all happened. imagine that, my garage door made history. this is where the big press conference took place. i don't even know how to explain 2020. it was a crazy, crazy year! >> that things happened in philadelphia. >> presidential biden to become the 46th president of the united states. >> i had no idea what we would be in for. >> i thought my friends were messing with me. >> a philadelphia landscaping company has been thrust into the national spotlight. >> the entire thing was supposed to be anonymous. >> it put me in shock to see my name on the president's twitter. we probably got thousands of calls. >> you have 950 new messages. >> we had a lot of haters. >> i remember asking, did we make a mistake? there were just way too many trees. here's the other thing, and i think we'll discuss this with the board when we have zoom. >> my name is marie ziravo, i'm 65. i'm the president at four seasons total landscaping in philadelphia. we do grounds maintenance and irrigation, seeding, flowers, snow removal. it's kind of boring. >> i think the most challenging part of starting the business and being in business is being woman owned. nobody took you serious. you own the property. you have cameras. my whole other maintenance man, on other properties, they cannot -- we help them, they help us. if i had $1 for every time i got asked did i have a husband. i have a wonderful husband! he just had his business and i had mine. this is my life. other than my family. this is my entire life. we want to make sure that if we do purchase this its meeting on needs and that we don't now also need another building. i have three boys. michael is the youngest. mike took the general manager role. i had to let go a little bit, because i want my hands in everything. >> how many people get the chance to go to work every day with their mother? >> the first thing we do is fix everything with food. this is part of our italian culture. >> some days are like, phenomenal. and some days, she can't figure out how to use the printer, and it's frustrating. >> mike! i need some help! where are horns luck. and he forget some still his boss, but i try not to use that card, because i need him to learn everything that is in my head. >> i started from the very bottom, being a laborer, learning from everything to working underneath the supervisor and shadowing him. i pretty much work from the ground up to where i am no. the ground up. yay. other than that, that's not scheduled work, so like -- >> basically mike and shawn, they run the daily operations. >> i really do depend on my. we are partners with his mother in this business. >> sean and i met when we were in college. he was an upperclassman. i looked up to him as a role model. he was almost like a big brother to me. >> mike and i have been through a lot together. both personally and professionally. we are both in recovery, which is a big thing we have in common. >> if you could do it with somebody else who has the same goals as you do, to become a better person on a daily basis, it makes it easier. >> they're like two old souls. they work together so well. i know they both have the company's best interest at heart. sometimes it takes a little -- i just got elected him beat him and back up. he comes around. so is this what people want to hear about in this documentary? >> the race to the white house has not been called for pennsylvania. confusing pennsylvanians -- >> president trump is still leading in that state by about 108,000 votes. >> days after the election, there was not a clear winner. it just left everybody worried and stressed. >> philadelphia became kind of ground zero for the election battle. the convention center in the center -- the votes have been counted. crowds started gathering outside. you had trump supporters gathered outside and you had biden supporters. they were facing off against each other across the street. >> people were dressing up as a constitution. people were dressing up as mailboxes. they're holding signs saying, we the people. progressive, conservative america. in one place. literally, these two streets outside with the convention center. trump's legal team composed of -- turn up at the philly convention center they count every vote protest just across the street turned up the music really really loud. ♪ ♪ ♪ so you cannot hear a word that pam says, because it's completely overwhelmed by the sound of the music. >> everybody was biting at each other. every post and tweet and instagram you saw, people were arguing. it just was very uneasy. and then, the phone call. >> my phone rang around 8:45 am. i was in a men's bible study in doylestown, pennsylvania. >> hello? >> i did not answer it. then my phone immediately ran again. i excused myself and walk outside. it was a trump staffer. they were asking if we would be amenable to them having a press conference at four seasons landscaping. i just thought, why not? >> by about 9:45, the deal was sealed. it's just insane. out of all places. it's here. >> we are a landscaping company. we are experts in ground maintenance, irrigation, seating, planting, not press conferences. so you only pay for what you need. woah! look out! 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(sung) liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. minions: the rise of gru, in theaters july 1st. okay everyone, our mission is to provide complete balanced nutrition for strength and energy. woo hoo! ensure, complete balanced nutrition with 27 vitamins and minerals. and ensure complete with 30 grams of protein. ♪ ♪ a monster was attacking but the team remained calm. because with miro, they could problem solve together, and find the answer that was right under their nose. or... his nose. it's time to get outdoorsy. it's hot! and wayfair has got just what you need. we need a rug. that's the one. yeah. yeah we're getting outdoorsy. save on outdoorsy furniture, decor, and more. you're so outdoorsy honey. what are you... spend less on everything outdoorsy at wayfair. ♪ wayfair you've got just what i need ♪ at xfinity, we're constantly innovating. and we're working 24/7 to connect you to more of what you love. we're bringing you the nation's largest gig speed network. available to more homes than anyone else. and with xfi complete, get 10x faster upload speeds. tech upgrades for your changing wifi needs. and advanced security at home and on the go to block millions of threats. only from us... xfinity. suddenly this tweet comes through from donald trump, the press from france at four seasons philadelphia 11 am. i sprang into action, gathered all my stuff, grab bags, made phone calls to the editor. >> i jumped in my car and i go down to the four seasons hotel in downtown philadelphia. >> i think it was at the door with the second tweet came through. four seasons landscaping. philadelphia. my reaction was utter confusion. >> of course it's there! there's a landscaping there. oh yeah. it's the four seasons hotel. it's the entrance area with the landscaping. my assumption was that he mushed the key pad somehow and pipe the word landscaping. >> i got a call from the four seasons hotel and he said maria, i've got one question, are they coming to you or are they coming to me? >> trump deletes the second tweet. a third tweet comes in. and it's said big press conference in philadelphia, four seasons total landscaping. why would the presidents lawyers hold a conference that a landscaping company? the story starts with donald trump tweeting that there would be a press conference on saturday morning at the four seasons in philadelphia not the hotel, but the four seasons total landscape. it remains unclear whether the trump campaign made an error or not? >> why did you pick this place? it was just ahead scratcher. this was just the beginning of how surreal this was was. it's not prominent. why was it here? you had more questions than you could possibly have answered. with trump, it was always difficult to get answers about the truth. because people didn't know the answers. often it was because they were lying. i spent weeks and weeks interviewing everybody i could. and hitting dead and after dead and after that and. nobody really knew how they ended up at the landscaping place, in a part of town that is normally not where campaigns host these things. i said i will try to answer what i thought was a simple question. what's the hell happened? and the longer that i dug into it, the crazier it was. >> mistake or not, they held their press conference at the loading dock at the landscape or. here's what it looked like. that is quite an image. projects power. obviously, they screwed up. they got the wrong place. they said let's just go with it. >> we are on an industrial strip with a crematorium across the street and an adult video and bookstore up the street. >> there was a level of excitement among our staff that we would be hosting the presidents campaign staff here. but that was quickly followed by dread. and obvious grew up in booking, but they all played a lawn and pretended that was the master plan. >> there are two different theories, really. that i had. that other people had as well. one, i thought that maybe they had someone that thought they could book the four seasons hotel. someone on the campaign made the president think that it was a possibility that it would be held there, and that once he tweeted that, they googled around and found that the closest thing called four seasons to the four seasons in philadelphia happen to be the landscaping place. the other theory was this of minor screw ups from various people at various levels at the campaign. and somehow through a connection or an accident they ended up here. >> i'm at the campaign staff here at about 9:30. it was a pretty quick set up obviously. you saw what was on tv. i'm pretty proud of the space that we were able to curate in such a small amount of time. it was a landscape construction yard. >> normally, you might have police outside of the perimeter, but it was just private security, and they asked us to put our news organizations down on a clipboard and they would call us in and make it look like it might be exclusive, like we might not all get called in. every time they called a news organization, 6 to 8 trump supporters would do. >> we request were republican. the information -- >> media! >> i think the biggest part for me was seeing giuliani like pull up into black suburbans. i thought i was dreaming. >> nobody famous has ever been here. it was almost like in slow motion. like him walking into the office. >> i actually wasn't going to come here. and i got a phone call from my son anthony, he said mom. this is bigger than we think. and he sends me a picture while i'm talking to him. and rudy is sitting at my desk, and the plaque in front of my desk says boss lady. i looked at my husband, i said we better get over there. >> we demand a fair election! i demand you shut the house up! we demand a fair election! we demand a fair election! >> there was a crowd of people, that biden and trump supporters were there, they were going back and forth with each other. and then the cops showed up and the entire front row was shut down. that's when it kind of got like a very nerve wracking for me. >> it was just overwhelming, so i just looked around, i looked at everybody, i try to figure out who everybody was. the press conference was about to start. i stood on top of the trailer so i could see. and i just watched. >> in the final weeks, officials told me keeping rudy busy became a full-time job. they had to devise places to send him. specific aides to keep with him. that would make it so he was not running wild, creating whack-a-mole problems for them. >> rudy giuliani is undermining confidence in the american election system. therefore undermining our national security. >> rudy giuliani was considered to be a great force of law and order. he was one of the heroes of 9/11. >> i think that's part of why it was so disturbing to watch him unravel. and to watch him kind of the base himself in support of this guy who thought he was better than. >> by the way, do you have any idea that the state department -- >> do you know the lie? >> shut up. you don't know where you're talking about. you don't know what you're talking about, idiot. >> he was kind of a mess, but he was always around. and she was always loyal and that was the only thing that seem to matter to the president. >> he is a great guy he knows it's a witch hunt that's what he knows. >> rudy followed his press coverage very closely. and he was very aware of what's the view of him was in mainstream circles. >> he was nothing but respectful to us when he was here. shook our hands, took pictures with us. greeted all the cops but i think going on a tv. i don't know if something changes. he once told me my view of my legacy is, quote, fact it. >> when a beautiful day. thank you. i'm here on behalf of the trump campaign as an attorney for the president. to describe to you the first part of a situation that is extremely, extremely troubling. >> rudy comes out and launches into the speech about how the election was stolen and how there are very grave allegations of fraud. he has witnesses behind him. >> people who have seen alleged fraud, people who will be testifying in lawsuits. he presents this guy darrell brooks. we later learned he's exposed himself to children under age. >> it became here quickly nothing was there. there was no revelation. he wasn't exposing a big fraud in philadelphia. the election wasn't stolen. >> while rudy was speaking i was off to the side with mike and murray. we looked at each other, and we are in awe of how long this was going on. >> and i know, i know he won't accept it, because of your hateful biases. but see if he can try to think rationally. put some of those ballots and manufactured in advance by the democrat machine of philadelphia. wouldn't be the first time they did it. >> i didn't think anyone took this real serious. >> how can i possibly tell you? there's fraud or no fraud. >> you just said -- >> and somebody said, you know they have called the election for biden. who was a called by? oh my goodness. all the networks! wow! all the networks! >> all the networks! when the networks decide the election. and we're all thinking all the time. networks called the elections all the time. >> you can see this ripple among the crowd of journalist. i am trying to figure out the same thing, do i listen to rudy giuliani or go back to philadelphia, where they will be celebrating the election? then you see people starting to pack up their stuff. >> many of them had to leave. because the primary story wasn't that rudy giuliani was challenging the election results. the story was that biden has just won the presidency. somebody asked me, where were you when they called the election for joe biden? i say well, i was in the parking lot of four seasons total landscaping. >> the presidents lawyer left as the news came in that joe biden had been declared the victor. perhaps this is why they chose the industrial estate. they wouldn't be heard or welcomed here in downtown philadelphia. [applause] a city in a state which delivered donald trump the white house four years ago, pennsylvania is now the state which pushed joe biden over the line. >> i just thought, sure, we said yeah. and it was going to be over. period. >> we would have done this for either political campaign. we just wanted to be helpful. >> and we just had no idea what we were in for. >> i just saw my press conference today, four seasons, fancy. >> yeah, it sounds fancy. but it was at a landscaping company called four seasons. was that a mistake? [laughs] >> what, no. >> we heard from all different types of media outlets, and people wanting to know more about what happened. >> i got calls from the washington post. >> chicago times. >> new york times. >> usa today. >> yahoo news. >> netflix. hello. >> business insider. >> nbc. >> fox. >> cnn. >> in the bbc. i started seeing that this was going further. and it was going into europe. >> german newspapers, irish newspapers, you name it, they were all calling. >> my emails have not stopped. are you getting emails? >> nonstop. >> are you? >> yeah, it's insane. >> that's why i said yes. otherwise, if i thought it was turning into this. i would have thought twice. >> on the day after the press conference it was nothing but chaos. we couldn't even use the office phone for two weeks. because it just never stopped ringing. >> you couldn't even get a thought process, let alone entered am >> you have 1010 new messages, of which three are urgent. >> [inaudible] i understood that there is a special round of bill shape this week. >> hi, do you provide services like dismantling our democracy? >> deleted. >> you are a traitor. >> deleted, new message, 39. >> the things they are saying about us is like amazing. i just can't even believe this. okay guys, wait till you hear this one. there is a big conspiracy theory. we are burning ballots across the streets at the crematorium. people's minds, they are just delusional. >> that was one of the hardest parts for me. i never had to deal with that level of hate. i'm talking hundreds and hundreds of emails. i just got basically saying to go f yourself. we're going to burn down your building. it created a lot of fear of what the future holds for four seasons total landscaping. >> it's frightening because 28 years could go down the tubes. i remember asking my husband joe are we going to survive this? are we going to get out of this in one piece? people don't get it that being in business is not a picnic. i remember them coming to take my car in the middle of the night. bringing a generator home because they shut my electric off. because i couldn't cash my checks. i had a tough time borrowing money when i bought this building. i had to put my house up for the bank to give me the mortgage so i had the shot of losing both places. >> do i want to see something that she billed just disappear or was i going to keep the legacy going? >> trying to operate a business throughout all of this i don't even know what's word to use to describe this. >> people were taunting us, laughing at us, mocking us. and we needed to figure out a way to let them all know that we were in on the joke and we were laughing too. >> all of the networks! [laughs] >> when you surround yourself with good people good things happen. i think it started to turn when michael and sean started to run with this on instagram and facebook. and they made a joke out of everything because it was funny to us after. that they picked us, out of everyone in the world, they picked our place. >> if this whole thing blew, up i would recover from it. i would go and work somewhere else. but a family business that was 28 years in the making might not recover from something like this. and i felt responsible, because these people are my family. >> understanding the joke, and being in on it. it was just like a waterfall of memes that you can make. >> we got put into a corner, and we used our humor to get out of it. >> we were making thousands of people laugh all over the entire -- not only nation, but world. it went from being a majority negative, and getting hate. to then be total opposite overnight. >> they ended up doing this in a rink-y think parking lot, no offensive to landscaping company. the real winner wasn't the campaign. which got to use it for free. it was the total landscaping company which has really come out of this on top. just owning social media over the last month. >> like true entrepreneurs, we wanted to capitalize on this international attention. and sell t-shirts. >> we went from being a landscaper, to selling merchandise. we just started filling orders day and night. >> we have done approximately one point $5 million in