republican senatorial campaign committee. cnn has repeatedly reached out to the ghost candidates, the republican stratd gist republican strategists, even the company that supplied more than a half million dollars, and none of them are talking. drew griffin, cnn, atlanta. >> thanks for joining us. cnn's original series "first ladies" starts now. there are a few first ladies, who really are milestones, cultural milestones, who help us understand what's going on in larger society. >> it took me some time doing a little dreaming, to be standing right here, today. >> she hadn't forgotten that journey and the challenges that she faced. >> in this great country, where

a girl from the south side of chicago, can go to college and law school. and the son of a single mother from hawaii can go all the way to the white house. >> it's the idea that you can break through. that, much more is possible than you might have thought. michelle, still, carries that forward. every time she walks into a room. >> when you've worked hard and done well and walked through that doorway of opportunity, you do not sloam it shut behind you. no, you reach back and you help give folks the same chance to succeed. >> but this is, also, a representation of americans' better selves. >> that is the story of this country. the story that has brought me to this stage, tonight. the story of generations of people who felt the lash of bondage, the shame of servitude, the sting of segregation. but, who kept on striving and

hoping and doing what needed to be done. so, don't let anyone ever tell you that this country isn't great. that, somehow, we need to make it great again. because this, right now, is the greatest country on earth. >> when you were little, did you ever want to be the first lady? >> no, i didn't. i didn't know i could be the first lady. sometimes, you can only be what you know exists in the world. and no one like me was ever the first lady of the united states.

>> reporter: all first ladies are thrust into the spotlight. but michelle obama would be scrutinized more intensely than any of her predecessors. >> we talk about civil-rights history. we talk about all of these series of firsts. this is within our lifetime. >> are you prepared to take the oath, senator? >> i am. >> it took my breath away, and i thought, oh, my gosh, this is really happening. >> i stand here, today, humbled by the task before us. >> the sea of humanity spread as far as the eye could see. >> mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. >> the reality of what they were about to embark on must have been very, very vivid for her, at that moment. >> reporter: michelle traveled farther and overcame more on her journey to the white house than any first lady before her.

>> she knew that she was making history, and that her movements would be scrutinized ten times, a hundred times more, than any other first lady. >> everything michelle obama has been doing in her life has really been preparing her to walk this tightrope. >> reporter: michelle was integral to barack obama's campaign from the beginning. >> so we're looking forward to the first day of school. welcome back. i know that all the parents out here are happy to have their kids out of their house. you can admit it. let's give a cheer for that. >> reporter: 15 months before the election, polls showed barack obama trailing hillary clinton, by double digits. >> we got two beautiful, little girls, and we have a wonderful life. nothing would have been more disruptive than a decision to run for president of the united states. >> she knew enough about race in america. about breaking barriers.

to know what that would mean for her, that she would face constant criticism, constant scrutiny. you know, who would raise their hand, enthusiastically, and say sign me up for that? >> but, you know, the reason why i said yes was because i am tired of being afraid. the game of politics is to make you afraid, so that you don't think. we have a chance to make something real happen. think about that. and help us. >> in schools, church halls, across america, michelle to voters for month, after month, after month. >> for someone who avoided politics for much of her life, she had to take a crash course in it. his political career was always very separate from her.

>> reporter: but she was influential behind the scenes. >> my first, meaningful exchange with michelle was when we were filming our first ad. >> i'm barack obama. i am running for the united states senate and i approve this message to say, yes, we can. >> said, is that too corny? and he turned to michelle and he said, mich, what do you think? she just kind of, not corny. so i understood where i stood in the pantheon of strategic advisers. but other than that, she was happy to keep her distance from all of it. >> what many people don't know is she was actually the breadwinner in the family. and that is a big job and it is a job that she loved. >> it all changed, of course, when he decided to run for president. >> i'd say, i'm not giving up my career for my husband. i'm giving up my career because i'm passionate about this. >> when we started, we were pretty casual about it because michelle was such an impressive

person, and we thought she's going to kill out there. >> let me tell you a little bit about michelle obama. i am a southside girl. very simple. my parents were working-class folks. >> what we saw, in my household, was hard work and sacrifice, firsthand. >> she just told them her story. and her story is not that different than half the people she would meet. she talked about her parents and how she was raised. >> my father had multiple sclerosis, but he went to work every single day. he was never late and he never made excuses. >> and then, she moved into the barack obama years. >> mixed guy named barack obama who grew up in hawaii. that's what i learned about him on paper. i thought, this guy's got to be weird. >> reporter: michelle knows that her husband probably seems as unorthodoxes to audiences as he did to her back in 1989. >> michelle was involved in recruiting a prominent law firm in chicago. and across her desk comes the resume of this hotshot from

harvard who is being brought in as a summer associate. the firm asked if she would be his mentor. she meets him on the first day. he shows up late but they really hit it off. at a certain point, barack is interested in something more. he wants to go on a date. she agrees. >> i learned that he became a community organizer. i was impressed that this guy could have been making money but he is working on the far south side with a bunch of churches. >> the entrance of barack obama into her life really shifted where she was headed. >> i met mrs. obama in the summer of 1991, when she was michelle robinson. and resume sent to me, said, you know, brilliant, young lawyer. i gave her a job offer, on the spot. and then, she said, i got bad news. my fiance doesn't think it's such a good idea. and i said who is your fiance? and why do we care what he thinks? when i look back on it, i think they were very mature for their time. there is not a step in his

career that he took without her as well. it is a true partnership. >> reporter: in her memoir "becoming," michelle describes their wedding in october, 1992. we stood there with our future still unwritten. whatever was out there, we'd step into it, together. 15 years later, their shared future takes a dramatic turn. obama surges from behind to win iowa. michelle's months on the stump pay off. but now, the couple must confront a new kind of challenge. >> there were concerns about his security that were very real and very dark. >> barack obama is given a security detail earlier than any other presidential candidate, in history. >> there was a resignation, in the black community, that you cannot rise up without being chopped down. >> we've seen what has happened to iconic, black leaders, in

america. >> medgar evers. malcolm x. dr. king. if you come from the black community, almost every hero you read about was killed. and only michelle, who certainly had more to lose than the rest of us, could reassure people that it was worth the risk. >> we need a barack-obama presidency, right now. >> she would go in a room, and she wouldn't leave the room until every single person in that room was committed. but because she was so effective, she came under attack. >> hope is making a comeback. it is making a comeback and, for the first time in my adult lifetime, i'm really proud of my country. and not just because barack has done well, but because i think people are hungry for change. >> it is an unfortunate statement.

i don't think it came out the way she intended. she's not some explaining to do. >> everybody knew exactly what michelle meant. this has been a tough country to be black. to say that we are on the verge, now, maybe putting some of that behind us. she got smacked down, hard, for it. >> i just want to make the statement, i have and always will be proud of my country. >> conversation we didn't need to have but, apparently, we do. this, ladies and gentlemen, is called a fist pound. >> the reaction to the fist bump was ridiculous. >> could they even be jihadists? >> one television network referred to her as barack obama's baby mama. >> michelle obama was met with every single type of negative stereotype of african-american women, magnified by a million. and i think there were forces that felt, if they humiliated her enough, if they insulted her enough, maybe she and her entire family would just go away.

but they didn't. >> i called her in to show her what people were seeing. and i turned the sound down, and just let her see herself. >> live in a country, in a world based on fear. >> she got it, immediately. >> she was out on the campaign trail, getting more and more passionate. and she'd been so effective, that i didn't see that it was being perceived as angry. >> the easy trope of the angry, black woman. when, in fact, what she was displaying was passion. nobody had taken the time to flag for her, sooner, that she has to stop and pause and smile. or she has to use her hand gestures in a different way. >> she felt like she had failed. and she wasn't used to failing. >> she had a choice to make. go back home and pick up life with her children and her

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after a year and a half on the campaign trail, michelle prepares for her national debut. >> she was going to be watched by tens of millions and this would be people's first chance to really get to know her. >> she practiced her stump, over and over and over, again. >> and that's who she is. she prepares. >> and barack and i were raised with so many of the same values. that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don't know them and even if you don't agree with them. >> her favorable rate jumped 20 points, overnight. >> and let's stand together, to elect barack obama president of

the united states of america. thank you. >> that was a real watershed event in her public life. >> reporter: michelle has survived a political trial by fire. >> sasha, how do you think mom did? >> i think she did good. >> boosting her husband's popularity, as well as her own. >> i think so, too. >> and here we are and now, cnn can project, at 11:00, eastern time, that barack obama is the next president of the united states. the first african-american president, in u.s. history. >> feels like something really big and bold has happened here. like, nothing ever in our lifetimes, did we expect this to happen. >> i would not be standing here, tonight, without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years. >> reporter: in her memoir, michelle describes that night.

i felt like our family got launched out of a canon and into some strange, underwater universe. >> the nation's next, first lady. michelle obama. [ cheers and applause ] >> i still get thinking about what it meant. that image of this splendid african-american family, now the first family of the country. >> the next day, headlines had change has come to america. and i remember thinking, at the time, people will interpret that headline in very different ways. >> on inauguration day, everyone was celebrating. but there was, in the back of everyone's mind, the fact that, in the morning, we were going to come in to face a epic financial crisis, two wars, and more pressures than any president had

faced, probably since franklin roosevelt. and michelle, the god's honest truth is, i don't think she knew what she was going to make of the position. it took her some time to figure it out. >> reporter: there is, as michelle puts it, no handbook for incoming first ladies. >> the role of a first lady is a throwback. we set up the white house as -- as a royal court, in a way. and i think, for michelle obama, a modern woman, a career woman. to, suddenly, be the great man's wife was an adjustment. >> she describes the role as a strange kind of sidecar to the presidency. >> the first lady's not a job. i mean, hillary clinton learned that when she turned it into a job. we don't want that. that's going too far. >> she said the one that she took the greatest inspiration

from was laura bush. >> reporter: after a bruising campaign, michelle is determined to control her own message. she starts with a simple statement, deeper than it first appears. >> how would you define your role, as first lady? >> yeah. you know, i joke that my first job is going to be mom-in-chief because, with little kids, i have to make sure that their feet are on the ground. >> obviously, she's going to be mom-in-chief. she's not shy about being sort of the mom-in-chief. >> she was concerned about her daughters, but was also just a very savvy way of saying, don't worry. this isn't a twofer. you know, i'm not here to make policy, despite my executive experience. >> if i want to play the traditional, first lady role, i can play the traditional, first-lady role. but don't be fooled. in a country that consistently demonizes black mothers, black women as welfare queens, black

women as drug addicts. a statement of my first priority is something that's been denied to black women, for so long. >> she decided that, in her creating her role as first lady, that she was always going to keep in mind the young michelle obama. she says in her memoir, i grew up to the sound of striving. and that's what the south side of chicago was. one of the biggest receptacles for people who were leaving alabama and mississippi. >> michelle's great aunt and great uncle bought a house in the neighborhood of south shore and invited michelle's mother and father and, of course, michelle and craig, who are then toddlers, to move in with them. >> she grew up with cousins around the corner and grandparents around the corner. >> her parents and grandparents were ambitious. they were smart. but there were obstacles, every

step of the way. >> i grew up playing basket ball with michelle's older brother, craig. they were shaped by the community. they were forged by the community. and i think she acutely felt the inequity. the inequity in resources, inequity in education opportunity. >> in many ways, chicago is the place to create michelle obama. it's a place that is under gurded by a lot of inequality that will shape her viewpoint in the world. >> this is where dr. king went, and was defeated. the poverty and the racism in chicago is so profound that, even dr. king can't move it an inch. >> i have never seen, even in mississippi and alabama, mobs as hostile and as hate-filled as i've seen in chicago.

>> chicago is a place where politicians are corrupt, and idealists go to get defeated. she grew up in the middle of all that. it had been a very long time since politics had been a source of inspiration, for anybody. >> reporter: for many, the obamas represent the triumph of inspirational politics but michelle's optimism is tempered by what she calls the ugly red versus blue dynamic. >> she goes to watch her husband give his first speech to a joint session of congress. >> members of congress, first lady of the united states. >> she's looking over this sea, as she describes it, sea of whiteness and maleness. this is ceremonial. but it's more than that. it's symbolic. >> now is the time to act boldly and wisely. >> and she is very aware of the body language and the expressions of many republicans. the way that their arms are

crossed. >> reporter: in her memoir, michelle recalls that republican members of congress looked obstinate and angry. more than anything, she adds, it seemed they just wanted barack to fail. >> thank you. god bless you. and may god bless the united states of america. >> reporter: michelle watches, as all the republicans remain seated. but the first lady is being watched watched as well. the next day, she gets a lesson about life in the spotlight. >> this may have been one of the most talked about moments from last night. michelle obama and her sleeveless dress. >> style over substance. it's always unfair, but it was especially unfair for michelle obama because jackie kennedy wasn't criticized for completely changing the look of the first lady. >> with michelle obama showing a liking for the sleeveless look, even in winter, baring arms as a whole, new meaning inside the belt way.

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four months into the obama's first term, michelle takes her first, official trip abroad. accompanying her husband to london for the g20 summit. >> that level of scrutiny is unlike anything you have ever experienced and will ever experience. everything that's going on camera could, at any point, become a thing. >> first lady is a hugger. she hugs all kinds of people and

she hugged the queen, and people clutched their pearls. >> the big deal is that the queen is a sacred person, which is, perhaps, not known in republics. >> the queen seemed perfectly -- i think she hugged her back. >> but the queen made the first move and, for all i know, this is a breach of white house protocol. >> the next day, while her husband huddles with other g20 leaders, the cameras follow michelle as she meets with their spouses. >> but she wasn't just going to go as a figurehead and just as a spouse. she actually wanted to interact with real people. >> and so, michelle makes a solo visit to a girls' school. >> whispers in the playground. and i remember seeing snipers on the roof, and thinking, okay, this is -- this is someone really important. >> welcome to the stage, the first lady of the united states of america. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: michelle writes

that, looking at those london girls, i almost felt myself falling backwards into my own past. >> she said i see myself in them. and i'm not sure that we've heard first ladies speak like that, before. she grew up surrounded by a lot of people who weren't able to go as far as their talents would take them. they're replacing all their hopes and their dreams and their children. >> you have to be stronger. you have to be smarter. you have to be twice as good, with half the resources. and this is something that michelle's family, her community, her experiences, really instill in her. >> there is a little bit of vertigo in that. in being told, you're going to bust through that glass ceiling or burst through that wall and take us forward. >> all of you are jewels. you are precious and you touch my heart. and it is important for the world to know that there are wonderful girls like you, all

over the world. >> she started reading her remarks, and then she stopped reading her remarks. and she just talked. >> we are counting on every single one of you to be the very best that you can be because the world is big. and it's full of challenges, and we need strong, smart, confident, young women, to stand up and take the reigns. we know you can do it. we love you. thank you so much. [ cheers and applause ] >> that simple statement, i see myself in them. there was so much in that, and not just saying that but, then, figuring out how to act on that. >> my name is alex acosta and i'm 12 years old. and i just want to ask what is your job, as the first lady? >> what's my job? i don't know. that's a good question. >> every first lady is expected to have at least one crusade.

barbara bush, literacy. nancy reagan, say no to drugs. >> what can i do that is useful, with this role? >> michelle wants to focus on young people. but, that still leaves a lot of options. >> mrs. obama set some ground rules for us. one was that there is only one elected person in the building, and that's the president. and so, whatever we do should be in service of his agenda because, otherwise, why are we doing it? >> michelle's crusade was to empower children and their parents to eat better. >> the president and congress are going to begin to address health-care reform. nearly a third of the children in this country are either overweight or obese. >> it will be less of a burden on health care if people did eat better. >> the scope of michelle's initiative is strategically masked by her simple, opening move. which she describes as a harmless and innocent undertaking by a lady with a

spade. >> oh, hi. i'm here with someone very, very special. the first lady, mrs. michelle obama. >> hi, everyone. we are here, digging up soil, because we're about to plant a garden. get up. get some shovels. come on, let's go. let's go. >> i came to help do dinner. but, also, to help her develop a big, health initiative. when you have one in three kids on track to have diabetes in their lifetime. like, doesn't matter what we do with health care if we don't solve that side of the problem. and step one, when we were doing our first planting. kids. everybody's running around and you could just hear all the cameras clicking, constantly. she just looked at me and she said, this better work. >> all, pretty cute. of course, we are all in favor of healthy eating but is this really the best way for the first lady to use her considerable influence? >> let's move! >> now, to first lady michelle obama. she is out promoting her let's move campaign and taking the

motto to heart. >> every time we saw her jumping rope, hula hooping, all those fun things, were very strategic ways that we were working to weave in these values through our culture. >> instead of just talking about this problem and worrying and wringing our hands, it's time for us to get going and do something about this. >> helping kids get healthier? that seems like a solvable problem. >> the united states was entering a very partisan, very polarized environment. and even something as innocuous as eating better became politicized. >> reporter: many of michelle's actions have been symbolic but when she openly supports a legislative agenda. the gloves come off. >> and many of these kids consume as many as half of their calories, daily, at school. >> she has the audacity to say, maybe, kids should eat good

food. now, this strikes me as a noncontroversial thing for a mom to say. >> we'll start by updating the law that sets nutrition standards for what our kids eat at school. >> and yet, you would have thought she was ushering in stalinism through the lunch room. >> who should be making the decisions what you eat in school? it should be the parents. >> there are conservatives and republicans, who, always, are looking for evidence that democrats want to tell them how to live. >> it is not a nanny state. >> some republicans and conservatives believe that democrats would love the federal government to be involved in all aspects of your life. it's no longer father knows best or mother knows best. it's what government knows best. >> despite the pushback, michelle stays on message. >> what we were doing is creating a new normal for them, where there just wasn't junk

food in their schools. >> and 18 months after launching her garden, the healthy, hunger-free kids act passes with bipartisan support. in december, 2010, the president signed it into law. >> my husband worked very hard to make sure that this bill was a priority. and i am grateful to you. >> because i would've been sleeping on the couch. >> but, i -- i am thrilled to be here -- we -- we won't go into that. let's just say it got done. >> reporter: it's a big win but the food industry fights back. doubling spending on lobbyists to undermine the law's implementation. >> one of the first lady's major health initiatives is in jeopardy. >> there is a lot of money at stake in selling people a lot of really unhealthy food. but our top priority was to take these issues, and put them directly in the mainstream of our culture. that's what we did.

>> reporter: michelle knows how to handle the political fire that her nutrition campaign draws. but personal attacks are different. >> when people started to hit her, hit the family, hit him, it hurt her. >> reporter: the more confident michelle grows in her role, the more intense these attacks become. >> it was part of a strategy. it was a strategy that tapped into a kind of nativism, that we see, to this day. but how do we make sure the direction we're headed is forward? at fidelity, you'll get the planning and advice to prepare you for the future, without sacrificing the things that are important to you today. we'll help you plan for healthcare costs, taxes and any other uncertainties along the way. because with fidelity, you can feel confident that the only direction you're moving is forward.

about the covid-19 virus. it's real. and it's dangerous. so, on behalf of all of us working on the front lines, please take it seriously. and while we don't yet have a cure or a vaccine, we do know how to keep you and your loved ones safe. wear a mask. wash your hands. stay six feet apart.

do your best to stay out of crowded spaces. and get a flu shot, it's even more important this year. we can do this. if we do it together. in the beginning of the story, barack obama is the star. she's in the sidecar. but, at a certain point in the presidency, something changed. >> ladies and gentlemen, please, welcome michelle obama! >> i don't think there's been a first lady, in recent memory, who so many people are

fascinated by. >> what she is, who she is, her passions, they are real. at least, they come across as real. and it makes her a star, in other own rite. >> michelle embraces pop culture, in a way that no other first lady has ever done, before. >> she was not a creature of d.c. she didn't consume cable news. she consumed hgtv and "ellen." >> she takes to tv and tv takes to her. >> then, two years into the first term, michelle steps into a brave, new world. >> so, now, i just press tweet? do i press this? >> she is the first, first lady, in the age of social media. and -- and that, too, has transformed the landscape. >> i did it. >> yay. >> i'm pretty certain that there was some consternation about the use of social media by the east wing because it was not done. it was not in anybody's playbook. >> there are all kinds of people in the white house, who are there to say no. don't do this. don't take a risk.

it's never been done before. >> fairly or unfairly, people pay a lot of attention to what the first lady looks like. what the first lady is wearing. and, of course, what the first lady says. and you could easily see how a phrase could be twisted around. >> as a lawyer, i was one of the strong naysayers against the president or first lady ever having a twitter account because words matter. every presidential statement is heavily vetted. but, we had a young staff, who realized that social media was where a lot of the people that we were trying to reach were going. >> don't waste your time trying to connect with your kids via e-mail. that antiquated method is as useless as morse code. if you really want to get their attention, use symbols, little symbols. >> the first lady was, in a sense, the guinea pig. >> the west wing came to realize that there is an energy vortex,

over in the east wing, that is a little bit different than they'd seen in previous administrations. >> reporter: after seeing michelle's success, the west wing follows suit. >> here we go. my tweet has been posted. that's what i'm talking about. >> they realize how incredibly effective a medium social media was for getting points across. >> that's going viral. >> happy fourth of july, everyone. >> social media is a parent transparency. michelle obama understood that. >> michelle now has a direct line to millions of people around country eager to hear her message but social media is a two-way street. >> careful what you wish for. >> social media allows people to say things, in a public square, that they normally would share with people at the lunch table. now, in so many cases, if i am thinking it, i'm say ting it. i'm going to put it out there for the whole world to read with the hashtag, just saying. there's so much anger and pure hate every time a public person

says anything. >> did you see the picture of his wife, yesterday? >> like, she's a little girl dressing up in her mama's cloegtds. >> the trolling that happened any time there was coverage of her was unlike anything any first lady faced before. michelle faced racism. there's no other way to describe it. >> she wasn't engaging it, which i think, was the right thing to do. >> she would get up really, really early in the morning and she would work out. and he uses th and she uses that as a way to find strength to take on life's challenges. >> that's who he is married to. what does that tell you? >> did you even see the picture? i mean, what is that? >> you could not go to a reputable website. "the washington post," "the new york times," and look at the comments section, and scroll down more than an inch and not see n-word, n-word, n-word, monkey, monkey, monkey, on any article about michelle obama.

>> she devolves into that weird, fake accent. >> we are in this moment, where a good portion of the american public, declares that we are in a post-racial america. and then, to be hit with wave after wave after wave of just viciousness. >> i'm focused on what's in front of me. >> she didn't blink. >> it is my responsibility to work with all americans, and i want to stay focused on the work, rather than, you know -- >> other things. >> -- other things. >> she tried to ignore most of it. but you can't ignore all of it. >> i feel strongly about the fact that barack obama should provide the public with a birth certificate. and he should do it, soon. look. his birth certificate. >> the birther movement was an excellent example of where something was completely made up. and then, used to try to incite

hate. >> we're going to send mr. obama home to kenya, wherever it is, we're going to do it. >> he's not even a citizen of the united states, and they are hiding that. >> one in four believe president obama definitely or probably wasn't born in the united states. >> it was ludicrous. but at the same time, it was keeping with something that was growing in the country. >> it was manufacturer thore thg a reason to disqualify barack hussein obama. it was finding a reason to disqualify more than 10% of the american population. >> in her memoir, michelle describes these attacks as crazy, and mean spirited. but also, dangerous. >> i have to say, every single day, it was back of mind that it just takes one, crazy person. >> she asks, what if someone with an unstable mind went to washington? what if that person went looking

for our girls? >> this is something michelle lived, in a really intense way. >> donald trump continues with his loud and reckless innuendos was >> she understood the consequences could be fatal for her husband, her children, for herself. structure. damental to every [music playing throughout] to build a house, you need a strong foundation. the same is true for building a business. black-owned businesses are an integral part of america's foundation. they lay the groundwork for other black businesses like mine - that turns concrete into something beautiful. i'm kimberley robles, and i'm the owner and founder of robles concrete design. the citi foundation is helping our community partners facilitate more loans to black-owned businesses. you power through chronic migraine - 15 or more headache days a month, ...each lasting 4 hours or more. botox® prevents headaches in adults with chronic migraine. so, if you haven't tried botox® for your chronic migraine,

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leads her family to the south lawn to see some animals he has gathered for them to admire. michelle is apprehensive. michelle lives day and night knowing that her family is a target for violence. >> secret service, 1600 pennsylvania avenue. i need to report shots fired on 17th and constitution northwest. >> i think we were coming back from a trip to hawaii. somebody had shot a rifle from constitution avenue into one of the windows in what is known as the yellow oval. >> seven bullets hit the white house, one smashing a window by the living room. sasha and michelle's mother are inside.

>> our units were in a foot pursuit of an individual that fled from the vehicle. a black honda, ak-47 found in the vehicle. >> the shooter proclaimed that president obama had to be stopped. >> the thought is that we could have been out on the truman balcony. our children played all over. she had been assured it was safe out there. that wasn't the only incident but she put her head down and trusted the men and women of the secret service to protect her children because she was not going to let undisciplined people tell her how to lead her life ever. she was the first lady of the united states. she was the first lady to all people of the united states, whether they liked her or not. >> i now have the privilege of introducing the star of the show, michelle obama. [ cheers and applause ] >> she writes "i understood it was better for all of us not to acknowledge the hate or dwell on the risk." >> she threw open the doors at the white house as a place where americans were allowed to see

themselves. >> tonight's event is another way for us to open up the white house and make it the peoples house. >> the idea of the people's house was not new. andrew jackson talked about the white house as the people's house. after 9/11, the white house became a fortress. have fun, be loose. >> and michelle obama calling the white house the people's house was one element of a much larger effort to move us forward. >> mrs. obama said she wanted for people who had never been to the white house to be comfortable in a way. >> just get comfortable here. get comfortable with a little greatness. >> we wanted to bring in diverse bodies and people and genders. everybody, we said come on in. >> if you think this day was special and it is because we think you all are special. >> whether it is kids that got in trouble before or college dropouts. >> so today i want all of you to

know that you belong right here in the white house. >> that is a game changer because they can see themselves there in the future. >> remember this moment and remember the first lady of the united states told us that you can do anything that you want to. >> the 2012 election is only a year away, and the president's approval rating is worrying low. but the first lady's popularity is soaring. >> people responded to her. she became far more popular than the president himself. >> so i get to speak first while he stands and watches. i love this. look at me adoringly. >> one of the useful roles she played in the white house was to keep him grounded. she was part of a very contemporary marriage. not a marriage that served one man's ego the way so many other white house marriages have. >> heading towards the election,

americans are worried about the economy and unemployment and frustrated by gridlock in washington. >> re-elections are the president's to lose. there is a power that comes from incumbency that is hard to defeat in american history. >> he genuinely viewed her as a friend that had his interest at heart and deep, deep insights. michelle was the president's lifeline to humanity. >> thank you so much. thank you. >> michelle was the president's lifeline to humanity. >> so many people had a hand in our success, from the teachers that inspired us to the janitors that kept our school clean. >> she had a common sense quality that helped to ground these lofty discussions. >> being president does not

change who you are. no. it reveals who you are. >> that was enormously valuable. >> let me tell you today, i love my husband even more than i did four years ago or 23 years ago when we first met. >> barack obama comes from behind in the polls to secure a definitive victory and a second term as president. >> we often said the first election was aspirational. the second was affirmational. >> watching the thousands of performers on inauguration day, michelle does not know that one of them, a high school majorette from chicago, will drastically impact what she fights for in her second term. >> michelle obama is returning

to her hometown to attend the funeral of a 15-year-old, a bystander shot dead in a chicago park a week after performing at the president's inauguration. >> the 42nd person killed this month in the president's hometown. >> i ran chicago public schools for seven and a half years. on average we had a child killed every two weeks due to gun violence. it just reminded me of michelle. >> no mother, no father should ever have this experience. >> she was a straight a student and she was a casualty of a stray bullet walking home from school and mrs. obama knew it there for the grace of god go i, that could have been her at any time as a little girl on the southside of chicago. it affected her deeply. >> we thank you and the other officials that have come to comfort. >> a shooting on the streets of chicago rarely sparks national outrage, but a mass shooting in an elementary school does.

in april 2013, the senate votes on two gun control bills brought about by the massacre at the sandy hook elementary school. 90% of the public backed the measures. both bills are defeated. >> it begs the question who are we here to represent? so all in all, this was a pretty shameful day for washington. >> with the president's legislative efforts blocked michelle is tackling gun violence the way that she knows best. >> we read that story day after day, month after month, year after year, in the city and around this country. >> while her husband was fighting his own battle about gun rights and trying to reduce the number of guns falling into hands, she used her own platform >> i am not talking about something happening in a war zone halfway around the world. i am talking about what is happening in the city that we call home. >> to use her voice in a way that would lift the young people

up. >> let me tell you it is hard to know what to say to a room full of teenagers that are about to bury their best friend. >> michelle understood from a very visceral and very personal level how horrific the violence was. she couldn't solve it by herself but she had to try and create some hope and some inspiration for kids in community that were living on a daily basis with a level of fear and trauma that is unacceptable. it's not right. >> what it takes to build strong, successful young people is not genetics or pedigree or good luck. it's opportunity. what was that? happens every time i say hbo max. hbo max.

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i love you guys. >> michelle has been spending time with young people traumatized by gun violence, and they provide the motivation for her next initiative. >> every scar that you have is a reminder not that just you got hurt, but that you survived. >> it is about creating a sense of opportunity. when that opportunity is unseen >> instead of letting the feelings defeat you, let it motivate you. >> she could have gone eight years and never talked about education. there was probably no better

spokesman on the planet than her for this issue. it was like a match made in heaven. ♪ help me out flotus ♪ fill your head with knowledge ♪ >> i never thought i would be at the white house trying to get approved a script for the first lady to do a rap video with someone from saturday night live. people were a little worried. are we going to make mrs. obama look foolish? are people go to say that is not what a first lady should be doing? we get the edit back. people in the office were like i don't know, is this going to be okay? i knew something was going right when it was trending in italian and had 23 million views in 24 hours. >> michelle's campaign is aimed at kids who might think college is out of reach. >> tell us where you are going next with the hashtag reach

higher. >> while the administration offers grants, loans and tabs credits -- >> education is the economic issue of all time. >> michelle's approach is more personal. >> i want you all to succeed. i want you to understand how people like me go from being kids like you to standing here as first lady of the united states? >> mrs. obama feels that sense of luck and the sense of privilege. >> if i can do it, you can do it. >> that is why she spent her life and her career trying to make sure everyone had the same opportunities she had. >> she was visceral and emotional and it stems from her own life experience. >> i set my sights high. i decided i was going to princeton. >> she was that public school kid who had a college counselor that she wasn't good enough to get into princeton. >> they told me i would never get into a school like princeton. i still hear that doubt ringing in my head. so if there is anybody telling you that you are not college

material, i want you to brush them off, prove them wrong. >> this was not just some issue that was important to her. this was her life story. this defined her. this was who she was. >> i remember it like it was yesterday. and feeling like what am i doing here. >> in her memoir, michelle recalls arriving at princeton from the southside and feeling like a pop see seed in a bowl of rice. i never stood out in a crowd or a classroom because of the color of my skin. >> princeton in 1981 was very white and until recently entirely male. >> princeton was a wonderful but not always welcoming environment. she was viewed as someone that there because of affirmative action and seen somewhat through suspicious eyes. >> when it came time for michelle to write her senior thesis she said princeton made her more aware of her blackness than any time in her life and at times she felt other students saw her as a black person first

and student second. >> her thesis was very obvious about the way racial exclusion shapes educational experience. but during the 2008 campaign, it was used to fuel a narrative that michelle obama is racist, anti-white, essentially angry. >> it was gibberish. >> boring. resentful. slightly sinister. >> qualities in a white potential first lady would have been celebrated. deep curiosity, ivy league education. all of these qualities were degraded. >> michelle's response to these attacks is mirrored in the message she shared with these students, work harder, reach higher. some young african-americans are being attacked by more than words. >> we begin with the latest in the travyon martin case.

>> the investigation into the deadly shooting. >> michael brown. >> eric garner's death at the hands of a police officer. >> a cop did wrong. >> his last words, i can't breathe. >> what do we want? >> justice! >> the road ahead is not going to be easy. it never is, especially for folks like you and me. >> michelle doubles down on her message of hope. >> after the 2012 election the caution that really defined the obamas during the first administration, some of that goes by the wayside. >> no matter how far that you rise in life and how hard that you work to be a good person and a good parent and a good citizen, for some folks it will never be enough. >> we see a michelle obama that is less coy about race. >> it can make you feel like your life somehow doesn't matter and those feelings are playing out in communities like

baltimore and ferguson and so many others across this country. >> you can say it would have been massive opportunity to say something transformative, but at the same time she's still operating within the boundaries of the white house. >> she's quite clear about the role of poverty and sexism and racism, but she is also not going to let anybody off the hook. she's going to tell you all, look, it sucks, it's bad, but you are born for more than that. >> today i want to be very clear that those feelings are not an excuse to just throw up our hands and give up. not an excuse. they are not an excuse to lose hope. >> five, four, three, two, one. >> one month later, the spirit of yes, we can that has taken the obamas so far will be brutally challenged.

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at 9:05 we received a call of a shooting that occurred at the church here on calhoun street. >> in the summer of 2015, a 21-year-old white man joins a bible study at the emanuel episcopal church and starts shooting. >> it is unfathomable someone in today's society would walk into a church when people are having a prayer meeting and take their lives. >> the shooter accused the black congregation of taking over the country. nine people are killed. >> for too long we've been blind to the way that past injustices continue to shape the present. perhaps this tragedy causes us to ask some tough questions. >> what does it mean to be proud to be the first african-american inhabitants in the white house and know that it's linked to movements, it's linked to individuals who see that as an affront to things that are

rightfully theirs? their progress riled up some of the worst forces in our world. it really does create, i think, this deep existential sense of our presence may lead to the absence of others. >> the way to defeat hope is to make people angry and resentful. we're going to make you angry that these people are in the white house and we're going to make you certain that every problem you face, every misfortune is the fault of people like that. >> hatred is really just fear in a different octave. at the end of the term she was using her voice to speak to the hatred and the fear that she had. >> here in america we don't give into our fears and build up walls to keep people out. we know that our greatness has always depended on contributions from people that are born

elsewhere but sought out this country and made it their home. >> it was an expectation that they in particular would lead the conversation about race. >> that is the american story. >> people didn't think they did it enough. >> it is the story that i witness every single day when i wake up in a house that was built by slaves, and i watch my daughters, two beautiful black young women, waving good-bye to their father, the president of the united states. [ cheers ] >> they kind of talked about it all the time in subtle ways and often in ways that just kind of went right over people's heads. >> you are the living, breathing proof that the american dream endures in our time. it's you. >> you might have heard someone jumped the white house fence

last week, but i have to give secret service credit. they found michelle, brought her back. she is safe, back at home now. [ laughter ] >> it's only nine more months, baby. settle down. >> the obamas' time in the white house is coming to a close. >> last question, make it a good one. >> michelle makes no secret of her relief. >> were you going to work after you be the first lady? >> i don't know. >> she was ready. >> i'll work in my house. >> her kids were growing up. in her opinion, it was time to go. >> it was hard to believe that it has been eight years. >> in michelle's final convention appearance, she delivers a rebuke to candidate donald trump's attacks on her family, sharing the mantra they used in the years in the white house. >> i told you about our daughters, how we urged them to ignore those that question their's father citizenship or faith.

how we explain that when someone is cruel or acts like a bully, you don't stoop to their level. no, our motto is when they go low, we go high. [ cheers and applause ] >> for two terms, for eight years, she had been criticized for tiny little things. both of them bent over backwards to respect presidential norms, and yet in the 2016 campaign, they see somebody who doesn't care about these rules. >> i am automatically attracted to beautiful -- i just start kissing them. you can do anything. >> one month before the election, an old video surfaces. >> >> she felt she had to say something. knowing that people looked to her for inspiration. >> i can't believe i am saying that a candidate for president of the united states has bragged

about sexually assaulting women. >> she shook off her supreme caution that she had exercised for eight years. >> too many are treating this as just another day's headline. >> she became a great first lady because she spoke for so many. >> as if our outrage is overblown or unwarranted. as if this is normal. just politics as usual. >> i think she reached eleanor roosevelt territory. >> but new hampshire, be clear. this is not normal. this is not politics as usual. [ cheers and applause ] did you know that some aluminum free

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michelle spends election night watching a movie. as the messages start coming in she heads off to bed. >> cnn projects donald trump wins the presidency. >> the day after election day

was extremely difficult, and i think that none of us wanted to go to work but we all picked ourselves up. we came into the office. mrs. obama e-mailed the chief of staff and i at the time and said i would like to talk to the staff. >> the first lady brought us all together and she said i want to hear from you all. how do you feel? >> people were afraid that a lot of the work that we poured our hearts and souls into would be unwound. >> she assured us what we did was remarkable and to go on and continue that. this house was just the beginning for some of us, but it is not the end. the trumps came to the white house the next day. >> it was the same day that lebron james and the cavaliers coming too, so we didn't have that much time to think until it was done. >> we celebrated the last few

months at the white house and we accomplished more than we ever could have imagined with the spotlight on us no other administration ever had. >> maybe you still can't believe we pulled this whole thing off. let me tell you, you are not the only ones. [ laughter ] michelle? [ cheers and applause ] you took on a role you didn't ask for with grace and with grit and with style and good humor. [ cheers and applause ] you made the white house a place that belongs to everybody and a new generation sets its sights higher because it has you as a role model. >> she was exhausted. we were all exhausted. i mean, the dogs were probably exhausted.

it's like you're running a marathon for eight years and then all of a sudden it stops. >> on january 20, 2017, michelle obama walks out of the white house for the last time. >> one of the things that struck me knowing her as i do was how chilly michelle was toward the new president. and she sent a very strong message, i thought, through her body language. >> on inauguration day 2017 we see michelle obama who has slicked back her hair and shows none of the usual care we see in moments of political import. it's such a clear moment. it's such a clear moment that she's over it and done. >> michelle stays out of the

limelight for a time and then bursts back onto the scene. >> it's exciting. >> more than any other first lady, michelle obama has become a symbol of hope and possibility for millions across the united states and beyond. >> she redefined the role of first lady on her own terms. >> her background is something that she celebrates as much as her accomplishments. i think that is one of the reasons why she is such a unique first lady. >> each of us has a mission in this world. >> she gave a lot of kids around the country permission to be themselves. walk a little taller, think a little bit bigger, dream a little bit higher. >> my story can be your story. >> i think that is her legacy. >> are you listening to me? do you hear what i'm telling you? >> as great as michelle obama was in the whi hse