Skip to main content

tv   First Ladies  CNN  December 26, 2020 6:00pm-7:00pm PST

6:00 pm
institute. you can find more information on andrew's twitter account at k file. may francesca rest in peace, and mayher memory be a blessing. [ cheers ] 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 hasn't forgotten that journey and the challenges that she faced. >> in this great country, where you've worked hard and done well and walked through that door of opportunity, you do not slam it
6:01 pm
behind you. no. you reach back and give other folks the same chances that help you succeed. >> from the moment they enter into the white house, it becomes the story. 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.
6:02 pm
♪ >> 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. [ cheering ] >> all first ladies are thrust into the spotlight, but michelle obama will 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. >> you prepared to take the oath, senator? >> i am.
6:03 pm
>> it took my breath away. i thought oh, my gosh, this is really happening. >> i stand here today humbled by the task before us. >> the reality of what they were about to embark on must have been very humbling at that moment. >> michelle traveled farther than any first lady before her. she knew that she was making history, and that her movements would be scrutinized ten times, 100 times more than any other first lady. >> everything that michelle obama has been doing in her life has really been preparing her to walk this tightrope. >> michelle was integral to barack obama's presidential campaign from the beginning. >> so we're looking forward to the first day of school. 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. >> 15 months before the
6:04 pm
election, polls show barack obama trailing hillary clinton by double digits. >> we've 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. who would raise their hand enthusiastically and say sign me up for that? >> you know the reason why i said yes was because i am tired of being afraid. [ applause ] 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. >> for someone who avoided politics for much of her life,
6:05 pm
she had to take a crash course in it. my first meaningful exchange with michelle was when we were filming our first ad. >> i'm barack obama. i'm running for the united states senate, and i approve this message to say yes we can. >> he turned to me and said yes, we can, yes, we can. is that too corny? he turned to michelle and said, mich, what do you think? she said, not corny. so right away i saw 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, she was actually the breadwinner in the family. vice president of community affairs and outreach at the university of chicago. that is a big job and it's a job that she loved. >> all changed, of course, when he decided to run for president. >> let me tell you a little bit about michelle obama. i'm a south side girl. very simple. my parents were working class folks. >> her story is not that different than half the people
6:06 pm
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. >> michelle was involved in recruiting a prominent law firm in chicago. across her desk comes the resume of this hot shot from harvard who is being brought in as a summer associate. the firm asked if she would be his mentor. >> i learned that he became a community organizer. i was impressed. this guy could have been making money but he's working on the far south side what a bunch of churches. >> 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.
6:07 pm
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. >> 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 in the risk he was taking, could reassure people that it was worth the risk. don't worry, julie...
6:08 pm
coughing's not new. this woman coughs... and that guy does, too. people cough in the country, at sea, and downtown. but don't worry, julie... robitussin shuts coughs down. been there, done that. twice your cousin. from boston. karen, i'm just gonna say what everyone here is thinking.
6:09 pm
you look smokin. total smokeshow. and they never did find his finger. they had to close the pool for like an hour. ♪ i brought a date. name's sam. dig in. love is like boston lager. rich, complex and it's over too soon. right, chrissy? oh my god. ♪
6:10 pm
♪ oh my god. ♪ be it discovering talent in different continents... and entirely different sports,
6:11 pm
or discovering a smoother whisky by double-aging, sometimes, it's just better to stay curious. dewar's hope is making a comeback. it's making a comeback, and let me tell you something. 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. >> everybody knew exactly what michelle meant. this is a tough country to be black, to say that we're on the verge now of maybe putting some of that behind us, she got
6:12 pm
smacked down hard for it. >> i just want to make the statements that i have been and always will be proud of my country. >> michelle obama was met with every single negative stereotype about african american women magnified by a million. and i think there were forces that felt if they humiliated her enough, maybe she and her family with 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. >> we live in a country, in a world based on fear. >> she was out on the campaign trail getting more and more passionate, and she had 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. >> she had a choice to make.
6:13 pm
go back home and pick up life with her children and her high-powered job, or does she just try to figure it out? >> in her memoir, michelle remembers the impact of that moment. this was a turnaround point. no one, i realized, was going to look out for me unless i pushed for it. after a year and a half on the campaign trail, michelle prepares for her national debut. >> she is going to be watched by tens of millions of people, and this would be their first chance to really get to know her. >> 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.
6:14 pm
thank you. >> 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. >> i would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend, the nation's next first lady, michelle obama. >> the next day, headlines said "change has come to america." and i remember thinking at the time people will interpret that headline in very different ways. >> 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 an epic financial crisis, two war, and more pressures than any president had faced probably
6:15 pm
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. and it took her some time to figure it out. >> there is, as michelle puts it, no handbook for incoming first ladies. >> we set up the white house 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 is 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. >> after a bruising campaign, michelle is determined to
6:16 pm
control her own message. she starts with a simple statement, deeper than it first appears. >> 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 going to be mom in chief. >> she is not shy about being the mom in chief. >> define the role as first lady. >> she was concerned about her daughters, but was also just a very savvy way of saying don't worry. this isn't a two fer. 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. >> because of the kind of the black family, a statement as simple as i'm first mom and that's my priority is something that is profound because it's
6:17 pm
been something that's been denied to black women for so long. >> she decided that in 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. >> 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 were then toddlers to move in with them. >> i grew up playing basketball 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, the inequity in education opportunity. >> in many ways, chicago is the place to create michelle obama.
6:18 pm
it's a place that is undergirded by a lot of the racial tensions and an equality that will shape her viewpoint in the world. >> this is where dr. king went in, was defeated. the poverty and racism in chicago is so prow found that even dr. king can't move it an inch. >> i have never seen even in mississippi and alabama mobs as hostile and hateful as in chicago. >> chicago is a place where politicians are corrupt and idealists go to get defeated. i think americans forget she grew up in the middle of all of that. >> when you hiked as far way from it all as you possibly can, and the din and hum of technology fall away, that's pure gold.
6:19 pm
calling anyone with grit change this, change that, but don't ever quit 2020's done a new era has begun so keep pushing forward... because this is twenty twenty won the future is still ours to win. make a different future start different at godaddy.com wthe natural light is amazing. hardwood floors. there is a bit of a clogging problem. (clog dancing) at least geico makes it easy to bundle our renters and car insurance. yeah, helping us save us even more... for bundling made easy, go to geico.com
6:20 pm
and here's all the cardboard it takes to ship them.fts you bought this year. but you can save up to 50% on time, supplies and space, with scotch flex & seal shipping roll. just cut- fold- press- and send. ship outside the box this holiday season with scotch flex & seal shipping roll.
6:21 pm
6:22 pm
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, which has taken over washington. >> she goes to watch her husband give his first speech to a joint session of congress. >> members of congress, the first lady of the united states. [ applause ] >> she's looking over this sea as she describes it, a sea of whiteness and maleness. and she is very aware of the body language and the expressions of many republicans. >> the american people expect us
6:23 pm
to build common ground. >> michelle watches as all the republicans remain seated, but the first lady is being watched as well. >> this may have been one of the most talked about moments from last night. michelle obama and her sleeveless dress. >> 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 baring arms has a whole new meaning inside the beltway. >> the people zeroed in on her arms because they were not the arms of a fragile damsel who was white. nonwhite americans have for years looked at a white first lady and were so able to say that she represented them. but i think it becomes much more challenging for some white americans to look at a black first lady and see themselves in her.
6:24 pm
instead, they simply saw her as an alien. ♪ four months into the obamas' first term, michelle takes her first official trip abroad accompanying her husband to london. the next day, while her husband huddles with other george floyd-20 leaders, the cameras follow as she meets with her spouses. >> she actually wanted to interact with real people. >> and so michelle makes a solo visit to a girls school a few miles across london, but worlds away from buckingham palace. >> welcome the first lady of the united states of america. [ cheering ] >> michelle writes that looking at those london girls, i almost felt myself falling backwards into my own past.
6:25 pm
she said "i see myself in them." and i'm not sure that we've heard first ladies speak like that before. >> you have to be stronger. 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. >> 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 reins. we know you can do it. we love you. thank you so much. >> that simple statement, "i see myself in them" and there is so much in that. and not just saying that, but then figuring out how to act on that. >> every first lady is expected
6:26 pm
to have at least one crusade. barbara bush, literacy. nancy reagan, say no to drugs. 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. >> the scope of michelle's initial is strategically masked by her simple opening move, which she describes as a harmless and innocent undertaking by a lady with a spade. >> get up, get some shovels. come on, let's go, let's go. >> when one in three kids are on track to have diabetes in their lifetime, it doesn't matter what we do with health care if we don't solve that side of the problem. step one, when we were doing our first planting, kids are running around and you could hear the cameras clicking constantly. she just looked at me and this better work.
6:27 pm
>> 31 million american children participate in the federal school meals program. and many of these kids consume as many as half 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 lunchroom. >> who should be making the decisions what you eat and school choice and everything. should it be government or should it be the parents? it should be the parents. >> the united states was entering a very partisan, very polarized environment. >> it is indeed the nanny state. >> it is not a nanny state. >> and even something as innocuous as eating better became politicized. >> it's no longer father knows best or mother knows best. it's government knows best.
6:28 pm
>> the food industry strikes back, doubling spending on lobbyists. >> one of the first lady's major health initiatives is in jeopardy. >> a slice of pizza qualifies as a vegetable because it has two tablespoons of tomato paste. there is a lot of money at stake in selling people a lot of unhealthy food. but our top priority was to take these issues and put them in the mainstream of our culture. and that's what we did. >> 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. >> 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. andrew: we had to stay in the hospital for 10 weeks, 1000s of miles from family.
6:29 pm
our driver kristin came along in our most desperate hour. suzanne: bringing us home-cooked meals and gifts. andrew: day after day. we wanted to show you something. kristin: oh my god! andrew: kristin is the most uncommonly kind person that we've met. suzanne: thank you so much.
6:30 pm
♪ ♪ light it up like dynamite ♪ (this is ah) ♪ light it up like dynamite ♪ so watch me light the fire and set the night alight (alright) ♪ ♪ shining through the city...
6:31 pm
6:32 pm
ladies and gentlemen, please welcome michelle obama! >> i don't think there has been a first lady in recent memory who so many people are fascinated by. >> what she, who she is, her passions, they are real. at least they come across as real. and it makes her a star in her own right. >> michelle embraces pop culture in a way no other first lady has done before. >> she takes to tv, and tv takes to her. >> two years into the first term, michelle steps into a brave new world. >> i just press tweet. do i press this? >> she is the first first lady in the age of social media, and
6:33 pm
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. >> as a lawyer, i was one of the strong naysayers against the president and the first lady ever having a twitter account because 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 email. that antiquated method is as useless as morse code. [ laughter ] >> you look good. >> michelle now has a direct line to millions of people around the country, eager to hear her message. >> can you guys do a little dougie? >> oh, yeah. >> but social media is a two-way
6:34 pm
street. >> there is so much anger and hate any time a person says anything. >> a little girl depression up in her mama's clothes. >> the trolling that happened any time there was coverage of her is unlike anything any first lady had faced before. >> she wasn't engaging it, which i think was the right thing do. >> she would get up really, really early in the morning, and she would work out. and she uses that as a way to find the strength to take on life's challenges. >> that's who he is married to. >> you could not go to a reputable website, "the washington post," the "new york times," and look at the comment 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. >> we're 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 wave after
6:35 pm
wave after wave of just viciousness. >> we've got trash in the white house. >> 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 or wherever it is. we're going to do it. >> he's not even a citizen of the united states. and they're hiding that. >> one in four believe president obama definitely or probably was not born in the united states. >> it was ludicrous.
6:36 pm
but at the same time, it was in keeping with something that was growing in the country. >> he was more than just finding a reason to disqualify barack hussein obama. it was about 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 that every single day, it was in the back of my mind that it just takes one crazy person. >> she adds, what if someone with an unstable mind loaded a gun and drove to washington? what if that person went looking for our girls? >> this was something that michelle lived with in a really intense way. >> donald trump, michelle continues, with his loud and reckless innuendos, was putting my family's safety at risk. and for this, i could never forgive him. >> she understood the consequences could be fatal for her husband, her children, for
6:37 pm
herself. >> one night in the first term, michelle has a dream, a man 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. >> this is the secret service calling from 1600 pennsylvania avenue. i need to report shots fired on 17th and constitution northwest. >> 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
6:38 pm
house, one smashing a window by the living room. sasha and michelle's mother are inside. >> my thought was they could have been out on the balcony. our children played all over. she had assumed it was safe out there. that wasn't the only incident, but she put her head down and trusted the secret to protect her husband an children because she was not going 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. ♪
6:39 pm
6:40 pm
♪ ♪ be it discovering talent in different continents... and entirely different sports, or discovering a smoother whisky by double-aging, sometimes, it's just better to stay curious. dewar's (burke)stomer) happy anniversary. (customer) for what? (burke) every year you're with us, you get fifty dollars toward your home deductible. it's a policy perk for being a farmers customer. (customer) do i have to do anything? (burke) nothing. (customer) nothing? (burke) nothing. (customer) nothing? (burke) nothing. (customer) hmm, that is really something. (burke) you get a whole lot of something with farmers policy perks. see ya. (kid) may i have a balloon, too? (burke) sure. your parents have maintained a farmers home policy for twelve consecutive months, right? ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ (burke) start with a quote at 1-800-farmers.
6:41 pm
6:42 pm
i now have the privilege of introducing the star of the show, michelle obama. [ applause ] >> 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 once again make it the people's house. >> mrs. obama said i want to make sure that people who perhaps have never previously been to the white house have an opportunity to do so in a meaningful way. >> just get comfortable here, right? get comfortable with a little greatness. >> wanted to bring in diverse voices, diverse bodies, diverse
6:43 pm
people, diverse genders, everybody. we just said come on in. >> if you feel like this day was special, it's because we think you all are special. >> whether they're kids that have gotten in trouble before or whether it's college drop-outs. >> so today i want all of you to know you belong right here in the white house. >> that's a game changer, because then they could see themselves there in the future. >> remember this moment, and remember that the first lady of the united states told you that you can do anything you want to. >> the 2012 election is only a year away, and the president's approval rating is worryingly low. but the first lady's popularity is soaring. >> re-elections are the president's to lose. there is a power that comes from incumbency that is hard to defeat in american history. that was not how people looked at barack obama's chances in 2012. >> michelle's pop layer is now essential to his reelection campaign. >> thank you so much. thank you.
6:44 pm
>> michelle was the president's lifeline to humanity. >> so many people had a hand in our success, from the teachers who inspired us to the janitors who kept our school clean. >> she had a common sensible quality that helped ground these kind of lofty discussions. >> being president doesn't change who you are. no, it reveals who you are. >> and that was enormously valuable. >> let me tell you today i love my husband even more than i did four years ago, even more than i did 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 that the first selection was aspirational. the second one was affirmational.
6:45 pm
>> watching the thousands of performers on inauguration day, michelle doesn't know that one of them, a high school majorette from chicago, will drastically impact what she fights for in her second term. >> first lady michelle obama is returning to her hometown to attend the funeral of 15-year-old hidea pendleton, a bystander shot dead in a chicago park a week after she performed a the inauguration. >> the 42nd person killed this month in the president's hometown. >> i ran chicago public schools for7 and a half years, on average, we had a child killed every week. hidea reminded me of michelle. >> she was a casualty of a stray bullet walking home from school. and mrs. obama knows there by the grace of god go i. that could have been her at my moment as a little girl on the
6:46 pm
south side of chicago. it affectsed her deeply. >> we thank you to the first lady and the others who come to comfort. >> we read that story day after day, month after month, year after year in the city and around this country. and let me tell you, it is hard to know what to say to a room full of teenagers who are about to bury their best friend. >> michelle understood at a very visceral, very personal level how horrific the violence was. she couldn't solve the violence itself, but she had to try to create some hope and some inspiration for kids in communities that were living on a daily basis with a lot of fear and trauma that's untenable, that's unacceptable. it's not right. >> what it takes to build strong, successful young people isn't genetics or pedigree or good luck. it's opportunity. >> but for some young african americans, opportunity is out of reach. >> we begin tonight with the
6:47 pm
latest in the trayvon martin case. >> a ferguson unarmed team. >> michael brown. >> eric garner's death at the hands of a new york police officer. >> a cop did wrong. >> his last words, "i can't breathe." >> what do we want? >> justice. >> when do we want it? >> now! >> the road ahead is not going to be easy. it never is, especially for folks like you and me. >> after the 2012 election, the kind of caution that really defined the obamas during the first administration, some of that goes by the wayside. >> no matter how far you rise in life, how hard you work to be a good person, a good parent, a good citizen, for some folks, it will never be enough. >> and 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.
6:48 pm
>> you can say it would have been a massive opportunity to really say something transformative, but at the same time, she's still operating within the boundaries of the white house. >> black lives matter! >> today i want to be very clear that those feelings are not an excuse just throw up our hands and give up, not an excuse. they are not an excuse to lose hope. >> five four three two one. >> in the summer of 2015, a 21-year-old white man joins a bible study at the emanuel african methodist episcopal church, and then starts shooting. the shooter reportedly accused the all black congregation of taking over the country. nine people are killed. >> what does it mean to be proud to be the first african american inhabitants of the white house and know that it's linked to
6:49 pm
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. >> the way to defeat hope is to make people angry and resentful. we're going make you angry that these people are in the white house, and we're going 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. she was using her voice to speak to the hatred and speak to the fear that people have. >> here in america, we don't give in to our fears. we don't build up walls to keep people out because we know that our greatness has always depended on contributions from people who were born elsewhere. but saw our good country and made it their home.
6:50 pm
you are the living, breathing proof that the american dream endures in our time. it's you. ike martin. when a hailstorm hit, he needed his insurance to get it done right, right away. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. usaa usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. when you're camping with friends and you get the biggest spot, and you swam in the river all day in the warm afternoon sun... that's pure gold. here's another cleaning tip from mr. clean. cleaning tough bathroom and kitchen messes with sprays and wipes can be a struggle. there's an easier way. try mr. clean magic eraser.
6:51 pm
just wet, squeeze and erase tough messes like bathtub soap scum... and caked-on grease from oven doors. now mr. clean magic eraser comes in disposable sheets. they're perfect for icky messes on stovetops... in microwaves... and all over the house. for an amazing clean, try mr. clean magic eraser, and mr. clean magic eraser sheets.
6:52 pm
6:53 pm
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. [ laughter ] it's only nine more months, baby. >> 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 their family, sharing the mantra they
6:54 pm
used in the years in the white house. >> i told you about our daughters, how we urged them to ignore those who question their father's 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. >> 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 norms. >> i am automatically attracted to beautiful -- i just start kissing them. >> one month before the election, an old video surfaces. >> when you're a star, you can do it, they let you do anything. >> she felt she had to say something. knowing that people looked to her for inspiration. >> i can't believe i am saying
6:55 pm
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. >> i think she reached eleanor roosevelt territory. >> but new hampshire, be clear. this is not normal. this is not politics as usual. >> michelle spends election night watching a movie. as the messages start coming in, she heads off to bed.
6:56 pm
>> cnn projects donald trump wins the presidency -- >> the day after election day was extremely difficult, and i think none of us wanted to go to work, but we all picked ourselves up. we came into the office. mrs. obama emailed 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 had 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's not the end. >> maybe you still can't believe we pulled this whole thing off. let me tell you, you are not the only ones. michelle?
6:57 pm
[ cheers and applause ] you took on a role you didn't ask for with grace and with grit and with style and good humor. 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. >> michelle obama walks out of the white house for the last time. >> on auguinauguration day 2017
6:58 pm
see a 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. 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 lots of kids around
6:59 pm
the country permission to be themselves, walk a little taller, think a little bigger, dream a little higher. >> my story can be your story. >> i think that's her greatest legacy. >> are you listening to me? do you hear what i'm telling you? >> she always had this inner strength and tenacity and conviction and compassion. >> so don't be afraid. you hear me? young people, don't be afraid. be determined. lead by example with hope. never fear. >> yes, she has grown mightily. but the core essence of michelle robinson who i met in 1991 is still there today. >> being your first lady has been the greatest honor of my life, and i hope i've made you proud.
7:00 pm
it's snowing. and there's this ethereal feeling because she's dressed in this beautiful white gown. she seems to be stepping in this fairytale. "turn on the interior lights so people can see them as they go by." he asks his wife to sit forward because she is so beautiful. having the president from that very moment place her in the spotlight tells us what the presidency is going to be like and how mrs. kennedy will be at the center of it

102 Views

info Stream Only

Uploaded by TV Archive on