>> tonight, something different on "dateline" friday, we're going on assignment. >> i don't know why they didn't give me show to a woman. >> did they ask you about who should replace you? >> oh, no. they were just happy i was going. >> tom brokaw with an nbc exclusive. >> america wants to know what's living in that beard. is it nesting something? >> david letterman, his first tv interview since he left late night. >> i couldn't care less about late night television. >> and he's got plenty to say. >> donald trump, bernie sanders. >> the great thing about america is anybody can grow up to be president. i guess that might be true. >> kate snow with a warning for parents.

>> this is the place where andrew was born. >> it's also the place where he died. >> he was a pharmaceutical executive who never imagined a drug would lead to his own son's death. >> are you saying they're experimenting on kids? >> yeah, absolutely. >> millions of children are taking psychiatric drugs. is the system failing our kids? >> they would not talk to us on camera. so we've come here to a public meeting. let's go inside. >> but first, i take you inside what may be the police force of the future. this was one of the toughest neighborhoods in the country. >> the community was at war with the cops. >> how do you expect to get respect when you not respecting us? >> tonight, a new model for the nation. >> are you staying out of trouble? >> police departments have to give up on this idea that police officers have to be warriors. >> that's counter to everything you were talking about suppressing crime, you arrest people? >> it is.

>> this is a revolution. >> "dateline: on assignment" starts now. good evening and welcome to "on assignment," i'm lester holt. the protests in ferguson, the unrest in baltimore, examples of what can happen when police and the people they're sworn to protect are at odds. we've seen it in communities across this country. but a bold new plan in a notoriously tough neighborhood is changing that, and it may hold the answer for other cities. >> i've been called a social worker with a gun, the liberal cop. she's in la la land. but you have to think outside of the box. >> los angeles police sergeant ahmada ting reeties believes she has the answer to the crisis facing police departments across the country and it starts with two simple words -- i'm sorry. >> if we can understand the hatred and the mistrust and

apologize for it, then you have your breakthrough and you begin to make real change. >> the sergeant could not have chosen a more challenging community to put her philosophy to the test. watch. friday night from inside a police car in this impoverished and gang-ridden los angeles neighborhood can sometimes feel like riding through a war zone. >> man, you don't got to drag me like this. >> and history is always riding shotgun. ever since it erupted in riots in 1965, watts has at times felt like a police state. its residents, often on the verge of insurrection. >> i think it was clear from the moment i set foot in watts 30 years ago that the community was at war with the cops. >> civil rights lawyer connie rice has been battling to force the lapd to change its ways for years. >> what we had were predators who saw the community as arrest numbers and people they could

beat with their batons and shoot with impunity. what we needed were cops who loved the community. >> ahmada didn't need to learn to love watts, she spent much of her childhood here. >> these are the tracks you played on? >> i used to throw rocks at the trains. >> ahmada moved away when she was 9, before the crack epidemic, before the brutal gang wars, and before los angeles was rocked by what happened to rodney king. >> i remember saying out loud, i can't believe this is happening. but at that moment, i remember saying to myself, i want to join lapd, so that i can make a difference in the community, because it hurt. >> she joined the lapd in 1995 and quickly moved up the ranks. her husband phil is an assistant bureau commander and they have six kids between them. in 2007, she was assigned to watts.

>> when i saw what drugs and gangs did to the community, i knew that we needed to do police work differently. >> it was then she met connie rice, who was now working with the lapd to change the way watts was policed. >> i said i want 50 cops. i want them trained to learn to trust, and to win the trust of the community. these are trust cops. >> the program rice and the lapd created in 2011 was called the community safety partnership, or csp, and the woman they trusted to lead it was watts' own ahmada. >> we are asking the officers to learn and understand the cultures of the communities that they're working in. and to use arrest as a last resort. >> but that's counter to everything they were taught about, you suppress crime, you arrest people, the stuff that most of us understand about police work? >> it is. >> somebody call the police? >> csp officers started

patrolling watts on foot and engaged residents one-on-one? >> you staying out of trouble? >> at first, they were met with suspicion. >> they thought we were going to come in to be investigative and tear apart the community. >> the officers were required to do something ground-breaking to change minds. they spent part of their shifts participating in community projects. >> hey, what's up, man? you always looking fresh and clean. >> officer aaron thompson escorts kids to and from school. he's also a counsellor to boys who are at risk. >> i was one of those kids growing up in atmospheres like this, where parents are on drugs, homeless a couple times. officers say, why do you give them so much love like that? i tell them, because that could have easily been me. easily. >> sergeant ryan whiteman patrols jordan downs, a public housing development in watts. he alsoitutors kids there. he said forming these relationships has helped him

become a more effective cop. >> why you mad? what's wrong? talk to me. i don't want you getting shot, man. >> we watched how he worked to diffuse tension when a fight broke out at a gym. >> hey, what's the tone, man? >> this is the type of incident that causes unnecessary acts of violence. >> at first he wasn't getting anywhere. >> i can't even have a conversation with you? >> so he sought out some older residents the local gang would listen to. >> let these guys off the hook. so the thing is, if they act like that, they're going to bring heat on everybody unnecessarily. that's why i come talk to you guys. >> it seemed to work, no more trouble and no arrests. ahmada says this kind of community policing is making a difference. and she has the statistics to prove it. >> we reduced crime by just under 50%. violent crime, rapes, murders,

50%. >> baltimore, ferguson, do you think you have built up enough in the reservoir that you can prevent that sort of thing from happening here in watts? >> i'd like to say yes. i also know that if we don't keep working at it, it could happen. >> police departments have to give up on this idea that police officers should be warriors and they're going to have to adopt a new idea that we want police officers who are guardians. >> brian stevenson is a prominent civil rights attorney and best-selling author who rights about issues of justice. also a member of a presidential task force on 21st century policing. he says cops can't do it alone. >> people in the community have to take responsibility for pushing the police to be more responsive. but for also engaging other members in the community that legitimately don't think the police will ever change. >> we had to forgive first. >> yes. >> and that is exactly what is happening in watts. members of the watts gang task force, and other community leaders, some of them former

gang members themselves, now collaborate with police. >> a lot of the kids was getting killed. a lot was ending up on drugs. so that's what started changing my views about things. >> another thing is, the police started changing. >> once they started seeing the work that we were doing in the community, then it started bridging. >> they started seeing you as a resource. >> we was an asset, and not a liability, and we demanded one thing from them -- respect. we can hold people in our community accountable, but y'all gotta hold yourself accountable. >> but no matter how well the community and police work together, watts can still be a dangerous place. while we were there, gang attacks at two housing developments rocked the area. >> it created a huge sense of fear and anxiety. >> to quiet things down, the lapd brought in police units from outside watts. they confronted and frequently

arrested gang members. csp officer aaron thompson knew these unfamiliar cops would be more aggressive. so he prepared the people on his beat. >> i just wanted to warn y'all that hanging out and all that stuff, when the officers come through and they see that, they gonna jump out on y'all. >> it's kind of a bold thing when you think about it, police officers telling the community, there's more police coming. >> that's part of our transparency. we've now told them that we care, and we care by bringing additional resources to stop the crime. >> but that additional police presence can cause conflicts. >> how do you guys expect to get respect when you not respecting us? >> the community became infuriated when police arrested three people returning home from a barbecue, tasing one of them. they accused the lapd of harassment and wrongful imprisonment and at a meeting several days later, the community let ahmada have it. >> so you basically put everyone

in that neighborhood under the same umbrella. if if they're a man and they're black, they're a criminal! >> as they were speaking, were you thinking, oh, my gosh, we're unraveling so much of our good work here? >> the first thought that came to my mind here is this relationship we're trying to build is so fragile. >> we're trying to work in this community without dealing with everybody as a thug, everybody as a dope dealer, i never want to broad brush this community and i don't think it's fair for the police to get broad-brushed as well when we're working so hard to change the perception of law enforcement in this community. >> i know you. i give you a thumb's up. [ laughter ] but there's some officers i don't like, because they don't like me. >> it's not perfect, a lot of times. there's still conflict. but at the same time, there's something inside of me saying, this is amazing. nobody got up and walked out of the room. we all listened.

we created a platform. >> that special partnership is garnering national attention. in 2015, ahmada and her husband phil were invited to president obama's state of the union address by the first lady. and the president's task force cited csp as a model. >> we've made progress in one of the places where the tensions and the uprisings and the violence have been epidemic for decades and no one has an excuse for resisting these strategies anywhere in the country and that's a very hopeful thing. >> we proud of this program, we excited and we want to see it grow. ♪ ♪ >> in a place that has seen so many candle light vigils, the community now gathers in prayer to commemorate young lives saved, not lost. >> we have to get back to loving one another. >> ten years ago, this scene would have been unimaginable. and when ahmada takes the mike, she has a word for it.

>> this is a revolution. >> that's it. >> and this is the momentum that we need to make this community safe. ♪ ♪ >> you can start on a street corner, giving a smile, and immersing yourself in that community. and if you can get a community to forgive, forgiveness is truly powerful. >> and then they start to see beyond the uniform. they start to see you? >> they start to see you. coming up -- >> you are a farma guy and your own son dies of -- >> side effects. how could this have happened? >> a father's loss becomes a father's fight. >> the children's mental health industry -- >> it's broken. >> a lesson for every parent.

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from our home office at rockefeller center, the wisdom of david letterman. >> you know, when you and i were trying to get on television, >> tonight he sits down with tom brokaw for his first tv interview since leefrg late night? >> do you miss it? >> no. i thought for sure i would. >> so what's on his top ten list now? >> television doesn't do the sport justice. >> hence, he's all revved up. that's coming up later.

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even a ufh2o. [man] that's not good. [pilot] that's not good. [man] that's really not good. [burke] it happened august fourteenth,2008, and we covered it.talk to farmers. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ our next story is a cautionary tale about how the mental health industry serves our kids.

a dad, it turns out, who knows a lot about that industry. kate snow reports from new jersey. >> reporter: this is 10-year-old andrew francesco. racing down the hill near his new jersey home, on a snowboard he got from christmas. his dad steven cheering him on. >> all right! that was good! >> this is it. >> he wanted to show me the exact spot. >> what do you think of when you look at that? >> i just couldn't believe it. i was so proud of him. that's my son. that's my son. >> reporter: it was a rare moment of joy for steven and andrew. most days weren't like that. andrew had been struggling with behavioral problems since preschool. as loving and goofy as he could be -- >> it's what i do! [ laughter ] >> reporter: he could also be impulsive, disruptive, sometimes exploding with rage. >> i'm passing this park right here.

we had a huge fight there once. there were times when he was just impossible. >> reporter: diagnosed with adhd in kindergarten, andrew spent a lot of time riding in the car with his parents to doctor's appointments and pharmacies. >> we'd walk in and walk out hoping we had an answer. >> reporter: i have a list here. how many drugs was andrew on over the next few years? >> the astonishing thing about this list, this is nine years of his life. he has at least a dozen different drugs. >> reporter: did you get to a point where you just didn't want to make any more decisions about medicine? >> oh, god, anybody with children with mental health problems knows how challenging and demanding it is. and over time, you just get worn down. >> reporter: when he turned 14, andrew's doctors gave him a new diagnosis. obsessive compulsive disorder and terets syndrome.

and a new drug, seroquel from a category called atypical anti-psychotic. >> so it's to treat that symptom, not psychosis, not he's delusional? because you hear anti-psychotic and you think of someone who has a real psychosis? >> absolutely. a real psychosis. >> then one morning a year after andrew had started taking seroquel in higher doses, steven found him in bed, struggling to breathe and called 911. when everything happened, is this the way you went? >> yes, this is the way we went. i was in the back of the ambulance with andrew. you can start to see the hospital. this is the place where andrew was born. >> reporter: it's also the place where he died. >> where he died. >> reporter: that's why it's so hard. andrew had died from neuro leaptic malignant syndrome, an extremely rare side effect of

taking anti-psychotics. even though it was listed on seroquel's packaging. steven said he'd never heard of it before. >> this was an adverse side effect to taking high doses of seroquel. >> reporter: as prescribed by a doctor? >> that's right. >> reporter: after andrew's death, steven was in shock, grieving, but also feeling guilty. he thought he, of all people, should have been able to protect his son. >> first of all, i want to thank the fda for allowing me to speak at the forum. >> reporter: because steven francesco wasn't just a desperate parent, he was also a drug industry insider. >> i have 30 years in the pharmaceutical industry. 21 years with my own company. >> reporter: you rub shoulders with executives, with doctors with regulators? >> all the time, absolutely. >> you are a pharma guy, helping cell pharmaceuticals, helping increase access to

pharmaceuticals and your own son dies of -- >> side effect. >> reporter: it's the ultimate irony. >> it's part of what i agonize over when i thought, how could this have happened to me? >> reporter: steven started digging and discovered something, his son was one of thousands of kids taking drugs that it turns out doctors may not know much about. the anti-psychotic, seroquel, it was not approved at that time for kids, only for adults. his doctor had prescribed it off label. >> andrew was, in a sense, a guinea pig. they were testing whether this drug would work on him. >> reporter: but the doctors are allowed to do that? >> they are. >> it's so-called off label. they go off what the label says and guess that it might help andrew. >> that's right. and they're hoping. they're hoping. >> reporter: steven found that's true for the vast majority of kids taking anti-psychotics, doctors prescribe them offlabel to treat anything from dreation

to adhd to eating disorders. and yet only limited clinical trials have been done on kids to test whether these drugs work for those conditions. >> about one in every 80 or 85 kids are receiving an anti-psychotic sometime during the course of the year. >> reporter: columbia university proffer dr. mark olafson is a leading researcher on anti-psychotics. he said more and more kids are getting them for unapproved uses. is it safe? >> well, there are some safety concerns with these medications. many result in weight gain, they can increase things like cholesterol. and there are longer term things that are hard to study. we know less about the effects of this drug on the developing brain. >> reporter: steven said it all amounts to a vast offlabel experiment on kids. and he thinks the pharmaceutical industry, his industry, is the one that's profiting.

>> there's a lot of aggressive marketing of the drugs to the doctor. >> reporter: attorney james pepper said he has the evidence. he represents a former sale rep for astrazeneca. she said the company forced her to pitch unapproved uses of the drug to doctors. that can be against fda regulations. >> they looked at the bottom line. it's all about sales all the time. >> reporter: pepper showed us what he said is a company report listing doctors he and other sales reps called on doctors, some of them are child psychiatrists. >> reporter: as a salesperson you're not supposed to pitch drugs off label, correct? >> correct. >> reporter: but they're sending her to places where those drugs would have to be prescribed off label? >> that's absolutely correct. there was no other way for a doctor who treats children, except to prescribe it to a

children, which was an off label usage. >> reporter: pepper is representing his client in two whistle-blowing lawsuits against astrazeneca. the company denies the allegations. this isn't the first time ast astrazeneca had been accused of improperly marketing the drug. in 2012, they paid a half billion dollar fine after a department of justice civil investigation into how it sold seroquel, including for use in children. astrazeneca declined to talk to us on children, but told us, it's never pushed its sales reps to market seroquel off label. it says it trains his employees to meet or exceed industry standards, comply with the law and promote medicines in occurrence with fda regulations. steven francesco thinks the fda is part of the problem. >> as far as i'm concerned, the fda, in terms of regulatory activity is getting weaker and

yet there's huge amounts of medication being poured down kids's throats. >> reporter: less than a year after andrew's death, the fda did approve seroquel for use in kids with severe cons, skiso frenio and bipolar mania. but doctors continue to prescribe it off label, even to children younger than 2. we wanted to ask fda officials about the prescription of anti-psychotics in kids, and what they're doing to keep kids safe. they wouldn't talk to us. so we've come to a public meeting behind these doors. fda officials are talking about seroquel and its safety in kids. we invited steven to come along and watch too. >> strange being here because i what i know about this. >> reporter: at the meeting, a routine safety review, an fda scientist presented data about reported side effects to an

advisory panel of independent doctors. >> one of the kids that died is a 4-year-old. >> reporter: some doctors had questions about off label use. >> would it bear labelling to state there are no data to support use of this in attention deficit syndrome? >> reporter: in the end, the panel voted to keep monitoring the drug, without recommending new studies or new warnings for the label. we just listened to the fda panel talk about data from 2011 to 2015, safety of seroquel in kids. isn't that exactly what they're supposed to be doing? >> they're well intensed, but it really isn't enough. >> why not? >> because after all the discussion that went on, it's status quo. >> there's no such thing as a drug that is 100% safe whether it's on label or off label. >> reporter: peter pitts, former associate commissioner of the fda. he says they're doing the best it can to keep kids safe with the powers it has.

he says the agency can and does encourage companies to do more trials on kids, but it can't tell doctors how to practice medicine or stop them from prescribing drugs off label. steven francesco believes that what happened to his son, his son's death, is an indication of a much bigger problem. do you agree or is he over-generalizing? >> well, clearly the system didn't work for him. it failed for his son. but there are many, many millions of people who are regularly helped through off-label use of products. >> reporter: nearly everyone we spoke to from this report from the fda, to the drug industry, to doctors, all agree that more data on kids is needed. >> we need far more studies that are looking at the effectiveness and safety of the drugs as they're being used in the community. >> if you had to describe the children's mental health

industry, how would you do it? >> i can do it in a word. it's broken. broken. >> reporter: steven has given up on the industry, he's still a consultant. but he's set up a website where he hopes doctors and parents will share information about off-label psychiatric drugs. and he's written a book. it's a difficult read? >> it's a difficult subject. >> did you ever imagine that you would end up here? >> no. no. >> reporter: across from the hospital from steven's son was born and then died, he had one last thing to show me. oh, i see it. the spot where father and son scratched their initials in wet concrete, side by side. a lasting mark from happier times. coming up --

>> what's living in that beard? >> -- david letterman on the late night show he left. >> i don't know why they didn't give my show to a woman. >> and the family life he loves. >> i'm so in love with my son, he's 12 now. >> a candid conversation back home where it all began. >> my mom sold it for $30 million. 30 million. silky vanilla bean ice cream & rich caramel sauce all covered in thick chocolate. discover magnum, double dipped for double chocolate pleasure. which one'the one in white. introducing new all powercore pacs. just one pac delivers an astonishing clean. and keeps clothes up to 3 shades whiter.

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>> a mother of four, an honor student, two brothers, these are the faces of opioid abuse in america. what happens when prescriptions become addictions and how can we fight back, next week on "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. he gave us late night laughs for 33 years, but lately, you haven't seen much of david letterman. tonight a rare guest appearance. his first tv interview since his >> likely. we have a guy from orkin coming

out here later. i always told myself, when the show goes away, i will stop shaving. i had to shave every day from 20 till i was 68. roughly every day. and i got so sick and tired of it. if we win the indianapolis 500, i'll shave. >> reporter: bearded, david letterman was back in his hometown as a team owner to watch the indy 500 on the big day. he returns to indianapolis still a big star. but also just a neighborhood kid who made good. modest, unassuming, middle american to the core. >> look at how nice the neighborhood is. this is exactly the way it was when i was a kid. >> reporter: we stopped by the house where he grew up. his parents bought it for $8,000. >> $8,000, a two-bedroom house. and years later, when my mom moved out of there, she sold it for $30 million. 30 million.

>> reporter: he's been paid the big bucks for so long, he no longer has any frame of reference. >> how are you? >> calle . >> reporter: the folks on the block couldn't believe he came home. and asked about neighborhood memories. >> i heard a story about the people that lived across the street and somebody broke their arm. >> me. this one. scars right there. broke my arm, right there. and i broke my leg in that backyard. [ laughter ] >> and later i broke my nose down there playing football in the schoolyard. >> reporter: but that wasn't the end of his injuries. at his high school, he told us about the class boy. >> and the word got back to me that he was gonna get me. and i remember the day coming out here and sure enough, he beat me up. >> reporter: really? >> yeah, i got beat up right here. >> reporter: for no good reason? >> i'm sure there was a good reason, tom. you don't get a beating like that just for the fun of it. >> reporter: but just for the fun of it, in one of his old

high school hangouts, we met to look back at his career and look ahead at his life. but first, absent-minded dave forgot his trademark glasses. >> i'm going to look like somebody nobody knows. is there a lens crafter near here? >> reporter: yes, there is. >> i'm sorry sorry, everyone, for the delay. it's all my fault. excuse me. >> reporter: do you miss it every night? >> no, i don't. and it's interesting, i thought for sure i would. and then the first day of steven's show, whether he went on the air, an energy left me and i felt like, you know, that's not my problem anymore. and i've kind of felt that way ever since. i devoted so much time to the damage of other aspects of my life. concentrated, fixated, focusing on that. it's good now to not have that.

i couldn't care less about late night television. i'm happy for the guys, men and women, there should be more women. and i don't know why they didn't give my show to a woman. that would have been fine. >> did they ask you about who should replace you? >> no. oh, no. they didn't ask me about anything. they were just happy i was going. >> reporter: so now, david's favorite role is dad. >> i'm so in love with my son, who is 12 now. i think he's here. is harry here? there he is right over there. [ laughter ] >> reporter: actually, harry wasn't there. dave keeps him out of the spotlight. i'm sure you didn't regret you didn't have him earlier? >> no. but it could have happened much, much earlier, but i was tv boy and i didn't -- you know, i'm happy to have harry. i wish harry had a brother or a sister, you know, one or two, but thank god, because look at me, we just got in under the wire.

and i mean, we were barely let in. [ laughter ] >> reporter: he might have some regrets about starting a family so late in life, but he was married to his career. ♪ ♪ he did more than 6,000 shows over 33 years in late night. >> i want to tell you one thing, i'll be honest with you. it's beginning to look like i'm not going to get "the tonight show." >> i don't think so. >> [ bleep ]. >> let me see if i can repeat that order. you ordered something, a couple of tacos or something, chicken something, and a burrito supreme with no meat, is that correct? >> she's gone already, chief. >> i'm supposed to have braces when i was a kid, but i didn't. my parents used the money for a wet bar downstairs. >> reporter: growing up in indianapolis, he wanted to be

like his idol, johnny carson. >> here's johnny! >> reporter: carson was another mid westerner, who started small. so did dave. it doesn't get much smaller than a college radio station. when you were doing that with all ten watts, did you also think, maybe i can carry this all the way to los angeles or new york? >> no. no. all of that happened by accident. i'm not a man of vision, but i am now thanks to these new glasses. [ laughter ] you know, when you and i were trying to get on television, nobody got it. nowadays, everybody in here got their own show. we were up at lens crafters, they're all on tv. >> reporter: on his first day reading the headlines, his dad was watching. >> in the story, somebody was being honored posthumously, and i got a call from my dad, and he

said, you know that posthumously, and i said, what did i say? you said posthumously. and i said, oh, god, oh, no, i went to ball state. where would i have seen posthumously? >> i introduced somebody one time as the athletic director m emright us. >> that's delightful. >> reporter: he took out his cigar and said, i've got some arthritis and my dad's a little gout, but never have had emri t emrightis. >> now i don't feel so bad. >> reporter: dave learned more than proenunciation in his hometown. he developed his quirky, witty style, and at age 27, headed to los angeles. >> for now, this is dave letterman, wishing you a pleasant good night. >> reporter: why california?

>> california is why johnny carson was. and i knew from watching "the tonight show" that there was a place called the comedy store, where anybody could get up on stage and try to make people laugh. you work in the comedy store. from the comedy store, you get to be on "the tonight show." >> reporter: dave's routines caught the attention of carson's scouts. and after two years -- >> would you welcome, please, david letterman. david! >> the kind of thing i'll always remember, growing up in indiana is when dad used to tease me with the power tools. how many of you -- did you have that? [ laughter ] >> i would terrified by the guy. people would say to me, what was that like sitting there next to johnny carson? and i would say, it would be like getting on a city bus and you look over and holy crab, it's abraham lincoln. i've seen this guy on the $5 bill all my -- why are you riding on -- you know, it was like that. and i never got out from under it. >> reporter: even after knowing

carson for more than 30 years, dave was still intimidated. >> the last time i saw him, he and his wife, they had a boat, and they ended up up the hudson to the west side. they said, would you like to come and have dinner with us on the boat? the truth of it is, i didn't. i was just terrified. >> reporter: but he said yes. it was a beautiful summer evening, sailing around manhattan. >> then johnny had just a little too much wine. just a little too much wine. and he had a little edge to him. and here we are in the middle of the hudson and i'm thinking, oh, golly, he's going to turn on me. so what i did, i started talking to him about jack benny. >> reporter: his hero? >> and everything settled down. and i thought, thank god, i survived it. >> he was more complicated than the guy next door in so many ways. >> no. demons.

some demons. but who among us doesn't have some? >> reporter: when johnny decide in 2005, we found out later he wrote jokes for dave. like this one. >> there are two things, two man made things that are visible from 50 miles up. one, of course is the great wall of china, and the other, donald trump's hair. that's right. >> reporter: that was 11 years ago. what does dave think of donald trump today? coming up. >> that's part of the way we set it up. good luck.

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back at his old high school, david letterman told us he doesn't miss late night television. but when asked about this year's chaotic campaign, he zeroed in on donald trump. i don't know what his problem is. i don't know if there's pathology there. i don't know any of that. but you tell me the men putting together the constitution, witnessing this election, wouldn't they have just said, that's part of the way we set it up, good luck? >> reporter: you're absolutely right. he didn't cheat.

>> right, he has nothing illegal going on. he's despicable. at this school and everybody's school, you hear the great thing about america, anybody can grow up to be president. oh, jeez, i guess that might be true. >> reporter: he's now spending a lot of his time on projects that represent his other interests. for two weeks, he was in india, doing an upcoming documentary for the national geographic channel. and he appeared at the 75th anniversary of one of his favorite charities, the uso. >> and i said, who do you think i am? [ laughter ] and he said, walt whitman. >> reporter: and he wants to get involved in even more causes. >> i always told my friends, i would like to go to somalia and unload sacks of rice out of the back end of a c-130. i don't want it to be the david letterman this. i'm not going to have a big fund-raiser, where people are, oh, you get to play miniature golf with regis.

we're not going to do that. >> reporter: but he's also got time to indulge himself a bit and he was consumed by a certain race. >> i said if we don't win the 100th running, i have very detailed plans to fake my own death. you might get a mysterious e-mail from me, but you won't know anything more. >> reporter: it was the 100th running of the indianapolis 500, the biggest single sporting event on the planet. more than 350,000 people in attendance, and there he was. ♪ back home again in indiana >> reporter: not just as a spectator, but as a racing team owner. just a few miles from where he grew up. >> i'll tell you, and i don't know what it says about my upbringing, i never thought i'd get to come to the race itself. we were always of the impression, no, we're not going

to the race because it's too expensive. >> reporter: the admission then was just a few dollars. now he's worth hundreds of millions. for the son of indianapolis, the big race is life itself. his team driver is graham ray hal, the son of indy legend bobby rahal. car owner letterman was on edge as rahal started in the 26th position, and watched nervously high in the stands with his wife regina. but in the end, the winner was alexander rossi. dave didn't follow through on his threat to disappear, because his team didn't win, but that means the face fuzz will stay. >> nobody in my family likes it. my son says, it's creepy. and i can't dispute that. i said, i know, i know, mary, it is creepy. but it's also dad. and you're stuck with creepy old dad. coming up, from this proud dad to these.

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>> happy father's day. >> happy father's day. >> father's day is sunday, but you know what it's like when you're a kid. sometimes you just can't wait. so tonight, an early shout-out to dads at the kids's table. >> this is daddy swinging on monkey bars.

>> this is me saying, i love you, dad. >> when he's called to work, he gets on the train. >> sometimes he talks on the phone. >> when he's done with work, he goes back in his car and drives home. >> he just like sits there and works and just does stuff on the computer. it's really boring. >> he gets into his car and then he drives home. >> you mean like, what your dad does when he's at work. >> um, he goes to lunch, and that's all he does. >> i would tell my dad how thankful i am for him. >> i'm gonna get my dad a coffee and wine. >> i love you, daddy. >> i love my dad to the -- pluto and back.

>> i love when he tucks me in and gives me kisses when he comes home from work. >> thank you for playing with me. i really appreciate you as a father. >> thank you for take being care of me, being a parent and letting me stay up late. >> i hope that you live as long as i do, because i love you so much, i wish you would never go away. >> i'm going to say to my dad, happy coffee day, happy wine day. >> happy father's day! >> on behalf of all the dads, thank you. that's "on assignment" for tonight. i'll see you weeknights for "nbc next at 11:00 on nbc bay area, after two days oakland's interim police chief is out. exclusive details on troubling texts that could have led to him stepping down. how hot it will get this father's day weekend.

good evening. >> i'm here to run a police department, not a frat house. >> good evening to you. right now at 11:00, scathing and stern. late this evening oakland mayor libby schaaf drops another bombshell. another interim police chief has stepped down. that's only the beginning of the problems plaguing the opd. i'm peggy bunker. raj and