Courting Condi (2008) - full transcript

The first time I saw her…

I remember it very clearly.

It was like, I was there with her.

I mean,
there was this sense of awe,

the sound of the TV
almost like dropped out,

and I just-- I couldn't
take my eyes off of her.

In America,
with education and hard work,

it really does not matter
where you came from,

it matters only where you are going.

[applause]

Literally, my heart
skipped a beat when I saw her.



This is my secret that I've been
walking around with for years.

Cheers, Mom!

May you live as long as you want,

and never want as long as you live.

That's good. I like that one.

- Okay.
- That's very good.

You look nervous,
what have you got to tell me?

Ah... I have--

I have--

I've found someone.

Really?

- Yeah.
- Good.

- Who?
- Um...

For the last...



six years or so, um...

I...

I've been in love with, uh...

The Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice.

[laughs]

Oh, Condi, Condi,
I'm begging on my knees

The desperate outlaws
from Baghdad to Belgrade

are still there
and must be dealt with.

[applause]

Oh, Condi, Condi

She's one of the most
powerful women in the world

and she's also the girl next door.

Your quest is a way
to frame Condi's story.

I want to shine light on
this extraordinary woman

very few people
know anything about.

Oh, Condi, Condi
Oh, Condi, Condi

I was born and bred
in New York City

on the Upper West Side.

I've always had
a passion for music

and it's always been my dream
to get signed by a major label...

[rock music]

But now I've had a new dream.

It's time for me to find her

and to win her heart.

If I'm gonna stand a chance,

I've got to learn
everything about her.

Talk to the people
who know her best,

so I've agreed to let
my friend Sebastian

make a documentary
about my courtship.

In return,
he's going to help me to meet her.

This is my best shot for finding
love, I can't blow it now.

We start in Alabama
where she was born.

We then go to Denver
where she found her calling

to go from Denver to Stanford
all the way to Washington, D.C.

where she currently resides
and where she came to power.

I'm being deadly serious.

Mom, she's one of the most...

I thought you were gay.

This is something that I did
not even want to tell you now.

I feel like an idiot that I got
talked into telling you.

I think you're-- I think
you think you really are, right?

I think your brain's
a little addlepated right now.

It's -- I don't know, honey,
but you know, I know,

I know being in love
is very close to being insane.

So you have no intention
of getting an apartment?

The money
that you have been saving,

- you've been working towards...
- Yes.

...That you were going
to use for an apartment

you're going to use on some...

demented odyssey?

No! I'm using the money
that I've been saving to get--

For the apartment.

Well, or a house to share with her.

You can't even do
your own laundry.

Dad, she has people to do...

Condoleezza Rice,
are you fucking nuts?!

So what are you looking at?

Hold on,
I wanna show you something.

It's-- it's hard to imagine
my life without music.

I certainly find it as a way

to completely transport
into another world.

My secret weapon is music.

It's the thing that we
have the most in common.

I have always had really
eclectic taste in music.

I love very, very hard rock;
rhythm and blues;

Motown.

Some mornings it's Brahms
some mornings it's Cream.

So tell us about the films
you've been making for her.

Love discs are love letters
in music and pictures.

I've been making them
for the past five years,

but I've only sent one out.

This is my first love disc ever.

It's a little dated,
but I'm still rather proud of it.

[music]

I'll hold your hand,
together we'll stand

On the brink of a brand-new day

No more god-awful stuff

Darlin', you've had enough

And I've come to take you away

With each cowardly blow

No matter how low they go

I'll pick you up and carry you away

I'm your knight in shining armor

You're my damsel
who's had too much stress

Chill, Condi, chill

Chill, Condi, chill

...and that's enough of that.

That was five years ago and they
have gotten better since then.

I have had my share of the ladies,

but none of them have
been as accomplished

or as talented
or as interesting as she is.

Compared to her they're
as deep as a shot glass.

When I think of all the men
in her life, you know, all these

powerful professional men,

I just can't believe that
she hasn't been snagged up yet.

Oh, wouldn't we all
love to find somebody that

you'd want to live
the rest of your life with?

Sure, but I've never thought
you wanted to get married

in the abstract.

You want to get
married to someone.

I think with the love discs
that you're helping me to make,

how can she resist?

This is a song
I wrote called Invisible.

[music]

All my life, I've done nothing

There's been no hope,
I've been waiting

To give my love

People see through me

I am invisible through and through

And then I saw
you in a sea of blank faces

Amid all the people you stood alone

You looked right through them

And you saw me

I've been invisible
till I found you

Where did
the inspiration come from?

Well, a lot of people have
a lot of pretentious answers

about their inspiration,
but I just-- it just-- it--

it comes to me

when I think about her.

Condi is my muse.

[music]

[applause]

I'm about to head off to Alabama.

Very excited.

This is the first love
disc that you and I

have created together.

Sending it off to her.

Here we go.

Oh my God, I just did it.
[laughs]

[traffic noises]

Now I'm a man, I'm a man

Man, I am blood,
sausage and sorrow

And they'll never know, they'll
never know, they'll never know

What I got to give you,
don't you know

[PA announcement]

From day one, I had great
respect for Condoleezza Rice.

[music]

I'm a great admirer
of Secretary Rice.

I think she's a great American.

[music]

Look at this face!
Beauty and intelligence.

That’s great.

[music]

I grew up in a very nice, sheltered

little middle-class
community in Birmingham.

My mother was
a school teacher,

my father was a minister
and a high school guidance counselor

and I'm still friends with a lot of
the kids from that community.

Vanessa, very nice to meet you.

I'm Sebastian.
I'm the director.

Hi, how are you doing?

Now let me introduce you to Devin.

Uh, Devin is
our love-struck courtier.

- Pleasure to meet you.
- Hi, how are you doing, Devin?

I'm just a normal guy.

- How are you?
- Yes.

So when did you first meet Condi?

We were both five years old.

I moved across
the street from her.

She was literally
the girl next door?

Yeah.
It's the girl across the street.

- Across the street?
- Across the street.

- Yes.
- Wow.

Okay, we're going
to see the hospital.

This is where
it all started, right?

Is this where
Condoleezza was born?

- Yeah.
- In this hospital?

In this hospital.

Why was this all boarded?
Why is it all boarded up now?

Look, Devin,
this is how it looked in 1954.

Look at those cars.
Those old cars.

Yeah, that was 1954.

Oh, why did they let this go?

I mean this should be a landmark.

She was born here
November 14, 1954.

- She was born November 14th.
- Why is that special?

That's when my mother was born.

That's this-- that's
my mother's birthday.

Your mother's birthday
is November 14th?

- Yes.
- Oh, okay.

Look.
Take a look.

November 14th.

Oh, okay, that's mom's birthday.

Yeah, that's mom's-- Yeah.

Mom's birthday.

You gonna get one that says
Condi on that side?

- Yes!
- [laughs]

We're going around
and see what it looks like.

- See.
- I'm Father Alex.

- Nice to meet you.
- Father Alex?

- Pleasure. Pleasure to meet you.
- This is Vanessa.

I'm Vanessa.

Do you have any idea
why they would close--

why they would close this hospital?

Because of
the civil rights movement,

other hospitals in Birmingham

became accessible
to African Americans,

so this hospital no longer
had an appeal or a need

as it did at one time where
you couldn't have a child, a baby,

except at this hospital
if you were black.

Do you know where
the actual maternity award was?

I'm equally nervous and excited.

It's gonna be dark in here.

Okay.

Wow.

I can't believe
that we're actually here.

[sombre music]

[infants crying in background]

It's said that room 304

was most likely the room
where she was born.

Wait, seriously?

Yes.

Is that really it?

Oh, Devin!

Probably it's two beds.

See?
Probably it's two beds.

[music]

This is the Genesis.
This is where it started.

For the first three years
of my life, we literally lived

in the back of the church

and I'm very
proud of that heritage.

She was a Christian from day one.

In fact, her father
was a preacher and read her

the Ten Commandments
as a little girl.

She prays every day.

She goes to church regularly.

She believes that god
has set forth a plan.

One reason why she doesn't
really look back that much

is she doesn't dwell on the kind
of mistakes she might have made,

because what is happening
is that God's plan is unfolding.

I've never doubted
the existence of God.

My father was a theologian
and I can remember

from the time I was
a very young kid,

debating with him about the Bible

and debating about
this aspect of Jesus life.

He never made me feel
that my faith and my intellect

were at war with one another.

That's where she grew up.

The house is still the same,
except it's a different color.

It was a dark green.

Wow.

See, that's the house.

One year snow, and we
made a big snowman.

- Mm-hmm.
- Right here.

Look at that.

You see that's her on the left
and that's me on the right.

- Yeah, yeah, sure.
- That was January 1962.

And we played outside a lot.
We liked that.

Six years and I never
thought I'd be this close.

How many mornings would she come

racing out the door
to go to school.

There she is with her dolls.

Oh my goodness.

This is right here.

She was standing right here.

Yeah, standing right
there at the bottom the step.

Actually, it's a pretty good ratio

between me
and you and Condi and the doll.

Yeah.
[laughs]

Hi, Maria.
This is Devin.

Hi, how you doing?
Come on in.

Thank you very much.

Wow!

She used to run right through
here outside to meet you and play.

Mm-hmm.

Where do you think the piano was?

I believe the piano
was on this side.

Music played a very
important role in my childhood.

My mother, my grandmother and my
great-grandmother all played piano.

My grandmother
was also a piano teacher

and I would bang at the piano

when she taught her
students trying to emulate

what she was
doing with her students,

so she said to my mother,
"Let's teach her to play."

I was only about
three and as a result

I learned to play very, very young.

I could read music
before I could read.

By the time she was five,

she could play Beethoven
and other classical music.

She was--
she was good as a little girl.

Everybody thought music
was going to be her career.

You've gotten this far.
Come on in and look.

Now you're actually in the room.

You're actually in the room.

Can you believe it?

[laughter]

She would read her books
and do her homework here.

And had a doll collection.

She had a lot of dolls.

[laughter]

I remember going over
to her house with my mom

and she had all her
dolls all nice in a row

and kept them all cute
and then we would sit them down

at little tables and have tea parties.

They would be our
friends at the tea party.

Was she a good tea host?

She was always polite and offer
you what she had, you know.

She was the girl next door.

She went to church with us.

She bowled and she became the most
powerful woman in the world.

Just because she was a woman
and just because she was black

did not stop her from doing
what she wanted to do.

Our parents told us, "All right,
it may be that you can't have

a hamburger at
the Woolworth's lunch counter

and it may be that you can't go
to this amusement park Kiddyland,

but don't worry,
you can do anything you want.

Your horizon should be limitless."

John Rice who was
a Presbyterian minister

was the most important
person in Condoleezza Rice's life.

Kind of a big mountain of a man,

who really believed the most
important thing he could do

for black children, uh,
including his daughter

was to give them
a sense of self and pride.

Segregation wouldn't
matter in your life;

racism would not
matter in your life,

you can be whatever you want to be

regardless of whatever the outside
world tries to enforce upon you.

When you were in school
in segregated Birmingham,

teachers said unashamedly,

"You will have to work
twice as hard to get ahead

and if you really
want to get ahead,

you may have to work
three times as hard"

and they never said,
"And isn't that unfair?"

They stated it in the most
matter-of-fact way

and it did teach us all
to sort of get on with life.

[school bell]

I think Condoleezza
is a really good example

because she's someone
who came from this community.

It allows our children to see that,
you know, people that come from

this community can do great things,
so I would say a role model.

I came to school here because
my uncle taught school here

at Brunetta C. Hill,
and so at the end of the day,

I would go home with my uncle.

What do you think
Condoleezza would think of me?

Well, I would say
she would have to meet you.

You seem to be friendly.

I think you would
have to like music.

I play the piano too.

Oh, well, oh she would love that.

You all could do a duet together.

Oh, that sounds pretty good to me.

[music]

[guitar playing]

Was I...

[Singing under his breath]

Birmingham is a symbol of hardcore
resistance to integration.

It is probably the most
thoroughly segregated city

in the United States.

She came of age in the critical
years of multi-racial America

when it was really make or break.

Was segregation gonna
survive or be knocked out?

I remember very well in 1963
when Birmingham was so violent

when it acquired
the name Bombingham.

Even with my
wonderfully protective family,

you had to wonder, why
are they doing this to us?

Condoleezza was very seldom seen.

She was an assistant when
I would cut the grass at the church

across the street,
Westminster Presbyterian.

I sometimes would go to the house
with a lawn mower, stuff like that,

I could see her
peeping out the door.

See, she was a kept-in child.

There were certain areas
in this city like

walking to the store at night,

my mom would
not let me walk alone.

I would have to go with at
least one or two of my brothers

for the fear of the night riders.

[music]

I wonder if she ever
saw any of these people.

I wonder if she ever encountered

these wraith-like images
coming up to her.

Such a symbol of hate and fear.

This is the church
that turned things around

September 15, '63.

You see the cornerstone
on the church?

- Mm-hmm.
- Those first windows

to the right, this was
the Sunday school area.

They're getting ready
for a Sunday school play.

[glass shatters]

They broke into Saturday
night before, set the bomb.

The bomb went off at 10:22.

Since Sunday school
is from 9:30 to 10:30,

regular church is 11 to 1.

So there was no question
who the-- who the targets were.

- Okay?
- And it was specifically

- set for the children.
- Specifically set for the kids.

The Sunday school
and the Sunday school time.

[music]

It's awful.

These were innocent children.

This was homegrown terrorism.

These little girls weren't
going to hurt anybody.

When the bomb went off,

I don't know where
Condoleezza was.

I know where my daughter was,

she was over at
the 16th street Baptist church.

She was in the little
ladies room downstairs

getting her clothes
changed to whatever

they were going to do that Sunday.

I drove over
to the University Hospital

and that's where we found her

and lying up there on the table

with three other girls
and it was very painful.

Denise McNair was my
little friend from kindergarten

and she was a playmate, you know,

and I just couldn't
believe that she was dead.

What stands out
in Condi Rice's mind

about that bombing is particularly
memories of the funeral.

She recalls being very moved
by seeing those little coffins.

That's an image that has
been emblazoned in her memory.

Who would have
thought in September 1963

when my little
classmate Denise McNair

was killed in the bombing
of that church

that I would stand before
you as Secretary of State.

Condoleezza Rice's father took her
to the White House in Washington.

She was 10 years old.

They looked at the White House,
she said I want to be there.

She was on a mission
from her earliest age

to prove to her
father, to her mother.

Rising up in those very
tough years in Birmingham,

her mission was to get to the top,

to get to the top politically
and that's exactly what she did.

So this time we need
a dedication to I think which is really

tender and warm and sweet.

Action!

Hi, it's Devin Ratray again.

This song that I wrote for--

No.
See in the lens.

See Condi's beautiful face.

I don't see Condi's
beautiful face in the camera,

I see my double chin in the camera.

Well, there's a difference
between what you see in the lens

and what I've got.
And you're looking great.

You're looking very slim

- and very fit.
- Good.

And I have to say,
rather attractive.

- Good.
- Okay. So let's go.

Take two, and action!

Hi, it's Devin Ratray again

and this is a dedication of a song

that I wrote for you, Condoleezza.

Cut.
So a couple of notes.

A little bit warmer please,
a little bit more tender.

Hi, it's Devin Ratray again.

I wrote this song thinking
of you and thinking about

you returning to your roots,

walking through
the streets of Birmingham.

Walking in your
footsteps really inspired me

and I smelled the same air
that filled your sweet lungs.

So I hope you enjoy it
and I hope you get to tell me

in person someday
what you think of it.

Alrighty.

Thanks.

[music]

Standby and...

Action!

I dreamed I took
you back to Alabama

I saw you running
barefoot in the breeze

We sat on the piazza
in each other's arms

In the shadows
of the old orange trees

And I was guiding your hands

Teaching you my song

And to me you were all humanity

Somewhere in my dreams,
my Condoleezza

Where the last leaves
are falling from the trees

You'll never know
you had this power over me

You'll never know
you had this power over me.

We've landed in Colorado.

Condi moved here when
her dad got a job teaching

at the University of Denver.

She entered 10th Grade
when she was only 13.

She's two years younger
than everybody else.

In the last year here,
she was already applying

and taking classes
at Denver University.

She was at both at the same time.
It was amazing.

So we're gonna go talk to
some of her former teachers.

[piano]

Hello.

Hello.

Sorry,
I didn't mean to startle you.

Oh, god.
I'm sorry.

How are you?

- I'm Devin.
- And I'm Ann.

- Hello, Ann, hi.
- I'm Louise.

If you had a classroom
full of Condoleezzas,

you'd think you'd died
and gone to heaven.

She was a senior in my class

and she was going
to DU at the same time.

She was an excellent,
excellent student.

Very serious. Quite astute.

- She aced all of her classes.
- Oh yeah.

All of them.

College as well as high school.

There was no bad subjects.

She was good at
everything she did?

Well, she had
a very academic background.

Her father became
the assistant dean

at the Graduate School
of International Studies

and I think it was
just in the whole family,

they were very, very
dedicated and directive to her.

I think what's happened
to me is 90% upbringing.

I really do believe that my
parents were extraordinary

in what they provided for me
and the kind of self-confidence

that they gave me
and they never said, no,

you shouldn't do that
or you shouldn't try that.

They really had high
expectations for me

and they passed them on.

You know, I think that was
hard on her to be so young

and I think she probably felt,
"What am I getting into here?"

and the only black girl in the class.

I understood that something
was deeply wrong

in Birmingham, Alabama

when I didn't have
a white classmate

until we moved to Denver, Colorado.

It didn't take her long to,
you know, acclimate to it,

but she was also practicing
the piano several hours a day.

She wanted to be a concert pianist
at the time she was here

and if she didn't make
that she was going to be

a professional ice skater.

I was a very,
very bad competitive figure

skater who worked
exceedingly hard at it

only to perform badly almost
every time that I competed.

But I think those experiences

did help me to have
a kind of discipline;

a kind of sense
of organization in life

and to do a lot of things well.

Very good.
Keep your knees bent,

waist back, because if you're
going to win her heart right...

- We've got to win her heart.
- You gotta learn how to skate.

- Gotta learn how to skate.
- You gotta become a champion.

Gotta be a champion.

- I gotta do this.
- There you go.

- You got it.
- I got it.

- You got it, you're going good!
- I got it.

[thud]

Ohh...

- I think I got it.
- You okay?

- I got it.
- Yeah?

- Just gotta get up.
- Okay.

You got it?

Ah!

Do you have any aspirin?

[orchestra]

It's hard to imagine
my life without music.

I certainly find it as a way to

completely transport
into another world.

Do you think music might
be the way to her heart?

Yes, because...

music is the way
to many people's hearts.

Do you think that serenading
could work today on Condoleezza

as a courtship technique?

It might very well,
particularly since she has

such an eclectic taste.

Yeah, I would say yes.
Go for it.

As a student, how was
she at taking direction?

In taking very specific technical
directions, she was very good;

emotional directions, she didn't
have an easy time doing that.

As long as it was
mechanical things: do this,

hold your hand
this way, or do that, fine,

but as soon
as I touched her inside,

there was a resistance.

She seemed not to be interested

in that aspect of music making.

Condoleezza Rice
ended her music career at 17

when she was a sophomore
at the University of Denver.

That summer she went
to the Aspen Music Camp

and there she saw prodigies
who could play from sight,

music that had taken her
months or weeks to learn.

She saw she wasn't good
enough and she dropped it

with no emotion,
no feeling whatsoever.

It's not just talent,
it's that intangible

that some people have
that just puts them over the top.

I knew I didn't have it

and I knew I probably wasn't
going to practice hard enough

to compensate for it.

This was a very important
turning point in Rice's life

and so in one of our
interviews I asked her about it

and she said to me,
"I don't do life crises. Period."

She says she does
not believe in regret.

She thinks life is too short and so
she doesn't look back on mistakes.

She keeps looking forward.

Self-reflection is not
something she does.

She believes it's a waste of time

and I think it had
a profound impact.

Her one goal that she had set,
she failed at.

I think she didn't
want to fail again.

Well, I was a lost music major
to be truthful about it.

I had decided that I was not going
to be a great concert pianist,

but I didn't know what
I was going to be.

I wandered into spring
quarter junior year,

a course in international
politics taught by Josef Korbel,

and he was a wonderful professor
because he was a great story-teller.

He could really put
you there in the Soviet Union

or in Czechoslovakia
or in Yugoslavia

and I was just taken with him

and with the history
and I remember the exact lecture

that won me over and it
was one about how Joseph Stalin

had consolidated his power
and I thought this is just terrific.

This is what I want
to study and I went to him

not long after that
and I said, "Dr. Korbel,

I think I'd like
to study the Soviet Union."

Josef Korbel was the professor

who turned her on
to international affairs.

He taught her the drama that
was inherent to global politics.

He made her want
to be a political scientist.

It was as she put it
"love at first sight."

She was fascinated
and she became smitten

with everything to do with
Russia and Russian politics.

We don't know really
what would have happened

if Lenin had survived.

It is really Joseph Stalin
that made the Soviet Union

into what the Soviet Union became:

militarized, secretive,
a Byzantine state

behind the walls
of the Kremlin,

a state with pretensions
to greatness

on the international scene.

Joseph Stalin,

that is really the legacy
of the Soviet Union, not Lenin.

Now the other extraordinary
thing about Josef Korbel

was that he was also
the father of Madeleine Albright.

So he actually
is a man who had the two

American female
secretaries of state in history,

who were both as they
both would tell you,

the daughters of Josef Korbel.

Albright literally
and Condoleezza Rice,

she says uh, figuratively,
he was her second father.

Well, Korbel was what
is known as a realist.

A kind of group
of foreign policy specialists

who believe you deal
with states as they are,

you know, great powers.
The internal dynamics

of those states doesn't
quite matter as much.

Realists don't believe
and don't trust moral aspirations.

They don't trust
countries that say,

"We're the moral ones, we're
doing-- we have God on our side,"

realists don't trust that stuff.

There is that belief
in the concept of America

that is an important part
of Rice's philosophy.

I think I have athlete's--
Athlete’s complex.

She once said, "I will
only marry a football player."

I've got to do
something about this.

Well, we need to get
you to meet these guys.

They're the people
who can teach you.

What about contacting
that ex-fiancé of hers,

the football star, Rick Upchurch?

You can meet him, you can
say whatever you want to him,

I'm not gonna have anything
to do with it though.

We're setting up an interview.

You do the interview so
what's the problem with that?

You want me to do
an interview with the one man

that was engaged to her?
Don't even bother.

There's no way I'm going.
I'm not doing it.

I'm not doing it.

Hello, Devin, how are you?
Hello, Sebastian.

- It's a great pleasure.
- Honor and a pleasure.

Today is Condoleezza's birthday

and this is the first time
that I've had the opportunity

to tell the story.

There was tens
of thousands of young ladies

that were here in this stadium

and there was only one young lady

that I really wanted
and that was Condoleezza.

When Condoleezza first saw me,

I was in my second year
with the Denver Broncos

and I just remember I had
a fantastic year that year.

I had set a couple of records,

had returned two punt
returns, man, in one game

against the Cleveland Browns.

I ended up tying a record
for touchdowns in a season.

All of a sudden, everybody
was starting to recognize

that Rick Upchurch was here
and he was making some noise

out on the football field.

My first encounter was going
over to Condoleezza's house

and meeting Dr. John Rice

and talking with him about school

and she met me and says,
"Oh, you're that--

you're that guy that that returns
those punts and that whole deal."

and she says,
"You're a pretty good ball player."

She really focused
in on the football aspect of it

because she was really
interested in the game.

Condi's appetite
for football is just like war.

She likes to strategize
and put herself in a--

in a position of power

and a position of control

and being able to make decisions

and she would probably be
one heck of a football coach.

The thing that I knew

is that she had a lot
of smarts about her.

Very intelligent.

Some of the questions
she would ask

and the things that she would
talk about just let you know

that this was a lady with a lot
of class and a lot of poise.

She was truly
an American princess.

Okay, this is where
I first met Condoleezza.

This is where I first
courted Condoleezza

and this is where
I proposed to Condoleezza.

Now, where was it that you first
held Condoleezza's hand?

I first held Condoleezza's
hand in the house.

One night I was
getting ready to leave

and I just grabbed her hand

and just told her I said,
good night.

And where was the first
place that you kissed her?

The first place that I that
I kissed her was at the door.

As I was leaving,
I gave her-- I gave her a kiss.

When I said I loved her, she
actually looked at me and says,

"You know, I like you too,"

you know, and uh,
and at that point in time

um, I felt like, you know,
we could go some places

as far as our
relationship was concerned.

You know, I like cheeks
and she had big cheeks.

She had some juicy cheeks.

I just wanted to kiss 'em,
so I kissed 'em.

And was there
a lot of cheek action

in terms of touching
her cheeks and...?

Absolutely.

What I would do is I would put my
hand up and just touch her cheeks

and that whole deal
and I would kiss her on her cheeks.

[makes kissing sounds]

And where was the first time

that you had your first like

what is traditionally
known as a French kiss?

[music]

Never did.

Didn't have no
French kiss with her.

I never had
a French kiss with her.

You know,
Condoleezza had gone out on dates

and had seen other people uh, and,

and one thing
that she says is that she was--

she was respectful of her body

and that was
something that she was going to

to save for marriage.

She would date
and she would meet people,

but going outside of that,
she would not do.

She didn't feel like
she needed to give her body up

to show her love to anyone

and so she wasn't going
to have sex before marriage.

She's not married now.

Do you think that she's
kept that promise?

I think Condoleezza Rice today

is still holding on
to those same principles.

In England we had
the Queen Elizabeth I,

who was known as the Virgin Queen.

What do you think it means to
be the virgin secretary of state?

Yeah, I'm not-- yeah,
I'm not going there.

[laughs]

I'm not going there, Sebastian.

Here in this room here is where
I first proposed to Condoleezza.

Here’s the ring and, um,
the ring wasn't a whole lot.

Imagine Condi is Devin and what
exactly would you say to him?

I said-- I said, "Condoleezza..."
I said, "Condoleezza Rice..."

I said, "Um, I'm in love with you.

Would you marry me?"
and she said yes.

So then I offered the ring to her.

I offered the ring
to her and she put it on.

But there was a roadblock there.

She had an offer
to go to Washington, D.C.

and work there.

And we knew at that point in time

that her job was important to her

and her career was important to her

and by me staying here and by
her going to Washington, D.C.,

that it wouldn't--
it wouldn't work.

She basically chose
Jimmy Carter over you.

She chose--
she chose power over love.

She chased her dream
and today she's living that dream.

Another year, another birthday,

but you keep on looking younger.

I am so impressed with you, Condi.

I'm so impressed.

Each new day I find
out more about you.

I am so impressed,
you've gone this long holding out

and sticking to your principles.

Good for you.

I hope you enjoy this next
love disc I made for your birthday.

Happy birthday.

[music]

Lonely girl

From another world...

Little Miss Rice

The Queen of the ice

She's too brave

For the King and the Knave

Just look at her eyes

She finds the tiny golden key

To everything she wants to be

In Wonderland

Condi,

In Wonderland

Where does she go

When she's feeling low...?

Inside the heads

Of the reddest of reds

She's too wise

For the Soviet spies

She could rip 'em to shreds

She finds the tiny golden key

To everything she wants to be

In Wonderland

All alone

In Wonderland

Alone and pure

I really can't believe
you got so busy

you would forget
your mother's birthday.

I went under
the knife to give you life,

that's why you have
a perfect shaped head.

You didn't get my flowers?

No.

Oh, well, you-- you should
be getting them soon.

You know,
like two days from now, right?

Uh, well it takes a while.

I don't need any flowers.

I don't need any more flowers.

I'll make it up to you, I promise.

If I-- and if-- I hadn't-- tried--

You're breaking up.

I love you, Mom,
I'll call you soon.

Okay.
Bye.

Yeah, bye.
I love you.

I'm not a good son.

[music]

[music]

[music]

I can't believe I let you...

What's Condi going to think
if I'm sitting there trying to

almost break into
her mother's house?

Clara Bailey Rice and Condoleezza
Rice today are very close.

Condoleezza Rice calls
her her second mother.

Uh, Clara certainly thinks
of Condoleezza as a daughter.

So they're still very, very
close and they talk most Sundays.

Oh my God, that's her.

That's her.

- Mrs. Rice?
- Yes.

- Hello.
- Hi.

My name is Sebastian Doggart.
This is Devin Ratray.

- Hi, Devin, how are you?
- Hi, Mrs. Rice.

- It's a pleasure to meet you.
- Pleasure meeting you.

I'm a very big admirer
of your stepdaughter.

Do you know if she's gotten any
of my discs that I've sent her?

I have no idea.

He's a musician and he's writing
songs for her, because he's in lo--

It sounds like it's
a wonderful thing, you know,

that you guys are positive

and it's about time something
positive is said about her.

But she is an American princess,
isn't she?

Yeah, she is.

Well, that's what we
want to show and who better

than the American queen who
she says is my second mother...

Yeah, yeah but, um,

I don't do that
without permission. Okay?

Please let her know
that I'm a huge admirer and...

I'll talk to her tomorrow and I'll
tell her that I talked to you...

Ask her to have
a listen to the discs

if she's gotten them, please.

You sent them to her?

- I have.
- Okay. I will.

Thank you so much
and your pansies are fantastic.

Yeah.

- I love your daughter.
- All right.

- Thank you.
- All right.

[dog growls]

You blindsided her.

You didn't even offer to help
her with her-- with her bags.

Look at that Mercedes.

She nearly bit my finger off.

You deserve it.

I was an associate dean
in the office of faculty affairs

when a faculty member came
to us and said that he had just

discovered a young scholar

who had given a pretty good paper

on Sino-Soviet relationships

and he thought that it
might be wonderful for Stanford

to use Affirmative Action
funds in this way

and so money was made
available for her appointment.

I'm sure there was a concern

not to miss
an extraordinary opportunity

to hire someone who was a woman,

who was black and who was also,
you know, stunning

personally and intellectually.

She discussed with me
how she was counted six times

as a black and a woman
for Affirmative Action purposes

in the Arms Control,

Disarmament set of
the Political Science Department

and one other unit, so she actually
showed up as six at Stanford.

So she was making fun

of the Stanford
Affirmative Action Program.

She's admitted at various
times that she's a beneficiary

of Affirmative Action,
yet she uses her personal story

to say “I didn't need
government action.

I didn't need public
protest to advance.

I advanced, um, all on my own.”

I'm clearly a package:
I'm black and I'm female,

but I've always thought
that the most important thing

is to do your job and do it well

and don't question other people's
motives for your selection.

Condoleezza Rice, uh,
in 1991 was made provost.

She's the youngest
person ever to get that job,

the only African-American,
the only woman.

Suddenly she's inheriting
a deficit in the budget

of some 20 million dollars.

For my 20th tenure at Stanford,
she called me in.

She said, "Oh, Cecilia,

I'm so glad to see you
and I want to thank you

because you really
were so helpful to my father

and that's why this
is a bit hard but, you know,

I know you're not happy

and I know you want to leave,

so I'm making it
possible for you to leave."

We were quiet,
I stood up, I walked out

and she said to her
secretary in a deep sort of--

she took a deep
breath and she said,

"Oh, good. Who's next?"

I always remember that little tone.

Cecilia Burciaga was the first Latina

to make it to the top of Stanford.

She was a super
popular Dean of Students

and she had a center
where students love to come.

This is a woman who
was simply cut down.

Her career destroyed.

This was sort of Condoleezza Rice's
step to advancement.

For her it was more
important to show she was tough,

show she could cut the budget
even when it came down

to cutting the most
advanced Latina.

It was a very contentious
decision at the Stanford campus.

The numbers show
that when she became provost,

she basically
reversed what had been

an institutional
commitment by Stanford

to try to diversify its faculty

and the upper levels
of its administrative staff.

She essentially kind
of pulled up the ladder,

you know, after she
had gotten that helping hand.

In education in particular

I continue to believe
that Affirmative Action

that is not driven by quotas

is an extremely
important thing to practice.

A college-based
committee formed a report,

produced a report about
the state of play of race relations

on the campus and the degree to
which the college was not obeying,

uh, that dictates, the demands
of Affirmative Action,

Condoleezza Rice's response
wasn't to try to figure out

what could be
done to make it better,

her response was
to debate the data very angrily.

Her name she says
means "with sweetness"

But, you know,
she says she speaks Spanish

so she always also
knows that her name means

Condolencia: "with pain."

Um...

Devin, do you have any questions?

Do you think her sense of fashion
has defined her as a woman

and as a politician?

[music]

Look at me,

I've got hooves
for hands, socially;

Oh, look at me,

'Cause I'm going to hell
… in a basket

Cut it.
Cut it.

Good.

Look at me,
I've got hooves for hands,

I'm a forked beautiful animal

and I want to be your mate.

So just show her--
show your hands then.

It's very good.

Looks great.

Okay, let's go
for another take please.

[music]

Don't look at me,

I've got hooves
for hands, socially;

Oh, look at me,

because I'm naked,

and I have to be.

Cut it.“Don’t look…”

Dev, it's good, it's good.

- Yeah?
- How are you feeling?

Sorry, I just didn't
want to be boring.

And it's a little boring.
That's my only concern.

My only little concern here.

I think we just need to sort
of take it to the next level

and you're completely
in control here

so you can make
a decision about this,

but this line "look at me
because I'm naked,"

because I think it is--

this is really justified is to go--

is to perform this naked.

I don't want to show her naked.

I don't want to show myself to her
before our wedding night naked.

I wouldn't ask an actor
to do anything I wouldn't do.

Sebastian, I'm not an actor.

I'm not act-- I mean, I'm trying
to convince a woman that I love.

I know you're not.
Now take your shirt off.

Wha...?
Sebastian, please don't do this.

I think this is almost harassment.

Why am I so--?
And what about the earwig?

They'll see everything.

We're seeking truth here
and truth requires nudity.

Why does this require nudity?

Because it's nudity of the soul.

This is not what I wanted to do.

Sebastian, I'm feeling
like I'm being raped by you!

Stop it!

Stop!

Get the fuck out of here!

I'm done! I'm done! I'm done!

Are you an artist
or not an artist?

Are you going to stop at
this point with your boxers on?!

Tell the truth.

Are you ready?!
Are you ready?!

I can't do this!

I cannot!
Oh my God!

- No fucking way!
- You're gonna do this.

No.
I'm not looking.

I'm not looking.

No, Sebastian, don't do this!

Don't do this to me!

Get off of me!

Fucking get him away from me!

Fucking do something!

- Dev...
- No, no, no, no, no.

- I just come to say something.
- No, no.

I really-- no, I really--
I can't talk to you right now.

I'm trying to write something.

I definitely don't want
cameras on right now.

I really don't want
to deal with this, please.

I just want to say I'm really,
really sorry

for what happened
on the beach today.

I overstepped the mark.

I was-- I guess
a little bit stressed.

I was doing stupid things.
I'm just deeply sorry.

How's the music coming along?

It sucks, Sebastian.

I just feel like I'm drying up.

I've got an idea.
I've got this person I know in L.A.

Her name is Carol Connors
and she is a great songwriter.

I think you and she could
work really well.

How do you know Carol Connors?

I made a film about her cats.

She paid me forty thousand dollars
to make a film about her cats.

And for our final impersonation,
we will do...

[hums Star Wars theme]

Yoda from Star Wars.

[Star Wars theme]

[applause]

I'm gonna pretend
you're making that up.

No, I'm not.
I'm not.

She lives alone in
the Hollywood Hills with her cats

and she is still one
of the most amazing songwriters.

And that's my makeup
for what happened today.

Carol, nice to meet you.

Sebastian, good to see you,
sweetie, how are you?

Very well. Let me
introduce you to Devin Ratray.

- Hi.
- Devin.

He's the patient
you're gonna work on.

We have things to talk about.

Carol as you know the reason
we're here is because

Devin is on a rather
special mission

to meet a rather special woman

and I think you are
the person who can guide him

in the right way musically

and Elvis was gentle
with you the first time.

I mean, is that important...?

Oh he was gentle with me many,
many, many, many times.

I was so shy.

He was my first love.

He was just wonderful.

What kind of tips
do you have for him?

I think gentleness
is going to be your key here.

And remember, underneath the heart

of our secretary of state

beats the heart of a woman.

Okay.

Okay, I've written a song
for you because I really think

that this is important.

Condoleezza, Condi,

I think of you so fondly,

Sugar 'n spice, everything nice

Wedding bells
and a handful of rice…

Remember,
this is the secretary of state

and she's on the world stage.

I mean,
it's very logical the song,

but there's a romantic feel to it.

I'll be in front of the--

No!

I'll be in front of the towers

At the Watergate

- Important word is Watergate.
- Hmm.

That's where
she lives and think of it as,

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel,
let down your hair."

I don't like her
hairstyles sometimes but...

- Why?
- I don't know,

but towers is very good

because she lives
in the towers at the Watergate.

Get it?

Your beauty's in everything

That I see,

Condi, you mean
the world to me.

To me...

God you're almost
as good as Plácido Domingo.

Thank you!

So, Carol, I know you have
another song which is your new,

Gonna Fly Now.

- Yes!
- That's what I need.

- A type of song like that.
- It's... It's...

it's very Rocky-ish.

It's a "Yo, Stallone!"
you know, that type of--

it's got tremendous energy.

I'll settle for that just
a measly snack

If that would make Condi mine!

Mine! Mine!

He's gonna win her,
win her, win her

When he is a little thinner,
thinner, thinner

Win her, win her, win her

When he's thinner

The trumpets are blaring.

Win her, win her, win her

When he's thinner,
thinner, thinner

Oh my god winner, dinner.

Oh my god, the brownies.

- Bravo! Bravo!
- Oh, thank you so much.

I'm so glad you like it.

The brownies smell
like they're burning.

How are you feeling?

It sounded kind
of like wet pieces of shit

sprinkled on a Jerry Lewis film.

Dev...

It's perhaps the most
insulting song I've heard thus far.

Excuse me.
Excuse me.

I don't-- I'm not an eavesdropper,
but what the fuck did you just say.

Devin, let me just make
something plain, okay?

When you become
an Academy Award songwriter,

then you can sit here and tell me
that I don't know what I'm doing.

- God!
- I am so upset...

Carol, this song
is making fun of me.

- It's telling me...
- I'm not making fun of you.

- It's genius.
- How can I...?

- I mean...
- Thank you.

- This is the secretary...
- She's a genius.

Have some respect.
It's a beautiful song.

It's well...
No it's a powerful song.

I don't want
to say it's beautiful.

- Powerful?!
- The other song is beautiful...

"Just the measly snack
would make me want her back"?

No.
That's not what it says.

Don't fuck up my words.

I-- don't talk to me.

Carol, I cannot possibly approach

The Secretary of State
of The United States

with this song and expect
her to take me seriously.

Why not?

You're denying her one of the
biggest gifts she can give you?

I'm not singing the song!
I'm not singing the song.

I can't do this.

You know something,
I don't want him to sing the song.

I don't want anybody to sing.

Read these lips,
I think George H. Bush said that.

- Your friend?
- Yes. President Bush.

Didn't you sing at
his inauguration?

I sang at George W.'s.
Both of his.

Read my lips.
Read my lips.

Read my lips.

Read my lips.

- Okay.
- Carol...

- He's doing it.
- Guys, together.

This is insanity.

I will sing the song together.

Why are you going
to sing the song?

Because it's a great idea.

He's your inner self and I have
to go check the brownies

and if you're not good you're
not going to get a brownie.

I'm like-- I can't
even have a brownie?

Peace and love.

Where are we?

Uh, my friend Adrian Grenier,
uh, his offices.

How do you know Adrian?

Uh, we were high school friends.

What do you think
he's talking about?

What do you think
he's talking about, huh?

She's dead.

You got to wake up.

Hey, what's up?
What's going on, man?

- How you doing?
- Good.

Really good.
How are you?

I think it's very important
that you make sure

that you prove
to her that you show her

that you are being a sincere,

honorable, loving human being.

Dude, come on secretary of state,
powerful woman,

boring old white guys all day,

she's got to be
a big dirty submissive

and you grab her by
the hair and you spank her.

Oh, Jim, whoa easy.

- I mean, you got to be delicate.
- Yeah.

- I mean...
- You don't.

Take what's yours.
Smack her around a little bit.

Spank her.
That's what she likes.

Oh, whoa.

No, no, no, no.
There's no smacking.

How could I ensure my sincerity?

Just humble yourself.

You have to be able to find some
way into a more tender part of her.

Yeah, but you got
to remember something.

You know, she was
a Democrat until the late '70s?

Yes.

And because Jimmy Carter
wouldn't invade Afghanistan

and attack the Russians, she left.

- That's true.
- She likes it when you go in.

She's with Bush Senior,
she's with Bush Junior.

She likes it when you go
in and take what's yours.

You're not going
to get her in the mind.

You got to get her on
like an emotional visceral...

- Yeah...
- Some...

Yeah.

So like I don't know if you like
maybe wore some lingerie

or something as simple as that.

Look, I don't want
to fight with you.

I don't want to fight with you,
but I understand the Condi thing.

I've seen her body,
she's fucking sexy.

That little gap between the teeth,
how sexy is that.

Just be careful of those teeth.
They can get caught in your bag.

- Watch those little...
- Fucking, Jim!

Honestly?!

My bag between her gap?!

Is that really advice that I need?

All right, man.

Good luck.
Let's play.

[music]

Man, these Hollywood
types have addlepated my brain.

I need some time home
to recharge the batteries

before that last push to DC.

- Hi.
- Hi.

Oh, honey-man, welcome home.

- Thank you.
- Oh, I missed you.

Hi.
I missed you too.

Hi, Dad.

I had to go to Duane Reade
last night.

I'm standing there at,
uh, on line last night

and here's the Enquirer:
"who's gay and who's not."

- Who's that?
- So she's not.

So she's one
of the ones that's not.

Well, let's see what
the National Enquirer has to say.

Oh, yes, let's see...

According to the buzz
among political insiders,

it's an open secret that Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice is gay.

One in-the-know blogger
claimed that during her years

at California Stanford university,

Condi was
"Completely out as a lesbian

and it was not
a scandal, just a reality."

You're reading
the National Enquirer.

I totally agree at my
appalling purchase.

You're just trying
to get me upset.

I just walked in the front door.

I'm not trying to get you upset.

- Yes, you are!
- I'm looking for...

Hey, hey, hey.

You and she are both
interested in women.

There's something in
common that you have.

Devin, Devin, come here.

I'm going to sleep.
I'm going to bed.

- I've been up all night.
- We know.

Okay. It's all right.
It's all right. I'm going to bed.

No, no. Come here. Come here.

- No, no, no.
- You just got home...

I know I just got home.

and I can't deal
with this right now.

Guys, look please
disconnect the phone.

I'll unpack tomorrow.

You can't...

Welcome home, dear.

You don't know when to quit,
do you?

Devin, I'm sorry.
Dev?

All because I'm in love.

Doesn't matter.
It's just love.

Long before Condoleezza Rice
was part of the team

that brought us the Iraq war,

she was one of those who believed

that corporate
interests come first.

During the ten years
the Condoleezza Rice

was on the board
of the Chevron Corporation,

big oil developers.

They were exploiting
the oil off the coast

of the Niger Delta in Nigeria.

Home to some
of the world's poorest people

and indigenous people
like the Ogoni people;

who at that time were
fighting for some revenue

to come to them from
this oil that was being

drained out from
underneath their homeland.

Throughout that period, it was
the Nigerian government's policy

to suppress protest
and to arrest and, in some cases,

shoot down and kill the protesters.

The corporations that cut deals
with the Nigerian government

were complicit with that
and were sued for being complicit

with that in U.S court.

Now, the interesting thing
about your friend Condoleezza Rice,

Devin, is that she was
playing an active role

in turning shareholder
initiatives back

when the shareholders were saying

“we want to be pushing
for more human rights

not ignoring abuses at
the Nigerian government's hands.”

Wait. You're saying
the Nigerian government killed

its own people to ensure

Chevron had exclusive
oil rights to their country?

Yeah.
I hate to break it to you, Devin,

she picked empire and colonialism
over being a concert pianist.

I think you've got
to think about that, Devin.

There's an easy way
to Condoleezza Rice's heart.

You just need to promise her a few
oil contracts in the Caspian Sea,

maybe give her a few seats
on a few corporate boards.

Nothing she likes better.

How's he gonna do that?

Well, you've got your work
cut out for you, let's face it.

Great.

She became a member
of the Bush inner circle

when she was discovered

by Bush Senior's National Security
Adviser Brent Scowcroft

and brought into Washington

to be part of the National
Security Council.

Here among all these grand
men was this little slip of a girl.

I had never met her before,

but I soon found
that she held her own

with all these very senior people.

When he introduced her
to Gorbachev, he said,

"This is Condoleezza Rice,
she's taught me everything

I know about the Soviet Union."

Bush Senior wanted
his son George to meet her.

Of course she's
a foreign policy specialist

especially an Eastern
European specialist.

He had a lot of studying to do.

Can you name
the president of Chechnya?

No, can you?

Uh, the new prime
minister of India is, uh, uh...

No.

George W. Bush
and Condoleezza Rice hit it off

from the very beginning,
based on their common affinity,

uh, in things like, uh, their sports
and their Christian faith.

Uh, they had this instant as one
of Rice's best friends called it

"mind meld" that happened
from the very beginning.

During the course
of the 2000 election campaign

she'd really been President Bush's
tutor on foreign affairs.

President Bush had
been governor of Texas,

had very little
background in foreign policy

or national security.

She's the one who
taught him these issues

during the course of the campaign.

I advise him on how to take his
very strong principles and values.

What it is that he wants
to do in the world

and translate those
into policy initiatives.

Rice, when it came to Bush, saw
in this young Texas governor

the values, the strength,
the vision of Ronald Reagan.

At the same time,
the moderation and wisdom,

intelligence of Bush's
father for whom she had worked.

She thought with these
two personalities

combined into one president,

she thought they could
burst into Washington

and they were going
to remake the world.

Not only to promote
what was good for the world

but also to promote what's
good for American interests.

George W. Bush
believes that America

has a special responsibility
to keep the peace,

that the fair cause of freedom
depends on our strength

and purpose and I want
to assure you if the time ever comes

to use military force,
President George W. Bush

will do so to win because for him,

victory is not a dirty word.

[cheering and applause]

I realize how much
I have to learn about

the world of politics that I am
now thoroughly immersed in

the center of it all.

This Washington minefield.

Oh come on, you know!

Assholes!

[music]

So here we are, Omnicom.

This is Frank Luntz's dark empire.

Are you ready?

Whatever!

So just make sure
you're respectful to him.

This is the guy
who's responsible for

getting Schwarzenegger into office,
Jeb Bush into office.

Language is perfection,

because it is personal,
it is human.

The power of innovation
is that it helps people.

It allows them to
inspire and aspire

to things that are greater.

Frank Luntz, this is Devin Ratray.

How are you doing?
Pleasure to meet you.

- How are you?
- Good. Good to meet you.

If you want to actually court her,

I do know language and I do
no presentation, and that ain't it.

I'm taking diet tips from
Augustus Gloop here, man.

What is that shirt made of?

- What's the fabric of that shirt?
- Rayon.

Everything from
now on is 100 percent cotton

and wrinkle-free.

- Those shoes...
- Yeah?

Did you get them in the 1950s?

Are they your
father's bowling shoes?

I want shoes that have
a professional look to them.

Next thing, what is this?

What is that?
What do you call that?

- These?
- Yes.

These are my sideburns.

- Okay.
- My mutton chops.

Yes.
No sideburns.

Hold on.
This is my individuality, man.

Would you tell Elvis not to use,
not to...?

No, I won't tell Elvis
anything because he's dead.

What would you tell her about
the Middle East Peace Accord?

Um...

Palestinians need
to be represented.

Okay. We'll call the Palestinians
just for short "scum."

Where does she
stand on the Middle East?

Well, she believes
in a strong Israel.

Okay.

So she recognizes that
the Palestinians have to have--

Don't play with your hair.

- I didn't play with my hair.
- You just played with your hair.

- You just did.
- What is he talk...?

You've got the monitor.
Play it back.

What would Bush say
in terms of the Middle East?

Uh, we need strategery.

Strategery.
Excellent.

What would Dick Cheney say?

"Kill them all.
Fuck the Jews.

Fuck the Jews.
Fuck the Palestinians.

Kill them all.

I need blood."

That's what Cheney would say?

Uh, it was a tape recording.

I-- I-- I see.

- Pirated.
- Yes.

Do you think that putting them
down is gonna help your cause?

I mean, explain to me
here how this is gonna work?

You're gonna go in and you're
gonna say these things

flippantly or are you gonna say
this with convition-- conviction?

There are consequences
for everyone's accountability.

That's not conviction.

Conviction is:

"9/11 changed everything."

Let me hear you say it.

9/11 changed everything.

Even more emphatic.

9/11 changed everything!

Perfect.
That's conviction.

You're gonna get one shot.

You're gonna get one opportunity.

Do you have the words,
do you have the passion,

do you have the focus of someone

who can woo her?

You're such a beautiful woman.

Can you get him a breath mint,
please?

I can see that you're
a little nervous.

Your hands are clammy,

but I don't want
you to be intimidated by me

just because I'm a person
who knows what I want...

But you are a large person.

There's more of me to love.

I would strongly urge
that his first meeting

with the secretary
not be over a meal.

I'm taking notes here
from the Pillsbury Doughboy.

It's just not fair.

What you don't understand
is I'm not trying to court

the secretary of state,

the most powerful
woman on the globe.

This is Words that Work.

This book will help
you communicate.

Good language is like a great meal

and I assume that you'd
understand that metaphor.

Didn't see that one coming.

I'm pleased that you take
this so seriously.

The focus group
is going to tear you apart,

but it's not just words,
it's also appearances.

- Well. Devin.
- Devin.

This is your stylist.

I'm going to make
you a runway model.

Yeah, well you better
reinforce that runway.

He should run away very quickly.

Listen, once you look
at yourself in the mirror

and you see
this presidential transformation

that I'm going to create for you,

you're going to be mentally ready

and visually ready to meet her.

Condoleezza loves shoes,
so you must love shoes.

[music]

The shoes make the man.

That's very nice.
That's like I'm going to the prom.

All right.
I look like the Joker.

You have these in a 17?

[music]

Ever since I was
a little girl I liked to shop.

My father would go
to work on his sermons

on Saturday morning,
and my mother and I would head

downtown to go shopping.

I think she looks very powerful

despite the fact
that she dresses in a way

that is both feminine

and has a certain
degree of sensuality to it.

If anything I think it makes her
perhaps look even more powerful.

[music]

Oh, God!

That's the new Devin.

You have been transformed
into a presidential candidate.

I believe that children
are our future.

I will not be Bush-whipped.

9/11 changed us all.

Ma. Ma?

Hi, darling.

All good.

- Huh?
- Hello.

Hello.

What are you doing?

I just want-- I just
wanted to tell you that, uh,

I'm gonna be moving out.

What do you mean?

- For good?
- Yeah.

Yeah, I think.

Um, I could be gone for a while,

so I just wanted to thank you
for everything that you've done.

Uh, you've been very kind.

You've been-- you've
been everything that I

could possibly want.

- Everything I needed.
- Why are you so formal?

I don't know. I don't know.
I've never done this before.

I just gotta do it.

[cries]

Mom. Mom...

Well, you act like
you don't even care.

Mom.
Come on.

Don't do it.
Don't cry.

This is...

I know it's time to fly away,

but where are you going?

I'm going to Washington...

D.C.

Need I ask why?

You needn't.

Okay.
All right.

- So you're going to Washington?
- Yeah.

I should have known
that was coming.

You're going to see big
things coming from me.

Well, I hope.

I have no doubt
about your success.

I want you to do anything
that makes you happy

but stay out of trouble.

I always do that, Mom.

That wasn't so bad.

No, it wasn't, was it?

I suppose I'll hear from you.

Yes, you totally will, Mom.

When you want something.

You'll hear from me.

[music]

[music]

Got to your city
and I feel so alive,

I'm inching closer
to the heart of your mind.

Ev'rything I see is like
a monument to you,

Ev'rything I dream
of is finally comin' true,

I'm feelin'...

Free in the arms
of the brave and true,

Free in the place
where I've come to find you,

No one to tell us how
we're not meant to be...

Baby, we're finally free,

Baby, we're finally free,

baby, we're finally free...

I am honored, in fact, humbled,

uh, that President-elect
Bush has asked me

to serve as his
National Security Adviser.

In January 2001,
when Condoleezza Rice

took the oath of office
to be National Security Adviser

it was, uh,
the ultimate rise in political power.

This we're talking
about a little girl who grew up

in segregated Birmingham, Alabama

and yet she had gone
from that place in her life,

uh, all the way up
to literally the right hand

of the President of the United States.

I'm so impressed.

- Good to see you.
- Good to see you too.

- Perfect tie.
- Yeah?

- Nice suit.
- Thank you.

It's from Florence.

Well, you still got
the sideburns but, you know what?

Oh, this is so much improvement.

- Come on back.
- Thanks.

These are the people right there.

- Would you grab a seat?
- All right.

- Let's take the group.
- Thank you.

Boy, nothing to make
you relax like a bunch of strangers

judging everything you say or do.

I need a word or phrase

that you would use
to describe Condoleezza Rice?

Sophisticated.

Well-traveled.

- Regal.
- Captivating.

Hot.

- Together.
- Incompetent.

In some ways, this is the most
important part of the session

because Devin may not get
a chance to meet her personally.

She may only respond to
a video that he's put together.

We're going to measure
your second by second reaction

which is what Secretary Rice
would have as watching this video.

Love discs are love
letters in music and pictures.

Dude, “love disc” doesn't work.

Look at that.

- [laughter in background]
- Look at that response.

[laughter in background]

That's as low as it gets.

I'm sorry.

Wow.

I mean that's lower than when
Bill Clinton used the phrase,

"It depends on
the meaning of the word 'is' is."

I want a word or phrase
to describe Devin

based on what you saw.

We're going to start in the front.

Potential Cyrano de Bergerac.

- Terrible.
- Sad.

Uh, very sad, desperate.

Embarrassing.

I thought it was
sweet and genuine.

He's not my type.

It is a little unfortunate that
most people are very shallow

and will be put off by his
clear physical deficiencies.

[laughter]

What exactly do you mean by that?

- [laughter]
- Sideburns, his sideburns.

Sideburns?

How many of you would keep
the sideburns, raise your hands?

How many of you would
take them off?

Overwhelming.

I want you to put your dials
as to what you thought of Devin

at the end of that video.

Give him a rating
between zero and 100.

Now I want you to take
a look at the new Devin.

- Wow.
- Very nice.

Now give him a rating.

Laura what's the rating
for men and women now?

48/66.

Women are at 66.

How many women went up
based on looking at him now?

There you go.
Why?

Why'd you go up?

He looks great in a suit.

Looks more serious
and respectable.

Thank you.

She likes clean-shaven men.

The sideburns have to go.

She would never look at you.

The only thing that's
stopping me right now is me.

[dramatic music]

[dramatic music]

Ahhh!

[dramatic music]

Nothing of value is really
ever won without sacrifice.

[Sombre dramatic music]

[Sombre music]

A rebirth...

a re-Genesis.

A lot of people will tell
you that Rice was weak

and she was too weak
to be National Security Adviser

when she had these
titans on either side,

uh, Rumsfeld and Cheney on
one side, and Powell on the other.

Probably three
of the best bureaucrats

that have ever worked the system.

Huge egos.

Much more experience than she had

particularly in national security
issues and foreign policy.

So I think what you see
is when she realizes

that she can't beat Dick Cheney
or Donald Rumsfeld,

she learns how
to maneuver around them.

She decided to use her personal
relationship with the president

to gain power inside
the Administration.

Rice's relationship
with President Bush is very close.

She goes to Camp David a lot.

She stays in the main
house at Crawford.

So it is a very
unusual relationship

between the President
and his National Security Adviser.

Well, there's a famous
story about how, uh,

Condoleezza Rice
and George W. Bush are in the U.N

in the General Assembly

and he actually passed
a little note to Rice.

What the note said was,
"Can I go to the bathroom?"

You have
a President of United States,

the most powerful man in the world

who literally would
not go to the bathroom

without asking permission
of Condoleezza Rice.

This is not a woman who
thinks in seconds or minutes.

This is a woman
who thinks in decades.

I think she came to this conclusion
very early and she said,

"Well, I build my intimacy
with the president.

I become a very close
confidant of the president.

I build my power
and my eye’s on the prize.

If I do this,
I'll be the next Secretary of State."

On to the White House.

[music]

[birds chirping]

[music]

Cometh the hour, cometh the Man.

I am that Man.

This is it.

The climax of all of our struggles.

Inside there
is where it all happens.

[music]

[cheering]

This is grassroots
democracy at its best.

- Hi. Devin?
- Hi.

- Yes.
- I'm Tracy.

Tracy, nice to meet you.

Are you ready to move today?

I'm ready to move the world today.

[applause] [cheering]

Okay, take positions, please.

[music]

I'll be standing there

When you're on the world stage

Standing there
if you're ever afraid,

Standing by,
when you're standing tall

For you, my love,
I'll always be on call…

I'll be in front of the towers

At the Watergate

My very long-legged
Secretary of State

I'll stand up

When you sit down

Condi, you make my world go
round 'n round 'n round 'n round

Cause you're
my Condoleezza, Condi,

I think of you so fondly,

Sugar 'n spice,
everything nice

Wedding bells
and a handful of rice…

Your beauty's everywhere,

In everything that I see

When you're splashed
In the headlines and on my TV

You're all I could want
When I'm in DC.

Condi, you mean,
you mean the world to me…

Cause you're my
Condi Condoleezza once,

And you're my Condi
Condoleezza twice

Cause you're my
Condi Condoleezza true,

There's nothing I won't do

For Condoleezza Rice

[buzzer]

We're trying to deliver
this to the Secretary of State.

You know, she doesn't work here,
she's the Secretary of State.

This is the White House.

Might makes right
As you circle the globe

North Korea to Iran

They're shakin'
from head to toe

Don't mess with the
Good ole U.S. of A

Or you may get
Condi's boot up your derriere…

America's countin’ on you, Condi

To fight the good fight

To be a champion of our people,

Tho' a hangin'
chad to the right

George W.'s a little
bush in your way

Condi for President
in 2012 we say...

I'll do anything
to please ya, Condoleezza

So please please let me
squeeze ya, Condoleezza

Please ya
Squeeza ya

Need ta tease ya

On my knees I'm
here ta please ya

Please please please,
Condoleezza!

Come out, Condi, please!

[music]

[music]

Being in love is very
close to being insane.

I ask you, Dr. Rice,

whether you recall
the title of that PDB.

I believe the title was:

"Bin Laden Determined To
Attack Inside The United States."

The August 6 presidential
daily brief was one of dozens

scores of intelligence reports
that reached the White House

in the spring and summer
of 2001 about terrorist threats.

The CIA, George Tenet
and Richard Clark,

Condoleezza Rice's
counterterrorism director

were really banging
on the door every day.

Her door every day saying,
“there is this dire threat.”

I cannot tell you that there might
not have been a report here

or a report there that reached
somebody in our midst.

She acknowledged
that she couldn't recall whether

she had discussed

the presence of Al-Qaeda
cells in the United States

with President Bush.

Condoleezza Rice
was the gatekeeper.

She was the person who
determined what information

got into the president.
It was a pivotal role.

I just don't buy the argument
that we weren't shaking

the trees enough and that
something was going to fall out

that gave us somehow
that little piece of information

that would have led
to connecting all of those dots.

Had photographs
of Midhar and Al-Hosni

been put on television,

would they have come to
the airports on September 11th?

There were people on
the 9/11 Commission and on staff

who would tell you it was both
incompetence and negligence.

[music]

[music]

9/11 was such a dramatic,

terrible, horrible event,
it forced her to reevaluate

things that she had
thought were true before.

More idealistic than
she had been before.

There are critics who say
that there was a Condi before 9/11

and a Neo-Condi after 9/11.

I believe what happened with
Condoleezza Rice after 9/11

was that we saw a Realist
transform into an Idealist.

This thing that Josef Korbel
had had such an important role

in sculpting in Rice's
own head came apart

and she found
George W. Bush's idealism.

We go forward to defend Freedom

and all that is good
and just in our world.

I don't have a good
feeling about this.

Isn't this a little stalker-ish?

It's gonna be fine.

Okay. Here we go.
Let's break into the Watergate.

[music]

You sure this is a good idea?

Sure, it's a good idea.

We've got to get into her world.

[music]

I have a package to deliver
to a resident here under “Rice”.

Okay.
I'll call them.

Thank you.

Um, we have come
with a gift for Secretary Rice

and was wondering if we
could give a, er, gift.

It's a-- some cake for her.

No, but I need to ask you
to leave right now though.

We tried.

Oh, look, there's Security.

Shall I try with the Security services?

Maybe that's not the best
thing to do, Sebastian.

I'll be over there,
away from Security.

You're not allowed
to be here, okay?

This is a love offering.

My friend is in love with
her and, uh...

I realize that.
It's very touching,

but you can't
deliver anything here.

It has to be delivered
to the PR department, okay?

Do you swear to tell the truth,
the whole truth

and nothing but the truth.

I do.

I think the general view
of Dr. Rice's testimony

was that she was filibustering.

I think Dr. Rice was well
aware of the restrictions of time

and was chewing up the clock

with long and rambling discourses.

The question is what did
we need to do about that...

And fuel-filled
investigations underway...

I also understood that...

that was what the FBI was doing...
that the FBI…

I think her objective was
to say as little as possible

in as many words as possible.

I really don't remember.
I...

I don't remember...

I... I don't know...

I don't personally remember it.

Throughout the investigation
of the 9/11 Commission,

what you saw of Condoleezza Rice,

it appeared to many
people certainly on the Commission

was a tremendous
amount of word play.

You know,
a warning was not a warning,

intelligence wasn't
intelligence unless she said it was.

She relies on this word-play
to the point of being dishonest.

This study has found that you,
Madam Secretary,

made 56 false statements
to the American people.

Isn't it true
that you had intelligence

that cast doubt on
your repeated claims

that Iraq did not have
weapons of mass destruction?

I did not at any time
make a statement

that I knew to be false
or that I thought to be false

in order to pump up anything.

We don't want the smoking
gun to be a mushroom cloud.

None of
the intelligence community

said that he had a nuclear bomb.

That's really going

a long way with that talking point

when you're suggesting
to the American people

that it might go off
tomorrow morning.

I do believe in Rice's mind
she doesn't believe she lied.

I believe that.

I believe that she
believes that, you know,

she did what she had to do

and if she kept some things,
uh, strategically

absent from the public record,

I think that's how
she would see it.

I think she would see
that that's what she had to do.

She walked
in with all the credentials

for having principles,
and in the process

of joining that unholy
alliance for the crusade in Iraq,

I think she rose above principle.

Stop telling the same lies

Stop making the world cry

Be who you are inside

I'm a deeply religious person.

My life has I think unfolded
as it was supposed to.

Let down your guard tonight

Say you're sorry
cause it's all right

We all make mistakes

Who pays the price
for your decisions?

You're not gonna
pay a particular price.

I want to interview
Condoleezza Rice

when she was buying
Ferragamo shoes on Fifth Avenue

and went to see Spamalot
when people were drowning.

Boy, would I love her to face me.

What's a “noble cause”?

Tell me as a mother.

I want to know.

[protesters shouting]

Our love, our life, our dreams
Believe. Our love…

I do pray every day

and in times of tragedy
and heartbreak

like the passing of my own
parents or September 11th,

I have found solace and strength
in the power of prayer.

Believe

[chatter and gunshots]

On September 16, 2007,

Blackwater guards who were
working for the State Department

opened fire in
the Central Square in Baghdad.

Witnesses say
that the guards did this

even though
the attack was unprovoked.

One of the armored cars hit my car

so I opened the door

and drop myself in the street,

because I thought they are--

they wanted to kill me.

What resulted in that day was
the death of 17 Iraqi civilians.

...I would remind
that this is a war zone

and that it is true that sometimes,
uh, incidents happened.

The State Department then
offered ten thousand dollars

to the families of the victims

in exchange
for an agreement not to sue.

I told them I refused
to accept any compensation.

First, I want the court system
to have the final word.

In this war zone
I don't think that people

- have been either reckless...
- [gunshots]

Jesus Christ,
it's like a fucking turkey shoot.

...Nor have they been trying
somehow to shield people

in this circumstance.

Secretary Rice granted
immunity to these contractors

for prosecution
in the United States.

Essentially,
pardoned these crimes.

The way that the State Department

responded to this

was to renew
a contract with Blackwater.

We would like to get
appropriate legislation

that speaks to the prosecution
of civilian contract personnel.

Well, I'm the sponsor of the only
bill I know in the House

that has dealt with this,
uh, issue

and she nor her staff has
ever talked with me or my staff.

I think it contradicts our values.

It makes us out to be hypocrites.

It compromises our mission.

It puts our military
personnel in jeopardy.

People make little distinction
between American troops

and American private contractors.

What if another incident occurs,

what if there's another
shootout in the middle of Baghdad?

This is reckless.

All I can see
is a dereliction of duty.

[music]

Virtually any level
you'd want to assess this,

it's a disaster for our country.

[music]

[fire crackling]

The United States does not permit,

tolerate or condone torture
under any circumstances.

After Abu Ghraib broke,

after the photographs
shocked the world,

the CIA was still pushing

for interrogations
and the use of torture

of specific detainees
and this group continued to meet

with Condoleezza Rice
chairing the group.

She sat in the White House
with these torture meetings

and decided what torture
to use on what person.

These "enhanced
interrogation methods"

included waterboarding,
fingernail extraction

and sleep deprivation.

And then the combination of those,
how often they could be used,

could they be used
together with each other,

the CIA would come in
and give a presentation

of what they wanted to do,

to the point where
they were choreographing

the interrogations and the torture

from the basement
of the White House itself.

According to White House insiders,

Rice signed off
on these techniques

by instructing the official,

"This is your baby, go do it!"

Let me try to be clear,

the United States doesn't
and can't condone torture.

I've talked to other people who've
said that there was an effort

made to try to keep the president

somewhat isolated
from these decisions,

because they were so
concerned about the possibility

of the president being
impeached someday.

They knew that what
they were doing was illegal.

They knew what they were doing

would bring shame to the world
if the world found out about it.

The United States does not
transport and has not transported

detainees from
one country to another

for the purpose
of interrogation using torture.

If you try to think about
American foreign policy

and that there are secret
sites to which people are sent

to be tortured
and that there are innocents like

Maher Arar who's
a Syrian Canadian engineer

who was sent to Syria
to be tortured

in a coffin-sized cell for a year.

When I was not being beaten,

I was put in a waiting room

so that I could hear
the screams of other prisoners.

The cries of the women
still haunt me the most.

Torture and conspiracy
to commit torture

are crimes under U.S. law

wherever they may occur in the world.

It is a tragic fact
that Condoleezza Rice

has massively committed war crimes.

You can be sitting in your
office in the White House

or the State Department, and
if you're making decisions

that are authorizing,
ordering, facilitating

a crime being committed,
you're responsible for that crime.

When you work
for an administration

you do sign on and there
is a question of loyalty

and then every
person has to decide

for himself or herself
where that line is.

You know,
how loyal are you before you,

you know, blow the whistle.

I don't think she ever understood

the seriousness of what it meant
to become as powerful as she is.

If Jesus Christ were
speaking to Condi Rice,

I think he would say that the idea

that you're saving
tens of thousands of lives

by torturing someone…

the one doesn't weigh
more than the other.

If you do it to the least
of these you do it unto Me.

[glass shatters]

I think John Rice
would have been appalled.

I think Americans
should be appalled

that Dr. Rice was sitting there

giving the authority
to waterboard.

“War criminal! Take her to the Hague!

I think Josef Korbel would
turn over in his grave

at what Condoleezza Rice

and the Bush
administration have done.

She has now done real horrors.

[Explosion]

When I first saw you,

You slipped into my dreams,

Too pure, I melted for you,

I screamed and I fought for you

Thought everything
you told me was true

Now I see what's really real

She’s a liar, a cheater,
a two-faced deceiver,

I saw what she did,
yet I still believed her.

Now it's time to pay the price

Stand up and be judged

Sentenced by your fears

Accused by all the drowning ones

It's time to pay the price

Pay the price!

Pay the price!

Pay the price!

Pay the priiiiiice!

Pay up!

[music]

What did you expect, honey?

I feel like a fool.

You were, uh...

You were trying to tell me
something and I didn't,

uh, I didn't pay attention.

You have greatness in you

and you will bounce back

and you have a lot of love

to cushion this fall of yours.

That's what families are for.

Families and friends.

I wish I was there helping, uh,
put up the tree with you right now.

I wish you were too, honey,
with your little red Santa hat.

Thank you, Mom.

I love you, honey.

- I love you too.
- Take care of that cold.

It sounds awful.

Yep.
I will.

I'm gonna take some NyQuil.

Okay, sweetheart.
I love you. Bye-bye.

Love you too.
Bye-bye.

God.
I'm such a pussy.

[music]

[music]

[music]

It is a trail of tears
that Condi has left behind.

[music]

She would have served
the American people,

uh, better if she had challenged

the man she worked for.

I think far more likely
to be on her tombstone

would be “corporate interests first,
people second”.

Her Shakespearean fault
was this ambition for Power.

I have no regrets.

The only thing
that I would have regretted

is if we hadn't tried
to help give people

a chance at a better life.

[music]

[music]

Here it is.

It's the first song
that I wrote since I got back.

[piano]

Don't worry about me, I'm good,

and I won't worry
about you either;

I did the best I could,

I tried
but couldn't please her,

drifting, turning,
slipping, burning;

thought by now it’d stop...

You'd catch me, right?

Yeah.
Well, I'll hold you.

Thanks.

As she gets older
she's gonna really realize

there's some things
that she missed in life.

I have tried,

all my life to leave it behind

but something always turns
out there to make me...

We're headed back to Stanford
to a wonderful life in California.

nothing in my bed
except my broken grin

When silver’s only second best,

you realize
that maybe this time...

She chose Power over Love.

I might be golden

He's gonna win her,
win her, win her

When he’s thinner,
thinner, thinner

Gonna win her,
win her, win her

When he is thinner,
thinner, thinner

He's gonna win her,
win her, win her

When he is thinner, thinner.

Yo, I wanna see some sweat.

Oh, you gonna see sweat, baby.

You want love,
you got to sweat for love.

Love costs.

And this is where
you start paying.

Condi, me, Condi and me.

You've got the body
of a lady my age.

I'm a little over 50.

[chuckles]
Aren't you just...

I don't care.

He's gonna win her,
win her, win her

When he is thinner...

I'm a really avid sports fan.

[enthusiastic shouting]

And I took up golf
a couple of years ago,

so I'm really excited about that.

[music]

Look at the smile
on his fucking face.

He's gonna win her,
win her, win her

When he is thinner...

No breakfast, lunch,
not even dinner

You'll settle for that,
just a measly snack

High five...
Yeah.

If that would make Condi yours,
yours, yours

[celebration and cheering]

- Condi!
- Yes!

Goal!

[chuckles]

[music]

[music]

Oh, Condi, Condi,
I'm begging on my knees

Open up your heart

And let me in,
won't you please?

Got no money
but everybody knows

I love you, Condi,
And I'd never let you go

Sweet and dandy
pretty as can be

You be the flower
and I'll be the bumblebee

Oh, she loves me,
Oops, she loves me not

People say you're
cold but I think you're hot

Oh, Condi, Condi,
Oh, Condi, Condi,

[music]

Oh, Condi, Condi,
Oh, Condi, Condi,

Oh, Condi, Condi,
I'm talking to you, girl

What's it gonna hurt,
come on give me a whirl

Shake your body
and let me see you go

One time, my Condi,
I love you so…