>> Tonight...
>> I, Donald John Trump,
do solemnly swear...
>> As Donald Trump begins
 his presidency...
>> We had won the election that
no one thought we could win.
>> The inside story of how
 he got there.
>> Once I understood that he was
willing to double down and be
a fighter for what he believes 
in, I'm all in.
>> They'd be carried out
on a stretcher, folks.
>> It felt like a box of matches
even before he took the stage,
and they were just waiting
for Donald Trump to come
and light it.
>> From his closest advisors...
>> I had said to Mr. Trump one
day, "Are you ready to win?"
>> And his rivals.
>> Director Comey's letter...
>> Just got smacked
by a two-by-four.
And it came out of nowhere.
>> The provocative campaign...
>> Nobody knows the system
better than me.
>> ...to the presidency.
>> Which is why I alone can
fix it.
>> Tonight on Frontline...
>> So help me God...
>> "Trump's Road
 to the White House."
>> Tonight's program contains
graphic language.
Viewer discretion is advised.
>> Today is finally the day.
The presidential nominees have
made their final...
>> Today is decision day in
America and we are taking a look
at the presidential race...
>> After a long, contentious
presidential race...
>> NARRATOR: On Election Day,
Donald Trump and his senior
campaign team were huddled
at Trump Tower.
>> They went into election night
believing that they were going
to lose.
>> ...as the polls close across
the country...
>> NARRATOR: At 5:00 they
received the first exit polls.
>> We're counting down to the
first poll closings right now...
>> When we got those early
returns, the exit polls,
and I actually got it about
5:01, we all had
a little bit of a gut punch.
>> If Trump wants to win,
he's got to hold onto Florida
and North Carolina...
>> In state after state he was
so far behind that I knew
that he was going to lose,
because the exit polls don't
get it wrong.
>> We were getting crushed in
like Michigan, Pennsylvania.
I mean just... and so, from like
6:00 on, you know,
we're all like, "Oh, my God."
>> And look at all these wins
we're projecting
for Hillary Clinton right now.
Take a look at the electoral
map now...
>> NARRATOR: It seemed to
confirm what the media
and political establishment
had been saying for months:
Donald Trump never had a chance.
>> Every senior Republican that
I talked to,
with only one exception, thought
that Trump was going to lose.
>> NARRATOR: But as the votes
were counted in Florida,
a surprise.
>> And CNN projects Donald
Trump will carry the state
of Florida.
With its 29 electoral votes,
Donald...
>> NARRATOR: Florida was just
the beginning.
>> There's a big ole call to
make right now.
Donald Trump has won
the state of Wisconsin
and there goes her blue wall.
>> Late on election night
one of his senior campaign
officials emailed me
and just said, "Can you type
President Trump?"
>> Fox News has called
Pennsylvania for Donald Trump.
>> Our communications director,
Jason Miller, held up and said,
"A.P. just called."
And I said, "Just called what?
Which state?"
And he said, "The whole race."
>> This means that Donald Trump
will be the 45th president
of the United States.
The most unreal, surreal
election we have ever seen.
>> Chris Christie's son said,
"Kellyanne, your phone is
ringing."
And I looked down and it said
Huma Abedin.
And she said, "Secretary
Clinton would like to speak
with Mr. Trump."
And I said, "Right now?"
And she said, "If he's
available."
And I said, "He's available."
And I said, "Sir, Secretary
Clinton."
>> NARRATOR: She had been
first lady, a senator,
and secretary of state.
She conceded to an
entrepreneur, reality TV star,
and novice politician.
The call lasted about a minute.
>> In an electoral college
victory that virtually no one
saw coming a year ago,
a few months ago...
Even a month ago,
even yesterday...
>> It was an "Oh, my God"
moment.
It was euphoria that we had won
the election
that no one thought
we could win.
>> NARRATOR: Not long after,
to the music from Harrison
Ford's movie Air Force One,
the president-elect arrived
at his victory celebration.
>> Even for him, it was an
overwhelming feeling
to see yourself be elected
president of the United States.
>> You're never going to see
anybody like this again.
He is somebody that defied every
political rule that existed
in a way that nobody
has ever done before.
>> It's my honor.
It's an amazing evening.
It's been an amazing
two-year period.
And I love this country.
Thank you.
>> NARRATOR: It was
an unprecedented outcome.
Over 17 months, Donald Trump
had broken nearly every rule
of American politics.
Then came the question whether
the way he had campaigned
would be the way
he would govern.
>> Trump is going to be Trump.
This idea that you can make him
into something else, that's not
what the people voted for.
They voted for Trump as he is.
That's the way they want him
to be.
And nobody is going
to remake him.
He will either succeed or fail
being Donald Trump.
>> The sheer unpredictability
of a President Donald Trump...
>> ...how unpredictable the new
terrain here in Washington is...
>> ...is this our new normal,
is there reason for concern?
>> It's the creation of a new
reality.
>> Donald Trump has broken the
rules of what it means
to be president-elect.
>> What Trump are we going
to see, do you think?
>> We're going to constantly
have rules that are broken,
and my way or the highway...
>> A President Trump is
very much a wild card...
>> We'll call it a political
earthquake, an unraveling
of the system, or even
a revolution...
>> NARRATOR: The seeds of
Donald Trump's presidency are
embedded in his path to power.
He redefined what it meant
to be a serious presidential
candidate,
starting with his announcement.
>> I remember watching the
announcement, and laughing
at the entertainment value,
the way a lot of people did.
>> In Washington you could
almost just hear people
around town laughing at the...
at the... at the idea
that this person was going to be
a credible threat.
He seemed like a cartoon
character.
>> He did the exact opposite of
what every candidate has done
before him.
It was like extending
the middle finger
to the political establishment.
And in doing that in that very
first moment, people took a look
at him and said, "You know
what, he really is different."
>> That is some group of people,
thousands...
>> I wrote what was supposed
to be his announcement speech,
and that speech was supposed to
clock in at about seven minutes
and 43 seconds.
>> We got to make the country
rich.
It sounds crass.
Somebody said,
"Oh, that's crass."
It's not crass.
We got $18 trillion in debt.
>> Probably three or four
minutes into his remarks,
I could clearly tell that these
were not the prepared remarks,
which I had drafted.
And then he had gone on to make
an announcement speech
which lasted somewhere
around 45 or 48 minutes.
>> When Mexico sends its people,
they're not sending their best.
They're bringing drugs.
They're bringing crime.
They're rapists.
And some, I assume,
are good people.
>> When he made his comments
about Mexicans,
everybody was convinced,
"That's it.
He just blew himself up."
Everybody was like, uh,
"This is going to be
the death of him."
>> NARRATOR: Behind the scenes,
Trump's campaign
was as unconventional
as his announcement.
>> Donald Trump's campaign was
lean and small and, in a sense,
run out of Donald Trump's,
you know, instincts.
I mean, he threw all of the
normal things out the window.
>> NARRATOR: Corey Lewandowski,
an obscure political operative,
was the campaign's manager.
>> In my very first meeting
with Mr. Trump
when he offered me the position
to be his campaign manager
in January of 2015, he asked me
what I thought his odds were
of winning the Republican
nomination.
I said five percent.
And he said ten.
I said, "Let's settle
at seven and a half."
>> NARRATOR: They worked
50 floors below
Trump's New York penthouse.
It had once housed the set 
 where The Apprentice was shot.
>> All of the Apprentice camera
equipment and furniture had been
ripped out of it.
You looked up at the ceiling
and it was open piping.
It was barebones.
And a lot of Trump pictures
all over the walls.
>> NARRATOR: As key advisors,
Trump chose his children.
Running things behind the
scenes, his son-in-law,
Jared Kushner.
>> It's this family business.
With Ivanka and her brothers
Eric and Don Jr.,
and Ivanka's husband Jared,
we had this kind of council
of advisors around Trump
that he would turn to.
>> NARRATOR: The campaign
had a fundamental rule:
"Let Trump be Trump."
>> I used to liken my role
to being a jockey
on a great racehorse--
let's say American Pharoah.
And my job was to maybe drive
that horse into the corners
a little bit and put some
blinders on,
but you got to let it run.
>> Donald Trump is back on the
road campaigning at...
>> NARRATOR: He caused
controversy from the very start.
>> Trump trying to secure
the evangelical vote
with three campaign events
in Iowa today.
>> NARRATOR: In Iowa,
as he was interviewed
by Republican pollster
Frank Luntz...
>> And he and I get into an
exchange over John McCain,
because he is taking shots
at McCain and I thought
they were gratuitous.
>> He's not a war hero.
>> He's a war hero.
>> He's a war hero...
>> Five-and-a-half years of...
>> He's a war hero because he
was captured.
I like people that weren't
captured, okay?
I hate to tell you.
>> Do you agree with that?
>> He's a war hero because he
was captured.
>> I couldn't believe
he said that.
I was completely stunned.
Everyone in that room thought,
"This is it, it's over."
>> Folks, I want to make America
great again.
We want to get down
to brass tacks.
We don't want to listen to his
stuff with being
politically correct and
everything has...
we have a lot of work to do.
>> You know, I asked Mr. Trump
after he came off the stage
to have a private conversation
with him, and I said,
"I think we need to fix this."
And when I said "Fix it,"
I meant an apology.
And Donald Trump understood
things that I didn't understand
about the American people,
said, "No, no, you don't
understand."
>> NARRATOR: Trump refused
to apologize.
>> And once I understood that he
was willing to double down
on his comments, and be a
fighter for what he believes in,
I'm all in.
And I'm there with you,
to support you.
>> Don Voyage, Trump is toast
after insult...
>> Everything erupted after this
because social media exploded...
>> Virtually every Republican
criticized Trump...
>> This clip is played on every
newscast for the next 48 hours.
>> So far Trump's political
campaign operates
with a no guts, no glory
approach.
>> And he survived it.
He survived walls and Mexicans
and everything.
That which doesn't kill us
makes us stronger,
and if you ever needed any
evidence,
just look at Donald Trump.
>> The biggest event to date in
campaign 2016...
>> Top ten candidates taking
the stage...
>> Donald Trump gearing up for
the crucial...
>> NARRATOR: Two and a half
weeks later in Cleveland,
the first Republican debate.
>> Businessman Donald Trump.
>> NARRATOR: He was facing off
against a group of candidates
Republican leaders touted
as the best in a generation.
>> It is 9:00 p.m.
on the East Coast.
And the moment of truth has
arrived.
>> Among the other candidates
there was this sort
of smug confidence
that we know what we're doing.
This guy is from show business,
a little bit Hollywood,
lot of razzle-dazzle.
>> NARRATOR: Early in the
debate, he faced
a crucial test-- whether his
tabloid past
and outrageous statements would
sink his campaign.
>> You've called women you don't
like "fat pigs," "dogs,"
"slobs," and "disgusting
animals."
Your Twitter account...
>> Only Rosie O'Donnell.
(laughter)
>> No, it wasn't.
>> Trump doesn't deny it.
He simply says, "I only said
that about Rosie O'Donnell."
And in a way that is pure Trump.
>> What I say is what I say.
And honestly, Megyn, if you
don't like it, I'm sorry.
I've been very nice to you,
although I could probably maybe
not be based on the way
you have treated me,
but I wouldn't do that.
>> He's doing something that is
both repellent
and completely authentic,
all at once.
And he's acknowledging that he
said these horrid things.
He's not shirking it.
I think there were voters out
there that said, "You go, man.
"You said exactly what you
think,
and you're not backing down."
>> NARRATOR: And Trump
wasn't done.
After the debate,
the candidates appeared
in what is known as spin alley.
Trump kept the controversy
going.
>> Donald Trump shows up, as if
he needed this hit of adrenaline
before he went home to New York.
>> You guys okay?
Don't hurt yourselves.
>> It was like mosquitos to
a lantern on a summer night.
I mean the entire national press
corps descended.
>> People were being trampled
and camera equipment was flying
all over the place and I'd
never seen a scene like this.
I mean, I've seen many media
stampedes but nothing like that.
>> What's your history
with Megyn?
>> I think, I think Megyn
behaved very badly, personally.
>> The question about women.
You didn't like that?
>> I thought it was an unfair
question.
>> Trump can't help himself
because he considers anybody
questioning his bona fides
as someone who he needs to
decapitate, essentially.
>> NARRATOR: It was just
the beginning.
At 3:40 in the morning,
he lit up Twitter.
>> Wow, @megynkelly really
bombed tonight.
People are going wild
on Twitter!
Funny to watch.
>> NARRATOR: On the phone
with CNN, he pushed harder.
>> What is it with you
and Megyn Kelly?
>> She starts asking me all
sorts of ridiculous questions.
And, you know, you could see
there was blood
coming out of her eyes.
Uh, blood coming out of her
wherever.
>> Donald Trump attacks her and
suggests she only asked
a tough question because
she was menstruating.
I mean, um...
and his numbers went up.
>> She's a lightweight, I
couldn't care less about her.
>> At every stage in the
campaign, Donald Trump was
perfectly happy to have
the elites be aghast at him.
The kind of non-politically
correct, decisive, tough,
battling kind of personality
that he was putting forward
in that debate
and in the confrontations
with Megyn Kelly
and others that he sought out.
>> NARRATOR: While the media
controversy swirled,
Trump was out in the country
building his base.
His personal plane rolled up
to hangars
filled with curious onlookers,
eager to see
the reality TV star in person.
>> There were a lot of people
who were there who were pure
curiosity seekers.
They were there to see
a celebrity.
They were there to see the guy
they know from The Apprentice.
>> Trump is a producer at heart.
And when he did these rallies,
he made sure that the staging
was perfect.
So we see the same elements
that Trump applied
in his hit TV show
 The Apprentice.
We saw that in the early
rallies.
>> ♪ We're not gonna take it. ♪
♪ No, we ain't gonna take it. ♪
>> And right at the moment
of the first chord,
Trump hits the stage.
And I felt this wave go through
me and that was the moment
that I realized, "Holy (bleep),
this is real."
It was like Pavlov's dog.
He hits the stage, they erupt.
I had never seen this before.
>> Trump just had them
in the palm of his hand.
He... I mean, they were
responding to him.
He was responding to them.
(cheering)
>> Those crowds at those
rallies, they were
tremendously energizing to him.
I mean, it was a... it was
a symbiotic relationship.
They fed off of each other.
The crowd fed off of him,
he fed off of the crowd.
>> For Donald, confidence is
a huge part of the game.
This was the whole point
of all those rallies.
It wasn't just to fire up
people to vote for him.
It was to fire up Donald Trump.
He feeds off of audiences
in a way that I think
very few politicians do and
needed to be energized
by the affirmation.
And it worked.
>> And you know we're in...
look at all those live
television feeds,
it's always tough, every time I
speak they put me
on live television, so I have
to make different speeches.
These guys go around,
they make the same speech
hundreds and hundreds
and hundreds of times,
nobody cares.
It's true.
>> He was looking out
at the camera bank.
And he could see the red light
on the camera.
And that meant that he was live
on CNN.
>> You got CNN live, you've
got them all, and...
>> Or Fox or one of the other
networks.
And he said that what he tried
to do in those rallies was say
whatever it took to keep
the red light on.
>> Now if you like the media,
give them a big hand, and if you
don't, give them a big boo.
(booing)
>> NARRATOR: Rather than rely
primarily on polls...
>> I had a feeling...
>> NARRATOR: Trump watched
to see how the crowd reacted.
>> Early on, they were kind of
these rally speeches
were a bit rambling and all over
the place.
As he went on, he started
to really hone his message
and he started to remember
what lines worked.
>> We're going to have such
a strong military that nobody,
nobody is going to mess with us.
>> NARRATOR: And what the crowds
wanted: Donald Trump.
>> We are led
by very stupid people.
>> NARRATOR: Unfiltered...
>> We are going to start winning
big league.
>> NARRATOR: Angry...
>> We can't beat ISIS.
Give me a break.
>> And it was every location.
It was the same messages:
"We're tired of Washington lying
to us."
>> We're going to drive the
cars over the illegals.
Build a wall!
>> Build a wall!
>> The American people
are angry,
and they have a right to be.
And what they see in Donald
Trump is someone who's willing
to fight for them for a change.
>> NARRATOR: He called them
"the forgotten"
and spoke directly to their
fears and anger--
at Washington, at trade deals,
at immigration.
>> People in this country are
afraid of illegal immigrants.
People in this country have
become afraid
of random violence.
They're afraid of jobs being
shipped overseas.
There is so much that scares
Americans.
And Donald Trump is the only
politician who talked
to those concerns
and those fears.
To his critics
it's fear mongering,
to his supporters
it's truth telling.
>> Donald Trump is the
projected winner
of the New Hampshire primary.
>> He gains his front-runner
status in a crowded field.
>> He's pulling ahead
in virtually every
Super Tuesday state.
>> NARRATOR: In one state
after another...
>> We love Nevada.
We love Nevada, thank you.
>> NARRATOR: ...Trump proved
that he could use his base
of working class voters to win.
>> It's mostly white, they don't
like political correctness,
they feel like they can't speak
their mind at home or at work,
so they want something else.
Trump strolls in, he says
exactly what they want to hear.
>> We are going to make...
>> This makes back-to-back
victories for...
>> Donald Trump dominating
his third consecutive...
>> Donald Trump is
a professional political
wrecking ball...
>> NARRATOR: Finally his
opponents had
to take him seriously.
>> At that point the
establishment suddenly wakes up
and says, "We've got to do
something.
"We've got to go after him.
We can't ignore him anymore."
>> He's a race-baiting,
xenophobic, religious bigot.
And you know how you make
America great again?
Tell Donald Trump to go to hell.
>> The establishment feared him
for a lot of reasons.
One, he was not of them.
Two, he didn't play
by their rules.
And three, they genuinely
thought he was a threat,
certainly to the Republican
Party, to conservatism,
and if he got that far,
to the nation.
>> Guys, we have a con artist
as the frontrunner
in the Republican Party.
A guy who has made a career out
of telling people lies.
>> He was a shock to the
Republican establishment
and they did everything they
could, for the most part,
to prevent him.
>> Donald Trump is a phony,
a fraud.
His promises are as worthless
as a degree from
Trump University.
He's playing the members of the
American public for suckers.
>> Every time the establishment
attacked Trump,
it played into the narrative
that they wanted
to put out there, which was that
he was so anti-establishment,
they were going to do anything
that they could to take
him down.
>> This man is a pathological
liar.
He lies practically every word
that comes out of his mouth.
>> Tonight,
live from the Peace Center
in Greenville, South Carolina...
>> NARRATOR: On the debate
stage, Trump hit back.
>> You are the single
biggest liar,
you probably are worse
than Jeb Bush.
You are the single biggest liar.
>> One by one, each rival comes
at him.
He throws them away.
>> This guy lies.
Two days ago he said he would
take his pants off
and moon everybody.
>> Tosses a barb in their
direction,
diminishes them personally.
>> And then he tells me,
"Oh, my language
was a little bit rough."
>> Destroys their record.
>> This little guy has lied
so much about my record.
>> Donald Trump had the ability
to just grab the microphone,
just trample over people.
That was entertaining.
It was different.
>> He hit my hands.
Nobody has ever hit my hands.
I've never heard of this...
Look at those hands.
Are they small hands?
And he referred to my hands,
if they're small,
something else must be small.
I guarantee you
there's no problem.
I guarantee it.
>> It was ruthless political
performance by Donald Trump.
He had nothing to lose
and he owed nothing
to the Republican Party.
So instead of standing there as
a member of a party
trying to get the nomination,
he was there for Trump.
That changed everything.
>> Scott Walker is quitting
the presidential race...
>> NARRATOR: One by one...
>> Carly Fiorina and Chris
Christie have suspended
their campaigns.
>> NARRATOR: Trump's
competitors began to fall off.
>> Neurosurgeon Ben Carson
dropping out of the 2016...
>> NARRATOR: But on the campaign
trail, at some rallies,
things were increasingly ugly.
>> The anger only increased
as it got farther along.
>> It became completely
acceptable.
It became okay to come to a
Trump rally and wear a shirt
that says Hillary Clinton
is a C-(bleep)-(bleep)-T.
>> Lock her up! Lock her up...
>> NARRATOR: And there were
some in the crowds
with a darker agenda.
>> The campaign is continually
dogged by a small
and vocal number of white
supremacists,
Klansmen, neo-Nazis.
>> Some would come in wearing
Confederate flags
on their t-shirts.
>> This isn't a very large
group of people,
but they are very vocal.
And they attach themselves
to Trump.
>> Trump, whenever there was
a moment to draw a line
between himself and these
extreme parts
of the voting bloc, he refused.
I think without question, the
only way you can interpret that
is that he was going to use
these groups to try to build
this coalition.
>> NARRATOR: It wasn't long
before anti-Trump protestors
began to show up inside
the rallies.
>> There's a guy,
totally disruptive,
throwing punches.
I love the old days.
Do you know what they used
to do to guys like that
when they were in a place
like this?
They'd be carried out
on a stretcher, folks.
I'd like to punch him
in the face, I'll tell you.
>> You start seeing these
really ugly moments
at the rallies, um,
with protesters,
some of whom are nonwhite
protestors, getting treated
very violently by his
supporters.
Trump himself seemed to incite
his supporters
to go after protestors.
>> Knock the crap out of him,
would you?
Just knock the hell...
I promise you I will pay for
the legal fees, I promise.
I promise.
>> NARRATOR: Trump didn't just
turn on protestors,
he also directed the anger
at the media.
>> Absolute dishonest,
absolute scum.
Remember that.
Scum. Scum.
>> NARRATOR: NBC's Katy Tur
became a frequent target
after one of her reports.
>> She's back there.
Little Katy.
She's back there.
>> He calls me out at the rally,
"Look back there, little Katy,
she's back there."
And I was like, "What?"
>> What a lie it was.
(crowd booing)
No, what a lie, Katie Tur.
What a lie it was from NBC
to have written that.
It was a total lie.
>> We are surrounded on all
sides with people
who are fired up and angry.
>> Third-rate reporter,
remember that, third rate.
Third rate.
>> And they're whipped up
by Donald Trump.
I described it as like, you
know, an unchained beast
roaring at you in a crowd.
And the whole... the whole place
turns at me, looks at me,
and boos.
(cheers)
>> NARRATOR: By July,
Donald Trump headed
to the G.O.P. convention
after soundly defeating
the establishment candidates.
>> Let's face it, he was larger
than the Republican Party.
In fact, his nomination was
the hostile takeover
of the Republican Party.
In this case the Republican
Party is just a vehicle to get
his name on the ballot.
But his reach was always
greater
than the Republican Party's
reach.
>> NARRATOR: He had won
the nomination
of a divided Republican Party.
Now he would see if he could
apply the same strategy
to winning the presidency
of a divided country.
>> Our convention occurs at a
moment of crisis for our nation.
The attacks on our police and
the terrorism of our cities
threaten our very way of life.
>> But I think the essential
message there was, you have been
neglected and abused
by the powers that be,
whether they are politicians
or the media or academia,
or Hollywood.
All of those folks are
conspiring against you,
the good, right-thinking
middle Americans.
>> I have joined
the political arena
so that the powerful can
no longer beat up on people
who cannot defend themselves.
(cheers and applause)
Nobody knows the system
better than me.
(laughter and applause)
Which is why I alone can fix it.
>> He just said, "Me.
"I'm the only person that can
do this.
You have to support me."
That's the language
of a strongman.
That's the language that you
hear in autocratic societies.
(cheering)
>> I had at least five reporters
approach me and say,
"Didn't you think Trump's speech
was too dark?"
And I told them all,
"No, I think the country
"is in deep trouble.
"We're in very dire times.
"And to pussyfoot around that
and claim things are great
"is a mistake.
And we need a strongman."
>> Hillary!
Hillary! Hillary!
>> And so, my friends...
>> NARRATOR: Just one week
later,
at the Democratic Convention,
Hillary Clinton accepted
her party's nomination.
>> That I accept your nomination
for president
of the United States!
>> NARRATOR: Clinton's strategy
was to draw on Obama's legacy
and bet big on diversity.
>> This is a time of change
for America and it's a time
to take stock and reaffirm
the values
that we hold as Americans.
And that meant embracing
the diversity.
>> Please welcome Khizr Khan.
>> NARRATOR: One moment turned
out to be the centerpiece
of their efforts--
a speech by the father
of a Muslim American soldier
killed in combat.
>> If it was up to Donald
Trump, he never would have been
in America.
Donald Trump consistently
smears the character
of Muslims.
He disrespects other minorities,
women, judges, even his own
party leadership.
>> I don't think anybody or very
few people who were planning
the convention thought simply
that moment alone
would be as powerful as it was.
>> Donald Trump:
Have you even read
the United States Constitution?
(cheers and applause)
I will... I will gladly lend you
my copy.
>> NARRATOR: As he watched
Khan's speech, Trump saw
an opportunity to go
on the attack.
>> I was viciously attacked
by Mr. Khan
at the Democratic Convention.
>> And his advisors thought
this was not a good idea.
He shouldn't have done it.
But Donald Trump
just can't help himself.
>> Mr. Khan, who does not know
me, viciously attacked me
from the stage of the D.N.C.
and is now all over TV doing
the same.
Nice!
>> The Khan episode illustrates
Donald's major flaw,
is he can't let something go
and he can't notice
that he's losing a fight
until he's really lost it.
>> Now on "This Week"...
>> He went after Khan's wife,
Gazal.
>> If you look at his wife,
she was standing there.
She had nothing to say.
She probably... maybe she wasn't
allowed to have anything to say.
You tell me, but plenty of
people have written that.
>> Amid mounting backlash
over Trump's comments,
his campaign went into damage
control mode.
>> NARRATOR: Veterans groups
were outraged.
>> At least two new polls show
Hillary Clinton
with a widening lead over Trump.
>> NARRATOR: As Trump's poll
numbers collapsed...
>> Republicans in particular
have been quick to respond...
>> NARRATOR: Republican leaders
further distanced themselves.
>> Republican Senator John
McCain offered
a scathing rebuke...
>> And his advisors are
horrified.
I mean, this is like... this is
political suicide.
And, um, they say to Trump,
you know,
"You know you just attacked
a Gold Star family."
And he said,
"Well, what's that?"
Trump just sees it as a personal
attack and it's within his right
to go on the counterattack.
>> Trump's ongoing battle
with the family of U.S. Army
Captain Humayun Khan...
>> NARRATOR: Virtually all the
professionals expected Trump
to change his tactics,
to pivot.
>> Everybody always wanted
to mold Mr. Trump
into their own image of what a
candidate should look like,
what a president should
look like.
And if there's one thing that
wasn't going to change
about Mr. Trump was that he was
going to stay true to himself,
you know,
whatever that means, and that...
that if he was going to win this
campaign, he was going to do it
on his own terms.
>> NARRATOR: With barely 80 days
before the election,
Trump shook up his campaign and
brought in Steve Bannon,
the chairman of the right-wing
website Breitbart.
>> Bannon is a bomb thrower.
Bannon joins the campaign
because Bannon has
a superior knowledge of
alternative media
combined with the fact that he
is kind of a swashbuckler
and a revolutionary, a guy who
can think outside the box.
>> NARRATOR: It was a sign Trump
was doubling down.
>> Steve Bannon has made
very clear
all through his recent career,
his goal is to blow up
the establishment.
It's to take down the government
as we know it.
It's to destroy the Republican
Party as it was constituted.
I mean, he is a disrupter in,
you know,
in almost every way.
>> NARRATOR: As his new
campaign manager,
another unconventional pick:
a pollster, Kellyanne Conway,
who had bad news for Trump.
>> On that day, I told him,
I said, "What's going on?
"Because you're running against
the most joyless candidate
"in presidential political
history
and this place is starting
to seem like it."
And he said, "No."
And I said,
"I've looked at the polls."
He said, "the polls."
And I said, "I've looked at the
polls and we're losing.
But we don't need to lose,
you should be winning."
>> Trump is hoping to finally
put that controversy behind him.
>> NARRATOR: They faced a
formidable challenge.
>> NARRATOR: The first
presidential debate.
>> As Trump and Clinton get
ready to go head to head...
>> What will likely be the most
watched political showdown
in American history...
>> NARRATOR: As he had
throughout his campaign,
Trump was willing to gamble--
he'd rely on his instincts,
not preparation.
>> There's actually a point
of pride
that he doesn't have to prepare.
He values raw ability
over study.
So he wanted to prove that he
was right about that.
>> NARRATOR: Trump
mocked Clinton for spending
so much of her time preparing
for the debate.
>> You know, you've seen me,
I've been all over the place.
You decided to stay home,
and that's okay.
>> Arguably he was the worst
prepared candidate
in the history of American
politics
when he stepped up against
Hillary Clinton
for that first debate,
and it showed.
>> I think Donald just
criticized me
for preparing for this debate.
And, yes, I did.
And you know what else
I prepared for?
I prepared to be president.
And I think that's a good thing.
>> She knew how to get
under his skin.
She had been practicing.
She had been studying him.
>> Donald thinks that climate
change is a hoax
perpetrated by the Chinese.
I think it's real.
I think science is real.
>> I do not... I did not...
I do not say that.
>> Her team knew
what were his...
knew what his buttons were.
And she just started unleashing
them one after the other.
>> You call yourself
the King of Debt.
You talk about leverage.
You even at one time suggested
that you would try
to negotiate down the...
>> Wrong.
>> ...national debt
of the United States.
>> Wrong.
>> And he lost... he lost
control of the debate.
>> Let me say this...
>> There's nothing crazy about
not letting our companies
bring their money back into
their country.
>> This is... this is Secretary
Clinton's two minutes, please.
>> I have a feeling that
by the end of this evening
I'm going to be blamed for
everything that's ever happened.
>> Why not?
>> Why not, yeah.
Why not?
>> Hillary Clinton was
very artful in getting
under Mr. Trump's skin
and bringing up the issues
that were like putting,
you know, gasoline on a fire.
>> One of the worst things he
said was about a woman
in a beauty contest.
And, he called this woman
"Miss Piggy."
Then he called her
"Miss Housekeeping,"
because she was Latina.
Donald, she has a name.
>> Where did you find this?
Where did you find this?
Where did you find it?
>> Her name is Alicia Machado
and she has become
a U.S. citizen and you can bet
she's going to vote
this November.
>> Oh really?
Okay, okay, good.
>> NARRATOR: Trump would insist
he had won.
>> ...our debate
for this evening.
>> He was crushed
in the first debate.
I don't care whatever
pronouncements he wants to make.
He was crushed
by every possible...
Our focus group thought
he was awful.
>> ...down in Palm Beach.
I moved on her and I failed.
I'll admit it.
>> NARRATOR: It would get
even worse for Trump.
>> NARRATOR: Just two days
before the second debate,
an un-aired video from the TV
show Access Hollywood.
>> There was one account after
another about Donald Trump
attacking women, groping women,
saying nasty things about women.
But the moment that counts is
the moment this is on video.
>> Here's a guy who's making
crude, disgusting jokes
and the father in you,
the brother in you comes out,
and the husband in you.
And you can't defend it.
>> The Trump camp has swiftly
launched into disaster mode...
>> A big, big development in
this campaign as it comes to...
>> Right after that tape
came out,
suddenly everybody on the Trump
team went radio silent.
Everyone.
>> This was the October
surprise.
Had the ability to take down
a campaign.
And the internal discussion
amongst the campaign, some were,
"You need to apologize
immediately,"
and some were
"You need to double down."
>> Donald Trump's campaign,
its worst crisis ever.
>> We keep being told,
"He is going to come on TV.
"He is going to say something.
He is going to apologize."
And it gets delayed and delayed.
And finally he comes out there
and it's an apology of sorts.
>> I've never said I'm a perfect
person, nor pretended
to be someone that I'm not.
I've said and done things
I regret,
and the words released today
on this
more than a decade-old video
are one of them.
>> And so he went on Facebook
later that night
and gave what was, by Trump's
standards, a contrite apology.
But then he went on the attack.
>> Bill Clinton has actually
abused women,
and Hillary has bullied,
attacked, shamed
and intimidated his victims.
>> I think Trump being Trump,
his only instinct in those
moments when his back
is against the wall is to just
go on the counter-attack.
>> We will discuss this more
in the coming days.
See you at the debate
on Saturday.
>> I think with the exception
of maybe one or two people,
everyone thought
that that was the end.
How do you survive this?
How do you survive
this?
As a Republican, how do you
survive advocating or saying
you're allowed to grab women
in their private parts
because you're a star?
That is just not something
that anybody can survive.
>> I think the question now is,
how do Republicans down the
ballot break away from him?
>> NARRATOR: The next day
he appeared outside Trump Tower.
To many it seemed like
his candidacy was over.
>> I called Trump the day
after Access Hollywood.
And I ask him point blank, "Are
you going to quit the race?"
That's what was
on everyone's minds.
And he says,
"Costa, I've lived life.
"I've seen so much in my life,
"business, personal,
this is nothing.
"I've survived everything else.
I'm going to survive this."
And I kept asking him, "Are you
going to quit the race?"
"There's no chance I quit,"
he said.
"Not one chance.
I am in this to the end."
(cheering)
>> NARRATOR: Donald Trump,
undaunted, then headed
to the second
presidential debate.
>> He showed up, and he was
impervious to the naysayers
and critics who were all trying
to push him out of the race.
>> NARRATOR: Trump had
a surprise of his own
just before the debate was
to begin.
>> Next thing I know-- and no
one in the press knew
this was happening-- there was
a press conference
with all Bill Clinton's accusers
right before the debate.
>> These four very courageous
women have asked to be here...
>> NARRATOR: Trump had invited
four women to the debate,
women who had accused Bill and
Hillary Clinton of wrongdoing.
Charges the Clinton's
had denied.
>> There was widespread shock.
Nobody had it beforehand.
>> The genius part of Donald
Trump was he didn't announce
these women were coming.
He just had them
at a table and said,
"The media's welcome to come in
right before the debate."
And the media was stunned.
Because the media couldn't
fathom
doing something like this.
>> NARRATOR: Standing
in the back of the room,
the man who had orchestrated
the event: Steve Bannon.
>> Mr. Trump may have said some
bad words,
but Bill Clinton raped me and
Hillary Clinton threatened me.
I don't think there's
any comparison.
>> It was to show America that
he believed certain things
about the Clintons that many
Americans also believe.
And that he was going
to stand up for them
against the Clintons
in a way that was so tough
and really so ruthless
that it gave some satisfaction
to people who hate the Clintons.
>> Okay.
Thank you all very much.
We appreciate it.
>> By bringing the accusers to
the debate, he put that issue
front and center and forced
voters out there to remember,
in a sense, what it is that
they didn't like
about Hillary Clinton.
(applause)
>> NARRATOR: This time on the
debate stage, Trump stayed
on the offensive.
>> We have a divided nation,
because people like her.
And believe me, she has
tremendous hate in her heart.
She's got tremendous hatred
and this country cannot take
another four years
of Barack Obama
and that's what you're getting
with her.
>> I don't think there was any
moment in the campaign
in which there was a more
divergent interpretation
among political professionals
and members
of Trump's vast and growing army
of supporters.
>> When you talk about apology,
I think the one that you should
really be apologizing for
and the thing that you should be
apologizing for
are the 33,000 emails
that you deleted,
and that you acid washed.
>> Hillary Clinton, who is
clearly much more measured
and programmed than Trump.
On the other hand, he's so much
more of a live wire,
that by contrast she seems
overly programmed.
>> Allow her to respond, please.
>> Personal emails,
not official.
>> 33,000?
>> Well, we turned over 35,000,
so...
>> Oh yeah, what about
the other 15,000?
>> Please allow her to respond,
she didn't talk while you
talked.
>> Yes, that's true, I didn't.
>> Because you had nothing
to say.
>> I didn't in the first debate
and I'm going to try not...
>> He's mocked for this during
and after the debate,
kind of stalking around that
debate, kind of stalking her.
He's, you know, ridiculed for
suggesting that he's going
to put her in jail.
>> If I win, I am going to 
instruct my attorney general
to get a special prosecutor
to look into your situation,
because there has never been so
many lies, so much deception,
there has never been anything
like it.
>> When he looked her straight
in the eye and said that,
"There should be a commission to
study the crimes you've done."
And to my surprise my focus
group said, "Absolutely."
Even those who supported Hillary
Clinton want to see
these candidates held
accountable.
>> We have to move on, Secretary
Clinton you can respond,
but we've got to move on.
>> We want to give the audience
a chance here.
>> So, for what the media saw
as Third World dictatorial
politics, our voters saw
as one candidate holding the
other candidate accountable.
>> It's just awfully good that
someone with the temperament
of Donald Trump is not in charge
of the law in our country.
>> Because you'd be in jail.
(applause)
>> We want to remind the
audience to please not talk
out loud, please do not applaud,
you're just wasting time.
>> When I speak, I go out
and speak,
the people of this country
are furious...
>> He was speaking the language
of the American people.
That he was holding
Hillary Clinton accountable.
You wouldn't know that if you
lived in New York
or Los Angeles, but you would
know that
if you were doing focus groups
in Columbus, Ohio,
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,
or in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
>> NARRATOR: Back out
on the campaign trail
Trump's anti-establishment
message continued to resonate.
>> And we are going to drain
the swamp.
We're going to drain the swamp.
We're going to drain the swamp,
folks.
>> That was how Donald Trump
started out the campaign.
>> We're going to drain
that swamp.
>> By saying things that were
anathema
to the establishment,
but that had resonance
in the base of support that he
was able to cobble together.
>> Build the wall!
Build the wall! Build the wall!
>> Yes, maybe he has offended
me, and maybe he's offensive,
but I'm still out of work.
I'm still mad that people are
pouring over the borders.
And I'm still mad that ISIS is
still attacking people
all over the globe.
And you know what, I'm just
going to stick with him.
>> NARRATOR: With time running
out, Trump's chances of winning
still seemed slim.
But the race would be shaken up
by an unlikely source:
Wikileaks.
>> Breaking news here.
Wikileaks is about to release
"significant material"
tied to Hillary Clinton.
>> The campaign is doing damage
control tonight
after Wikileaks releases more...
>> NARRATOR: Tens of thousands
of private emails
from Clinton campaign chairman
John Podesta were released.
>> There are some embarrassing
details...
>> This was a daily phenomenon.
>> Both at home and abroad
in all of this...
>> It was a constant, uh, you
know, pain to our campaign. 
>> ...flood of emails suggest
that in private
her advisors like to tee off
on everyone,
from Catholics to Latinos
and Southerners...
>> NARRATOR: Day after day,
the stories continued.
>> That she couldn't convey
a clear message to voters...
>> It was incredibly damaging,
because every day there were
bad stories coming out.
And they could be perfectly
timed.
>> Robby Mook lashed out
writing,
"Wow, what a terrorist."
>> It was anxiety provoking.
You just don't know what's going
to come out on any day.
And that you're going to have
to deal with that.
>> More than 2,000 emails...
They claim they came from her...
>> NARRATOR: The first emails
began to trickle out
less than an hour after
the Access Hollywood video.
>> The Access Hollywood tape was
a big surge
but then, you know,
after it had run 400 times
on television it fell off.
The Podesta emails kept getting
dribbled out
news cycle after news cycle
after news cycle,
and it lives forever.
>> NARRATOR:
There were media reports
that intelligence agencies
believed the leaks
were orchestrated by Russia.
But that didn't seem
to bother Trump.
>> Wikileaks is amazing.
The stuff that's coming out.
It shows she's a real liar.
This Wikileaks stuff is
unbelievable,
it tells you the inner heart,
you got to read it.
Wikileaks, I love WikiLeaks.
>> NARRATOR: After the election,
intelligence agencies would go
further, concluding
that the leaks were part
of a larger campaign
ordered by Russian
president Vladimir Putin
to help elect Donald Trump.
>> It was cyber
mixed with information warfare
and the press,
the New York Times included,
became the handmaiden
to the process,
because these emails couldn't
be ignored as news.
They were newsy.
They were out there.
It's not like you could ignore
it and not write about it.
But in writing about it,
you're doing the work that
Vladimir Putin had in mind.
>> NARRATOR: Then in the final
days as Hillary Clinton
struggled to hold onto
her lead, another crisis.
>> An L.A. Times reporter
came up
to our traveling press
secretary, Nick Merrill,
and said, "Hey, have you heard
anything about some reopening
of the investigation
by the F.B.I.?"
>> I kept thinking this can't
be, this has to be a mistake.
It's got to be referring
to something else.
>> NARRATOR: The F.B.I.
director, James Comey,
was resuming an investigation of
Clinton's personal email server.
>> And I just remember this pit
in my stomach
and really worrying
that this could change the game
completely,
in a, you know, in a potentially
lethal way.
>> NARRATOR: Mook and Palmieri
briefed Clinton.
>> When I went to tell her,
I said, "I've got some news."
And she said,
"Okay, what's your news?"
And I said, "It's bad news."
So, um, she said,
"Okay, what's the bad news?"
And so I told her.
And she said, "I knew we
weren't going three weeks
without something else
hitting us."
>> That pit in my stomach,
you know, I'll never forget
that feeling, that, um, we just
got smacked
by a two-by-four and it
came out of nowhere.
>> NARRATOR: Donald Trump
immediately seized on the news.
>> I need to open
with a very critical
breaking news announcement.
(crowd cheering)
The F.B.I. has just sent
a letter to Congress,
informing them that they have
discovered
new emails pertaining to the
former secretary of state,
Hillary Clinton's,
investigation.
(crowd cheering)
>> Lock her up!
Lock her up! Lock her up!
(cheering continues)
>> And they are reopening
the case into her criminal
and illegal conduct that
threatens
the security of the United
States of America.
(crowd shouting)
>> To win you need
a few breaks.
The F.B.I. announcement was such
a break,
certainly not controlled
by the Trump campaign,
but it really did throw
all the cards up in the air
at a pivotal time.
>> We are going to drain
the swamp.
>> NARRATOR: For the next week
and a half...
>> We are going
to re-negotiate...
>> NARRATOR: Trump traveled
the country
building on that momentum.
>> And we will keep radical
Islamic terrorists...
>> NARRATOR: Staying
on message...
>> ...the hell out...
>> NARRATOR: Off Twitter...
>> We will build a great wall.
>> NARRATOR: Inside his campaign
they hoped it would be enough.
>> And we will make America
great again.
>> It was the first time that
Mr. Trump was relatively
scandal-free at that point.
A lot of things had gone away.
Secretary Clinton was
in the spotlight by herself.
And we saw a spike in numbers
that were just uncommon for
anything that we've seen before.
That was really the catalyst for
the roll, the snowball effect
that continued to happen
till Election Day.
>> NARRATOR: In the final days
of the campaign,
he solidified the Republican
base and in rally after rally,
he tried to win over voters
in the heart of the blue wall,
states a Republican hadn't won
in a generation.
>> In all these steel towns that
have carcasses of factories,
buildings where they used to
have molten metal, no more.
But you know what was there?
Trump signs.
>> Today is decision day in
America and we are taking a look
at the presidential race...
>> After a long, contentious
presidential race
we are near the end...
>> Donald Trump will carry
the state of Florida
with its 29 electoral...
>> Donald Trump has won
the state of Wisconsin,
and there goes her blue wall.
>> This means that Donald Trump
will be the 45th president
of the United States.
>> NARRATOR: As a candidate,
he had broken all the rules.
Now in the White House,
he promises to do the same.
>> You guys need to get used
to it that there is no pivot,
that there is no normal, and the
fact that there is no normal
is the new normal.
The only thing that is
predictable
is the unpredictability
of Washington, D.C.,
from this point forward.
So get used to it.
Buckle your seat belts, sit
back, because it is going to be
a wild ride.
>> From this day forward, a new
vision will govern our land.
 >> On the front line of Iraq's
 fight against ISIS.
>> The distance between war
and civilian life
is almost nonexistent.
>> Correspondent Ghaith
 Abdul-Ahad is inside
 the besieged city of Mosul.
>> This is the other entrance
of the building.
>> Witnessing firsthand
 the casualties
 and the army's determination
 to take the city back.
 "Battle for Iraq."
>> Go to pbs.org/frontline,
 where you can read extended
 interviews
 with Kellyanne Conway...
>> Which we don't need to lose.
You should be winning.
>> John Podesta...
>> Pain to our campaign...
>> And others.
>> ...incredibly damaging.
>> I'm all in.
>> Explore an interactive
 feature on the film
 with primary sources, video
 and additional context
 in collaboration
 with Duke University.
 Connect to the Frontline 
 community
 on Facebook and Twitter.
 Then sign up for our newsletter
 at pbs.org/frontline.
>> For more on this and other 
 Frontline programs,
visit our website
at pbs.org/frontline.
>> Frontline's "Trump's Road
to the White House"
is available on DVD.
To order, visit shopPBS.org
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