>> this is very different than the narrative that some people have painted that she is trappe takes herzy to smelanoindeent. she willecid wt she wants to do and what she doesn't want to do. >> melania trump, thank you very much. >> reporter: pulitzer prize winner mary jordan is the author of "the art of her deal," schusa viacom-cbs company. of course you asked to interview melania for this book. what happened? >> basically, no reply. the trumps, both of them make people who are around them sign nondisclosure agreements. they also quickly learned told people that knew melania when she was young, when she was model to not talk. >> reporter: the white house dismisses the book as fiction. but jordan says after several years and more than 100 interviews, a clearer picture emerged of a woman who grew up

dreaming of a life far way from her native slovenia. >> she is a girl who grew up in a really small town and couldn't wait to get out. she told everyone that. everyone i talked to in slovenia said she couldn't wait to get out of this town. she wanted to be where the action is. >> reporter: at first, young melania wanted to study architecture. but she was persuaded that modeling was a better option. and she found success doing mostly print work in europe, and later in new york city. she wed donald trump in 2005, became a u.s. citizen in 2006, and eventually sponsored her mother and father, amalia and viktor, to be u.s. citizens as well. >> and how about chain migration? how about that? somebody comes in, he brings his mother and his father. >> reporter: in fact, just days after their son-in-law made a speech blasting so-called chain migration, melania's parents took the oath, and in effect became chain migrants

themselves. politics aside, both are said to dote on their 14-year-old grandson baron, who has learned to speak their language. >> so baron trump speaks slovenian and is very close to the father. house living there.endugn t whi there is a unit within the family unit, and it's melania, her mother, her father and baron, and they all speak slovenian. it's kind of interesting. the secret service has no idea what they're saying. >> reporter: and donald trump doesn't have a good idea? >> no. and has said it annoys him sometimes. >> reporter: but melania has no problem making herself understood. >> she is quite influential. for instance, when donald trump was trying to figure out who to pick as his vice presidential candidate, he brought chris christie, newt gingrich, and mike pence. and had her vet them. she spent two days with the pences. and her advice to him was, you

know, pick pence because he'll be content to be number two. the others ones won't. they'll be angling for the number one job. >> reporter: but while melania has toed the trump party line in the fast, it's tough to tell what she thinks about his most recent decisions. >> i will deploy the united states military and quickly solve the problem. >> reporter: like advocating the use of force against people protesting the killing by police of george floyd. so people don't like what's going on with this administration, how much can they blame her? >> so this is a really tricky question, but i think most people that i've talked to about that say you're not really to blame for what your husband does, but i do think there's a special responsibility when you're in the white house. it's not j rar spouse. you a platform. now i know that she's using it in ways that we don't know,

because i scene hearing about all the influence and advice she has given him. she doesn't do it publicly, but it's -- maybe it would be even worse. for those who don't like trump, who knows what else he would be doing if she weren't whispering in his ear. >> i still think that most americans don't think they know the real melania trump. >> reporter: catherine jellison teaches history at ohio university. so it kind of important to know where the first lady stands because she does have the president's ear? >> i think pretty consistently in the modern era, first ladies have been sounding boards for their husbands. and occasionally have weighed in on policy matters, certainly mrs. clinton did, mrs. carter did so i think the american people want to know something about the family life of a president or a would-be president at the time of a presidential campaign. >> reporter: of course, a defining moment in the 2016

campaign -- >> hello, how you? >> reporter: was the infamous "access hollywood" tape incident. >> i think that was the moment that she had the most power, you know. trump is all about leverage and power, and that was the moment that melania really came into her own. >> i'm automatically attracted to beautiful women. i just start kissing them. >> reporter: this tape from an "access hollywood" hollywood shoot which surfaced a month before the>>ou c do anything. >> reporter: -- captured trump talking about women in the most vulgar, offensive way. >> he is saying because he is a star he can grab any woman and was using pretty lewd language. you know, if melania didn't back him up, if she walked away right then, he was toast. >> reporter: at around the same time, jordan write, melania was starting to renegotiate her prenuptial agreement. >> because she had wanted to do that during the campaign, no dummy, and she picked the right moment to try to get a br

deal out of him. >> reporter: and when she delayed her move to the white house, jordan says that gave her even more leverage.atid she get prenup? >> i don't kno des,t i'm hearing from multiple sources is she moved in at the right time and got what she wanted. >> reporter: of course, at 15 years, president trump's marriage to the first lady has outlasted both of his previous unions. he may call himself a great negotiator, but in melania, it seems he's met his match. is this -- is it a loving marriage, or is it a business deal? >> what i'm told is that there is more there than people realize. yes, they live i think what many people think is bizarrely separate lives. separate bedrooms, they have separate routines. but she's fascinating because we've never had somebody who only arrived in america at the

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a new video series produced in south africa is a surprise summer hit on netflix. debora patta goes behind the camera of "blood and water." >> reporter: more often than not, these are the stereotypical soat with africa.ped

but global lockdowns have challenged this. with more time on their hands, viewers worldwide have been accessing a diverse range of content. like the south african drama "blood and water." >> i've been living with this ghost my entire life. >> reporter: snapped up by netflix earlier this year, it was one of their top ten most watched series in the u.s. last month. netflix's dorothy gatuba says it shows africa in a completely different light. >> what is interesting is showcasing black talent on screen. you know, it's just beautiful to see. and in this day and age of black lives matter,oo swnha black livs do matter. >> ladies and gentlemen, your birthday girl -- >> reporter: the series is a teen drama with all the usual tropes of the drama. but the mystery being solved is far more serious, that of human trafficking.

>> i still am pinching myself. just to be a part of something so big. >> it doesn't make downof the people. it just makes you a joke. >> reporter: the 20-year-old is the show's breakout star. >> i think it's really important that we're being given this platform to control the narrative and, you know, tell african stories to the world. >> you're making the biggest mistake. >> reporter: she says technology has effectively rendered the world borderless. >> someone comes to south africa because of watching "blood and water," that is the power of putting content in people's hands. >> reporter: south africans have also used technology to unleash the creativity available at their fingertips. >> scene 1 and 2, take two, and action, keenan. >> sarah? hi. >> oh, hi. >> reporter: just ask the stars of the movie "cabin fever"

produced entirely during this country's pandemic shutdowns. actors turn their cell phones into cameras, their homes into a bitt.semlves. orwo are a couple in real life who also play a couple locked down in their own apartment in the film. >> you know, we're telling a good story, man can break down a lot of borders. >> yeah. >> we were like a huge cast telling this genuine human story. >> yeah, the human truth, yeah. because that's how you relate. you can only relate to somebody on a human truth. >> reporter: real people with real lives. >> we want to say that look, we are more than the starving, we are more than the civil wars. we are this human people. we grieve, we live we love. >> reporter: debora patta, johannesburg, south africa.

♪ that is the grammy winning country band formally ent antebellum. after 14 years ago, the members say they now realize the name has a historical link to slavery. they'll now be called simply lady a. vladimir duthiers has the story of the name. ♪ >> reporter: known for their delicate country sound, lady antebellum is making a loud proclamation. ♪ i don't know why >> reporter: hillary scott, charles kelley, and dave haywood have been making music for more than a decade under the name

laend antebellum. >> lady this, lady this, two guys and a girl. >> reporter: in this interview from 2011, the trio explains to ben tracy the story behind the name centered around the antebellum homes where they took their first group photos. >> we have it. i was okay. and he goes lady antebellum. >> it's different, right? >> that we sold her on it. >> i was okay, fine. if we are lucky enough to get a record deal, it will probably be the first thing to change. >> we were sure that it would be the first thing to go. >> but it stuck. >> reporter: it stuck for nearly 14 years. >> i can't breathe! >> reporter: but after nationwide protests over racial inequality, the band promptly dropped antebellum from their name and will move forward as lady a. they addressed fans writing we did not take into account the associations that weigh down this word, referring to the period of history before the ervil war which includes

ding, our hearts have been stirred with conviction, eypene injustices, blind spots we didn't even know existed have been revealed. >> i think what lady a. did is showing that if you have a past or a part of your identity, your bnd name, your song titles, you can change that. >> reporter: nashville-based music journalist marissa moss. there is a lot of fear in country. there is just a huge fear that if you speak out, you'll lose air play, that you'll lose fans. and i think it's a gross misund ou audience. >> reporter: in that same statement, lady a directly addressed a question many might be directly asking thismorning, why you only only making the ch now. they go on to say they can make no excuses for their lateness in this realization. what we can do is acknowledge it, turn from it and take action. vladimir duthiers reporting. that's the "overnight news" for this tuesday. for some of you, the news

continues. for others, check back later for "cbs this morning" and follow us online any time at cbsnews.com. reporting from the nation's capital, i'm chip reid. ♪ ♪ captioning sponsored by cbs >> o'donnell: tonight, anger over a deadly police shooting in atlanta. protesters have taken to the streets demanding justice forr-k killed by two bullets in the back. his family tonight with an emotional plea. >> not only are we hurt, we are angry. when does this stop? >> o'donnell: what we're learning tonight about the officer who could now face murder charges. landmark decision: the supreme court says employees cannot be fired for being gay or transgender. tonight the conservative justice who played a pivotal role. rallying cry: the president says he won't be covid shamed into

canceling his tulsa rally this weekend as the health director