brilliantly wrap up the whole show. thank you both for watching and do come back again next sunday when the next revolution will be televised. ♪ >> the bomb is more about ending the war but change in human history. >> they begin the slow climb to bombing altitude. >> come back, as soon as i can get away. that was the last time i saw her. ♪ >> wars are held. people get killed and more. >> i sleep good every night. >> to stop the war they had to make a decision. ♪

chris: in the spring of 1945 a new president took office in the midst of a great war. that first day he learned of a top-secret project that had been underway for years to develop a terrifying new super weapon to end the war. it was a joint effort by america's top officials, scientists and military leaders. the new president still had to give the order to go ahead. perhaps the toughest decision any leader has ever faced. this is the story of the 116 days that changed the world. ♪ chris: january 20, 1945. millions of americans were fighting world war ii in europe and in the pacific but in washington franklin delano

roosevelt was being inaugurated for an unprecedented fourth term as president. >> the almighty god has blessed our land in many ways. chris: standing nearby the junior senator from missouri i'm a harry s truman, was the new vice president. many doubted roosevelt would make it through the next four years. >> everyone knew fdr was sick. chris: kirk graham is director of the harry s truman library and museum. >> they knew that the vice president was likely to become the president. chris: that they came less than three months later. >> truman was over in the office of a sam rayburn, speaker of house from texas. chris: the vice president got to ravens hideaway just after 5:00 p.m. and was known as the board of education where the speaker met with members of congress to discuss strategy and to have a drink.

truman was a regular. rayburn told the vice president the white house is looking for you so truman fixed himself a bourbon and sat down and dialed national 1414. steve earley, president's longtime secretary, got on the phone and told the vice president get to the white house as quickly and quietly as possible. rayburn who always thought truman was pale thought now he got a little paler. jesus christ in general jackson, truman said, as soon as he hung up the phone but he got up, walked over to the door and just as he got there he turned around and said to the people in the room, this stays in the room. something must have happened. now by himself truman ran to the almost empty capital. his shoes echoed on the marble corridors as he dashed past statues of generals and politicians. ten minutes later his car

arrived at the white house. >> he was escorted to the second story which is the family's residence. he was met there by eleanor roosevelt. eleanor roosevelt said harry, the president is dead. >> when he heard his chief was dead, his simple humanity expressed itself in these words to missus roosevelt's. what i do to help? >> she said the question is harry, can we do anything for you because you are the one in trouble now but here he truman knew exactly how much trouble he was in. when you see those initial photographs and moving images of truman he had a total deere in the headlights look. >> with the world at war he accepted the greatest response ability and world history, a new commander-in-chief to lead our nation to ultimate victory. chris: how sidelined was truman by fdr as vice president and to

what degree did the president keep him out of his war council's? >> i think by the time truman became vice president fdr was an expert at ignoring his vice president. chris: senator roy blunt now holds the same senate seat that was once a truman. >> of war stimson told him in the cabinet room the night that he became president that there is something i've got to tell you about -. chris: 's stimson kept it short but told truman an immense project was underway to develop a new explosive of almost unbelievable destructive power. the vice president did not know about the manhattan project and that's one of many surprise learned while researching my new book, "countdown 1945". the mysterious briefing led the new president puzzled in the days later stimson spelled out

in a memo. within four months we shall in all probability have completed the most terrible weapon ever known in human history, one bomb of which will destroy a whole city. ♪ chris: 2000 miles away in a top-secret installation in los alamos, new mexico physicist robert oppenheimer was leading a team of scientists and engineers to build the first atomic bomb. fdr launched the manhattan project in 1942 at a cost of more than $2 billion, 125,000 americans worked at sites across the country. meanwhile, thousands of americans were unaware of the critical roles they were plain. >> i was doing something to end the war. that is what they told us and we

were not supposed to talk to anybody about our jobs. chris: in oak ridge, tennessee 19 -year-old ruth did not tell anyone. she probably couldn't if she wanted to. she personified the old military joe, my job is so secret even i don't know what i'm doing. her job was to watch dials and pushbuttons on a giant machine. >> they refer to it as the [inaudible] and it was a big machine and it had all kinds of meters and knobs on it. we had to keep it on that number. chris: ruth later learned she was working at the world's first permanent nuclear reactor playing a crucial role in the uranium enrichment process. ♪ chris: at the air force base in utah the five oh nine composite

group made up of dozens of pilots, navigators, bombers and their support teams worked on their own secret mission with b-29 super fortress bombers. joe is an official historian of the 509. how secret was the mission? how much did the crew know about this mission they were going to be taking a part of? >> they were told nothing. and listing them and the officers they officially knew nothing about it. chris: the only one fully briefed on the mission was the commander, colonel paul tibbets junior. >> he originally started out in world war ii in europe. he flew in europe. he flew b-17s. chris: tibbets had led the first american daylight heavy bombing mission over france and was once cap to fight the supreme allied commander general dwight eisenhower. now he had to figure out how to drop histories first a bomb on an enemy targets.

♪ >> it was a beautiful, beautiful town. chris: halfway around the world she lived with her parents on the estate of her grandfather who ran a major rubber company. what was that like? >> that was the most beautiful thing. the garden. it was filled with flowers from different seasons and the different dancing colors. chris: it sounds like it was a wonderland. >> yes, it was. it was. beautiful. chris: she showed us photos of herself and her mother could how old were you? >> i was four. four years old. i always tell everybody i am sorry i resemble [inaudible] because my mother was beautiful. [laughter]

chris: american b-29s were firebombing other japanese cities and her mother drilled her on exactly what to do if their home was ever attacked. >> she said that you have to get away from anything that was burning because it will trap you and you won't make it. if anything happens when i'm not with you, run to the water. chris: she was determined to save her daughter from that nightmare. she sent her to a school in the countryside. she knew the war might eventually come to hiroshima. she had no idea that in less than 100 days their hometown would be the target of the most destructive weapon ever unleashed by man. ♪

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♪ ♪ chris: it was president truman 61st birthday and he had a something to celebrate with the american people. >> the forces of germany have

surrendered for the united nations. the flag of freedom flies all over europe. chris: cheers broke out at oak ridge but wilson wasn't ready to join in. >> my boyfriend was over in germany and i knew that they were thinking about sending him to japan. chris: that enemy showed no willingness to surrender. few doubted that defeating the japanese could drag on for another 12-18 months plus, hundreds of thousands more american lives and leave, perhaps a million japanese deaths. ♪ chris: she was now at a remote school sent away like so many japanese children to protect her from the firebombing of japan's disease. she was homesick with her friend

mio she they hatched a plan to get back to her family in hiroshima. you and your friend snuck into town to mail a letter? >> we passed a post office. [laughter] uncensored letter begging -. chris: to come get you and bring you back home? >> yes. chris: july 16 and anxious president truman was in germany preparing for a summit with british prime minister winston churchill and soviet premier joseph stalin. the first meeting of the new big three after the surrender. germ truman knew everything hinged on a test to be conducted that same day in the new mexico desert. oppenheimer's team had developed two designs for the atom bomb. the first was a 10-foot long tube called little boy, using

two pieces of uranium to trigger a nuclear chain reaction. >> this was shot across into the other parts of the bomb over here where there was another part of uranium. when the two got together and created a critical mass and an uncontrolled atomic explosion. chris: the second design did not use uranium but plutonium. it was called, fat man. this four tone bomb was to be detonated in what was called the trinity test, a reference to one of oppenheimer's favorite poems. it was wired up and ready to go. 6 miles away scientist wagered on how powerful the bomb would be. gases range from a disappointing dud to an explosion so powerful it would ignite the atmosphere. ♪

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>> live from america's news headquarters read on ashley. the minneapolis city council proposes an end to the city police department in the wake of george floyd's and death. council members a decades of reform efforts to approve the

department cannot be corrected. in taking intermediate steps and ending the force through the budget process and other policy decisions will [inaudible] spark 12 days of protest. one cop has been charged with second-degree murder and the other three with aiding and abetting paired tropical storm makes land along the coast of southeastern louisiana paid the storm is expected to down four-t areas. it has spawned one tornado in central florida and could cause more. louisiana has declared a state of emergency and requested fema workers be sent to impacted areas. i'm ashley and now back to "countdown 1945". ♪ chris: just before 5:30 a.m. a

siren sounded across a remote section of the desert. aptly nicknamed, dead man's attorney. a warning the first detonation of an atomic bomb was minutes away. the test was top-secret but the government allowed a film crew to shoot it for the historical record. >> sec. are taking off. zero is the firing points. two, one. fire. chris: the call of fire ripped through the sky in the giant mushroom cloud billowed 40000 feet into the air. heat seared across the desert. vaporizing the steel tower that held the bomb moments before. [explosion] >> these views of the most

concentrated release of explosive energy and history of mankind. chris: a 6-foot feet 1000-foot long crater was blasted into the ground and the test was successful. >> two people left. two people cried. both people were silent. chris: the manhattan project had brought forth the atomic a. oppenheimer later recalled the passage he said at that moment, from an ancient hindu text. >> i am the coming death. the destroyer of worlds. we all thought that one way or the other. chris: late that evening in germany which was eight hours ahead, president truman got first word of the test. >> it is while he is at [inaudible] that truman learns the bomb has been successfully tested in new mexico. it's a very cryptic message that

all has gone well and it's a great relief to him. >> and let him know he had a alternative here that no leader had ever had before. he had an alternative that was very different then the invasion of japan would have been. chris: at the same time some of truman's top military men had doubts. general eisenhower, in europe, and general douglas macarthur in the pacific, both opposed unleashing such a destructive weapon arguing japan was already beaten. truman considered giving the enemy a demonstration of the bombs fearsome power before dropping it on a city but america only had two of them and if the demonstration was a dead it might strengthen japan's resolve. truman concluded, if he was going to drop the bomb, he must go ahead without warning.

♪ chris: aboard the uss indianapolis a precious cargo of uranium was crossing the pacific ocean. the cruiser was headed for [inaudible], a small island that was a perfect launch pad for attacks on japan. there it would rendezvous with colonel paul tibbetts 509 composite crew which had been rehearsing bombing missions but except for the commander they still did not know what kind of bomb they were about to drop. ♪ chris: president truman received a coded message from washington telling him the bomb could be ready in eight days. >> he recognized the weight of this moment and recognized the judgment of history. can you imagine an american president sending hundreds of thousands of troops into harm's way when he might have been able to stop that with the use of a single weapon. chris: truman asked secretary of war stimson which japanese

cities were devoted to war production. on the target list, hiroshima and nagasaki. ♪ chris: truman made his decision. if japan ignored a final ultimatum the u.s. would drop the atomic bomb. in the [inaudible] declaration he made one last call for unconditional surrender. >> only surrender can prevent the kind of ruin which they have seen come to germany as a result of continued useless resistance. chris: japan rejected its last chance to avoid the fury of the atomic bomb. the countdown continued. ♪ now, simparica trio simplifies protection.

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chris: the decision to drop the atomic bomb on japan had now been made. 509 commander paul tibbets drew up the mission plan. three b-29s would fly ahead to check the weather over here oshima. if the visibility was clear, three more bombers would fly toward the target. one would carry equipment to measure the blast. a second would photograph the historic event. tibbets with pilot the third plane which he named, the enola gay after his mother. he and his 12 men crew would drop little boy. ♪ chris: she was moved by the letter from her ten -year-old daughter who pleaded to be brought back from the japanese countryside mac we saw or we saw our mothers and were so excited

and then they were so tired and they wanted to stay that night so of course, and then couple of days, you know, we looked at each other and said no, mother, we ready to go. you must take us away from this miserable place. please, right away. tomorrow. chris: august 5. >> yes. chris: you had to go home. >> yes, we insisted. chris: back to here oshima. >> yes. chris: as she headed back to her family's estate of film crew on the island prepared a record to be released to the public after tibbets and his men made history. >> the crew had their final briefing on whether an air and sea rescue. chris: the few men of shown photos the trinity test never imagined one bomb could be so deadly. now, they were going to be the ones to drop it, not in an empty

desert but on a densely populated japanese city. ♪ >> at 2:45 a.m. august 6, 1945 colonel tibbets takes the enola gay down the runway into the air beginning the 6.5 hour flight to japan. chris: tibbets knew better than anyone how many things could go wrong on the mission and they could be shut down and the crew carried a cyanide to commit suicide and avoid capture and torture. the bomb could be detonated prematurely and if the enemy found their radiofrequency and even if the mission went perfectly shock waves from the explosion could tear the enola gay apart. august 6, she was back home. >> i am so happy. birds were chirping. the sun was coming into my room.

my mother had to go to help with some globalization thing and i said, hurry home. my mother said yeah, yeah, i will come back as soon as i can get away. that was the last time i saw her. ♪ chris: the engines it moaned their study song as the enola gay 5500 feet in the air just above the crowds. >> at 8:15 a weather plane proposed from here oshima that the weather is good. chris: tibbets revealed the secret to the crew. over the intercom he said we are carried the world's first atomic bomb. several men gasped. others thought now it all made sense.

>> you started reading a book? >> my cousin had given me a story and i had to keep up with her. ♪ >> 31000 feet over here oshima, the enola gay begins the bomber. chris: with here oshima in view, they confirmed that they were on target. >> i had a video and they said something about only one or two planes and i said well, you know, usually hundreds come over. one or three? oh, okay. that's different. chris: at 9:15 a.m. the bombay doors opened. they released little boy from the restraining hook. bomb away, he shouted. the men waited. nothing happened. was a little boy a dead?

a flash brighter than the midday sun flooded the plane and white light. >> the first guy to see the atomic bomb explode was the tail gunner all of a sudden he looked up and he saw these rings coming towards him and actually they were concussion rings from the explosion but they hit the plane with such force it shook the plane. chris: ready thousand feet below chaos engulfed the ten -year-old girls world. >> all of a sudden there was a white flash in the corner of my eyes. white colored like a waterfall was gushing down. simultaneously, there was a humongous, unheard explosion.

stuff started to come down on my head and it hit hard. you couldn't see anything. chris: what did you think it was? >> i can still room or what i said. so this is been killed in war. chris: the ten -year-old little girl and this is what it felt like to be killed and more. >> yeah, and the direction i looked up there was a light coming in. i try to somehow find a way to get there. chris: she suffered only bruises and a deep gash on her right foot. her uncle was dead in the garden and the rest of her family was almost paralyzed by the shock. she would have to save herself. she left the house alone. [speaking in native tongue] chris: she walked past the dead and the dying and she prayed her

mother was still alive. >> i remember saying to myself, please, god, carry this to wherever she is because i cannot find her. i cannot comfort her. i can't even tell her her child really needs her and misses her and wants to be with her. [inaudible] it was so scary and terrifying that my mother could be one of them. chris: president truman was across the atlantic when he received the message from secretary stimson. big bomb dropped on hiroshima.

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♪ >> a short time ago an american airplane dropped one bomb on hiroshima and destroyed its usefulness to the enemy. it is an atomic bomb. it is a harnessing of the basic power of the universe. >> the devastation you see here was caused by the explosion of a bomb above this zero-point chris: the bomb leveled six -- 60% of hiroshima and instantly killed almost 70000 people. >> this barren area once contained the main japanese military headquarters, most of the military personnel are a proximally 20000 were wiped out. chris: truman filed the enemy continue to fight, there was more to come. >> if they do not now accept our terms they may expect a rain of ruin from the air the like of

which has never been seen on this earth. chris: japan refused to surrender. three days later the 509 dropped the second bomb, batman, on nagasaki. [explosion] chris: in three days more than 100,000 japanese were dead and thousands more suffered from radiation poisoning. that night truman delivered a radio address to the american people. >> i realized the tragic significance of the atomic bomb. having found a bomb, we used it against those who abandoned all pretense of obeying international laws of warfare. chris: he then warned japan third bomb was ready to be deployed. the choice was theirs. >> we shall continue to use it until we completely destroy japan's power to make war.

only a japanese surrender will stop us. chris: the next day japan finally gave in. the second world war had taken a terrible toll, 72 million deaths, including 47 million civilians. and now, finally, it was over. >> the return of peace after the world's most devastating war. >> there was nothing but [inaudible] for truman and everyone else. [cheering and applause] >> let us pray that peace be now restored to the world and that god will preserve it always. chris: when we return, 75 years after hiroshima the debates over the decision to drop the bomb continues. some perspective and a remarkable reconciliation.

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i was writing unfavorably about them it's a debate that has echoed through the decades. should the u.s. have dropped the bomb on her shema. it ended the war more than a year before the invasion of japan would have, and likely saved more than a million casualties on both sides. but with russia entering the war, the japan, they may have surrendered within days and spared to bid cities from annihilation. the men of the 509 received a hero's welcome when they returned to the u.s. they never expressed any doubt publicly. their mission was a righteous

one. >> to the day he died he said i have no regrets, i did my job and i would do it again. >> people get killed in the war. that is too bad but there is no morality in warfare and i've never tried to explain it. but robert had serious second thoughts about the weapon he had developed. two months after her shema, he visited the oval office and told the president i feel i have blood on my hands. they responded the blood is on my hands, let me worry about it. then he told his staff, i don't want to see that son of a bitch in this office ever again. through the years, he never wavered about his decision. >> the only operation that the japanese would understand is one that would show him what it was and that's what happened. and stop the war and i don't care what they might think because they didn't have to make the decision. >> the debate sparked american

politics. in my 1949 russia tested its first nuclear demise. they created a world where peace depended on nuclear assurance destruction. the other side could still wipe them out. today, the stockpile of nuclear weapons on our planet is almost 50000. that's equivalent to several million explosions. the future of mankind rests on a trigger but 75 years later, only one country has ever use the weapon in war. the united states. a profound irony that something so deadly was used to create peace. she turned her terrible experience into something positive, writing books and making speeches as a peace

activist. that, despite the fact that he still struggles all these years later not with anger, but deep sorrow. her father survived but her mother perished in the bomb. >> your mother had gone into a building that had collapsed, correct. >> yes and she was buried alive and apparently burned alive. she was barely 30, a young woman. >> she blamed herself because she insisted her mother bring her back the day before the bomb instead of staying in the countryside. [inaudible] eight years after the war, she came to the u.s. to attend college. she became a psychotherapist and social worker and married

an american. when she traveled to washington for this documentary, she had one request. she wanted to see the b-29 that carried the bomb that destroyed her family and home. and so, one cold march morning we set off for the annex of the air and space museum. >> what are you feeling now? are you feeling nervous right now. >> no, i didn't sleep a wink so i'm not nervous, i'm tired. when we arrived at the museum i walked her slowly to the b-29. >> oh yes, i see that. do you feel anger at it. >> oh, yes, i was grief

stricken. [inaudible] so goodbye. >> for all the questions about the morality of dropping them atomic bomb, it's unrealistic to think. truman would make any other choice. he came to the presidency without warning about a project that had been underway for three years. he consulted widely, listening to advisors who argued against using the bomb and he struggled with the decision through sleepless nights and fierce headaches, but in the end, he believed using his new super weapon would end th war a year sooner and save hundreds of thousands of

american lives. and just 116 days, a new, untested leader made one of history's most consequential decisions. hello america i'm mark levin. this is life, liberty and levin and they call the show the insurrection because i think that's what's taking place among other things in this country and i have to turn to a gentleman who i think know more about what's taking place in our cities then really anybody else. they've spent a life studying it and writing about it. one of those gentlemen is shelby steele who's been in