kunta kinte. ♪ ♪ fernando: i'm fernando espuelas.come to "matter of fact." donald trump is turning up the attacks on hillary clinton. mr. trump: you know i call her crooked hillary. fernando: dialing up donors for support, and twisting arms to win the endorsement of party leaders who have been holdouts. it's all part of pulling the gop together, and building a national campaign team. which raises the question: whose advice is he seeking? how much is he listening? i'm joined now by doctor ben carson. dr. carson, welcome to the program. dr. carson: thank you. nice to be with you. fernando: you recently that said that donating to donald trump would be a good investment for the big donors in the republican party. can you elaborate more? how is this a good investment? dr. carson: well, in comparison to bernie sanders and hillary clinton, who feel like the solutions to everything come from the rich. if we take their money we can solve all the problems. the fact of the matter is, we are in so much trouble right now, not just the national de

kunta kinte. ♪ ♪

kunta kinte. >> the character that i got to portray in "roots," kunta kinte as an adult, was a dreamamerica's favorite television dads in the roles of the white slave owners and the villains. >> i'll be by to fetch you in the morning, captain. sleep well. >> it is difficult to explain in today's culture how unprecedented "roots" was. no one had ever seen the story of slavery before told from the point of view of the africans. >> it may be the first time that television allowed an embracing of black pride. >> we's free. we's free, honey. >> one of the reasons that "roots" was so incredibly popular is not because abc had so much faith in it, but because abc didn't. >> earlier miniseries were broadcast in weekly installments. and the abc executives determined that if "roots" were to fail, they could just be done with it in seven or eight nights. >> it was high risk, high reward. if it didn't work, you were out a lot of tv time and not many people watching. >> the television premiere on eight consecutive nights attracted the largest audience in the history of the medium. >> there's somet

>> the story of kunta kinte's abduction from africa into slavery is being retold for a new generationin 1977, lavar burton played kunta. this time he is an executive producer, and british actor malachi kirby plays the iconic role. >> what tip did you give him? >> the only tip i can possibly give malachi is to make it his own. >> forrest whittaker is the role louis gossett junior. and ben vereen takes on chicken george. the original is mostly shot on the disney lot, where as this was shot here in louisiana. but also in south africa. ♪ the slave ship scenes were done in cape town, south africa. in louisiana, seven different plantstations were used. they have been historically preserved down to the original slave cabin. >> that's a real slave cabin. >> yes it is. >> how many people lived in that? >> no telling. probably about 20. >> today they're shooting one of the most emotional scenes of the entire miniseries. this is when kunta kinte's daughter kizzy has been sold and now she is about to leave the plantation. part of "root's" realism comes from costume designer ruth carter. explain w

. >> kunta kinte. >> that's your african name.gram follows several generations of the lives of a family enslave inside the light on an aspect of american history. >> a young african warrior. >> and sparking poignant conversation across the country. >> i can't imagine your ancestors would do this stuff. >> reporter: almost 40 years later, "roots" has been redone for a new generation. >> no, i have seen a bird such as this. >> reporter: the four-episode series on the history channel. i got a chance to sit down with the cast. >> when i watched the original 1977, it made me angry and proud. and when i watch your version, it made me angrier and prouder. why take on this project? >> because it's necessary to continue to tell this story. the glory of what africa was. >> i grew up in zimbabwe in africa. this is one of the most ambitious portrayals of african history. >> for many of us, we see it as an american story. >> also, it would be disingenuous to pretend we can tell the story, the history of america, without also telling the histor

to me, i stood in the cell where kunta kinte was in tears.nority on this set. your journey was so unique. i read about you crying while filming this role. it was a character, very different from you, but this was your journey. >> my grandmother said she didn't even like me. i was definitely the bad girl. >> you were. >> is it true you couldn't bring yourself to watch it? >> i haven't yet. >> you still haven't? >> still have not? >> no. >> will you watch it on the rerelease? are you ready? >> i don't know. i know that the conversation, as ben said to me earlier, has got to go on and be kept alive. >> it will. >> for someone 7 years old, not to be aware, is criminal in this world. >> you've changed lives together, and it is an honor to be in your presence. thank you so much and congratulations. >> thank you. >> thank you for having us. >>> we'll be back in a moment. this is "today" on an amazing day on nbc. ♪ dream pat intoomey started his careers an investment banker. then, a wall street wheeler-dealer overseeing stock trades in new york, lond

so one of the things that is striking about the new one is the amount of time it's taken to show kunta kintea warrior and spending time with his parents and the culture. >> the richness of life for kunta before his capture and before the middle passage. we actually do have an opportunity to spend more time and that was, again, another reason to redo this, to really cement his life before he was enslaved. >> and one of the things that we -- you know, it's interesting. as i was getting ready to come in here today, the wonderful person that did my makeup, we were talking about the fact that the idea of revolt and rebellion is not played up enough for african-americans to understand the history of enslavement in a way that also builds in resistance. >> yes. >> so how important was it to have that scene of resistance that also builds up the character of kunta? >> critical. and it didn't make sense to come and revisit this material unless we were going to take advantage of certain opportunities. and the emphasis really is this time around on resistance and rebellion as a pathway to redemption. >>

. >> kunta kinte. >> charges were leveled at the commercial television networks. >> congress has no right give the audience what it tuned in to see.

kunta kinte. >> congress has no right to interfere with the media. >> excuse me!what it tuned in to see. ♪

kunta kinte. >> congress has no right to interfere with the media. >> excuse me! >> you have a responsibility to give the audience what it tuned in to see. ♪ ♪ >>> the years of the '60s which end in a few hours, have a bad reputation that is not entirely justified. some things got worse but some got better. we simply developed more demanding standards. >> when i think of tv, i think of the '70s. >> what is this world coming to? >> the american public was hungry for more. >> more was allowed. that hadn't been before. >> it was the last decade where it was a campfire television where there was one in the living room. >> i want to watch all-black show for a change. >> where you going to find one? >> here's one, the las angeles lakers against the milwaukee bucks. >> young people were interested in relevant things. and so television began to reflect that. >> this is cbs. >> really it was very simple, you had three channels and plus pbs. >> when the decade turned over into the '70s, television was very rural. >> the beverly hillbillies. >> cbs had the beverly hillbillie

. >> kunta kinte. >> that's your after can name. reporter: the now-iconic program followed several families enslaved in the south. shining a well-needed light on that aspect of america life. and sparking poignant conversations across the country. >> can't imagine that people, your ancestors would do this stuff. >> reporter: and now, almost 40 years later, "roots" has been redone for a new generation. the four-episode series premieres tonight on the history channel. i got a chance to sit down with the cast. i watched the original 1977 it made me angry and proud. and when i watch your version it made me angrier and prouder. why take on this project? >> because it's necessary to continue to tell this story. >> i grew up in zimbabwe africa. this is one of the most respectful and ambitious portrayals of african history. >> you see it as an african story. for more of us we see it as an american story. >> it's an american story but it's also it would be disingenerous that we can tell the history of american without telling the history of a