa boom, that thing hits. In video, its pretty powerful. So everything shuts down. Everybody and everybody isnt quite everybody, but most people both in a outside the campaign thought it would end his candidacy. Donald Trumps Campaign its worst crisis ever. The future of a campaignin that iire straits. I think the question now is, how do republicans break away from him . Narrator Trumps Campaign was in free fall. Eb reince p, the chairman of the reblican national committee, confronted trump. Reince priebus basically said, you need to get out of the race. And donald trump said, no. He sai im not getting out of the race. Not only am i not getting out of the race,m going to go and run, im going to win. Narrator he would ignore the politicaexperts. In that moment, he won the presidency. There was a 90 chance we were going the other wathat day, from the night before, from the pressurehat was on him and everything like that. And thats what a leader does. Narrator in the midst of crisis, he turned to what he had learned from Norman Vincent peale, roy cohn, his dad, reality tv. I could stand in the middle fifth avenue and shoot somebody, and i wouldnt los any voters, okay . Its, like, incredible. Narrator he went on the attack. Every women lied when they came forward to hurt my campaign. Narrator . Changed the subject, stoking racial division. And we will keep radical islamic terrorists the hell out. Narrator . Economic fears. D we are going to renegotiate our terrible tral. Narrator . Frustration with washington. It is time to din the damn swamp. Narrator . And maki big promises. We will build a great wall cheers and applause and we will make America Great again heers and applause donald trump will be the 45th president ofhe United States. Narrator amidst outrage and anger, he won the ultimate ize and stayed true to his playbook. I think what donald trump learned from his entire n for president is that he could really only count on himself. He needed to rely on his own political instincts to figure out how to move forward. D cheers plause narrator through the obama years building racial tension, outrage over police violenceai t African Americans. gunshots, shouting get out of the r, dude sirens blaring narrator then, news of a revenge shooting against the police. We begin tonight with breaking news. A deadly pice shooting in new york city. Two new York City Police officers areead following an ambush saturday afternoon. They were, quite simply, assassinated. Amateur video captue frantic scene, as paramedics desperately tried to save the lives of officers wenjian liuos and rafael r narrator as the Vice President , joe biden oftenro tackled corsies. And in matters of race, particularly, obama relied on him to walk a fine line he could not. One of joe bidens chief responsibilities was to be an ambassador to the country, rtecifically to the white of the country, where Barack Obamas presence might have only further inflamed the situation. Narrator now biden was dispched to new york. 25,000 Police Officers are all there. Narrator it was tense. A sea of blue filled the city streets. Narrator Police Officers lined the streets as biden arrived. Thousands of nypd officers lining the streets outside of the funeral service. When we got out of the cars, you could see that this mass of police had changed him. Ho tands of people lining the streets. Athered shoulder to shoulder at a queens, new york, church to say farewell to a fallen. While we had understood t gravity and the sensitivity, i dont think it really hit any us until we saw the tens of thousands of police there. Narrator he used his method keep it personal, talk directly to the family of officer rafael ramos. Our hearts ache forou. I know from personal experience that there is little anyone can say or do at this moment to, to ease the pain, that sen of loss, that sense of loneliness. Joe ben has been defined ine public l heartbreak and n pathy. That when joe bieps up at the funeral, you know that those tears are real. He. Thatime will come. The time will come when rafaels memory will bring a ile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eyes. Thats when you know its going to be okay. I know its hard to believel happen, but i promise you, i promise you it will happen. Its an odd role in public life to be known as a personso ated with grief. And joe biden never wanted to be thaterso actually. It was not how he imagined his own political future. Ta playing but because of his lif ended up being this public political symbol of suffering and of resilience. And eventually he embraced it. Ua but he ay didnt want to be that. Taps continues narrator that day, there wai uned business. Biden wanted to see officer wenjian lius fami. We came out of the church. Anjoe said, i want to off my condolences to him, as well, to them, to that family. siren beeping he wanted to go and meet them and talk with them. So the Police Worked it out so that we uld visit. And they had a translator there. I can remember walking he stairs with the, with an interpreter. And the family was all crammed into this tiny kitchen. An sat and we talked to them. And we must have been in ere, i dont know, a goo hour. I started to notice that wenjian lius father had rarely left my side. Occasionally, he would lean ints me so thathoulder touched my arm. Thank y, he kept saying. Thank you, thank you. E went out on the sidewalk. And the father, who didnt even speak english, i mean, just held on to joe. And, i mean, he was so grateful that joe had come to offer condolences to the family. We stood there for a long while, embracing on the littlewa si in front of the house where he had lived with his only son, just two fathers. I understood all that he wanted me to know. Narrator after decades in politics, biden seemed to have finally found his place. But soon after the crisis in new york, a personal crisis yet again. pipes and drums playing biden was burying his n son, beau. pipes and drums playi he was the apple of bidens eye. He was not just someone who he thought s brilliant and successful and so proud of him. It went beyond pride, it was almost like, hes the perfect version of me. Narrator beau had served in iraq. He was attorney genel of delaware. They talked about the presidenca so joe often describes him as joe 2. 0. And he looked like his dad, he had a lot of the same skill sets as his father he was veryma charc, he was charming, he was funny. Narrator but then, brain cancer. Death at 46. Beau biden, former delaware attorneyeneral and eldest son of Vice President joe biden, died. Vice president bidens office was the first to announce his sons death. Vice presint was with his son beau when heassed away tonight. Very sad news, beau bid lost his battle with brain cancer. Family and friends gathered at st. Anthonys church in wilmington yesterday to pay edtheir respects some wan line for up to six hours. Lines, lines five blocks long outside the church. Narrator at one point, after several hours, a surprise. There was mr. Liu and his wife. Give us comfort. , uh. It was just two men, really, who had gone through something horrible, um, just offering comfort to one another. Narrator before beaus death, biden had been considing another run for president. Now the question was not just would he, bucould he . I was, happened to be in obamawhite house, and he walked in. D i honestly. It was almost like i didnt regnize him. This was shortly after beau died. He just looked like he had aged yed years in such a short amount of time. Narrator through crisis and tragedy, joe biden had h eyes on the presidency, but now, in anief, he would decide to down. I, donald john trump, do solemnly swear. Narrator from the veryg beginnin Donald Trumps aresidency, he ignited crisis. bursts, sirens g shoing this american carnage stops right here and stops right now. Its a crisis; trumpses prent of the United States. Now comes the hour of action. Theres been enough talk. Narrator week one a travel ban ai muslim countries. A scene of outrage at jfk airport in new york. Protests,utrage, and balash. O me, it just felt like continuing chaos. North korea will be met with never seen. Ry like the worldas t narrator ongoing threa other natis. There was no effort to say, what are the priorities here . And i think he makes decisions quickly and can change them very quickly, too. And, uh, it sometimes could be 0 degrees of what he had decided just aew hours before. Narrator and just the apprentice firings, turmoil, confrontation. Weve had reality tv framingy for the presid ifou see the serial exits of people who, you know, really had built significant careers only to be kicked around and then ejected unceremoniously. Reince priebus, sean spicer, anthony scaramucci, john kelly, general mattis. People who were just kinda chewed up and spat out. Humiliated in the course of it, in their interactions with trump. As. Fbi investigation, w the collusion. Narrator overshadowing it all, allegations of collusion with russia, obstruction of justice. Russian collusion, give me a break. President trump now facing outrage after firing comey. I didou a great favor when i fired this guy, i tell ya. Im not concerned about anything with the Russian Investigation because its a hoax. At enough. Put down the mic. Mr. President , are you worried about indictments. Narrator he lashed out. Breaking news, the white house in crisis. The Justice Department appointed a special counsel to investigate. This is pure and simple witch hunt. At first blush, maybe he really hates it and hes annoyed by the mueller investigation, or the media attacks, or this or that. But when you look it further, he sort of enjoys the jousting, he enjoys the fighting. Presiden roy cohn had prepared him for. He learned from roy cohn attack, never apologize, seem to be in charge was true then, and is true today. Wait a minute. Im not finished, fake news. To nar he was determined to be what his father had called a killer. They are ve, very dishonest people. Fake news. Narrator three years ofao would culminate in impeachment. To be impeached. The absolutely craz lunatics the democrats, radical left. R narrae did what he always did. Are pushing the deranged impeachment witch hunt for doing nothing wrong. He only has the oybook. He uses it no matter what the crisis. Shadow of impeachment. It didnt matter when the casinos went bust. Ma it didner when his whole financial empire seemed to collapse. He was able to maintain the brand. And so he ratchets up the anger. He ratchets up the iults. cheers and applause narrator and in those first years, it seemedo work. Ts is what the end result is. cheers and applause it really wasnt,n my opinion, until the u. S. Senate voted for acquittal on the two impeachment charges that donald trump finally had a small air of breathability. cheers and applause we can take that home, honey, maybe welframe it. laughter its the only good headline ive ev had in the washington post. Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Narrator he had unified the party behind him, left his imprint on the supme court, delivered tax cuts, undermined washingtons institutions. My grandfather remains donalds audience of one. Its to him donalds continually trying to prove himself. White lives matter white lives matter chantincontinues narrator for the first timeo in decadesbiden was a private citizen, watching Donald Trumps presidency. Then came charlottesville. That was really the tipping point. When he heard President Trump say, there are very fine, some th was it. People on both sides, that was the tipping point. Narrator in the streets, violent clashes tween White Supremacists and counter protesters. Ed its hard to believe, on his own statements, that joee bidoesnt see some level of personal responsibility for the rise of donald trump. Joe biden wathe Vice President and he chose not to run for president. You have to image thats weighed pretty heavily on joe biden. Narrator e decided to do something about it. At 76 years old, he would reverse course run one more time. He was seen as yesterdays news. W a very rickety ship. He was not as eloquent as he was 30 years ago, likeost people wouldnt be. And he also, you know, he was saddled with a very, very long record, some of it going back to the 70s. From nbc news. Decision 2020 the Democratic Candidates debate. Narrator in those earlyng days, his locomplicated record was a liabity. Im going to now direct this at Vice President bide you opposed busing. And, you know, there was a little girl in california who integrate her public schools,to and she was bused to school every day. And that little girl was me. Ut it wasnt ahe specifics of the busing debate. It was a signal. White guy who is so old that he was taking a positn on busing in the first place. But, Vice President biden, do eeu agree today do you a today that y were wrong to oppose busing in america then . Precisely because he has such a long track record in american politicsyou can point to him being on the wrong side of questions that are now considered to be completely ttled. Narrator it would be the first of many rough nights on the campaign trail. Le meanwin a stunning reversal, joe bidens campaign struggles to match rival president ial candidates in furaising. Numbers are down among women, down among independents. The drop is primarily among younger voters. Narrator he struggled to excite voters. Vice president joe biden,h struggling ipolls here. Joe biden is his campaign in trouble . S selling at he he always had, joe biden, and it wasnt working. The truth is, he does not have some tranormational or different vision for the country. Its a, its a tough campaign for him. Joe biden presently trailing in fourth place. Surprised how bad joe biden did he fled the stage. One of his senior advisers had to call him and have what she described to me as the conversationou never want to have with a candidate, which is, we may be approaching the point of having to shut this thing down. Joe biden is fighting for his political survival. Ut he wasnt giving up. Joe biden desperately needs South Carolina if he has any chance. Ar tor his last hope. Makeorbreak time in particular for joe biden. Narrator . South carona. It all rests on South Carolina. Joe biden has spent a lot of time in south rolina he can relate to south carolinians. South carolina was very, very important to joe biden. Joe, joe, joe narrator to win, heed desperately the black vote. cheers and applause joe bidens been around for a long time. People are comfortable with him. They get him, they understand him. Even if they dont agree with him, they think hes, you know, a goodfaith actor. That means a lot. To a community of people who have been betrayed and oppressed and tricked and lied to, someone who you can trust at their word, that goes a very long way. Oh, my lord narrator it wawhat he had done in that first senate race making it personal, connecting. N nbcews is projecting former Vice President joe biden is the winn narrator they gave biden a victory. Was reinvigorated largely by black voters in this state. Joe biden wins big. Narrator three dayr. In a political earthquake, these are the results nobody saw coming. Narrator . He rode the momentum and dominated super tuesday. He pulled off one of th biggest political upsets in modern political history. Narrator soon, he won it all. cheers and applause in its own way, its the culmination of all of his training and ambition and his mistakes and his regrets and his attempts to be better. And it, anit came together. At last. Biden has made his pick narrator and when the time came. And the pick is in. N rator . The man who had made plenty of mistakes. Historic decision announced via text and twitter. Narrator . And asked for political forgeness, turned to the opponent whod gone after him on the campaign trail. Kamala hris as his running mate. Narrator . Kamala harris, and picked her as his running mate. African American Community will help propelim to the white house. It was an opportunity for him to distinguish himself from donald trump. That i actually want to bring the person whos criticized me most harshly io the fold because i value dissenting opinions. And that was part of the message that was being sent with kamala harris. Therowing worries and response to the adly ronavirus. Wuhan, china, thats the epicenter. Wuhan, cha. Narrator the pandemic. A nation in crisis. Now under lockdo. The philippines confirmed its first death. France is confirming. Italy is taking unprecedented. This is italys darkest hour. Narrator a threadonald trump was trying to play down. Deadly coronavirus officially hitting the u. S. Worldwide, including at let 12 confirmed. A tragic turn in the coronavirus outbreak, the first disease. T narrator he used the Norman Vincent peale approach visualize what you w be true no matter the facts. Thank you very much. Were ready for it. Is it is what i were ready for it. You have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, uh, thats a pretty good job weve done. overlapping chatter as the country deals with this worst pandemic, theyre seeing in a man that doesnt see any problems. He always sees a rosy, bright, futud that he can succeed. Theres no questionhat in the first several months of 2020, staff on the nsc and the centers for Disease Control were raising red flags about what was happening in china the president was determined not to hear any bad news. We have done an incredible job. Were going to continue. Its going to disappear. One day its like a miracle will disappear. This unwillingness to think about the implications meant there was no Strategic Planning going on, because that would have meant acknowledging we were faca severe threat. And he simply did not want to do that. Empty streets lead packed Emergency Rooms across new york city. Paralysis in this typically vibrant city in just a matter of weeks. Narrator as the death tollse. Fema sent 85 refrigerated trucks to new york city to holdp the whove perished. Narrator . He doubled down. Now the democrats areng politicihe coronavirus, you knowhat, right . Coronavirus. Eyre politicizing it. Very roy cohn. Very school of dad. Very Norman Vincent peale. Just insist that youre successful. Ininsist that what youre is right. Now, what do you say to americans who are watching you right now who are scared . I say that youre a terrible reporter. Sa thats what go ahead. I think its a very nasty question. A and i think itery bad signal that youre putting out to the american people. Thats part of thisou playbooke down, triple down, say any problems are somebody elses fault. sirens blaring, radio chatter narrator and in the midst of the pandemic, once agaracial strife. wailing ge get up ant in the car. Get off of him now what is wrong with yall . Bro, hes not moving did they mutedkill him . Narrator george floyd, killed by police. sirens blaring and that opens the floodgates. C t breathe i cant breathe i cant breathe chanting continues what we saw in the days and weeks to follothat was the confluence of these multiple factors. The deeply, deeply frustrate blves matter movement, of a particular incendiary video. No racist police no justice, no peace ho ho thoe racist cops have got t go that movement was cognizant of the fact that trump had nsistently talked to policege and them to behave more aggressively. I cant breathe i cant breathe narrator trumps Approval Ratings were plummeting. Ot ters were massing outside the white house. You are the threat at you are the threat narrator in the rose gardenh day, he would go to his playbook fan the flames. Our nation has been gripped by professional anarchists, violent mobs, arsonists, looters, criminals, rioters, antifa. What trump is trying to do is change the subject. That antifa, um, is, is the donald trump likes to find enemies, and to hold those up as, that he is the protector againsthose. As we speak, i am dispatching thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, military personnel, and law eorcement officers to stop the rioting, looting, vandalism, assaults, and the wanton destruction of property. Narrator as he spoke, a cheographed show of force across the streefrom the white house. crowd shouting im sitting on the pennsylvania and 17th street. I cant breathe cant breathe and i start coughing, a choking, and i start wondering whats going on. Lookd shouting clouds of smoke, and its ficers throwing some sort of g emical gas that is makinmy throat and my ey burn. And i people running. explosions, sparks, shoing . And this line of Police Officers coming, and theyre and im completely confused, cause im wondering, why is the white house doing this . Narrator then the president aleft the rose garden for dramatic tv moment. distant sirens blarg i felt badly for some of the people who were in that march. Ive been asked what i would do, and ive said i probably would have gone along; how am i going to say no . Vd then i would have felty badly about it later. But thats an effect trump hason eople. cameras clicking ll r its just a picture. Its just an image of apresiden. And thats his vision of what the president is the guy in charge. distant siren blaring hes just in charge. cameras clicking narrator for joe biden, the opportunity. Isis gave him an may history be able to say that the end of this cpter of american darkness began here, tonight. As love and hope and light join in the battle for the soul of the nation. Narrator one last chance to see if making it personal persering in the face of adversy can prevail. This is a battle we will win, and well do it together. Narrator for donald trump, a lifetime of conflict had prepared him for yet another fight. Whether we will defend thedeci american way of life or whetherl we wilw a radical movement to completely dismantle and destroy it. Narrator another chance to see if turning crisis to his advantage can carry the day. Together,e arunstoppable. Together, we are unbeatable. Narrator now a deeply divided nation will decide. Policy is not the choiceth s on the ballot this year. R. It is a choice of charac it is a choice of temperament. It is a choice of persona and personality. Rats always a factor in president ial campaigns. But i dont think its ever bees as big a factot will be in november. Go pbs. Org frontline for the latest frontline transparency projectex ore 60 interviews from the makingf this film. There was no Strategic Planning going on. Joe had just never been knocked down. Hes always been getting up. And listen to a conversation with director michael kirk on our podcast the frontne dispatch. So we looked long and hard at all of the things that have happened in their lives. Connect with frontline on facebook and twitter, and watch ytime on the pbs app or pbs. Org frontline. Theres a failure in the system. It creates sheer andtterao narrator the coronavirus has exposed weaknesses in americas medical supply chain. What this pandemic has done is shine a really bright lighton he fact that were dangerously dependent on the Chinese Communist party. Narrator frontline and the Associated Press investigate. The only way that america will change is if people die an nothey did. Frontline is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. And by the corporation for public broadcasting. Major supporis provided by the john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More information at the Ford Foundation working with visionaries on the frontlines of social changeid worlat fordfoundation. Org Additional Support is providedbr by thes foundation, committed to excellence in journalism. The park foundation, awareness of critical issues. Ic and by the frontline journalism fund, with major support from jon and jo ann hagler. Captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org for more on this and other frontline programs, visit our website at pbs. Org frontline. The choic2020 is available on amazon prime video. Youre watching pbs. Robert mueller has submitted his report. The truth is rarely black and white. Intelligence officials are expected to be face to face. All we hear about. But if we ask the hard questions. Russia witch hunt. Check the facts. We face a number of impoant issues around privacy. Dig a littldeeper. Boom a take a breath. The truth is closer than you think. Be more. Pbs. Be more. Pbs. Female narrator las Chicano Movement was looking for a voe. Osca zeta acosta was looking for meaning. Hes smart as hell, truth. He was also a risk taker. Narrator a new documentary rescues his story from obscurity. There is such potential in that man. But people werent ready for him. theme music playing female narrator this program was made possible in part by. theme muaying