♪ ♪
>> There is a crowd of thousands
at the hangar there.
>> The Trump rally,
just about to start.
>> A rally for Donald Trump is
about to...
>> Air One is live over the
Trump rally, and...
>> You know, we'd be on the
plane, and he'd say,
"Is tonight the night
for 'The Snake?'"
>> ...frontrunner about to speak
to a big...
>> And we'd have a kind of
internal discussion,
which would last
about ten seconds,
and we'd either say "Yes"
or "No."
And he'd say,
"I'll put it in the pocket,
if I want it,
I'll take it out."
>> Now, has anyone ever heard,
has anyone ever heard
"The Snake,"
that I read every once in a
while?
I can do it if you'd like.
Should I do it or not?
Should I?
Ah.
>> And he used that analogy,
very much for the issue
of immigration.
>> On her way to work one
morning down the path
along the lake,
a tender-hearted woman
saw a poor, half-frozen snake.
(crowd murmuring)
"Take me in, oh tender woman,
take me in, for heaven's sake,
take me in, oh tender woman,"
sighed the broken snake.
She wrapped him up all cozy
in a curvature of silk
and then laid him
by the fireside
with some honey and some milk.
Now she stroked his pretty skin,
and then she kissed him
and held him tight.
But instead of saying,
"Thank you,"
that snake gave her
a vicious bite.
(cheers and applause)
(handcuffs locking)
(siren blaring)
"I saved you, I saved you,
I saved you," cried that woman.
"And you've bit me,
heavens, why?
You know your bite is poisonous,
and now I'm going to die."
>> The woman's answer is,
"Well, why would you do this
to me?"
And he said, "Well, I'm a snake,
right?
And so you brought me into your
home,
and it's hard to believe that
you didn't know what I was.
I'm a professional killer,
right?
Just because you brought me in
doesn't mean
I wasn't going to ultimately
revert back to my basic form."
>> "Oh, shut up, silly woman,"
said the reptile with a grin.
"You knew damn well I was a
snake before you took me in ."
(cheers and applause)
>> He tapped into something
in a very profound way
that, that began to redefine
the debate
in the political year of 2016,
and, and continues to redefine
the, the politics of the country
today.
>> NARRATOR: How Donald Trump
came to use resentment
over immigration
as a political weapon
is a central defining aspect of
his presidency.
At its heart, a plan by three
unlikely outsiders
to transform the Republican
Party, make Trump president,
and introduce a harsh new
approach to immigration--
zero tolerance.
♪ ♪
♪ ♪
>> America, the country makes
history again,
doubling down on hope
and Barack Obama...
>> NARRATOR: The story begins
in 2012.
>> Romney was the worst
candidate.
>> NARRATOR: The aftermath of
Mitt Romney's loss...
>> We didn't lose this election
by that much, especially when...
>> NARRATOR: ...set off
a soul-searching
by the Republican establishment.
>> Some states like Wisconsin
and Pennsylvania were looking
attractive in the closing days.
>> NARRATOR:
But for a small group
of hard-right conservatives,
the defeat was a call to arms.
>> On what basis are you saying
that?
He got his clock cleaned.
>> NARRATOR: Their unlikely
headquarters was
in this Capitol Hill townhouse.
>> ...has been reelected...
>> President Obama is back
at the White House...
>> The Breitbart embassy is
really nothing more
than a rented townhouse.
And that is the center of
operations for the organization
known as Breitbart.
>> NARRATOR: The provocative
hard-right website Breitbart.
Steve Bannon-- political gadfly,
filmmaker, and polemicist--
was its leader.
>> We called this place the
embassy for the simple reason
that we thought we were in an
embassy in a foreign capital,
that this was owned and run by
the permanent political class.
>> NARRATOR: Bannon pushed
Breitbart into what was known
as "smash-mouth coverage" of
Washington power politics.
>> I said, "Let's attack
the real enemy,
and the real enemy's the
Republican establishment.
What we're going to do is just
go after the House leadership,
we're going to go after
the Mitch McConnells,
we're going to go
after the donors.
We're just going to go hard
at kind of
this Paul Ryan philosophy."
>> NARRATOR: Bannon and
Breitbart figured
they had a wedge issue that
could help them
take down the Republican
establishment-- immigration.
>> We spent a lot more time
talking to the public
than we spent talking
to the elite.
>> NARRATOR: Breitbart's
incendiary message boards
proved the point.
>> Illegals kill 12-plus people
a day in this country.
>> Torturous, murderous,
rapists.
This president calls them
'Dreamers'.
>> Deport all of the illegal
aliens.
>> Immigration to Republican
voters, by a mile,
it's the number-one issue,
even ahead of tax cuts.
>> For the first time in years,
it looks like an
immigration-reform deal may...
>> A possible deal on
immigration reform is now...
>> NARRATOR: But the Republican
establishment
was going completely the other
way on immigration.
>> Today, a bipartisan group of
senators unveiled a plan...
>> Now, Republicans and
Democrats set to announce
a major compromise
surrounding immigration.
>> NARRATOR: They formed an
alliance with Democrats
to support immigration reform.
>> (speaking Spanish):
>> NARRATOR: Republican Marco
Rubio took the lead
as the face of bipartisan
immigration reform.
>> The political class was sure
that immigration reform
was going to be like falling off
a log.
>> (speaking Spanish):
>> Everybody understood that
there was an opening,
a political opening, because
Republicans were ready
to come to the conversation.
♪ ♪
>> NARRATOR: Even on Fox News,
support for the softer
immigration approach.
>> There were very dark days.
100% Fox News was pedal
to the metal
to get this amnesty bill passed.
♪ ♪
>> I want to give Rubio credit,
because he's talking
intelligently
about a rational, effective,
humane response to the issue.
>> We're going to work with our
colleagues to get something
responsible done that's fair but
also responsible.
>> I like your program, I think
it's fair.
So, I want you and President
Obama to get on the phone
and get this thing so it doesn't
turn into a bloody mess.
>> Maybe we could come on this
show together.
>> Absolutely...
>> And even people like Sean
Hannity went on the air
and said, "We need to rethink
our position on immigration.
I was wrong to take such a hard
line on, on immigration."
>> You create a pathway for
those people that are here,
you don't say,
"You got to go home."
And that is an, a, a position
that I've evolved on.
>> NARRATOR: Hannity even
invited a well-known
reality TV star onto his show.
>> I think it's getting very
tough to win as a Republican.
Look, they lost on immigration.
They're going to have to do
something on immigration.
Because, you know, our country
is a different place
than it was 50 years ago.
So we'll see what happens.
>> NARRATOR: In the face of all
that...
>> The politics swirling around
the possibility of...
>> NARRATOR: Steve Bannon and
Breitbart found themselves
in the political wilderness.
>> More Republicans are now
changing their stance...
>> NARRATOR: Bannon decided
to fight back.
He invited two of his closest
allies
to the embassy for
a war council.
>> Stephen Miller and Jeff
Sessions and myself
had a dinner in this very room.
>> Bannon ordered from
Dean and DeLuca steaks,
and they drank a lot,
and they ate a lot,
and they talked long
into the evening.
>> And the three of them, these
are sort of, at the time,
especially, people on the fringe
of what you would consider the
sort of Republican Party.
>> I mean, Jeff Sessions, when
he was in the Senate,
was always on the outer fringes
of the Republican Party,
never even entirely taken
seriously,
even by the hardliners within
the Republican Party.
>> Sessions' shop
was the leaders,
the intellectual backbone
of the immigration fight.
It came from Jeff Sessions'
office,
it came from Senator Sessions
himself,
and Miller at his right hand.
>> NARRATOR:
27-year-old Stephen Miller
was Sessions' communications
director.
>> You had a vocal press
secretary in his 20s
for a back-bench senator
from Alabama,
as far from power as you could
get in Washington at that time.
>> NARRATOR: The three outsiders
shared a belief
America was threatened
by the flow of immigrants
into the country.
They were determined to do
something about it.
>> They were very ambitious
and felt like,
if they could get the,
the message right,
that this might all fall into
place.
>> NARRATOR: That night in 2013
at the Breitbart embassy,
they talked about how to
politicize immigration.
>> The one and two issues will
be immigration and trade.
And that will be focused on
workers, right?
And we're going to remake
the Republican Party.
>> NARRATOR: Miller would handle
the details
of their grand design, a policy
behind the politics:
Fortress America.
>> The world according to Miller
would be a world of walls.
Miller is a restrictionist.
He wants to have restricted
entry for legal immigration
as well as illegal immigration.
>> NARRATOR: But in order to
make it happen,
they would first have to stop
immigration reform
and take down the G.O.P.
establishment.
>> If you were sitting there
that night,
the audaciousness of what they
were plotting
was, uh, was astonishing.
And you wouldn't have given them
much chance of success.
>> The Senate passed sweeping
immigration reform
in an historic...
>> The bill by the Gang of Eight
passed today...
>> NARRATOR: As the bipartisan
bill passed the Senate
and headed to the House,
the insurgents had to act.
>> Miller knew how Washington
worked and understands the way
levers get pulled in Washington,
and how to push an agenda
through that was an
anti-establishment-type agenda.
>> NARRATOR: Miller had an
outlet-- Bannon's Breitbart.
It was a formidable alliance.
>> "Sessions: Immigration Bill
Will 'Hammer' Americans."
"Sessions Comes Out Swinging
Against
Secretive House
Immigration Push."
"Sessions: Breitbart Doing
'Great Work'
Getting Truth Out About
Immigration Bill."
>> They flooded the zone.
I mean, there's a, that's an
essential thing to do
if you're going to get movement,
especially on an issue
like immigration, where all of
the organized interest groups
are on one side.
>> Well, immigration reform
finally happened.
>> For the first time in
years...
>> NARRATOR: With immigration
front and center,
the insurgents planned
a show of force
in the upcoming midterm
elections.
>> What they decided
they need to do
was to find an example
of someone
they could take down in the
Republican establishment.
And when they looked around,
the guy that they thought
was most vulnerable
was Eric Cantor,
the House majority leader.
>> NARRATOR: Majority Leader
Cantor--
one of the most powerful members
of the Republican
establishment--
was being challenged
in his primary
by an unknown college professor.
>> My name is Dave Brat, and I'm
a lifelong Republican
and conservative.
>> NARRATOR: Polls showed Brat
more than 30 points behind
Cantor.
But Bannon saw opportunity.
>> I, he definitely knew it was
coming,
that also happened to be
my home district,
but I could feel it.
I knew that, that a guy like
Brat could...
They were, they were very weak.
>> I will fight to stop amnesty
for illegal immigrants...
>> NARRATOR: Following Bannon's
lead,
Brat would use immigration
against Cantor.
>> Cantor, can you believe this
guy, can you believe Ryan?
>> NARRATOR: Breitbart swung
behind Brat-- hard.
>> Eric Cantor,
he's all in for amnesty.
>> NARRATOR: They set the agenda
for right-wing radio.
>> You're a coward, Eric Cantor,
you only...
>> Eric Cantor, who wants
amnesty;
Paul Ryan, who I called
a phony...
>> Anything that became talking
points on conservative radio
were coming from Stephen
and put on Breitbart.
And you had a transformation,
where conservative radio hosts
weren't clicking on Drudge
Report on what to say,
they were clicking on Breitbart.
>> There's a story on Breitbart,
"Republican National Committee
Declares War on ..."
>> What are Republicans getting
out of Eric Cantor
being House majority leader?
I'm not sure.
>> And with that,
I want to pass the baton
to Senator Jeff Sessions...
>> NARRATOR: The insurgents
rolled out their big guns
for Brat: Sessions.
>> That's worthy of Patrick
Henry.
>> NARRATOR: And Steve Miller's
ally...
>> If Eric Cantor is reelected,
heaven forbid...
>> Talk-radio celebrity
Laura Ingraham.
>> There's a good chance we'll
have amnesty
by the end of the year.
>> Eric Cantor is definitely in
trouble in his district.
>> If Dave Brat here can get a
big turnout, he's going to,
he's going to make a
difference...
>> NARRATOR: They'd thrown
everything they could at Cantor.
>> Eric Cantor's district,
let's send a real message...
>> NARRATOR: And on election
night,
the Republican establishment was
in for a shock.
>> History-making upset,
House Majority Leader Eric
Cantor lost...
>> This is a seismic shift.
>> NARRATOR: Cantor was
defeated.
>> That took all of the
establishment figures...
>> And we took him down.
We took down Cantor
with Dave Brat.
We took the, first time in the
history of the Republic
that a sitting majority leader
had ever been beaten.
>> It is a stunning upset.
>> All of them were broadsided
by this victory of Dave Brat's.
>> (chuckles)
I think, what is the phrase
that Steve Bannon always uses?
"The hobbits revolted."
You know, the hobbits woke up in
the Shire.
>> People want a new Republican
Party with fresh faces...
>> NARRATOR: Republicans got the
message.
The bipartisan immigration bill
was dead.
>> I knew that night when I
heard.
I was talking to my
Republican...
they were basically, "There's no
reason for us to talk anymore.
This is not going anywhere."
>> House Majority Leader Eric
Cantor's defeat
is the end of immigration
reform.
>> Dave Brat proved this issue
moves votes,
in terms of Republicans
getting off
the then-popular
immigration bills.
It was no question,
it was a turning point
on the immigration issue.
>> The G.O.P. infighting is
escalating.
>> Not only does Brat's victory
confirm that...
>> NARRATOR: Two of the
insurgents' seemingly impossible
goals had been accomplished--
Cantor was out,
and so was the immigration bill.
>> Any hope of an
immigration-reform bill is dead.
>> NARRATOR: Now they would
concentrate on finding
a candidate for the presidency
of the United States.
>> ...legislative priority for
decades...
>> NARRATOR: Bannon had been
looking for years.
>> We had Palin in '08 and hoped
that she'd run in '12.
>> Well, I'm not a member
of the permanent political
establishment.
>> You know, she,
it just didn't work out.
>> That is not our destiny.
>> I actually worked
with Lou Dobbs
and tried to get Lou Dobbs
to run in '12, as a populist.
>> That on the previous
policies, if they were...
>> I actually tried to talk
Sessions into doing it.
And Sessions goes, he turns to
me and goes, "It's not me.
I'm not going to do it."
He says, "But our guy will come
along.
We'll find our guy."
And that guy,
a couple of years later,
turned out to be Donald Trump.
>> The House majority leader has
lost to his...
>> NARRATOR: In Manhattan,
Donald Trump had watched
the Cantor defeat.
Now he believed immigration as
an issue was a dragon-slayer.
>> "Trump said he thinks
Cantor's amazing loss
can be traced to his stance
on immigration policy."
>> NARRATOR: While Bannon and
Breitbart educated Trump
from the outside,
Trump adviser Sam Nunberg
worked from the inside.
>> Nunberg had realized that
this issue of immigration
has real salience with
Republican voters.
The problem they had was, they
couldn't get Trump to stay
on topic-- famously short
attention span.
And so Sam Nunberg came up
with this idea,
essentially a mnemonic device
to keep Trump focused
on the issue of immigration.
>> So, I said, "Well, why don't
we say you're going to build
a wall, because it's bigger.
You're going to build a wall.
And you'll, like, and you'll get
Mexico to pay for it."
>> NARRATOR: Trump took it on
the road,
testing out different versions
of the line.
>> We have to build a fence.
And it's got to be a beauty.
Who can build better than Trump?
I build; it's what I do.
>> He said it in Iowa that day.
And the crowd went nuts.
You can watch it.
The crowd went nuts.
>> If I run, I will tell you,
the king of building buildings,
the king of building walls,
nobody can build them like
Trump-- that I can promise you.
I can promise you that.
>> He said to me, "You know
what, I'm talking about
immigration, I feel it.
Sam, this is a movement.
This is a movement.
They get it-- they get it."
>> NARRATOR: He had found his
issue,
and now Donald Trump had
an announcement to make.
>> The key moment is coming down
the escalator.
And I'm sitting there watching.
We have five people up
at Trump Tower.
We have Boyle leading
an entire team.
We got wall-to-wall coverage.
>> When Mexico sends its people,
they're not sending their best.
They're not sending you...
They're not sending you.
They're sending people that have
lots of problems,
and they're bringing those
problems with us.
>> When he starts doing the
over-the-top stuff,
and I go, I said, "You watch,
they're, they're going to bite
hard, and they're going to bite
hard and blow this up."
>> They're bringing drugs,
they're bringing crime,
they're rapists, and some,
I assume, are good people.
>> Oh, my God.
I said, this is...
I said, "He's just buried
every...
they're going to go nuts.
CNN is literally going to
broadcast 24 hours a day."
>> Donald Trump's comment about
Mexican immigrants
has created controversy
nationwide.
>> Donald Trump's comments have
triggered outrage...
>> Trump not backing down from
his controversial,
some say racist, language.
>> I was waiting for Trump to
take it back and say,
"Oh, no, no, I didn't mean
that Mexico's sending rapists;
they're sending Rhodes Scholars,
they're so much better
than we are."
And damned if he never took it
back.
So I had to say, "Okay, I'm for,
I'm for this guy."
>> Ann, which Republican
candidate has the best chance
of winning the general election?
>> Of the declared ones,
right now, Donald Trump.
(audience laughing)
(audience cheering)
>> NARRATOR:
Bannon had his candidate:
one who understood the politics
of immigration.
>> I said, "This is our guy.
He's a very imperfect
instrument,
but he's a
armor-piercing shell."
("Sweet Home Alabama" playing)
I tell the guys, "He's going to
go through this thing
like a scythe through grass."
>> NARRATOR: The insurgents
would throw their weight
behind the candidate.
Bannon would push the Trump
message from Breitbart.
And they gave him something
else--
an essential endorsement
from a sitting United States
senator.
>> I want to just introduce you
to him for a second,
Senator Jeff Sessions.
>> Certainly, if you're
an unconventional
outsider candidate
like Donald Trump,
you actually do want some people
who are part of the system...
>> Wow. What a crowd this is!
>> ...to validate
your legitimacy.
And that was Jeff Sessions'
most important role
in the success of President
Trump.
>> At this time in Americans'
history,
we need to make America
great again!
>> NARRATOR: Also stepping out
for Trump,
another one of the insurgents.
>> Ladies and gentlemen,
please welcome
the senior policy adviser
for Mr. Trump, Mr. Steve Miller.
>> How's everybody doing
tonight?
>> He was the one who would get
up there before Trump came in
to speak and sort of rile up
the crowd.
>> Donald J. Trump is going
to secure the border,
and he's going to build
that wall.
(cheers)
>> He would have this magic
effect on the crowd.
And the crowd is loving it.
And I was, like,
"Who is that guy? "
And they said,
"Oh, that's Stephen Miller,
that's, that's, that's the one
who brings the crazy."
>> Are you ready to vote
for a policy
that puts Americans first?
And are you ready,
are you ready, Texas,
to vote for Donald J. Trump?
(cheers)
>> NARRATOR: Miller got close to
Trump...
>> We will build a great wall
along the southern border...
>> NARRATOR: ...jotting ideas...
>> Who's going to pay for the
wall?
>> Mexico!
>> NARRATOR: ...keeping track
of the musings...
>> Anyone who illegally crosses
the border will be detained.
>> NARRATOR: ...stoking the
anger...
>> He's going to drive the cars
over the illegals.
>> NARRATOR:
...writing the fragments
that became the speeches.
>> Zero tolerance
for criminal aliens.
Zero, zero.
>> The polls were brutal
for Donald Trump.
Clinton leading in every single
national poll...
>> NARRATOR: But by mid-August,
the campaign was in trouble.
>> ...show that Clinton now has
a double-digit lead over Trump,
46...
>> Nationally, he's down
by large margins
in swing states.
>> Trump is down in national
polls...
>> NARRATOR: Then Bannon got
a call from the candidate.
>> Breaking news this morning,
Donald Trump is changing
his campaign's...
>> ...installing firebrand
conservative Breitbart News boss
Steven Bannon as chief
executive...
>> He has a brand-new campaign
C.E.O., which is a new...
>> NARRATOR: Now all three
insurgents were
at the epicenter, with direct
access to a candidate
who would use their
immigration message
as a political weapon.
>> I remember riding on the
campaign plane with Sessions,
Stephen Miller, Steve Bannon.
And they suddenly had this
vessel in Donald Trump,
and they were giddy.
I mean, they were really
excited, like,
"This is our moment,
this is our historical moment."
>> The decision desk has called
Pennsylvania for Donald Trump.
>> NARRATOR: And on election
night, it all paid off.
>> This means that Donald Trump
will be
the 45th president
of the United States.
>> Trump's victory, after having
run on this
anti-immigrant message, had
precisely the effect
that Bannon and Sessions had
hoped for three years earlier,
when they first sat in the
Breitbart embassy.
It elevated immigration
to the forefront
of the Republican Party.
>> NARRATOR: Fox News had also
received the message.
Now they were all in with Trump
on immigration.
>> You want to know what this
election was about?
Look at America's open borders,
they're a mess,
and they're not secure.
>> A weak federal government
has allowed immigration
in America to become
a national scandal.
>> He's going to move very
quickly on
the immigration priorities that
helped get him elected.
>> Fox News saw that
the Republican Party
had been changed
by Donald Trump.
Immigration was the issue,
and so Laura Ingraham
and Sean Hannity and others
would hammer that night in,
night out.
>> I, Donald John Trump, do
solemnly swear...
>> NARRATOR: Steve Bannon was
put at the top of the food chain
as Trump's chief strategist;
Stephen Miller, senior adviser
to the president;
and Jeff Sessions was given
one of the most powerful jobs
in the Cabinet--
attorney general.
>> All of a sudden, they're
three
of the most powerful people
in the country.
(cannons firing)
>> NARRATOR: On the wall in his
war room at the West Wing,
Bannon created an immigration
action plan.
>> I said, "All we have to do
is flood the zone.
Every day we hit them with three
things, bang, bang, bang.
These guys will never,
will never be able to recover.
But we got to start
with muzzle velocity."
>> NARRATOR: The muzzle
velocity--
a series of harsh executive
orders
commanding the government
to build a wall,
to detain, to deport,
to prosecute.
>> This was Miller's tactic.
You know, while you still have
all that political wind
at your back after winning an
election,
just, you know, "Hit them big,
hit them hard."
>> ...opportunity for
him to meet
with his secretary of defense,
James Mattis...
>> NARRATOR: Immediately,
Trump caused outrage,
delivering part of what Bannon
called their
"shock and awe approach."
>> "Protection of the nation
from foreign terrorists' entry
into the United States."
It's big stuff.
>> NARRATOR: It was known
as the "travel ban,"
blocking entry to people from
seven predominantly
Muslim countries.
>> A scene of outrage at JFK
Airport in New York, where...
>> Protests all across the
country,
reaction from around the
world...
>> Now protests, outrage,
and backlash...
>> And immediately,
chaos ensues.
There are protesters
at the airports,
uh, people are getting detained
left and right.
>> Seattle police actually
dispersed some crowds
with pepper spray.
>> NARRATOR: Watching the chaos
on television,
Republican Congressman
Charlie Dent called
White House staffer Ben Howard.
>> I said, "Ben, you know, was
this thing run
by the Department of Defense?"
And he said, "Well, no."
"How about State?"
"No, no."
"Homeland Security?"
"Well, eh, sort of."
"Justice?"
"Eh..."
And I said, "Well," I said,
"Well, so who did this?"
He said, "Miller."
And I said, "Well,
who the hell's Miller?"
I didn't know who Stephen Miller
was at that moment.
I said, "Who's Miller?"
And he said, he said,
"I don't want to get into it."
>> NARRATOR: At the White House,
they knew who Stephen Miller
was.
And a faction there wanted to
keep him as far away
from the president as possible.
>> You had the, the
Bannon/Miller/Sessions faction,
and then you had the the Gary
Cohns, Jared Kushner,
Ivanka Trump, Reince Priebus,
and others.
>> We had the two camps start
to develop--
the more establishment camp,
and more the kind of disrupters,
populist, nationalist camp.
And then everything eventually
became a knife fight
shortly thereafter.
>> NARRATOR: After the
travel-ban backlash,
Bannon's stack of harsh
executive orders
was put on hold.
His opponents in the West Wing
were gaining ground
with the president.
>> Why he surrounded himself by
people actively opposed
to his agenda-- why he did that,
who knows? Who knows?
He has surrounded himself with
people who disagree with him.
Why did he hire his kids?
Could be narcissism--
"They love me for me!"
Who knows?
>> You're supposed to really
push hard the first 100 days.
What is going on?
What are they waiting for?
>> The things you elected Trump
to do
don't seem to be happening.
>> NARRATOR: Bannon and Miller
wanted to make sure
a tough stance on immigration
stayed on the agenda.
They would look up
Pennsylvania Avenue
to the Department of Justice,
where Jeff Sessions
was the boss.
>> Jeff Sessions
is the nerve center
of the Trump administration's
anti-immigration agenda.
And Sessions wastes no time once
he takes over at, at D.O.J.,
pretty systematically retooling
the asylum system.
>> He's working
on sanctuary cities.
He's trying to figure out a way
to starve cities of funding.
And he's also working on what
are basically the beginnings
of the zero-tolerance policy.
>> NARRATOR: The insurgents
placed dozens of allies
throughout the government,
many of them Sessions' former
Senate staffers.
>> Jeff Sessions and the people
he hired to work with him
inside the Justice Department
knew how to work that system.
They worked it early and often,
and they used their power
over immigration in ways
we have not seen
for a generation or more.
>> NARRATOR: They began checking
off the boxes.
>> What Sessions is doing
simultaneously is
he is starting to pull
all of the relevant levers
to make sure that there are no
impediments to mass deportation.
>> NARRATOR: But Jeff Sessions
had a big problem.
>> This is an NBC News special
report-- here's Lester Holt.
>> Good afternoon from New York.
We're coming on the air to bring
you a news conference from...
>> NARRATOR: The Russia
investigation--
run by his own Justice
Department--
was encircling
the Trump White House
and the president himself.
>> I have now decided to recuse
myself
from any existing
or future investigations
of any matter relating
in any way to the campaigns
for president
of the United States.
Thank you all, take care.
>> We're watching TV
on Air Force One.
And the president was very
upset,
because he felt like he was
being abandoned.
And Trump is very angry,
very frustrated,
and Jeff Sessions and Donald
Trump's relationship
was never the same after that.
>> NARRATOR: It wasn't long
before Trump confronted Sessions
at the White House.
>> President Trump just berates
Jeff Sessions.
Sessions is humiliated.
I mean, he's told people it was
one of the low points
of his professional career.
I mean, he's just completely
dressed down.
>> NARRATOR: The grand design
was in peril.
Sessions was preparing
to resign.
Steve Bannon reacted.
>> I said, "You were there from
the beginning."
I said, "You rode shotgun with
me the entire time."
He goes, "Yep."
I said, "Is there any doubt in
your mind
that this was divine providence
that put us here?
Right?
That this just didn't happen,
that this, something's,
something's worked here,
because he's a very imperfect
instrument, but we're here."
I said, "And you're never going
to quit?"
He says, "I will never quit."
I go, "No matter how bad
it gets?"
He goes, "I'll never quit."
>> NARRATOR: Sessions returned
to the Justice Department
to redouble his efforts
on immigration.
>> It was the only place,
pretty much,
that anything was being done
on Trump's promises.
So it was really fun to watch
Trump humiliating Sessions
every day on Twitter-- the one
guy keeping your promises.
>> Trump has continued to rage
against Sessions
for his decision...
>> President Trump today lashing
out on Twitter once again...
>> NARRATOR: At the D.O.J.,
Sessions was quietly
laying the groundwork for a big
move.
He wanted to roll back an
Obama-era policy known as DACA--
protections for undocumented
immigrants who had come
to America as children.
>> DACA is a recognition
and a realization
that when somebody comes here
as a child,
they're brought here not of
their own choice.
And we should recognize and
acknowledge that
and be compassionate toward
those people.
>> NARRATOR: They were called
"Dreamers."
But to Sessions and his allies,
DACA was an amnesty that sent
the wrong message.
>> One amnesty begets another
amnesty,
it begets more and more...
You are creating a magnet for
more and more illegal aliens
to pour in, as every country
that's ever tried an amnesty
has discovered,
and never done it again.
>> NARRATOR: Miller and Bannon
needed the president to agree
to end DACA.
But at his first press
conference,
they realized they had
a problem.
>> Thank you very much.
>> The DACA program for
immigration.
What is your plan?
Do you plan to continue
that program or to end it?
>> We're going to show great
heart.
DACA is a very, very difficult
subject for me, I will tell you.
To me, it's one of the most
difficult subjects I have,
because you have these
incredible kids.
You know, I love these kids,
I love kids,
I have kids and grandkids.
>> It became clear that he was
really waffling on DACA.
And Bannon was getting
really worried
that this was actually
becoming a problem,
that Trump was not moving
quickly to end it.
And he was actually seeming to
be reluctant to do it at all.
>> NARRATOR: Bannon swung
into action.
He reached out to a rising star
from the hard right--
Kansas Secretary of State
Kris Kobach.
>> Steve Bannon and Stephen
Miller wanted to see movement
on the DACA issue,
wanted to see it rescinded.
>> Bannon says to him,
"You, you got to have a way
that we can, that we can kind
of force this issue on DACA."
>> NARRATOR: The idea was to box
Trump in.
Kobach would use ten
conservative
state attorneys general.
>> What Kobach and the attorney
generals wanted to do
was to get this up at the,
at the right level.
And I think that's why
the Texas A.G. took the lead,
wrote a very powerful letter.
>> NARRATOR: The letter
was a threat--
legal action against
the Trump administration
if they didn't stop DACA.
>> And so, I think that was an
important piece of the puzzle,
or an important shift in
the landscape that helped,
uh, move the administration.
>> All right, well,
a major deadline
for the Trump Justice Department
looming early next month...
>> That is when Texas and nine
other states plan to sue
the administration...
>> NARRATOR: The letter worked.
Trump relented.
Sessions delivered the news.
>> Good morning.
I'm here today to announce that
the program known as DACA
that was effectuated under
the Obama administration
is being rescinded.
>> Jeff Sessions makes it pretty
clear they will, in fact,
be moving to possibly deport,
um, thousands of people
who were brought to this
country as young children
and who know no other home
but America.
>> Thank you very much.
>> It's a pretty devastating
blow
to about 800,000 Dreamers...
>> Protests erupting nationwide
after the Trump...
>> Major change in immigration
policy announced today...
>> And immediately, it's like a
bomb goes off in Washington.
>> Immigrants are welcome here!
>> What the president called a
case of heart
now sparking emotional protests
all over the country.
>> Can't go back home.
They can't send me go, back
home, because this is my home.
>> As the community prayed over
them, some broke down in tears.
They were all DACA recipients,
now filled...
>> Protesters storming major
cities all across the country...
>> Outrage after the Trump...
>> ...decision impacting nearly
800,000 people...
>> NARRATOR: As the negative
coverage hammered the president,
he made a political calculation.
He backed off.
>> "Does anybody really want to
throw out good, educated
and accomplished young people
who have jobs,
some serving in the military?
Really!"
(tweets)
>> NARRATOR: To the insurgents,
it seemed like they had lost
the president.
>> Yet another bombshell.
>> NARRATOR: Their enemies were
on the rise.
>> Mr. Trump's controversial
chief strategist forced out...
>> NARRATOR: After seven months,
Steve Bannon was out.
>> How does Trump think he can
get rid of Bannon?
Wasn't Bannon the guy that got
Trump elected?
>> Over time, more and more
Bushies arrived.
So more and more people who were
from, from the swamp,
who had long resumés, and were
plugged into positions of,
of importance and significance.
In part and parcel, it's,
it's the reason
for why I left the White House.
It may be the reason for why
Steve left the White House
when he did.
>> President Trump holding a
critical meeting today
with lawmakers.
>> Meeting over at the White
House today...
>> NARRATOR: With the insurgents
weakened, Trump improvised.
They watched what they
considered
a mind-boggling event.
Congressional leaders--
including Democrats--
were invited to make a deal that
could protect the Dreamers.
>> Here we are
in the Cabinet Room,
and I come in and notice,
to my surprise,
that my name plate is
right next to the president
of the United States,
to his right.
Uh, I was not a close friend
of this president.
>> NARRATOR: The president
shocked the entire room
when he allowed the cameras
to stay for the meeting.
>> So now we have the press
giving live coverage
for this meeting.
>> I think we're going to come
up with an answer.
I hope we're going to come up
with an answer for DACA,
and then we go further than that
later on down the road.
Dick, perhaps you'd like to say
a few words?
>> There is a sense of urgency
that's felt by many of us
when it comes to this issue.
1,000 a day will lose DACA
protection.
900 of them are members
of the U.S. military.
20,000 of them
are school teachers.
Lives are hanging in the balance
of our getting the job done.
>> I agree with that, Dick.
I very much agree with that.
>> And the president is
referring to me as Dick
all the time.
And I'm thinking, you know,
"I, I guess I'm his friend
at this point."
>> NARRATOR: On television, the
president said he wanted
to make a deal, have an
agreement to save DACA.
>> When this group comes back,
hopefully with an agreement--
this group and others, from the
Senate, from the House--
comes back with an agreement,
I'm signing it.
I mean, I will be signing it.
>> Senator Feinstein almost
can't believe it.
Every Democrat sitting on the
edge of their seat in that room,
wondering, "Is the president
about to break
from his own party
and cut a deal?"
>> I'd like to ask the question:
what about a clean DACA bill
now,
with a commitment
that we go into
a comprehensive
immigration-reform procedure?
>> Uh, I have no problem...
I think that's basically
what Dick is saying.
We're going to come up with
DACA, we're going to do DACA,
and then we can start
immediately on the phase two,
which would be comprehensive.
>> Would you be agreeable to
that?
>> Yeah, I would like, I would
like to...
>> He starts to actually get way
beyond where, certainly,
Stephen Miller, but a lot
of his advisers are
on the substance of what
the deal would look like.
>> I'll take the heat,
I don't care.
I don't care.
I'll take all the heat you want
to give me,
and I'll take the heat off both
the Democrats
and the Republicans.
My whole life has been heat.
I like heat, in a certain way.
>> It was, uh, it was
disconcerting.
And I did have my head in my
hands.
But I've had that a lot in
listening to the president.
He is the kind of guy who,
at least rhetorically, is,
is going to be prone to just
giving away the store,
which is why even McCarthy,
who's kind of a squish
on all of these things,
immediately piped up.
>> Mr. President, you need to be
clear, though.
I think-- I think what Senator
Feinstein is asking here,
when we talk about just DACA,
we don't want to be back here
two years later.
You have to have security,
as the secretary would tell you.
>> But I think that's
what she's saying.
>> No, no, I think she's saying
something different.
>> NARRATOR: To immigration
hardliners,
it was a reminder that the
president could not be trusted.
>> It seems, I think, perfectly
apparent to me,
and anyone else who observes
this president,
he, he's impulsive,
um, he says things
off the top of his head.
He, um, bears the impression of,
like a couch,
bears the impression of the
last person who sat on him.
Um, it's just, whoever gave him
the last piece of advice,
he goes out and says it.
>> I think I really agree with
Dick, I think it'll happen.
>> Thank you all.
>> I hope we gave you enough
material.
>> In an unusual move, cameras
were rolling
for nearly an hour on Tuesday...
>> The president actually
seemed open
to comprehensive
immigration reform.
>> NARRATOR: Just two days
later, senators Dick Durbin
and Lindsey Graham were ready to
deliver the deal
Trump asked for.
>> It included a future
for DACA and Dreamers,
it also included money
for his wall.
I mean, it really was
what he had asked for.
>> NARRATOR: Durbin let
the White House know.
>> Within minutes,
the president calls back.
"What can I do for you,
Senator?"
"Well, Senator Graham
and I have a bill."
He said, "Good."
>> NARRATOR: The president said
he wanted to meet
with the two senators that day.
>> I found that incredible.
I couldn't believe I could ever
get in
to see a president
in short order like that.
>> NARRATOR: Miller had
to move quickly.
>> One of Miller's talents was
spinning the president up.
He was constantly handing him,
you know, statistics and numbers
and papers and links
to Breitbart,
links to Fox News clips.
>> NARRATOR: Miller's allies in
the right-wing media
sounded the alarm.
>> ...does not include a wall,
a real wall...
>> You know, they're all
giggling
that he's getting rolled.
>> NARRATOR: Talk radio turned
up the volume.
>> This is the only thing that
Donald Trump can do
to possibly derail himself.
>> This is the end of the road
for the Republican Party.
>> All of the right-wing media
figures who championed Trump
are losing their minds, because
all of a sudden,
everything Trump said during
the campaign seems like
it's up for debate, that he's
willing to trade,
trade all of his
campaign promises away
as bartering chips.
>> He shouldn't talk about
immigration
unless Stephen Miller is there
to follow up...
>> NARRATOR: Senators Durbin
and Graham arrived
at the White House with their
deal in hand.
>> While they're waiting
in the West Wing lobby,
all of a sudden the doors open,
and other people start
coming in.
Tom Cotton, very, very
conservative.
He has said publicly that,
you know,
"The DREAM Act is
a nonstarter."
David Perdue, same thing,
he walks through the door.
Then there's Bob Goodlatte,
who's the Republican chairman of
the House Judiciary Committee.
And then Stephen Miller walks
in, and before they know it,
they're all in the Oval Office,
uh, all together.
>> It's really Miller who makes
sure that the room is filled
with immigration hardliners.
>> They're there to represent a
position that they feel strongly
about, which is, frankly,
much closer
to President Trump's position.
>> Well, things went south
in a hurry.
Almost from his first word, you
could tell that the president
I spoke to two hours before,
and the one two days before,
who had invited us to come by,
uh, had changed dramatically.
And now he was opposed
to every part of it.
And that's when a lot of
the profanity started flying.
>> And the president was already
in an unhappy mood,
because he kept reviewing all
this migrant data from Miller.
And he just erupts.
He erupts.
It's gone from a chummy chat
with the senators on camera,
it's gone from cordial rapport
with Senator Feinstein,
to vulgarity in front of
Senator Durbin and others.
>> NARRATOR: The vulgarity
stunned the room.
>> He essentially says,
"Why do we want all these people
from shithole countries?"
At which point,
everyone kind of stops.
>> He doesn't want people from
Haiti or from Africa,
countries that he refers to as
"shithole countries."
He says he wants people from
Norway.
And it's, it's impossible
to ignore
that the people he's talking
about as, as undesirable
are people of color
and black people.
>> People will not come in to
our country...
>> And it's jaw-dropping,
as he went through this
long litany of grievances
he had against immigrants
in this country,
particularly those from what he
referred to
as "shithole countries."
>> And all the while,
Stephen Miller, once again,
standing at the perimeter
of the room,
listening to that comment,
and he knows that it's mission
accomplished--
he's done what he,
he wanted to do.
>> We are going to stop...
>> NARRATOR: The immigration
hardliners had won.
There would be no DACA deal.
The fate of the Dreamers would
be in the hands of the courts.
♪ ♪
>> A week ago, Central Americans
crossed
from Guatemala into Mexico...
>> 11,000 Central American
immigrants...
>> NARRATOR: Now, in the spring
of 2018,
from the Justice Department,
Sessions and Miller
would raise the ante.
It was time to crack down on the
border.
>> They wanted to send
a deterrent message
through a very dramatic way
in the hope
that they would scare
these people off
and have them stay
in Central America.
>> NARRATOR: Sessions released
this tough directive
using the words
"zero tolerance."
>> So, Jeff Sessions is using
the authority
that was retained in the
attorney general's office.
And he recognizes he's got a lot
of levers that he can pull,
he's got a lot of tools
that he can use.
>> NARRATOR: Everyone who
crosses the border
would be prosecuted,
even families with children.
>> If you smuggle illegal aliens
across our border,
then we will prosecute you.
If you are smuggling a child,
then we will prosecute you.
And that child may be separated
from you, as required by law.
>> NARRATOR: It became known as
family separation.
(people talking on radio)
Like the travel ban and DACA,
family separation quickly turned
into a crisis
as the images were released.
>> Young children are pulled
from the arms of their mothers.
It ushers in a part of America
and a history of America
that people are going to look
at for years to come
as the defining moments
of the Trump presidency.
>> Children were separated
from the adults
with whom they arrived,
and there wasn't meticulous
association
of those children
with those adults.
(child crying)
(children crying)
(in Spanish):
(in Spanish):
>> Here's the thing that I think
broke America's heart.
They didn't even know what they
were doing,
they weren't even keeping tabs
on where these children
and who their parents are and
where their parents were at.
That's what they did.
>> All it's doing is showcasing
unbelievable cruelty...
>> The trauma of separating
a child
who doesn't know what's going
on...
>> NARRATOR: But Stephen Miller
insisted
it was all part
of the grand design.
>> When I talked to Miller,
he said that he believes
anytime the country is focused
on immigration,
the president is winning.
So, when you're at the border
getting footage
of crying children being ripped
from the arms of their mothers,
that would seem to most people
like bad, a bad development
for the president.
To Stephen Miller, he thinks
that this is just drawing
the attention once again to the
issue that we care about most,
and, uh, and, he sees
that as a win.
>> Where are the children?!
>> Anger over the Trump
administration's policy
of separating immigrant children
from their families
at the border...
>> Some Democratic lawmakers are
voicing their anger
over the family separations.
>> The growing outrage over
families being separated at...
>> NARRATOR: The controversy
quickly consumed Washington.
>> Hey there, everyone.
We're heading towards the
Department of Justice.
>> The White House faces a
growing backlash of anger...
>> NARRATOR: For weeks, the
president and the White House
were under assault.
>> ...is struggling to explain
and defend a practice...
>> NARRATOR: Miller wanted to
stay the course.
The president's own family were
strongly on the other side.
>> Every day, yesterday,
70 kids, today, 70 kids...
>> NARRATOR: Once again,
Trump capitulated.
>> I'm signing an executive
order I consider to be
a very important executive
order.
It's about keeping families
together.
Ivanka feels very strongly.
My wife feels very strongly
about it.
I feel very strongly about it.
I think anybody with a heart
would feel
very strongly about it.
We don't like to see families
separated.
This takes care of the problem.
Thank you very much...
>> I'm very disappointed in
President Donald Trump...
>> I think he's not getting the
best advice on this,
it's very disturbing.
>> NARRATOR: The insurgents had
again lost control
of what Bannon had called
"the imperfect instrument."
>> Trump signs an executive
order,
and for the ten minutes it's
going to survive...
>> ...U.S. attorney general
is stepping down,
apparently at the request
of President Trump.
>> NARRATOR: A few months later,
Jeff Sessions was finally out.
>> Jeff Sessions, the attorney
general of the United States,
has submitted his letter of
resignation...
>> NARRATOR: Stephen Miller
would be the only one
of the original insurgents
still on the inside.
>> Sessions didn't survive,
and Bannon didn't survive,
but Miller, who's the ultimate
survivor,
has managed to outlast
pretty much everyone.
>> The ramifications are many.
>> Miller is a talented
bureaucratic infighter.
Miller understood that,
in order to survive
and have influence
with Donald Trump,
you need to consistently display
a fanatical degree of loyalty.
And Miller has always been
willing to do that,
publicly and privately.
>> A record number of migrant
families have arrived
at the southern border
in recent months.
>> 144,000, that is the
highest...
>> NARRATOR:
The president had signaled
he was scaling back
zero tolerance.
But there was an unintended
consequence.
The number of migrants
increased.
>> ...of migrant families surged
after the Trump administration
ended...
>> The ending of the policy has
a pretty pronounced effect
on the numbers of people
showing up.
The word gets back to Central
America that
"zero tolerance is not really
zero tolerance anymore,
that if you come with a child,
in fact,
you will not be separated
from that child."
>> Right now, another...
>> NARRATOR: On Fox, they called
the caravans an invasion.
>> It's not a caravan,
it's an invasion.
We have every right to be able
to protect our borders.
>> And at this hour tonight...
>> You know, what happens with
the president and the caravans
is he sees footage of them on
Fox News
and starts to fulminate
against them,
and it becomes to him this image
of a border being overrun.
>> ...than 103,000 people
were apprehended
at the southern border
last month...
>> The president grows angrier
and angrier by the week
as he continues
to hear new numbers,
new data, about what's happening
at the border.
He can fly into fits of rage.
Miller doesn't discourage
this at all.
>> NARRATOR: For Miller,
the crisis was an opportunity.
It was election season--
the 2018 midterms--
and Trump was in campaign mode.
>> So, the president's going all
out for the next few days,
hosting ten more rallies across
the nation
focusing on illegal immigration.
>> NARRATOR: Miller knew what
would fire up the crowds.
>> We want our country to be
a sanctuary
for law-abiding Americans,
not criminal aliens.
We're not playing games.
Because you look at what's
marching up, that's an invasion.
>> The president uses that to
drum up his election push
for the midterms,
and calls that election
"the election of the caravan."
>> (chanting): Build the wall!
Build the wall!
>> NARRATOR: It was also the
beginning
of Trump's own re-election
campaign.
>> The, the closer we get
to 2020,
the more this president and his
advisers are saying,
"Immigration is our fire.
That's the fire we put in our
torch to try to win in 2020."
>> NARRATOR: Determined not to
lose his base,
Trump was firmly back on the
side of the insurgents.
Now Miller would call the shots.
>> Stephen Miller is the point
person at the president's side
on the immigration issue.
He is a, a driving force in...
And he has an awful lot of
knowledge that he brings
to bear at the president's
right hand.
>> NARRATOR: Miller pushed
controversial
executive actions...
>> ...announcing a new
regulation
that will allow migrant
families...
>> NARRATOR: ...cutting back on
refugees...
>> ...Trump administration
changing the rules for migrants
hoping to claim asylum
in the United States.
(handcuffs locking)
>> NARRATOR: ...building the
wall...
>> Trump to divert billions
from the Pentagon,
from the military,
to build his border wall.
>> Targets hundreds of thousands
of legal immigrants...
>> NARRATOR: ..slashing legal
immigration...
>> ...Trump administration
issuing a regulation
that would deny green cards
for legal immigrants...
>> Immigrants are not welcome...
>> NARRATOR: ...initiating raids
across the country...
>> ...thousands of people
nationwide are bracing now
for ICE raids President Trump's
ordered to begin...
>> Sweeps are expect
to target about...
>> NARRATOR: ...and igniting a
firestorm.
>> ...kids might be left
parentless in the process
makes it all the more
disturbing.
>> Officials called it the
biggest worksite immigration
enforcement operation...
>> ...could close down
our southern border...
>> NARRATOR: It had been six
years since that dinner
at the Breitbart embassy.
Zero tolerance had won the day.
>> From the dinner we had, we'd
brought border security
up to the forefront.
Right now, we actually
are engaged as a nation,
and I think in 2020,
it's even going to be more
of a centerpiece
in the national debate,
as it should be.
>> NARRATOR: For Sessions,
Bannon, Miller,
it was all part
of the grand design.
>> We are now debating all the
topics on Donald Trump's turf,
okay?
That, in, in January 2013,
that looked like
a pipe dream.
Today, that's the reality.
♪ ♪
>> Go to pbs.org/frontline
for "Frontline's"
latest Transparency Project,
and explore the dozens
of interviews in
"Zero Tolerance."
>> They said,
"Oh, that's Stephen Miller.
That's, that's the one who
brings the crazy."
>> Why don't we say you're
going to build a wall?
>> Could be narcissism--
"They love me for me."
>> I said, "Is there any doubt
in your mind
that this was divine providence
that put us here?"
>> Connect to the "Frontline"
community on Facebook
and Twitter, and watch anytime
on the PBS video app
or pbs.org/frontline.
♪ ♪
♪ ♪
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