0:00:02 > 0:00:05This programme contains some scenes which some viewers may find upsetting
0:00:05 > 0:00:07You and I, we're going to change this country,
0:00:07 > 0:00:09and we will change the world.
0:00:09 > 0:00:13For millions, the election of Barack Obama to the Oval Office
0:00:13 > 0:00:15marked a new era of hope.
0:00:17 > 0:00:20The President turned around with this great smile on his face.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23He said, "Well, then, of course I'm feeling lucky."
0:00:23 > 0:00:24All right, let's go.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27Let's go get 'em, it's game time.
0:00:27 > 0:00:29By the end of his first term,
0:00:29 > 0:00:32Obama had realised change was harder than he had predicted.
0:00:34 > 0:00:36He said, "I am President of The United States,
0:00:36 > 0:00:40"the leader of the free world, and I can't make anything happen."
0:00:40 > 0:00:43He said, "You know, I don't sleep at night very much."
0:00:43 > 0:00:48It's not a straight line. Sometimes the stone rolls back,
0:00:48 > 0:00:52er, and you have to start over.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55With unique access to the President and his inner circle,
0:00:55 > 0:00:58tonight's programme tells how Obama won re-election...
0:00:58 > 0:01:01Four more years! Four more years!
0:01:03 > 0:01:08..and tried to tackle America's most intractable social problems -
0:01:08 > 0:01:09race...
0:01:09 > 0:01:11Don't shoot!
0:01:11 > 0:01:12..immigration...
0:01:12 > 0:01:14Stop illegal immigration!
0:01:14 > 0:01:16..and guns...
0:01:16 > 0:01:20The President walked in and his first words were,
0:01:20 > 0:01:25"Friday was the toughest day of my entire time in the presidency."
0:01:26 > 0:01:31..and how Obama embraced changes that showed power was in new hands.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35I'm sort of looking at the person, like, you want to tell me
0:01:35 > 0:01:36how to hug the President?
0:01:36 > 0:01:39And the President was very cool about it
0:01:39 > 0:01:42and he just said, "I think we've got this!"
0:01:42 > 0:01:48This programme contains some scenes which some viewers may find upsetting.
0:01:52 > 0:01:54So, ladies and gentlemen,
0:01:54 > 0:01:57join me in welcoming my friend,
0:01:57 > 0:01:59our President, Barack Obama.
0:01:59 > 0:02:01CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:02:01 > 0:02:05In 2012, President Obama was running for re-election.
0:02:07 > 0:02:09He had a good story to tell.
0:02:10 > 0:02:14He had brought universal health care to the American people.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17He had rescued the country from the worst financial crisis
0:02:17 > 0:02:19in living memory.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22Home values are rising. The stock market has rebounded.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25Our assembly lines are hummin' again. We are moving forward.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30And he had avenged the deadliest attack on mainland America
0:02:30 > 0:02:32in two centuries.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39Since 9/11, the CIA had been looking for the man responsible.
0:02:43 > 0:02:48In September 2010, CIA director Leon Panetta came to brief
0:02:48 > 0:02:51the President about a house in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57Mr President, I don't want to raise your hopes
0:02:57 > 0:03:00because, you know, we don't know for certain whether Bin Laden is located
0:03:00 > 0:03:07here, but we think we have located a compound that is unique enough
0:03:07 > 0:03:12that it raises the possibility that he could be there.
0:03:12 > 0:03:16Leon - I think properly - was cautious in saying that they could
0:03:16 > 0:03:18say definitively this was where Bin Laden was.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21Despite the wealth of the neighbourhood, the house had
0:03:21 > 0:03:25no phone service, no internet service. Er, there were multiple
0:03:25 > 0:03:30children in the compound, and none of them went to school. So there was
0:03:30 > 0:03:32all this strange behaviour, right,
0:03:32 > 0:03:34to go with this very strange facility.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38There was an eight-foot wall on the third floor. And, normally,
0:03:38 > 0:03:41if you're on the third floor of a house, er,
0:03:41 > 0:03:44you like the view, so why was there an eight-foot wall?
0:03:44 > 0:03:49My feeling at the time was... interested, but cautious.
0:03:49 > 0:03:53Leon suggested that, er, we redouble our efforts in focusing
0:03:53 > 0:03:56on this compound that had been identified and...
0:03:56 > 0:04:01and for the next several months we, er, developed more and more data.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07The President called a meeting to decide whether to give the go-ahead.
0:04:07 > 0:04:11The leading option on the table was to send in helicopters with
0:04:11 > 0:04:15Special Forces, but Defense Secretary Gates
0:04:15 > 0:04:18warned the President, the military had got it wrong before.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23He reminded him that President Carter attempted to rescue
0:04:23 > 0:04:26American hostages from the embassy in Tehran.
0:04:28 > 0:04:30That raid ended in disaster.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36I had been in the White House the night of the...of the raid in Iran
0:04:36 > 0:04:39to try and liberate our hostages at...er,
0:04:39 > 0:04:41through the Desert One operation.
0:04:42 > 0:04:47And I had sat there through a number of these that had been...
0:04:47 > 0:04:50well-planned, well-executed, and failed.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54As I sat there, I thought to myself, er, if we go ahead with this
0:04:54 > 0:04:58and it fails and books are written that Bob Gates recommended
0:04:58 > 0:05:02we not do this, we will really look like fools.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05It was a very mixed room. Er, Vice President Biden
0:05:05 > 0:05:10argued against acting without certainty that Bin Laden was there
0:05:10 > 0:05:12because he was worried about the impact
0:05:12 > 0:05:15on the Pakistani relationship - that if we went in and
0:05:15 > 0:05:17Bin Laden wasn't there, you could have a conflict with Pakistan.
0:05:17 > 0:05:22The problem that the President faced was that we didn't have a
0:05:22 > 0:05:26single piece of hard evidence that Bin Laden was in,
0:05:26 > 0:05:30er, the compound at Abbottabad - it was all a circumstantial case,
0:05:30 > 0:05:33er, assembled by analysts at CIA.
0:05:33 > 0:05:38Even though I thought it was only 50-50 that Bin Laden was there,
0:05:38 > 0:05:40I thought it was worth us taking a shot.
0:05:47 > 0:05:51On May 1st, 2011, The President was in the Situation Room
0:05:51 > 0:05:55with his advisors, listening to the voice of Admiral McRaven,
0:05:55 > 0:05:58who was commanding the operation from his base in Afghanistan.
0:06:02 > 0:06:07I heard Admiral McRaven narrating, saying, um, "Well, OK,
0:06:07 > 0:06:11"so now, you know, you see that there's a helicopter down."
0:06:11 > 0:06:13And, er... And it was so matter-of-fact that
0:06:13 > 0:06:17it didn't strike me for a second, and then I thought, "Down?"
0:06:17 > 0:06:19"Does he... Does he mean DOWN down?"
0:06:19 > 0:06:24The first thing I thought of was, you know, Bob Gates was right.
0:06:24 > 0:06:28I asked, er, Bill McRaven - I said, "What the hell's going on, Bill?"
0:06:28 > 0:06:32And he didn't miss a beat - he said, "Don't worry, we've got the...
0:06:32 > 0:06:34"the backup helicopters coming in,
0:06:34 > 0:06:36"they're going to proceed with the mission."
0:06:36 > 0:06:39The men in the crashed helicopter were not injured.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41They forced their way into the house,
0:06:41 > 0:06:43even before the backup arrived.
0:06:45 > 0:06:50I heard Admiral McRaven say, um, "We have a Geronimo."
0:06:50 > 0:06:53And there was sort of, you know, a reaction.
0:06:53 > 0:06:56And I didn't know what... I didn't know what "Geronimo" meant, so I
0:06:56 > 0:06:59turned to the guy next to me and I said "What is... What is Geronimo?"
0:06:59 > 0:07:00And he said, "It's Bin Laden."
0:07:00 > 0:07:02I said, "We got him."
0:07:02 > 0:07:04Erm...
0:07:04 > 0:07:06But there was no whooping, there was no hollering,
0:07:06 > 0:07:08er, there was no high-fiving.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10Good evening.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13Tonight, I can report to the American people
0:07:13 > 0:07:16and to the world that the United States has conducted
0:07:16 > 0:07:21an operation that killed Osama Bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24- CHANTING:- USA! USA! USA!
0:07:24 > 0:07:27USA! USA! USA!
0:07:27 > 0:07:32Obama's success gave his re-election campaign a rallying cry.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34I've got a little bumper sticker for you.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37Osama Bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive!
0:07:37 > 0:07:39CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:07:39 > 0:07:43Osama Bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive!
0:07:44 > 0:07:48Vice President Biden was leading the charge for the President...
0:07:48 > 0:07:51but Obama needed to go beyond the blue-collar workers
0:07:51 > 0:07:55and traditional ethnic groups cheering for him here in Detroit.
0:07:55 > 0:07:59- CHANTING:- O-ba-ma! O-ba-ma!
0:07:59 > 0:08:02He had won the presidency by harnessing the energy
0:08:02 > 0:08:05of first-time voters, women, and non-whites.
0:08:05 > 0:08:07Obama!
0:08:07 > 0:08:10Keeping their support was a top priority.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12- CHANTING:- O-ba-ma! O-ba-ma!
0:08:12 > 0:08:16Early in the campaign, the President faced a tough choice -
0:08:16 > 0:08:18between maximising the women's vote
0:08:18 > 0:08:21and a smooth roll-out of his greatest achievement - Obamacare.
0:08:21 > 0:08:23- CHANTING:- O-ba-ma!
0:08:23 > 0:08:24If you had told us,
0:08:24 > 0:08:27you're going to have, like, two months where contraception
0:08:27 > 0:08:30consumes your administration, you would have said "no way".
0:08:30 > 0:08:32The Catholic Church wanted its hospitals
0:08:32 > 0:08:35and universities to be exempt from the rule that they must
0:08:35 > 0:08:39provide contraceptive coverage for their employees and students.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46Archbishop Dolan, head of the American Catholic Church,
0:08:46 > 0:08:49tried hard to persuade Obama.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52After a private meeting with the President,
0:08:52 > 0:08:55Dolan hinted to his fellow bishops that Obama would grant
0:08:55 > 0:08:57the exemption the church wanted.
0:08:58 > 0:09:03He was very ardent in his desire to assure me that this is something
0:09:03 > 0:09:05he will look long and hard at,
0:09:05 > 0:09:08and I left there feeling a bit more at peace.
0:09:09 > 0:09:13The Archbishop's statement alarmed Obama's Health Secretary.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18I said to the President, "Eliminating this coverage from,
0:09:18 > 0:09:21"women who attended Catholic colleges,
0:09:21 > 0:09:24"er, employees of Catholic hospitals..." -
0:09:24 > 0:09:27literally millions of women were potentially affected -
0:09:27 > 0:09:29that would be a terrible decision and, in fact,
0:09:29 > 0:09:31that would be a setback.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34I explained to him that it was unlikely
0:09:34 > 0:09:35that there'd be a compromise
0:09:35 > 0:09:38and that he was probably going to have to
0:09:38 > 0:09:39make a choice.
0:09:39 > 0:09:41The President said to me,
0:09:41 > 0:09:44"Kathleen, I shouldn't be fighting your battles."
0:09:44 > 0:09:48And I reminded him that, at this point, this was HIS battle.
0:09:48 > 0:09:50APPLAUSE
0:09:50 > 0:09:53This battle was for those crucial women's votes.
0:09:53 > 0:09:57Obama had to give his biggest ally in the Catholic Church bad news.
0:09:59 > 0:10:04I got a call from the President, who told me that...
0:10:04 > 0:10:07he was not going to give us an exemption.
0:10:09 > 0:10:13Um... And, you know, I... I expressed to the President
0:10:13 > 0:10:16what a significant problem this was going to be -
0:10:16 > 0:10:18not only for us, but for him.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24The President walked into the West Wing Press Room
0:10:24 > 0:10:28and made a statement he knew would cause controversy.
0:10:28 > 0:10:32'He wasn't really making a lot of eye contact. He clearly, I think,
0:10:32 > 0:10:35'wanted to be anywhere other than this room.'
0:10:35 > 0:10:37He had hoped that there would be
0:10:37 > 0:10:40a resolution that could have been a little less contentious.
0:10:40 > 0:10:44We decided to follow the judgment of the nation's leading medical
0:10:44 > 0:10:48experts and make sure that free preventive care includes
0:10:48 > 0:10:51access to free contraceptive care.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53Thank you very much, everybody.
0:10:53 > 0:10:55What did Archbishop Dolan say, sir?
0:10:55 > 0:10:57PRESS CLAMOURING
0:10:57 > 0:11:00It's not about church teaching - it's about the Federal government
0:11:00 > 0:11:02butting in to an area where they
0:11:02 > 0:11:04have absolutely no competence and right -
0:11:04 > 0:11:07into the internal affairs of the Church.
0:11:07 > 0:11:08One thing's for certain -
0:11:08 > 0:11:12this attack on religious freedom cannot and will not stand.
0:11:12 > 0:11:16What happened next was an extraordinary own goal
0:11:16 > 0:11:18by the Republicans.
0:11:18 > 0:11:22It began when a university student spoke out in support of Obama.
0:11:22 > 0:11:26I attended Jesuit Law School that does not provide contraceptive
0:11:26 > 0:11:28coverage in its student health plan.
0:11:28 > 0:11:30Without insurance coverage,
0:11:30 > 0:11:34contraception can cost as much as 3,000 during law school.
0:11:34 > 0:11:36That's an entire summer's salary for a law student.
0:11:38 > 0:11:42Conservative radio commentator Rush Limbaugh took aim at Sandra Fluke.
0:11:43 > 0:11:48Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke said that it's too expensive
0:11:48 > 0:11:51to have sex in law school without mandated insurance coverage.
0:11:51 > 0:11:55It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute.
0:11:55 > 0:11:57She wants to be paid to have sex.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01She's having so much sex, she can't afford
0:12:01 > 0:12:03her birth control pills any more.
0:12:03 > 0:12:05- CHEERING - Mitt Romney!
0:12:05 > 0:12:08The Republican candidate had to choose -
0:12:08 > 0:12:10would he condemn what many were
0:12:10 > 0:12:12calling the conservative war on women?
0:12:13 > 0:12:15Governor, anything on Rush?
0:12:23 > 0:12:26We knew that if the President called Sandra Fluke
0:12:26 > 0:12:29and stood up for her, that it would force the Republicans to demonstrate
0:12:29 > 0:12:33whether they would stand with, er, young women or with Rush Limbaugh.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37Someone reached a friend of mine and, er, said,
0:12:37 > 0:12:39"You know, someone in the White House
0:12:39 > 0:12:42"would like to speak with Sandra - do you have her number?"
0:12:42 > 0:12:45And at this time I'm really under an onslaught from the press,
0:12:45 > 0:12:48so we're not giving out my cellphone number.
0:12:48 > 0:12:50And the White House staff person said,
0:12:50 > 0:12:53"No, I really want to be able to have this individual reach out
0:12:53 > 0:12:54"to Sandra directly."
0:12:54 > 0:12:57And it just sort of went back and forth for a number of minutes
0:12:57 > 0:13:00and the staffer was trying very much to just say
0:13:00 > 0:13:02"a senior White House Official"
0:13:02 > 0:13:05and eventually had to say "it's the President".
0:13:05 > 0:13:08I wanted Sandra to know that...
0:13:08 > 0:13:10er...
0:13:11 > 0:13:14..that I thought her parents should be proud of her.
0:13:14 > 0:13:19And women are going to make up their own mind in this election
0:13:19 > 0:13:23about who is advancing...
0:13:25 > 0:13:27..the issues that they care most deeply about.
0:13:27 > 0:13:29One of the things I've learned being married to Michelle is,
0:13:29 > 0:13:33I don't need to tell her what it is that she thinks is important.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35CHEERING
0:13:37 > 0:13:39Mr Romney could only say
0:13:39 > 0:13:43that those weren't the words he would have chosen.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45LAUGHTER
0:13:47 > 0:13:51Well, Mr Romney, you're not going to be the candidate we choose!
0:13:51 > 0:13:55CHEERING
0:13:55 > 0:14:01Please welcome the President of the United States, Barack Obama.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04CHEERING
0:14:04 > 0:14:08- CHANTING:- Four more years! Four more years!
0:14:08 > 0:14:12Obama's coalition of women, gays, African-Americans
0:14:12 > 0:14:15and first-time voters was coming together.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17CHEERING
0:14:18 > 0:14:20Thank you.
0:14:26 > 0:14:28Although the Democrats failed to win back
0:14:28 > 0:14:33control of Congress, the President won re-election convincingly.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42Five weeks later, the nation was struck by a tragedy
0:14:42 > 0:14:45that went to the heart of the struggle to define America.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49'I think there's somebody who's shooting in here -
0:14:49 > 0:14:50'in Sandy Hook school.
0:14:50 > 0:14:51'OK, what makes you think that?
0:14:51 > 0:14:53'Because somebody said,
0:14:53 > 0:14:56"God, I caught a glimpse of somebody - they're running down the hallway."
0:14:58 > 0:15:01A mentally disturbed young man walked into Sandy Hook
0:15:01 > 0:15:03primary school in Newtown, Connecticut,
0:15:03 > 0:15:06armed with two hand guns and an assault rifle.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10'There's still shooting going on, please...'
0:15:10 > 0:15:12BANGING
0:15:12 > 0:15:15In less than five minutes, he shot dead 20 children,
0:15:15 > 0:15:17six members of staff,
0:15:17 > 0:15:19and then killed himself.
0:15:21 > 0:15:23Nicole Hockley had two sons at the school.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28I found Jake's classroom, er, and I found Jake, which was great.
0:15:28 > 0:15:32He really didn't have any idea what was going on, er, but it was very
0:15:32 > 0:15:38good to see him. Um, but I couldn't find any of Dylan's class anywhere.
0:15:38 > 0:15:43I got there just in time to hear our Governor go in and tell the
0:15:43 > 0:15:45parents that...
0:15:45 > 0:15:49there were 20 kids who were dead, and if their kids had not
0:15:49 > 0:15:55returned yet, that they were likely amongst those who were killed.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58Um, there are a lot of days when I wish that I wasn't there.
0:15:58 > 0:16:02There are a lot of days when I wish I didn't see that, and I didn't
0:16:02 > 0:16:07witness the absolute terror and horror on the face of those parents.
0:16:07 > 0:16:12There were some parents screaming. Er, there were some crying,
0:16:12 > 0:16:15some people fell to the floor, um...
0:16:15 > 0:16:19and I just shut down. Um...
0:16:19 > 0:16:21I just completely shut down.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32The majority of those who died today were children.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37Beautiful little kids between the ages of five and ten years old.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING
0:16:48 > 0:16:51They had their entire lives ahead of them -
0:16:51 > 0:16:54birthdays, graduations,
0:16:54 > 0:16:56weddings.
0:16:57 > 0:16:59The President decided, er,
0:16:59 > 0:17:04to go up to Sandy Hook two days after this, er, massacre happened.
0:17:04 > 0:17:09And we get in the limousine and the President looks through
0:17:09 > 0:17:12his remarks that had been prepared for him and...
0:17:12 > 0:17:15I remember he just kind of handed them to me
0:17:15 > 0:17:17and he took out a yellow pad and he started to write.
0:17:17 > 0:17:19And he wrote for an hour and ten minutes.
0:17:19 > 0:17:21And I can remember thinking,
0:17:21 > 0:17:22"I certainly am not going to talk,"
0:17:22 > 0:17:25but I was even conscious of breathing!
0:17:25 > 0:17:26APPLAUSE
0:17:26 > 0:17:31And when we walked in to the centre, he handed his yellow pad
0:17:31 > 0:17:35to one of the staff and he said, "This is what I'm going to say."
0:17:35 > 0:17:37This is our first task.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40Caring for our children.
0:17:43 > 0:17:44It's our first job.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48If we don't get that right, we don't get anything right.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53That's how, as a society, we will be judged.
0:17:54 > 0:17:58My dad is a very quiet man,
0:17:58 > 0:18:02and, um... And I was amazed when he actually spoke and said, you know,
0:18:02 > 0:18:04"Mr President, you have the power,
0:18:04 > 0:18:07"you have to do something about this."
0:18:07 > 0:18:12And, er... And the President said, "I am going to do something."
0:18:12 > 0:18:15BELL TOLLS
0:18:22 > 0:18:26The gun lobby was formidably successful at blocking
0:18:26 > 0:18:28gun control legislation.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31The right to bear arms - the Second Amendment of the American
0:18:31 > 0:18:35Constitution - was hard-wired into the psyche of many American voters.
0:18:37 > 0:18:41Obama's views on gun control made them fearful.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44They confiscated their guns,
0:18:44 > 0:18:47then they banned the importation of guns and ammo...
0:18:47 > 0:18:51'People began to take a closer look at his record,
0:18:51 > 0:18:54'his views on the Second Amendment,'
0:18:54 > 0:18:57and a lot of people didn't like what they saw
0:18:57 > 0:19:02and as a result, sales in gun stores surged.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06And I myself have seen pictures of the President in gun stores in
0:19:06 > 0:19:10different parts of the country, with the caption "Salesman of the Year".
0:19:12 > 0:19:15Nine acres of guns and gear. Check this out!
0:19:15 > 0:19:18Just a great, high-class group of people with the right intentions
0:19:18 > 0:19:20doing good things.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22We've seen a lot of husbands and wives coming over,
0:19:22 > 0:19:24buyers wanting to know about our products...
0:19:24 > 0:19:28The most powerful gun lobby group was the National Rifle Association -
0:19:28 > 0:19:32the NRA - a major funder of the Republican Party.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39Everyone waited for their spokesman's comment on Sandy Hook.
0:19:39 > 0:19:44As parents, we do everything we can to keep our children safe.
0:19:44 > 0:19:50It is now time for us to assume responsibility for our schools.
0:19:50 > 0:19:55The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun
0:19:55 > 0:19:58is a good guy with a gun.
0:19:58 > 0:20:02The NRA has blood on its hands!
0:20:02 > 0:20:06The NRA has blood on its hands!
0:20:06 > 0:20:10During his first term, Obama had not taken on the gun lobby.
0:20:10 > 0:20:15Now, a huge majority of the public wanted new gun controls.
0:20:17 > 0:20:22I've never seen the nation's conscience so shaken
0:20:22 > 0:20:25by what happened at Sandy Hook.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28The world has changed, and it's demanding action.
0:20:28 > 0:20:29APPLAUSE
0:20:29 > 0:20:33As soon as he could, the President went into action.
0:20:33 > 0:20:39To strengthen existing gun laws, Obama signed 23 executive orders.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42But these presidential decrees could be more easily overturned
0:20:42 > 0:20:44than Acts of Congress.
0:20:49 > 0:20:53Four months later, the President and Nicole Hockley addressed a rally in
0:20:53 > 0:20:57the state capital of Connecticut to press for more permanent gun reform.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01The task before us this week is to convince the Senate
0:21:01 > 0:21:05to come together and pass common-sense gun responsibility
0:21:05 > 0:21:09legislation that will make our community safer.
0:21:10 > 0:21:12CHEERING
0:21:14 > 0:21:17'He had a very quick, er, jaunty sort of walk'
0:21:17 > 0:21:20and just kind of hopped out, ran up,
0:21:20 > 0:21:23gave myself and my husband a big hug and thanked us.
0:21:23 > 0:21:25CHEERING
0:21:29 > 0:21:33I've heard Nicole talk about what her life has been like...
0:21:33 > 0:21:36since Dylan was taken from her in December.
0:21:37 > 0:21:39And one thing she said struck me.
0:21:42 > 0:21:48She said, "Every night, I beg for him to come to me in my dreams
0:21:48 > 0:21:50"so that I can see him again.
0:21:52 > 0:21:56"And during the day, I just focus on what I need to do to honour him
0:21:56 > 0:21:57"and make change."
0:22:01 > 0:22:04Now, if Nicole can summon the courage to do that,
0:22:04 > 0:22:06how can the rest of us do any less?
0:22:08 > 0:22:10How can we do any less?
0:22:10 > 0:22:14The Sandy Hook families joined the President on Air Force One
0:22:14 > 0:22:15to travel to Washington.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21Very well-meaning people - friends, family members - have said to me,
0:22:21 > 0:22:24"Oh, wow," you know, "You're... You've spent a lot of time.
0:22:24 > 0:22:26"You've met the President on a number of occasions,
0:22:26 > 0:22:29"you've flown on Air Force One," you know, "You're so lucky."
0:22:29 > 0:22:35And they don't even realise, um, there's nothing lucky about this.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38I don't want any of this - I want my boy back.
0:22:43 > 0:22:48In 2012, the NRA spent 32 million on pro-gun lobbying.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55Senators supporting the families had to warn them that
0:22:55 > 0:23:00ambitious gun control legislation wouldn't pass in Congress.
0:23:00 > 0:23:03It was hard to explain to the families that we weren't
0:23:03 > 0:23:08going to have the votes to reinstitute the assault-weapons ban
0:23:08 > 0:23:11or to get rid of these high-capacity magazines.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15It was really hard for them to stomach that the best
0:23:15 > 0:23:19they were going to get was just an extension of background checks.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24The hopes of the families for any change depended on an
0:23:24 > 0:23:27NRA-approved Senator, Joe Manchin.
0:23:27 > 0:23:28It really got to me.
0:23:28 > 0:23:31These are babies - five- and six-year-old children.
0:23:31 > 0:23:35Who would have ever... It's just beyond my imagination -
0:23:35 > 0:23:36most Americans' -
0:23:36 > 0:23:39to conceive anything this horrific could happen in America.
0:23:41 > 0:23:42CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING
0:23:51 > 0:23:54Manchin was drafting a bill that would close a few
0:23:54 > 0:23:58loopholes in background checks, to ensure no-one with a criminal
0:23:58 > 0:24:01record, or a history of mental illness, could buy a gun.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06As the Senator discussed his legislation with the NRA,
0:24:06 > 0:24:08an even more extreme gun group -
0:24:08 > 0:24:11Gun Owners of America - attacked them both.
0:24:11 > 0:24:15We were hearing from people on the hill that the NRA was er...
0:24:17 > 0:24:21..going from office to office in support of the expanded
0:24:21 > 0:24:24background check, the Toomey-Manchin bill.
0:24:24 > 0:24:29The background check is not keeping criminals from getting guns,
0:24:29 > 0:24:31but it does put information
0:24:31 > 0:24:35about who the gun owners are into the Government's hands.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37That's a registry.
0:24:37 > 0:24:39So we put out an alert and said,
0:24:39 > 0:24:42"Look, if you are an NRA member, please call."
0:24:42 > 0:24:44We gave a number and a person to talk to,
0:24:44 > 0:24:48and urged that they, er, publicly come out
0:24:48 > 0:24:52and oppose the Toomey-Manchin expansion of the background check.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56The NRA caved in to this pressure.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59Now they turned on the senator they had been working with
0:24:59 > 0:25:01and released a series of attack ads.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05As your Senator, I'll protect our Second Amendment rights.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07That was Joe Manchin's commitment.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10But now Manchin is working with President Obama
0:25:10 > 0:25:12and New York mayor Michael Bloomberg.
0:25:12 > 0:25:14Concerned? You should be.
0:25:14 > 0:25:16Tell Senator Manchin to honour
0:25:16 > 0:25:18his commitment to the Second Amendment...
0:25:18 > 0:25:21I knew they were not going to be supportive - I was fine with that.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24I didn't know that they would be in opposition as strong as
0:25:24 > 0:25:27they would and come out as strong as they did.
0:25:27 > 0:25:33- Mr Manchin, aye.- Mr Rubio, no.
0:25:33 > 0:25:35Watching from the gallery,
0:25:35 > 0:25:38Nicole Hockley knew they needed 60 votes to pass the Amendment.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41Mr Durbin, aye.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44I'm trying to think, OK, you know, we're at... We're at ten now,
0:25:44 > 0:25:46we're at 11 against,
0:25:46 > 0:25:50we're about 14 for, and then just can't keep track of it at all.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53'And then realising it was going to be tight.'
0:25:56 > 0:26:00On this vote, the yeas are 54, the nays are 46.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03The amendment is not agreed to.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08There will be order in the Senate.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10The families immediately left
0:26:10 > 0:26:12for the White House to meet the President.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16He was angry.
0:26:16 > 0:26:21He was incredibly, incredibly angry at what had just happened.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23Um, he really couldn't believe it.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29I've heard folks say that having the families of victims lobby
0:26:29 > 0:26:32for this legislation was somehow misplaced.
0:26:35 > 0:26:37"A prop," somebody called them.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41"Emotional blackmail," some outlet said.
0:26:43 > 0:26:44Are they serious?!
0:26:47 > 0:26:50Do we really think that thousands of families whose lives have been
0:26:50 > 0:26:53shattered by gun violence don't have a right to weigh in on this issue?
0:26:56 > 0:26:59So, all in all, this was a pretty shameful day for Washington.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING
0:27:13 > 0:27:17- CHANTING:- Can you hear us now? Can you hear us now?
0:27:17 > 0:27:21From the moment he was elected, Obama had inspired euphoria
0:27:21 > 0:27:24and hatred in almost equal measures.
0:27:27 > 0:27:29For every change he proposed,
0:27:29 > 0:27:33he faced unprecedented opposition from Republicans in Congress.
0:27:38 > 0:27:42Gay rights was an area where Obama had to tread especially carefully.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45One change the President was trying to make was the repeal of
0:27:45 > 0:27:48Don't Ask, Don't Tell - the law that forced gay members
0:27:48 > 0:27:52of the US Armed Forces to keep their sexuality secret.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58When a California judge ruled the law unconstitutional,
0:27:58 > 0:28:00Obama saw his chance.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03He summoned his defense secretary and told him to
0:28:03 > 0:28:05stop prosecuting gay servicemen and women.
0:28:07 > 0:28:14We had a...a very candid, er, tough conversation in the Oval Office,
0:28:14 > 0:28:19er, in which he pushed me very hard to, um,
0:28:19 > 0:28:23do as he had wanted in terms of suspending the law,
0:28:23 > 0:28:27and I basically told him I could not do that.
0:28:27 > 0:28:30He became quite angry and he went on about,
0:28:30 > 0:28:33"I am President of The United States,
0:28:33 > 0:28:36"the leader of the free world, and I can't make anything happen,
0:28:36 > 0:28:37"I can't get anything done."
0:28:39 > 0:28:41I noticed he had a raspy voice,
0:28:41 > 0:28:43and on the way out of the Oval Office,
0:28:43 > 0:28:46I said, er, "Are you catching cold?"
0:28:46 > 0:28:48And he basically gave me a dismissive wave, like,
0:28:48 > 0:28:51"Don't even try and make friends with me
0:28:51 > 0:28:54"or talk to me right now - I'm really angry."
0:28:54 > 0:28:56- CHANTING:- Don't go home! Don't go home!
0:28:56 > 0:28:58Repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell
0:28:58 > 0:29:02could now only be achieved by an Act of Congress.
0:29:02 > 0:29:05Eight weeks later, gay activists gathered on Capitol Hill
0:29:05 > 0:29:07waiting for the vote.
0:29:07 > 0:29:11- CHANTING:- Don't go home! Don't go home!
0:29:12 > 0:29:14The same day, the Senate was voting
0:29:14 > 0:29:17on another big plank of Obama's platform -
0:29:17 > 0:29:21a Bill to give legal status to the so-called Dreamers -
0:29:21 > 0:29:25the children of illegal immigrants who had grown up in the USA.
0:29:25 > 0:29:29It's a Bill that I feel very strongly about.
0:29:29 > 0:29:32The President, er, co-sponsored it when he was a senator
0:29:32 > 0:29:36and so I knew that he supported the concept.
0:29:36 > 0:29:39The Dreamers were young people who had basically been
0:29:39 > 0:29:42instructed by their parents to hide -
0:29:42 > 0:29:45"Don't ever come out publicly and tell the world your status."
0:29:45 > 0:29:48Well, like most young people, they ignored their parents
0:29:48 > 0:29:50and wanted to show their bravery, so they just stood up
0:29:50 > 0:29:53and said, "I'm a Dreamer, I'm undocumented."
0:29:54 > 0:29:57My office was on the second floor of the West Wing,
0:29:57 > 0:30:02so we decided to gather the Dream Act team as well as the team
0:30:02 > 0:30:05that was working on Don't Ask, Don't Tell to watch the votes together.
0:30:05 > 0:30:09The Don't Ask, Don't Tell vote comes up first...
0:30:09 > 0:30:12er, and it passes - we repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
0:30:12 > 0:30:15So there's, you know, great cheering and joy,
0:30:15 > 0:30:19um, and then the next vote up is the Dream Act and we lost by five votes.
0:30:19 > 0:30:23Half of our team was devastated and in tears because of defeat
0:30:23 > 0:30:28and the other half was euphoric and in tears because of victory and, er,
0:30:28 > 0:30:30I went down to talk to the President
0:30:30 > 0:30:33and I explained to him what was happening up in Cecilia's
0:30:33 > 0:30:37office. And so he stopped what he was doing and he came upstairs.
0:30:37 > 0:30:38He gave us a pep talk.
0:30:38 > 0:30:41He basically said, "Look at the Don't Ask, Don't Tell vote - that
0:30:41 > 0:30:45"was 17 years in the making and they had lots of defeats along the way.
0:30:45 > 0:30:47"This is one of those.
0:30:47 > 0:30:49"But understand that the arc of history
0:30:49 > 0:30:53"is long and this is going to happen and what you did today is part of
0:30:53 > 0:30:56"the journey that's going to get us there."
0:30:56 > 0:31:00Moving that arc of the universe in a better direction
0:31:00 > 0:31:06is a collective effort, and your job is to, as part of that team,
0:31:06 > 0:31:08lead,
0:31:08 > 0:31:10set a direction, er,
0:31:10 > 0:31:14keep people's spirits up when, er,
0:31:14 > 0:31:18progress, er, seems...lacking.
0:31:18 > 0:31:23Er, but you don't do this alone.
0:31:29 > 0:31:33Obama didn't give up on trying to fix the immigration system.
0:31:34 > 0:31:37He knew business needed both cheap foreign workers,
0:31:37 > 0:31:39and highly educated ones...
0:31:41 > 0:31:43..and the Latino community wanted to
0:31:43 > 0:31:45be free from the fear of deportation.
0:31:48 > 0:31:52I promised you I would work tirelessly to fix
0:31:52 > 0:31:55our broken immigration system and make the Dream Act a reality.
0:31:55 > 0:31:59Two months ago, I went down to the border of El Paso to reiterate
0:31:59 > 0:32:03my vision for an immigration system that holds true
0:32:03 > 0:32:05to our values and our heritage.
0:32:05 > 0:32:09Now, I know some people want me to bypass Congress
0:32:09 > 0:32:12and change the laws on my own.
0:32:12 > 0:32:13Believe me...
0:32:13 > 0:32:15APPLAUSE
0:32:15 > 0:32:16And...
0:32:19 > 0:32:23They were yelling at him, "Mr President, we need you to act!"
0:32:23 > 0:32:26And the President says, "I can't, I know you want me to, but I can't!"
0:32:26 > 0:32:29And people were answering with his campaign slogan.
0:32:29 > 0:32:32- CHANTING:- Yes, you can! Yes, you can!
0:32:32 > 0:32:36Yes, you can! Yes, you can!
0:32:36 > 0:32:39But... But... But believe me,
0:32:39 > 0:32:43the idea of doing things on my own is very tempting.
0:32:43 > 0:32:45LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:32:47 > 0:32:51But that's not how... That's not how our system works.
0:32:55 > 0:32:59For two years, Congress did nothing.
0:32:59 > 0:33:02Then Democratic and Republican senators did a deal on a Bill
0:33:02 > 0:33:06which would address the needs of business, help illegal immigrants
0:33:06 > 0:33:09become citizens, but also tighten up the borders.
0:33:11 > 0:33:12Here, in America,
0:33:12 > 0:33:16generations of unfulfilled dreams will finally come to pass.
0:33:18 > 0:33:21And that's why I support this reform.
0:33:21 > 0:33:23Not just because I believe in immigrants,
0:33:23 > 0:33:26but because I believe in America even more.
0:33:28 > 0:33:34The yeas on this Bill are 68, the nays are 32.
0:33:34 > 0:33:36The Bill, as amended, is passed.
0:33:38 > 0:33:40For the Bill to become law,
0:33:40 > 0:33:43it also had to be passed by the House of Representatives.
0:33:43 > 0:33:47The man with the power was Republican Speaker John Boehner,
0:33:47 > 0:33:51who told the President he would introduce an Immigration Bill.
0:33:51 > 0:33:54The Republican leadership backed reform,
0:33:54 > 0:33:55including Boehner's number two.
0:33:56 > 0:34:02It is time to provide an opportunity for legal residence and citizenship
0:34:02 > 0:34:04for those who were brought to this
0:34:04 > 0:34:08country as children and who know no other home.
0:34:08 > 0:34:10But for six months,
0:34:10 > 0:34:12the House Republicans did nothing about the Bill...
0:34:12 > 0:34:14Everybody in?
0:34:14 > 0:34:17..so Obama invited the cameras inside a cabinet meeting
0:34:17 > 0:34:19and threatened Speaker Boehner.
0:34:19 > 0:34:21We know that we need to get immigration reform done -
0:34:21 > 0:34:24a major piece of unfinished business
0:34:24 > 0:34:28from last year - so I've got a pen, and I've got a phone.
0:34:28 > 0:34:32And I can use that pen to sign executive orders and take
0:34:32 > 0:34:36executive action and administrative actions that move the ball forward.
0:34:36 > 0:34:39Now, he is running around the country telling everyone
0:34:39 > 0:34:40he's going to keep acting on his own.
0:34:40 > 0:34:43He keeps talking about his phone and his pen.
0:34:43 > 0:34:48And he's feeding more distrust about whether he is committed
0:34:48 > 0:34:50to the rule of law.
0:34:50 > 0:34:52Listen, there's widespread doubt about
0:34:52 > 0:34:57whether this administration can be trusted to enforce our laws.
0:34:58 > 0:35:01The difficulties of trying to get Republican support now gave
0:35:01 > 0:35:04Obama problems with his political base -
0:35:04 > 0:35:07especially advocates of immigration reform led by the unions.
0:35:10 > 0:35:14The Republicans baited the President.
0:35:14 > 0:35:19They said, "Oh, we can't do comprehensive immigration reform
0:35:19 > 0:35:23"because we can't trust you to enforce the laws."
0:35:23 > 0:35:27So the President showed them that he could be trusted,
0:35:27 > 0:35:34and he deported twice as many people as George Bush did - their champion.
0:35:38 > 0:35:42Inside the immigrant community anger at the President built up.
0:35:42 > 0:35:45More and more illegal immigrants were being deported.
0:35:47 > 0:35:51The leader of the largest Latino civil rights organisation
0:35:51 > 0:35:52attacked Obama.
0:35:54 > 0:35:59For us, this President has been the deporter in chief.
0:35:59 > 0:36:01Any day now - any day now -
0:36:01 > 0:36:07this administration will reach the two-million mark for deportations.
0:36:07 > 0:36:11The President knew immigration reform could not succeed
0:36:11 > 0:36:14in the House of Representatives without Republican support.
0:36:16 > 0:36:18Speaker Boehner had given the President every
0:36:18 > 0:36:21indication that he supported immigration reform
0:36:21 > 0:36:23and that he would move forward and the Speaker said,
0:36:23 > 0:36:29"As soon as the primaries are over, I will move forward."
0:36:29 > 0:36:34A truly startling development in the world of American politics.
0:36:34 > 0:36:37At this hour, we can report that Republican Congressman Eric Cantor
0:36:37 > 0:36:39of Virginia, the number two Republican
0:36:39 > 0:36:42in the House of Representatives, has lost his seat in Congress,
0:36:42 > 0:36:46Eric Cantor's Tea Party challenger Dave Brat
0:36:46 > 0:36:50waged, essentially, a one-issue campaign against Eric Cantor,
0:36:50 > 0:36:53and his one issue was immigration.
0:36:53 > 0:36:55- CHANTING:- USA! USA!
0:36:55 > 0:36:58The Tea Party seemed able to unseat any Republican who dared to
0:36:58 > 0:37:00support immigration reform.
0:37:00 > 0:37:02- CHANTING:- USA!
0:37:02 > 0:37:04Stop illegal immigration!
0:37:05 > 0:37:07When the Speaker called and told him -
0:37:07 > 0:37:13after Eric Cantor lost - that he was no longer able to get his party
0:37:13 > 0:37:17together enough to move forward, and the President realised,
0:37:17 > 0:37:18well, if he couldn't do it then,
0:37:18 > 0:37:20then the chances are he wasn't going to do it.
0:37:20 > 0:37:24Speaker Boehner now took a more intransigent line.
0:37:24 > 0:37:29Senate Democrats are talking up some nutso scheme to jam through
0:37:29 > 0:37:31the Senate Immigration Bill,
0:37:31 > 0:37:34even though they know it will never happen.
0:37:34 > 0:37:37And I'll say it one more time - the House will not take up the Senate
0:37:37 > 0:37:43Immigration Reform Bill or accept it back from the Senate in any fashion.
0:37:46 > 0:37:49Obama stopped waiting for the Republicans.
0:37:49 > 0:37:51He decided to take executive action.
0:37:53 > 0:37:57The immigration activists would finally get what they wanted.
0:37:57 > 0:37:59But there was a new crisis.
0:37:59 > 0:38:04Just since October, the US has picked up 52,000 unaccompanied
0:38:04 > 0:38:07children crossing into the United States from Mexico.
0:38:07 > 0:38:09Most are from Central America.
0:38:09 > 0:38:12They were coming up through Mexico
0:38:12 > 0:38:14and would come up to the, er, to the border
0:38:14 > 0:38:18and the ports of entry and would turn themselves in,
0:38:18 > 0:38:21hoping they could get asylum because they were fleeing the violence
0:38:21 > 0:38:25and the drug wars in their countries,
0:38:25 > 0:38:26and there were thousands of them.
0:38:29 > 0:38:32Our message absolutely is, don't send your children
0:38:32 > 0:38:38unaccompanied on trains or through a bunch of smugglers.
0:38:38 > 0:38:41We don't even know how many of these kids don't make it,
0:38:41 > 0:38:46and may have been waylaid into sex trafficking or killed
0:38:46 > 0:38:49because they fell off a train - we have no way of tracking that.
0:38:49 > 0:38:52Obama invited immigration activists to the White House
0:38:52 > 0:38:56to talk about the executive actions he was about to take.
0:38:56 > 0:39:00But instead of thanking him, they brought new demands.
0:39:01 > 0:39:05We were arguing that, er, what we needed to do was to provide
0:39:05 > 0:39:10shelter and to provide, er, refuge for these young kids.
0:39:10 > 0:39:11They weren't a menace -
0:39:11 > 0:39:14they were just coming in and turning themselves in.
0:39:14 > 0:39:16We were absolutely at cross purposes
0:39:16 > 0:39:19and the fact of the matter is that the solution
0:39:19 > 0:39:22to violence in Central America is never
0:39:22 > 0:39:26going to be that everyone gets to come to the United States.
0:39:26 > 0:39:31I said, you know, "I'm really concerned about these young kids
0:39:31 > 0:39:34"being deported and sent home to a place where
0:39:34 > 0:39:39"they could be killed. How is that humane?"
0:39:39 > 0:39:42The President was having a policy conversation and the advocates
0:39:42 > 0:39:45were having an emotional conversation and someone made a
0:39:45 > 0:39:47reference to, "Oh, you know, we don't know
0:39:47 > 0:39:48"how you can sleep at night."
0:39:48 > 0:39:51And he said, "You know I don't sleep at night very much.
0:39:51 > 0:39:54"It's always going to be unfair that the life of a child in El Salvador
0:39:54 > 0:39:57"is different from the life of a child in Texas, um, but we have
0:39:57 > 0:39:59"to apply the law.
0:39:59 > 0:40:02"And we have to do it with humanity, but that's my job."
0:40:02 > 0:40:05It was a very emotional meeting and at the end of that meeting,
0:40:05 > 0:40:08the groups followed him to the Rose Garden, where he announced
0:40:08 > 0:40:12that he was directing his team to do executive actions.
0:40:12 > 0:40:16The failure of House Republicans to pass a darn bill is bad for our
0:40:16 > 0:40:20security, it's bad for our economy, and it's bad for our future.
0:40:21 > 0:40:25And that's why, today, I'm beginning a new effort to fix as much
0:40:25 > 0:40:28of our immigration system as I can on my own...
0:40:28 > 0:40:30without Congress.
0:40:32 > 0:40:37'Am I frustrated that we have not had a rationalised immigration
0:40:37 > 0:40:41'system, and do I occasionally despair at the xenophobia?'
0:40:41 > 0:40:46Yeah, it frustrates me. But it's going to happen.
0:40:46 > 0:40:49I view myself as part of a relay race -
0:40:49 > 0:40:52I take the baton and I run.
0:40:52 > 0:40:58And I run my leg, and then I hand it off to the next runner
0:40:58 > 0:41:04and...you know, if... If I've gained some ground during the course
0:41:04 > 0:41:07of my leg, er, I've done my job.
0:41:07 > 0:41:11On immigration reform, there are children right now -
0:41:11 > 0:41:16young people right now - who are in college, who otherwise might
0:41:16 > 0:41:20have been subject to deportation because of our executive actions.
0:41:26 > 0:41:30In his final years in office, the issue that had first marked Obama
0:41:30 > 0:41:34as a different sort of politician began to surface in his presidency.
0:41:34 > 0:41:36Race.
0:41:43 > 0:41:47Raised by white grandparents in Hawaii, the background of the first
0:41:47 > 0:41:50black president was different from most African-Americans.
0:41:52 > 0:41:59My father was a black African and my mother was a white American,
0:41:59 > 0:42:04and much of my life was spent trying to reconcile
0:42:04 > 0:42:07the terms of my birth,
0:42:07 > 0:42:09that divided heritage.
0:42:09 > 0:42:11Obama's campaign to become the Democratic
0:42:11 > 0:42:14candidate for president came close to destruction
0:42:14 > 0:42:18when videos emerged showing Obama's own pastor preaching
0:42:18 > 0:42:22anti-American sermons about the nation's treatment of black people.
0:42:24 > 0:42:28The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons,
0:42:28 > 0:42:33passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing God Bless America?
0:42:33 > 0:42:38No, no, no! Not God BLESS America, God DAMN America!
0:42:38 > 0:42:43That's in the Bible for killing innocent people. God damn America...
0:42:43 > 0:42:47Obama decided he would confront the issue of race head-on.
0:42:50 > 0:42:52Are you as happy as I am to be here tonight
0:42:52 > 0:42:55- to welcome Senator Barack Obama? - APPLAUSE
0:42:55 > 0:42:58I was backstage with the President before he was going to give
0:42:58 > 0:43:02the speech in Philadelphia, and, er,
0:43:02 > 0:43:04I was nervous.
0:43:04 > 0:43:09He was at ease in a way that almost alarmed me a little bit.
0:43:09 > 0:43:11He was talking about basketball,
0:43:11 > 0:43:14he was talking about the colour of his suit and how it might
0:43:14 > 0:43:19look on camera and things like that - all of which, again...
0:43:19 > 0:43:22given the magnitude of the situation,
0:43:22 > 0:43:23struck me as...
0:43:23 > 0:43:26"Focus, man! Focus!"
0:43:26 > 0:43:30As imperfect as Reverend Wright may be, he has been like family to me.
0:43:32 > 0:43:35He strengthened my faith,
0:43:35 > 0:43:37officiated my wedding,
0:43:37 > 0:43:39and baptised my children.
0:43:40 > 0:43:45I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community.
0:43:46 > 0:43:50I can no more disown him than I can disown my white grandmother -
0:43:50 > 0:43:52a woman who helped raise me,
0:43:52 > 0:43:56a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world,
0:43:56 > 0:44:00but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men
0:44:00 > 0:44:03who passed by her on the street.
0:44:03 > 0:44:05And who, on more than one occasion,
0:44:05 > 0:44:08has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.
0:44:11 > 0:44:13These people are part of me.
0:44:14 > 0:44:18And they are part of America - this country that I love.
0:44:18 > 0:44:21APPLAUSE
0:44:26 > 0:44:29In his first term, Obama had tried to be just President,
0:44:29 > 0:44:33rather than the first African-American President.
0:44:34 > 0:44:36However, in his second term,
0:44:36 > 0:44:38the nation began to talk about race more openly.
0:44:40 > 0:44:43The emotional case of a 17-year-old African-American
0:44:43 > 0:44:46shot to death by a white neighbourhood watch captain.
0:44:46 > 0:44:49Trayvon Martin was walking to his dad's home in a gated
0:44:49 > 0:44:51community around sunset last month.
0:44:52 > 0:44:58The President was deeply, deeply hurt by Trayvon Martin's death
0:44:58 > 0:45:01and when you heard the facts of the case,
0:45:01 > 0:45:03you just seem to wonder how this kid, who's just
0:45:03 > 0:45:06walking down the street eating Skittles,
0:45:06 > 0:45:09could suddenly find himself in a situation that led to his death.
0:45:09 > 0:45:11And I remember being in the Oval Office with him
0:45:11 > 0:45:15and he said, "I need to talk about this."
0:45:15 > 0:45:17I almost fell out of my chair because I felt that that was
0:45:17 > 0:45:20the worst idea I'd ever heard in my life.
0:45:20 > 0:45:23He said, "Well, look, I'm not wedded to the briefing room,
0:45:23 > 0:45:25"but let me tell you what I would say if I went."
0:45:25 > 0:45:28And then he just spoke for about seven minutes, er, almost verbatim
0:45:28 > 0:45:31to what he ended up saying in the briefing room that day.
0:45:31 > 0:45:34'So we did it as a surprise and he gets there
0:45:34 > 0:45:38'and, like, there's a lot of empty seats and there's, like, murmuring
0:45:38 > 0:45:40'and now all of a sudden the cameramen
0:45:40 > 0:45:41'in the back are waking up.'
0:45:41 > 0:45:43Sorry about that.
0:45:43 > 0:45:44You know...
0:45:46 > 0:45:48When Trayvon Martin was first shot,
0:45:48 > 0:45:52I said that this could have been my son.
0:45:54 > 0:45:57Another way of saying that is,
0:45:57 > 0:46:01Trayvon Martin could have been me...35 years ago.
0:46:03 > 0:46:06And I think it's important to recognise that
0:46:06 > 0:46:11the African American community is looking at this issue through
0:46:11 > 0:46:14a set of experiences and a history that...
0:46:19 > 0:46:22..that doesn't go away.
0:46:22 > 0:46:26The history that didn't go away included how black Americans
0:46:26 > 0:46:30experienced the law - not as a protector, but as a threat.
0:46:32 > 0:46:35Out of this history came a rite of passage known as The Talk,
0:46:35 > 0:46:37when African-American parents
0:46:37 > 0:46:40warned their children about the dangers they might face.
0:46:42 > 0:46:44America's first black Attorney General
0:46:44 > 0:46:46had The Talk with his father.
0:46:46 > 0:46:48There was always a question of,
0:46:48 > 0:46:51how do you conduct yourself when you're stopped by the police?
0:46:51 > 0:46:53Er, you don't...
0:46:53 > 0:46:55HE SIGHS
0:46:55 > 0:46:58..do anything that might be perceived as, er, aggressive.
0:46:58 > 0:47:01That you don't, you know, get into arguments with, er,
0:47:01 > 0:47:05the officer who's there, on the scene.
0:47:07 > 0:47:11In Ferguson, Missouri, one of these encounters would lead to
0:47:11 > 0:47:14violent conflict between police and African-Americans.
0:47:20 > 0:47:25It began when 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot dead by a policeman.
0:47:27 > 0:47:31People were trying to figure out how this possibly could have happened.
0:47:31 > 0:47:34And then some young people actually started to sit in the street
0:47:34 > 0:47:37and say, "We're not going to move until we actually get some answers".
0:47:37 > 0:47:40CAR HORNS BEEPING
0:47:40 > 0:47:43Ferguson was a mainly black suburb of St Louis...
0:47:44 > 0:47:47..with a mainly white police department.
0:47:49 > 0:47:53- CHANTING:- We're young, we're strong, we're marching all night long.
0:47:53 > 0:47:57As the protests grew, the police arrived in military vehicles.
0:47:57 > 0:47:59You are in violation of the state...
0:47:59 > 0:48:03The person atop the armoured vehicle would say, you know, er,
0:48:03 > 0:48:08"This is no long a lawful assembly - you're ordered to disperse."
0:48:08 > 0:48:11But about two seconds after the order would come,
0:48:11 > 0:48:12the tear gas would come.
0:48:12 > 0:48:16You must continue to disperse peacefully,
0:48:16 > 0:48:20or you will be subject to arrest, and/or other actions.
0:48:22 > 0:48:25As Ferguson exploded, the President was holidaying
0:48:25 > 0:48:27in Martha's Vineyard.
0:48:30 > 0:48:32Obama seemed out of touch.
0:48:37 > 0:48:38He's reaching! He's reaching!
0:48:38 > 0:48:42More videos of shocking deaths swept across social media.
0:48:43 > 0:48:45No, you're not - don't ... move!
0:48:45 > 0:48:46Don't you...
0:48:49 > 0:48:50Don't you ... move!
0:48:50 > 0:48:52I can't breathe.
0:48:52 > 0:48:54I can't breathe.
0:48:54 > 0:48:56I can't breathe. I can't breathe.
0:48:56 > 0:48:59I can't breathe. I can't breathe.
0:48:59 > 0:49:03The succession of black deaths was top of the agenda
0:49:03 > 0:49:06when the President met black congressmen and senators.
0:49:08 > 0:49:11Inside the meeting in the White House, there was a sense
0:49:11 > 0:49:16of urgency about the recent tragedies, the senseless loss
0:49:16 > 0:49:20of life of African-Americans
0:49:20 > 0:49:24who encounter local law enforcement and wound up dead.
0:49:26 > 0:49:31I specifically asked, er, for the intervention of
0:49:31 > 0:49:33the Federal Government...
0:49:35 > 0:49:39..because, um, we know that...
0:49:39 > 0:49:45that, er, through some of the local prosecutions in the state,
0:49:45 > 0:49:49um, justice, er, is not equal.
0:49:49 > 0:49:51CHANTING
0:49:54 > 0:49:58In Ferguson, the local prosecutor announced that the grand jury
0:49:58 > 0:50:02would not indict the white policeman who shot Mike Brown.
0:50:02 > 0:50:06That decision ignited the city - once again.
0:50:06 > 0:50:08SIRENS WAILING
0:50:08 > 0:50:12Obama decided he had to address the anger of Black America.
0:50:14 > 0:50:17A grand jury made a decision yesterday
0:50:17 > 0:50:19that upset a lot of people.
0:50:19 > 0:50:23I've never seen a civil rights law, or a health care bill,
0:50:23 > 0:50:26or an immigration bill result because a car got burned.
0:50:28 > 0:50:30It happened because people vote.
0:50:30 > 0:50:32It happened because people mobilise.
0:50:32 > 0:50:34It happened because people organise.
0:50:34 > 0:50:37It happens because people look at, what are the best policies to
0:50:37 > 0:50:38solve the problem?
0:50:40 > 0:50:43That's how you actually move something forward.
0:50:44 > 0:50:48A week later, Obama invited activists to the White House.
0:50:49 > 0:50:52I told the President that the first time I was tear gassed,
0:50:52 > 0:50:55I was standing next to an 8th grader who was peacefully
0:50:55 > 0:51:00exercising his right to protest and being the kind of American
0:51:00 > 0:51:02that I think we all would want our young people to be.
0:51:02 > 0:51:09The fact that there's been attention on, er,
0:51:09 > 0:51:13how the criminal justice system treats African-Americans
0:51:13 > 0:51:19may seem to people as if race relations are in a bad place.
0:51:19 > 0:51:22Well, in fact...
0:51:22 > 0:51:24those problems with the criminal justice system
0:51:24 > 0:51:29and African-Americans date back to slavery,
0:51:29 > 0:51:32and if you think that they're worse now
0:51:32 > 0:51:35than they were in the 1950s or '60s or '70s, then you probably
0:51:35 > 0:51:39didn't live as an African-American in the '50s, '60s or '70s.
0:51:42 > 0:51:46Obama showed them a programme from the 1963 March on Washington,
0:51:46 > 0:51:48when Martin Luther King made his greatest speech.
0:51:48 > 0:51:51'..colour of their skin, but by the content of their character.
0:51:51 > 0:51:53'I have a dream today...'
0:51:53 > 0:51:55CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:51:55 > 0:51:59We walked over to the carpet with him, and he showed us where,
0:51:59 > 0:52:03embroidered in the carpet, is Doctor King's quote
0:52:03 > 0:52:07about the arc of the universe being long, but bending toward justice.
0:52:07 > 0:52:09And he reminded us that the arc is long,
0:52:09 > 0:52:11that we have to be in the work for a long time,
0:52:11 > 0:52:14but that arc will bend toward justice, if we bend it.
0:52:16 > 0:52:19Look at the work that Martin Luther King did, and we all stand
0:52:19 > 0:52:22on his shoulders, and these young people will stand on the President's
0:52:22 > 0:52:28shoulders and he encouraged them to think very strategically
0:52:28 > 0:52:31about the purpose of the demonstrations, that it shouldn't
0:52:31 > 0:52:35just be about expressing outrage - it should be a force for change.
0:52:35 > 0:52:41When I meet young activists, I want them to feel impatient,
0:52:41 > 0:52:45I want them to feel outrage, er, I want them to feel
0:52:45 > 0:52:51that...there's a fundamental injustice that has to be solved -
0:52:51 > 0:52:54that's what's going to give them the courage and the energy
0:52:54 > 0:52:58to move this society forward, but I also want to remind them
0:52:58 > 0:53:00that, in fact, progress is possible.
0:53:08 > 0:53:12In Charleston, South Carolina, race and guns came together
0:53:12 > 0:53:17when a white man walked into a black church and shot nine people dead.
0:53:17 > 0:53:20SIRENS WAIL
0:53:28 > 0:53:30HELICOPTER WHIRS
0:53:30 > 0:53:33The court ordered the shooter to be brought face-to-face
0:53:33 > 0:53:37with the families of those he had murdered, via a video link.
0:53:56 > 0:53:58We were on a helicopter in California
0:53:58 > 0:54:02when he heard about the families, and he said,
0:54:02 > 0:54:07"That's true grace - that in the face of devastating personal loss,
0:54:07 > 0:54:12"your belief and your faith are strong enough that you could
0:54:12 > 0:54:14"say something that kind."
0:54:14 > 0:54:16And he spoke with us about
0:54:16 > 0:54:19the importance of the black church -
0:54:19 > 0:54:22the black church has always remained open -
0:54:22 > 0:54:27and that, on that day, a perfect stranger was welcome.
0:54:27 > 0:54:30Obama gave the funeral oration for the murdered preacher,
0:54:30 > 0:54:31the Reverend Clem Pinckney.
0:54:33 > 0:54:37Clem understood that justice grows out of recognition...
0:54:40 > 0:54:42..of ourselves in each other.
0:54:44 > 0:54:48That my liberty depends on you being free, too.
0:54:48 > 0:54:50MURMERS OF APPROVAL, APPLAUSE
0:54:50 > 0:54:55That history can't be a sword
0:54:55 > 0:54:58to justify injustice...
0:54:58 > 0:55:01or a shield against progress.
0:55:01 > 0:55:04He knew that the path of grace involves...
0:55:06 > 0:55:07..an open mind...
0:55:08 > 0:55:11..but, more importantly, an open heart.
0:55:11 > 0:55:13Amazing grace.
0:55:13 > 0:55:15APPLAUSE
0:55:16 > 0:55:23- # Amazing grace... # - APPLAUSE
0:55:24 > 0:55:32# How sweet the sound... #
0:55:32 > 0:55:46- CONGREGATION JOINS IN - # That saved a wretch like me... #
0:55:47 > 0:55:50Obama's presidency had been through an extraordinary
0:55:50 > 0:55:53series of triumphs and disappointments.
0:55:53 > 0:55:56The threat of a second Great Depression overshadowed
0:55:56 > 0:55:58the start of his first term.
0:55:58 > 0:56:03I said, "Mr President-elect, this is your 'holy shit' moment."
0:56:03 > 0:56:07His success at carrying health care, after seven presidents had failed,
0:56:07 > 0:56:10protected the lives of tens of millions of Americans.
0:56:11 > 0:56:15The day that it passed was, er,
0:56:15 > 0:56:20as happy and as proud a moment as I've had in this White House.
0:56:20 > 0:56:23In Syria, Obama's cautious approach to the use of force
0:56:23 > 0:56:26frustrated many who wanted him to intervene.
0:56:28 > 0:56:32But his secret negotiations paid off in Iran.
0:56:32 > 0:56:35This is a good day, because, once again,
0:56:35 > 0:56:39we're seeing what's possible with strong American diplomacy.
0:56:39 > 0:56:44Mr Speaker, the President of the United States!
0:56:46 > 0:56:50Obama came to power promising he would bring the country together,
0:56:50 > 0:56:54but he was blocked by Republicans in Congress for most of his presidency.
0:56:56 > 0:56:58After the mid-term elections, my advisors asked me,
0:56:58 > 0:57:00"Mr President, do you have a bucket list?"
0:57:00 > 0:57:05I said, "Well, I have something that rhymes with 'bucket list'."
0:57:05 > 0:57:07LAUGHTER
0:57:07 > 0:57:10Take executive action on immigration?
0:57:10 > 0:57:12Bucket! It's the right thing to do.
0:57:12 > 0:57:15LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:57:15 > 0:57:19Obama led the walk across the bridge at Selma, Alabama,
0:57:19 > 0:57:22to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights March.
0:57:24 > 0:57:26His speech brought together the words
0:57:26 > 0:57:30of Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King and his own campaign slogan.
0:57:31 > 0:57:34Because Selma shows us that America is not
0:57:34 > 0:57:36the project of any one person.
0:57:38 > 0:57:42Because the single most powerful word in our democracy
0:57:42 > 0:57:44is the word "we".
0:57:46 > 0:57:49"WE the people."
0:57:49 > 0:57:52"WE shall overcome."
0:57:52 > 0:57:55"Yes, WE can."
0:57:55 > 0:57:59That word is owned by no-one. It belongs to everyone.
0:57:59 > 0:58:00APPLAUSE
0:58:00 > 0:58:05Oh, what a... What a glorious task WE are given...
0:58:05 > 0:58:09to continually try to improve this great nation of ours.
0:58:12 > 0:58:17'My view of human progress has stayed surprisingly constant
0:58:17 > 0:58:21'throughout my presidency.'
0:58:21 > 0:58:24The world today, with all its pain
0:58:24 > 0:58:27and all its sorrow, is more just,
0:58:27 > 0:58:29more democratic, more free,
0:58:29 > 0:58:32more tolerant, healthier, wealthier,
0:58:32 > 0:58:35er, better educated,
0:58:35 > 0:58:38more connected, more empathetic...
0:58:38 > 0:58:40than ever before.
0:58:40 > 0:58:42If you didn't know ahead of time...
0:58:45 > 0:58:47..what your social status would be,
0:58:47 > 0:58:50what your race was, what your gender was,
0:58:50 > 0:58:51or sexual orientation was,
0:58:51 > 0:58:53what country you were living in
0:58:53 > 0:58:56and you asked, "What moment in human history would you like to be born?",
0:58:56 > 0:58:58you'd choose right now.