our will is greater.e great, but >> narrator: for three decades.... >> deat sometimes is an important lesson... >> i, george herbert walker >> narrator: sevendential. elections....

>> a generation assumes new responsibilities... f >> narratontline has investigated the candidates... >> america's best days are yet to come. >> narrator: who would be president? >> i, william jefferson clinton, do solemnly swear... >> i believe we have to make the grght choices... >> we will meet sion with resolve and strength. >> do everything in our power to change the world. >> i, george walker bush, do solemnly swear... >> narrator: the moments that shaped them... >> i won let you down. i won't... >> let it be said we refusedo let this journey end. >> that future is our destiny... >> narrator: the presidents thee woulme... >> i, barack hussein obama, do solemnly swear... >> we have to heal the divides in our country. >> i am your voice. >> narrator: and now on frontline... >> that the end of this chapter of american darkness began here" >> narrat"the choice 2020". >> frontline is made possible by contributions to youpbs station from viers like you. thank you. and by the corporation for public brocasting. major support is provided by the john d. and catherine t.

macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org. the ford foundation: working with visionaries on the frontlines of social changedw woe at fordfoundation.org additional support is provided a by tams foundation, committed to excellence in journalism. the park foundation, dedicated to heightening public awareness of critical issues. and by the frontline journalism fund, with major support from jon and jo ann hagler. >> overnight, growing national unrest... >> narrator: with the nation in crisis... >> ...mobs sowing chaos in cities across the nation... >> narrator: ...this is the story of two candidates forged in their own crises... >> political pundits said there was no way it could be done!f >>e city would gather around with us... >> narrator: ...personal tragedies...mo

>> an aule accident killed the wife and baby daughter of biden... >> narrator: ...public.. controversie >> trump's newspaper ads contribute to the city's racial polarization... . >> narratochallenges that shaped them... >> anita hill comes to washington... >> the donald is facing an incredible cash crisis... >> i can't breathe! i can't breathe!>> arrator: ...and showow they would lead a country now in crisis. >> together, we are taking back >> narrator: "the choice 2020." >> ...in a battle for the soul of america. >> narrator: "trump vs. biden." >> "america wants to know!" >> welcome to "america wants to know i'm ernie anastas, and this is the... in 12, i hosted a special show in new york where viewers asked a lot of questionsbout their favorite celebrities. many, of course, were interested in donald trump, and whate was like as a young boy growing up in queens. i managed to catch up with donald's parents, mary and freda trum asked them, "what was donald's favorite game as a

child?"op >> he played my. yes, indeed. >> he liked to play. >> he played with his brother. >> he played with robert, but more than monopoly, he played with building blocks. >> ooh. >> aays with building blocks. >> narrator: but donald trump's childhood was much more complicated. early on, a family crisis, his mother seriously ill. >> when he was two-and-a-half, ilmy grandmother got very l. donald, who was at a very, very critical point in his development as a child, was essentially abandoned by her. he may not entirely trust women. he finds it difficult, if not on any deep level, because ithem don't believe he ever was ab to with her. >> when you ask him about how she showed her love,s

nothing to say. the complexity of that relationship, i think, plays out through l of his relationships with women throughout his life. with one wife after another. reach any recognizable level of intimacy. >> narrator: young donald had his own cr: finding his place a family dominated by his father, fred, a stern and demanding real estatdeveloper. >> i strongly suspect that heip had a relationith his father that accounts for a lot of what he became. and his father was a very brutal guy. he was a tough, hard-driving g who had very, very little emotional intelligence, to use today's terms.

>> donald's father's overall message to his children was-- and it was a very different o message to the boys thane girls-- to the boys, was, ompete, win, be a killer do whayou have to to win." >> arrator: inside the family, a harsh game of apprentice: who would take over fred's empire? the first in linwasn't donald, it was his older brother freddy. ou my father was sensitive, he was kind and gen he liked hanging out with his friends who adored him, and, maybe worst of all, although is hard to say, he had interests outside of the family business. my grandfather understood none of that. >> narrator: their father said freddy wasn't "a killer." he wanted to fly airplanes for a living. donald thought that was crazy.

>> he could not understand why fred did not go into the family business and be a builder like their fatheras. but fred wanted to be a pilot, and nald looked at that and said, "well, that's sort of like being a bus driver. why would you want to be a pilot?" >> narrator: donald watched as c freddy wt out. >> my dad couldn't do anything right, and my grandfather madeab his life mis. he was frustrated, and he began to realize that he, it't waoing anywhere. >> narrator: his life ended early in alcoholism and poor health. through the years, donald would take a much different >> he wanted to avoid my faer's fate of, you know, abuse and humiliation at the hands of his father. >> narrator: he warminedeart. to live up to his father's ideal-- be "a killer." (trumpet fanfare plays) >> ha! >> narrator: but he was also tempestuous, impulsive.

and at 13, his father sent him to military school. (students chanting) >> he must have said, "this d's going to grow up in a tough world, really tough world. if i want him to succe's going to have to be tough." >> he tas about it as almost this rite of passage. he said to mthat when he arrived at the military academ for the first time in his life, when he got out of line.he face >> narrator: it would be a five-year lesson in w to be a bully. >> donald trump yelled at his assmates. he pushed them around. he even used a broomstick as a c weapon againssmates who didn't listen to him when he told them what to do. culture of, you bekids of this when they didn't do the righ thing. >> you got hit. you may have gotten slammed against the ll. you were put in, in... you got put artificinto fights.

uh... >> he became a leader of the cadets. he became one of the student leaders who had a number of kidsnder him in the dormitories, and he ruled the dormitory life with an iron fist.ra >> nr: inside that brutal world, donald had found his place. >> his mother told me that he was never homesick. he loved it. it was also really competitive. her kids didn't really like him all that much. he wasn't that popular because he was so competitive. he was always looking for the edge. but it was, it was an environment that he thrived in. >> narrator: with his father and mother by his side, donald he'd become a killer, learned the power of bullying to get ahead: a method he'd carry into

the future. (military students chanting) td (beeping on counown) >> (stammering): hope to p... teach p.e. ...two s... (stuttering on "s") uh, s... sisters. well, my... ...father is very strict. >> among the many causes of retarded speech are low intelligence, hearing loss, emotional conflicts, poor methods of the teaching of

talking by the parents, brain injury, and many others. for example, a child may stutter as he comes out the early ages of retarded speech. crisis was stuttering.n's >> he came of age in a, another time, in which people... (stuttering softly) ...weren't as open about disorders or disabilities or setbacks... (stuttering)en he common... ...prescription was... "buck up. deal with it." >> narrator: dealing with it: a rough-and-tumble childhood in delare, his father a car

salesman fallen on hard times. for little joey, catholic hool. nuns. >> he had an assignment he had to memorize. he had to stand up and deliver it in the classroom. t >> narrato words were in front of him: "sir walter raleigh was a gentleman." >> when joe read it, it went... (claps out rhythm): "sir walter leigh was a gentle man." "say that again?" mmm... "sir walter raleigh was a gentle man." and this went on three times. h said "gentle man" instead of "gentleman." and... the nun said... (imitating nun): "mr. b-b-b-b-biden, what's that word?" and this is a person in a...

tsition of authority, this is a person who's meaprotect you. >> it was so embarrassing and so enraging that biden walked out of the room, he walked out of the school. he walked all the way home (car motor starts) >> narrator: joey's mom, jean, marched him back to the schoolt to confrs teacher. >> the sister starts telling her hodisrespectful joe is, and my mother, "stop." she said, "just tell me, did you make fun of my s?" "sister, did you mn of my son?" "well..." and my mother said, "well, i'll answer it for you. you sure in hell did. r and if you ever, ever, e that again, i'm going to come back and i'm going to knock your bonnet right off your head. do we understand each other?"

>> stuttering is a fear problem. the person feels fear, shame, guilt, tension. he's alws worried about what might happen. he might get into a situation, not be able to say his name, or lephone rings and he can't answer it. >> i was surprised at how oftenm this subjectup during my time with him. it helped me understand that so much of who he is comes back to. th that people are ready to make n of him. that people will laugh.li >> narrator: b, harassed, ridiculed, he was hell-bent on beatg the utter. >> biden would stand in front of his bedroom mirror holding at flashlo his face, and he would recite yeats and emerson. >> narrator: he kept pushing--

against the stutter, the p bullies-- and d off. >> people liked to be around him, he really had a presence. you knew him when he walked in. he was a little taller than most, and in very goodhape. he was a star football player on their team. >> narrator: joey biden found another way to fight back: politics. >> in high school, he's president of his senior class. honestly, that's when he gets a taste for it. the stutter is still part of him during his senior year in high school, whe he has to introduce his family at the, at graduation, and he has to stand there and not stutter, and say this publicly. d he does it. >> we want joe! want joe! >> narrator: in the crisis of

stuttering, a life method:ev pee. just push through. confer-- to conquer devastating diseases like cancer, and... not the end in, um, um, in themselves... the uaw took ex-- credible cuts in their future... >> many peop would say biden's stutter is a his most visible weaknesses, if not number one. but it's also a source of his strength. it's also... the main source of his grit and his... determination to just be

there, comting. >> this is the "cbs evening news" th walter cronkite. >> good evening. for seven months, new york city has teetered on the brink f ancial disaster. >> another piece of new york fell by the curbside tod for who knows how long. >> narrator: by the 1970s, new york city was in crisis. to keep the city fgoingruggle bankrupt. >> new york city suddenly comes apart. the city, for the first time, was losing population, as well as jobs. and losing its economic base. (siren wailing) >> new york was tatters then, but there were portunities everywhere you looked. the new york city of the early 1970s was made foromeone like donald trump. >> narrar: in that crisis,

25-year-old donald trump saw a chance for personal gain. he was struggling to make a name for himself, break out of his father's shadow. >> donald, from a very young age, wanted to exceed his faer and go into manhattan and be the success that his father hadn't been in terms of >> why? what's going on? >> narrator: trump took his shot. it started with a run-down hotel nearrand central station. >> the old commodore hotel was in such sorry shape that it had boarded-up windows, it had rodents all over the place. it was one of the markers of new york's sorry decline. and trump saw this as a grand opportunity. >> in new york city, the rate of unemployment is much higher than it is... >> narrator: it was an enormous gamble, but with the city on the brink... s >> athe city continues to stagger beneath the weight of its multiplying fiscal problems...

>> narrator: trump bd new york was desperate enough to pay him to transform the hotel. >> if the city would gather around with us, we can produce, with a lease, guaranteed by the state of new york, aew york city lease... >> narrator: but he was new to he needed a guide. he found roy cohn. >> roy, who was a rough-d-tumble fixer-- democrat, power within the democratic power strucre in new york city, close friend of mayor abe beame, close friend of carmine desapio, the boss of the manhattan democratic party-- i think he was, like, donald's ambassador to thed wo manhattan. disgraced for leading en mccarthy-era witch hunts, but trump saw him as a "killer." >> roy cultivated an image as a bulldog. nothing, nothing would stop him from tarring opponents or even doing illegal things. his pride and joy was buying people and bribing people and

making deals behind the scenes. he was a fixer. he was a connector. >> roy cohn was the kind of master of thdark arts. he was the person who helpede shump's approach to life. >> what he learned from roy cohn was never apologize, always attack. attack the character of your opponents, that they're somehowt maliciout they're somehow doing the devil's deed here. and, and let the publiknow that. that was roy cohn. >> narrator: cohn knew just how to get the t breaks trump needed to build his hotel. >> roy cohn, becauhis unique positioning within new york city at that tis get tax breaks.rtain strings, to ay>> narrator: new york taers would be on the hook forha more t$400 million. >> he is able to set up this

deal, which the state bills as a special new ogram, but isn't a special new program. it is just a giveaway to donald, tr tax giveaway. >> it's been a long, hard fight. how do you feel? >> well, i'm very happy, and i think the city of new york is gointo be very happy. >> narrator: he transformed the commodore hotel. with cohn's help, trump had thrived in crisis, used it to hiadvantage. >> the mayor and the governor of new york were among those on hand for the ribn-cutting ceremony... >> he got it done. heot it done by bulling his way through, by pretending to have more backers than he really had, by pretenng that he was actually putting large sums of money into it when he reallywa 't. uh, and the con worked. he got t money, he got the permits. he got it done. >> you use deception, you use intimidation. you use all ofhe tactics that you can find.

it is a utterly transactionalse e of the world. an"what's in it for me?" is kind of the founding credo. >> one of the things that donalm learned chool of dad and school of roy was that almost everybody has their price.ig whatever... it not necessarily be dollars, although it often is. it might be so vulnerability that won't be revealed. bu roy said that almost everyone, there's a pressure poin >> narrator: it uld become trump's playbook: exploit crisis, in business, in life, in politics. ♪ >> ♪ kennedy, kennedy, kennedy, kennedy, kennedy, kennedy, kennedy for me ♪ >> narrator: joe biden also hads

a role model: catholic, good-looking. joe emulated what he could. kennedy was drawto politics, biden was drawn to politics. jack had a ptogenic wife and children. joe had a photogenic wife and children. the kennedys had a family compound at hyannis port. the bidens would have a family compound in wilmington, delaware. >> joe biden was always fascinated by the kennedy mystique. w he really mself as a natural heir to that tradition. >> i'm joe biden and i'm a candidatfor the united states senate. tliticians have done such a job on the people th people don't believe them anymore, and i'd like a shot at changing that. >> narrator: but wiln was no hyannis port. >> we, the bidens, we had no money. bo had no power or influence. we didn't know a who was a

big name who could help us. >> hi, how are you? >> hi, how are you? >> joe biden's my name... >> narrator: like the crisis over his stutter, his political start was a struggle. behind in the polls, facing a powerful opponent: united states senator cale boggs, an ally of president richard nixon. >> joe biden asked me about getting involved in hisgn camp i started off by telling him that "there's no way you can win." cale boggs was the candidate he'd been a two-term congressman. two-term governo two-term senator. he was beloved around the state. so i said that he couldn't win. >>toaudacious" is a good ter apply to biden back then. this is a guy who wasn't yet old enough to hold the seat. >> narrator: it was a time of crisis in the country. the vietnam war had divided americans...

>> opposition to thear in vietnam has set off demonstrations in several major cities. >> narrator: ...igniting social unrest. in delaware, racial tensions boiled over. >> the national guard was called out in several cities to put r downiots. one of these cities was wilmington, delaware. ts>> narrator: black resid were angry. joe biden saw an opportunity to draw on his personal experience with race-- back when he was 19, working at an inner-city pool. >> he was a lifeguard. he was one of the two white guys. he was a tall, slim, uh...ok young-g, good-looking, elvis presley-looking kind of guy. >> that's how he got to know some of the guys who were in the gangs. he just seemed to have a natural instinct for getting to know people, getting to understand them, but not being afraid to be

around them. we became friends. we became friends. i was a very troubled child. okay?ad of a gang, no food at sme, electric cut off, no soap-- sometime p and water to take a bath, no hot water. >> narrator: joe and ricky-- he likes to be called "moe"-- forged a lifetime frip they both stuttered.ed demon: >> understand, back there for osblack, black folks back was retarded or yo orred, you you're-- something was mentally wrong with you. >> i'dtart with... >> so he basically told me, gohe toirror, look at yourself, pronounce your words. go and put your voice on tape. well, my wordsid chae. i started reading the papers

from the back-- from theack to the forth, back and forth. >> narrator: mouse intduced joe all around the neighborhood. over the years, biden kept in touch, building relationships in the bck community that would pay off. p he would go through this personalizing wiple. i never really heard him say, "i'm going to change the community. i'm going to deal with wiployment. i'm going to dea..." you know, the typical politician mess that you hear. i always tell people, be wary of any politician who tells youcr he's going tte jobs. he's lying to you. >> some people are in politics because they're in love with licy, but they're not necessarily in love with mans. he loves the game of it. he loves the dancef it. he loves meeting people. he loves hugging strangers.

>> narrator: it became his go-to strategy. >> president nixon's landslide didn't help the republicans... >> narrator: and in 1972, thatme od worked. >> some of those who did lose had been considered the most certain to win. >> narrator: the black community helped me joe biden a winner. >> in delaware... >> narrator: by less than 3,000 votes. >> ...whipped by 29-ye joseph biden. >> it was very close. and people were still surprised, you know, how this even happened. >> all of you have done something that the political pundits said there was no way >> (cheering)it could be done! >> that night, a the college kids were soxcited. a lot of us went to the hotel du pont ballroom. and it was packed, packed. and there was so much excitement in the air. i saw this woman coming through

the crowd, and i realized that it was neilia, joe's wife. and so i walked up to her, and i shook her hand, ani said, uh, "congratulations on your win." and she said, "thank you very much." and that was our exchange. >> the war of the trumps has ignited a battle of the tabloids. >> the unfolding saga of trump versus trump... >> a high-octane mix of the stuff that sells newspapers. >> narrato they called it "the divorce of t century": trump versus trump. >> it was on page one, page two. i likened it to world war iii. i never saw publicity equal to that. >> reports linng trump to a bevy of beauties... >> narrator: this time it was a crisis donald created himself.

>> ...passed as the other woman... >> narrator: he'd been cheating on his wife, ivana. >> he was in a real crisis, and there had been scandal after scandal in the tabloids.hi children were sobbing, ivanka was sobbing, donald, jr., was apparent not speaking to his father. and donald's mother said to someone who was very close to her, "i don't know who my son is anymore." >> narrator: the marriage that century had begun more than a decade before... at a trendy new york bar. she was a del out on the town with friends. >> donald came up and introduced himself. "hi, i'm donald trump, and i see that you're having a problem getting a table." so he went over to the maître, d', wext thing you know, the girls had a table. >> narrator: an immigrant from echoslovakia, she was going places.

what fred trump would call "a killer." >> the interesting thing about iva is, i consider her to every bit as ambitious as donald, d every bit as committed to remaking herself or creating herself. >> narrator: ivana zelníková had become mrs. trump, but that was just the start. >> she said to me, ", you know, m going to go work for donald." i said, "what? you're getting married and you're going to work? i never heard of anything like that. don't you get married not to go to work?" she goes, "no, i told him that i wanted a job. give me any job, i don't care what it is. i can't sit at home." >> i love to work. i like to see the final product. i just, uh, i don't care what kind of business it is in, orof what kinork it i i just adore to work. i can't sit home and look up at a ceiling, it's just not enough for me. >> she was driven, too. driven, dren, driven. ivana trump was donald's... like they were born from the same sperm.

donald and ivana mimicked each other., you kn they were like a ball of fire. >> its opening party was one to end themll. guests-- thousands of them-- >> narrator: together, they headlined trump's biggest re estate project: trump tower. and as he expanded into atlantic city, she became c.e.o. of o of the casinos in manhattanshe took charge of the iconic pza hotel. but it would not last. >> ivana, in the beginning, thai was greawas very refreshing. he had this powerful woman by his side, but it grew tiresome for him. and why did it grow tiresome for him? trump's orbit.are no co-stars in there's only one spotlight, and it's on him.

>> when things wt well, he beme enormously jealous of the attention she got. and when things went poorly, he became extremely gry and insulting and vindictive toward her. >> narrator: during ivana's renovation of the plaza, trump's resentment bled over. >> we came in and saw the finished room, and the first thin he didn't like the furniture, and he started cursing out ivana. ffand he pulled the drawer piece of furniture, he was so angry. i, i-- i never saw him so any in my life. he was very scary that day. he was very, very angry. >> do you all argue? >> narrator: in public, trump made it clear how he felt. we shouldave world record-setting fights. but we really don't. we get along very well, antheris not a lot of disagreement, because ultimately, ivana does exactly as i tell her to do. ( ughing, exclaiming) >> see, wait a minute... >> male chauvinist >> right, right, men?

is that right? huh? pplause) (cameras clicking) >> narrator: in the eye of the tabloid storm,vana said she was doing everytng she could to hold onto her life anher power. >> she starts weeping. and i said, "ivana, what is it?" and she says, "you, you don't's know what itike. you just have to deal with him i have him 24 hours a day." and i felt so terribly sorry. mean, she really did everything she possibly could ta donald, and i think she got the short end of the stick. >> a marital split between the billionaire builder... >> he wants out. there's rumor of another woman. and the wounded wife... >> narrator: but forrump, the crisis was made-to-order. l heeaked stories to feed the media firestm. >> one othe things he really learned from roy was the manipulation of the celebrity press, the so-called society press: page six, "the daily

news"... he plays them like a piano. >> new york's tabloids, having a field day, report... >> these tactics and techniques that he learned over time, that he picked up from roy cohn and his father, and everything he gleaned from thoseeople could be directed at the closest people in his life,in inclhis wife. >> narrator: this personal lesson: never sharr another life again. >> we've seen it in trump's presidency. when aides become too out fron in their own right, he reacts d ways that sort of shove those figures ban to maintain the role of primacy that he not only seeks, but need

>> narrator: he's 30. joe biden had it all. three children, wife neilia at his side, about to take a seat in the senate. >> i was assigned to do a long, long piece on him. something like, you know, "young mr. biden goes to washington." that's when i spent a good bit of time with joe. and i had lunch with neilia in the course of doing this story, and i just thoug to myself, you know, this couple, you know, really has everything. >> it's a love story. he met her on a beach in spring break in college.hi they fell, wdays, madly in love.

>> neilia was the love of his life and it was really aer happily-fter tale. until it isn't, abruptly. >> narrator: ben and his sister val were in washington setting up the office, hiring ar stf, when this hit. >> the phone rings, and val gets it. and biden is sort of paying attention, and then he really starts paying atteion when he sees her face. >> i got a call from jimmy biden. and he said, "come home, now. there's been an accident." and neilia was in the car, the restation wagon, wh the >> neilia was literallynd naomi. bringing home the christmas tree, with the kidin the car, the three kids in the car. (siren blang) >> narrator: campaign flyers from the car helped identify

the bodies. >> she was hit broadside by a tractor traile and she and naomi, who sat behind her in the car seat, they died instantly. and beau and hunter were seriouy jured. >> and he... he knew, he knew. he knew from the look on her face. >> my brother looked at me and said, "she's dead, isn't she?" and i said, "i don't kno joey." i did know.e. jimmy told >> narrator: his sons were in the hospital hours away. >> the pain cut through like a shard of broken glass. i ben to understand how despair led people to just cash it in; how suicide wasn'just an option, but a rational opti. >> in six short weeks, he went

from being on top of the world to being a young widower, a father of two children, and-- a single dad-- and a man with, you know, a broken heart. >> narrator: he got to the boys; they were all that was left. broken hips, legs, arm beau was alcut up and hunter's skull was fractured. >> since the accident, biden himself's been living in a hospital in wilmington, delaware, taking care of his sons. today, the senator took his swearing-in ceremony... >> joseph biden, democrat of delaware... >> narrator: somehown pulled it together. they held a swearing-in ceremony at the hospital. >> it means lot to me. i appreciate it, and i hope that i can be a good senator for y'all. i make this one promise, that if conflict between my being as a good father and being a good

senator, which i hope will not- occur-i thought would, but i hope it won't-- i promise you that i will, will contact governor-elect tribbitt, as i had earlier, and tell him that we can always get another senator, but they can't get another father. >> nartor: the road ahead for joe biden would be tough, stuttering and the uphill political battle. woonce again, in crisis, hd persevere.oi >> valerie's to help raise the children. he's going to have a jobn washington and a home in wilmington, and he's going to ride that train back and forth. 's going to be home for dinner every night with his kids and his sister.'s and thoing to be the family unit. it's not the one he chose, but .that's going to be the o >> you don't lose a wife and child at the point ilife that he did and not grow from it. you learn from those kinds of experiences.

what you do, though, is, like, uh, muhammad ali said one time, "i've never been knocked down. b i was alwan getting up." so joe just never been knocked down, he's always been getting up. >> for some people, the ultimate goal... >> narrator: the question was first asked on tv when he was 34 years old. >> would you like to be the president of the united states? >> i really don't believe ia. would, r but i would like to see somebody as the president who could do the job.he >> narrator:uestion would not go away. >> ...political, presidential have talked to you about whether or not you want to run. would you, would you ever? >> probably not, but i, i do get tired of seeing the country ripped off. >> you've been hinting that you could do it better and you do intend to run for president at some point? >> no, i'm n president.run for >> yeah, but if you want something done right... >> do it yourself. (audience ughter)

>> not only does his ego get fed, he gets a nice note from richard nixon, who's sn him on television. >> mrs. nixon told me that you were great on the donahue show. she predicts that whenever you decide to run for office, you will be a winner! >> donald proudly framed this letter and showed it to me at the time we were working together on interviews. >> narrator: he'd made his mark in manhattan exploit economic crisis. now he'd take on another crisis and n.ise his profile yet agai >> it is christmas eve in new york and the talk of the town is not peace on earth, but the violence among us. >> ...vigilante who shot and wounded four young men over the weekend...ha >> tve it happen in new york city, unbelievable. >> ...in the new york city version of a racial lynching... >> the man is dead, somebody got to go to jail for that.ju >> no ice! >> narrator: crime and racial tensions were tearing new york city apart. >> and not one killia hundred killings, are going to stop us from going where we want

to go. >> narrator: trump szed on one headline. >> a jger is fighting for her life after a brutal attack in central park. >> she is a white wall street investment banker, her black in the media.ng called animals rape has provoked e in ad gang city filled... >> it is the ages of the accused, 14 to 17 ars old, and the horror of their leged crimes that has caused a furor. >> the defendants are about to have their two months in court. raymond santana, yusef salaam, antron mccray. they are finally through... because there's a rush to solve the crime. >> narrator: yusef salaam's arrest was at the center of the storm. >> we became what was wrong. we became expendable. >> trumpaw this classic tabloid story. he saw his role and his position instinctively. h he knew inis heart that those guys were bad.

>> narrator: as in so many other areas, his attitude towas race w shaped by his father. >> he was being raised by a father who was discriminating against african americans in the very first apartments with the trump name. he was raised in a setti where the people of color and the black people that he saw were him-- it was his father's driver. >> they were just a very ract family, you know. people of color, you know, african americans in paicular, jewish people, women were all considered fair game. and, you know, racism,em antim, and misogyny were very common in my grandparents' house, and...wa it was just thit was. >> trump took out full-page ads four city... >> narrator: trump took the extraordinary step of buying a full-page ad in four new yk newspapers. >> trump's newspaper ads contribute to the city's racial polarization...

>> we haven't even g trial yet. two weeks passes, and we are essentially given a death sentence... with this ad. >> they should be exuted for their crimes. i want them to understand our anger. i want them to be afraid. >> and then he signs his name at the very bottom. people don't sign their name to things that they're not proud of. >> the ads are basically a very strong and vocal... they are saying, "bring back law and order to our cities." >> this adas a whisper into the darkest, most sinister parts of society. >> you better believe that i hate the people that took this girl and raped her brutally. you better believe it. and it's more than anger, it's hatred. and i want society to hate them. >> trump found a way to insert himself into the story, to gnal where he was on these issues.

and began to learn the lesson that if you can capture that fear, and you can become the champion for those afraid people, that there's a lot of political opportunity in that. >> hey! hey! ho! ho! all the racists have to go! >>arrator: in the process, trump had touched a nervemp and found a hetic audience. >> i've never donenythingd that's caua more positive st-- i've had 15,000, 15,000 letters in the last week and a half. i don't know of more than two or three that were negative out of 15,000. >> he's learning how to dip his y e in and out of these remarkably raciacendiary issues. he's learning how to dog- whistle, he's learning how to signal, um, and also learning how to do that while keeping a little bit of distance. >> more than a decade later, new information has own the case... >> there were cheers in a new york city courtroom today... >> turns out they apparently got thwrong guys. >> the central park five were

released from prison. >> it turned out another man entirely had done this rape, and these kids were innocent. they'd been not only publicly exonerat, but officially exonerated. >> narrator: but trump would noz apolthen, nor over the years when the subject came up. >> we went to prison for a crime that we didn't commit. still to this day, we still have not been apologized to from the people who harmed us in that way, tt polical way, right? >> narrator: it was part of the roy cohn playbook that trump continued to use: fan the fires of division, get what you want, move on. >> you can almost draw aht straine from what he did with the central park five to then onto birtherism.th i meane is something wiin donald trump that makes issues-- very, very divisive

particular part of theat a electorate or the population, that, in one w or another, stir things up. >> thank you very much. (cheers and applause) >> narrator: after 14 years in the senate, joe biden was going for the g one: running for president. it was a family affair. the boys were older now. he had remarried, had a new daughter. >> you know, he said, "let's just test the waters." and so i said, "all ght." i mean, it sort of just snowballed, and we were into it, re.ly, before we even knew >> narrator: but as he smpaigned, he headed towa another crisis stemming from a persistent question:did he stand for? t >>nk that's always been one of his challenges.

as he trieto go for president, he casts about for what he wants to say. he casts about for the issues he wants to put forward, and what he wants to say he believes i and it, and it feels cast about. >> narrator: then, one day, a video. a ory that would give himg somethin say. >> why am i the first kinnock in a thousand generations to be ablet to university? >> narrator: o tape, biden studied it. he later wrote, "the ad was riveting; i couldn't take my eyes off neil kinnock." >> was it because thwe were ? those people who could work eight hours underground and then come up and play football? weak? >> biden could put himself into the neil kinnock story, family in scranton, pennsylvania, family in the mines. and so, in a sense, he absorbed the kinnock story and making itw

hi >> the campaign begins in earnest with the first votes for the next president in iowa. >> the candidates spent ch of yesterday fanned out... >> narrator: in iowa, during the primary, he took kinnock's words, made them his own. >> and now mr. biden. >> thank you very much. i started thinking as i was coming over here, "why is it that joe biden is e first in his family ever to go to aer unty?" >> he got up there and he gave his speech, and he got to thed, he last three minutes, and he gave kinnock, but he did not attribute it to kinnock. >> is it because they didn't work hard? my ancestors who worked in the coal mines of northeast pennsylvania and would come up after 12ours and play football for four hours? >> joe biden borrowed it and applied it to his own life, and made a moving sort of aria, a moving sort of part of a speech about his own life, which in fact had been taken from neil kinnock. i ope you'll consider me.

thank you very much. >> and that concludes the economics for america debate. >> democratic presidenal candidate joseph biden today faces a controversy. >> biden seems to be claiming kinnock's vision-- and life-- as his own. >> narrator: it became front- page news. h biden has been caught w sudden embarrassing comparison of his recent campaign speeches. the first example came from eat britain. >> why am i the first kinnock in a thousand generations to be able to get to university? >> and i started thinking as ir wacoming ore, "why is it that joe biden is the first in his family ever to go to a university?" >> narrator: his campaign said it was a mistakethat he had cited kinnock other >> for a second time in two weeks... >> narrato but then, the avalanche. >> he looks like a joe biden wind-up doll, with somebody else's words coming out... >> narrator: allegations of failing to cite a source in ala school paper... >> plagiarized a law review article... >> narrator: taking lines from his political idols, the kennedys... >> one from john kennedy's

inaugural, others from robert kennedy-- their words from the lips of joe biden. >> whehe was accused of plagiarism, we felt that, you know, his chacter was being attacked. and it sort of took us back. >> thank you for coming, i apologize for not being able...a >> nr: in trouble, biden tried to do what he'd always done. >> i did not say"to paraphrase neil kinnock." i should have. >> narrator: apologize. s i should have known it robert kennedy's quote. i did not know that. >> narrator: admit his mistakes. >> i've done some dumb things. and i'll do dumb things again. >> narrator: persevere. my learning curve is moving on this presidential race. and i wanna tell 'em all: i'm in this race to stay, i'm in this race to win, and here i come! thanks a lot, folks. (applause) >> narrator: he thought he could but then...nd him. >> this does not mark the beginning of a better week forse senator biden. today he's having to defend what heas said in public about his

record at law school and what the record really shows. >> one real quick question, what law school did you attend and where did you place in that class? >> narrator: insulted, his anger was on full display. >> i think i probably have a much higher i.q. than you do, i suspect. i went to law school on a full academic scholarship... sensitive to the perception that he's being disrespected. and when that happens, those are the moments when he tends to erupt. >> the only one in my, in my class to have a full academic holarship. and, in fact, ended up in the top half of my class, i wonte the ational moot court competition... >> but syracuse university law school rords released by biden just last week show he sought a partial, notull, scholarship, for financial, not academic reasons, that he finished not in the top half, but 76th out of 85 students. >> joe biden comes off as somee who has a lot of self- confidence, but obviously, there's an imposter syndromec dyna work here. because if you feel like you have to make up stuff about

yourlf and invent stories th are not your own, and then do it in such a self-destructiveay in which you can be caught, that eaks to a level of character,nl and certaiinsecurity, that is common among a lot of politicians. d >>ightful to see you all here. you know my wife, jill. >> pulling out of the 1987 presidential race was really devaating to, to joe and to and to our family. >> the exaggerated shaw of those mistakes has begun to obscure the essence of my candidacy and the essence of joe biden. >> he recognized that this was a fatal blowo his hopes of winning the nomination in 1988. i think it was a very painful decision. >> thanks, folks, my wife and i thank you very much. >> narrar: biden lost this fight... >> delare senator joseph biden dropped out of the hunt... >> joe biden blames mostly himself... >> narrator: he returned to the persevered throughl.s method--

>> real estate developer donald trump opened his new casino, the taj mahal, in atlantic city >> is this the ehth wonder of the world? the taj mahal shines as trump's slickest deal. >> narrator: the biggest crisis of donump's business career began with one giant bet. >> it certainly represented something bigger and bolder and probably what was going to be the greatest statement ever made in atlantic city. and so, it was a big deal. it was a big deato donald. >> narrator: the casino was the size of two football fields. trump said he spent $14 million on chandeliers. his bet-- $1 billion.lk (people tag in background) >> people were mobbing donald. was shocked, i couldn't believe that, you know, asking him for his autograph and

everything. i mean, he had just catapulted into this rock star. >> narrator: in tv reports, trump bragged that he was the ason the taj would be a success.ah >> the taj mal needs to make over $1 million a day to cover expenses. trump says his business sense and ego will make it happen. >> ego is an ieresting thing. i mean, i've always been referred to as somebody with a big ego, but i rlly believe that i've never met a successful person without a very large egoh and if you done a big ego, you're not gonna be successful-- it's as simple as that.to >> nar ego was central to trump's method, but there was something else-- positive thinking. a technique he'd learned with hifather at this manhattan church. it was the place to be seen fo business leaders, socialites, politicians, and the trumps. >> every sunday, hwould show up at marble collegiate church services.norman vincent peale's

>> the god who made this world was a wise god! he wants people who live life and like it. love it. >> i think part of it was this positive message that peale had, that you could achieve anything u wanted-- there was nothing that could stop you.r: >> narraeale's book, "the power of positive thinking," ught followers isualization," envisioning the world that they wanted. >> one reason that the positive thinker gets positive results is, he is not afraid of a problem. >> it's this toxic positivity that perfectly fit in with whatd my gther already thought. everything's great, you know, hed if you think that way, the problem is, evng ist. not always great. >> how, then, can you face the future with confidence?

>> thehree influences on donald trump, as i sometimes describe them, are school of dad-- school of fred trump-- school of roy-- roy cohn-- and school of norman vincent peale. rr narrator: it was peale's kind of outlook that d trump into atlantic city, with the vision of his name in lights trump plaza, trump castle, then the bilon-dollar trump taj, paid for with junk bonds. or i don'think donald trump spent one minuteing about debt. if he introduced doubt into his life, the whole, the whole thing would unravel. >> narrator: trump was warned repeatedly he was headed for disaster. but he dismissed the warnings. >> he doesn't really like hearg bad news. an optimist sometimes is so optimistic that they don't want to hear anything, that even ifri they're headint off a cliff, they might not want to hear the news.

>> what worries so analysts is the amount of junk bond debt trump has incurred to build the taj hal. >> narrator: inevitably, be reportern to question whether trump's vision could be elofitable. >> trump says heves they will. >> the taj mahal is going to be a tremendous success. y narrator: that's when trump turned to a key hn lesson: attack the media. >> when cnn tried to pe some of these matters with trump, this is what happened. >> do this interview with somebody else. >> we talked about this yesterday on the phone. s exactly what we talked about... >> do the interview with somebody else, really. you don't need this. i with somebody else. and have a good time with it, because frankly, you're a very negative guy and i think it's very unfair reporting. good luck. >> it's just classic denial. if you're an expert and you agree with donald trump, you're a genius, buif you're an expert and you disagree with him, you're a loser. >> narrato he ignored the experts, but ty had been right. >> trump's casino businessill file for bankruptcy next month. >> narrator: trump's casinos declared banuptcy...

>> the word is, "you're bankrupt." >> narrator: after bankruptcy... >> all three casinosre facing bankruptcy. >> narrato after bankruptcy. >> ...chapter 11 bankruptcy protection... c >> narrator: tlapse of the casinos devastated trump's investors and atlant city. >> bankruptcy is a situaon where peoplere losing, they're getting pennies on the dollar. the banks clearly lost out. so did the people oftlantic city, who lost jobs, whoost their tax base. that's what happens in a bankruptcy and that's what happened in these atlantic city bankruptcies. >> narrator:ut trump, as always, refused to admit failure. >> that is sort of norman vincent peale, hold tenaciously, hold on to this image of yourself as scessful. never let go of it. never let the idea of failure enter your mind.it >> and i cal beautiful puzzle. >> narrator: the crisis in atlantic city also sied another method trump would come to rely on... >> i know more about isis than the generals do, believe me.

>> narrator: believe in yourself over experts... >> the experts are terrible. look athe mess we're in with all these experts that we have. >> narrator: reject the ysayers... >> we have it totally under control. it's one person coming in from >> narrator: declare victory no matter what. >> and we have it under control. it's goi to be just fine. ha>> president bush said hno doubt clarence thomas will be confirmed to the u.s. supremeur >> thomas will try to persuade the senate that he has... >> narrator: 1991. joe biden, now the powerfule chairman of nate judiciary committee, was facing his biggest crisis yet: allegations against supreme court nominee clarence thomas. this affidavit charged that thomas sexually harassed a er employee, anita hil >> good evening, we begin tonight with the pottial for political explosion on capitol

hill. >> clarence thomas ran into trouble today... >> questions are growing or charges of sexual harassment against thomas... >> it seems to have been a nightmarfor joe biden. as a man, he felt uncomfortable about it. a hite man, he felt uncomfortable taking clarence thomas, a black man, on about it. um, and the whole subject matter just made him incredibly uncomfortable. >> another witness has come forward against thomas... >> news of a second woman who once worked for thomas... >> narrator: biden was at first fyluctant to have hill tes but the story was exploding. >> there were actually three other women, oer than myself, who were willing to testify, who had actually said they called senator biden's office and, andi offered own testimony. >> narrator: angela wrightr offered heown stark allegations against thomas, which thomas denied. >> he asked me, in one situation, what size breasts, my brets were.

he told me he wanted to date me. is is a mawho has, who, in my opinion, has often spoken inappropriately to women.tt >> but com chairman biden conceded tonight that new information about the allegations hacome in... >> narrator: with the pressure mounting, biden agreed to let the women testify. >> the hearing will come to order. >> welcome, professor hill. professor, do you swear to ll the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you god? >> i do. >> thank you. >> narrator: biden's committee was all white men. the "men of the senate," as >> there was not agle woman who might have understood her fory from a woman's point view. >> can you tell the committee what was the most embarrassing of all the incidences that you have alleged? >> i think the one that was the

most embarrassing was his discussion of, of pornraphylv ing the women with large breasts and, and engaged in a variety of sex with tfferent people or animals. that was the thit embarrassed me the most and made me feel the most humiliated. >> he's kind of in the middle of the road.ut i'm a rn woman, and i've always heard that the only thing in the middle of the road is s.roadkill and yellow stri and that you have to take a ecposition and you have toe what you stand for. he didn't know whose side to come down on. >> thank you. my time is up undeour agreement. let me now yield to my friend from pennsylvania, senator specter. >> narrator: biden's close friend, republican arlenhe specter, ledharge against hill.

>> i find the references to the alleged sexual harassment no only unbelievable, but preposterous. >> narrator: he cast doubt on her memory.bl >> how relis your testimony in october of 1991 on events that occurred eight, ten years ago? >> narrator: he suggested sheng was exaggera >> you took it to mean that judge thomas wanted to have sex with you, but in fact he never did ask you to have sex, rrect? >> no, he did not k me to have sex. >> that was an inference that you drew? >> yes, yes. >> my, my red light is on, thank you, very much, professor hill. thank you, mr. chairman. you, professor hiltor, thank >> joe biden allowed members of that committee to grill professor hill in a way that was inappropriate and humiliating. he could have done something to some comfortwith some support, but that didn't happen.

>> narrator: biden gave clarence thomas the last word. he strongly denied the allegations. >> this is a circus. it's a national disgrace. and from my standpoint as a black american, as far as i'm concerned, it is a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks by a coittee of the u.s., u.s. senate, rather than hung from a ee. >> very powerful. i mean, what it did was, it shamed these white senators. and it certainly seemeto shame the democrats, who had just been acsed of lynching a black man. (gavel bangs) >> narrator: with that, biden thved to wrap up the hearings. angela wright another women accusing thomas would not testy. he'd end up voting against thomas, but his handling of the

hearing damaged him politically. >> it made him the face of an out-of-touch body. and really wounded his prospects of a future run for president. he had some work to do, he had some reputationarehab to do. >> narrator: biden turned to his method for survival in crisis: acknowledge the problem and repair the damage. >> joe is always able to say, "yeah, i didn't handle thatit right. let me see what i can do better the next time." arol moseley braun has entered political history. she's the first african american woman elected the u.s. senate. >> big changes here, a kind that have history written all over them. >> narrator: "fixing things" began by recruiting the first black woman elected to the united states senate.ng >> braun's or the clarence thos hearings turned her into a cdidate.to >> nar biden wanteto make sure moseley braun joined his committee. >> i made joke, which he

didn't think was funny at all. i said, "you just want anita hill on the other de of the table." he did not laugh.he didn't thinn he still probably doesn't. (laughs) >> narrator: but he convincedei her d diannetein to join the committee, beginning, once again, to rebuild. ♪ >> my name's donald trp, and i'm the largest real estate developer in new york. i own buildings all over the place, model agencies, the miss universe pageant, tliners, golf courses, casinos... >> narrator: having prd in spite of personal and financiacrises, donald trump wad.now making crisis his br for 14 seasons, he played the role of a mogul, as if he were still one in real life. >> his financial dynasty

topplingike a house of rds... >> narrator: in the wreckage of atlantic city, trump had changed course... >> trump's name once meant gold. today, it means trouble... on what had been a sidedown business: celebrity. he's always saw himself as a potential tv or entertainment star. it's another part of his, his personality, is, he likes to be an entertainer. >> donald trump.ar >>tor: on tv... >> it's the donald, oh, my god! elps softly) >> excuse me, where's the lobby?r: >> narraovies... >> down the hall and to the left. >> thanks. >> the donald is here... >> narrator: in the ring... he always played the same charter: himself. >> (laughs wildly): oh, my god! the hostile takeover of donald trump... >> what he was selling w a brand.ea he lrned that he just had to keep being relevant. he just had to keep being talked about, even if it meant being notorious. ♪ >> narrator: they built a false bodroom on the vacant fift

floor of trump tower. >> my first time meeting donald trump, we walked into the boardroom, we were seated. and about 20inutes later, the cameras starng rolling and donald trump walked in. >> the show transformed donaldum into this persona... >> okay, folks, i'm really busyo today, so we'rg to go quickly. >> who almost completely redeemed the pre-"apprentice" donald trump...s >>little treat, u're going to see the nicest apartment in new york city, it't my ant. >> in ways that are so substantial and so deep-seated that, would "the apprentice" not see him running for president. >> narrator: every episode was a crisis. >> you're fired-- you'reired. u're fired. you're no longer with us-- you're fired. i have tsay you're fired. >> please, please... >> i havno choice and i have to say that you're fired. >> narrator: the carefully

choreographed drama hooked the audience, keeping them coming back for more. t >> what's th ethos of reality tv? it's that fighti is the best state of human life. it's that life is a competition. it's zero-sum. has got to lose.somebody else >> donald trump... >> narrator:onald trump had become a reality tv ar, inside millions of homes every week for years and years. >> after "the apprentice," he was donald trump on steroids, you know? (laughs) it's, like, this guy was bigger than life. he was everywhere. >> reality tv show host-- u.s. president? >> narrator: it was time for trump to take his brand to the nextevel. >> donald trump's recent white and beyond...ion has gone above >> narrator: he would run for president. entertainment is now a central part of american politics. donald trump actually decided that you can fe everything

that he had learned about celebrity and entertainment and ratings from having been o"the apentice" into a presidential campaign. a >> narrator: hisouncement mirrored "the apprentice." >> it was staged just like a "celebrity apprentice" thing. we had staged one of the "celebrity apprentice" things in that same place, the camera angles were the same, the ghting was the same. >> he understood the drama of coming down the escalator. the orchestration of it recognizes his showmanship. he's a showman abo all. >> a crowd filled out with, yes, with actl actors who were promised 50 bucks a pop to simulatenthusiasm for him and play a role in a similar way to the way that he was playing a role. >> ladies and gentlemen... i am officially running... >> (cheering)

>> for president of the united states... and we are going to make our country great again.ar >>tor: the developer who went bust, the reality tv star,y was on his wharnessing the power of crisis and conflict, image ov reality. >> another day, another entry in the presidential race. j delaware senat biden is the ninth democrat to jump... >> narrator: it was 2007. joe biden was running for president, again. but that very day... >> it sure isn't easy running for president these days... >> narrator:t all blew up. >> this was not a good day for joe bin, was it? >> no, it really wasn't, katie. >> ...just got into the race today, and no sooner than he did, he talks his way into a national contrersy. >> ...spent much of the day discussing these comments he made to a newspaper reporter about senator barack obama.

>> i mean, you got the first sort of mainstream african american who is articulate and bright and, and clean, and a nice-looking guy, i mean, it's,k that's a storyman. >> some people listening to those deriptions of obama--" "articulatlean"-- heard racial overtes, or, at the very least, condescension. >> i think when people heard the "clean and articulate" line, there was a wave of eye-rolling, certainly among african americans. it was theind of well-intentioned but benighted commentary that you expect from people who inhabit environments where there aren't very many edblack people, and the un states senate has historically been a prime exale of that. >> tonight, his campaign isma doing control. >> narrator: he'd been here before-- damage control: kinnock, anita hill... >> joe biden's apologing for a

remark he made about senator barack obama, saying, "i deeply regret any offense..." >> narrator: he followed the playbook: apologize, persevere. >> ...this is "the daily show with jon stewart." (cheers and applause) >> nice to see you. do you want to talk abouthe comments, specifically, that have generated they? controve >> well, yeah, sure, i mean... no, i don't want to talk about it. aughter) >> the "philadelphia inquirer," yesterday, you were quoted as saying, "the one lesson i learned from mprevious presidential run is, 'words matter.'" >> that's right. >> "'and you can't take rds lightly,'" and then you came out with this one, all right, here you go. listen to this one, s great. the first mainstreamn, you got rican american who's articulate and bright and clean and a ce-looking guy. i mean, that's a storybook, man." >> (exclaiming) >> well, let me tell you something, i try, i spoke to barack today...>>

bet you did. (laughter) >> i also spoke to jesse and al sharpton and, and, and... >> and michael jordan, and anybody you could get your hands on. the jackson five-- who else? l michael didn't call me. michael didn't c... >> it was a reminder that this was somebody who was capable of doing those kinds of things, who was, in many ways, his own worsm whether it was becaus he, he didn't know when to stop speaking or becaushe could say things in the moment that would get him into trouble. j>> the latest news is th biden is dropping out of the race-- joe biden is dropping out... >> narrator: once again, joe biden's campaign would collapses but het taking himself out of the ge. he'd make it personal-- build a relationship with obama. >> out of competition came mutual respect, and mutual respect led to a real relationship, a friendship.

yd joe biden became someb nsat president obama looked to for advice and c >> senator... (people talking inackground) >> you are not going to get anything out of me on the vice presidentialhing-- nothing. >> narrator: soon, that relationship would pay off, asso obamht a running mate. >> i am gonna say that i've, i've made the selection, and that's all you're going to get. >> i think obama really liked the idea of choosing the guy o had said these things about him, that so many other people found offensive, of showing this kind of magnanimityround racial issues and racial rhetoric, that i think was keyin to hisng. >> narrator: obama asked him to be on his ticket as vice president. at the house in wilmington, the biden inner circle gathered. >> he was not going to do it. i mean, there's no doubt he was not going to do it. and we had another one of those family meetings and a few key, y people. >> the ks said to me, "mom, u have to talk dad into

running." and i said, "joe, this isuch a great moment in history." >> his ma said, "well, well, joey"-- she called him joey-- she said, "well, joey, you're telling me that the first african american president in history thinks that you can help him get elected, and you're saying no?" game, set, match, it was over. paughs) >> barack obama jected to be the next president. >> senator barack obama of illinois... >> narrator: he'd turned a political isis into a relationship, and became vice president. >> he had alrey squared aw in his mind that he understood that barack obama was ent, joe was vice president. and joe understood the job of vice president and, and, uh... and wore iwell. >> narrator: in the obama white use, biden brought with him

something the presiddn't have: relationships in congress spanning decades. >> these were his recently former colleagues, and he knew that hcould call them and they would take his call, and that he could go and thrash issues outwi with the a degree of comfort that president oba didn't have, becausee hadn't known thems long as vice president biden. >> narrator: biden became obama's trusted partner. >> the real question isn't what thing did you do, if you're vice president. the real question is, how much influence did you have? and i think biden understandsra power and leng per. i think he had a genuine relationship with obama, and ey spent a lot of time talking. but i think he was a very influential vice president, that way, and an extremely loyal vice president. >> narrator: in return, obama bestowed on biden something special-- a nd of political sainthood they called the "obama

halo." everybody knows thhe obama halo, ngat is the cleansing of joe biden and everythat may have happened. ond there is such a great that someone who was the architect of the '94 crime bill, and a white man of this age, when you think about anita hill, his crutch, his... the reason for his success is a black man with a funny name who's nd of skinny from waii by way of nsas. ♪ >> ♪ cowardice >> ♪ are you serious? >> ♪ apoloes for freedom >> ♪ i can't handle this >> narrator: 2 donald trump's presidential campaign,v a made-forectacle.

(cheers anapplause) a showcase with all the conflict and crisis. >> turn them-- go ahead, turn them. go ahead. knock the crap out of them, would you? seriously. just knock the hell... i promise you i will pay for the legal fees, i promise. (cheers and applause)>> ou've called women you don't like "fat pigs"... >> only rosie o'donnell. (laughte >> by the time trump arrives, running for president in 2016... >> how does my hair look?ay is it ok? (crowd cheering) >> ...he understds conflict, he understands celebrity. he understands the power of television. and he understands how to dominate. >> narrator: and against his opponents-- another strategy he d perfected-- personal attack. >> little marco... >> this little guy has lied so much. >> lyin' ted...

>> you are the sgle biggest liar, you probably are worse than jeb bush, you are the single biggest liar. >> all of this is classic trump. this is the person he'been, i think, since he was five years old. dold told me that he is essentially the person he was in asfirst grade, and that het rely changed. >> narrator: but a month before the election... >> the trump camp has swiftly launched into disaster mode. b >> narrator:bshell. >> a big, big development in this campaign... >> that day, we're up in the 25th flooronference room, and it's friday afternn, about 2:00. >> and hope hicks was notified by the media that they had donald trump having aon conversaith billy bush that said a number of incendiary things, and they were going to publish t transcript. >> she got this transcript. and she' like, about to cry, she goes, "oh, this is terrible." >> narrator: the trump team

watched it online. >> whatever you want. >> (ughs) like, whoa! ttom, that thing hits. in video, it's ppowerful. so everything shuts down. >> everybody-- and everybody isn't quite everybody, but most people both in and outside the campaign-- thought it would end his candidacy. its worst crisis ever.aign-- >> the future of a campaign that is in dire straits. >> i think the question now is, how do republicans break away from him? >> narrator: trump's campaign was in free fall. reince priebus, the chairman of the reblican nationalfr committee, cted trump. >> reince priebus basically said, "you need to get oute f ce." and donald trump said,no." he said, "i'm not getting out of the race. not only am i not getting out of the race, i'm going to go a

n, i'm going to win." >> narrator: he would ignore the political experts. >> in that moment, he won the presidency. there was a 90% chance we were going the other wathat day, t fr night before, from the pressure that was on him and and that's what a leader does. >> narrator: in the midst of crisis, he turned to what he had learned: from norman vincent peale, roy cohn, his dad, reality tv. >> i could stand in the middle of fifth avenue and sh somebody, and i wouldn't lose any voters, okay? it's, like, credible. >> narrator: he went on the attack... >> every women lied when they came forwardo hurt my campaign. >> narrator: ..changed the subject, stoking racial division... >> and we will keep radical islamic terrorists the hell out... >> narrator: ...economic fears... >> we are going to renegotiate our terrle trade deal... >> narrator: ...frustration with washington... >> it is time to drain the damn swamp.

>> narrator: ...and making big promises. >> we will build a great wall! (cheers and applause) and we will make ameriat again!au (ches and ap) >> donald trump will be the 45th president of the united states. >> narrator: amidst outrage and anger, he won the ultimate prize and stayed true to his playbook. >> i think what donald trump learned from his entire run for president is that he couldy really ount on himself. he needed to rely on his own political instincts to figure out how to move forward. (cheers and applause) ♪ >> narrator: through the obama years: building racialon, outrage over police violence against african americans. (gunshots, shouting)

>> get out of the car, dude! (sirens blaring) >> narrator: then, news of a revenge shooting against the police. >> we begin toni breaking news. a deadly police shooting in new york city. >> two nework city police officers areead following an ambush saturday afternoon. >> they were, quite simply, assassinated. >> amateur vid captured the frantic scene, as paramedics desperately tried to save the lives of officers wenju and rafael ramos. >> narrator: as the vice president, joe biden often tackled controversies. and in matters of ce, particularly, obama relied on not.to walk a fine line he could >> one of joe biden's chiefre onsibilities was to be an ambassador to the country, specifically to the white parts of the country, where barack obama's presence might have only further inflamed the situation. >> narrator: now biden was dispatched to new york >> 25,000 police officers are

all ther.. >> narrator: it s tense. >> a sea of blue filled the city streets... >> narrator: police officers linethe streets as biden arrived. >> thousands of nypd officers lining the streets outside of the funeral service. >> when we got out of the cars, you could see that this mass of police had changed him. >> thousands of people lining lde streets... >> gathered shou to shoulder at a queens, new york, chuh to say farewell to a fallen... >> while we had understood the gravity and the sensitivity, i don't thk it really hit any of us until we saw the tens of thousands of police there. ♪ >> narrator: he used his method: keep it personal, talk directly to the family of officer rafael ramos. >> our hearts ache for you. i know from personal experience that there is little anyone can say or do at this moment to, to ease the pain, that sense of loss, that sense of loneliness.

>> joe ben has been defined in public life by heartbreak and empathy. that whejoe biden steps up at the funeral, you know that those tears are real. >>..that the time will com the time will come when rafael's memory will bring a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eyes. that's when you know it's going to be okay it'll happen, but ise you,e i promise you it will happen. >> it's an odd role in public associated with grs a person and e biden never wanted to be thaterso actually. it was not how he imagined hisow political future. ("taps" playing) but because of his life, he ended up being this public political symbol of sufferingd resilience.

and eventually he embraced it. tot he actually didn't wan be that. ("taps" continues) >> narrator: that day, there was unfinished business.o biden wantede officer wenjian liu's family. >> we came out of urch. and joe said, "i want to offer my condolences to him, as well, to them, to that family." (siren beeping >> he wanted to go and meet them and talk with them.e so the policrked it out so that we could visit. and they had a translator there. >> i can remember walking up the stairs with the, with an interpreter. and the family was all crammed to this tiny kitchen. anwe sat and we talked to them. d we must have been in there, i don't know, a good hour. >> i started to notice that wenjian liu's father had rarely left my side.

occasionally, he would lean into medo that his shoulder touc my arm. "thank you," he kept sayin "thank you, thank you." >> we went out on the sidewalk. and the father, who di't even speak english, i mean, just held on to joe.d, mean, he was so grateful that joe had come to offer condolences to the family. we stood there for a long while, embracing on the little sidewalk in front ofouse where he had lived with his only son, just two fathers. i understood all that he wanted me to know. >> narrator:fter decades in politics, biden seemed to have finally found his place. ♪ ft but soon the crisis in new york, a personal crisis-- t again. (pipes and drums playing)

biden was burying his own son, beau. (pipes and dru playing) >> he was the apple of biden's eye. he was not just someone who he prought was brilliant and successful and sd of him. it went beyond pride, it was almost like, "he's the perfect version of me." >> narrator: beau had served in iraq. was attorney genel of delaware. they talked about the presidency someday. >> joe oft describes him as joe 2.0.he anooked likeis dad, he had a lot of the same skill seth father-- he was very charismatic, he was charming, he was funny. >> narrator: but then, brain cancer. death at 46.

>> beau biden, former delaware attorney general and eldest son of vice president joe biden, died...vi >> ...ce president biden's office was the first to announce his son's death... >> ...vice president was with his son beau when he passed away tonight... >> very sad news, been lost his battle with brain cancer.an >> familfriends gathered at st. anthony's church in wilmington yesterday to pay their respects--ome waited in line for up to six hours. >> lines, lines five blos long outside the church. >> narrator: at one point, after several hours, a surprise. >> there was mr. liu and his wife. and they came to, uh... give us coort. it was just two men, really, who had gone through something horrible, um, just offering comfort to one another.or >> narrator: bbeau's

death, biden had been considering another run r president. now the question was not just "would he," but "could he?" >> i was, happened to be in obama's white house, ande walked in. and i honestly... it was almost like i didn't recognize him. this was shortly after beau died. he just looked like he had aged years and years in such a short amount of time. >> narrator: through crisis and tragedy, joe biden had his eyes on the presidency, but now, in grief, he would dede to stand down. ♪ ♪ , >> inald john trump, do solemnly swear... >> narrator: from the very beginning of donald trump's presidency, he ignited crisis. (bursts, sirens blaring)

(shouting) >> this american carnage stops right here and stops right now. president of the ud states.p's now comes the hour of action. there's been enough talk. >> narrator: week one: a travel ieban aimed at muslim coun >> a scene of outrage at jfk airport in new york. >> protests,utrage, and balash... >> to me, it just felt l ke continuing chaos. >> north korea w met with fire and fury like the world hae never . >> narrator: ongoing threats to other natis. >> there was no effort to say, "what are the priorities here?" and i think he makes decisions quickly and can change them very quickly, too. and, uh, it sometimes could be 180 degrees of what he had decided just aew hours befe. >> narrator: a just like "the apprentice": firings, tuoil, confrontation.ve

>> wad reality tv framing for thpresidency. if you see the serial exits of people who, you know, really had built significant careers only to be kicked around and then ejected unceremoniously. reince priebus, sean spicer, anthony scaramucci, john kelly, general mattis. people who were just kinda chewed up and spat out. humiliated in the course of it, in their interactions with trump. >> ...fbi investigation, was there collusion...ve >> narrator: ohadowing it all, allegations of collusion with russia, obstruction of justice... >> russian collusion, give me a break. >> psident trump now facing outrage after firing comey. >> i did you a great favor wheny i fired this g, i tell ya. i'm not concerned about anything with the russian investigation that's enough. hoax.

put down the mic. >> mr. president, are you worried about indictments... >> narrator: he lashed out. >> breaking news, the white house inrisis. the justice department pointed a special cosel to investigate... >> this is a pure and simple witch hunt. >> at first blush, maybe he really hates it and he's annoyed the mueller investigation, or the media attacks, or this or that. but when you look at it further, he sort of enjoys the jousting, he enjoys the fighting. >> narrator: it was the presidency roy cohn had prepared him for. >> he learned from roy cohn-- attack, never apologize, seem to be in charge-- was true then and is true today. >> wait a minute. i'm not finished, fake news. in>> narrator: he was dete to be what his father had called a "killer." >> they are very, very dishonest people. fake news. >> narrator: three years of chaos would culminate in impeachment. >> ...to be impeached. >> the absolutely crazed

lunatics-- the democrats, radical left... >> narrator: he did what he always did. >> ...are pushinthe deranged impeachment witch hunt for doing nothing wrong. >> he only h the one playbook. he uses it no matter what the crisis... >>adow of impeachment... >> it didn't matter when the casinos went bust. it didn't matter when his whole financial emre seemed to collapse. he was able to maintain the brand. and so he ratchets up the anger. he ratchets up the iults (cheers and applause) >> narrator: and in those first years, it seemed to work. >> this is what the enresult is. (cheers and applause) >> it really wasn't, in my

opinion, until the u.s. senate voted for acquittal on the two peachment charges that donald trump finally had a small air of breathability. (cheers and applause) >> we can take that home, honey, maybe we'lframe it. (laughte it's the only good headline i've ever had in "the washington post." thank you very muc everybody. thank you. thank you very much. thank you. >> narrator: he had unified the party behind him, left his imprint on the supreme court, delivered tax cuts, undermined washington's institutions. >> my grandfather remains donald's audience of one. it's to him donald's continually trying to prove himself. ♪ >> white lives matter! white lives matter!s white limatter! (chanting continues)

>> narrator: for the first time inecades, joe biden was a private citizen, watching donald trump's presidency. >> then came charlottesville. that was really the tipping point. when he heard president trump say, "there are very fine, some very fine people on both sides," th was i that was the tipping point. >> narrator: in the streets, violent clashes tween white supremacists and counter-es prters. it's hard to lieve, based personal responsibility for the rise of donald trump. joe biden was the vice preside and he chose not to run for president. you ve to imagine that's weighed pretty heavily on joe biden. >> narrator: he decided to do something about it.at 6 years old, he would reverse course-- run one more time. >> he was seen as yesterday's he was a very rickip. he was not as eloquent as he was

30 years ago, like most people wouldn't be. and he also, you know, he was saddled with a very, very long record, some of it going back to the '70s. >> from nbc news. "decision 2020: the democratic candidates' debate." >> narrator: in those early days, his long, complicated record was a liabity. >> i'm gng to now direct this at vice president biden. you oppod busing. t and, you knore was a little girl in california whof was parte second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bused to school every day. and that little girl was me. >> it wasn't about the specifics of the busing debate. it was a signal. it was saying that t a white guy who is so old that he was taking a position on busing in the first place. but, vice president biden, do today that y were wrong togree

oppose busing in america then? >> precisely because he has sucr a long track rin american politics, you can point to him being on the wrong side of questions that are now considered to be completely settled. >> narrator: it would be thet fi many rough nights on the campaign trail. meanwhile, in a stunnin reversal, joe biden's campaign struggles to match rival presidential candidates in fundraising. >> ...numbers are down among women, down among independents. the drop is primarily among younger voters. >> narrator: he struggled to excite voters. >> ...vice presidentoe biden, struggling in the polls here... >> joe biden-- is his campaignin rouble? >> narrator: he was selling what he always had, joe biden, and it wasn't working. >> the truth is, he does not have some transformational or different vision for the country. it's a, it's a tough campaign for him. >> joe biden presently trailing in fourth place. >> ...surprised how bad joe biden did-- he fled the stage... >> one of his senior advisers

she described to me as thehat conversation you never want to ha with a candidate, which is, "we may be approachi point of having to shut this thing down." >> joe biden is fighting for his political survival. >> narrator: but he wasn't u givi >> joe biden desperately needs south carolina if he has any chance... >> narrator: his las... >> ...make-or-break time in particular for joe biden... >> narrator: ...south carona.re >> it als on south carolina. >> joe biden has spent a lot of time in south carolina-- he ca relate to south carolinians. south carolina was very, very important to joe biden. >> joe, joe, joe!ar >>tor: to win, he desperately needed the black vote. (cheers and applause) >> joe biden's been around for a long time. people are comfortable with him. they get him, they understand him. even if they don't agree with him, they think he, you know, a good-faith actor. that means a lot. to a community of people who have been betrayed and oppressen

d tricked and lied to, someone who you can trust at their word, that goes a very long way. >> oh, my lord! >> narrator: it was what he had done in that first senate race: making it personal, connecting. >> nbc news is projectformer vice president joe biden is the winner. >> narrator: they gave biden a victory. >> ...was reinvigorated largely by black voters in this state. >> joe biden wins big. >> narrator: tee days later... >>n a political earthquake, these are the results nobody saw coming. >> narrator: ...he rode the momentum and dominated super tuesday. >> he pulled off one of the biggest political upsets in modern politicalistory. >> narrator: soon, he won it all. (cheers and applause) >> in its own way, it's the culmination of all of his training and ambition and his mistakes and his regrets and his attempts to be better. and it, and it came together at last. >> biden has made his pick. >> narrator: and when the time came...

>> and the pick is in... >> narrator: ...the man who had made plenty of mistakes... >> ...historic decision announced via text and twitter. >> narrator: ...and asked for political forgiveness, turned to the opponent who'd gone after him on the campaign trail... >> ...kamala harris as his running mate. >> narrator: ...kamala harris, and picked her as his running te. >> ...african american community will help propel him to the white house. >> it was an opportunity for him to distinguish himself from donald trump. "that i acal want to bring the person who's criticized me most harshly into the fold because i value dissenting opinions."d anat was part of the message that was being sent with kamala harris.♪ ♪ >> t growing worries and response to the deadly coronavirus. >> wuhan, china, that's the epicenter... >> wuhan, china... narrator: the pandemic. a nation in crisis. >> ...now under lockdown. >> the philippines confirmed its

first death. >> france is confirming... >> italy is taking unprecedented... >> this is italy's darkest hour. >> narrator: a threat donald ump was trying to play down. >> ...deadly coronavirus officially hitting the u.s. >> ...worldwide, including at least 12 confirmed... >> a tragic turn in thena corus outbreak, the first death from the disease... >> narrator: he used the norman vincent peale approach: visualize what you want to be true no matter the facts. >> thank you very much. we're ready for it. it iwhat it is. we're ready for it. you have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, uh, that's a pretty good job we've done. verlapping chatter) >> as the country deals with this worst pandec, they're seeing in a man that doesn't see y problems. he always sees a rosy, bright future, and that he can succeed. >> there's no question that in the first severamonths of 2020, staff on the nsc and thece

ers for disease control were raising red flags about what wai happening in-- the president was determined not to hear any bad news. >> we have done an incredible job. we're going to continue. one day-- it's like a miracle-- it will disappr. >> this unwillingness to thinkou the implications meant there was no strategic planning going on, because that would have meant acknowledging we were facing a severe threat. and he simply did not want to do that. >> empty streets lead to packedr ncy rooms across new york city. paralysis in this typically vibrant city in just a matter of weeks. >> narrator: as the death toll rose... trucks to new york city to hold the people who've perished. . >> narratohe doubled down. >> now the democrats are ,liticizing the coronavir you know that, right? coronavirus. they're politicizing it. >> very roy cohn.

very school of dad. very norman vincenpeale. just insist that you're successful. insist that whatou're doing is right. >> now, what do you say to americans who are watching you right now who are scared? >> i say that you're a terrib reporter. that what i say. go ahead. i think it's a very nasty question. and i think it's a very bad signal that you're putting out to the americapeople. >> that's part of this playbook-- double down, tripleob down, say any ms are somebody else's fault. (sirens blaring, radio chatter) >> narrator: and in the midst of the pandemic, ce again, racial strife. (wailing) >>et up and get in the car >> get off of him now! >> what is wrong with y'all?ot >> bro, he's noving! >> did they (muted) kill him? >> narrator: george floyd, killed by police.

(sirens blaring) >> and that opens the floodgates. >> i can't breathe! i can't breathe!i n't breathe! (chanting continues) >> what we saw in the days and weeks to follow that was the confluence of these multiple factors. >> the deeply, deeply frustrated black lives matter mt, of a particular incendiary video... >> no racist police! no justice, no peace! >> ho ho! these racist cops ve got to go! >> that movement was cognizant of the fact that trumpad consistently talked to police and urged them to behave more aggressively. i can't breathe!he! >> narrator: trump's approval protesters were maoutside the white house. >> you are the threat!th you arthreat! you arthe threat! >> narrator: in the rose garden

that day, he would go to his playbook-- f the flames. >> our nation has been gripped ,by professional anarchis violent mobs, arsonists, looters, criminals, rioters, antifa. >> what trump is trying to do is change the subject. that antifa, um, is, is the new enemy.ru donald likes to find enemies, and to hold those up as, that he is the protector againsthose. pe >> as we s, i am dispatching thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, militard personnel, law eorcement officers to stop the rioting, looting, vandasm, assaults, and the wanton destruction of property. >> narrator: as he spoke, a choreographed showf force across the streefrom the white house. (crowd shouting) >> i'm sitting on the corner ofv

pennsyia and 17th street. >> i can't breathe! i can't breathe! >> and i start coughing, and choking, and i start wonderingng what's gn. (crowd shouting) and i look up and it's, it'sou ds of smoke, and it'sg officers throwsome sort of chemical gashat is making my throat and my eyes burn. and i e people running. (explosions, sparks, shouting)an ..d this line of police officers coming, and they'reri ng the streets.mp and i'm letely confused,er because i'm wog, why is the white house doing this? >> narrato then the president left the rose gaen for a dramatic tv moment. (distant sirens blaring) >> i felt badly for some of the people who were in that march.d i've been aswhat i would do, and i've said i probably would

have gone along; how am i going to say no? and then i wouldave felt very badly about it later. but that's an effect trump has on people. (cameras clicking) >> really, it's just are. it's just an image of a president being charge. and that's his vision of what the president is-- the guy in charge. (distant siren blaring) he's just in charge. (cameras clicking) ♪ ♪ >> narrator: for joe biden, thes nation in crave him an opportunity.ry >> may hise able to say that the end of this chapter of american darkness begahere, tonight. as love and hope and light join in the battle for the soul of the nation. >> narrator: one last chance to see if making it personal--

persevering in the facof adversy-- can prevail. >> this is a battle we will win and we it together. ♪ >> narrator: for donald trump, e lime of conflict had prepared him for yet another fight. >> and this election will decide whether we will defend the american way of life or whether we will allow a radicament to completely dismantle and destroy it. >> narrator: another chance to see if turning crisis to his advantage can carry the day. >> together, we arunstoppabl together, we are unbeatable. ♪ >> narrator: now a deeply divided nation will decide. >> policy is not the choice that's on the ballot this year. it is a choice of character. enit is a choice of temper

it is a choice of persona and personality. that's always a faor in our presidential campaigns. but i don't think it's ever been as big a factor as it will be in november. ♪ >> go to pbs.org/frontli for the latest frontline ewransparency project" explore 60 interfrom the making of this film. >> there was no strategic planning going on. >> joe had just never been knocked down. he's always been getting up. >> and listen to a conversation with dector michael kirk on our podcast "the frontne dispatch". >> so we looked long and hard at all of the things that have happened in their lives... >> connect with frontline on facebook and twitter, and watch anytime on the pbs app or pbs.org/frontline. >> there's a failure in the system

creates sheer and utter chaos. >> narrator: the coronavirus has exposed weaknesses in america's medical supply chain. >> what this pandemic has done e' shine a really bright light on the fact that dangerously dependent on the chinese communist party. >> narrator: frontline and the associated press investigate... >> the only way that america will change is if people die and now they did. >> frontline is made possible by contributions to your pb station from viewers like you. thank you. c and by tporation for public broadcasting. major supporis provided by the. johnd catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org. the ford foundation: theking with visionaries o frontlines of social change worldwide at fordfoundation.org additional support is provided by the abrams foundation, committeto excellence in journalism. the park foundation,

dedicated to heightening public awaren critical issues. and by the frontline journalism fund, with major support from jon and jo ann hagler. captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> for more on this and other "frontline" programs, visit our website at pbs.org/frontline. ♪ "the choice 2020" is available on amazon prime video. ♪

>>e watching pbs. >> robert mueller has submitted his report... >> the truth is rarely black and whe. >> ...intelligence officials are expected to be face to face... >> all we hear about... >> but if wesk the hard questions... >> ...russia witch hunt. >> check the facts. >> we face a number of important issues aroun privacy... >> dig a little deeper. >> and take a brea... the truth is closer than you think. >> be more. pbs.

>> be more. pbs.

female narrator: la's chicano movement ic was looking for a oscar "zeta" acosta was looking for meaning. he's smart as hell, truth. he was also a risk taker. narrator: a new documentary rescues his story from obscurity. there is such pontial in that man. but people weren't ready for him. ( theme music playing ) female narrator: this program was made possible