this is "nightline." tonight, one man's mission. >> fired up and focused, the activist battling als and battling for medicare for all. >> senator, i'm dying. come on. why are you running away from me? >> a political kingmaker pursuing his life's passion by getting personal with the 2020 presidential candidates. >> you know, i knew this was going to happen. challenging the loss of time by championing his greatest fight. plus, behind the hustle. the stripping scammers and the all-female powerhouse cast working it. the upcoming film based on a true story, starring jlo, cardi b, and abc's keke palmer.

now sitting down with the stars shaking up the stage with their head turning moves. >> we're all hustling, that's the point. >> but first the nightline 5. number one in just sixty

>> good evening. thank you for joining us. ady barkan is on an urgent mission, fearlessly fighting als

while also fighting for medicare for all in america. the powerful activist pushing forward and helping reshape the way we talk and feel about healthcare forever. every day, ady hopes that what little time he has left to live will count for something. >> fighting for justice gives me purpose. i much prefer to focus on the struggle for our democracy than to focus on als. >> reporter: als has already robbed him of his ability to walk and talk, play with his son, hold his wife's hand, but the deadly disease has also transformed him into one of the most influential voices for health care for all. >> health care is a right. >> what does medicare for all mean to you? >> we all get high-quality, comprehensive health care with medicare, with no co-pays for

premiums. it was a fringe idea, and now it enjoys the support of the majority of american people. >> a king maker for democratic presidential hopefuls. >> you know, ad mady, i knew th was going to happen. >> reporter: but ady's fame started out as a fluke. on his way home after being arrested for protesting the tax bill he bumped into arizona senator jeff flake and pleaded with him to advance the bill. >> you can save my life. please, please remember this conversation. >> reporter: flake eventually let him down, since his diagnosis at 32, he's grown physically weaker, but his political voice has grown even stronger. >> health care is not treated as a human right in the united

states of america. >> reporter: spearheading protests on capitol hill. >> i'm going to knock on your door. >> reporter: chasing down opposing politicians. >> senator! i'm dying! come on. why are you running away from me? >> reporter: just one social media post raising more than $4 million to oust republican senator susan collins. paralyzed from the neck down at 35, ady now communicates slowly with his eyes, so we had to send questions in advance. what are the hardest parts of als? >> 100 times every day i experience the inability to tickle and chase carl, to comfort him in the middle of the night and scold him when he dumps his dinner plate for the fifth night in a row. >> reporter: a lot of people are uncomfortable with a terminal illness. >> i am not shy about death. i just want my life and death to have meant something. >> reporter: his wife rachel

fully embraces his life's mission, despite knowing the toll it takes on his failing body. >> when he got back last summer his voice was noticeably worse. we kind of lost that time when we could have been speaking more. overall, it's given him so much strength. >> reporter: it was just three years ago. the college sweet hearts had welcomed their baby boy carl. after yale law school, ady was fighting for low-income workers' rights. she was teaching at uc santa barbara. >> i was thinking how could life get any better than this. >> reporter: and when did the storm clouds approach? >> ady had been having pain and weakness in his left hand. >> i was diagnosed with als today. >> suddenly, we were wondering if ady would see carl go to kindergarten. will carl ever remember ady and that sort of thing. >> reporter: earl eve on he

admits he felt lost. what lit your fire again? >> when america elected a racist. they did more to undermine our democracy and social fabric. i decided i had to throw myself into the fight. i'm on the plane with arizona senator jeff flake. >> reporter: it played out on social media with that viral video dubbed "flakes on a plane". >> let's see what happens when we get on the plane. >> reporter: that voice, fellow passenger liz. he the two had just met for the first time boarding the plane. >> i doesndon't think you're su to be filming anything on the airplane. >> you can be an american hero. you really can. >> you're already there. >> you're halfway there. think about, think about the

legacy that you will have for your grandchildren. >> what we saw on the plane was a human interaction. i mean everybody on the plane was crying at the end of it. >> you can take my life. please. please remember this conversation. >> when ady lands in santa barbara we are at a million views on this. >> reporter: within a couple hours. >> within a couple hours. >> reporter: an obama staffer became his new partner in crime. >> and he said i think we should start a super pac and do it for the little people. >> reporter: they named it be a hero, raising $2 million and supporting democrats across the country during the 2018 midterm election. >> that's why ady and i are asking you to vote for katie hill on november 6. >> we cut ads. they were run in 100 districts. we won every race we placed our

ads in. >> reporter: speaker nancy pelosi thanking him for helping them win back the house. >> some observers would say that you're exploiting. >> yeah. >> reporter: his disease. >> absolutely. >> reporter: for political gain. >> absolutely, because if the only way that we're going to force people to talk about these issues is with ady, that he has to be this sick for people to pay attention, we're going to do it. >> i would give anything to be a happy father and husband. this is not exploitation. we have to tell our human stories if we want our democracy to be responsive to us as individual human beings. >> reporter: those personal stories front and center in his new show "uncovered." only sanders and warren support medicare for all. >> hey! >> reporter: and yet all the major democratic candidates, except for former vice president biden have agreed to sit down with ady. >> i know that your father had parkinson's disease. i recently read an article where

you opened up about your mother's death. >> reporter: turning a policy debate into a shared human experience. >> kaunl mala harris is so stro and she broke down talking about her mother. >> you have written that the diagnosis of your mother was one of the worst days of your life. >> elizabeth warren also broke down. cory booker, julian castro. you should see the candidates when they realize these are the people they're protecting. >> reporter: why did you want to create a show like "uncovered". >> as i watched the first presidential debates, i found myself really frustrated. the conversation the country saw was little more than a bunch of shouted 30-second sound bites. i thought people deserved better. >> reporter: ady's crusade has a sense of urgency. two days after our interview, he was rushed to the hospital. >> i think he can keep fighting. i think you can keep going and

have a meaningful life. >> reporter: ady details that meaningful life in his new book. "eyes to the wind". part political manifesto, part personal memoir in which the best chapter still lies ahead. >> reporter: are you ready for another baby? >> i'm super jazzed. it's going to be great. our lives are so crazy now. with a toddler and als, another baby will be a piece of cake. >> reporter: his daughter is due this november. but, in his fragile state, next november, election day 2020 is far from guaranteed. >> it's so hard to think about ady not being here. i can so vividly picture what our life would be like if ady didn't have als. >> reporter: what's the legacy you want to leave behind. >> at the end of the day, i want to be remembered as someone who fought to make the world a little more fair and just for all and most of all i want carl and his sister to be proud of

me. >> reporter: our thanks to ady and his family. his book "eyes to the wind" comes out next tuesday. up next, the star-studded cast of "hustlers "as many as. this i. with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis, are you okay? even when i was there, i never knew when my symptoms would keep us apart. so i talked to my doctor about humira. i learned humira can help get, and keep uc under control when other medications haven't worked well enough. and it helps people achieve control that lasts. so you can experience few or no symptoms. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common,

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here is abc's adrienne bankert. >> front hook. ankle hook. >> yep. >> knee hook. hold on with that knee. >> okay. >> from here, you can do carousel. put your head back. come down. you can do peter pan. knee hook. >> reporter: it's jennifer lopez like you've never seen her before. ? and you can and you can go into a fairy. >> reporter: in hustlers. >> there are so many different negative connotations, and the truth is, they're survivors. they're working hard. >> reporter: the ladies flip the script, taking back their power from the men who run the club and their wealthy clients, going so far as to drug and rob them,

and believe it or not, it's all based around a true story. >> wall street guys. you see what they did to this country? they stole from everybody. >> reporter: what did you learn from them? >> it really is women versus the men in a sense in this world. it's like both sides playing each other, right? so they have to be just as smart, just as cunning. >> reporter: the multi-faceted jennifer lopez plays ringleader ramona. >> i don't want to be dependent on anybody. >> reporter: constance wu is the new girl learning the ropes. >> how come you're so good? i see you with every single kind of guy, and i don't know, it's like you have them all figured out. >> i guess i'm just a people person. >> i feel like in our society once you hear that kind of profession, people, the judgment stops there, and they don't get to know people as humans and understand their stories and where they come from and why

they make their choices. ♪ whatever you want to see ♪ >> reporter: and of course there's money rapper cardi b in her acting debut. >> learn how to do a real dance. >> oh, i'm good at that. >> reporter: for cardi, who has been open about being a stripper herself, it's a story that hits close to home. >> i did a scene in the locker room. and's like oh, man, i'm having flashbacks. i was the girl that came in, and i didn't understand how to, how to make the money. i was so upset that i keep working for hours, hours, and i have to pay a fee. >> 40%, 160. >> and then i'm leaving home with nothing. i know a girl that was the ramona of the club. she just had that, that mouth power to talk to men and seduce them and they just spend and you just wonder, like [ bleep ], who does that?

>> reporter: the director made sure to highlight the every day life and struggles of these flawed characters in a compassionate light. >> i just want my daughter to be able to do whatever she wants, go to whatever school she wants or not. and does what she wants. >> we've seen a scene in a strip club in every single movie ever, and so few have been told from their perspective, and that just really interested me on a human level. >> reporter: it's something that strongly resonated with cardi. >> a lot of people are saying strippers are whores, they're having sex with people. people don't know, if you solicit prostitution in a strip club you go to jail. at 4:00 a.m., so many women would be frustrated. i got to pay the babysitter, i didn't have a good night. [ bleep ]. got to go to school in the morning. >> for me, doing the character, she was a single mom from the bronx. i'm a single mom from the bronx.

she was ambitious. she wanted better for herself. >> reporter: but it's a job that takes its toll. the movie doesn't gloss over the harsh realities of the life of a stripper. >> what if somebody calls the cops? >> and says what? i spent $500 at a strip club, send help? >> i think i'm going to throw up. >> little by little you see why strippers start to hate men. there was a point in my life when i was a dancer that i hated them. i got so tired of gone stancons meeting men, touching me. you feel like you own me. >> reporter: ultimately, it's women's bond that triumphs. sisters.n j. lo's motley crime >> to sisters! >> how important was it to kind of display these positive female relationships in the midst of a

very dark anti-hero story? >> for me, the women in the story are very strong. you know, they're very powerful. >> annabelle really is the heart. she is the young one, she's the naïve one. she was looking to these older women for guidance. >>ly a bla >> i had a blast working with everybody. i was a big fan of jennifer. and meeting lorene, we were talking for like three hours. >> reporter: the film is based on the tru story of samantha babash. >> four strippers are under arrest. >> reporter: and was even filmed inside a real manhattan strip club. >> from the wardrobe to the scenery, the environment, to the shoes we were wearing. >> this place was like lived-in. and you could feel that. >> mm-hm. >> stained carpet. >> there you go. >> it was actually a clean place. >> reporter: despite being raw and provocative, the movie

resonates with a common theme. >> we're all hustling. that's point. that's why the movie in a sense is very universal and many people can relate to it. >> sometimes in a patriarchal society there's only one position for a woman. but that's a commentary on scarcity, not gender. and i think our relationship in this movie really proved that, because it was all run by women. and it was all women. >> women producer, women director. women writer, women stars. women, women, women, women everywhere. >> daughters. >> reporter: for "nightline," adrian bankert in los angeles. >> are you in? >> "hustlers" comes out in theaters next friday. next, behind the powerful performance and "mantra" inspired by prince. between us, you know what's better than mopping? anything! at the end of a long day, it's the last thing i want to do. well i switched to swiffer wet jet and its awesome. it's an all-in-one so it's ready to go when i am.

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♪ ♪ i can just face it, face it head on ♪ ♪ face it all head on finally, behind the scenes of one singer's mantra. rock soul singer, liv

is making waves with her new single "mantra." a stirring song inspired by legendary musician prince, warfield handpicked by the artist to sing in his band, and now soaring solo with this latest song. one of our own editors, tine, directing the shoot. a visual feast and raw display of talent serenaded straight from the soul. powerful vocals, and congratulations, tine. that's nightline. you can always catch our full episodes on hulu. good night, america.