0:00:02 > 0:00:03- CHANTING:- Yes, we can!
0:00:03 > 0:00:05You and I, we're going to change this country!
0:00:05 > 0:00:07And we will change the world!
0:00:10 > 0:00:13For millions, the election of Barack Obama to the Oval Office
0:00:13 > 0:00:15marked a new era of hope.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21The young, energetic President was eager to take on the great
0:00:21 > 0:00:23challenges of his time.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26Our combat mission in Iraq will end.
0:00:26 > 0:00:30Guantanamo will be closed one year from now.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34Now is the time to finally keep the promise of affordable,
0:00:34 > 0:00:36accessible health care for every single American.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38CHEERING
0:00:38 > 0:00:40The President turned around with this great smile on his face,
0:00:40 > 0:00:43he said, "Well, then, of course I'm feeling lucky."
0:00:43 > 0:00:44All right, let's go.
0:00:44 > 0:00:46Let's go get them. It's game time.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51But change would be harder than Obama had predicted.
0:00:51 > 0:00:56Am I frustrated that we're not taking bolder steps?
0:00:56 > 0:00:58Absolutely.
0:00:58 > 0:01:00He said, "I am President of the United States,
0:01:00 > 0:01:03"and I can't make anything happen."
0:01:03 > 0:01:06He stood up in place and said, "That's it, I'm finished."
0:01:06 > 0:01:09He said, "You know, I don't sleep at night very much."
0:01:09 > 0:01:12He called me a name that I hadn't heard before or
0:01:12 > 0:01:16since and stormed out of the room.
0:01:16 > 0:01:18In these four programmes, Barack Obama
0:01:18 > 0:01:22and his inner circle tell the story of what happened when he tried to
0:01:22 > 0:01:24reshape America from inside a White House
0:01:24 > 0:01:26unlike any other in history.
0:01:29 > 0:01:33I am temperamentally optimistic... and...
0:01:33 > 0:01:35tend to take the long view.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38# Ama...
0:01:38 > 0:01:39APPLAUSE
0:01:39 > 0:01:42# ..zing grace
0:01:42 > 0:01:44CHEERING
0:01:44 > 0:01:47# How sweet
0:01:47 > 0:01:49# The sound... #
0:01:51 > 0:01:52In tonight's programme,
0:01:52 > 0:01:56how Obama's promise to change America was knocked off course
0:01:56 > 0:02:00by the financial crisis before he even took the oath of office.
0:02:00 > 0:02:02There's a bunch of other things we need to do,
0:02:02 > 0:02:05but the success of those things, they were going to require
0:02:05 > 0:02:07getting the economy out of the hole we were in.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10If we didn't, there wasn't going to be success, no matter what
0:02:10 > 0:02:13else good the President did.
0:02:28 > 0:02:32Election night, 2008.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35Barack Obama's supporters were confident that the first
0:02:35 > 0:02:38African-American president would reverse the legacy of eight years
0:02:38 > 0:02:40under George W Bush.
0:02:42 > 0:02:44- CHANTING:- Yes, we can! Yes, we can!
0:02:48 > 0:02:51CHEERING
0:02:53 > 0:02:55But even as he basked in his victory,
0:02:55 > 0:02:59Obama knew the country was on the brink of a financial collapse.
0:03:00 > 0:03:04During the course of the campaign, I was having fairly constant
0:03:04 > 0:03:09phone calls with financial advisors, so by the time
0:03:09 > 0:03:12I was President-elect, I had a good
0:03:12 > 0:03:15sense that we were in the midst of a major crisis.
0:03:15 > 0:03:21What I wasn't aware of was how rapid the bottom would fall out
0:03:21 > 0:03:24and the fact that...
0:03:24 > 0:03:27what had started on Wall Street was now spreading through Main Street.
0:03:29 > 0:03:30It was worse than Obama knew.
0:03:32 > 0:03:34A month later, he was given news
0:03:34 > 0:03:36that would affect his entire presidency.
0:03:36 > 0:03:38The unemployment figures.
0:03:38 > 0:03:43That day, they were just horrible, so we learned we'd not only
0:03:43 > 0:03:47lost 533,000 jobs,
0:03:47 > 0:03:51but the numbers for October
0:03:51 > 0:03:53and September had been revised down,
0:03:53 > 0:03:57so suddenly we're looking at these numbers and it's like, "We have
0:03:57 > 0:04:01"750,000 fewer people employed than we thought we had yesterday."
0:04:01 > 0:04:03I wanted to call you, just because...
0:04:03 > 0:04:05Someone said, "The President would like to
0:04:05 > 0:04:08"talk to you on the phone about the employment numbers."
0:04:08 > 0:04:12And I was almost incoherent, it was almost...
0:04:12 > 0:04:16"The President-elect, I'm so sorry, these are so horrible."
0:04:16 > 0:04:20And that was when he kind of lightened the mood when he said,
0:04:20 > 0:04:22"Christy, it's not your fault."
0:04:22 > 0:04:25And then with that long pause,
0:04:25 > 0:04:26"Yet."
0:04:27 > 0:04:32Obama arrived home in Chicago and gathered his economic advisers.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35The news was about to get even worse.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38A number of us wanted to meet with him before the main meeting
0:04:38 > 0:04:41because we wanted to get a preview of what the President-elect
0:04:41 > 0:04:45was going to hear. And they painted
0:04:45 > 0:04:47an extraordinarily grim picture.
0:04:47 > 0:04:52David Axelrod looks at the numbers,
0:04:52 > 0:04:55at the forecast of what's going to happen,
0:04:55 > 0:04:59and he says, "You're telling us
0:04:59 > 0:05:03"that even if we pass the biggest
0:05:03 > 0:05:07"stimulus of all time, the unemployment rate is
0:05:07 > 0:05:10"still going to go to 8.7%,"
0:05:10 > 0:05:13or whatever was the forecast at that time.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15And they said, "Yes."
0:05:15 > 0:05:18He said, "Well, that's certainly going to be a massive challenge."
0:05:18 > 0:05:21Here's the problem. We haven't had a "holy shit" moment,
0:05:21 > 0:05:25where people recognised just how serious the problem was.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34It was really the first time that the President's new
0:05:34 > 0:05:37team of economic advisers met with those of us
0:05:37 > 0:05:38who were in leadership roles.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43Their opinion was...shocking.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46I remember some of the language that was used,
0:05:46 > 0:05:48that I was surprised to hear that day as well.
0:05:48 > 0:05:52I said, you know, "David just told us that the
0:05:52 > 0:05:55"American people hadn't had their 'holy shit' moment,"
0:05:55 > 0:05:58so I said, "Mr President-elect, this is your 'holy shit' moment.
0:05:58 > 0:06:02And just basically walked him through how terrible
0:06:02 > 0:06:05the downturn that we were facing really was.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08I talk about housing, and I say, "We've got
0:06:08 > 0:06:11"a third of the people under water under mortgages.
0:06:11 > 0:06:15"We've never had anything like this ever in US history.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19"If all of these people decide to walk away, we're doomed,
0:06:19 > 0:06:23"we have no idea what to do. Because we're going to have
0:06:23 > 0:06:27"so many losses that are then going to take down the banks."
0:06:27 > 0:06:30'I had the worst job, I had the dirtiest job, which was to try to
0:06:30 > 0:06:32'lay out for the President
0:06:32 > 0:06:35'what we had to do next for the financial system.'
0:06:35 > 0:06:39It was a major factor why the economy was falling off the cliff
0:06:39 > 0:06:41and accelerating, if that's possible in physics.
0:06:41 > 0:06:46The fate of the presidency was going to ride on
0:06:46 > 0:06:51whether we produced a successful recovery or not.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55Larry Summers said, "Mr President, there is
0:06:55 > 0:06:59"a one in three chance of a second Great Depression."
0:06:59 > 0:07:02Now, that's not something you can ever imagine.
0:07:02 > 0:07:04You read about the Depression in history books,
0:07:04 > 0:07:07but you don't think about it happening in our time.
0:07:08 > 0:07:13We realised we were going to have to take substantial, sustained
0:07:13 > 0:07:15action, that the politics of it
0:07:15 > 0:07:18were going to be extraordinarily difficult.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21There are only so many hours in the day,
0:07:21 > 0:07:23and with this as a first priority,
0:07:23 > 0:07:26other priorities were going to have to wait a bit.
0:07:26 > 0:07:28I remember looking right at him.
0:07:28 > 0:07:30I had known him for a long time before that.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33You could tell he was not pleased.
0:07:33 > 0:07:37He had a kind of little tuck in the corners of his mouth,
0:07:37 > 0:07:39but he remained even keel.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45As President, you have to deal with the unexpected.
0:07:45 > 0:07:47That's part of the job description.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58Obama had spent the last two years telling the American people
0:07:58 > 0:08:00that no change was too hard.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:08:08 > 0:08:10The people have remarked on the fact that
0:08:10 > 0:08:13I talk about hope a lot in my campaign.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16They tease me a little bit.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18Some have been scornful.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21They say, "Oh, he's talking about hope again.
0:08:21 > 0:08:25"He's so idealistic, he's so naive.
0:08:25 > 0:08:27"He's a hopemonger."
0:08:27 > 0:08:29LAUGHTER
0:08:29 > 0:08:30APPLAUSE
0:08:30 > 0:08:35That's OK, it's true, I talk about hope. I talk about it a lot.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38Because the odds of me standing here today...
0:08:39 > 0:08:42APPLAUSE
0:08:42 > 0:08:45..are so small, so remote...
0:08:45 > 0:08:48that I couldn't have gotten here without some hope.
0:08:48 > 0:08:50APPLAUSE
0:08:54 > 0:08:57- Everyone all right?- Yeah!
0:08:57 > 0:08:59- How are you, sir?- Welcome aboard, sir.- Good to see you.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02- Great pleasure.- Thank you so much. I appreciate it.
0:09:02 > 0:09:06Early in January, the President-elect moved to Washington.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13He had offered a vision of a united America,
0:09:13 > 0:09:15a more perfect union was within reach.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21I believe that our future is our choice.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24And that if we could just recognise ourselves in one another and
0:09:24 > 0:09:28bring everyone together, Democrats, Republicans and Independents.
0:09:28 > 0:09:32Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Latino, Asian,
0:09:32 > 0:09:33and Native American.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36Black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American,
0:09:36 > 0:09:37gay and straight...
0:09:37 > 0:09:42And if enough of our voices join together, if we see each other
0:09:42 > 0:09:46in each other's eyes, we can bring those walls tumbling down.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50The walls of Jericho can finally come tumbling down.
0:09:50 > 0:09:52That is our hope.
0:09:52 > 0:09:53APPLAUSE
0:09:53 > 0:09:56That not only would we restore hope and opportunity
0:09:56 > 0:09:59in places that yearn for both,
0:09:59 > 0:10:03but maybe, just maybe we might perfect our union in the process.
0:10:09 > 0:10:13In that spirit, Obama went to Congress to ask the leaders
0:10:13 > 0:10:17of the two parties to work together at this time of national crisis.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20He wanted them to pass a bill to inject
0:10:20 > 0:10:22nearly 800 billion
0:10:22 > 0:10:25into the economy, a fiscal stimulus.
0:10:25 > 0:10:29His chief of staff knew that with so much money to play with,
0:10:29 > 0:10:32it would be hard to keep his own side under control.
0:10:32 > 0:10:37There were Democrats waiting their entire career for this,
0:10:37 > 0:10:38not for a recession,
0:10:38 > 0:10:43but to advance good economic and social policy. Very good.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46They had just been through eight years with a president who
0:10:46 > 0:10:51was not just against those things, but starving those investments.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55The Democrats had not been in power
0:10:55 > 0:10:58with a President in the White House for a very long time.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01This was an opportunity for us,
0:11:01 > 0:11:04for all of our pent-up ideas
0:11:04 > 0:11:08and aspirations to work with a new President.
0:11:08 > 0:11:10I personally was looking for a package
0:11:10 > 0:11:12that was over a trillion dollars.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15Rosa DeLuro, a liberal congresswoman,
0:11:15 > 0:11:18wanted to spend billions of stimulus dollars on child benefits.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22Her plan was to lower the income level
0:11:22 > 0:11:24at which the working poor would receive them.
0:11:26 > 0:11:31Speaker Pelosi at that time, I regaled her day in and day out,
0:11:31 > 0:11:33day in and day out.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37I asked her to please, in the negotiations, reduce that threshold.
0:11:37 > 0:11:39If we could get it down to 8,000,
0:11:39 > 0:11:42it would be reasonable, we could live with that.
0:11:42 > 0:11:46If they're refundable for low-income people, that's where we would go.
0:11:46 > 0:11:51And I never will forget, she came into the leadership meeting
0:11:51 > 0:11:53and she said to me, "Rosa," she says,
0:11:53 > 0:11:55"I couldn't get it down to 8,000"
0:11:55 > 0:11:58and I'm, "What do you mean you couldn't get it down to 8,000?"
0:11:58 > 0:12:02She says, "We got it down to 3,000."
0:12:02 > 0:12:04Unbelievable.
0:12:06 > 0:12:08You know, when it's first going through the House,
0:12:08 > 0:12:10the bill keeps getting bigger and bigger.
0:12:10 > 0:12:12You know, I think at one point it was getting close to a trillion
0:12:12 > 0:12:15and I'm doing my little happy dance in the office.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19When the Speaker released the draft stimulus bill,
0:12:19 > 0:12:23the Democrats had added billions of dollars in new projects.
0:12:23 > 0:12:25Good afternoon, everyone.
0:12:25 > 0:12:29This is the first time Republicans and the American people
0:12:29 > 0:12:31have had a chance to see any of the specifics
0:12:31 > 0:12:33that are being presented today
0:12:33 > 0:12:35by Congressional Democrats.
0:12:35 > 0:12:39I just took a moment to look over the draft.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42Oh, my God!
0:12:44 > 0:12:45I don't even...
0:12:45 > 0:12:48My notes here say that I'm disappointed.
0:12:48 > 0:12:52I just can't tell you...
0:12:52 > 0:12:56how shocked I am at what we're seeing.
0:12:57 > 0:13:01It's clear that they're moving on this path
0:13:01 > 0:13:03along the flawed notion
0:13:03 > 0:13:07that we can borrow and spend our way back to prosperity.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:13:19 > 0:13:24For the first time in 15 years, Democrats would have majorities
0:13:24 > 0:13:27in both Houses of Congress and hold the White House.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33On the 20th of January, 2009, Obama was inaugurated
0:13:33 > 0:13:37with all the glamour of concerts and balls.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54- Go.- OK.
0:13:55 > 0:14:03# At last
0:14:03 > 0:14:09# My love has come along... #
0:14:09 > 0:14:11'The celebratory mood in Washington is indescribable.'
0:14:11 > 0:14:16It was like the Academy Awards every single day
0:14:16 > 0:14:17'and no matter where you looked,
0:14:17 > 0:14:20'you recognised somebody because all of Hollywood was here.'
0:14:20 > 0:14:26# And life is like a song
0:14:26 > 0:14:29# Ohhhh, yeah, yeah... #
0:14:29 > 0:14:33'It's like everybody was a Democrat
0:14:33 > 0:14:35'and Happy Days Are Here Again
0:14:35 > 0:14:38'and that was the mood that we Republicans
0:14:38 > 0:14:40'had been through since Election Day.'
0:14:42 > 0:14:46And now it's January 20th and the weather stinks
0:14:46 > 0:14:49and the situation stinks
0:14:49 > 0:14:51and the future looks pretty bleak.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55# At last
0:14:55 > 0:14:58# Oooooooh... #
0:14:58 > 0:15:04'We Republicans were realising that we were now essentially irrelevant.
0:15:04 > 0:15:06'We simply didn't matter.'
0:15:06 > 0:15:12CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:15:22 > 0:15:24- Good morning. - MANY VOICES:- Good morning.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27Before I begin today's announcement,
0:15:27 > 0:15:31I want to say a few words about the deepening economic crisis
0:15:31 > 0:15:35that we've inherited and the need for urgent action.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38Over the last few days, we've learned that
0:15:38 > 0:15:42Microsoft, Intel, United Airlines,
0:15:42 > 0:15:45Home Depot, Sprint Nextel,
0:15:45 > 0:15:48and Caterpillar are each cutting thousands of jobs.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51We owe it to every single American
0:15:51 > 0:15:54to act with a sense of urgency and common purpose.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03'The President felt that when we did the stimulus that it could be
0:16:03 > 0:16:07'a bipartisan vote, that's why so much of the stimulus
0:16:07 > 0:16:10'was in tax cuts which was a priority for Republicans.'
0:16:10 > 0:16:12The President felt so strongly about this
0:16:12 > 0:16:14that, in his first week in office,
0:16:14 > 0:16:16he went up to the Capitol
0:16:16 > 0:16:19to meet with the entire House Republican caucus
0:16:19 > 0:16:21to explain what was in the stimulus,
0:16:21 > 0:16:24what his priorities were, to hear their views
0:16:24 > 0:16:26and to see if there was common ground possible.
0:16:28 > 0:16:30To make it easier for Republicans to vote yes,
0:16:30 > 0:16:33Obama had included 300 billion
0:16:33 > 0:16:35of tax cuts in the stimulus.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41While we were on our way up to the Capitol to have that meeting,
0:16:41 > 0:16:45the Republican leadership sent out an alert to all their members,
0:16:45 > 0:16:47encouraging them, asking them
0:16:47 > 0:16:49to vote no on the stimulus.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05'It had, I think, a dampening effect on the conversation
0:17:05 > 0:17:08'we were hoping to have. The answer was no
0:17:08 > 0:17:11'before we could even ask for them to consider it.'
0:17:14 > 0:17:16They would have loved our support, but at the end of the day,
0:17:16 > 0:17:17when we looked at the bill,
0:17:17 > 0:17:20we didn't believe that this was actually up to the task.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23On the off chance it did work and we were wrong about that,
0:17:23 > 0:17:25the President was, of course, to get all the credit.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28and we would have just been sort of bystanders
0:17:28 > 0:17:33and perhaps a backdrop to this bipartisan roadshow.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36Not one Republican voted for the bill,
0:17:36 > 0:17:38even though, just four months earlier,
0:17:38 > 0:17:39it was the Democrats
0:17:39 > 0:17:42who had passed President Bush's crisis bill.
0:17:45 > 0:17:47We didn't agree with Bush. We fought him on the war in Iraq,
0:17:47 > 0:17:49we fought him on privatising social security,
0:17:49 > 0:17:52but we worked with him on many other issues
0:17:52 > 0:17:54and I don't want it to sound idyllic,
0:17:54 > 0:17:58but it was different from what they did with President Obama.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01It just was so sad.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04I said to my Democratic colleagues that it was important for us
0:18:04 > 0:18:07to go ahead and take action even if the Republicans were unwilling.
0:18:11 > 0:18:16The 820 billion package approved by the House
0:18:16 > 0:18:19included the biggest investment in green energy in US history,
0:18:19 > 0:18:22as well as huge sums for roads, schools,
0:18:22 > 0:18:25local government and tax cuts.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27Now the bill went to the Senate -
0:18:27 > 0:18:30where the Democrats' majority was smaller.
0:18:30 > 0:18:32They needed 60 votes.
0:18:32 > 0:18:34They had 58.
0:18:37 > 0:18:39'I went to see a very senior Republican
0:18:39 > 0:18:41'who I had dated periodically.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44'And I said to her, "How are we going to make this deal?"
0:18:44 > 0:18:47And she looked at me and said, "Well, what do you mean?"
0:18:47 > 0:18:49And I said, 'How do we negotiate this?"
0:18:49 > 0:18:52And she said, "Oh, sweetie, you're so naive.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55"We're not going to work with you on anything."
0:18:55 > 0:18:59And I kind of looked at her and thought she was kidding
0:18:59 > 0:19:01and it turns out she wasn't kidding.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06Obama needed a couple of Republican senators
0:19:06 > 0:19:07to rebel against their party.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11He asked the leader of the Senate Democrats to find them.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14I knew from the very beginning
0:19:14 > 0:19:17that I had to have at least two Republicans
0:19:17 > 0:19:19to support what we wanted,
0:19:19 > 0:19:21but, as it turned out,
0:19:21 > 0:19:23two wouldn't do it.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27None of the Republicans who wanted to do something to help
0:19:27 > 0:19:29wanted to be the 60th vote,
0:19:29 > 0:19:34so I had to get 61 votes on everything and it was very hard.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37The only ones I had any hope of getting,
0:19:37 > 0:19:42Specter from Pennsylvania, and then I had the two Senators from Maine.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46Senator Susan Collins, a Republican Reid was targeting,
0:19:46 > 0:19:48was called to the Oval Office.
0:19:48 > 0:19:50I was shocked when I walked in,
0:19:50 > 0:19:56expecting to see the economic advisors, other staff taking notes
0:19:56 > 0:20:00and, instead, it was just
0:20:00 > 0:20:02the President and me.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05I told him I thought the package was too big.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09He told me that his economists were telling him that a smaller package
0:20:09 > 0:20:13would not do the trick. It would not boost the economy sufficiently.
0:20:13 > 0:20:18He kept pushing very hard for a much larger bill
0:20:18 > 0:20:21in the neighbourhood of 1 trillion.
0:20:21 > 0:20:25I knew that was a no-go.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30Collins agreed to meet with a group of 17 other Senators
0:20:30 > 0:20:34from both parties, who were negotiating informally.
0:20:34 > 0:20:38In Senate jargon, these groups are known as gangs.
0:20:40 > 0:20:42'This gang of 18 came together'
0:20:42 > 0:20:46with the primary focus of wanting to reduce the cost
0:20:46 > 0:20:48by at least 100 billion.
0:20:48 > 0:20:52A 100 billion of government spending
0:20:52 > 0:20:55probably shaves about a half a percentage point
0:20:55 > 0:20:58off the unemployment rate, so that's a lot of people
0:20:58 > 0:21:01that are going to lose their jobs
0:21:01 > 0:21:05if you shave 100 billion off the fiscal stimulus
0:21:05 > 0:21:10and so, yes, it was very painful and very sad to watch.
0:21:11 > 0:21:13Obama decided to accept the cuts,
0:21:13 > 0:21:17confident they would buy him the votes he needed.
0:21:17 > 0:21:19He flew out to a Democratic party retreat.
0:21:22 > 0:21:24It is great to be here
0:21:24 > 0:21:26with so many friends.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30Thank you for giving me
0:21:30 > 0:21:32a reason to use Air Force One.
0:21:32 > 0:21:36LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:21:36 > 0:21:38It's pretty nice.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40LAUGHTER
0:21:41 > 0:21:45The President mocked his opponents' arguments against the stimulus.
0:21:45 > 0:21:52You want to replace the federal fleet with hybrid cars.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56Well, why wouldn't we want to do that?
0:21:56 > 0:21:59That creates jobs for people who make those cars.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02It saves the Federal Government energy.
0:22:02 > 0:22:04It saves the taxpayers energy.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07APPLAUSE
0:22:09 > 0:22:12So then you get the argument, "Well, this is not a stimulus bill,
0:22:12 > 0:22:14"this is a spending bill."
0:22:15 > 0:22:17What do you think a stimulus is?
0:22:17 > 0:22:19LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:22:19 > 0:22:21That's the whole point.
0:22:23 > 0:22:24No, seriously.
0:22:27 > 0:22:28That's the point.
0:22:28 > 0:22:32LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:22:32 > 0:22:35The fun was over. Back in Washington,
0:22:35 > 0:22:37his victory was slipping away.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40The Republican leaders were fighting back.
0:22:41 > 0:22:45'Although we had a number of Republicans who joined
0:22:45 > 0:22:51'those first few meetings, gradually the numbers diminished greatly.'
0:22:51 > 0:22:56We never stopped trying to convince our colleagues
0:22:56 > 0:22:59that this was not something that was worthy of their support.
0:22:59 > 0:23:03It obviously was pretty lonely in the Republican Caucus.
0:23:06 > 0:23:10It's as hard now my just thinking about it as it was at the time.
0:23:10 > 0:23:14I didn't know if we could get this done
0:23:14 > 0:23:15and I told the President that.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20I had to wait till his helicopter had landed
0:23:20 > 0:23:23to give him the bad news, saying, "I'm not sure I can get this done."
0:23:25 > 0:23:28I'd received this phone call from Harry Reid
0:23:28 > 0:23:33to come over to his office and I really debated whether or not to go.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40I went into the room
0:23:40 > 0:23:45and the room was already filled with Democratic leadership.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48Senator Collins, from the State of Maine,
0:23:48 > 0:23:52objected to a 16 billion programme for school construction.
0:23:52 > 0:23:57The Democrats' number two in the Senate tried to find a compromise.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00She was picking and choosing things
0:24:00 > 0:24:01that she wanted to bargain for.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04I remember that, in particular, was troubling
0:24:04 > 0:24:06because I thought it was a good investment.
0:24:06 > 0:24:11I knew that that would create huge opposition on my side of the aisle
0:24:11 > 0:24:15because we'd be redefining the Federal role in education.
0:24:15 > 0:24:20And then the conversation kind of shifted over to health clinics
0:24:20 > 0:24:21and there was a suggestion made
0:24:21 > 0:24:24that we could take some of those resources
0:24:24 > 0:24:27and put them into constructing community health clinics,
0:24:27 > 0:24:29even in the State of Maine,
0:24:29 > 0:24:31and she lit up and showed some real interest.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34Obama phoned into the meeting to OK the deals
0:24:34 > 0:24:37that Harry Reid was making with the Republican rebels.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40Each of them got in the way of each other,
0:24:40 > 0:24:44they all got in the way of me, but, finally, we got something done.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49On this vote, the Yeas are 61,
0:24:49 > 0:24:51the Nays are 36.
0:24:51 > 0:24:54Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn
0:24:54 > 0:24:58having voted in the affirmative, the motion is agreed to.
0:25:03 > 0:25:08Even after the cuts, this was still the largest stimulus in US history.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12Obama had pushed it through Congress in just six weeks.
0:25:14 > 0:25:16But there was still a lot to do.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21The economy was shrinking at a terrifying rate.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25Ordinary folks were experiencing job loss,
0:25:25 > 0:25:31but also seeing their home values suddenly diminish by 50%-100%.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34This was going to be a long slog
0:25:34 > 0:25:38and I think the biggest challenge at that point
0:25:38 > 0:25:43was to try to set expectations properly,
0:25:43 > 0:25:47try to explain to the American people what was happening.
0:25:47 > 0:25:50'But also maintain a sense of hope.'
0:25:50 > 0:25:52This young lady has been waiting very patiently.
0:25:52 > 0:25:54And she's just been standing there...
0:25:54 > 0:25:57At a town hall meeting in South Florida,
0:25:57 > 0:26:01Obama came face-to-face with one of the millions living on the edge.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04Go ahead. Here, you've got the microphone right behind you.
0:26:04 > 0:26:06Thank you very much.
0:26:06 > 0:26:09I first want to say I respect you and I am so grateful for you.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12- Thank you. - I've been praying for you.
0:26:12 > 0:26:14I believe in prayers, so I appreciate that.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17I have an urgent need.
0:26:17 > 0:26:18Unemployment and homelessness -
0:26:18 > 0:26:22a very small vehicle for my family and I to live in.
0:26:22 > 0:26:24We need urgent...
0:26:24 > 0:26:27And the housing authority has two-year waiting lists.
0:26:27 > 0:26:31And we need something more than a vehicle and the parks to go to.
0:26:31 > 0:26:35We need our own kitchen and our own bathroom.
0:26:35 > 0:26:37Please, help.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40Well, I... Listen, I... What's your name?
0:26:40 > 0:26:41What's your name?
0:26:41 > 0:26:43It's Henrietta Hughes.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46OK, Ms Hughes. Well, we're going to do everything we can to help you,
0:26:46 > 0:26:49but there are a lot of people like you
0:26:49 > 0:26:52and we're going to do everything we can, all right?
0:26:52 > 0:26:56But the... I'll have my staff talk to you after this...
0:26:56 > 0:26:59after the town hall, all right?
0:27:01 > 0:27:04All right. Erm, back here!
0:27:04 > 0:27:08'Everyone understood what the deep issue was
0:27:08 > 0:27:13and that is you've got 100 million people living in houses
0:27:13 > 0:27:17where their mortgage is bigger than the value of their house.
0:27:17 > 0:27:19So, either the banks
0:27:19 > 0:27:24are going to have to take 750 billion of losses
0:27:24 > 0:27:28or the government's going to have to come up with 750 billion
0:27:28 > 0:27:30to pay off these people's mortgages,
0:27:30 > 0:27:32which is, in addition to us
0:27:32 > 0:27:35not having an extra 750 billion sitting around,
0:27:35 > 0:27:38is going to lead to unbelievable howls of protest.
0:27:40 > 0:27:44The banks, panicked that the housing crisis would bring them down,
0:27:44 > 0:27:45had stopped lending.
0:27:48 > 0:27:51If his stimulus were to work, Obama had to reassure the bankers.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53But, in his first press conference,
0:27:53 > 0:27:55he made matters even worse.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00We are still going to have to get the credit markets flowing again,
0:28:00 > 0:28:02because that's the lifeblood of the economy.
0:28:02 > 0:28:04And so tomorrow my Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner,
0:28:04 > 0:28:07will be announcing some very clear and specific plans
0:28:07 > 0:28:11for how we are going to start loosening up credit once again.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14And beyond that, I'm going to make sure
0:28:14 > 0:28:17that Tim gets his moment in the sun tomorrow.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20He's going to be terrific. Major Garrett, where's Major?
0:28:20 > 0:28:23'We had no playbook for these things. I was not sure
0:28:23 > 0:28:26that we'd figured out something that had the chance of working yet.
0:28:30 > 0:28:33I felt for Tim because he was under a lot of pressure to come out
0:28:33 > 0:28:37and say SOMETHING, because people needed to know that we had a plan.
0:28:37 > 0:28:40But the plan wasn't fully formulated yet,
0:28:40 > 0:28:42which became apparent
0:28:42 > 0:28:45when he came out and spoke in generalities.
0:28:45 > 0:28:49Banks and the credit markets transform the earnings
0:28:49 > 0:28:53and savings of American workers into the loans that finance
0:28:53 > 0:28:57a first home, a new car or a college education.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01And this system provides the capital and the credit necessary
0:29:01 > 0:29:04to build a company around a new idea.
0:29:04 > 0:29:06'I thought it was terrible,
0:29:06 > 0:29:08'I could see in the eyes of the people watching,
0:29:08 > 0:29:11'I'd had enough experience that you can get a feel'
0:29:11 > 0:29:13for how people are reacting to it.
0:29:13 > 0:29:17What was most alarming to me watching the speech
0:29:17 > 0:29:22and watching the coverage of the speech was that the news channels
0:29:22 > 0:29:26were putting the stock market ticker up as he's speaking
0:29:26 > 0:29:28'so while you're supposed to be
0:29:28 > 0:29:31'watching Tim give his major speech,
0:29:31 > 0:29:34'you're watching something much more interesting -
0:29:34 > 0:29:38'the market is ticking down rapidly.'
0:29:40 > 0:29:43Geithner faced Obama the next morning.
0:29:43 > 0:29:46I walked into his office and he said, "How could this have happened?
0:29:46 > 0:29:48"How could you have let this happen?"
0:29:48 > 0:29:51He said it to his assembled advisers, but it was really on me.
0:29:54 > 0:29:57It looked like Geithner was the first one who was, you know,
0:29:57 > 0:30:01as they used to say in Chicago, being fitted for concrete overshoes.
0:30:03 > 0:30:05Earlier today, I proposed
0:30:05 > 0:30:09that the Federal Treasury set aside 420 billion.
0:30:09 > 0:30:13This 420 billion will be placed in a special fund
0:30:13 > 0:30:15and will go to the first individual
0:30:15 > 0:30:19who comes up with a workable plan to solve the banking crisis.
0:30:26 > 0:30:29If you have such a plan, or know of someone who does,
0:30:29 > 0:30:34you can call the number on the screen below to claim this reward.
0:30:39 > 0:30:41Obama shrugged off the critics
0:30:41 > 0:30:43and let the Treasury Secretary publish his plan
0:30:43 > 0:30:45to get the banks lending.
0:30:45 > 0:30:47He called it the stress test -
0:30:47 > 0:30:50a massive new inspection programme that would force banks
0:30:50 > 0:30:54to open their books to see if they could survive another crisis.
0:30:56 > 0:30:59"OK, what's the probability we're going to have a Great Depression?
0:30:59 > 0:31:02"If we had a Great Depression, what would the losses be?"
0:31:02 > 0:31:05We made it clear that we would make sure there was enough capital
0:31:05 > 0:31:07in the system to cover those losses
0:31:07 > 0:31:10and if there was not enough private capital to come in
0:31:10 > 0:31:12and cover those losses, we'd put public capital in.
0:31:14 > 0:31:15As the country waited for the Treasury
0:31:15 > 0:31:17to complete the stress tests,
0:31:17 > 0:31:19critics argued that Geithner's plan
0:31:19 > 0:31:21wouldn't be enough to solve the problem.
0:31:22 > 0:31:26Some politicians started to think the unthinkable -
0:31:26 > 0:31:28nationalise the banks.
0:31:29 > 0:31:32I think if you put most of our major banks under a stress test,
0:31:32 > 0:31:33they're going to fail.
0:31:33 > 0:31:36- And this idea...- And this stress test is starting this week?
0:31:36 > 0:31:39Yes, this idea of nationalising banks is not comfortable,
0:31:39 > 0:31:42but I'm very much afraid that any programme to salvage the banks
0:31:42 > 0:31:43is going to require the government...
0:31:43 > 0:31:46- So what would you do now? - I would not take off the idea
0:31:46 > 0:31:47of nationalising the banks.
0:31:49 > 0:31:51Obama challenged his Treasury Secretary.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54Was he being radical enough?
0:31:54 > 0:31:58We had one of these really tough conversations, which is,
0:31:58 > 0:31:59do you...
0:32:00 > 0:32:03"Are you confident this is going to work? Can you reassure me?
0:32:03 > 0:32:06"Why are you confident? What are our choices?"
0:32:06 > 0:32:10And I told him that my judgment at that time was that, er...
0:32:10 > 0:32:14we had no option but to play out the thing we'd set in motion.
0:32:14 > 0:32:18'The President really flayed the financial team
0:32:18 > 0:32:22'for having failed to come up with an answer,'
0:32:22 > 0:32:27sometimes in very, very, blunt and pointed terms.
0:32:27 > 0:32:29Obama summoned his economic team
0:32:29 > 0:32:32to debate the case for nationalising the banks.
0:32:34 > 0:32:37They wouldn't leave the White House for seven hours.
0:32:39 > 0:32:42We sat in the Roosevelt room around that table, the table was full,
0:32:42 > 0:32:44maybe, I don't know, 10-15 people
0:32:44 > 0:32:47with the President right across from me and Larry
0:32:47 > 0:32:49and we had a tough, rich debate.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54Two of Obama's most trusted economic advisers -
0:32:54 > 0:32:56Larry Summers and Christy Romer -
0:32:56 > 0:32:59were arguing in favour of nationalisation.
0:32:59 > 0:33:05I wanted as robust a response as possible.
0:33:05 > 0:33:08You take them over, you peel off the bad assets,
0:33:08 > 0:33:11you recapitalise them, you sell them back to the private sector.
0:33:11 > 0:33:15Geithner brought his team from the Treasury to urge caution.
0:33:15 > 0:33:19What we tried to do is to marinate the President
0:33:19 > 0:33:23and his advisers in the perils of those alternate paths.
0:33:23 > 0:33:27I said to the President, if Tim goes out and announces
0:33:27 > 0:33:32that a Citi or a Wells Fargo or a Bank of America is insolvent
0:33:32 > 0:33:35and the world watches their stock price
0:33:35 > 0:33:40go from 40 to 0 in an hour,
0:33:40 > 0:33:45what are you going to do if you hold stock in one of the other banks?
0:33:45 > 0:33:47Are you going to hold, are you going to buy
0:33:47 > 0:33:50or are you going to sell as fast as you possibly can?
0:33:50 > 0:33:52And if everybody does that,
0:33:52 > 0:33:56then you are literally having a bank run
0:33:56 > 0:34:00that could lead to another great global depression.
0:34:00 > 0:34:02How do you know that that's what's going to happen?
0:34:02 > 0:34:06I mean, I think that was a possibility and the question is,
0:34:06 > 0:34:08"Is it a 1% possibility
0:34:08 > 0:34:09"or a 50% possibility?"
0:34:09 > 0:34:11I think that was the debate.
0:34:11 > 0:34:13We're not sitting there trying to figure out
0:34:13 > 0:34:16what is the ideal in some perfect world if you had perfect knowledge.
0:34:16 > 0:34:19We're living in the real world.
0:34:22 > 0:34:27Obama, in a pre-planned gesture with Rahm Emanuel, the Chief of Staff,
0:34:27 > 0:34:29got up and said, "I'm going to get a haircut,
0:34:29 > 0:34:31"going to have dinner with my family."
0:34:31 > 0:34:34"You all stay here..." Clear we didn't get dinner,
0:34:34 > 0:34:39"and you figure out, you have an answer for me when I come back."
0:34:39 > 0:34:42Sometimes, you can just have a debating society
0:34:42 > 0:34:45and somebody has to be able to pick up the bucket of cold water
0:34:45 > 0:34:46and throw some down.
0:34:48 > 0:34:52What Rahm did is say, if you like the idea of a strategy
0:34:52 > 0:34:54that requires us to go get hundreds of billions more dollars
0:34:54 > 0:34:56for this stuff, there is no chance.
0:34:56 > 0:34:58He didn't use that phrase, he was less polite.
0:34:58 > 0:35:01"We're not nationalising the banks. You can propose it, discuss it,
0:35:01 > 0:35:03"debate it, is it good, go to the Brooke Institute,
0:35:03 > 0:35:05"go to Aspen Institute and have a discussion.
0:35:05 > 0:35:07"This Congress is not passing
0:35:07 > 0:35:09"and we're not going to nationalise the banks."
0:35:09 > 0:35:13- "There's no- BLEEP- way we're going to get another dime from Congress."
0:35:13 > 0:35:15"So what is it we can do
0:35:15 > 0:35:18"to get you what YOU need without THAT medicine?"
0:35:18 > 0:35:19That was it.
0:35:21 > 0:35:25Obama's team agreed to stick with Geithner's plan
0:35:25 > 0:35:27and it worked.
0:35:29 > 0:35:31When the stress tests were done,
0:35:31 > 0:35:33the banks started lending again.
0:35:37 > 0:35:39A few days after the debate on the banks,
0:35:39 > 0:35:40Obama had to make a choice
0:35:40 > 0:35:43where the political cost could be much higher -
0:35:43 > 0:35:47a million American jobs and the pride of the nation were at stake.
0:35:59 > 0:36:01- NEWSREEL:- Detroit put the world on wheels.
0:36:01 > 0:36:04In one generation, these and other names
0:36:04 > 0:36:06created America's number one industry,
0:36:06 > 0:36:08birthplace of the production line
0:36:08 > 0:36:11and the unheard of idea that everybody can ride.
0:36:12 > 0:36:14By the time Obama was elected,
0:36:14 > 0:36:17the American auto industry was on its knees.
0:36:17 > 0:36:20The three big car companies were on the verge of bankruptcy.
0:36:23 > 0:36:25He gave Wall Street banker Steven Rattner
0:36:25 > 0:36:27the job of finding a solution.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32We knew early on that we would have to make a trip to Detroit.
0:36:32 > 0:36:34Frankly, it was more symbolic than substantive.
0:36:34 > 0:36:40We went to GM and we drove hydrogen fuelled cars and electric cars
0:36:40 > 0:36:42and all these new gadgets.
0:36:42 > 0:36:45And, from there, we went to Chrysler
0:36:45 > 0:36:48where we met in a decrepit old plant.
0:36:48 > 0:36:52There was no question Chrysler was in the worse shape.
0:36:52 > 0:36:53It was laden with debt,
0:36:53 > 0:36:56it had given up long ago almost all of its international operations.
0:36:56 > 0:37:00It didn't have a single car that was on the recommended list
0:37:00 > 0:37:03of Consumer Reports. It was a mess.
0:37:03 > 0:37:07Rattner decided that General Motors needed a total overhaul
0:37:07 > 0:37:09and a government takeover.
0:37:09 > 0:37:10Ford could survive.
0:37:10 > 0:37:14However, Chrysler would go under unless someone bought it.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17The only interested buyer, Fiat,
0:37:17 > 0:37:19demanded a 6 billion government loan.
0:37:21 > 0:37:23Larry Summers was in favour of the deal
0:37:23 > 0:37:26and organised a briefing for the President.
0:37:26 > 0:37:29The advisor who was against the deal wasn't invited.
0:37:32 > 0:37:33Have a seat.
0:37:34 > 0:37:38Larry started to explain the auto situation to the President
0:37:38 > 0:37:39and the President interrupted
0:37:39 > 0:37:42and said, "Larry, I've read the materials."
0:37:42 > 0:37:44And the President looked around the room
0:37:44 > 0:37:47and said, "Does everybody agree with this recommendation?"
0:37:47 > 0:37:50And I said, "Well, Austan's the real expert here,"
0:37:50 > 0:37:53and that was when the President said, "Gee, where is Austan?"
0:37:53 > 0:37:55And I kind of said...
0:37:55 > 0:37:57I didn't throw anyone under the bus,
0:37:57 > 0:37:59but I said, you know, "He wasn't on the manifest,"
0:37:59 > 0:38:02and the President kind of called out to his secretary,
0:38:02 > 0:38:04"Get Austan on the phone and tell him to get over here!"
0:38:04 > 0:38:05They call me on the phone
0:38:05 > 0:38:08and they say, "Why aren't you in the Oval Office?" "Wait, what?
0:38:08 > 0:38:09"I don't..." so I run over there,
0:38:09 > 0:38:11"I'm supposed to be in the Oval Office!"
0:38:13 > 0:38:15But Obama postponed his decision -
0:38:15 > 0:38:18he had run out of time to hear the arguments.
0:38:20 > 0:38:24He had a meeting on Afghanistan, he had a meeting on Iraq.
0:38:24 > 0:38:27'He had a town hall meeting on the economy.'
0:38:27 > 0:38:31- Yes?- Mr President, what specific steps do you see
0:38:31 > 0:38:35your administration taking about the health of the auto industry?
0:38:35 > 0:38:39OK, it's a very topical question
0:38:39 > 0:38:42because I'm going to be making some announcements
0:38:42 > 0:38:45over the next several days about the auto industry.
0:38:47 > 0:38:50Just a few hours later, Obama reconvened his advisors
0:38:50 > 0:38:52to help him make the decision on Chrysler.
0:38:54 > 0:38:56Public opinion was very negative.
0:38:56 > 0:38:57Even in the State of Michigan,
0:38:57 > 0:38:59I pointed out, people were opposed
0:38:59 > 0:39:02to bailing out the auto industry despite the fact that Michigan
0:39:02 > 0:39:04was the home of the auto industry
0:39:04 > 0:39:06because there was tremendous anger
0:39:06 > 0:39:11about how the auto executives had run the industry for decades.
0:39:11 > 0:39:13I said that if the government doesn't act
0:39:13 > 0:39:16within a matter of weeks, Chrysler would run out of money,
0:39:16 > 0:39:19it would not be able to pay any of its bills.
0:39:19 > 0:39:21The electric lights would go out,
0:39:21 > 0:39:23the workers would stop being paid,
0:39:23 > 0:39:25the cars would stop being made,
0:39:25 > 0:39:27suppliers would no longer receive their payments,
0:39:27 > 0:39:31the doors would close and all those workers would be out of jobs.
0:39:31 > 0:39:35The people who buy Chryslers,
0:39:35 > 0:39:38if there's no Chrysler, then what are they going to go buy?
0:39:38 > 0:39:42And my view was that the evidence said they would probably go,
0:39:42 > 0:39:46if you couldn't buy a Ram Truck, then you probably would buy a Ford.
0:39:52 > 0:39:54The President was sitting very contemplatively
0:39:54 > 0:39:57with his chin in his hand and clearly thinking about it
0:39:57 > 0:39:59and clearly torn and trying to...
0:39:59 > 0:40:02And also, in fairness, this was not his area of historic expertise
0:40:02 > 0:40:06and so he's trying to digest all this stuff about sales rates
0:40:06 > 0:40:10and unemployment and jobs and this and that and loans,
0:40:10 > 0:40:13but, at the end of it, he processed everything
0:40:13 > 0:40:15and he said, "I've made my decision.
0:40:15 > 0:40:19"If we can save Chrysler in a commercially sensible way,
0:40:19 > 0:40:20"then we should do it."
0:40:20 > 0:40:23Most of the decisions I make
0:40:23 > 0:40:25don't lend themselves
0:40:25 > 0:40:28to a clean, crisp,
0:40:28 > 0:40:30wonderful solution.
0:40:30 > 0:40:35When they do, somebody else typically solves them
0:40:35 > 0:40:38and they never arrive at my desk.
0:40:41 > 0:40:43I went back to my office and slumped in my chair.
0:40:43 > 0:40:47After that, I was exhausted and the phone rang, it was Rahm and he said,
0:40:47 > 0:40:50"Get in here right away. Fargo, North Dakota is underwater."
0:40:53 > 0:40:56There was a flood that had taken out an entire city
0:40:56 > 0:40:58and I thought to myself
0:40:58 > 0:41:01it was like we're in an episode of the West Wing here.
0:41:01 > 0:41:03I mean, you couldn't make this stuff up.
0:41:05 > 0:41:09Obama had been battling the recession for three months
0:41:09 > 0:41:11when he bailed out the motor industry.
0:41:11 > 0:41:13The early weeks of his presidency,
0:41:13 > 0:41:16when he was at the peak of his popularity, were gone.
0:41:18 > 0:41:21Now, he was determined to catch up.
0:41:21 > 0:41:23One promise in particular had inspired the world
0:41:23 > 0:41:27to believe that he would restore America's ideals.
0:41:29 > 0:41:32"In order to close the detention facility at Guantanamo
0:41:32 > 0:41:34"consistent with the national security
0:41:34 > 0:41:37"and foreign policy interests of the United States,
0:41:37 > 0:41:39"and the interest of justice,
0:41:39 > 0:41:44"I hereby order..." and we then provide the process
0:41:44 > 0:41:49whereby Guantanamo will be closed no later than one year from now.
0:41:49 > 0:41:51The President charged me
0:41:51 > 0:41:52with the responsibility
0:41:52 > 0:41:54of coming up with a plan
0:41:54 > 0:41:56to close Guantanamo.
0:41:56 > 0:41:58The Attorney General had thought
0:41:58 > 0:42:01that some prisoners could be released
0:42:01 > 0:42:03and most of the rest sent to trial.
0:42:03 > 0:42:06But, soon, he had to tell the President he was wrong.
0:42:06 > 0:42:10The vast majority of Guantanamo prisoners could not be prosecuted.
0:42:11 > 0:42:16We frankly did not have a desire to rely on testimony
0:42:16 > 0:42:18or information gleaned from a prisoner
0:42:18 > 0:42:20that was as a result of torture.
0:42:25 > 0:42:29That seemed to us to be inconsistent with who we were as a nation
0:42:29 > 0:42:32and certainly inconsistent with the way in which
0:42:32 > 0:42:36we wanted this administration to be viewed around the world.
0:42:39 > 0:42:41Since he couldn't prosecute them,
0:42:41 > 0:42:44Obama needed to move detainees to the US -
0:42:44 > 0:42:47either to prison or for release.
0:42:48 > 0:42:51His team decided to begin with a group of independence fighters
0:42:51 > 0:42:54from Eastern China who'd gone to Afghanistan for training -
0:42:54 > 0:42:56the Uighurs.
0:43:04 > 0:43:07The US courts had ordered their release
0:43:07 > 0:43:09and the Guantanamo team suggested
0:43:09 > 0:43:11some of them should be freed in America.
0:43:11 > 0:43:13If that worked, others could follow.
0:43:15 > 0:43:19There was a lot of conversation about this population,
0:43:19 > 0:43:21what the issues would be around their transfer
0:43:21 > 0:43:23if we brought them into the States,
0:43:23 > 0:43:26how would you monitor them, where would they go.
0:43:26 > 0:43:28Now, these were certainly people
0:43:28 > 0:43:33who, if you were in China, you might have been concerned about, you know,
0:43:33 > 0:43:36the Chinese regime, but we didn't have any basis
0:43:36 > 0:43:41to believe that they posed a threat necessarily to the United States.
0:43:41 > 0:43:42But the CIA Director,
0:43:42 > 0:43:46who had been a Congressman for almost two decades, was worried.
0:43:47 > 0:43:50We had a bunch of staff and lawyers around the table
0:43:50 > 0:43:52all saying how this could be done.
0:43:52 > 0:43:55I kept saying, "Are you kidding?"
0:43:55 > 0:43:58"Do you know what you're dealing with up on the Hill?"
0:43:58 > 0:44:00Don't kid yourself that Congress
0:44:00 > 0:44:02is suddenly going to put their arms around this
0:44:02 > 0:44:06and say, "Oh, great, let's bring them here to America."
0:44:06 > 0:44:08The Guantanamo team hoped they knew better.
0:44:09 > 0:44:14The thought was that Congressman Frank Wolf of Northern Virginia,
0:44:14 > 0:44:17who was very critical of Chinese human rights policy
0:44:17 > 0:44:19might actually be supportive.
0:44:19 > 0:44:23So in that burst of optimism and, in retrospect, naivety
0:44:23 > 0:44:26the administration proceeded with a plan
0:44:26 > 0:44:29to bring at least two of them into the United States.
0:44:29 > 0:44:33Republican Frank Wolf represented Falls Church, Virginia,
0:44:33 > 0:44:37where the two Uighurs were going to be released.
0:44:37 > 0:44:39A member of my staff got a call
0:44:39 > 0:44:42from a fairly high level person
0:44:42 > 0:44:44in one of the agencies,
0:44:44 > 0:44:47saying that the administration at the White House
0:44:47 > 0:44:51had made a decision to move the Uighurs,
0:44:51 > 0:44:54that they had actually leased an apartment
0:44:54 > 0:44:57out in the Falls Church area
0:44:57 > 0:45:01and an aircraft was ready and they were going to move them.
0:45:01 > 0:45:04The chair recognises the gentleman from Virginia, Mr Wolf,
0:45:04 > 0:45:06for five minutes.
0:45:06 > 0:45:08Obama's promise to close Guantanamo
0:45:08 > 0:45:11hung on the words Wolf was about to speak.
0:45:11 > 0:45:14Do members realise who these people are?
0:45:14 > 0:45:17There've been published reports that the Uighurs
0:45:17 > 0:45:20were members of the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement,
0:45:20 > 0:45:25a designated terrorist organisation affiliated with Al-Qaeda.
0:45:25 > 0:45:28Fear of Al-Qaeda trumped everything.
0:45:28 > 0:45:30Congress quickly voted to cut off funding
0:45:30 > 0:45:33for relocating Guantanamo prisoners to the US.
0:45:34 > 0:45:37I remember hearing one senator who said, you know,
0:45:37 > 0:45:40"When I go to a Town Hall meeting
0:45:40 > 0:45:43"and I say that we shouldn't give terrorists the same rights
0:45:43 > 0:45:45"that we give to American citizens,"
0:45:45 > 0:45:47that's the biggest applause line I have
0:45:47 > 0:45:49when I go to a Town Hall meeting.
0:45:49 > 0:45:50I remember thinking at that point,
0:45:50 > 0:45:55"Well, there it is." I mean, THAT'S the nature of the problem.
0:45:56 > 0:45:59Listening to the recent debate, I've heard words that, frankly,
0:45:59 > 0:46:03are calculated to scare people rather than educate them,
0:46:03 > 0:46:06words that have more to do with politics
0:46:06 > 0:46:08than protecting our country.
0:46:08 > 0:46:10I think we were both disappointed,
0:46:10 > 0:46:12and frankly angry at the political nature
0:46:12 > 0:46:14in which...
0:46:14 > 0:46:17our plans were thwarted.
0:46:17 > 0:46:21Obama missed the one-year deadline for closing Guantanamo.
0:46:21 > 0:46:24Seven years later, he still hadn't closed it.
0:46:26 > 0:46:29He feels really passionately about it, really wanted to close
0:46:29 > 0:46:33on his watch - it's just a very thorny one. It's really difficult.
0:46:33 > 0:46:37Yeah, so it's... Clearly, he felt frustrated by the whole thing.
0:46:48 > 0:46:50Six months into his Presidency,
0:46:50 > 0:46:53Obama hosted the annual White House picnic for Congress.
0:46:53 > 0:46:55The US had come out of recession.
0:46:55 > 0:46:59The glamour of hope and change was back.
0:46:59 > 0:47:00CHEERING
0:47:00 > 0:47:02'The President was very excited about it,
0:47:02 > 0:47:07'he was throwing a luau in tradition of his Hawaiian heritage'
0:47:07 > 0:47:09and I remember, at the beginning, him saying,
0:47:09 > 0:47:12"Am I going to take pictures of these people?"
0:47:12 > 0:47:15And we said, "You are, but we're also going to use this
0:47:15 > 0:47:18"as an opportunity to talk about the energy vote the next day."
0:47:18 > 0:47:20During his campaign,
0:47:20 > 0:47:24Obama had pledged to pass an energy bill to fight climate change.
0:47:24 > 0:47:28It was about to be voted on in Congress.
0:47:28 > 0:47:30Democrats from the coal-producing states
0:47:30 > 0:47:33thought that if they voted for it they could lose their seats.
0:47:34 > 0:47:39And so these members walk in and take their family photo
0:47:39 > 0:47:41and then we'd escort the family out
0:47:41 > 0:47:43and say, "Excuse me, member of Congress,
0:47:43 > 0:47:46"the President would like to have one second alone with you."
0:47:46 > 0:47:48And they're like, "Oh, of course!"
0:47:48 > 0:47:51And we'd slam the door and there'd be Rahm and Phil Schiliro.
0:47:51 > 0:47:55We'd be looking out that window and the picnic is going on outside
0:47:55 > 0:47:59and the President is making the case to members on the fence.
0:47:59 > 0:48:01And then I say, "Well, here's the science
0:48:01 > 0:48:04"and we've got so much more to do, we've got so far to go."
0:48:04 > 0:48:08These are people who had to make fundamental decisions
0:48:08 > 0:48:10about political self-interest
0:48:10 > 0:48:13versus the good of the country and the good of the planet.
0:48:13 > 0:48:15By the time they walked out of that room,
0:48:15 > 0:48:17they would look at me on the other side
0:48:17 > 0:48:20and say, "That wasn't very much fun.
0:48:20 > 0:48:22"That wasn't as much fun as it's supposed to be."
0:48:23 > 0:48:26The next day, Obama's secretary whispered into his ear
0:48:26 > 0:48:28that the House had passed the climate bill.
0:48:30 > 0:48:33But, six months later, it was dying in the Senate.
0:48:33 > 0:48:35He couldn't get the votes.
0:48:35 > 0:48:38When this bill failed in the Senate
0:48:38 > 0:48:41and everybody thought, "It's hopeless,"
0:48:41 > 0:48:43we in fact were able to bounce back
0:48:43 > 0:48:48out of what looked like a disaster in Copenhagen.
0:48:48 > 0:48:50The Copenhagen Climate Change Summit
0:48:50 > 0:48:55gave Obama a chance to fight climate change on a global scale.
0:48:57 > 0:49:00He would need the other great polluting nation, China,
0:49:00 > 0:49:02to agree to cut its greenhouse gasses.
0:49:04 > 0:49:08But the Chinese were afraid of the impact on their economy.
0:49:13 > 0:49:15I met him at the airport and I said,
0:49:15 > 0:49:18"We've been here for several days now
0:49:18 > 0:49:23"and I'm sorry to say we don't have a final agreement for you to bless,"
0:49:23 > 0:49:25and his attitude was,
0:49:25 > 0:49:27"Well, you know, I'm here.
0:49:27 > 0:49:29"Let's roll up our sleeves and get to work."
0:49:30 > 0:49:34No hotel, no stop,
0:49:34 > 0:49:36to...get prepared,
0:49:36 > 0:49:40drove right into this convention centre
0:49:40 > 0:49:43and you slowly came to appreciate
0:49:43 > 0:49:47that this was some sort of fake shopping mall.
0:49:48 > 0:49:52There were mannequins, but there were no clothes for sale.
0:49:52 > 0:49:56Obama met the Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao, and argued his case.
0:49:58 > 0:50:01The President said that this conference
0:50:01 > 0:50:06could either reach some positive conclusions or not.
0:50:06 > 0:50:09And if it did not reach positive conclusions,
0:50:09 > 0:50:10the people who would be blamed
0:50:10 > 0:50:12would be China and the US.
0:50:12 > 0:50:17Back in the US, one of the complaints or one of the arguments
0:50:17 > 0:50:21against the US ever doing anything in the global context is,
0:50:21 > 0:50:24"Why should we do something until China does something?"
0:50:24 > 0:50:27Wen Jiabao basically said, you know,
0:50:27 > 0:50:29"Let's have our people get together
0:50:29 > 0:50:32"and work on language on the communique."
0:50:32 > 0:50:34Our people got together
0:50:34 > 0:50:37and then there were three hours of head-butting.
0:50:37 > 0:50:41The next meeting was even worse.
0:50:41 > 0:50:44It was planned as a session with Obama, European leaders
0:50:44 > 0:50:47and Premier Wen, but Wen sent a diplomat in his place.
0:51:05 > 0:51:07Their words were recorded.
0:51:07 > 0:51:09Extracts were leaked.
0:51:29 > 0:51:31They never re-convened.
0:51:31 > 0:51:33President Obama said to me,
0:51:33 > 0:51:36"Should we speak to the Chinese once more?
0:51:36 > 0:51:40"Should I speak to Wen Jiabao once more?" And I said, "Yes."
0:51:42 > 0:51:44China's Premier agreed to another meeting,
0:51:44 > 0:51:47but Obama's team had trouble nailing down the time.
0:51:49 > 0:51:52We get a message that the Chinese have left,
0:51:52 > 0:51:55they're in their cars on their way to the airport
0:51:55 > 0:51:57and the President's sort of stunned.
0:51:57 > 0:52:01I think, for many of us, there was a sense of,
0:52:01 > 0:52:05"Oh, my God, this isn't going to work. This is going to fail."
0:52:07 > 0:52:1145,000 people had come to Copenhagen.
0:52:11 > 0:52:15But the one person Obama needed to make a deal had gone missing.
0:52:15 > 0:52:19And the President's advance staff come into the room
0:52:19 > 0:52:22and they're ashen faced
0:52:22 > 0:52:25and they report that the Chinese are sitting upstairs,
0:52:25 > 0:52:27that the Chinese are actually in a meeting
0:52:27 > 0:52:30with Brazil, India and South Africa.
0:52:31 > 0:52:34South Africa's President Zuma, Brazil's President Lula
0:52:34 > 0:52:37and Premier Singh of India joined Wen Jiabao
0:52:37 > 0:52:40to stop the climate deal.
0:52:40 > 0:52:43And the President's response is, "Let's go.
0:52:43 > 0:52:47"We had a meeting scheduled, they're here, let's go."
0:52:47 > 0:52:51All of us involved thought that was kind of a cool idea,
0:52:51 > 0:52:54unusual and not, how should I say,
0:52:54 > 0:52:57normal protocol.
0:52:57 > 0:53:00And so we all immediately jump up, the President,
0:53:00 > 0:53:01Secretary Clinton.
0:53:01 > 0:53:03We just continued down the hall, saying,
0:53:03 > 0:53:06"President's coming through, President's coming through,"
0:53:06 > 0:53:08and people kind of looked at us aghast
0:53:08 > 0:53:11and parted like Moses going through the Red Sea
0:53:11 > 0:53:13as we went down the corridor.
0:53:13 > 0:53:16The protocol security guy tried to stop us
0:53:16 > 0:53:19and I basically elbowed him out of the way, blocked him.
0:53:19 > 0:53:21We got to the door of the room
0:53:21 > 0:53:24and there was a bunch of people blocking it.
0:53:26 > 0:53:30Are you ready for me or do you guys need to talk some more?
0:53:30 > 0:53:31It's up to you.
0:53:34 > 0:53:35What do you think?
0:53:37 > 0:53:40Premier, are you ready for me or do you want to wait?
0:53:42 > 0:53:46President Obama looked at Wen Jiabao
0:53:46 > 0:53:50and said, "Premier Wen, delighted to see you,"
0:53:50 > 0:53:53and Wen Jiabao forced a big smile.
0:53:53 > 0:53:56Premier Wen signalled to President Obama,
0:53:56 > 0:53:59"Oh, please have a seat next to President Lula here."
0:53:59 > 0:54:05Obama had the Chinese Premier at a disadvantage and he did not relent.
0:54:05 > 0:54:08The President said, "Well look, I have other things to do.
0:54:08 > 0:54:11"I don't have to be here. If you all are not interested
0:54:11 > 0:54:16"in having an agreement, fine, but I would think that it would be worth
0:54:16 > 0:54:18"a little bit of your time,"
0:54:18 > 0:54:20and Wen Jiabao pretty clearly
0:54:20 > 0:54:25signalled that he wanted to get the thing to a positive outcome.
0:54:25 > 0:54:30At the end of the day, there was one final issue that had to be resolved.
0:54:30 > 0:54:31And the President said,
0:54:31 > 0:54:35"Will you confirm to me that China will list in the annexe
0:54:35 > 0:54:37"the actions it intends to take?"
0:54:37 > 0:54:41So we waited for the translation to go through
0:54:41 > 0:54:44and Premier Wen said, "Yes,"
0:54:44 > 0:54:46and, at that point,
0:54:46 > 0:54:49there was a sort of an explosion in the room on the Chinese side
0:54:49 > 0:54:53of yelling in Chinese, of course, in Mandarin
0:54:53 > 0:54:56and lots of back and forth among the Chinese officials
0:54:56 > 0:55:00and we all looked at the interpreter with anticipation
0:55:00 > 0:55:03and the interpreter said, "Internal discussion only."
0:55:03 > 0:55:04And, at that point,
0:55:04 > 0:55:07we knew we'd actually achieved something quite meaningful.
0:55:11 > 0:55:14But Obama had had to agree to China's price -
0:55:14 > 0:55:18there would be no binding agreements to cut emissions.
0:55:18 > 0:55:23Although that was perceived as a failure given high expectations,
0:55:23 > 0:55:27that actually planted the seed for subsequent success.
0:55:27 > 0:55:31We have been able to forge for the first time
0:55:31 > 0:55:34an international agreement about climate change.
0:55:37 > 0:55:40One of the things that I've felt very strongly about
0:55:40 > 0:55:44during the course of this year is that hard stuff
0:55:44 > 0:55:46requires not paralysis,
0:55:46 > 0:55:48but it requires going ahead
0:55:48 > 0:55:52and making the best of the situation that you're in at this point
0:55:52 > 0:55:55and continually trying to improve and make progress from there.
0:56:07 > 0:56:10In America, by tradition, Presidents are judged
0:56:10 > 0:56:13against what they achieve in their first 100 days.
0:56:15 > 0:56:19Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States.
0:56:19 > 0:56:22When Obama hit that mark, he had made the hard decisions
0:56:22 > 0:56:24to rescue the global economy,
0:56:24 > 0:56:27but not one of his big promises of change -
0:56:27 > 0:56:29not health care, not education,
0:56:29 > 0:56:31not Guantanamo had yet been delivered.
0:56:32 > 0:56:36- Jeff Zeleny. - Thank you, Mr President.
0:56:36 > 0:56:38During these first 100 days, what has surprised you
0:56:38 > 0:56:42the most about this office, enchanted you the most
0:56:42 > 0:56:43about serving in this in office,
0:56:43 > 0:56:46humbled you the most and troubled you the most?
0:56:46 > 0:56:48All right, let me write this down.
0:56:48 > 0:56:49LAUGHTER
0:56:49 > 0:56:52- What was the first one? - Surprised.- Surprised.
0:56:52 > 0:56:54- Troubled.- Troubled.
0:56:54 > 0:56:56- Enchanted.- Enchanted? Nice. - And humbled.
0:56:58 > 0:57:00And what was the last one, humbled?
0:57:00 > 0:57:02- Humbled. Thank you, sir.- All right.
0:57:05 > 0:57:07OK. Erm...
0:57:07 > 0:57:09LAUGHTER
0:57:11 > 0:57:13Surprised...
0:57:15 > 0:57:19I am surprised compared to where I started.
0:57:19 > 0:57:24Obviously, I didn't anticipate the worst economic crisis
0:57:24 > 0:57:26since the Great Depression.
0:57:29 > 0:57:31'You know the typical President, I think,
0:57:31 > 0:57:33'has two or three big problems.
0:57:33 > 0:57:36'We've got seven or eight big problems.
0:57:37 > 0:57:39'Enchanted?
0:57:39 > 0:57:41'Enchanted.
0:57:41 > 0:57:46'I will tell you that when I meet our servicemen and women,
0:57:46 > 0:57:49"enchanted" is probably not the word I would use.
0:57:49 > 0:57:51LAUGHTER
0:57:51 > 0:57:55But I am so profoundly impressed and grateful.
0:57:56 > 0:57:58Troubled?
0:57:58 > 0:58:01I'd say less troubled,
0:58:01 > 0:58:07but sobered by the fact that change in Washington comes slow.
0:58:09 > 0:58:12Humbled by the fact that
0:58:12 > 0:58:16the Presidency is extraordinarily powerful,
0:58:16 > 0:58:19but I can't just press a button
0:58:19 > 0:58:21and suddenly have the bankers
0:58:21 > 0:58:25do exactly what I want
0:58:25 > 0:58:27or, you know, turn on a switch
0:58:27 > 0:58:31and suddenly Congress falls in line.
0:58:35 > 0:58:37In the next programme,
0:58:37 > 0:58:41how Obama battled to bring universal health care to his country.
0:58:44 > 0:58:47My job was to advise him on the politics
0:58:47 > 0:58:50and I knew that seven presidents had tried, seven presidents had failed.
0:58:50 > 0:58:55This health care bill will ruin our country.
0:58:55 > 0:59:00- THEY CHANT:- Kill the bill, kill the bill, kill the bill!