The Choice 2024: Harris vs. Trump

>> NARRATOR: The Choice... a FRONTLINE tradition for over 30 years.

Now, in this historic election... >> The 2024 campaign is in full swing.

>> NARRATOR: Through years of interviews, the moments that shaped the candidates.

>> This is for Donald Trump a chance to go out the winner he must be.

>> Kamala Harris demands respect.

If it’s not given to her, she demands it.

>> It’s about the country that you want.

>> The choice could not be more stark.

>> NARRATOR: The Choice 2024... Harris vs. Trump.

>> NARRATOR: In a nation divided, two very different candidates facing off.

>> CROWD (chanting): Kamala!

Kamala!

>> NARRATOR: A vice president with a meteoric rise who shattered barriers along the way.

>> CROWD (chanting): Trump!

Trump!

Trump!

Trump!

>> NARRATOR: A former president with decades in the spotlight, always determined to be the winner at any cost.

>> And we fight, we fight like hell.

And if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore.

>> NARRATOR: Two fighters.

>> ...do not throw up our hands when it is time to roll up our sleeves and fight for who we are.

>> NARRATOR: One seeking vindication, promising a return to greatness.

>> And we will make American great again.

>> NARRATOR: The other seeking to move beyond the past, promising a greater future.

>> But we are not going back.

(crowd cheering) >> NARRATOR: "The Choice 2024."

>> Tell me about the early days of Donald Trump.

What kind of a family life do you have?

I mean, did you go outside and play ball, or... Did you have what we call a normal life, a normal upbringing?

>> Well, Rona, I think I was probably brought up in a, in a very normal fashion.

I have brothers and sisters.

I have wonderful parents, wonderful family, really very wonderful family.

>> Are you like your dad?

>> Well, I hope so.

I have a very wonderful father, and I would hope I'd be somewhat like my father.

>> What's he like?

>> A strong, dynamic gentleman.

>> Is he loving?

Kind?

Giving?

>> Absolutely, absolutely.

Totally.

>> Fred Trump was a machine.

I mean, he was a human machine.

He was driven beyond whatever the description of driven could ever mean.

And when you look at the picture of Fred and you look at Donald, you see the great resemblance between the two, and when you think about Fred's energy, you see how it is channeled through Donald.

>> If you met my grandfather, he was quite cheerful person.

>> NARRATOR: Mary Trump is a psychologist who has been publicly critical of her family.

>> He seemed fairly lighthearted, but he was in control of everything.

Life is a zero-sum game-- there's one winner, everybody else is a loser.

If you're not winning, you're losing.

Unfortunately, he didn't just have that philosophy in the context of his business, he ran his family that way.

>> The way the game got played in his household was, "If you did not win, you lost."

And losing was, you got crushed.

Losing was, you didn't matter.

Losing was, you were nothing.

>> NARRATOR: In the beginning, Donald wasn't the winner in the family.

He had to fight for his place behind his older brother, Freddie.

>> Donald Trump was never going to be the guy in charge of the Trump empire.

Donald Trump was not groomed for that.

That's not what Fred Trump wanted.

Fred Trump knew from the start that his namesake, Fred, Jr., would be the one to take over.

>> My dad was the favorite initially simply because he was the first.

He mattered to my grandfather as an extension of his ambition.

So my dad, early on, was protected in a way Donald wasn't.

>> NARRATOR: Donald acted out, getting all the wrong kind of attention.

>> Donald was always the kid in the family who would start throwing birthday cake at all the parties.

That you would build up a tower of blocks, he would come and knock your blocks down.

>> I think the troublemaking level now would seem laughable.

But he was not a serious student, and he liked to clown around, he liked to get attention.

>> NARRATOR: Finally, a pivotal moment-- his father sent him away.

("To the Colors" playing, student calls) (drums pounding) >> NARRATOR: Military school.

>> All of a sudden, he's the one child of five to be banished to this austere life.

Goodbye, luxury, goodbye, Mom and Dad, brothers and sisters-- hello, drill sergeant.

>> He talks about it as almost this rite of passage.

He said to me that when he arrived at the military academy, for the first time in his life, someone slapped him in the face when he got out of line.

(drums pounding) >> Unlike a lot of kids who get shipped off to such a place, he liked it.

Apparently, he really liked it.

He like the accountability, he liked the kind of clarity of it, and he liked that there was a medal and a prize for everything.

His mother told me that he was never homesick.

>> He became a leader of the cadets.

He became one of the student leaders who had a number of kids under him in the dormitories, and he ruled the dormitory life with an iron fist.

>> There's this great picture of him leading the cadets marching down Fifth Avenue.

Somehow, he, he acquired a zest for life that's very deep and very real, that allows him to sort of work his way through every challenge.

(radio tuning) >> From a San Francisco conclave to name a presidential... >> NARRATOR: Kamala Harris grew up across the bay from San Francisco.

>> The United States continues its arms buildup in South Vietnam.

>> NARRATOR: Berkeley was the liberal epicenter of America.

>> Huey Newton, the leader of the militant Black Panther Party, will go on trial July 15... >> During the '60s and the '70s, Berkeley was a very diverse community.

Diversity in terms of food and art and music.

♪ ♪ You could hear the Hare Krishna marching down the streets, playing their tambourines.

Across the street, you may hear African drummers on congas.

So that kind of gives you a sense of the environment that Kamala and I grew up in.

>> NARRATOR: Stacey Johnson-Batiste is Kamala Harris's oldest friend.

>> Kamala and I first met in kindergarten, and we became friends instantly, and our mothers became really close friends.

So, going back 55 years.

>> NARRATOR: Kamala's parents, Shyamala and Donald, were both immigrants.

>> They met on the campus of U.C.

Berkeley.

They were these, these two people from opposite sides of the world.

Her father grew up in Jamaica.

Her mother grew up in India.

And they were very united in this fight for a better future.

(crowd cheering) >> My parents often brought me in a stroller with them to civil rights marches.

I have young memories of a sea of legs moving about, of the energy and the shouts and the chants.

(protesters chanting) >> And I for one appreciate the support that you here at Berkeley have given to the civil rights struggle.

>> My mother would tell us, "Fight systems in a way that causes them to be fairer, and don't be limited by what has always been."

>> Shyamala was inspirational to all of us.

She was 19 when she came from Chennai, India, by herself, as a woman, in the 1960s.

Shyamala was a cancer research scientist, and cancer research was her passion, and raising her daughters was her passion.

>> NARRATOR: By the time Kamala was seven, her parents were divorced.

Shyamala would be a single mother to her daughters Kamala and Maya.

Her father was increasingly distant, pursuing his career as an economist and academic.

>> Kamala was being raised by a single Indian mother.

But her mother also knew that, you know, she was raising these, these biracial girls in a country that viewed race through a binary lens.

>> I'm sure she heard as many names as I heard, you know?

And a lot of my teasing was from Black kids.

And it was, you know, because I, I was mixed.

I, I had a white mother.

>> She talked about having suffered racial slurs for both of her cultures.

She had received racial slurs for being a Black person and racial slurs for being someone of South Asian descent.

>> Kamala is very clear that she is Indian and Black, but it was very important for Shyamala to make sure the girls grew up and knew about their Black heritage, and, because they would be viewed as Black girls.

>> Miss Shyamala relied on the safety net of the African American community to help raise those babies.

A young woman of color, single mom, academic, lived in a Black neighborhood, and had a community around her to support the, the growth and the cultural development of these children.

Her mother sent her to Miss Shelton's Daycare.

That tells you a lot.

The Shelton family has been a neighborhood daycare oasis for single moms for decades.

I think they're, they've closed up shop, but listen, that's all you gotta tell me.

>> We were taught at the Shelton school about Black leaders and scientists, and just understanding, you know, what it means to be Black in this country.

We had a really deep understanding and teaching and appreciation for our, um, you know, Black community and the Black culture.

>> Mrs. Shelton would quickly become a second mother to Maya and me.

>> NARRATOR: Later in life, on her political rise... (camera flash pops) ...she'd be sworn in with her hand upon Ms. Shelton's bible.

(camera flash popping) >> She had wonderful examples right in her own mother, who counter any negative impact from being a Black child in America and, and being raised in the midst of racism.

When you have a strong, nurturing foundation and environment, then it does build your confidence and it strengthens your inner resolve.

Having a mother like Kamala's mother, it makes you strong.

>> NARRATOR: Upon leaving military school, Donald would begin to surpass his brother Freddie.

>> As my father grew older, his personality became clearer.

He was sensitive, he was kind and generous, he liked hanging out with his friends, who adored him, and maybe worst of all, he had interests outside of the family business.

My grandfather understood none of that.

>> He wasn't a killer.

His father told the boys to be killers, but Freddie was never a killer.

He wasn't hyper-aggressive, he wasn't hyper-competitive.

>> My grandfather treated him so poorly, with such little respect, and made his life miserable.

Donald was able to watch what my grandfather considered the mistakes that my dad made.

He took that lesson to heart, and became the killer, the tough guy, the person who would do anything in his power to be the winner.

Could never be wrong, could never admit a mistake, and avoided being kind, because all of those things in my grandfather's universe spoke to an unforgivable weakness.

And my grandfather finally started to see in him the son he wanted.

>> NARRATOR: Donald would become the winner, assuming Freddie's place next to his father.

♪ ♪ >> The older sister, Mary Ann, told me that Donald was like a wind, a hot wind at Fred Jr.'s back.

He didn't quite throw him under the bus, to mix metaphors, but he was certainly right behind him.

Donald was standing right there and ready to take over.

>> Do you think you have to have a killer instinct in order to be successful?

>> I think you have to have some, to, to a large extent, I think you do have to have, at least a winning, winning instinct.

I think that, um, the world is made up of people with either killer instincts or without killer instincts.

And the people that seem to emerge as, are the people that are competitive and driven and with a certain instinct to win.

>> My grandfather shoved Donald's success in my dad's face a lot.

And, um, I think he found that difficult.

>> NARRATOR: Fred, Jr., left the family real estate business and became an airline pilot, and an alcoholic.

>> My dad had just bought in, hook, line, and sinker, into the family's assessment of my father as an alcoholic failure who'd never accomplished anything, and their line about Donald, as this extraordinary, self-made, brilliant businessman.

>> Donald told me that he and his father had perhaps been way too hard on him.

They used to say to him, because he was an airline pilot, "What's the difference between what you do, Freddie, and driving a bus?"

>> NARRATOR: At age 42, Fred Trump, Jr., died of a heart attack.

>> You had a brother, Fred, Jr. >> Right.

>> Who died.

Your brother was open, too vulnerable, maybe.

Drank.

Did this make you, I don't know, close up?

Keep it all inside?

>> I learned a lot of things from Fred, but I did learn for myself that I don't want to be open.

I don't want to make myself vulnerable.

>> NARRATOR: When Kamala Harris was 12, her mother moved the family to Montreal, Canada.

>> Her mom got passed over for a job that she thought she deserved.

And so, rather than sit around and brood about it, she got a job at McGill University, up in Quebec.

And so, she packs her two daughters off.

(car horns honking) >> Going to Montreal, Canada, it's all white, predominantly, and you're having to make all new friends, and figure your way out.

>> For her to be uprooted from her community at such a, a sensitive moment in anyone's upbringing, experience her teenage years in a foreign place.

(car horn honking) >> She kind of was always the type that would embrace something, take it on, take it like a challenge, and battle it.

>> NARRATOR: Wanda Kagan became Kamala's new best friend.

>> She made the best out of it, which is what she did with them coming to Quebec, which was French and having to go to French school, and, um, the cold weather.

(laughs) ♪ ♪ She talked about the life she left behind a lot.

That was another commonality we had-- my family was in America.

That's actually what was so nice about our friendship, seeing how she and, and myself navigated ourselves to fit in to that, to that world, two different worlds, and, and bridge the gap between them.

>> That was also a crucial part of her development, because it was important to get out of her comfort zone.

It was important to be in a new space, to have to rebuild sort of your sense of identity at that very, very pivotal age, where you're still trying to understand who you are and what you believe.

Now you have to figure it out.

Now you have to say, "Well, what am I gonna do?

How am I gonna operate?"

>> NARRATOR: Their friendship would play a crucial role in shaping Kamala's sense of purpose.

>> She used to bring lunches to school for me, and I always, she, I'd, I'd get to have the lunches because I would be hungry sometimes, you know.

I think it was those little kinds of things that she was able to pick up on, that there was something going on or something wrong in my home life.

I was, um, I was being abused at home, both physically and sexually, and I finally, um... She would tell me that I... "What's wrong?

", you know, and that I didn't, I didn't seem myself some days, and so, once I was confronted with her out-and-out asking me, I decided to tell her that I was being molested and abused at home.

Her first reaction was, "How long have you been going through this, Wanda?"

And then, and then, once I talked about it with her, then she was, like, "Well, you're just going to have to come and stay with us."

I was, um, I was, I was really, I was really emotional and heartfelt when they said I could come and stay with them.

It wasn't just that I went to live with her.

I mean, I just felt like, like I saw that passion and that compassion in her of, basically she was, like, taking a stand and fighting for my rights back then, 40 years ago, to, you know, do what I wanted, to be able to do what I wanted with my body.

She was a child, too, 15, 16 years old, with such a powerful voice and fighting for what's right.

>> Even back then, Harris was thinking about how she could fight for people's rights, how she could fight for justice.

Her career today goes back to sort of this moment that she had with her very close friend in Canada.

>> NARRATOR: Donald Trump was his father's apprentice, heir to a multimillion-dollar real estate organization.

>> They had a vast empire in Queens and Brooklyn of residences and rental apartments.

I mean, it was really quite an establishment.

>> NARRATOR: But early on, there was a crisis.

>> There came a day in 1973 when the federal government sued Donald and Fred by name and their company for racial bias.

This was one of the greatest racial bias cases of its time.

>> This was a particularly egregious case, because the Trump Organization had allegedly put large Cs to connote people of color who were applying for apartments.

>> The government had him nailed.

He had, they had the Trump Organization nailed.

There were multiple Trump employees who confessed that they had been instructed to divert Black applicants for apartments, to discourage them, to tell them that apartments had been rented when they hadn't been.

>> Donald Trump's regular lawyers tell him, "Settle it-- just move on, do the right thing.

Do what you're supposed to do under the law."

And Trump's not happy with that advice.

>> NARRATOR: He wanted to fight back.

He went looking for a new lawyer-- in Manhattan.

>> One of the places to see and be seen in Manhattan was called Le Club.

Donald Trump walked in, and Roy Cohn was there, holding court, as he often did.

And Trump said, you know, "I know about you-- can I ask you a question?"

>> Roy Cohn had 20 years of being a really aggressive, no-holds-barred, go for the jugular, fight back, "anybody says something to you, throw it back at them" guy.

He was famous for that behavior.

>> And, as legend has it, Donald stuck out his hand, and introduced himself, and said, "My father is being sued by the Justice Department "over this race discrimination.

What should we do?"

>> And he said, "Listen, I've spent two days "with these establishment law firms about a case we have."

It was a civil rights case, or something.

"And they're all telling us, 'Give up, do this, sign a decree,' and all of that."

He says, "I've followed your career, and you seem, "you're a little bit crazy, like I am, "and you stand up to the establishment.

Can I come see you?"

And I said, "Sure."

♪ ♪ >> When they met, Roy said to him, "You might be guilty; it doesn't matter.

"Go after the Justice Department.

Don't ever admit guilt."

>> "Fight it-- you'll kill them.

Just deny everything and fight."

And, and Trump was totally taken by that, and he hired Roy Cohn as his lawyer.

>> That was a defining moment for Donald Trump.

Donald Trump was on the ropes.

There was no doubt they had discriminated, there was no doubt there, there was wrongdoing.

And yet, Roy Cohn showed him that you can turn around a situation just by ignoring the facts and going after your attacker.

Trump countersued the Justice Department for $100 million.

>> "I have never, nor has anyone in our organization ever, "to the best of my knowledge, discriminated or shown bias in renting our apartments."

>> This is a classic example of where Trump begins to demonstrate something he talks about all the time today, which is, he's a counter-puncher.

So somebody comes after him and says that he's done something nefarious and horrible, and he just goes back at them with all guns blazing.

You know, boom, boom, boom.

And admits nothing-- never admit anything.

Never say you made a mistake.

Just keep coming.

>> His countersuit didn't work, and in fact, he did end up quietly settling out of court, but Roy went on the offensive and said this is a victory-- Trump was vindicated.

He knew, before anybody else did, that the court of public opinion is often more important than a court of law.

The lesson from Roy Cohn was, "Don't go the way the establishment does.

Don't play by the rules."

>> (talking in background) >> Donald Trump learned a lot of things from Roy Cohn, but I think that you could kind of sum it up by saying that bullying works really well.

If you punch back, most people withdraw, and just look at what you can get away with.

>> NARRATOR: For Donald Trump, Roy Cohn's playbook would become a guide to life, business, and politics.

>> A witch hunt.

A horrible, horrible, disgusting witch hunt.

I did nothing wrong.

We'd have a system that was rigged and disgusting.

I did nothing wrong.

>> Cohn's approach to life that he conveys to Trump is, you fight, you fight back, and you fight dirty if you have to.

Trump articulates this.

>> And we fight.

We fight like hell.

And if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore.

>> If somebody attacks him, he attacks them back, he says, ten times as hard.

He's not about diplomacy, he's not about negotiation.

He is all about the fight.

>> NARRATOR: Back in the U.S., at Howard University, Kamala Harris would find a way to fight for what she believed in.

>> Howard is such an interesting place for someone who has Kamala Harris's background.

We had people during that time who were not only from all 50 states, but different countries in the world.

This was an entirely diverse place.

Howard probably seemed like a very familiar place to her.

♪ ♪ >> Howard University is in Washington, D.C. You would've not just had your cocoon and your incubator of Howard University, but you're also looking around at the city itself, and seeing the seats of power that are literally in the same exact city.

♪ ♪ >> I think the idea of being in Washington, D.C., was intoxicating.

She interned at the Federal Trade Commission.

She worked at the National Archives.

And she was an intern for Senator Alan Cranston of California, whose seat she would later hold, like, some 30 years later.

>> I loved going to the Capitol Building every day that summer for work.

It felt like the epicenter of change.

>> She was always interested in justice, and how would she have that impact to provide a broader justice, and I think that she found an avenue in the justice system.

She wasn't going to be this just, "I'm an activist and I just go out there and, you know, tell people about justice."

Protest alone, although important, is not what ultimately makes the difference.

>> NARRATOR: At the sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha, Harris picked up lifelong skills for what was ahead.

>> Alpha Kappa Alpha-- A.K.As., as they are known commonly-- are known for being sort of the most prestigious of the, the sororities, the Black sororities.

>> Our womanhood was celebrated in Alpha Kappa Alpha.

It was a celebration of women and their capability.

It was enough just trying to be a Black person in America in the '80s.

Women were still being boxed out of a lot of opportunity and a lot of serious jobs, and so you had to come with extra credibility.

You had to come with extra preparation.

>> Within that spirit of excellence, it was to bring your best every single day.

So to bring your best, you get up and you, you know, you get your mind right, and you get all dressed up.

We dressed at Howard University, every day.

Even if you wore jeans, you probably were wearing a pair of heels, and you had on a very, you know, dressy blouse.

And Kamala wore pearls literally almost every day.

That was her trademark.

>> NARRATOR: She graduated with her own playbook.

And a direction.

>> She wanted to be a lawyer, this idea that she could correct the system from the inside, fight, fight the power from the inside, from having a seat at the table.

>> NARRATOR: She returned home to the Bay Area for law school, and shocked her mother when she took a job as a prosecutor.

>> Growing up in the activist community, why would you want to be something that symbolizes oppression to our community?

She wants to become a prosecutor, she wants to become "the Man," that, her family was, like, "Whoa!"

>> She's becoming a prosecutor at a time when Black communities are literally under siege.

Specifically, in Oakland and Alameda County in the 1980s, you know, it's, it is literally ground zero for the crack cocaine epidemic.

You have tremendous amounts of violence in Black communities.

You have over-policing.

So it was a controversial decision in her family and her community.

>> I had to defend my choice as one would a thesis.

America has a deep and dark history of people using the power of the prosecutor as an instrument of injustice.

I understood my community's wariness.

>> Ultimately, I think her argument was that, "Look, like, in order for us to change the system, "we have to have people within it "who are willing to open the doors, "who are willing to listen, who are willing to sit at the table," and that's what she did.

>> NARRATOR: Initially for Donald Trump, working with his father meant working across the river from Manhattan in Queens.

>> Queens was not the hip place to be.

He was the kid who grew up as a outsider to where the real action was, and he was acutely aware of it.

>> And I think he's a kid who looked across the East River from Queens into Manhattan, and said, "That's where I want to be"-- I think it was like Oz to him.

>> NARRATOR: He became determined to make a name for himself, to make his mark in Manhattan.

>> What drove anybody in that period of time, in the '70s, into Manhattan, it's the bright lights.

>> NARRATOR: Alan Marcus would become Trump's longtime public relations adviser.

>> He was from Queens.

Donald had crossed the line, tried to become more into society, if you will.

He wanted to be an elite, he wanted to be part of that crowd in New York, he wanted to be part of the in-crowd.

>> His first apartment was in a terrific building on the Upper East Side.

And he had a Cadillac.

>> He got a limo with his name, "Trump," on it.

>> The funny thing about saying that Donald went into Manhattan to make it on his own is that he went into Manhattan funded by a father who had $200 million in net worth in 1970, so there wasn't much struggle.

>> NARRATOR: With his father's support, he built a luxury high-rise that could be seen all the way from Queens.

>> Trump Tower was what put him on the map.

He had arrived, without a doubt.

He was the most talked-about developer in New York City.

>> NARRATOR: He had his father's money and Roy Cohn's playbook.

When he built Trump Tower, he got a whopper tax abatement that was intended for poor areas of town.

His building was built a block away from Tiffany's.

That was an, you know, deteriorating area of town?

I don't think so.

You can get away with almost everthing, and Donald took that to heart.

That's the only metric that counts >> The rules don't apply to him.

Even the number of floors in Trump Tower is essentially a fraud.

From the lower floors, he skips a bunch of numbers so that it has more floors than any other building of the same height.

You go in the elevator.

You can't go to the seventh, eighth, ninth, or tenth floor, because they don't exist.

>> NARRATOR: On opening night, Trump's salesmanship seemed to pay off.

>> And they had the fabulous opening.

La crème de la crème of New York showed up for the opening of the Trump Tower.

It was an amazing event, and it looked so glamorous, with the waterfalls and everything.

It was, it was really magnificent.

Donald was like a kid in a candy store, he was so excited.

You know, you have dreams and aspirations, and you hope they're going to turn out great, and then when they turn out, and they're great, look how happy you are.

It was just a monumental day for him.

>> NARRATOR: Despite it all, he couldn't win over those he most wanted to impress.

>> The establishment of New York thought of Trump, if they thought of him at all, as a joke, as a vulgarian, as someone who was silly, who was just a vulgar builder.

>> When you talk to real estate moguls in New York, to this day, they disdain Donald Trump.

They thought he was a guy interested in self-exposure, and lacked humility and modesty.

>> He was considered loud and obnoxious and too self-centered and not someone who fit in.

There is a, an old-money elite in Manhattan that has never accepted Donald.

This is where Donald's resentment of the elite comes from.

>> NARRATOR: After more than a decade climbing the ranks as a prosecutor, Kamala Harris would make her move into politics, running for district attorney of San Francisco.

>> Back then, San Francisco was a boys' town.

Boys run the city.

And Kamala Harris was a biracial woman coming into a place where the, where the dominant power was held by white men.

>> She's working her way up as a prosecutor, and Kamala Harris is driven to rise and run things all the way to the top, and make a difference not just behind a desk, but by leading.

>> She decided to run against an incumbent district attorney, a white man, Terence Hallinan, whose nickname was "K.O."

He had boxed when he was young.

>> He wasn't just the D.A.

for one term, he was political royalty.

His father had run for president, um, he had served many terms as a supervisor, he was rumored to run for mayor.

It was a big deal.

>> We did our first poll, and she was at six percent.

But she worked her butt off.

She loved going and talking to people.

>> Hi, how are you?

I'm running for district attorney.

I hope to have your support.

>> There was no stone unturned.

>> We are talking to every voter we possibly can.

>> The coalition she put together is a very rare one in San Francisco.

She had the rich people in the, in Pacific Heights, with folks in the Bayview, the, the Black neighborhood, and then the Castro, the LGBTQ neighborhood.

It's a very unusual triangle of power there.

Because of who she is, how she grew up, the diversity of experiences she had, she does feel comfortable walking into any room.

>> NARRATOR: She learned about politics from a powerful mentor, one she has tried not to talk about-- Willie Brown.

>> Kamala Harris did have an intimate relationship with Willie Brown, former mayor of San Francisco, who was 30 years her senior and was a longtime speaker of the California Assembly.

>> And he's a very charismatic person, very good sense of humor.

They dated for a year, year and a half in the mid 90's.

>> Excuse me, are you his daughter?

>> No, I'm not.

>> Willie Brown was a political kingmaker in San Francisco.

He introduced her to a lot of the donor class, he introduced her to a lot of people of power, and really, you know, was a, a mentor to her.

That relationship played a huge role in widening the aperture of her career and where she would end up.

>> You should from now on address me as... "Da mayor!"

(crowd cheers and applauds) >> By the time she decided to run for district attorney of San Francisco, which was several years later, she describes that relationship to a reporter at the time as an albatross around her neck.

>> NARRATOR: Her opponent kept accusing her of being the recipient of Willie Brown's favoritism.

>> She started gaining a little ground, and her opponents start bringing up Willie.

>> I mean, we're talking about $600,000.

Why has Willie Brown gone out and help her raise this tremendous amount of money?

What is his interest in controlling the district attorney's office after he leaves office?

>> That issue comes from something very simple.

If you're one woman running for office, the rules have been written by men for over 2,000 years, and you will have to work twice as hard, and you will be judged twice as harshly.

>> She says, "I'm not going to engage "in these attacks during the campaign.

Voters don't want to hear about this stuff."

She stands up behind Hallinan and says, "I'm not going to be like Terence Hallinan "and talk about the lawyers in his office "having sex on the desks.

"I'm not going to behave in that way and bring up these type of things."

(crowd cheering and whistling) The room erupts in applause, and that kind of defanged it after that.

(cheering continues) (cheering, clapping in rhythm) >> NARRATOR: She won by 12%.

(cheering and applauding) >> She was able to just not let it get to her.

If you're able to take in the negativity and not let it affect you, that is your superpower.

>> (chanting): Kamala!

Kamala!

>> That is one of the secrets of her success.

>> Kamala!

Kamala!

>> For some people, the ultimate goal in life has been becoming the president of the United States.

If you lost your fortune today, what would you do tomorrow?

>> Maybe I'd run for president.

I don't know.

(chuckles) >> Trump is actively thinking about politics by the late 1980s.

Oprah actually asked him, "Are you going to run for president someday?"

>> I know people 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.

>> There's a sense in the back of his head that, you know, if you, if you want to prove to the Manhattanites that you made it, and they won't let you prove inside their world, well, what if you just become president of the whole country?

>> But you definitely are a political person, whether you run for office, by what, everything that you say and do toints, points in that direction.

>> You know what it is?

I don't like being taken advantage of.

Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, they're ripping off this country, and I don't like seeing it, and it shouldn't happen.

>> And we'll be back.

(audience applauds) >> Not only does his ego get fed, he gets a nice note from Richard Nixon, who's seen 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!

>> This is a very interesting nexus.

Donald Trump's chief adviser throughout his political life is Roger Stone, who was a Nixon operative.

>> Roger Stone is all about pulling dirty tricks, ever since he did so in the Nixon administration.

He is like a carbon copy of Roy Cohn without the law degree.

>> Trump is larger than life.

There's a certain electricity, a certain celebrity... status that he has, where you say, "Wow, this guy's really got it."

>> Roger Stone saw in Trump someone who had tremendous political possibility.

(camera shutters clicking) Because Trump had this sort of natural connection as a marketing guy, as a showman.

As someone who could appeal to a blue-collar worker, even though he was this reportedly super-rich guy living on Fifth Avenue.

(crowd applauding) >> I think he understands that, you know, politics is show business for ugly people.

In his case, he makes the transition like Reagan.

He's a celebrity superstar in the business world, and the stature gap between him and all these kind of grubby career politicians is enormous.

>> Roger Stone is whispering in his ear, and when you whisper, "You could do it, you could do it," to Donald Trump, you're going to get a receptive audience.

>> NARRATOR: In 1987, Stone orchestrated a dress rehearsal 250 miles north of Manhattan in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

>> Trump flies in in his black helicopter.

>> The signs of power and opulence in place, Donald Trump's personal helicopter descended onto the small airfield.

>> And of course, the helicopter gets as much coverage as the speech, 'cause they've never seen a helicopter like this before.

And it's a sellout.

Trump has catapulted himself into a brand.

He's a brash New York real estate guy, but he's beginning to cultivate a national following and, and a national celebrity.

>> What I want is, I want extreme competence.

I want strength and extreme competence.

And you need a combination of both, but I want strength and extreme competence at the helm of this country.

>> You know, a lot of what Trump says is a combination of what you'd get at the golf club in the locker room and what you'd get hanging out with blue-collar workers.

And so, Trump, in a sense, represents this interesting blend of the insights of the average business executive and the intuitive insights of the average working American.

>> We need strength.

I mean, you think Gorbachev is tough, think of this character Khomeini.

(audience chuckles) I mean, this son of a bitch is something like nobody's ever seen.

(audience laughs) (applauding) >> He's outspoken, stands for what he, uh, expresses what he stands for.

Made some sense.

>> Bye.

So long, so long, thanks a lot, fellas.

>> NARRATOR: But before long, his name would be associated with something else: scandal.

>> The unfolding saga of Trump vs. Trump.

>> Trump the war took an interesting... >> ...and the model from Georgia cast as the other woman.

>> NARRATOR: He had been cheating on his first wife, Ivana.

>> He wants out-- there's rumor of another woman.

>> The greatest tabloid war that New York had seen in decades, complete with sexual details of relationships.

>> NARRATOR: And then there were the business problems.

>> The swashbuckling real estate mogul is in a cash crunch.

>> The businesses never really did that well.

He was a failure again and again and again.

Whether it was with his casino hotels in New Jersey, whether it was with the Plaza Hotel in New York, one project after another would end in failure.

>> Trump's casino business will file for bankruptcy next month.

>> Midas has lost his touch.

>> Six bankruptcies, stiffing contractors left and right, vendors suing him again and again.

It is a litany of failure.

>> Trump's name once meant gold.

Today, it means trouble.

>> ...district attorney of the City and County of San Francisco.

>> Congratulations!

(audience cheers and applauds) >> NARRATOR: Having won the fight to become D.A., Kamala Harris had big ambitions.

>> It was, like, our second day in the D.A.

's office, and a prosecutor was talking with her about one of his cases.

And it was a sex assault case.

And, and he was, like, "Well, you know, the, the victim is a teenage prostitute."

And I'll never forget Kamala just stopping him and saying, like, "I don't know what that-- I don't know, "I've never met a teenage prostitute.

"I've met exploited kids, but I've never met a teenage prostitute."

And one of the first things she did was change that for within our office, saying every time you charge a case, it is "exploited youth," not "teenage prostitute."

She was trying to shift the powers of the criminal justice system to say the people that should really get punishment for that are the people perpetrating on these exploited youth.

The victims in these crimes shouldn't be the ones going to jail.

>> NARRATOR: But her aspirations would clash with power politics and the reality of the streets.

>> Two undercover San Francisco police officers asked a suspicious-looking man to take his hands out of his pockets.

The man pulled out an A.K.-47 and fired at least 11 rounds, killing Officer Isaac Espinoza.

>> The experience of that police officer being shot and killed less than four months into her term as district attorney was a life-changing moment.

>> A suspect, 21-year-old David Hill, is in custody.

>> We are in mourning over the senseless killing of Officer Isaac Espinoza.

>> We had not had an officer killed in the line of duty in many, many years.

You saw a lot of pain in the Halls of Justice, again, no matter if it was a police officer, or a court reporter, or a judge.

These are very small communities, and so, um, you know, it was, it was just a very difficult chapter.

Kamala was really hurting, too.

She's a member of law enforcement.

She'd served alongside with SFPD.

>> NARRATOR: The cops wanted District Attorney Harris to seek the death penalty.

But Harris had made a campaign promise not to.

>> There was a lot of pressure on her to do the politically popular and expedient thing, and to seek the death penalty against the killer, and she held her ground-- she held onto her principles.

(people talking in background) >> Harris waits a couple of days and then announces, before Espinoza's funeral, that she would not seek the death penalty.

>> I, I have been very clear that I am not seeking the death penalty as district attorney.

It is the will, I believe, of a majority of people that the most severe crimes be met with the most severe consequences, and that life without possibility of parole is a severe consequence.

>> The D.A., Kamala Harris, is determined to prosecute this as a life in prison case.

Police plan to protest outside her office on Wednesday.

>> The city police chief was highly critical of this decision.

The police unions and the police officers were incensed.

She would go into the Hall of Justice, and if cops saw her, they would turn their back on her.

(camera shutters clicking) She was being shunned, literally shunned.

(bagpipes playing "Amazing Grace") >> The funeral comes.

The church is packed.

Hundreds and hundreds of uniformed San Francisco police officers.

Senator Dianne Feinstein gets up to speak.

And at that time, Senator Feinstein was the most powerful and influential figure in California politics.

And she says, "This is definitely a case where the death penalty should have been asked for."

The entire church, filled with uniformed San Francisco police officers, stands up and roars their applause.

Sitting in the church is Kamala Harris, just months into her new job.

If you are a young person, new into your job, and someone who is at the top of their game comes in and basically calls you out in public, in front of all the people you have to work with, police officers, you can imagine how gut-wrenching that would be.

>> NARRATOR: Harris stood her ground, but it would shape her approach to politics going forward.

>> Ultimately, David Hill is convicted and sentenced to multiple life sentences.

So he's never getting out of prison, but he's also not on death row.

That's where she's sort of becoming known for being a little bit more cautious politically.

Over the course of the next decade, you see her sort of back up and be a lot more deliberate when it comes to making decisions that could potentially come and haunt her down the road.

>> That really changed her trajectory as a prosecutor.

She became more unwilling to cross law enforcement, to be more defensive of law enforcement in ways that really angered some progressives in California.

>> NARRATOR: She forged alliances with the police.

She increased her office's conviction rate, from around 50% to over 70%.

She threatened parents with jail if their kids missed too much school.

>> Her years as district attorney are the source of a lot of criticism that she's faced, and continues to face, from progressives who saw her as too punitive with some of her actions and policies that she pursued.

>> NARRATOR: Nevertheless, she was beginning to get national attention.

>> This next story is featured in the issue of "Newsweek" on women leaders, and I had to tell you about it.

If you live in San Francisco, you probably already know about this-- cheer on, look at this.

With a 90% conviction rate, superstar prosecutor Kamala Harris believes it is her duty to mentor young women who dream of following in her footsteps.

>> My mother, who was a very strong influence in my life, always said, "Kamala, you may be the first to do many things, but make sure you're not the last."

I'm proud of creating a child assault unit dedicated to prosecuting those... >> My friend calls me one day, and she says, "Wanda, guess who's on 'Oprah'!"

And I was, like, "Who?"

And she's, like, "Kamala."

And everyone was calling me, 'cause everybody knew I had been trying to find her.

And so, I was, like, "Oh, my God!

You mean, I only had to Google my friend to find her!"

So I left a message, and my daughter, she's, like, "Mommy, telephone."

And I was, like, "I'm in bed.

I'm not getting out."

And she's, like, "But it's your friend from 'Oprah.'"

And I was, like, "Oh, my God!"

(chuckles) So, I flew out of bed, and I picked up the phone, and I was, like, "Oh, my God.

"I, I didn't think you'd call back.

I'm sure you got thousands of calls."

She says, "Yeah, but you're not just anyone."

She says, "After everything I went through with you, "it, it drove me to, to want to make change and do something for, for people like you that were out there."

And I was, like, "Oh, my God.

"I've been looking for you to thank you "for intervening at the most pivotal time of my life.

(laughing): "And you're thanking me for, you know, being a, a catalyst in your career."

Like, it was, it was very touching and moving.

And ever since then, we've, we've stayed, rekindled friendship, like if time stood still.

♪ ♪ >> My name's Donald Trump, and I'm the largest real estate developer in New York.

I own buildings all over... >> Can you imagine, you're Donald Trump, and you've been creating yourself as the people's billionaire for 20 or 30 years, and someone comes along and says, "I want you to play that role on TV once a week."

This was a dream come true.

I think Donald would have paid to get that gig.

>> And who will be the apprentice?

♪ ♪ >> For 14 seasons, he is viewed in a perfect light.

>> Okay, folks, I'm really busy today, so we're going to go quickly.

>> He's perfectly made up.

He's perfectly coiffed.

He's perfectly lit.

He's in the high-backed chair making tough decisions.

What does he look like?

He looks like a president.

>> ...no longer with us.

You're fired.

I have to say you're fired.

You're not going to be thrown out, okay?

>> On a script, sure, everybody's a genius.

>> Sorry, I interrupt again.

>> Jason, Jason, this is a tough one.

You're fired.

>> People looked and said, "Wow, what a businessman, what a, what a great manager."

It's all a fantasy.

It was all fiction.

But people think it's real.

>> "The Apprentice" allowed him to tell his story on his own terms.

"I am a big, successful, huge developer.

I'm a billionaire."

He got to sell that image to America, and they bought it.

>> Donald Trump... >> They loved it, and they couldn't get enough of it.

>> His popularity was never higher, and he was...

Literally, he could do no wrong at that stage.

And I think that he realized, "Wow, if I've hit the high, "let's take it to the... "Where can you go from there?

I'm, I want to be president."

>> Billionaire Donald Trump has flirted with the White House before.

>> Reality TV show host-- U.S. president?

(audience cheers and applauds) >> Please welcome my friend Donald Trump.

>> NARRATOR: He would test the political waters again, seizing a divisive issue: a conspiracy theory about President Barack Obama.

>> Why doesn't he show his birth certificate?

I, I think he probably... >> Why should he have to?

>> Because I have to, and everybody else has to, Whoopi.

Why wouldn't he show... >> NARRATOR: The birther conspiracy: a racist theory that Obama was not born in America.

>> Why-- look, she's smiling-- why doesn't he show his birth certificate?

And you know what?

>> I thought it was unhinged.

I thought he was embarrassing himself.

I thought that it was his way of saying, "That's a Black man-- we don't want a Black man."

>> He's remarkably shrewd in understanding that when he picks his fights, no matter how bad faith, no matter how objectively false the underlying claims are, he knows that the fight he is picking is one that is going to resonate with millions of people across the United States.

>> But there's something on that birth-- maybe religion, maybe it says he's a Muslim, I don't know.

But I will tell you this, if he wasn't born in this country, it's one of the great scams of all time.

>> Absolutely.

>> NARRATOR: He was gaining momentum.

And then an invitation to a gathering of Washington's political elites.

>> We're talking about the White House Correspondents' Dinner tonight.

It's an annual event right here... >> An evening of fun together.

Several Hollywood celebrities will also be... >> Donald Trump has been invited as a guest of "The Washington Post."

>> For Trump, it's a mark of respect.

He's been invited by "The Washington Post."

He's there in his tuxedo.

He's arrived in that sense.

He's being taken seriously.

(audience cheers and applauds) >> President Obama takes the microphone... >> All right, everybody, please have a seat.

(audience cheers and applauds) Donald Trump is here tonight.

(audience laughs and applauds) >> ...and proceeds to filet Donald publicly.

>> No one is happier, no one is prouder to put this birth certificate matter to rest than the Donald.

(audience chuckles) And that's because he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter.

Like, did we fake the moon landing?

(audience laughs) >> I was sitting 20 feet from him, and just the look of discomfort on his face.

>> What really happened in Roswell?

(audience laughs) And where are Biggie and Tupac?

(audience laughs) >> That is such a painful moment for Donald Trump.

At that dinner, you can feel the low level hatred between the two men.

(audience laughs and applauds) >> All kidding aside.

Obviously, we all know about your credentials and breadth of experience.

Um... (audience laughs) >> And he's being treated like a piñata by the president of the United States.

And I think he felt humiliated.

>> Say what you will about Mr. Trump, he certainly would bring some change to the White House.

Let's see what we've got up there.

(audience laughs) >> Being recognized, even negatively, beats being ignored.

Obama, in a sense, was helping create the myth of Donald Trump.

I mean, what, what other Republican had, had Obama attacking him?

>> I think that is the night that he resolves to run for president.

I think that he is kind of motivated by it.

"Maybe I'll just run.

Maybe I'll show them all."

>> Kamala Harris is already making history.

She is the first female, the first African American, and the first Indian American to hold the position of California attorney general.

>> NARRATOR: After two terms as D.A., she was elected as California's attorney general.

>> We were on the top floor of the Department of Justice in Sacramento.

The aisles are lined with the portraits of the previous A.Gs.

of the state.

(chuckling): And as we walked down, person after person, every single one of them was a old white guy.

She was somebody that didn't look like most of her predecessors.

And, you know, I remember, you know, the, the look that she gave me.

She raised her eyebrows like that.

♪ ♪ >> She's always been the first person to integrate this little boys' club, as a woman and as a Black woman.

Being that first has to be incredibly lonely.

It has to be incredibly isolating.

And I think maybe the way she dealt with that was to double down on her ambition, and to say, "I'm actually going to come out stronger."

>> NARRATOR: Harris didn't emphasize her race or gender.

Instead, she made headlines with popular issues, fighting big banks over mortgage fraud... >> Attorney General Kamala Harris says nearly 2,500 people were misled and cheated.

>> NARRATOR: ...for-profit colleges... >> The lawsuit accuses Corinthian Colleges of lying to students.

>> NARRATOR: ...big oil companies.

>> ...Kamala Harris filed a lawsuit today against BP and ARCO claiming environmental violations.

>> NARRATOR: But mindful of the blowback from her D.A.

days, she also tried to avoid controversy.

>> There were a lot of people in California, in the progressive community, that wanted her to take more of a leading role in a number of issues, including the decriminalization/legalization of recreational marijuana.

There were also some criminal justice reforms on the ballot.

And she declined to take a position.

She basically punted on those questions.

And I think a lot of people saw that as a lack of courage.

Those kinds of decisions that she made, to not get involved, or not go as far as some wanted her to, I'm sure are, are remnants of what she went through as district attorney.

>> NARRATOR: But the approach was working.

>> A trailblazer with an impressive past and a promising future-- a Democrat to watch.

>> You've been called the rising star of the Democratic Party.

What exactly does that mean?

>> I don't know-- you have to ask them.

(laughs) >> Kamala Harris-- she's, she's brilliant, she's smart, she doesn't look anything like anybody you ever see on "Law and Order," yet she's tough, and she's got a big future.

And they call her "the female Barack Obama."

>> NARRATOR: Democrats had found a new star.

>> What do you think-- "female Obama"?

>> (laughs) There's only one Barack Obama, and, and thank God he's our president.

(laughs) >> Okay.

>> The term "the female Obama" was floating around out there.

That the talent Kamala Harris has always had is a, a star power-- people really believe in her and project a lot of hopes onto her.

When you see a woman, and a woman of color, being able to win elections, that makes people think, "Wow, this is someone who can do it."

>> Thank you for joining me tonight.

>> Thank you.

>> And you are invited back on the program to announce your presidential campaign in 2016.

>> Oy!

(laughs) >> As soon as you are ready to make that announcement for 2016.

>> People are just excited by her political biography.

There was always this sort of inevitable sense about her, that she was moving on, probably, to the next thing.

>> The 2016 presidential race is underway.

>> What's expected to be a very crowded race for the G.O.P.

nomination.

>> More than a dozen G.O.P.... >> NARRATOR: As Donald Trump had been preparing to run for president, he made an unexpected alliance.

>> Mr. Trump said to me, "I don't like the way this country's going."

He said, "I'm thinking about running for president."

He said, "What do you think?"

>> NARRATOR: Trump had watched televangelist Pastor Paula White as she led a massive following of true believers.

>> Guess what?

I'm back!

>> She has a very substantial following.

She's an attractive person and an articulate person.

And, and Trump is very heavily shaped by television.

>> (singing indistinctly) >> He really likes television, and he thinks in television terms.

(song continues) >> NARRATOR: Pastor Paula used television to become rich and powerful.

>> The principle I teach that, find your passion in life and figure out a way to make money.

Just simply call that toll free number, don't delay, don't wait.

>> NARRATOR: Trump wanted her help selling himself to evangelicals.

>> He called up, he said, "Paula," he said, "I'm going for it."

I said, "Yes, sir."

He said, "I'll be president, and you're going to be the faith director."

>> So today we pray for Donald Trump.

>> Yes.

>> We pray for his family... >> Then I begin to introduce him to people.

>> Because of your love of Donald Trump.

Donald Trump, the Lord bless you and keep you.

>> He knows that I don't play when it comes of things of God.

I secure his children, I secure his calling, and his mantle in Jesus' name.

Amen.

>> Amen!

>> Amen!

(applauding) >> I tell him, "You wear a mantle that you don't fully understand."

He receives that and takes that in.

He trusts me, he trusts my voice.

You see, I don't believe anything is coincidence.

I believe there is such a thing as destiny, and I believe that God will raise up a man for such a time as this.

(audience cheers and applauds) >> NARRATOR: Trump was embraced by the crowds, telling them what they wanted to hear.

>> Donald!

>> Trump!

>> Donald!

>> Trump!

>> Donald!

>> Trump!

>> Donald!

>> Trump!

>> The next president of the United States, Donald J. Trump!

>> (chanting "Trump") >> We love you, Donald!

>> This campaign is about giving a voice to those who don't have one.

I am your voice.

I am your voice.

>> This movement's been there, and it was looking for the right leader to say, "We matter."

The wood was out there drying and drying and drying.

It was just waiting for the right person to throw the match in, and then lead the fire in the right direction, and that's what Donald Trump did.

>> He speaks for the people.

Things he's saying I've been saying for years.

When he wins, we all win.

(crowd cheers and applauds) >> I am with you, I will fight for you, and I will win for you.

(cheering and applauding) >> These are people that believe in him.

(cheering and applauding) And they believe in him because he says, "I'm for you."

And if you don't know him well, you believe that-- you believe he cares.

>> And we will make America great again.

God bless you and good night!

I love you!

(cheering and applauding) >> NARRATOR: Trump had congregated a massive base, and would cement their devotion with fiery rhetoric.

>> There's a guy, totally disruptive, throwing punches.

I love the old days.

You know what they used to do to guys like that when they were in a place like this?

They'd be carried out on a stretcher, folks.

I'd like to punch him in the face, I'll tell ya.

No, it's true.

>> Donald says, "People love to hate, and so I'm gonna build hatred for immigration."

>> (leading chant): Build the wall!

Build the wall!

>> And says, you know, "These people are rapists."

>> When Mexico sends its people, they're bringing crime, they're rapists... >> Donald's very comfortable with that, and his people were still there, they still followed him.

>> They say I have the most loyal people.

Did you ever see that?

Where I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, okay?

It's, like, incredible.

(audience laughs) >> From the Fifth Avenue comment to the "Access Hollywood" moment... >> You can do anything.

>> Whatever you want.

>> Grab 'em by the (bleep).

>> (laughs) >> You can do anything.

>> ...every time people try to hold him to account... >> Donald Trump caught on tape, in his own words, vulgar words, boasting about being able to grab women by their genitals... >> ...every time people try to impose consequences on him... >> In the audio, you can hear Trump talk about a married woman he tried to have sex with and how he behaves with women that he's attracted to.

>> ...that deepens the support that he gets from his base, because it says to the public, "This guy is taking the arrows for you, and when he stands up for himself, he's fighting for you."

>> NARRATOR: In 2016, Kamala Harris was making her first run on the national stage for the United States Senate.

>> She was very quick to jump into the race.

It was kind of a clear move for her.

It had been many years since a Republican won a statewide election in California, so it was probably going to be a safe seat for Democrats.

>> NARRATOR: And on election night, she waited for the returns with her oldest friends and family.

>> Kamala had hosted a family dinner, just her close friends and family.

In the, the room where we were eating, there were the TV monitors up.

So we can also see the presidential, you know, votes coming in.

>> We're closing in on our first chance to make projections in the presidential race.

Americans now choosing... >> We were at this dinner, and I'll never forget, the Associated Press declared her the winner at, like, three after eight.

Then the other results started coming in, and it started to emerge that, you know, we might be dealing with a Trump presidency.

>> Right now, he is ahead of Hillary Clinton-- he has 167... >> She is in profound trouble right now in the Electoral College.

>> We were all sort of watching our phones to see which, you know, had Arizona been called?

Had Texas been called?

It was truly a, a night of, of two different experiences.

>> Donald Trump has won the state of Wisconsin, and there goes her blue wall.

>> Donald Trump has won the state of Pennsylvania.

>> That is the race, frankly.

>> President Trump may be something that everybody needs to get used to.

>> In that moment, it sort of dawns on her that she is going to go to Washington for the first time to represent California under a Donald Trump White House, who stands against pretty much everything she stands for.

We get over to the campaign where the party was.

Some people are crying.

It is a despondent crowd.

There was a speech that we had crafted, and she just tore it up.

She just tore it up and was, like, "I'm just going to go out there and talk with people."

>> So here's the deal, guys.

It's going to be a long night.

(audience members cheer) It's going to be a long night.

>> I have always perceived that in times of real crisis and hard moments, like, she always... That's sort of when she is at her absolute best.

>> We know that we have a task in front of us.

We know the stakes are high.

When we have been attacked, and when our ideals and fundamental values are being attacked, do we retreat or do we fight?

I say we fight.

(audience cheers and applauds) >> She knew the assignment, as I think the kids like to say.

Like, she, she knew that she, um, that she was walking into a room that needed a leader.

(laughs) >> I intend to fight.

I intend to fight for Black Lives Matters!

I intend to fight for truth and transparency and trust!

I intend to fight!

I intend to fight for a woman's access to healthcare and reproductive health rights!

I intend to fight against... >> It goes back to the words she's hearing as she's in the stroller.

"We're gonna fight for justice, we're going to fight for civil rights."

>> I believe we're at an inflection point.

I believe we are at a place that is similar to that place and time when my parents met when they were graduate students at U.C.

Berkeley in the '60s, and active in the Civil Rights Movement.

>> That strain is in her ear.

That's her progressive side melding with her prosecutorial side.

"We fight!"

And when she's in fight mode, she's at her best.

>> Do not despair.

Do not be overwhelmed.

Do not throw up our hands when it is time to roll up our sleeves and fight for who we are!

(crowd cheers and applauds) (helicopter rotor blades whirring) >> Donald Trump goes from being the candidate to the leader.

>> A textbook case of disruption coming to Washington.

>> NARRATOR: Donald Trump had won the biggest contest of them all: the presidency.

>> He looks at the presidency as a show.

Remember, he was the host of a reality show for 14 years.

He even says that to his aides.

"Think of every day as another half-hour episode in this show.

So how do we get attention?"

>> Now arrives the hour of action.

(crowd cheers and applauds) >> Chaos, confusion, and anger growing in the wake of President Trump's immigration ban.

>> ...stops all entries from some predominantly Muslim nations.

>> We want our country to be a sanctuary for law-abiding Americans, not criminal aliens.

>> The growing outrage over families being separated at the border... >> ...showcasing unbelievable cruelty on the part of the U.S. government.

>> To me, it just felt like continuing chaos.

>> North Korea will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.

>> 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, sometimes to be 180 degrees of what he had decided just a few hours before.

>> ...that you may have indictments... >> I'm not concerned about anything with the Russian investigation because it's a hoax.

That's enough-- put down the mic.

>> Mr. President, are you worried about indictments coming down... >> You see the same tools that he's always used to defend himself.

>> Russian collusion-- give me a break.

>> Which is, go on the attack-- attack the investigators.

>> President Trump now facing outrage after firing Comey.

>> I did you a great favor when I fired this guy.

>> It's very much the Roy Cohn message.

Just counterpunch no matter what.

I mean, and from the start, he just, you know, he always hits as hard as he possibly can, and harder than he's been hit, if he can.

>> Jews will not replace us!

>> Mayhem in Charlottesville... >> But you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides.

>> I see Charlottesville as very much of a piece with his lunge into the birtherism nonsense about Obama.

>> I think there's blame on both sides, and I have no doubt about it, and you don't have any doubt about it, either.

>> It's a way of using race to cement his relationship with his base.

>> What he's trying to do is make America hate again.

>> It happens over and over again, where people say, "Oh, my gosh, this is it.

No president can survive this."

Uh, quite the opposite-- Donald Trump will prove at this moment and many others to come that nothing defeats him.

>> Dramatic end to a nearly five-month war with Democrats.

President Trump has been acquitted in his impeachment trial.

>> The impeachment is finally over.

President Trump acquitted by U.S. Senate.

>> Thank you very much, everybody, thank you.

Thank you very much, thank you.

(audience cheers and applauds) >> NARRATOR: It was a presidency marked by constant fighting: to control the Republican Party, transform the Supreme Court, and hold onto power.

>> By February of 2020, you see Trump's popularity skyrocket.

We come into a poll, I show him in the Oval, and he was winning in a landslide.

He had a battle map that no one had seen since Reagan.

That is February of 2020.

And I remember going home that night and seeing the pictures coming out of China, and Italy, and other places, of COVID.

>> The growing worries and response to the deadly coronavirus.

>> Wuhan, China, that's the epicenter of this... >> Three cities now under lockdown in China.

>> And I...

I started scratching my head, and I was, like, "This thing could take all of this down."

>> NARRATOR: Trump would fight COVID the Trump way.

>> He immediately turned to what he knew best, which is the rules of Trump, the way he's always done business.

So he puts himself at the center.

>> President Trump taking to the White House briefing room surrounded by... >> Daily briefings.

>> We're ready for it.

It is what 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.

>> What he learned in terms of coping with his parents, what he learned in New York real estate, what he learned from Roy Cohn, is, "I can manufacture to get a very large people to believe my truth."

>> We have done an incredible job, we're going to continue, it's going to disappear.

One day, it's like a miracle, it will disappear.

And we're prepared, and we're doing a great job with it, and it will go away, just stay calm.

And again, this is going away.

This is going away.

>> But this is a crisis that his 45-, 50-year skill set, the Roy Cohn playbook, doesn't work with this crisis, because it's scientific.

It's fact-based science.

>> What do you say to Americans who are upset with you over the way you downplayed this crisis... >> Here we go-- here we go.

>> ...over the last couple of months?

What do you say to... >> Well, isn't it true?

It will go away.

>> ...Americans who believe that you got this wrong?

>> And I do want them to stay calm.

And we are doing a great job.

If you look at those individual statements, they're all true: "Stay calm," uh, "It will go away."

You know it, you know it is going away.

And it will go away.

And we're gonna have a great victory.

>> I knew it was really bad.

Within a few months, his polling was in the bucket.

My last throw-myself-onto-the-hot-coals was, "We're losing, and we're losing because of what, how we're handling COVID."

We were wrong on our framing of what we were doing on COVID.

The onstage presentations from Trump were being wrong.

And, "If the election's held today, we lose."

And he didn't like hearing that.

He got very upset with me.

That was the last time I ever was in the Oval Office.

>> His reaction to COVID totally fits his playbook for all the other crises that he not only waged and waded through, but, but triumphed over.

It's just that this one is so undeniable.

People are dying.

>> What do you say to Americans who are watching you right now who are scared?

>> Uh, I say that you're a terrible reporter.

That's what I say.

Go ahead.

>> (starts talking) >> I think that's a very nasty question, and I think it's a very bad signal that you're putting out to the American people.

>> NARRATOR: Trump's playbook had become a liability.

>> I think that his presidency ended with those briefings, frankly.

Had he turned COVID fully over to experts, people were especially willing to give you the benefit of the doubt during that kind of an emergency and tragedy, that he would have been reelected.

>> Did you have any communication with any Russian businessmen or any Russian nationals?

>> I don't believe I had any conversation with Russian... >> The Senate confirmation hearings of Donald Trump's cabinet members in 2017 is a moment where you really get to see that fight that she promised on election night in practice.

>> So I need to be correct as best I can.

>> I do want you to be honest.

>> And I'm not able to, uh, be rushed this fast.

It makes me nervous.

>> Are you aware... >> The skills of being a prosecutor come out in a way that make it a huge asset to her when she's on the national stage and she's grilling Jeff Sessions, or she's grill, grilling Brett Kavanaugh.

>> Can you think of any laws that give government the power to make decisions about, uh, the male body?

>> To see her wearing out those witnesses... >> Uh... >> ...as a woman of color, and as someone who's sat through a lot of hearings, it was energizing-- it was encouraging.

>> And I would like to know the person you're thinking of, 'cause what if there's... >> I think you're thinking of someone, and you don't want to tell us.

(spectators laugh) >> She was Kamala the prosecutor, asking the tough questions, knocking you off balance.

>> Did you, um, watch Dr. Ford's testimony?

>> (sniffs) Uh, I did not-- I plan to... >> Thank you.

I have nothing else, thank you.

>> I plan to.

I plan to, but I did not.

>> That's part of what propelled her to national recognition during her time in the Senate.

>> Uh, Attorney General Barr, has the president or anyone at the White House ever asked or suggested that you open an investigation of anyone?

>> I wouldn't, I wouldn't, uh... >> Yes or no?

>> They have not asked me to open a investigation, but... >> Perhaps they've suggested?

>> I don't know, I wouldn't say "suggest"... >> Hinted?

>> I don't know.

>> Inferred?

You don't know-- okay.

>> She really hit cult status at that point, and people rallied around her, became enthusiastic about her, and it really sort of set the stage for her future run.

>> She became convinced that 2020 was her one window to run for president.

I mean, for a junior senator who had been in Washington for all of a year and a half, that's remarkable.

>> NARRATOR: She was in a field of 20 Democratic candidates.

At the first debate, she went right on the attack.

>> And I'm gonna now direct this at Vice President Biden.

Um, I do not believe you are a racist.

And I agree with you... >> Joe Biden was the heir apparent.

And she went for the, the leading contender.

And of course, that's something that she learned in, uh, San Francisco, you know, elbowing your way to the top.

>> But I also believe, and it is personal, and I was actually very, it was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States senators who built their reputations and career on the segregation of race in this country.

>> It's a political opening, and she uses it.

A lot of Democrats are very upset by this.

They feel like, okay, it's one thing to go after somebody for policy, but to go after what's basically his integrity, that's really upsetting to a lot of Democrats who feel like, "No, no, no, the main target here has to be Trump.

"We can't be going after each other in, in these kind of personal terms."

>> You also worked with them to oppose busing.

And, you know, there was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools.

And she was bused to school every day.

And that little girl was me.

>> I was, like, "Wow, that's a, that's a pretty good takedown."

It certainly hurt him, and it helped her in the polls, briefly.

And then it turns out that her position on busing wasn't a whole hell of a lot different than his.

When people find out, like, "Well, okay, but you're not all that different than he is," um, that's when it kind of fell apart.

>> Her campaign was kind of floundering.

People started to say, "Okay, well, "what does she actually feel about issues?

What is her actual agenda as president?"

It was entirely unclear.

>> For all the excitement she has, it starts to fizzle, because she fundamentally does have trouble defining herself.

She's not an ideological person.

And in a primary campaign, people want to know what your ideology is, because you're choosing among Democrats.

So, you know, everybody knows Bernie Sanders stands here, Elizabeth Warren stands here, Biden stands here, Pete Buttigieg stands here.

Where is she?

And they don't know.

And she doesn't do a good job of defining that.

And she seems to be unsure of where she is.

>> NARRATOR: The campaign collapsed even before the first caucus in Iowa.

>> It was a huge disappointment because she's not a quitter, she's a fighter.

That may have been the only, the only race of any kind that I know of that she did not finish and did not win.

>> NARRATOR: Then, a stunning lifeline from the most unlikely person.

>> My fellow Americans, let me introduce to you your next vice president of the United States, Kamala Harris.

Kamala?

>> One of the themes of Biden's campaign is that America needs to mend its wounds, America can't be caught up in grievances.

You could see that as an advantage for Harris, somebody whose biggest political moment in the campaign was a direct hit on him.

And he chooses her and says, "Look, we can get over this."

>> I am incredibly honored by this responsibility, and I'm ready to get to work.

I am ready to get to work.

>> The Fox News Decision Desk can now project that former Vice President Joe Biden will win Pennsylvania and Nevada.

>> He is President-Elect Joseph Robinette Biden.

>> Losing after a first term in office is a unique thing that doesn't happen that often.

There was one moment where, um, in this period, he was watching Joe Biden on TV, and says, "Can you believe I lost to this blank guy?"

>> NARRATOR: Publicly, Donald Trump refused to concede the loss.

He would exercise his power to fight it.

>> I won the election.

(tweet sends) >> Donald Trump is simply being consistent.

>> Most fraudulent election in history!

(tweet sends) >> He's simply being what he's always been.

He's always believed that what the rest of the world sees as a loss can be marketed as a win.

>> This election was a total fraud.

And they did these massive dumps of votes.

And all of a sudden, I went from winning by a lot to losing by a little.

>> Donald Trump was personally orchestrating the actual campaign to overturn the election.

>> You will find tens of thousands of false ballots, florge, forged, uh, ballots.

You'll see... >> He was making videos.

>> You can press a button for Trump, and the vote goes to Biden.

What kind of a system is this?

>> But he was also literally working the phones... >> Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers described at least two phone calls from the former president... >> ...pressuring state election officials in Arizona... >> In a series of calls after the election, Trump demanded Bowers throw out the electoral votes won by Joe Biden... >> ...and Georgia.

>> I just want to find 11,780 votes.

Fellas, I need 11,000 votes, give me a break.

>> NARRATOR: But Trump's efforts would continually fail.

>> In the courts, where evidence gets scrutinized, authenticated, and tested, they're getting hammered.

>> NARRATOR: More than 60 lawsuits were unsuccessful in court.

>> ...all but now ending the president's attempt to reverse his election loss.

>> NARRATOR: Even many of his senior staff told him the claims had no merit, including his own attorney general.

>> He was told, time and time again, that he did not win the election.

Not by Democrats, not by the media, but by his own people.

>> NARRATOR: Unwilling to accept defeat, he made one final attempt.

>> People told him, "You're gonna have a second bite of the apple on January 6."

That was a date by which the Congress is gonna vote to certify what the state electors did.

>> Donald Trump issued a tweet saying, "All of my supporters, come to Washington for this rally on January 6."

>> Statistically impossible to have lost the 2020 election.

Big protest in D.C. on January 6.

Be there, will be wild!

(tweet sends) >> "Will be wild."

He wanted a show of force to come to Washington and to try to block the certification of Congress.

>> (chanting): Fight for Trump!

>> And we fight.

We fight like hell.

And if you don't fight like hell, you're not gonna have a country anymore.

(crowd cheering) >> He wanted, in whatever way he could, to empower people to disrupt Congress.

>> (chanting): Fight for Trump!

Fight for Trump!

>> And if that resulted in violence, he obviously was prepared to let that happen.

(crowd shouting) (crowd shouting and screaming) >> January 6, at its core, is the ultimate expression of Trump's belief that he can never acknowledge a loss.

You can't lose, because you appear to be a loser, and then people won't follow you.

It's this very simplistic thing, but it's like his...

I mean, that is the motto of Trump's life.

(crowd chanting and shouting) >> He watched these people sacking the U.S. Capitol, overrunning police, beating them with the American flag.

To just sit there and watch it on television... (stammers): Just inexplicable.

(crowd shouting) So either he was able to delude himself that he had actually won, or he simply didn't care that he had lost, that he wanted to keep power.

>> NARRATOR: Eventually, police regained control of the Capitol.

>> The Capitol grounds have been secured.

Police had to use tear gas... >> Troops are deployed around the Capitol perimeter to prevent any more violence.

>> NARRATOR: The violent insurrection hadn't worked.

>> I, Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr., do solemnly swear... >> NARRATOR: Refusing to attend Biden's inauguration, he left Washington on Air Force One.

>> Congratulations, Mr. President.

(crowd cheering, band playing "Hail to the Chief") >> There's a certain Napoleon element to Donald Trump's evacuation from Washington to his private club in Palm Beach.

It's almost like he's returning to nurse his wounds... ...and continue to live in that alternate reality where he won the election, it was unfairly taken from him, and he's still the president.

>> Trump is not a defeated, vanquished president, as he sees it.

Mar-a-Lago at this point is Elba.

This is where he has gone to live his exile and plot his return.

He's plotting his comeback.

>> I, Kamala Devi Harris, do solemnly swear... >> NARRATOR: Kamala Harris entered the vice presidency with high expectations.

>> So help me God.

>> So help me God.

(crowd cheers and applauds) >> NARRATOR: But she was still new to the ways of Washington.

>> She's somebody who, just ten years before, had been the district attorney in San Francisco.

She'd been in the United States Senate, of course, but she was barely there for, you know, two-plus years before the presidential campaign cycle began.

So here you are assuming office as vice president where you're not very far removed from local government in California.

>> NARRATOR: She would try to learn what she could from one of Washington's most established politicians, Joe Biden.

>> They started to spend a lot of time together.

So she was really shadowing the president.

They were together every morning in the presidential briefings, was standing next to him when he would sign bills.

She was almost at every decision table.

Was the last one in the room.

She was learning the job day one.

I mean, that was the aim and the goal, is to stick with the president and learn as much as you possibly can about the job.

>> NARRATOR: And soon, the new vice president would receive her first major assignment: go to a key source of the border crisis, Guatemala.

>> Joe Biden tasks her with, in his mind, uh, what he did as vice president, which is liaising with countries in Central America that sent a lot of the migrants to the U.S. >> The stakes are massive, because this is her first trip abroad as the vice president.

Every network is sending somebody with her.

And trust me, I've, you know, covered other vice presidents, and sometimes they're begging reporters to come on these foreign trips.

(music playing) >> (speaking Spanish) >> NARRATOR: But even in her carefully scripted remarks, controversy.

>> I want to be clear to folks in this region who are thinking about making that dangerous trek to the United States-Mexico border: do not come.

Do not come.

The United States will continue to enforce our laws and secure our border.

>> She was a huge advocate of immigrant rights.

She, you know, is the child of two immigrants.

Um, and all of a sudden, she's, you know, on this trip to Guatemala and saying, "Don't come," to prospective migrants.

The excitement that people had around her starts to shift, particularly on the left.

>> NARRATOR: Then, in a high- stakes major network interview, it got worse.

>> Okay.

>> Do you have any plans to visit the border?

>> I'm here in Guatemala today.

I, at some point, you know, it... We are going to the border-- we've been to the border.

So this whole, this whole, this whole thing about the border, we've been to the border.

>> She says that she's been to the border when Lester Holt asks, which is not true.

It escalates very quickly into something strange and defensive, and just an all-around kind of catastrophic viewing experience.

>> We've been to the border.

>> You haven't been to the border.

>> And I haven't been to Europe.

(laughing): I mean, I don't, I don't understand the point that you're making.

>> She lets the prosecutor, sort of acerbic-witted version of Kamala Harris comes out, and she says, "I haven't been to Europe, either.

What's the big deal?"

And...

It just becomes this blowup moment back home.

>> Kamala Harris was never and is still not ready for prime time.

She is not ready for serious governance, the serious responsibility.

>> She doesn't know anything, she doesn't know how to learn anything, she is inarticulate, and she's not sure what the big words mean anyway.

>> It's sort of what happens in Washington, especially when you're a woman.

If you have a misstep, people hyperfocus on it.

And then they hang it around your neck like an albatross.

>> Selecting a VP based solely on diversity criteria, not objective merit, is not only stupid, it's really dangerous.

>> All of the doubts that people had had about her already, about Black women, women, you know, diversity, equity, inclusion, it, it kind of all came to a head in that moment.

>> This is what happens when you choose your vice president based on gender and skin color, rather than actual talent and expertise.

>> Oh, I, I don't agree... >> We're seeing that disaster unfold right now.

>> That's way, that's so mean.

>> Kamala Harris's reaction was essentially to recede from public view.

For the rest of that year, you see this risk aversion coming into play pretty prominently.

It was a quite expansive darkness.

She was very concerned that she was going to jeopardize the success of the administration, if she continued to put herself out there publicly.

>> NARRATOR: Out of the spotlight, Harris fought to revive her political career.

>> She's not ever gonna be the kind of lofty orator that some people want her to be.

But she's learned how to find her strengths, you know, how to gravitate toward the things where she's really good and do more of them.

>> It is good to be back in South Carolina.

(laughs) (crowd cheers and applauds) >> NARRATOR: Retail politics.

Small groups in small towns all over America.

>> Thank you for your skill... >> I saw her getting much more comfortable on the stump.

She was exactly where she needed to be, out of the Beltway and in the country.

>> You see her recalibrating, trying to learn from her mistakes.

You want to be as precise and as targeted in your comeback as you can be.

>> NARRATOR: And when an issue of national importance arrived, she was primed to jump back into the fray.

>> Tonight, the unprecedented leak.

The Supreme Court appears poised to overturn Roe versus Wade.

>> The Supreme Court has privately voted to strike down the landmark Roe versus Wade decision from 49 years ago.

>> The day the Dobbs decision leaked was a very intense day.

>> (cheering and applauding) >> At the same time, we had a speech that she had to give at Emily's List, which is an organization to help Democratic women get elected into office.

>> Please have a seat.

Good evening.

>> It was another opportunity where she ripped up her planned speech, uh, started from scratch, and just spoke from her heart.

>> Well, we say, how dare they?

How dare they tell a woman what she can do and cannot do with her own body?

(audience applauds) How dare they?!

How dare they try to stop her from determining her own future?

How dare they try to deny women their rights and their freedoms?

>> She completely came into her own.

But more than anything, she was talking about something that, that, and this really animates her more than anything, that has a profound effect on, on people across the United States-- in this case, women.

And she's ultimately a fighter.

And when she gets in fighting mode, watch out.

>> So to all here, I say, let us fight for our country with everything we have got.

God bless you, and God bless America.

(audience cheers and applauds) >> An historic day here in Washington.

A Federal grand jury here has indicted former president Donald Trump... >> NARRATOR: In those years after his presidency, Donald Trump's past seemed to be catching up to him.

>> He will now head to appear in federal court for the arraignment.

This was not quite the return to Washington this former president had envisioned for himself.

>> NARRATOR: In Georgia and Washington, D.C., charged with felonies for his attempts to overturn the election.

>> The former president is charged with leading a criminal organization that worked to overturn the results.

>> Trump is facing over 700 years in jail if convicted on all charges.

>> He already lost multiple civil trials.

>> ...found Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll.

>> They found him liable for sexual abuse, business fraud.

His business was convicted in criminal court of tax and other financial crimes.

>> Trump guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records.

in the Stormy Daniels hush money case.

>> Trump now faces the possibility of jail time after he was found guilty of all 34... >> All of these things have happened since he left office.

>> President Trump.

>> Donald Trump is not just fighting for his long-held belief that he's a winner.

He is not just fighting to prove to his father, to the naysayers, that he is stronger than they are.

He is fighting for his freedom.

Winning the presidency is equal to staying out of jail.

And so there is nothing more important to him.

(crowd cheering) >> President Trump officially clinching the Republican nomination for president.

>> Donald Trump securing the Republican nomination in commanding fashion.

>> There's an energy and an indefatigability to Donald Trump that is kind of off the scale.

It is remarkable that he is so relentless in pursuing the vindication or the power that he's seeking.

He keeps going after it.

>> NARRATOR: Donald Trump fought on, even in the face of a would-be assassin's bullet.

>> ...said, "Take a look what happened..." (gun firing) (people screaming, guns firing) >> Here he is in, perhaps, his single greatest moment of public vulnerability.

And clearly there's shock, and clearly there's pain.

Donald Trump, since his childhood, has taken enormous pride in his toughness.

And his instincts are always to present himself as someone who people will aspire to be like.

And then there he is, standing up, and the fist goes up.

And you see him mouthing the words, "Fight, fight, fight."

(crowd cheering) Not just expressing his anger and his desire to fight, but doing it in this remarkably iconic way.

Like him or hate him, it's what makes him the figure that he's been in our history.

>> Now please welcome the 46th president of the United States, Joe Biden.

>> Just months before the 2024 election, Joe Biden's disastrous debate performance... >> The, uh, with, with the COVID, excuse me, with, um, dealing with everything we have to do with, uh... Look, if... We finally beat Medicare.

>> All of a sudden, Democrats, whether or not they still believe in Joe Biden's abilities, now fear that the American public will never again believe in Joe Biden's abilities, and the election will slip away from them.

In that moment, all of a sudden, all eyes turn to Kamala Harris.

>> Joining us now is Vice President Kamala Harris.

Madam Vice President, thanks for being with us.

>> She comes on to Anderson Cooper, and, similar to the Guatemala interview, you know, she's pressed and pressed.

"But this was a bad debate, this was a bad debate."

>> ...this historic... >> But is that the man... >> ...whether it be infrastructure... >> The man who we saw on the stage tonight... >> The former guy... >> ...is that the person you... >> The other guy on the debate stage... >> ...see in meetings every day?

>> This time she much more successfully pivots.

>> It was a slow start, that's obvious to everyone, I'm not gonna debate that point.

I'm talking about the choice in November.

I'm talking about one of the most important elections in our collective lifetime.

>> She defended Joe Biden in a way that I think caught a lot of people off-guard, because she was so effective in standing up for him.

>> So I'm not going to spend all night with you talking about the last 90 minutes... >> Well... >> ...when I've been watching the last three-and-a-half years of performance.

>> She was also kind of surprising people and getting a second look from people who were maybe a little skeptical that she could do it.

>> NARRATOR: Finally, it was Kamala Harris's moment.

>> President Biden has dropped out of the presidential race.

>> All eyes are now on Vice President Kamala Harris, who was endorsed by President Biden.

(crowd cheers and applauds) >> Here's somebody with a very strong voice who can powerfully say, "I've got the energy and I've got the passion that I can summon to make the case."

That just settles a lot of things for Democrats that are already feeling like, "Okay, this election that felt like a death march for the party is now alive again."

They've got a shot.

>> Before I was elected as vice president, I was the elected attorney general, as I've mentioned, of California.

Before that, I was a courtroom prosecutor.

In those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds.

Predators who abused women.

(audience murmurs agreement) Fraudsters who ripped off consumers.

(audience murmurs agreement) Cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain.

(audience murmurs agreement, cheers softly) So hear me when I say, I know Donald Trump's type.

(crowd cheering) >> She seems to be perfectly positioned for this moment.

(crowd cheering) All of those disparate experiences that didn't make any sense in her life, whether it is being this biracial kid in Berkeley, or being the new kid in Montreal, or being the, the new person on Howard University's campus, or being this lone Black woman in the room in San Francisco-- all of those things are coming to a head and proving themselves useful in this moment.

(crowd cheering, chanting "Kamala!

Kamala!")

>> NARRATOR: Now, two presidential candidates waging their biggest fights yet.

For Donald Trump, one final chance to go out the winner he's always sought to be, to deliver for the millions of Americans who put their faith in him.

For Kamala Harris, a sudden chance to break the ultimate barrier, to bring her sense of justice and change to American politics.

An historic choice before a deeply divided country.

>> Go to pbs.org/frontline to see extended interviews part of our latest Transparency Project.

>> Trump is very heavily shaped by television.

He thinks in television terms.

>> She ripped up her planned speech, started from scratch and just spoke from her heart.

>> And see more of our political coverage.

Connect with FRONTLINE on Facebook, Instagram and X and stream anytime on the PBS app, YouTube or pbs.org/frontline 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.

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