>> barry: all right, let's get it. >> seegars: i do not want any child in this community, in ward 8, to pattern after mr. barry. if they gonna believe, "oh, i can use crack cocaine on television and become the mayor of washington d.c., it's all right." >> woman: she's right! >> man: calm down. >> seegars: if they gonna believe, "oh, i can use crack cocaine and become the mayor of washington d.c., it's all right." >> what have you or your children benefited in the past 20 years out of his leadership? >> yesterday is gone! >> you have to sit down barry! >> he should just stop and bow out gracefully. does he know what that means, bow out gracefully? >> we gonna bury you marion barry! we gonna get you up out of here! we ain't glad that you back,

you glad you back! down with barry! down with barry! >> barry: you know, you would think that people would be more sensitive and be more appreciative. and particularly with people who i helped a great deal. that doesn't bother me anymore. storm don't last always. there's always a silver lining in every dark cloud somewhere. >> hey, what's up? >> hey, mr. mayor! ♪ oh, we can't do nothin' lord ♪ ♪ oh, we can't do nothin' lord ♪ ♪ oh lord ♪ oh, somebody needs you lord ♪ oh, somebody needs you lord

>> m. jackson: when marion barry got out of prison, it was a day of redemption, a day of jubilee. church groups, ladies in their fine hats, children all up there to see their zulu warrior who was counted down but never counted out. [cheers & applause] >> barry: i've admitted to you and all the world i got caught up in alcohol and drug abuse. i hurt myself and my family, and many of you. i've asked you for your understandin', your forgiveness and your love. [applause] >> rose-barras: he got great sympathies from african-americans. many of them had their own issues with drugs and they saw him like they saw their sons, as just another victim of an insidious drug. >> right now marion barry is a role model. he's a role model for every

black man that's in this city that has fell down but was scared to get up and brush the dust off. he did this, and you know what? people are looking at him and saying, "if he can do it, i can do it." >> fauntroy: he cast himself in religious terms, i've fallen but i'm trying to get up. >> barry: keep an eye on yourselves, and in this way you will obey the law of christ. >> fauntroy: he had taken on an african name, anwar amal. >> bruce brown: he went back out and shook every damn hand and said, "i'm back." and we said, "glad to see you." >> ♪ got nothin' but love for you barry ♪ ♪ got nothin' but love for you barry ♪ >> jaffe: i remember writing, "he's gonna run for mayor," and everybody said, "that's impossible!" >> plotkin: people were shocked and stunned and amazed and appalled. it was like, you cant do this,

you served time in jail! >> he's back! ♪ >> barry: if marion barry can do it, our entire city can get up off its knees and rise up and believe in itself again and do for itself again and bring us out of where we are now again! ♪ i want to be elected >> plotkin: it was like they were doing a movie and you'd say, "oh no, that really didn't happen." but it did happen. >> give me a b! >> b! >> give me an a! >> a! >> plotkin: he had no white support, zero. i mean, infinitesimal. >> reporter: now what do

you say to the white middle class and upper income voters who didn't vote for you? >> barry: get over whatever personal hang ups you got. get over it. >> jaffe: white people believed he's a thug and a scoundrel. >> jonathan agronsky: that was it for me. that was the point where i just said, "i can't, you know, i can't take anymore of this ----. this is my city and he's destroying it. >> berry: gosh darn. i mean, we have a lot at stake when a mayor is terrible. i was pissed off. marion barry and washington d.c. become a laughingstock in the world. >> chris rock: marion barry! i mean, if you get caught smoking crack at mcdonalds, you can't get your job back. [laughter] that's right. they're not gonna trust you around the happy meals. they'll send your ass to hardee's. now how they gonna tell little kids to not get high when the mayor's on crack. don't get high, you won't be notihn'. i could be mayor.

>> johnson: some people voted for marion barry to stick it to the government -- "we'll show you," to the congress, "we'll show you." well, that was a wasted vote because in the end congress showed them. >> pelecanos: the control board was a symbol of going back to the world of the 1960s, there was that plantation mentality. the citizens were still continually at the whim of the federal government. >> barry: i'm really upset that this mean-spirited republican led congress has broken too many of our spirits. >> fauntroy: the republicans were in charge, there was a new day in d.c. >> plotkin: he was the mayor of the city which they owned, they controlled, this is a federal city.

he's an irritant, this is an embarrassment, we got to get rid of him! >> fauntroy: he didn't have any control over budgets, didn't have any control over personnel. >> m. jackson: in essence, a man who had once said "we're in charge" is now in charge of nothing. >> barry: it got to a point where it was difficult to get up in the morning to go to it because it was just... everyday was just a grind. you know, just grind after grind after grind, problem after problem after problem that i had no control over. i was tired of it. i mean, this job, it will burn you out. burn you up if you're not careful. >> don't waste that vote! vote marion barry!

>> barry: you vote yet? >> man: not yet >> barry: give it to me. y'all vote? >> say hi to him. >> you better get with the green wave! marion barry cannot lose on election day! >> barry: i need every vote i can get. >> please come out and vote for marion barry! >> barry: you voted? you voted already? >> oh good. okay. thank you. we appreciate it. >> marion barry! >> seegars: hey! today, from what i'm feeling, it's still anybody's race. so we stand as good a chance as any. i think right now all is even. >> barry! barry! barry!

>> well, mayor, you lookin' good. i'm gonna tell you, for every 15 people, i can safely say you got 10. >> barry: thank you. ♪ victory is mine ♪ victory today is mine >> marion barry has won! marion barry has won the election! >> reporter: many people said marion barry was too old, he was too tired, he was too sick, but tonight marion barry has changed city politics, again! >> barry! barry! barry! >> barry: my role as a leader is to get something if i can do it, and be beat to death if i can do it. but if i'm gonna be beat to death, i might as well get

something for it. the past was too often defined by others for us and without us. and today has come, we will define our own paths and our own future for us and by us. this is not only a victory for marion barry, but for god and the people of ward 8. you know, i didn't listen to all those pundits. i know they don't know what they're talking about, "marion barry his day has come and gone." but what they don't remember, with age comes wisdom. [applause] ♪ >> dennis: i was very surprised.

>> dennis: i was very surprised. i couldn't believe that he was doing drugs. it's kind of embarrassing because i'm being teased by kids about "your godfather's a crack head." he apologized. he know he made a mistake and he wouldn't do it again. which he did, but...you know. i'm not gonna never give up on him. >> preacher: i'm going to give you one more opportunity to turn it around. i want you to get mad at the devil. >> barry: each of us has some kind of struggle in our life, i don't care what it is. sometimes it's a bad marriage, sometimes it's kids. sometimes it's alcohol,

sometime it's drugs. i've done some things i'm not very proud of. but here i am, i'm human, and i've asked him for forgiveness. what else can i say? >> preacher: let us all say amen. >> barry: i don't think too much about the past. i look forward. i mean, if you look back long enough you go back, look down you go down, so i look forward, i look up. simple as that. all right. let's hit it! ♪

>> jeff salkin: stay right here for an exclusive mpt interview with filmmaker dana flor. >> dana flor: i was kind of blown away by the passions that the mere mention of his name evoked. people either love marion barry or they really despise him, and there was really nothing in the middle there.

>> salkin: it's coming up next with bonus scenes from the documentary. >> announcer: to purchase "the nine lives of marion barry" on dvd with bonus material for $24.95, go online to mpt.org/shop or call 1-800-873-6154. >> hello, i'm jeff salkin. thank you for watching mpt's broadcast premiere of "the nine lives of marion barry." now stay tuned for some bonus scenes and commentary from filmmaker dana flor. >> dana flor: i was interested in doing a documentary on marion barry because his story is kind of this larger, epic, larger than life tale. it's kind of unbelievable. he's one of america's most resilient politicians. and when i talked to people

when i first had the idea, when i talked to people about doing the story of marion barry, i was kind of blown away by the passions that the mere mention of his name evoked. people either love marion barry or they really despise him and there was really nothing in the middle there. and i was also really interested to find that those opinions were kind of divided by race. most, 99.9% of the white people that i asked about marion barry really disliked him, very strongly. and the majority of his supporters were african-american. so i thought that was really interesting and really intriguing. another thing that i thought was really important was the relationship between marion barry and the city of washington d.c. the status of washington d.c., of the being a city was with no representation, no vote in the house, no vote in the congress, it's so important to marion barry's story. and it's something that a lot of americans don't know.

and i find that that history, that sort of inextricable entwining of the city story and the man's story, it's very important for the film, and it's fascinating as well. >> woman: why you wearin' a marion barry shirt? you know anything about marion barry? >> dennis: i know... >> woman: what your mother and father told you. >> dennis: no, he's my godfather. >> woman: marion barry your godfather! >> dennis: yes, ma'am. >> woman: oh! >> dennis: how y'all doin'? [laughter] >> woman: oh gosh, i'm dead. what he say, the devil don't like it but he blessed like that. i tell ya, marion barry your godfather. he's a down to earth person. he concerned about people. he's not concerned about hisself, you know. because you find he didn't steal no money from the government. he ain't do nothin' like that. they tricked him up. if you my brother's keeper you won't trick nobody up like that. and right now he better be clean. >> dennis: all right, let me ask you this.

did you believe that mr. barry did crack or did drugs? do you believe it? >> woman: well, i hate to answer that question. >> dennis: i mean the truth is the truth, he's still a wonderful person. >> woman: yeah. >> dennis: but do you actually think or do you believe some of it, that it's a possibility that he did do it? >> woman: he might of dibbled and dabbled, i see it like that. i don't like some of the things that he had did, but i just love him. you know, the person. >> dennis: no one's perfect. everyone's gonna slip up. every one's gonna do things that they shouldn't do. but, he's fell, he's fell down plenty of times, but he got back up. >> woman: that's what god would do. that let me know there's a god. 'cuz a lot of people would have went crazy, lost they mind, and all that kind of stuff, and he's still standin'. he's still standin'. so he just a strong man. >> dennis: it's unbelievable how every time when he gets the spot light from the media, the first thing they like to bring up is... >> woman: the dirty stuff. >> reporter: ...is it okay? >> barry: i'm tired of that damn question.

>> reporter: and i just look at you walk a little slow... >> dennis: every time he has the spotlight, if he's running or if he's doing something good, the first thing they bring out is what he did back first, and they never bring out, "he's a wonderful person." the first thing he did, "well, back in this such and such he had a drug thing," and all of this. they're always trying to hurt him. they never bring out the good facts about him. and that's the one thing i feel is not right. >> flor: dennis really represents his supporters. for us, he kind of exemplified that sort of blind loyal love that certain washingtonians feel for marion barry. no matter what he does, they will love him. they will stand by him. they will be by his side through thick and through thin. and dennis is that, and he was that in the film. there's a part in the film when berry says, "you know, he's so articulate, he could do anything he want.

boys like that, they can go the right way or they can go the wrong way." so, we're still waiting to see what dennis is going to do. marion barry is a complex man, and he's a mercurial man. he changes a lot. so, my opinion of him would change along with that. at times i felt great admiration for him. at times i would look at things that he did and just say, how can you do that? that's part of why he's a fascinating character, he never ceases to amaze me. he's a really fascinating person to step back and study. >> barry! barry! barry! >> women: 7:00 am on that morning is when the polls open, we're asking people to get there around 6:30. >> uh-uh. look at the suit though. check it out. we have the polyester suit with the butterfly collar

with the tight pant. he always think he was fly. couldn't tell him nothin'. mr. barry for ya. working with him you need patients. >> barry: tiffany, will y'all please come on now. >> tiffany: you need to mind your business. >> barry: that is my business. >> tiffany: someone asked us one day, are we sure we weren't ever married? no! one of us would be sleeping outside and it wouldn't be me. it's leaking all over the place. >> barry: it's not tight. someone didn't tighten it up. >> tiffany: don't start with me today, mr. barry, okay? >> barry: i might i want to. >> tiffany: no you not. >> barry: i'm the general. >> tiffany: not today you not. >> barry: oh, i'm not the general? >> tiffany: no, you plain indian. >> barry: oh, i don't want to be the indian. they got ran over by white folks. [laughter] >> tiffany: you a fool!

>> barry: how everybody? >> all right. how you doin'? >> tiffany: maybe if he meet us back at about 5:00. all right. [cell phone rings] >> barry: hello. yeah, linda, how you doin' baby? when? right now? that's fine. okay, fine with me. i can do it right now. well, i've serve this community very well. i care about this community and people respond with love and adulation. i just feel great, thank god for that. people get all mixed up about things. being a legislator does not require physical energy, it requires brain power

and vision. ahhh! that hurt. >> flor: marion barry did not have any control over our editing or our shooting. if he did, it would be a very different film. was anything off limits? no, but marion barry would get angry with us on various occasions. he got sick of us, frankly. he would throw us out of his apartment or wherever we were shooting. every once in a while we'd have to turn off the camera. but i think this is normal in the course of making a documentary. i mean, you're there with him, night and day, hours and hours and hours. but no, there was nothing off limits. we really got up close and personal with marion barry, which i think really help the film. >> announcer: to learn more about "the nine lives of marion barry" and the filmmakers, visit mpt.org/marionbarry.

stocks fell on worries that china might...

announcer: the new pbs for ipad app. you'll never know what you'll find. [dog barks] announcer: available now in the app store. by mpt to serve all of our diverse communities and is made possible by the generous support of our members. thank you. live from maryland public television, this is "direct connection" with jeff salkin. >> tonight on "direct connection" the renowned johns hopkins neurosurgeon ben carson hangs up his scalpel and turns his attention to politics. he is live in our studio tonight to take your calls. good evening and thanks for tuning in for "direct connection" tonight. the clarn for ben carson used to be filled with consultations and surgeon russ. suddenly it is filled with

county republican dinners in places like alabama and tennessee. tonight we have a chance to catch up with dr. carson who joins us for the full program tonight. sir, thank you for being with us. >> my pleasure. thank you. >> i've heard you speak about the enormous potential of the human brain, and this change of careers maybe a way to test that? >> no. the change of careers is something that i really had planned for quite some time. i actually remained in medicine for two or three years longer than i had anticipated that i would. but i've always been extremely interested in education and healthy policy, and the general well-being of the country. >> when was your last operation? >> it was june the 17th. >> do you miss it? do you think you will miss that as time goes on? >> well, you know, you certainly miss the effect of it. a lot of people are surprised when i tell them that i don't

particularly like surgery, but i like the effect of it, i like what it can do for people's lives, particularly with children. you know, you're successful, your reward maybe 40, 50, 60 years of healthy life. >> i read that you always said a prayer before beginning an operation. >> that's correct. i believe that god made the body and is the source of all wisdom, and i am definitely not one of those physicians who thinks that they are god. >> somebody, professors, insurgence at hopkins keep on practicing. retirement doesn't seem to fit in with the resume of a full professor of medicine at johns hopkins, at least for a lot of people that i have come in contact with. what made you choose to get out of it? >> well,, you know, i believe that it's very good to leave while you're at the top of the game rather than after you've begun to slide.

and although a lot of people don't like to admit it, you do have less stamina, your eyes are not as sharp, you know, there are little things that happen over the course of time, and those things don't matter as much in some areas as they do in others. >> as i mentioned, you've been giving a lot of talks. you have been critical, notably, of obamacare, same-sex marriage. how would you describe your politics? >> i would say my politics are very traditional. i'm a student of history, also. and i have a very good understanding, i believe, of what the founders of this country intended for it to be. and, you know, i see us veering off that path. and that's why i spend a lot of time talking about ways to correct it. i believe that we need to get

back to a point where we as americans recognize that we're not each other's enemies. and what's been happening, particularly in recent years, is that we've allowed certain factions to divide us in just about every place where you can find a division, you know, gender, race, age, income, whatever, drive wedges in it, drive people apart. and unfortunately the people are kind of falling for that. my mission over the next couple of years is to try to help reveal those forces that are trying to drive us apart and to troy to find reasons that we can work together because if we don't work together, i don't see how we're going to ever solve our problems. and a wise man once said a house divide against itself cannot stand. >> this is true, but we've had a two-party political system since the time of that remark, if not

well before. is that part of the problem? >> well, no. >> they go at it. >> having two parties is not a problem. having parties that won't compromise, that is a problem. and, you know, like i said at the national prayer breakfast, for an eagle to fly state and high, it has to have two wings, a right wing and a left wing, and they have to fly in conjunction and if they don't it's going to crash. >> you've been writing a column now for the washington times newspaper for a couple of months i guess. i saw one recently on the subject of the tax code which, of course, everybody hates. you advocate for simplifying that but also for something that's much like a flat tax. >> yeah. and the reason i do that is because i think our system is so incredibly complex that virtually no one can comply with it all. as wonderful a person as you

are, if the government wanted to get you on something and they couldn't find something, they could find something in your taxes. >> a couple miles over the speed limit recently. >> so we need to do something to make that simple. and we also need to do something to make it fair. you know, some people say it's not fair. notably the president always says it's not fair. and yet the top 10% of income earners in this country pay 70% of income taxes. and it gets even more skewed when you get to the top 1 or 2 percent. so i don't think it's an issue of them not paying their fair share. the real issue is is this america and do people have a right to their own increase? 6 or does it all belong to the government and does the government redistrict as it sees fit? recognizing that one of the thing that allowed america to

reach the pinnacle so quickly, that people came from other places where the government was in their lives and trying to control everything to a place that was going to be for, of and by the people, and the people knew that they and their families would be the beneficiaries of their hard work and therefore they were willing to work extremely hard, and that really drove us tremendously. and the other thing about, you know, the kind of tax that i advocate, you have to get rid of all the loopholes because that's where the unfairness comes in. some people who have access to fancy lawyers and account ants get away with paying very little in the waive taxes, and if we really took somebody who made $10 billion and they really had to pay $1 billion, that would be great. the way it works now, they usually don't pay anywhere near that. this is what's unfair. >> you've been enormously

successful. most viewers probably know the story, a humble upbringing, ten elements in boston and -- tenements in boston and detroit, strong-willed single mother who turned new a reader and now a renowned surgeon who i'm sure has made millions in medicine and writing books. are you saying that you should be paying the same rate as someone in your mother's former circumstances? >> absolutely. i'm saying absolutely that. needless to say, that person in my mother's circumstance wouldn't be paying very much. i would be paying a lot. >> she's paying it eye much smaller number, but the conventional thinking is that that only 90 progressive, it's regressive and that somebody who can afford to pay a larger percentage should and somebody who is making very little shouldn't pay any. >> let me tell you my take on at