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it was morning again in america. millions of men and women were going to work. and high up above the streets in his olympic tower, one of america's most celebrated self-made men. >> the most successful single individual in the history of american fashion. ladies and gentlemen, halston. >> was nowhere in sight. >> the question that all of new york was asking last night was whatever happened to halston? >> it's a story of high fashion and high finance as one of america's big names in fashion -- >> it was business as usual, you could say.

they bought his name, sold off his life's work for pennies on the dollar, and when that wasn't enough, well, they forced him out of his own office. some will say he had it coming. but what he didn't see coming were the tapes. all 215 of them, erased as per the corporation's order. who am i? just someone working in the archives, nobody important for our story, really. >> sportswear, knits, broadcloth, men's wear. >> this is andy warhol's portrait of me. >> you see, pictures meant everything to halston.

>> texture demands texture. life is like a picture, he used to say. >> who's that lucky guy? >> well, he got his perfect picture. only, the price turned out to be a little high. ♪ ♪ ♪ how empty they can be ♪ but when i hold you in my arms ♪ ♪ that's a heaven to me

♪ who cares for fame and fortune ♪ ♪ their ony're only passing thi♪ ♪ but the touch of your lips on mine ♪ >> i'd like to go back in time a little bit to just how you started. i know that you started with hats and worked your way -- >> oh, i -- >> are we going to move this? please let me know these things. are we rolling? >> am i -- okay, i don't mind it being a little dishevelled. okay, thanks. halston was the custom milliner at bergdorf. we lived around the corner from each other, so he and i would

walk to work together. we'd be talking, gossiping, having fun. he was so much fun. then the minute we'd arrive to the building and you'd have to go through the revolving door, suddenly halston had arrived at bergdorf. the first time it quite shocked me. of course, then i understood. he now has put on his halston mask. and the voice would change. good morning, ladies. he was dealing with the creme de la creme of women in the world. >> were you the person who put the pill box on jackie kennedy? >> yes, i was. >> that hat was genius. if you look at the inauguration, most of those ladies wore a mink coat. jackie was in a cloth coat and a cloth hat. >> i'll never forget the impact that hat had, even out in montana where i was sitting at the time. >> it was a very funny story because it was a rather windy

day. she put her hand on the hat, and it ended up to have a dent in it. and so when during all the ceremonies, it had a dent in the hat, and everybody who copied it put a dent in it, which was so funny. >> i was quite a young man, but i became very, very famous quickly. that was the first time in the history of bergdorf they promoted a designer personality. and i had a department of 150 milliners and 12 sales ladies. >> bergdorf was a very rarefied world, but he was born in des moines, iowa, as i read because he never told me any of this. halston was so busy moving forward. i knew very little about halston's personal life. certainly i didn't know much about his background. in november of 1966, there was truman capote's black and white ball.

>> everybody wanted to be at that ball because it was it, you know, as far as where you should go, you know? >> you would measure your social importance by the invitation, getting one or not getting one. >> do you know if he was invited to the ball? >> i would have thought so, but now i have my doubts. i don't know. was he? >> halston did not have an invite to the ball. >> we have filmed this black and white ball in color for your enlightenment. good heavens, her comes john kenneth galbraith. the barrenness derothchild.

mrs. lowell guinness. we only tell you this because we know you are not rich, social, or beautiful enough to be invited here tonight. >> the irony is halston had made more than 100 masks that night. kay graham, who owned "the washington post." candice bergen. in terms of social position, halston still is a milliner. i must have said, are you going? and he said, oh, yes. that's all i can say. he didn't tell me everything. he wasn't invited by truman. but he got himself there. >> was this halston? or this one? was he even at the ball? he was on everybody's face that night, and yet he was invisible. >> he called me one day and said, there's something i need to tell you. i was in southampton. i was invited to a very grand dinner. our host is a client.

and she likes me and she invited me. and we sat down, and two of the husbands never sat down. they stood behind their chairs. everybody was seated, and the hostess looked up and they said, if these two faggots are at the table, we will not be joining you for your dinner. he said, tom, i just need you to understand that you and i could not hope to be anything more than trained faggot poodles to jump through the hoops of these rich people. >> the mental image most people have of a male homosexual looks pretty much like this. a man with effeminate characteristics. the film you're now watching is being projected in its negative

form to prevent identification of the people it shows. the scenes were telegraphed with photoscopic lenses. despite the negative image, the actions themselves are easily recognized. ♪ >> i met halston at fire island. he was just, you know, just a fabulous human being. and we became best friends. the freedom of our sexuality there, life before a.i.d.s. halston and i partied a great deal together. we would go dancing. it was always very, very, very eclectic.

but the '60s in general were a political, moral, social revolution. >> halston understood that there was a whole new social order coming in. the war baby boom came of age. drugs, sex, and rock and roll. even the french couture changed. saint laurent, givenchy opened up read-to-wear boutiques. halston saw all of that. and there was tension with the bergdorf people. >> halston, strange character. quite fussy, and he was always very demanding, every little detail. he said, i have backing. all sorts of small petty things. >> halston came to see me, and he said, i have backing. would you clean up your act? i was deep into drugs by that time.

but i did stop intravenous drugs and went to work with him. ♪ this is the house that jack built, y'all ♪ ♪ remember this house ♪ this was the land that he worked by hand ♪ >> well, the salon was on 68th street and madison in this tiny walk-up derelict building. compared to bergdorf goodman, i thought, wow, this is -- didn't feel so fancy. then you went upstairs, a plain door, and you'd knock and then you'd go in. it was just magic. basically, it was just a floor through apartment they turned into this incredible background, which was all sort of magical and exotic. you felt like you were in an indian pal ace indian palace. you didn't know where you were. it was very wild. i remember the furniture because it was very uncomfortable. it was horn furniture. like you didn't want to sit in them. but it looked great.

♪ in the house that jack built >> halston made the atmosphere very democratic. i mean, i'm a poor kid from long island city, but then there was marissa berenson and barry who grew up in paris. >> it was a mix of social circles. it was a big mix of interesting, fascinating people. like elsa. >> i love to be with homosexual. i stay 50 years with homosexual and i love them. >> pat was discovered on a subway car. >> i was still in high school. i went into the room, and he looked at me and said, okay, you'll be here tomorrow for the show. >> he was totally laser focused on this collection because in his mind, i'm sure this was make or break. >> all the ladies of society were there.

the "vogue" ladies were sitting in the front row. oh, my goodness, this is it. we're doing this show. and he lined his girls up. they're all perfectly dressed. he would go to the first girl and he'd whisper something into her ear and say, don't forget, you're the best. ♪ >> his clothes fit me like this is it. this is the fashion that i would want to wear. no zippers, just get in and out over your head. >> overnight success. it was a clean look. the simplicity was really needed after the '60s. and it was all american from an all-american boy.

>> let's meet our first challenger. so will you enter and sign in, please. mr. x. panel, this is mr. x. may i tell you that mr. x is concerned with a product. now let's show our audience just who our guest is and what his product is. >> can i rule out that your name is valentino? >> you can rule that out. >> all right. no, i'm sure if i hear the name, i'll know. it's because i don't recognize you on sight. would the clothing be the new sensation hot pants? >> that's it. ♪ >> felt like the beginning because he was so enthusiastic, and everybody was so charmed

with him. he was so young and enticing. you just wanted to be in the room with him. >> i was 18. i was so innocent. i knew nothing. i was from the midwest. everyone was unusual for me. like pat, she was an andy warhol superstar with frizzy hair. ♪ i'm just wild about andy and andy's wild about me ♪ ♪ the heavenly blisses of his kisses ♪ ♪ they fill me with ecstasy >> this was definitely the in crowd. andy kept saying, oh, this is so in, bob. this is so in. he knew halston from the 1950s when andy was doing ads in windows for bergdorf. he was comfortable in the world of fashion.

♪ >> hello? >> joe eula, please. >> it's me, joe eula here on the phone. >> hi, joe eula. you got me on a good day. you better put it all on tape. >> joe was not only the illustrator but a close friend. halston was very cool, and joe was very hot. >> we were a team. his desk and my desk were the same desk. >> he was drawn to people who just displayed their emotions and also have this tremendous aesthetic side. >> a woman like elsa peretti is really extraordinary. >> and he believed so much in me, halston. >> elsa would be there like drawing things all the time. and halston said, you need to be a jewelry designer. somehow she made this jewelry for us, which is -- i had two of these. one was stolen. >> why i did jewelry?

i was just dropped into it. i did something for fun. it became a success. a run to the left side, no foul given, morgan running... looking for one hundred. ♪ [ kids screaming ] a run to the left side, no foul given... morgan running... looking for one hundred. she's got it! ♪ [ kids cheering ] (woman) (man) have you smeno.d this litter? (woman) nobody has! it's unscented! (vo) tidy cats free & clean unscented. powerful odor control with activated charcoal. free of dyes. free of fragrances. unscented odor control like that? try tidy cats free & clean.

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halston's clothes were for a modern time, for a time where women's lifestyle had changed completely. he really saw the future. >> elegance and ease, a sense of owning power without being masculine and honoring the body that you have. basically, you were usually naked underneath. >> you were free inside your clothes. >> he took away the cage, and he made things as though you didn't really need the structure as much as you needed the woman. he really based most of his collection on most of us girls. >> just had a pin there to hold it up, might be good, huh? let's see you turn in that.

>> fabric to halston was like clay to a sculptor. he knew how to use it. and everything was cut on the bias so it spiralled. >> basically, bias is cutting fabric on an oblique or 45-degree angle. fabric is usually cut on the straight grain. if you've ever cut anything on the buyias the bias, it flows over the body. >> it's very hard to sew. it's very hard to control. >> he would throw a piece of fabric on the floor, cut through it, pick it up, throw it on you, and then it was a dress. >> that's genius. it's a dress, just from the way he cut it. i don't know anybody who could do that. he's the only one.

>> i think if you know fashion history, would write it, i'd like to have a credit point of saying we cleaned it up a little bit. i have a theory that less becomes more so much. >> halston was a man that i met in my life -- >> because? >> because everything he was doing was great. every time. every time. he astonished me. >> how do you feel when you walk into a restaurant in new york and a lady comes in looking smashing in a halston outfit? >> i'm very proud. i'm just very proud if somebody looks good in it, you know. >> what if she comes in and doesn't look good in it? >> then i'm not so proud. >> a halston market is in the better stores across the country. in new york, it's bergdorf goodman where he has a boutique

in the same spot he started selling hats to rich ladies 15 years ago. this is halston off the rack. the favorite item, an ultra suede sweater. that has broken all previous recordsed. my god, are you ever on time? >> for real extravagance, the ladies come to halston's own showroom on madison avenue, where super sales woman pat ast, will give them that special treatment. >> what about pat ast? somebody people have suggested by using her, you're putting down fashion a bit. >> well, if you think that patty is a putt down, but i don't think so. i take her very seriously. and i like to make her glamorous. >> halston designs things that are made especially for me, which is the most incredible thing. because looking at me, you know i'm not the normal sized woman. >> i think he appreciated the woman's body. i think he appreciated all the different types of women. he loved all the diversity of his models.

>> and you turn around that way so you see a decollete. this is iman's fares show. she's never been in a fashion show before. how do you feel about your first fashion show, iman? >> very nervous. >> do you think the models are some of the sexy, most beautiful girls in the world? >> sometimes. >> do you think they should all be in the movies? >> no. >> he also loved the idea of being controversial. i remember the cody awards show. he decided it was going to be happening. so anything goes. >> andy and halston came up with this idea that it was like a talent show. ♪ i played the clarinet. he said, what can you do? what else can you do? >> the audience, they didn't know what to make of it.

the cody awards tend to be a little bit more formal, but halston wanted to be very rev rent, just throw in everything but the kitchen sink, and, by the way, have pat come out of the birthday cake. ♪ happy birthday to me ♪ happy birthday to me ♪ happy birthday happy birthday ♪ >> he took a chance, a leap of faith to be something that maybe a lot of people think they can't do. he would say, you can have anything you want, you're a good person. you know, that feeling that somebody believes in you.

and because of that, you know, he made me stronger. waterproof. i remember one time we went out west to do a show. and halston said, i want you to come with me. i want you to see something. he rented a car, and you never saw him drive because we'd always be in limos. we went way out in the middle of nowhere out there. not a lot to look at. sky and earth. and he said, that's where i grew up. this is where i grew up. it would be in the middle of nowhere. just like farms with the big rolls of hay. he said, i just wanted to come by here. >> i only lived in iowa for about five minutes, you know?

i mean, i moved out of iowa as a young man. it was during the second world war and my father was in business that took us from one place to the other. so i lived in the lake of ozarks and lived in kentucky, and i lived in missouri. we finally settled in indiana. so i was all over, you know. it was sort of an unsettled time. >> when you do go back home -- >> there is no home in iowa, you see. what else do you think we should go over? >> just a little bit of the history. i think that would be good for us to have. >> oh, that history crap. that's all right now. >> but this is history. >> the past just doesn't interest me so much. i think you have pretty much -- i think you have enough. >> we need a transcript as soon as possible. >> halston never looked back. today and tomorrow were all that mattered. ♪

>> his mother would come and visit, and she always called him halston, and he had changed the pronunciation to halston. but she would correct you. his name is halston. it's a family name. she also used to say, halston had disappeared, but halston was a force to be reckoned with. >> darling, you love life and i love you. >> ladies and gentlemen, liza minnelli. >> when i met halston, i would

just remember him talking and me listening. he'd say, i got it, all right, and just put it on you. it danced with you. that's it. his clothes danced with you. we were joined at the hip from then on. it was like my dad in a way because when i was a little girl, my father would give me five costumes every year, and it was a dress from an american in paris. and perfectly made. exactly like for the ladies. and i guess i got into appreciating how clothes could change the way you felt. >> she dressed only in halston ever. i mean, she still does. >> yes. >> liza minnelli. ♪ say yes ♪ life keeps happening every day ♪ >> and this is halston, who is i

think today, wouldn't you say, the best-known name -- >> you shouldn't say best and worst because then other designers get upset. you're pretty good, halston. >> thank you. >> you would always think, how do i go to that next level? ♪ there's mink and marigold right outside ♪ >> he was looking for a perfume company. ♪ nothing's gained if there's nothing tried ♪ every single week he was having meetings with revlon, coudi. >> mr. bannon of iff. he'd like to meet with you today if possible. >> then finally max factor. and max factor, who's a subsidiary of norton simon. ♪ say yes, yes, i can ♪ yes, i will >> i remember halston saying to andy and me, you know, i really like the norton simon people because they're all so tall. david mahoney was the chairman

of norton simon. and he was tall, good looking and a lot of glamour. >> we wanted a top perfume line and he was the hottest thing around. i wanted to buy the whole thing just to have him on board for his general knowledge. >> it seemed like a good match. if he was bought in total under norton simon, he'd have the freedom to explore and to develop more of what halston wanted. >> explain this to me. when you bought halston, you bought the rights to his name, you bought his designs, you bought everything, for how long? >> forever. >> at the time, it seemed like a huge coup.

and all his friends, i mean, including andy and all of us were very happy for him. >> he told me, jean ogino, we'rg to be very busy because i'm going to design furniture, car interiors. i'm going to design carpet. >> don't you find if you take on that many things that one of your projects is going to suffer? >> it's rather like growing a tree. everyone thinks you're an overnight success. i've worked very hard for 20 years. and, you know, it's just a further extension of it. it's just another branch. they all help each other in a curious way. [music playing] (vo) this is jerry. jerry has a membership to this gym, but he's not using it. and he has subscriptions to a music service he doesn't listen to and five streaming video services he doesn't watch. this is jerry learning that he's still paying for this stuff he's not using. he's seeing his recurring payments in control tower in the wells fargo mobile app. this is jerry canceling a few things. booyah. this is jerry appreciating the people who made this possible. oh look, there they are.

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1973, five american designers and five french designers were showing their collections at one time at one place, the palace of versailles. >> american designers had never been invited to show in paris, and this was a huge, huge deal. >> for halston, it was very important. he would go as far as he had to go for it to be the best he thought he could make it.

>> he realized that you need a star in there. what happened was that halston got david mahoney to sponsor the trip, and david loved it. he fit right in there. >> david mahoney seemed to me to be fairly ambitious socially. like so many self-made people, they wanted to be part of this kind of cafe society. >> it was a very competitive evening. i think the designers were having difficulty with each other. the french took up all the time for the rehearsal, and we were the addendums. it was rude, actually. >> their whole presentation was beyond grand. they changed orchestras for each of the different designer segments.

>> we couldn't rehearse. all of us were waiting and waiting. it was cold, damp. unfortunately with halston, it got to him. he did have a blow-up, very dramatic. >> it was very difficult. halston left and liza said, you know, we've got to get this show done. >> she's the one who sat down with halston. she unified everybody. >> we'd open, and i'd sing "bonjour paris." ♪ i want to step out down the champs-elysees ♪ ♪ from the arch of triumph ♪ that's for me. ♪ bonjour, bonjour, paris so let's get started. and we were off. >> it was directed like a musical.

>> liza said, look, it doesn't want to look rehearsed. the more human, the more goofed up, that's going to make this happen. >> we're so wild in comparison. we had 12 african-american girls. they only had one. >> no sets. it was just straightforward fashion in your face. and modern. >> all the energy and that joy and that wonder and that curiosity, well, that is america. at the end of halston's piece, they threw their programs up in the air. they went bananas. >> versailles put american fashion on the map, on the map. >> halston was at the top of his game.

he came like a king of the americans. >> versailles was an extension of what he felt he could achieve going down the road because of norton simon. when he came back, the whole thing changed. his first real office by himself was all lined with mirrors. very modern and very slick and minimal. you can see his changing of his whole almost psyche. the hair started getting cut, less bohemian, more crisp and clean, open to space, the white shirt, the tie. he's very in control. he's very -- he is halston. he is halston. and it was like, wow, you know. ♪ >> i'm halston, and this is my home.

the architect was paul rudolph, and the day i saw it, i bought it. it's the only real modern house built in the city of new york since the second world war. it's like living in a three-dimensional sculpture. >> when i was hired by norton simon, of course i had to meet halston. so i went to his townhouse, and he showed me through the whole thing. he was clearly delighted with his new toy, and i was terribly impressed. i remember saying to him, i'm going to enjoy making money for you, halston, because you know how to spend it. my brief was that whatever else you do, you got to get the fragrance under way. he wanted elsa to design the bottle. >> elsa peretti would come in. he wanted it to be sort of a tear drop shape like her iconic necklaces. and they went through a number of iterations. >> i was not thinking about the deadline.

you know how much time it take me to do this glass? >> no. >> from '74 up to now. and it's still not good. >> no one had ever seen a bottle like that. it had a curved neck. max factor people hated it. >> production people at max factor called me and said, you know what this nut is doing now? he's putting out a bottle that looks like a glob. you can't fill it from the top. it won't work. >> they had to get a special stopper. they were talking about the economics of it. >> i don't think halston really cared what they thought. >> it is my name attached to it, so i want to live with this for a long time. just the bottle alone is a revolutionary new concept. >> then i got another phone call, said you also realize what he's doing. he's not even putting his name on it. >> because he thought it was a work of art.

simplicity was the keynote. so his name was on the ribbon with which the bottle itself was tied. no one else had done it that way before. and then the fragrance caught on. it became a seller. largest american designer fragrance. the stores couldn't get it fast enough. it was ballistic. >> you get into a taxi in new york, and the taxi driver would say, oh, you smell good, you're wearing halston. once it started to go, everything started to go. >> i began a very large license program. we were the first american designer to really do this heavy. >> we have two fragrances for men. we have an entire cosmetic line. my name is halston. i'm halston. you've got luggage, you've got --

>> rugs, sheets, perfume, cosmetics, shoes, bags, gloves, sunglasses, all kinds of things. >> holy cow. you wouldn't have 20 until payday, would you? i'm a little short. >> he designed a uniform for the '76 olympics. >> he designed the new girl scout uniform for leaders. so we don't have to wear the drab looking things. >> thank you very much. >> and you also dressed the avis -- >> well, the whole avis company. >> when do you sleep? >> oh, well, i sleep. >> he had a lot of things on his plate. i have a feeling that is where some of the tension started to happen. >> halston felt that he individually had to design everything that was licensed and that was a monumental task. >> i must be a part of it. i've never, ever just lent my name for a commercial business venture.

>> from the first day i got there, one of the things i did every couple of weeks was go to the bank and take out a ton of cash and bring it back in an envelope. he'd say, i might be in a meeting, but if mr. fisher comes, just give him the envelope. i never saw him snort cocaine, but i paid -- i mean, i got a lot of money every few weeks. $2,000 to $3,000. >> i want to stop all the kind of bullshit that we're drug addicts. we smoke, yeah, but we work. we're all thinking what you wear, what you do all night long. i was working all night long.

yeah, we took drugs, of course. how you cannot take drugs being up all night long? but it was smoking. it was not heavy drugs. a little coke sometimes. >> i went to work for halston. best thing i ever did. i was totally 1,000% devoted to him. he was such a hard worker. i mean, he'd come in early, go home late, and always accomplish something. until studio 54. ♪ ♪ just a feeling ♪ dance >> i took halston to studio 54. you couldn't get that guy out of a god damn den. he fell in love with it right away. >> i took halston to studio 54. so i didn't know what other stories you heard. but i remember that was the first time. he says, i'm going to bring friends.

>> halston gave a birthday party for bianca jagger. bianca got on the horse and that photograph went around the world. that made 54 the place where everybody went. >> what do you see there? >> it's the only democracy. it's good for everybody on every level of society. >> this is the scene outside of a new york disco called studio 54. this is the place that's in with the disco crowd, except that these people are still out. of course, liza minnelli and her kind of celebrities sweep right through the protective flanks of door keepers. >> they are discriminating at studio 54. recently, the president of a wall street brokerage firm was ejected, and he was a member. so he's suing for 1 million.

>> oh, do a donna summers song. >> i think they lived out a lot of their fantasies as gay boys. hollywood was such a big influence on both andy and halston. >> i was born in the midwest. >> i was born in the midwest. much of your life was probably involved in going to the movies on saturdays and sundays. >> you were at a dinner party and you could have one person to the left and the right who would that be? >> halston and elizabeth taylor. >> why? >> they're both wonderful. >> they weren't society but they became a new kind of society. suddenly, you know, gays were part of society. many more jews were part of society. a lot of those barriers just fell down. >> he had his entourage.

he had victor. victor hugo was a fiery, inspiring, sexual fantasy. they were kind of opposite of each other, so i think they had some fun together. i lived with him for 15 years, and that's like a family. he's a creator of magic. it was a beautiful dream like i've never seen before. ♪ >> victor was the one that created the windows. this was his personality, extreme. >> company was booming, so i went out looking for space.

i came upon this thing in olympic tower. and that was the end of the search because that's the one we're going to get. the architect came up with some plans and halston didn't like them. he wanted something that took spectacular use of the space. and he began to design what he wanted. >> mirrors everywhere. the walls were mirrors. everything was mirrors. >> halston made sure that his entire work room were in a room with a lot of windows, so as they sewed and fitted every day they didn't feel confined. that really impressed me.

>> when the workers saw the space, the women wept that it was the best work room in the world, was even too good to be a work room. ♪ >> there wasn't at the time -- i don't think there is today -- a fashion house ever as grand as that was. >> in that space he had reached something very specific to him. that's where he felt he belonged. ♪ i'm in with the in crowd >> the shows there were amazing.

you felt like walking in a cloud down the runway. ♪ i'm in with the in crowd >> once he went to the olympic tower it was the most glamorous in new york. liza minnelli. >> he was the first to really bring in movie stars. >> they are the elite of new york city. and they've been invited by halston, who's standing here beside me. >> i always saw him as famous. >> i made it in new york. >> but then of course he became ginormous. >> what he did was he surrounded himself at public appearances with what became known as the halstonnettes. ♪ i go where the in crowd goes >> brilliant marketing. brilliant. >> sometimes there were 20 of us. you know? >> some of the people i knew in the fashion business, they were totally dismissive.

who does he think he is? and the answer is what picture is it going to be, some fashion designer standing by himself or is it going to be halston with the halstonnettes? i already put on my comfy pants. i'm so... cozy. here. old spice swagger. listen, there is a place, full of sports, people, people watching sports, the guys are waiting. come on! ahhh.

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i want to run the faces of all the women close up. we've done that. >> john fairchild is the publisher of "women's wear." as always, he has the final word of how last night's party will look in the next edition. >> if they stand on the table, would it hurt the table? >> it would because i just had it lacquered. >> if they stand on the table with their bare feet? >> whatever makes you happy. >> we knew how to get publicity. you know what i mean? the problem was he began to believe it all. i mean, in order to get an

interview with this guy, it was like trying to get to pope john. because he was next to that [ bleep ] cross. >> everyone would call him h. he'd say i am an emperor. he was believing this stuff. >> halston, is it tougher to get on top or to stay on top? >> halston said i'm going to tell you i'm going to china. i'm going like wow. >> china wanted to show the world that they were opening up, so they invited the master of publicity to visit the silk cities. >> come on, judy. come on, everybody. what i want to explain to you all is what we're doing. >> with the china trip, you could see the brain working. each girl had their own personal collection designed. everything all laid out.

we just needed to pack our lingerie and makeup. >> we'll go to the ming tunes and the forbidden city and one of the best places will be the great wall of china. >> every affair, dinner here, dinner there, everything was choreographed. it was just incredible. >> if it was a cold day you will wear sort of a shawl like this. but this is a china silk. >> he asked me one day, do you dream of what you're doing? obviously, i was exhausted from going to studio 54. all those parties. no, i haven't dreamt. it'll be amazing. you'll be a great designer when you start dreaming. it should come to you in the night and then you know you are thinking about it. >> why don't you show him. put the lights on. make them sparkle over there. those are your things. >> so to him night and day it was there. >> we were going to china. who got invited to china?

>> we said to the chinese executive we're coming with a lot of luggage. you have a way of handling it? oh, yes, yes. he came with a shopping cart. we had one shopping cart to move our luggage. >> it's the beginning of the world tour. fashions by halston. >> i think there's a big change. >> what? >> well, i think it's america's time, really. >> here he is sort of an ambassador of american fashion. he became somewhat like a world figure. >> mr. halston.

>> but we were basically there to go to the silk factories. those people who had done the fabrics actually got to see how you could play with the fabric. so they were just like in awe. it was wonderful. i was in awe of them being in awe of us. [ applause ] >> it might be a little tight, but i consider it a great compliment that she wanted to put it on. >> halston was saying they want to modernize, they want to md erinize here. >> is it that complicated to change the patterns? >> i think that made the trip for halston. i think he thought he could contribute something to the people of china. >> it was really pr. he got a tremendous amount of publicity. he was all over. when you see the pictures, they were beautiful.

they looked fantastic. you know, if you didn't know the back side of the story, it looked like a fantastic trip. halston and the group here, halston and the group there. they all look great. you know, half of them are really miserable, but they all look terrific. >> it's exhausting. and i'm just starting. >> we had a film crew following us the whole time. >> go back, go back, go back. >> every day was directed by halston. >> get out of the camera way. the cameras are here. so you can't be -- you have to be on the other side. >> he just wanted total control. and it was too much. it became too much. >> i want you all to stand up there on the runway. not in twos. you're doing it look a fashion show. it looks so dumb. go out again.

no, not please. just do it. >> he was a perfectionist. he had a very rough time in giving up. it was an emotional lock in. >> nothing's lined up. connie? >> can't you people line it up like i've lined it up? i mean, really. look at the boys. it's so dumb. what do you think we did all this for? i hope nobody has to go tonight because we've got to go through this. >> he was a bit of a bully. you really had to stand up to him, otherwise you would be lost. and there wasn't a lot of people who could do that. very, very few people in our company. >> he would snap at you. and even though we all had the same amount of abuse, you took it personally. i never, ever got used to being yelled at. it just became a different relationship and a different

company. >> even with faith, i mean, she defended that man, but it just had taken a lot on her, screaming and yelling at the top of his lungs. i mean -- >> come on, judy. come on, everybody. don't walk out like you're a parade. >> but the aura of it all and being a part of it kept you hooked. you know, eventually, he had all of us wear black at the office. he wanted us to be a backdrop to the clothes. and everything to him was a pr event. we were all pr events. it was the stage set that was us. >> what we're looking for is the illusion of art.

>> you see, our mistake including halston is to take our name too seriously. for me, i was a jewelry designer. i was a good jewelry designer. i dedicated all my time to it. and then i want to start to be a human being. >> what's the difference? >> darling, big difference. big difference. >> halston was in love. and then they were having big problems. halston was criticizing her stuff and saying she wasn't working. >> we had fights because it was so much out of it. because i'm vulgar. not vulgar. but i can't -- everything has to be like that. impossible. >> everybody's got to do their own thing. and i suddenly lost my identity. as elsa was losing her identity.

she had to throw in the table. i had to throw in the towel. >> he became a real loner. >> that looks nice with your reflection. >> and did you see the elizabeth cover? that's beautiful. i love it. she looks really great. >> i love the picture for inside. >> the cover of "harper's bazaar," i just love it. >> the truth of the matter is that his business was slowing down. he peaked and other names were showing up. >> it brings us to calvin and the survival of the fittest. >> calvin klein, is that your name?

>> perry ellis is a new name in fashion. and halston was never one to fall behind. a run to the left side, no foul given, morgan running... looking for one hundred. ♪ [ kids screaming ] a run to the left side, no foul given... morgan running... looking for one hundred. she's got it! ♪ [ kids cheering ]

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i am pleased to announce the association between halston enterprises and jcpenney. today we have signed a billion-dollar retail sales agreement. >> it was a license over five years. the largest designer deal that had ever been made. enough money to make anyone, even norton simon, sit up and take notice. >> i begged him. i begged him not to do the penney thing. it was going to kill us. he kept saying no, no, no, i want to dress everybody in america. >> it sounded like a good deal to me to create things for people who couldn't afford his -- yes. >> strange enough when i was a kid i always shopped at penney's. my mother always took me to penney's to buy all the clothes we wore to school and everything else. it's true. i come from des moines, iowa, my mother always being a practical midwest lady always took us there. >> in one highly publicized stroke of the pen halston moved if class to mass.

the reaction of the fashion world ranged from shock to outrage. >> jcpenney? yes, jcpenney, that nationwide middle-class retailer that offers clothes right off the rack, has landed a very big designer. >> would you expect to find a designer like halston in here? >> not halston in jcpenney. >> obviously we're very excited about it. we think it is a catch. >> jcpenney is trying to trade up. but they're not quite going to change their name to jc penier or jc penoit. >> i believe i like americans to look good. i'm an american designer and i love the opportunity to do it. >> it's a first between a department store chain and a major designer with the clothes expected to be on the racks in the fall of '83. >> this is called halston 3. >> this is called halston 3. >> why? >> it's really the third stage of my career, the first being in the milnery business and in

fancy clothes and dressing all the stars and now a larger public dressing america really. >> he said he would design it. he designed it. everybody, of course, wanted a piece of it. the guy who made scarves wanted halston scarves. the guy who made shoes wanted halston shoes. that was going on. >> jcpenney is an organization that is so vast. it's not like one person oversees the whole thing. so talk about cultures, different cultures, completely. >> when i got involved in it, i thought oh, boy, these people really need help. sketches they couldn't read. fabrics they didn't know anything about. everybody would pat me on the head and say oh, listen, just leave it to us, we'll work it out. you just be artistical. no way. i just want to make it. desperately. >> she's got to understand that we have to commit like eight months in advance. but he's so involved with

everything. the label. the label took him months. >> we asked penney executives to sum up the halston 3 line in one word. >> profit. >> volume. >> it's what america wants. >> the halston 3 collection for 1983. >> this is an experiment. it could succeed. it could not succeed. >> quite a show. 500 of the fashionables sat in a huge room dominated by a 60-foot whale hanging from the ceiling. people didn't know whether to call bravo or there she blows. >> this has been probably the most challenging and gratifying fashion exercise in my career. >> gosh, we had about 26 models

in there. the clothes looked spectacular. it was perfect for that audience. and everybody looked fabulous. very good reviews. and the show was very successful. very. >> the director's wanting to go out and buy it right away. >> that's great. >> we'll have a lot more great showings. the first of many to come. >> i'm very proud of it. >> they had a big flag out at the museum when they had the show. and ira niemark who's the president of bergdorf goodman and jackie his wife were coming home from dinner. he called his senior merchandising manager that night at home. and she called me at home. and said he wants everything out of the store. the fragrance, everything. he doesn't want to have anything to do with halston.

>> didn't you run into some trouble with bergdorf who was -- >> oh, not at all. no, i don't think so. you know, bergdorf -- i wish them well. i started my career at bergdorf and helped to make bergdorf famous. bergdorf is a rather small account compared to all america. >> he was very upset. he didn't understand it, also shocked over the fact that that could happen that quickly. >> did bergdorf goodman drop your line because you went to penney's? >> they i think felt threatened. but i think there's a way out of it. >> your connection to bergdorf is a very important -- >> he stepped out of the norm and people like their boundaries that are set between them and those. >> the fancy shmancy guys are saying that undermines your elegant, chic -- >> my business is very good. you know, i have one store that

doesn't like it, i'm sorry. >> and then i started getting all kinds of calls from presidents of the stores all over the united states, and merchandising managers and cutting back on orders. it was pure hell after that. he realized that he had done the wrong thing. >> you know, the press could be mean. they were not supporting him. it seemed odd to me. it just seemed like a gang, one person misbehaved and then everybody is bullying this one person. >> clearly, the purpose was to strengthen penney's position as a supplier of fashionable merchandise. >> that's a diplomatic answer. >> i guess you got what you need. you can cut out and chop away and do what you need. okay.

>> it's a jcpenney thing, became so enormous a problem that the distance between us became too great. he wanted me to leave, but he didn't want to say he wanted me to leave. he wanted to make things so unpleasant that i would leave. i pushed him too hard. i pushed too many licenses down on him. >> things got out of control. i started not to feel well. so i went to the doctor. he said you have the beginning of an ulcer. and it was from the stress. i just got to the point where i couldn't deal with it and had to leave. i hated to leave. i loved halston, but i had to get out.

i saw him frustrated like how can this thing come into my life? i said, well, maybe you have to drop the whole thing and come with me and get out of here. we'll just take a break. and he'd say i can't go. >> they say that when it rains it pours. well, a perfect storm was about to happen when his good friend david mahoney threw him into the belly of the whale. >> the day before the jcpenney show david made an offer to buy norton simon. he was going to take it private, and he can make an awful lot of

money doing that. >> takeover mania in america. huge corporations are gobbling one another at a rate unmatched in history. >> esmark came along out of the blue and made an outside bid that was better than david's and won the battle. >> i don't know how halston felt because after norton simon sold him david mahoney was not there. >> you cannot expect other people to be interested in your welfare all the time. it's unfair and it's illogical. so therefore, you'd better take care of your own instincts and your own efforts. >> dog eat dog. look out for yourself. is that what you mean? >> i really don't mean it, although that's part of it, jane. >> you know how business is. you know how money is. you know how that is. it's the pollution in the air. >> esmark wasn't really in the fashion business except maybe --

>> the height of fashion. playtex for keeps. >> so halston was put under joel smilar, one of america's toughest bosses according to "fortune" magazine. >> this is a little teeny company, sort of a fly speck. so think of it supposing you own the new york yankees and you also owned a class d farm team in bethlehem, pennsylvania. how much time would you spend with your bethlehem, pennsylvania farm team? ssibilite your pet's life. we're redefining what nutrition can do. because the possibility of a longer life and a healthy life is the greatest possibility of all. purina pro plan. nutrition that performs.

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roxana: our students don't have part-time needs. so they absolutely cannot have part-time solutions. angelia: one of changes that we need is smaller class sizes. rosanne: we need a lot more school nurses, a lot more school counselors. rodney: counselors provide that social, emotional core that's needed. marisa: schools need to be safe places for our children to learn. ever: every student has the right to quality education. no matter what neighborhood you live in. angelia: we are cta. rosanne: we are cta. marisa: we are cta. narrator: because we know quality public schools make a better california for all of us.

in 1983, my uncle asked me to come to dinner while i was here. i had recently graduated from college. i was very green. and he dropped the bomb on me and said would you like to work for me? and i just sort of did a somersault and said okay. i would love to work for you. when do i start? i think maybe he wanted to bring in a family member who he could trust 100%. >> there was a new manager there from esmark who had just come on. do i have to say his name?

>> you don't want to say his name? >> no. >> my first day at halston was interesting. i never seen anything quite like it. here i'm the kid from brooklyn, right? coming into this world of halston's castle in olympic world. there was a kind of a pinky throw everywhere you went. halston was a little bit hollywood in my parlance, but i

thought we hit it off. >> you'd never think carl would ever be with halston. i mean, physically, mentally, anything. but when carl came in, in a very strange way, halston liked him a lot. >> he kept saying i have never had the right kind of management. and that's part of our problem. and he gives me a kiss on the forehead. it was wonderful. and then he says you're now the king. and he made with his own hands the crown that he gave me. >> halston i think honestly believed that carl epstein was going to mediate with big business, but i remember thinking to myself, well, there are two men in this room, but there is only one king at halston enterprises.

>> [ spoking foreign language ]. voila. >> i thought this is fun. clothes had to be made for me similar to what he wears. my wife, my kids are getting all these clothes. and then one day, he introduces me to liza minnelli. i said you know, this is -- the hell with business. this is great. you know, this is the way to live. >> we had budget meetings, and apparently theirs was a disaster. carl was not doing what we agreed to. i'm at the top. and i don't care what's happening in the engine room. i know the engine isn't running. and it wasn't. turn this into a brand. turn this into something we can handle, and stop having it be this airy fairy kind of i work when i want to, i'm not inspired, i'm an artist kind of thing.

>> i checked all the expense stuff. and that blew my mind. the flowers. >> carl had me in to talk to me about what was being spent on the flower budget. and i said yes, i know what's being spent on the flower budget, carl. i'm writing up the bills myself. >> entertainment was enormous. the kitchen cost. example, they would prepare a meal for him while he's in montauk and put it on a private plane, fly it to montauk and deliver it to halston's house. and that was a company expense. that meal must have cost $2,000. >> it was the '80s. >> martha graham was honored last night. >> the honeymoon ended when he was going to go to paris with martha graham. he is going to take his staff

with him. we calculated the cost of doing that. and just the work room was 125,000. so i then told halston you can't do it. halston was so incensed, how dare you say no to me? it was like jekyll and hyde. suddenly mr. hyde came out. from then on, i was the enemy. >> carl every morning would put little sticky notes on halston's table about what had to happen today and what things were going to be taken away, and he didn't like it. we need to do this. we need to do that. and it was just like you're bossing him around? no one does that. >> it was a big struggle. and it got worse and worse. he started coming in later and later so he wouldn't have to deal with seeing those people.

>> be careful. it's a little dark here. hold on. history is filled with wars, but you have to understand the difference between strategy and tactics. strategy is the art of war. tactics is the art of battle. the only real battle you must never lose is the last one. there was something called the werner report. but it was so hush-hush i didn't see it until probably seven or eight months after i was there. when i read it, it dawned on me that everything was tactical. they were going to solve their problem by how we train the

staff, how we make the staff unafraid of halston, how they were going to cope with halston and his tirades. mahoney's attitude was, we're not going to try to control halston. my strategy was going back to square one. >> there was rumor that a junior designer was coming in to help with the jcpenney and just huge workload. >> in the middle of february, just pick up the phone and this very deep voice said john ridge, this is halston. he said can you come see me? so of course i did. and it turned out that it wasn't really an interview. it was when can you start? >> john ridge, he was a custom designer. that was his field. he wasn't really high couture design.

we knew our way. we knew so many years we do so good. we go so high. now he with need him to tell us what to do. >> probably after a month i went to carl and said i'm leaving. this is just an impossible situation. we were there until 8:00, 9:00. i can't be responsible for what the work room cost. and carl said to me, don't leave, things are going to change. >> he started coming in at 4:00 in the afternoon. and he wants the work room to wait for him to come in at that time. i told him, it's not going to happen. they're going to leave at 5:00, period. done, over. in the final analysis, he is like me and everybody else in that place, an employee. >> i suppose he was there to just slowly push halston out. they had the brand. halston was the diva designer

that they didn't necessarily need anymore. >> when i first met him, he was quite distraught. he was so frustrated and so angry, he had trouble completing sentences and thoughts. suddenly, he was cast adrift. i guess i can best put it the way halston put it, that the folks from planet tampon landed on planet halston. ♪ >> i saw him tired at times. i thought he was really tired. >> one time i came in and i think he might have had a panic session. he just seemed very stressed. i said can i do anything? he said no. just sit here. just sit here. we sat there for like 30 minutes. wow. that's new. >> halston never asked me what i

thought of his collection. this time he asked me what i thought of his collection. honestly, it was like someone had punched me in my stomach. >> if you lived in another epic, in another time in another city, could you pick it for me? >> no way. tomorrow is going to be better. next week is going to be better. no, no, no. i'm the all-time optimist. i like it right now. >> the problem was simply drugs. he had gone way too far. >> i don't do tuxedos. >> he was out of control. out of control was symmetrical with esmark taking over. so you tell me which is the chicken and which is the egg. >> some time in that spring liza went to betty ford and halston said it's great that things like this exist for those who need them. of course the rest of us have to

get on. >> very hard to do an interview about your best friend, especially what's popular in that day and age is digging a little. i didn't like it. i hated it when they did it to my mother or my father or myself. and i won't do it to halston. i just won't. i refuse. >> in june, he had summer to do for jcpenney, which was way late at that point. >> don't go into jcpenney anymore. i don't know why, but that's when everything went upside down. >> i think he thought that if he went on strike and didn't design the collections that he had

some power in the situation, you know. >> i'm getting calls from jcpenney saying where are our products? where are the designs? he hasn't approved them. and whether he was doing that to get revenge on carl or whether he was doing it because he was doped up, it wasn't happening. >> they were very frustrated because they couldn't get sketches from halston. so one day i drew them a jacket because they had to have a jacket and halston wasn't there. well, he was not too happy that i had given them a sketch. but penney's was very happy about it. and i think that they went away viewing me as the source that they could turn to and get something. and that was kind of the beginning of my personal relationship with penney's. >> may i have your attention, please? >> carl held a meeting in front of all the employees at halston enterprises. he said that it would no longer

be a one-man show. john david ridge was promoted and would be in charge of the design. >> carl was hellbent on isolating halston. >> he is livid. it's my name on the label. how dare you? >> it was his company, his people, his workers, everything he was fighting for. and it unraveled into a very unpleasant scenario. >> let's divide the space up there. this half is halston and this other half is halston 3 with john ridge. >> at some point, i said no. you can get someone else to do it. i'm not going to -- at this point i knew halston pretty well. the man. >> there was a lot of angst going on. and so i had my first meeting with roy. yes, bregman, what can i do for you? and i'd say, well, roy -- that was the beginning.

he was talking about going into another business. that's why i started calling him roy. i said you don't own your name, pal. read the small print. we own your name. >> this was all blowing up. they said to me, i want you to go in and talk to him. i was there that morning. we were sitting in his office until about 1:00, 1:30 in the morning. and he said to me, we can do this. i said we can do what? he said, we can take this over and get it away from the corporation and run it as an -- i said, halston, it would never work. where is this money going to come from? i said do you know how much money you spend and how luxur- -- i said just take a look around.

you've had the biggest and the best. this kind of money is not going to be found again. >> they requested, and i put that in quotation marks, that i not be present at the meeting. i'm sitting in my office, and i felt like having a cup of tea. so i thought i'd go to the kitchen. i go to the door, put my key in the lock, key is not working. and i couldn't understand. why the key -- so i run around to the front door. and there's a guy working on the door there, a locksmith. he's changing the locks. i said, who hired you? >> mr. halston. >> i stormed into that meeting, and i just blew my top. even his lawyer was shocked.

>> halston didn't change the locks. he was locked out. carl admitted he changed the locks. >> job is done, mr. epstein. >> you actually admitted it. >> i admitted it? >> several months later. there was a story about trouble at olympic tower. >> i said look, that's it, i've had it. i don't want to have to think about somebody changing the locks. either he goes or i go. >> epstein gave the signal. i said we're done. you're done. and halston was out. >> i was very heartbroken for him. he was like a man without a country. the halston name that was the most important thing in his entire life could be used by

that corporation without his consent. >> halston enterprises and organization meaning a symbolic signing of the licensing agreement for mexico. >> [ speaking foreign language ]. ♪ ♪ halston >> when one comes in to make a company healthy, it depends how you define health. people were suddenly at peace, had comfortable jobs, we're not being shouted at. >> we had not much to do. no movie star. no celebrity. jcpenney. and that's it. and not even because at one point they used to do everything in china.

we'd just send the pattern and they used to make everything there. >> carl told me one day that he was going to sell off all these samples. >> that was his record that should be in a museum. and they decided to sell those important pieces for 25 bucks, 50 bucks apiece. >> it was just stuff sitting here year after year doing nothing. >> some pieces went here, some pieces went there, but the mother lode of it is gone. eliminated, erased. it was hostile. >> there was nothing personal about it. if you want to call something personal -- i really didn't give a damn what halston's reaction would be. we were beyond that.

>> why not give it to a museum? >> and then there was a bookcase full of videotapes of the shows. we said carl, i want these tapes. he said no, halston has copies. carl said he was going to erase them and sell the blanks to the next tenant. >> everyone thinks you're an overnight success. i've worked very hard for 20 years. ♪ happy birthday to me >> there is no home in iowa. woo! vacation isn't about where you are, it's about how you see things. you just have to make home,

the place you want to write home about. stella artois. summer like you're on vacation. this is something bigger.. [ "movin on up" by primal scream ] that is big. not as big as that. sure that's big. that's bigger. big. bigger. big. bigger. big. but that's bigger. wow, big. so much bigger. this is big. but that's...well, you got this.

number one in overall network performance.full of "awards". highest in wireless network quality performance. highest in wireless network quality performance in the north central region. it's hard to know what to think. that's why sprint's doing things differently and offering a new one hundred percent total satisfaction guarantee. so, you can try out the network, see the savings and decide for yourself. switch to sprint and get both an unlimited plan and one of the newest phones included for just thirty-five dollars a month. for people with hearing loss, visit sprintrelay.com. ♪ ♪ discover new san pellegrino essenza. a twist of mediterranean flavors, with the gentle bubbles of san pellegrino. add a twist of flavor. san pellegrino essenza. tastefully italian.

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i really wanted to show this photo. so my grandparents, this is halle may and james edward. they were working class. my grandmother, i'm not sure, made it past 9th grade. they had four children. my father first and then roy my father first and then roy you know, times were tough, grew up in the depression era. halston and my father weren't close with their father. they loved him, but he had a temper. my grandmother took him under her wing and was protecting him. she was a sweet, sweet, soft-spoken, very mellow woman. and you just felt so calm around her.

when she passed away, halston was in the middle of jcpenny, but he didn't tell them anything. he just said he had to leave. she suffered silently. halston wasn't estranged from his family per se. it's just that the family's very conservative. he felt that they wouldn't understand his lifestyle with victor there, and although he was constantly trying to get him out of his life, he was there. and eventually he did. i kept telling him to reconnect his siblings. telling him they're not going to judge you. the family's there for you. and at a certain point, i helped him organize the first family reunion in montauk.

he let his hair down and was the brother that he was 40 years prior. so, he had to plan it, every but he was who she was. so, he had to plan it, every moment of it. i got all white sweat suits for one event and all army uniforms for the safari. >> i think he just wanted maybe to slow down a little. being a regular person. >> one day we were having a conversation, and a concern point through the chatter, he said, well, i have to tell you something. and he revealed to me at that point that he was sick with hiv. and i just shut down and started freaking out.

and he said it's not a death sentence. so, i did the stiff upper lip thing because he didn't like people to cry and just went along with it like, no, it's not a death sentence. no. but you have to remember so many people were getting sick in those days. >> the fashion industry here is being devastated by aids. >> when perry almost died in 1986, his company denied it was aids-related. >> there is no drug, no vaccine, no prevention, there is no cure. >> he handled it the way he had handle it. you know, denial and then fighting it and saying, no, this is not going to take me and then finally realizing it had.

he decided to sell the house. he decided he was going to live his last moments of his life with his family in california. >> he left. and he completely hid away and didn't want anybody to see him. >> we would write him letters. >> i did not know that he was ill. i wish i could call him now. >> there was a period of people i knew that will never come back. but i remember them.

i am alone though. >> i tried to find out what was going on, and then i heard the stories that he was in california driving along the coast in a convertible rolls royce enjoying his life with his sunglasses and his hands up, enjoying the breeze. that's how i see him. >> he used to say we lived in an enchanted forest because we lived across the street from these woods. it was poor depression-time, but everything was so easy and comfortable and serene.

♪ >> he passed away the night of the academy awards, actually. his name was up on the television screen. >> we had a beautiful ceremony, and we played "fanfare for common man."

halston was a common man. he came from nowhere. at the end he said i just want to fade away. but as somebody like him, he couldn't just fade away. >> the death of a great american designer. his name was halston. he was only 57 when he died in california yesterday. he died as a result of aids. >> with aids, the cause, aids-related cancer. >> we profoundly hope that it has a positive impact on the public and becoming increasingly aware of this terrible problem and doing something about it. ♪ >> five months later, halston enterprises closed its olympic tower headquarters.

today, fashion espoused. today fashion is fast. and high up above the streets in his beloved olympic tower, a private investment firm. it's morning again in america. >> it looked pretty much the same. >> oh, sure. it's fun and it's not fun and it's upbeat and downbeat and everything else, you know? but as my mother say, it's the price you have to pay. thank you. okay. it's a wrap. [ bleep ]. ♪ ♪

♪ the light around the corner that takes you by surprise ♪ ♪ markets take a hit. investors show their concern as the u.s. doesn't seem to be backing off on new tariffs against china in an already tense trade war. plus, a surprise visit to the g7 as iran's javad zarif sits down with the french president. u.s. officials call it a curveball. and an aerial view of an environmental disaster. cnn takes a plane ride over the fires ravaging the amazon rain forest. hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the united states and all around the world. i'm rosemary church. >> and i'm george howell from cnn world headquarters in atlanta. "newsroom" starts right now.