of the trump presidency and see the "national enquirer." as one of the most influential media companies in the history of the united states of america. are you all ready to make a ruckus? >> this is a seismic uprising >> she came out of nowhere. and took the capitol by storm. >> he's not in the capital. he's not in the floor of the senate and 800,000 people don't have their paychecks so, where's mitch? >> they're confused. they're bewildered by her. >> alexandria ocasio-cortez has riled critics on both sides of the aisle. >> sometimes we call her the architect of chaos. >> the president should not be asking for more money to an agency that has systemically violated human rights.

>> a pop culture sensation. >> there is no question she has arrived in washington as a phenomenal. >> and a master of communication. >> her use of social media feels more like the future than most of what people pay consultants lots of people to create for themselves. >> her agenda of radical reform is already deeply felt in the halls of congress. >> alexandria ocasio-cortez's base wants her to stick it to this administration. >> the politics of revenge. >> and stick it to corporate democrats. >> i'm going to be the bad guy, which i'm sure half the room would agree with anyway. >> a 29-year-old democratic socialist is ready to shake up not just her party but all of washington, d.c. >> and we are going to rock the world.

kek we cannot allow for a society that leaves people behind. >> despite the fact that we didn't have the money, despite the fact that i'm working class, despite all those things, we won. >> alexandria ocasio-cortez is a person with passion. >> you want to tell people that their concern and their desire for clean air and clean water is elitist. >> she is an activist at heart and she's brought an incredible new energy to the united states congress. >> she got elected to buck the norm. she got elected to make change. d.c. needs to be shaken up. we need it. it's about time. >> thank you, everybody. >> i sat down with alexandria ocasio-cortez for an msnbc special event when the self-described democratic radical was three months into her term. as the youngest woman every lelkt elected to congress.

we had a provocative conversation about her signature policy initiative the green new deal. >> so why this issue front and center first thing? what connects you to this? >> so this issue is not just about our climate. first and foremost, we need to save ourselves, period. we've got 12 years to turn it around. 12 years. this is urgent. and to think that we have time is such a privileged and removed from reality attitude that we cannot tolerate. >> ocasio-cortez's story may be proof that the time for true progressive politics is here. >> hiding your radical nature used to be the way you could win in american politics 20 years ago. she's 29. she didn't live through that era. nobody likes people who tow the line anymore. >> oftentimes the most righteous thing you can do is shake the table.

>> what makes her journey especially remarkable is that months earlier, she was way waitressing and shaking margaritas. >> i think the country was hungry, desperate for stories that would tell a different side of america. >> history is alive. >> but until the 2018 elections few had heard of the woman now known simply as aoc. that changed after the bartender's victory over joe crowley in the democratic primary. >> that was the day that i was like, oh, it is about to go down. that's when i saw it all change. >> what you're dealing with right now is somebody who is both a rising political figure and a bit of a pop star. and the combination of those two powers is really something to behold. >> so where's mitch? >> the person who occupies the white house right now is there in part because of celebrity culture.

and alexandria stepping into that same hole in our society. >> the lipstick color she wore with at her debate was selling out. the fact she wore hoop earring on her swearing in. i want to make other women from the bronx who wear hoops and look like a congresswoman. >> by late march, she had more than 3.75 million twitter followers. >> every tweet she sends seems to ricochet across the internet. >> when donald trump jr. mocked her political views with a meme, suggests souths of social societies are reduced to eating dogs. aoc replied with a twitter post warning him about her own subpoena power. >> i don't think people know what to take of alexandria on social media because she claps back so hard. she has the style of cardi b. with bernie sanders sized goals. >> it is exactly what the political revolution is supposed to be about. >> the former organizers for

sanders presidential bid has taken his movement to the next level. >> i reject the idea that universal health care is impossible. >> i think bernie sanders really opened the window for this debate. on democratic socialism. in fact, what's becoming fringe is you call yourself a capitalist openly. >> she has clearly moved the needle on several key policy issues in her first weeks in congress. >> including the green new deal. >> the basic idea of the green new deal is a plan for the u.s. to move to 100% renewable energy as fast as possible. >> conservatives like donald trump jr. have criticized the deal and aoc herself. >> every mainstream leading democratic contender is taking the advise of a freshman congresswoman who three weeks ago didn't know the three branches of government. i don't know about you guys, but

that's pretty scarey. >> you guys, you're not very nice. and neither is what that policy would do to this country. >> i think a lot of the conservative movement is at use to a woman, especially to a brown woman speaking her mind so freely. so there is a bit of intimidating and they're con confused by her. >> which might be why the night before she was sworn in, this old video mysteriously surfaced on line featuring aoc and friends doing a mashup of 1980s dance moves when she was a student at boston university. >> i see in evidence that republicans were involved in releasing her dance video. that was a false flag. i found the dance video adorable. >> the attempted smear backfired when the video became an internet sensation. aoc responded by posting another video of her dancing in front of her new congressional office and the comment wait until they find out congresswomen dance, too. >> i think republicans should be

very caution about making aoc sort of the new object of ire. because if we do that, the country might like her more than some of the angry republicans that are trying to personalize their disagreements on policy. >> florida republican matt gates is one of president trump's biggest allies. >> aoc on the republican side sometimes we call her the architect of chaos because she's got the ability to really ignite conflict and activity. i think on substance, there is very little that folks on the right would agree with her on. but stylistically, there is little doubt that she's got game. >> we have the votes. >> she understands the intersection of politics and pop culture and social media in a way that frankly few people on the right or left fully grasp in today's politics. >> behind the scenes some democrats are genuinely upset with ocasio-cortez and her pledge to support more progressive members of the party against incumbents in primaries.

>> there are plenty of incumbents that are doing an amazing, amazing job. but just because you are in a seat doesn't mean that you are entitled to keep it. >> in an interview with cnn in december, outgoing democratic senator claire mccaskle appeared bewildered by aoc's appeal. >> i'm a little confused why she's the thing. but it is a good example of what i'm talking about, a bright, shiny new object came out of nowhere and surprised people and she beat a very experienced congressman. >> what i was trying to say is that she's exciting and she's new and i think she can contribute a lot. we've got to remain focussed on the things that unite us as a party, not the things that can divide us. >> coming up, a meteoric rise to power with roots in the works class. >> i'm running for office.

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alexandria is a bartender from the bronx who somehow became one of the most famous politicians in america. >> before alexandria ocasio-cortez was aoc, she was just a girl from the bronx. the daughter of blanca cortez and sergio ocasio. an architect from the bronx. >> she was not first generation, but pretty close to it. >> when she was five, the family moved to suburban westchester county looking for better schools for alexandria and her younger brother. >> i think it is actually a very common story for a lot of latinos, especially high achieving or ambition kids. she returned to visit who are tight knit extended family. >> she saw the advantage that wealth and resources and a quality school district brought next to cousins who just didn't happen to be lucky enough to end up in that zip code.

a deeply personal and real way. >> as a tenth grader, ocasio-cortez got her first taste of politics when she attended the national hispanic institute's legislative session. >> it is part of us for immersing students in pretending to be leaders, so her practice in that art started very early on. >> she spent eight days immersed in policy discussions, mock law making and elections. >> she will tell you she ran for every position. she lost at everything. but by the end of the week, her peers had selected her as the most promising female of that delegation because they saw that never quit attitude. just shrug it off, shake it off and get back again. >> she had a special interest in science. >> at 17, she competed in the intel international science and engineering fair at the world's most prestigious science fairs

and appeared on nbc "nightly news." >> alexandria ocasio-cortez a senior from new york. focussed on using antioxidants to prevent disease. >> one day we may be able to use this to prevent these diseases we're seeing here. >> competing against nearly 1,500 students from all over the world, alexandria took second place. >> you guys interested in science? >> yes. >> she made such an impression that mit's lincoln laboratory named an asteroid after her. >> when she really takes an interest in something she could really go after the stars because there is an asteroid named after her. >> she headed to boston university to study pre-med but her interest in social policy continued to grow. >> she became a student leader. she got involved as a student ambassador of trying to promote the sense of unity among students at boston university.

>> she's incredibly funny. she's like a funny nerd. there is oftentimes these moments where you're like, did you know -- and i'll be like no. and why do you know this? >> in september of her sophomore year, her world turned upside down. her father died of lung cancer at 48 years old. friends say she threw herself further into her studies. >> a lot of what drives her is her sense of trying to hon know what her father wanted her to be. she tries to honor that with her actions. >> starting in 2008. she interned at ted kennedy's offices working on immigration issues. during her junior year she had eye opening look with a foreign study. >> changing growth for her was going to africa and studying abroad. she got malaria. she was there in some very

challenging communities. >> there was something about that experience that was like, there is much more to my life that i can do than go work at a bank. >> alexandria graduated in 2011 with a degree in international relations and economics and returned to the bronx with a new perspective on life. she worked on social causes during the day and at night took on a second job to help her now single mother keep the family afloat financially. blanca cleaned houses while alexandria waited tables and tended bar. >> it was very challenging. financially. personally and financially. >> making it through that made her this incredibly strong person. >> between shifts, alexandria got involved in bernie sander's 2016 presidential campaign as an organizer in the south bronx. after the november election, she traveled to the standing rock indian reservation and joined the protests against a natural gas pipeline that ran through

sacred triable lands. for alexandria ocasio-cortez, the experience was pivotal. >> that formed her thinking about how to act in politics. >> they did not have a political advocate. >> that's the moment when she started to express herself and talk candidly and authentically to folks on social media. >> there is so much to share with you guys and we're just hoping that you get a little piece of this action right now and we will be back. thanks again. >> she was at standing rock when she got the call about brand-new congress. >> brand-new congress, a political action committee started by bernie sanders supporters promoted candidates. with progressive values to run against incumbents. >> we are looking for leaders in the community, people who are really respected and who probably don't want to run for congress. >> the group decided on an audacious plan. run alexandria ocasio-cortez

against joe crowley, the fourth most powerful democrat in the house. >> she was just one of those people that had a spark to do something. she felt the burden of the world on her shoulders where she felt like if not me, who? coming up, alexandria makes the decision of a lifetime. >> she was like, so, john, i'm going to run for congress. and i kind of laughed a little bit. and i was like, good, it is about time.

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i'm running for office in the area. i'm running for office. i'm running for office. oh, you're doing a barbecue. >> alexandria ocasio-cortez announced her primary run in new york's 14th district in may 2017. it was the political equivalent of a moon shot. >> she wanted to prove that the challenge was worth taking on, the idea that you shouldn't run because you might not win is not a good reason not to step into that arena. >> aoc's opponent was as formidable as they come.

joe crowley, one of the most powerful names in the democratic party. considered nancy pelosi air apparent for house leadership. >> joe wasn't just a powerful democrat in washington. he was a powerful democrat here in new york. >> it would be like as if david had approached goliath with a sling and no rocks. >> ocasio-cortez had the support of the justice democrats, a political group backing progressive candidates across the country. the others were skeptical at best. the candidate herself forecast victory on instagram. >> we're not running to make a statement. we're not running to pressure the incumbent to the left. we're running to win. >> we knew it was a long shot. we knew the primary was worth it regardless. >> the odds were totally stacked against us. we had all of wall street's money, all of real estate's money in his bank account. and he just had small dollar doenors. >> rejecting corporate donations was key to her platform.

as a whole, her policy stands were leftist. >> getting money out of politics, medicare for all, fighting for affordable housing and abolishing ice. >> ice was created after the attacks on september 11th. ocasio-cortez confronted trump's zero tolerance immigration policy head on calling for the outright abolishment of ice. >> a lot of democrats did not want to address that issue. hay didn't want to look soft on immigration. she was ahead of the curve. she forced them to address that issue. >> almost immediately, she seemed to have a palpable influence on the competition. >> within a week, joe for the first time in his career supported medicare for all. she texted me that she was so excited about it. >> ocasio-cortez attracted

activists and progressives who were itching to fight for something, not just against president trump. >> alexandria was really the thing that gave me hope back in politics. i had started giving up. i was like, this is too hard. there is too many powerful interests here. people are fighting back can't make a difference in our country. >> we were a scrappy group and doing it because we all cared deeply about it. >> ocasio-cortez assembled an electic team. to run the team. a former actor and food blogger. >> everyone kind of did it because this was something that needed to be done. this was the message that needed to get out there and alexandria was willing to be that messenger. >> we thought no matter what happens, even if we pull crowley to the left, it was worth taking. >> she wanted to reflect social reform. >> she turned first to her friend, photographer jesse. >> we were doing all these different poses and she had looked to dress her dress or

something but she was looking maybe at the light and i was like, hold on. it looked hopeful. it was such a real emotion that was coming out. >> next a friend of aoc's from the restaurant and his design team created a poster with a decidedly revolutionary feel. >> we needed to represent her authentically in that challenge. and so we started with the united farm workers. >> the ocasio-cortez brand is on point. they looked like the posters of a leader. and there is a tiny element in her campaign poster, the double exclamation point around her name, the bilingualty that says, i'm in both worlds. i'm in the spanish speaking world and the english speaking world, and i'm here to represent everybody. >> early on few in power took her campaign seriously. >> nobody wanted to talk to us. nobody in politics, nobody in the press. they were all either afraid or

thought we were a joke. >> the biggest way when you are a challenger that you get discredited is not being attacked but it is being ignored. it is being dismissed. it is the media saying this person has no shot. >> to get her message out, aoc relied on social media and old-fashioned door knocking. >> she talked to a lot of people. she talked to immigrants, people of color in her community, people who come from where she comes from. >> while traditional media largely disregarded her campaign, online outlets on the left were eager to give aoc air time. >> alexandria ocasio-cortez basically had a beeline to podcasts on the intercept, to the young. >> it is a really popular youtube show for tons of progressives and they donate after they watch the show, you know, $5, $10, $15 a time to ocasio-cortez's campaign. >> ocasio-cortez quit her job as a bartender to campaign full-time.

>> she was incredibly tireless. i don't know where it comes from. >> i mean, the amount of time she spent out walking and at events and door knocking is just mind blowing. >> women like me aren't supposed to run for office. i wasn't born to a wealthy or powerful family. >> at the end of may, the campaign released a two minute ad written by the candidate herself. it proved to be a game changer. >> it was a story about a working class person trying to fight for the community. and it was done beautifully. >> this race is about people vs. money. we have got people. they have got money. >> the visual that she rides the subway like me, that she's going to work like me, that she's got to adjust her outfit and her uniform like me, that picture said all those words without her having to beat you over the head with message, here's the words.

>> in its first day online, the video went viral with more than 300,000 views. >> it poured in money, grass roots money, it poured in volunteers and that video was really inspiring. >> this congressman, democrat from california, was so taken by the ad, he endorsed ocasio-cortez even though he had already backed joe crowley. >>. i watched the video and i said i don't know how much my endorsements will matter but at least it will get people in washington to hear her story. >> the crowley camp, re-election still appeared to be in the bag. >> he took one poll a few weeks out before the election, it showed him up 36 percentage points. that's a massive margin. >> he was so confident, he only participated in one of the three scheduled debates with ocasio-cortez. in one case sending a surrogate to represent him. >> this is a sharp person and a sharp candidate who thought well on her feet and she made a lot of hay about this.

he would refuse to debate his opponent. he would send somebody in her words that basically looked like her. coming up, leaders in the gop single out alexandria ocasio-cortez as a target. >> they're absolutely hoping to be able to use her to demonize the democratic party as a bunch of socialists because she probably is one. ♪ limu emu & doug look limu. a civilian buying a new car. let's go. limu's right. liberty mutual can save you money by customizing your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. oh... yeah, i've been a customer for years. huh...

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homeland security secretary is out. reseening her post effective immediately. shaefs called to the white house after a week of donald trumps frustrations including over efforts to seal the southern border. uganda police have rescued a u.s. woman and her driver. who had been kidnapped in national park. they are both in good health. after being held captive for one week. for now. back to headliners. alexandria ocasio-cortez.

after more than a year of grass roots power campaigning, new york democratic primary arrived on june 26th, 2018. despite the odds, some on alexandria ocasio-cortez's team dared entertain the notion of an upset. >> i think i was constantly playing this game with myself of trying to hold back my own expectations. and, so, i think in my heart i felt like we had a pretty good chance. >> other supporters just hoped to avoid her. >> i remember talking to her staff the day before the election will she at least get 40%. don't m embarrass me. if she gets 30%, i will be toast here in the congress. >> that'vening, they planned a post election party. win or lose, they would celebrate their achievement. but when the polls closed at 9:00 p.m. the results began to

trickle in, many in her inner circle stayed glues to her computers. >> we crowded around he and my college just sort of compulsively refreshing a bunch of results websites. >> up in the bronx, the candidate refused to look at any of the early returns. >> i pulled up the polling results and i think only 3% of the votes came in at that time. but it had her at like a 13 point lead. and she said, don't show it to me. >> i red the text. i thought she was down 15 points. and then i saw some other text and i realized, no, she's actually up 15 points and i was just stunned. >> around 9:45 p.m., ocasio-cortez arrived at the party venue with loved ones, including her friend. >> we were walking out of the parking garage walking to the venue. she sees at the time about an 80% reporting or so. she gets to the door, and the bouncer, security is like, sorry, i need to see id.

and there is a poster right next to the door. she's like, that's me. that's me. and so they let her in and we rush in. >> we couldn't believe it. we checked. we reloaded. this is a huge political upset. the associated press that has called this race for alexandria ocasio-cortez. >> the outcome was so completely unexpected new york one was the only local broadcaster on the scene to capture ocasio-cortez's reaction. >> she's looking at herself on television right now. how are you feeling can you put it into words? >> nope. i cannot put this into words. >> she looked freaked out in a good way, but she looked freaked out. >> the moment that the green check mark appeared, we just erupted. >> my life pretty much hasn't been the same since that very moment. >> ocasio-cortez soon regained her composure and delivered a

passionate victory speech to her supporters. >> every person out here this evening changed america tonight. we will be here and we are going to rock the world. >> her win wasn't everyone close. she pummelled the veteran congressman, taking 57% of the vote. >> aoc! aoc! aoc! >> and just like that, the democratic machine of new york city was turned on its head. >> she beat the person who was third in line behind nancy pelosi in the democratic party. aoc is a king slayier by knocking him down. >> she ran as a young person. she ran as a woman. she ran as a person of color. she ran on generational change, and she ran on ideology. all of those things combined to take out one of the most powerful people in new york. >> alexandria ocasio-cortez

suddenly found her name in national headlines. >> it is a whole new world for 28-year-old alexandria ocasio-cortez. >> joining us here onset, alexandria ocasio-cortez. >> i mean, our campaign was focussed on just a laser focussed message of economic, social and racial dignity for working class americans, especially those in queens and the bronx. >> nancy pelosi down played the significance of aoc's victory for democrats as a whole. >> they made it to us in one district, so don't get carried away on democratics and stuff like that. we have an array of genders, generations, geography and the rest, opinion in our caucus, and we're very proud of that. >> in an overwhelmingly democratic district, heroin in her win the primary practically guaranteed her victory in the general election. but her reach went way beyond politics.

almost overnight she became a bonofied celebrity. >> i have never seen this surge in popularity in public awareness for a congressional candidate. i definitely never have. >> she appeared on late night talk shows, fielded tweets from movie stars and sold out fundraisers. amid the storm of attention, ocasio-cortez and the justice democrats plotted how to use her primary win to trigger a nationwide trend. >> the entire mission of this was not about one candidate but about a movement. >> that summer aoc toured michigan and missouri and appeared with bernie sanders in kansas stumping were progressive candidates in upcoming primaries. >> change takes courage. change takes guts. >> she traveled quite a bit to help push this platform of getting money out of politics. she saw it as an obligation to use this platform to help candidates fighting for the same thing. >> conservatives used aoc's candidacy to whip up their base.

painting her as a dangerous radical. >> her views, her policy positions are actually down right scarey. >> the republican party loves the idea of elevating a democratic socialist as the face of the democratic party. >> i think the democrats are going hard low. >> they're absolutely hoping to be able to use her to demon nice the democratic party as a bunch of social lists because she probably is one. >> her personal charm and magtism can over shadow the great danger that can be caused by the policy that she's championing. >> her ideology reflected a simple goal, restoring human rights. >> boils down to the basic elements that are required for an economic and socially dignified life in the united states at a very basic means we should aim to guarantee those things. i don't think any person in america should die because they're too poor to live. coming up, alexandria ocasio-cortez lands in washington more than ready to shake up the establishment.

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try roundup for lawns. kills weeds, not the lawn. roundup brand. trusted for over 40 years. we launched this campaign because in the absence of anyone giving a clear voice on the moral issues of our time, then it is up to us to voice them. >> as widely expected, a month after her 29th birthday, alexandria ocasio-cortez trounced her opponent in the general election in november 2018, taking 78% of the vote. she's part of a record 127 women serving in the house and senate and her freshman class is the most diverse in history.

>> there are several minorties represented. who haven't always had a voice in the big congressional table. >> so she has won among many who we have been waiting for. >> ocasio-cortez arrived in washington with her long-time boyfriend. she wasted no time making her progressive voice heard. during freshman orientation week, she champed a movement on climate change by directly challenging the democratic leadership. >> they were like, hey, we're planning to do a sit-in against nancy pelosi for not taking climate change seriously. they knew in the midst of her race for speaker and the midst of democrats just winning the midterms in the house that it would get news. >> ocasio-cortez's first visit to the veteran congresswoman's office was a public show of support for the aboutty vooiss dc -- activists.

camped outside. >> nobody expected her to show up to the citizens. they did not ask her. her chief of staff asked her, hey, will you retweet that action tomorrow. she was like i'm going. >> i just want to let you all know how proud i am of each and every single one of you for putting yourselves and your bodies and everything on the line to make sure that we save our planet, our generation and our future. >> alex was just moved that if 18, 19, 20 year old students could risk arrest against the next speaker of the house, commit civil disobedience, go to jail, she could show up and give a speech. she tweeted a couple days later that she was terrified of doing that. she thought it would destroy her political career. >> but aoc's bold tactics appeared to work. that day nancy pelosi praised the pro testers on social media. pledging to support the creation of a congressional climate change committee. >> she's not threatened by alexandria ocasio-cortez or anybody else for that matter. but what she recognizes in them

is, look, if they're helping galvanize the party, let them scream. let them protest. that will more young people in. that's how a party survives. >> a week after the demonstration, ocasio-cortez threw her support to pelosi as the next speaker of the house. >> i really think that pelosi in particular has figured out that she can work with ocasio-cortez and have her be a force that's positive for the democratic caucus rather than negative. >> aoc's influence wasn't limited to capitol hill. she also used instagram to offer her social media followers a rare glimpse into her daily routine. >> they cut the operating budgets across a lot of government but of course we allowed our weapons budget to explode. >> she cooks on instagram live and she's weaving policy discussion into those moments. she doesn't feel like she's being managed. she just comes across as herself.

>> you know, i think it is it is so important we humanize our government and open up the window to show that everyone can serve. >> her use of social media feels more like a future than people have said consultants lots of money to create for themselves. >> with the spotlight on aoc, conservatives continue to take aim. some attacks got personal. >> there is criticism pouring in over a tweet. >> eddy scarey, a writer for the right wing washington examiner posted a photo of ocasio-cortez from behind with the caption, i'll tell you something, that jacket and coat don't look like a girl who struggles. >> after we elected incredibly diverse congress in the house and the amount of women that got elected that, oh, maybe we are in a post sexist america. and we're finding out very, very quickly that that is not true. >> ocasio-cortez hit back with a tweet of her own saying, in part, if i walk in with my best sale rack clothes they laugh, take a picture of my backside.

dark hates light. that's why you tune it out. >> like all young people, she's not going to stand for trash either. if you come at her, she's going to respond. >> i think what's different about the way the president uses twitter and the way alexandria uses twitter is he punches down. she punches up. >> ocasio-cortez also had to contend with criticism for some highly publicized gaps in the media. from the "washington post" fact checker. she tweeted that $21 million of pentagon financial accounting errors could have subsidized medicare for all. >> she will be held more accountable for those things than almost anybody else. i cannot tell you how many times i see members of congress go on television and say things that are ridiculously untrue and they don't catch them on it because they don't care what's coming out of that congressman's mouth. >> coming up, can an unapologetic democratic social list represent the future of her party?

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with her mother, blanka, and loved ones looking on, alexandria ocasio-cortez was sworn in in 2019 as the youngest woman ever to serve in congress. she chose to mark the occasion by wearing white, a tribute to the suffragettes as a tribute for the right to vote. >> i think people saw her as a symbol for someone who understand the challenges of racism and discrimination in this country, empathized with immigrants, wasn't taking pac money. >> if we don't get what we want one way or the other, whether

through you, the military or anyone we want to call, i will cut down the government. >> we disagree. >> i am proud to shut down the government for border security, chuck. >> the 116th congress began with a stalemate between the president and the country's democratic leadership. >> alexandria ocasio-cortez gets shut down during the shut down. >> the president said he would only open the government -- >> they highlighted the energy and belief and promise of government that someone like alexandria represents. >> it's mitch mcconnell who refuses to call a vote on it. >> the stalemate created and opportunity for amc. she scoured the capital with cameras in tow trying to find republican senate majority leader, mitch mcconnell.

>> he's not in the cloak room and not here, where's mitch? >> later she made her point during a more formal setting during her first speech on the house. >> it is not normal to shut down the government when we don't get what we want. it is not normal for public servants to run away and hide from the public they serve. >> reporter: c-span's view of the speech quickly became the most viewed twitter house speech ever. and then she conducted a twitter lesson. don't post an meme if you don't know what an meme is. >> it reminds me of the kids teaching how to use a vcr. a number started using her twitter handle while championing the green new deal. and a record $20 million for rights to "knockdown the house,"

a feature documentary profiling her. in a highly publicized interview on "60 minutes," she spoke out about the president's character. >> do you believe president trump is a racist? >> no question. >> reporter: busy behind the scenes she was appointed to the house financial services committee by maxine waters. >> that's the panel so quickly identified with wall street, the big banks. alexandria ocasio-cortez is essentially an announced enemy of some of those interests. >> with the president's inner circle under scrutiny by federal investigators, ocasio-cortez was also given a seat on the house oversight committee. the house oversight committee can call in any member for questioning. as a freshman member she's at the very back of a long line of democrats who will get to do it. somehow i think the cameras will find her when it is her turn. >> if there is going to be peace

and legislation, there cannot be war and investigation. >> reporter: alexandria ocasio-cortez's base wants her to stick it to this administration and to corporate democrats. >> that could mean making good on her pledge to back more progressives challenging progressive democrats in power. >> i will be the bad guy i'm sure half the rooming agrees with any way. >> one thing is this notion they will take out democrats not pure enough. she has to find other members of congress to work with. you have to go far enough towards the middle to pass legislation on things we care about. environment, healthcare, women's rights. >> after her election, aoc joined a chorus of elections challenging amazon's $3.6 billion plan to build headquarters in queens.

>> organizers in my community were busting down our doors saying need to say something about this. we're threatened with homelessness and rising rents. >> when amazon pulled out in february "the daily news" included aoc among other politics she blamed. others said she misrepresented the deal helping squelch a project that would have brought money to the bureorough. if people don't start to speak up against those like alexandria ocasio-cortez who is young but does not know what she is talking about, they will hand the presidency back to donald trump. >> reporter: after amazon canceled their plans, she offered no apologies. >> it's incredible. it shows everyday americans still have the power to organize and fight for their communities

and they can have more say in this country than the richest man in the world. >> when president trump's one time lawyer and fixer, michael cohen, testified in front of the house oversight committee in february 2019, ocasio-cortez laid out the factual basis for further investigation. >> to your knowledge did the president ever provide inflated assets to an insurance company? >> yes. >> who else knows that the president did this? >> alan wise sellberg, ron lieberman and matthew callie marie. >> after the hearing, aoc tweeted bartending and waitressing had given her a razor sharp bs detector. her supporters say her bold ideas represent the future of the democratic party, a move towards comprehensive reform and rejection of business as usual in washington. >> she has done what america claims to be possible for all. she has achieved success, she has achieved power, she has

risen against the odds to achieve a level of the american dream. >> these struggles will not be solved in two years or four years. it will take our whole lives, but this is the fight for our lives. this is the fight for our lives. this is the fight of our lives. xxxx everything just began to shake. just kept asking, where is she? have you seen her? i wouldn't know what i'd do without her. >> it looked like the world was ended. >> growing up in indiana. tsunamis and earthquakes are the things you only see in hollywood films. >> he was sure his world had ended. the love of his life was missing. >> that feeling she's not all right became growing as each minute went