Giuliani: What Happened to America's Mayor? (2023): Season 1, Episode 3 - The Martyr - full transcript

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Now is the time to
take our city back

from the violent criminals
on the streets.

Did you go too far
on some of this?

No, that sense
has always been there.

Oh.

The first time,
he was Mayor Rudy.

Now he's King Giuliani.

Giuliani was just starting to
wear on the public of New York.

The city was ready
to move on,

was ready to turn the page
from the Giuliani years.

[soft acoustic music]



♪

[dreamy piano music]

♪

Manhattan is like
no place else in the world.

♪

In New York, what you see is--
first of all,

you see a natural wonder
of buildings.

You know,
it's like the Pyramids.

♪

The buildings dwarf you.

The buildings remind you
of how unimportant you are,

because you're so tiny.

♪

In this big, incredible city,
when you see it,



it makes you want
to come and see it.

It makes you curious about it.

It makes it something
bigger than life.

♪

I have strong feelings
about New York,

everything that
makes up New York.

We're the crossroads
of the world.

This is the center
of the universe.

I mean, there is no place
that gets more people

from more different places.

You sort of get, like,
a view of the whole world

by just standing there
and walking around.

It's really my deep passion,

the love for
the people of this city,

and the love of this city.

♪

When you look back on it,
you keep thinking--

you keep thinking, well,
maybe it really didn't happen.

And you keep wishing it away.

[engine roaring]

Holy [bleep]!

[bleep]!

[loud explosion]

Holy [bleep]!

This just in
to our newsroom,

a plane has crashed into
the World Trade Center.

We don't know if it was
a commercial aircraft.

We don't know if it was
a private aircraft.

We have no idea.

[tense music]

I first heard about it when
I was at the Peninsula Hotel.

I was finishing a breakfast
with my counsel, Denny Young,

one of my oldest friends.

We got up to leave.

One of my detectives,
Patti Varrone,

went over to Denny,
whispered in his ear.

And Denny came over to me
and said, "A twin engine plane

"has crashed into
one of the Twin Towers.

"There's a pretty bad fire.

They don't know
how bad it is yet."

And I said, "Well, Denny,

we've gotta head
right down there."

And he said,
"Yeah, of course."

[sirens wailing]

There's a fire
in the building right now.

Huge smoke pouring out of it.

I was on East River Drive
and I could actually see it,

and it looked to me like

it was a lot of smoke
for a small plane.

There was additional debris
sort of raining down.

I rushed down there,

and we began
to get the reports.

It started to sound
worse and worse.

I can't imagine

what the inside
of that building looks like.

Got there very quickly.

Went through the windows
that already blown out.

When I got in there,
the chief said to me,

"Boss, it wasn't a small plane,
it was a commercial airliner

"and we can't
put the fire out.

"We're gonna just try to get

as many people out of here
as we could."

And that was within
the first five minutes.

I don't have a lot more
detail on this than that.

When I got to
St. Vincent's Hospital,

I could see the doctors out
on the street and the nurses,

and they already
had stretchers out,

and I realized they must be
getting ready

for something very big.

♪

I'm in the North Tower.
We felt a vibration.

We thought it was an explosion
on the upper floors,

but it wasn't.

[engine roaring]

[loud explosion]
[people screaming]

- Oh!
- Oh, my God!

Oh!
Something else just blew up!

Oh, my God,
another plane has just hit.

It hit another building.

- You saw a plane?
- Yes, I just saw a plane

go into the building.

[people clamoring]

We received a phone call
from the police

and were notified that
a second plane had hit.

And realized at that point

that, obviously,
it was a terrorist attack.

[sirens wailing]

From a New York City firefighter,

"Drop what you're doing,
report to your company.

"A major disaster is occurring

in New York City
this morning."

[people clamoring]

When I got to Chief Ganci,

who was the commander
for the rescue effort,

I said, "Chief, can we get
a helicopter up there?"

And he said to me, "No.
It would be too dangerous.

There's too much fire."

And then, he looked at me
and he said,

"We can save everybody
below the fire."

[dramatic music]

[sirens wailing]

All of us were reacting,

just trying to make people
as safe as possible.

No one knew exactly
what was going on.

No one knew
if there were more planes.

No one knew
if there was another target.

We proceeded up West Street.

On the way up,
I saw Father Judge,

and I asked him
to pray for us,

which he assured me
that he was doing.

And then I walked
to 75 Barclay Street,

and I was brought into, like,
a cubical inner officer

and told that we had reached
the White House.

And then,
the desk started to shake.

Oh, my God,
the South Building

just crumbled from the top!

Oh, it's coming down, Pat.
It is just coming down.

Oh, my God!
The building just fell!

The debris is flying.
I'm gonna run.

Oh, my God.

We understand now
there has been

a secondary explosion
on Tower 2.

A section of the World
Trade Center has collapsed.

It's just an unbelievable
situation here.

We wondered if we hadn't
gone from bad to worse,

because when
you looked outside,

what you saw was
a tremendous cloud,

debris flying
through the streets,

and people being injured.

[somber music]

♪

The entire building fell.

And, uh, I processed that,

and we just,
you know, kept walking.

And that's when we hooked up
with the mayor.

I'm ready, Mayor.

Everyone in this city
should remain calm.

The very best thing
to do right now

would be to remain home.

If you're outside
of southern Manhattan,

you should remain
where you are.

You shouldn't panic.
You shouldn't worry.

What I was trying to do

was to get us on television,
on the radio,

to tell people what to do,
to give them some advice.

It's a terrible tragedy.

The best way
we're gonna get through this

is if we remain calm

and just listen to everyone,
not to panic.

We walked up a few more
blocks to a firehouse.

We got to the firehouse,

and I was told by
Tom Bunderson

that Father Judge had died.

I knew Father Judge
for eight years.

I was very close to him.

That was the first person that
I knew about that had died.

I had to keep saying
to myself,

"Don't think about it.
Put it out of your mind,

and keep focused."

The second tower

on the World Trade Center
is teetering

and looks like it may be
in the process of collapsing.

We were about
two blocks away

when the second tower
came down,

and we were able to
escape that as well.

But in the course of it,

we lost some of the people
that I've worked with, known,

for many, many years.

New York's
World Trade Center, in effect,

has been destroyed.

The loss of life will be high.

There was a time when,
you know, it got emotional.

But I never heard him say
he's scared, you know.

Put your mask on.

Put your mask on.
Put your mask on.

Some guys get in a position
and they step up,

and I think that's how he was.

What's the situation
right now?

The situation is that

two airplanes have attacked, apparently.

Why?

All right, well then,
let's--let's go north, then.

They might be afraid,
but they overcome it

because they're trying
to help other people.

I lost my wife and daughter.

They were in the building
when it hit.

I don't know. I came down.
I'm alive.

I just want to know
if my wife is alive.

No idea how many people
and cops are dead yet.

Many people hurt.

[indistinct]
I heard you say earlier that--

that you lost everybody.
What were you talking about?

I don't know.
I can't find any of my men.

They won't come up on the--
on the radio

or the cell phone,
so I don't know.

Where did you last
see them, sir?

They were in front of
One World Trade Center and--

it's the worst thing
I've ever seen in my life.

[radio chatter]

We've got, um, over
300 people that are missing

that we can't account for.

We believe that many of--
many of them are--are gone.

You know, still today,
it's, what, 22 years,

and for me, it's--
a lot of it's hard.

But it's mostly the grief,
the death.

Buildings that high
with that much fire,

and loaded with people,

people going to work
that morning,

mothers and fathers.

It's not just those
most affected

in New York and Washington

that are stunned this morning.

Across the nation,
all Americans are in horror

and disbelief.

♪

Good afternoon.

Today is, obviously,
one of the most difficult days

in the history of the city
and the country.

The tragedy that
we're all undergoing right now

is something that
we've had nightmares about

and probably thought
wouldn't happen.

I really had wrestled
a lot with mortality,

immortality, death.

So in a way, it prepared me.

Do we know the number of
casualties at this point, sir?

I don't think we really want
to speculate about that.

The number of casualties

will be more than any--
any of us can bear, ultimately.

That was him. That's not me.

The reason it's so powerful
is that it's--

it is disarmingly direct,
and heartfelt,

and simple,
and clean, and clear,

and came from his heart.

And, you know, that expresses,

you know, what was in his heart
and mind at that time.

It's all that needed
to be said,

and it's all that
could be said.

And it was pitch perfect
for that moment.

The night before
President Bush came,

I thought I was having
a heart attack at one point,

'cause my shoulder was in
a lot of pain.

My office was like
a big meeting room,

with one decision
after another.

This was about 10:30, 11:00
at night; I went for a walk.

I remember saying, "God,
"I can't have a heart attack.

Just not time.
"It's not gonna happen now.

"If you want to give me
a heart attack,

it's gonna happen later."

And I saw the river.

It gave me a tremendous
sense of stability.

There are a lot of things
I don't know how to do,

but I know how
to run emergencies

because I've done
so many of them.

And I said to myself,
"This is what I know how to do.

I know how to do this."

Did you have anything,

you know, some way that,
you know--

some sense
of a religious faith that

"God put me here
for this moment"?

I don't know God's will,
and I don't know God's plan.

But I did feel--

um--

I did feel that, in that sense,

I was in the place
that I guess I had to be.

This is one of those events
that can turn an entire country

into a small town.
It was a shared experience.

Those horrific images
on the television screen

captivated Americans

and united them in shock,
disbelief, fear, and anger.

[desolate music]

♪

I was told that
I would be picked up

at my apartment building
the morning of the 12th.

And the city
was just absolutely

dead still and quiet.

♪

I remember very distinctly
going over the Brooklyn Bridge

at, like, 6:10, 6:15
in the morning,

and I think we were
the only car on the bridge

and the city was just still.

I was going to meet the Mayor

at the temporary
emergency headquarters.

From the morning of 9/11 on,

I became the consultant
to the city's administration

regarding communications about
public mental health

in the aftermath
of the terrorist attacks.

His first statement to me was,
"My number one concern

"is the citizenry
of New York City.

"I want to do this in a way
that really helps

the people of the city
get through this."

I was really quite taken
with that, you know.

And I said to Mayor Giuliani
I developed a plan

for communications
at a public health level

of how individuals recover
from trauma

and create successful and
effective coping mechanisms

and begin the process
of recovery.

Good morning.

We just completed
a long meeting--

It was very clear to me
that he understood,

integrated, and implemented
the blueprint

that we had discussed immediately.

We ask all New Yorkers
to cooperate

and to try to help each other.

There are gonna be
a lot of people today

who need help
and need assistance.

There is a necessity
and the requirement

for a trusted voice.

Somehow, there is a sense that
you're telling the truth,

and that's priceless.

The fire is still burning.

But from it has emerged
a stronger spirit,

a more unified country,

a more unified city,

and a more unified world.

But don't assure anything
that can't really be assured.

We also want everyone
to prepare themselves

for the reality
that we're not going to be able

to recover
significant numbers of people.

And reconnecting individuals

from their own
trauma experience,

their own personal
trauma experience,

to a wider community.

Those of us who are here

have to defend freedom by
going about our lives unafraid,

like the people of Britain
did in the 1940s,

and the people of Jerusalem
do today.

And it was like,
"Holy shh--. Wow."

Like, "Yeah, you know.
Go Rudy."

I mean, I was really
blown away by that.

I mean, he really got it.

♪

It's hard to articulate
the emotions

in New York City at that time.

Here, you have... this hole...

♪

this wound, in the side
of Lower Manhattan.

We do not do our show
in New York.

We are in Los Angeles.

And though we've all seen these

horrible, horrible images
on TV.

I can't imagine how horrible
they must be in person.

We were on the
Upper West Side,

and you could smell it
up there.

It would come
into your windows.

Everyone was so scared.

Rudy, in the midst of chaos,
he was stability.

That was the man
meeting the moment,

and I think
he was really good at that.

To stand up and be defiant

when all those buildings were
coming down all around you--

in America,
that's what they love.

You know, that's--
that showed courage.

And I mean,
he was America's Mayor then.

He stepped forward
to be a leader,

not just here in New York City,

but for the rest
of the country

that was grieving,
that was in shock.

The showing of support

and the volunteers
that have come here

have been wonderful
for the spirit of the city.

It's kind of like we're all
embracing each other.

America is embracing
each other.

And that show of support
is enormously important.

For those of us who followed

or covered Rudy Giuliani
in New York,

in some newsrooms, we call him,
you know, "9/10 Rudy,"

meaning before 9/11
and his transmogrification

into this new person,
America's Mayor,

that the rest of the world
got to know.

[applause]

He's the man of the hour,

a man whose extraordinary grace
under pressure

in the days since
this devastating attack

has led him to be called
America's Mayor.

Ladies and gentlemen,
Rudy Giuliani.

The city was shrouded in
a real and psychological dust.

And then Giuliani appeared
on "Saturday Night Live."

We went there reluctantly.

None of us were in the mood

for going on
"Saturday Night Live."

That was the Mayor, again,
thinking big,

thinking that,
"Okay, we need to--

we need to start
laughing again."

Can we be funny?

[audience laughs]

Why start now?

[laughter and applause]

There was this kind of,
like, collective release of,

"Okay, if he can begin
to smile, maybe we can too."

I thought that was
an important moment.

It was like
a curtain going up

on this newest phase
of the Rudy Giuliani story.

His response to the attacks
had elevated him

to an unprecedented place
for any mayor.

He was named Time Magazine's
Man of the Year.

He would walk into rooms and
there'd be standing ovations.

If you don't stop applauding,

I will start singing.
[laughter]

You walk into every room

and you're the center
of attention,

and it comes to feel natural
and something that you're due.

Bits of the old Giuliani
do crack through.

He's still operating politically

and trying to grab
some more time in City Hall,

for at least as long as
he feels he needs to be there.

The offer is there. If people
want to accept it, they can.

Some people are wondering
if maybe we could

just keep Mayor Giuliani
in office for another year,

to get us through this crisis.

The New York Times
has indicated they don't think

this is
a great idea for democracy.

Rudolph Giuliani did
a terrific job

leading the response to 9/11,

and he earned America's Mayor

and Time Magazine's
Man of the Year.

But then, he started to talk
about extending his term.

He's term limited.

His two-term tenure will end
December 31st of 2001,

so he really only has
three more months in office.

What I'd like to do

is to maintain the unity
that exists in the city.

This was the first inkling

that Giuliani's
thirst for power

wasn't going to disappear,
even in this moment.

A lot of New Yorkers
are convinced now that

the whole place is gonna
fall apart if he leaves.

And apparently,
Giuliani thinks so too.

I wish that we could
reelect him.

But unfortunately, we can't.

One of three men

will be the next mayor
of New York City,

and it's either
Michael Bloomberg,

Freddy Ferrer, or me.

I get a phone call.

"The Mayor would like
to see you."

I was asked to just meet
with the Mayor alone,

just the two of us, no staff.

He said, "Mark, look,
it's a hell of a situation.

"Who knows if there could be
another attack.

"I'd like to ask
something unusual:

"to stay three months
beyond my term,

which ends January 1st."

So you create a stable,
sensible transition process,

because this has to be
the best transition

this city has ever done.

In the Civil War, we didn't
extend Abraham Lincoln's term.

He has to run for reelection
for president

in the middle of a civil war.

It's just madness.

But there was some
public sentiment for that,

times being what they were.

I'm sorry that he's leaving.

He's done a phenomenal job
of uniting the--

you know, our community.

- God bless you, Rudy.
- God bless you!

[inaudible].
God bless you, Rudy!

On the way away
from the meeting,

I got a phone call from his
top aide at City Hall

saying, "Mark, you don't want
to fight Rudy on this.

He is not gonna be happy."

This is mob talk.

This is "Godfather" talk.

Giuliani has taken
fierce criticism

for his controversial plans,

but even opponents concede

his political stature
in America

is something most mayors
only dream about.

I got the message
that he would invest

his Churchillian popularity
to attack me.

Rudy! Rudy!
Get over here, Rudy!

I would head up
a campaign to--

to reelect him
for a third term.

He's the man.

Basically, my agenda
is the only agenda

discussed in the campaign,
one way or the other.

When you think about it,
I mean,

that's the core of what
the discussion is all about,

the agenda that
we've set to the city.

After I had said okay,
Borough President Freddy Ferrer

made the very smart decision
to say no.

We've done this for centuries
in this city,

for centuries in this nation,
in times of crisis and war.

This should be no exception.

This city is bigger
than any one individual.

We have to move forward
with the process.

It is an outrage
that he should demand

an extension of his time

and effectively engage in
political extortion.

And so that idea
died a quick death.

He endorsed Bloomberg.

Bloomberg was down 15 points,
I think, at the time,

and Bloomberg won.

And then, you know,
it was over.

♪

Rudy dealt with it... directly.

I remember seeing him
pack up his office,

and there was a sense
of some sadness.

But, you know,
I think there was

a sense of exhaustion, certainly.

But he was looking forward
to what was next.

His last walk
out of City Hall

as Mayor of New York.

Those days around 9/11
were the apex of his career,

and probably his life.

You have throngs of people
cheering for you,

and waiting in line
to shake your hand

and get your autograph
and get pictures with you.

Multiply that times 1,000,
with respect to 9/11.

♪

I think that never leaves you.

Any time a politician
gets that kind of adulation,

it's got to do something
to their brain.

It's just got to.

Let's listen as
Mayor Giuliani swears in

his successor, Mike Bloomberg.

- In the city of New York.
- To the best of my ability.

- To the best of my ability.
- So help me God.

- So help me God.
- [laughs]

He is at the top
of the world.

He's back on top,

and he's gonna do
extraordinary things,

and likely get onto
the next stage that he wanted,

which was always
what he wanted,

which was to be President
of the United States.

You could smell that on him
from day one.

I was looking forward
to leaving office

and having some time
to finish my book,

build a business,
straighten out my life.

Rudy Giuliani is out with
a new book on leadership,

a quality that he personified
during and after 9/11,

and he is getting
a rock star reception.

Rudy's now a private
citizen again.

Things are on the rebound
in a variety of ways.

He's healthy, he seems
to have beaten prostate cancer.

He has a woman who loves him
back in his life.

He has this
enormous popularity.

[cheers and applause]

Take a lunchtime stroll
in midtown Manhattan

and you begin to see why he is

unofficially regarded
as America's Mayor.

- Go Yanks.
- Yeah, go Yanks. Absolutely.

He's been called
the Mayor of the World.

- We miss you, bro!
- All right.

I actually was a fan
of the Mayor

before it was fashionable
to be a fan of the Mayor.

There's never been
a mayor like him before,

and the city will never see
another mayor like him

for many, many years.

[cheers and applause]

He got knighted
by the Queen.

I was with him that day.

It's quite an honor
to be with people like that.

She said to me, "I hope
you're having less stress now."

And I told her I was.

Giuliani is catapulted
onto the world stage

like very few
American politicians

who are not president

get catapulted
onto the world stage.

He's now lionized
as an American hero.

The Honorable
Rudolph Giuliani.

[cheers and applause]

Giuliani has this enormous
national platform.

He's a rising star
in the Republican Party.

Now, he has
this national profile,

international profile.

We need George Bush now,
more than ever.

Grew up dreaming
of becoming president.

And now, as George W. Bush's
term is coming to an end,

he sees the opening.

I think he just thought
it was the natural step.

You know, "I've run New York.
I ran 9/11.

I should be
running the country."

I think I can
make a difference.

I believe that the country
needs leadership.

Takes a lot of chutzpah,
though, doesn't it?

To say, "I'm the best."
That's what you're saying.

It does. And very humbling.

I'm not
the youngest candidate,

but I am the most experienced.

I am an American
running for president.

What I'm gonna do is talk
about who I am,

and what I believe,

and let them sort it out
from there.

Giuliani's overall message
is that

he's the guy who knows
how to run a government

that the liberals
have screwed up.

I'm running against
three Democrats

who have never run a city,

never run a state,
never run a business.

But also that he's the guy

who knows how to
take on the terrorists.

An enemy without borders,

hate without boundaries,

a people perverted,

a religion betrayed,

democracy attacked,

and Osama bin Laden
still making threats.

In a world where the next
crisis is a moment away,

America needs a leader
who's ready.

I think people
look for results.

- I love you, Rudy!
- The--thank you.

See, like that guy.
He's looking for results.

- You are the candidate.
- Thank you.

Thank you for
undertaking this race.

Thank you very much.

Giuliani is charismatic.
He's candid.

He's comfortable
in his own skin.

He's an exciting candidate,

and he's gonna bring a lot
of sizzle to this election.

There was a perception
that he had

a reasonably good chance
in 2008,

based on his performance
on 9/11.

And there was a belief that
the party had been reconfigured

as a national security party.

There's no one running
that has had the safety

and responsibility of millions
and millions of people

on their shoulders under
very difficult circumstances,

and I'm not just talking
about September 11th.

But by 2008, the war
had started to go quite badly,

and a lot of Americans,
even a lot of Republicans,

viewed it very negatively.

But also, you had to be right
on taxes, abortion, and guns.

He was wrong
on three of those things

for the Republican base voter.

He was a New Yorker
with some progressive ideals.

Now, sometimes
he would try to hide them.

It is a extreme asset
to be the candidate

with the most experience
in this race.

For generations,
members of both parties

had tried to win
the presidential nomination

by building momentum,

winning the earliest contests
in states like Iowa,

New Hampshire, South Carolina.

Giuliani's campaign
had a different idea.

My advice for
the debate prep--

I remember I was in the meeting

where they rolled out
the Florida strategy.

The idea was to skip
the initial primary states

and betting it all

on the Republican primary
in Florida.

There are a lot of former
New Yorkers there

And no doubt,
the Republican Party faithful

will support Giuliani,

and that'll change
the whole contest.

Giuliani was lulled
into thinking

that, because he was
so well-known nationally,

he was banking on this.

"Well, look, I'm still leading
in the polls."

[groovy music]

He's waiting until
January 29th in Florida

to take on all comers.

He'll be, in effect,
out of the news cycle.

Will he be able to raise money?
Will he have any momentum?

It's a high risk strategy

camping out in Florida
on a night like tonight.

Like, this is [bleep] crazy.

It misread the state.

It misread the demographics.
It misread the voter behavior.

This is the strategy
that we selected

pretty close to day one.

So maybe other people

would get nervous
in a situation like this.

He presented as, like,
a brilliant, you know,

counterintuitive strategy,

but I think what it really was
was a kind of tacit admission

that he was not very appealing
to voters in Iowa.

He was not very appealing
to voters in New Hampshire.

The crucial first votes
of Campaign '08

made for solid wins
for Senator Barack Obama

and former Governor
Mike Huckabee.

You got to give McCain
a lot of credit.

Managed to get a win
in New Hampshire.

Let us start
in South Carolina.

It was very close,
and it wasn't easy,

but John McCain has
edged out Mike Huckabee.

The Republicans are now

turning
their attention to Florida.

Rudy Giuliani
has invested everything

in the state of Florida.

He's hoping a big win
there next Tuesday

can put him right back
in the middle of this race.

You are, looking around
the rest of the party,

an aberration.

Can we agree on that point?
- [laughs]

I was an aberration
when I was Mayor of New York.

I'm used to that.

Is your message
going to continue to be,

can you afford it
to continue to be,

"Take me as I am"?

That's the only message
I have. [chuckles]

This is Rudy Giuliani's
52nd day

of campaigning in Florida.

[indistinct shouting]

Whenever I come to Florida,

I feel like I'm at home.

Sometimes, I see more people
from New York in Florida

than I do in New York.

I was still sort of
around for the ride

in the last couple of days.

It was so frustrating
to watch them

burn through so much money.

Rudy's people, they were
burning money like mad men.

So much good will.

So many people
who wanted him to succeed.

Here is
the big story tonight.

John McCain, the big winner
in the state of Florida.

He captures the Republican
presidential nomination.

This, of course,
a very difficult night

for Rudy Giuliani.

He had been hoping that

he would be
the victor here in Florida.

Spent more than
$30 million here.

It wasn't just a hard fought
but lost campaign.

It was an embarrassment.

He thought he was gonna be president.

A lot of people thought
he was gonna be president.

And he screwed it up.

I think that was
a huge disappointment to him.

Having been so much
a figure of attention,

a fascination
of media coverage,

I don't think he could bear
the thought of losing that.

That that somehow was
part of his identity.

For a politician,
you want to be relevant.

You want people to care
what you think.

You want to be able
to change people's lives.

You want to be able to lead

and have millions of Americans
follow you.

So to not be relevant anymore,
that is heartbreaking.

I'm proud that we chose
to stay positive

and to run a campaign of ideas.

In an era of personal attacks,
negative ads, and cynical spin,

we ran a campaign
that was uplifting.

Giuliani was the frontrunner
for the Republican nomination,

and then people started voting.

He invested his heart
and soul in this primary,

and who conducted himself
with all the qualities

of the exceptional
American leader he truly is.

Did Rudy Giuliani die?

Barack Obama will become

the 44th President
of the United States.

He'd come to the end
of a political career,

and when you're not gonna be
elected to anything anymore,

what do you do?

He was in
yet another wilderness

where he wasn't quite sure

whether he was
a politician anymore

or whether he was
a full-time businessman.

I think Giuliani, in
Washington terms, was nowhere.

He misses the action
and he wants to be a player.

The vice president
wasn't very nice yesterday.

He became more unfettered
and unencumbered.

Giuliani touched off
a firestorm

when he said
earlier this week,

"I know this is
a horrible thing to say,

but I do not believe that
the president loves America."

That is deplorable.
That is wrong.

You can almost say
it is unpatriotic.

Far from backing down,

he's actually tripling down
with new remarks.

Giuliani defended
the remark saying,

"It has nothing
to do with race."

And what Rudy Giuliani
is doing

is citing
the President as other.

It is a dog whistle
to certain people in the party,

and to certain types of people,

whether he wants to claim
that racism or not.

People create in groups
and out groups instinctively.

It takes nothing
to create that.

Rudy realized that.

It's a dialectic,
this kind of politics.

It's not a cohesive strategy.
It's a cohesive attitude.

I think his combative nature
became more so.

I think, in some ways,
he just became

an even more intense version
of who he was.

Before Obama came along,

we didn't have any successful

radical Islamic terrorist
attack in the United States.

I didn't have
a lot of contact with him

during those years,

but I suspect
he was pretty unfulfilled.

The value of the national
security card for Rudy

had diminished rather
dramatically by that point.

You ended up with this
Republican constituency

that should have been
much more Rudy-centric.

But American voters evolved
on a couple of big things.

That guy who works
in Brown County, Wisconsin,

and has been there
for 25 years

in a factory
making auto parts,

his son has had
three goddamn tours in Iraq

and gotten shot once,

that guy's job
has been off-shored,

and he's been able to find
a job working in a call center

for nine bucks an hour

with no health insurance,

and he's pissed.

I mean, I'm mad.
I've been mad.

I'm one of the angry,
you know, voters

that they've been discussing
for the last year.

[indistinct chatter]

I am officially running...

for President of
the United States,

and we are going to make
our country great again.

[cheers and applause]

Well, Donald Trump is moving
like a storm front

through the Republican
primaries and caucuses.

Heading towards Super Tuesday
next week,

Trump has more delegates
than his rivals combined.

Donald Trump's march
to the nomination

would be hard
to bet against now.

crowd: USA! USA!

As Trump started
to rack up wins,

I think Giuliani saw value

in his being a voice
of support for Trump.

Trump is clearly
the best choice.

He's the best choice
for New York.

He's the best choice
for the country.

And he's the one
who can beat Hillary Clinton.

Trump became this black hole
in which

all political attention
in the country was reposed.

And the celebrity lizard brain
of Rudy kicked off,

and he needed it.

He thought, "This will put me
back in the spotlight."

[cheers and applause]

Thank you.

Thank you, New York...

crowd: Yeah!

For a New Yorker, for once,
on the ticket: Donald Trump.

Remember, this is one
of the great ironies of Rudy.

He knew Trump was a third-tier,
fourth-tier,

real estate bull[bleep] artist.

He knew it.

He was in New York.

Rudy used to deal with
the actual power

in New York money
and real estate.

He knew what Trump was.

[cheers and applause]

I think, you see
his speeches,

he was more ratcheted up
than anyone else could be.

I am telling you this

because I am sick and tired

of the defamation
of Donald Trump

by the media
and by the Clinton campaign!

I am sick and tired of it!

This is a good man!

He was the most angry speaker
of all of them.

And America should be
sick and tired

of their vicious,
nasty campaign!

[cheers and applause]

What they don't tell you
about fame is,

it doesn't happen, usually,

that you become famous
and successful,

and then you die.

Usually, what happens is,

you become famous
and successful,

and then you become
less famous and successful,

and then you die.

It's time to make America
safe again.

It's time to make America
one again.

One America.

What happened to
"there is no Black America,

there is no white America,
there is just America"?

What happened to it?

Where did it go?

How has it flown away?

[cheers and applause]

Giuliani sees one thing:
opportunity.

Opportunity for his personal
development, growth,

achievement, rise yet again
to political power.

Giuliani knew he had
an opportunity

to be back
in the influence business.

[dramatic music]

At the height of the '16
election,

I said, "Look, the election's
going to be over,

and I wish you would
consider your legacy,

because you have
an important story to tell."

Calmly and safely evacuate
Lower Manhattan.

If you are south of
Canal Street,

walk north and get out
of southern Manhattan.

One of the things
that Rudy, on 9/11,

helped us realize as a society

is that you don't have
to be perfect to be a hero.

♪

But if you stand up

and you do the right thing
when it's difficult,

that's all that matters,
at the end of the day.

I mean, so much of what we do

should be motivated by
caring about our legacy.

And he just said to me--

he said, "I don't care about
my legacy."

Rudy has that fatalism
about him.

He thinks that
it doesn't matter,

and that whether it's one year
from now where he's remembered,

but 10,000 years from now
he won't be,

what difference does it make
in the scheme of the universe?

"I had my day in the sun

and I had my place
in the arena."

What I did for New York,

Donald Trump
will do for America!

[cheers and applause]

Donald Trump will be
a truly great president.

Trump's first two years
in office are overshadowed

by allegations of
colluding with Russia.

The President needs somebody
who will push back

against this investigation,

and that is why he calls up
his old friend Rudy Giuliani.

So you did ask Ukraine
to look into Joe Biden.

- Of course, I did!
- You just said you didn't!

Many of those who are close
to Donald Trump

think that none of this
would have happened

without Rudy Giuliani.

Frankly,
we did win this election.

It's just a matter of
counting the votes fairly.