WEBVTT 00:00:00.360 --> 00:00:03.860 It's November 1997, election night. 00:00:06.540 --> 00:00:11.820 In Meadton, Manhattan, at the Hilton's Grand Ballroom, the crowd applauds Rudy Giuliani. 00:00:11.820 --> 00:00:14.460 He has won his second term. 00:00:14.460 --> 00:00:16.260 It was kind of clear he was going to win. 00:00:16.260 --> 00:00:17.840 93 was a nail-biter. 00:00:17.840 --> 00:00:19.220 97 was not a nail-biter. 00:00:19.520 --> 00:00:21.360 He was going to win the election. 00:00:21.360 --> 00:00:22.880 That's JD Dapper. 00:00:22.880 --> 00:00:26.540 He's a reporter who covered Rudy Giuliani extensively at the time. 00:00:26.540 --> 00:00:28.340 He remembers Giuliani's victory speech. 00:00:28.880 --> 00:00:35.480 It was very much not a hard-core speech that would nowadays be considered kind of a speech to the base. 00:00:35.480 --> 00:00:37.080 It was a speech to everybody. 00:00:37.080 --> 00:00:38.820 Big, tense speech. 00:00:38.820 --> 00:00:40.880 Adam Goodman was there too. 00:00:40.880 --> 00:00:46.500 He was Giuliani's media advisor, hired to support Giuliani with his campaign for re-election. 00:00:46.500 --> 00:01:08.140 And so in that ballroom that night, it was pure elation by all of us, not just because the campaign was very successful for re-election, but because we knew we were all a part, in some fashion, of a transformative moment in the most incredible, maybe one would argue, most important city in the world. 00:01:08.140 --> 00:01:17.420 And at that time, I think it's fair to say that a lot of people in New York, a lot of political scientists in New York, a lot of politicians in New York, thought, this guy's got a future. 00:01:17.420 --> 00:01:22.940 Politicians, union leaders, advisors, they all joined Giuliani to celebrate his re-election. 00:01:25.280 --> 00:01:27.660 But one person is missing from the party. 00:01:27.660 --> 00:01:30.580 His wife, Donna Hanover. 00:01:30.580 --> 00:01:36.720 What Giuliani didn't know was that his second term was about to become more turbulent than he might have expected. 00:01:36.720 --> 00:01:40.560 Both in his personal life and his leadership of the city. 00:01:40.560 --> 00:01:41.960 Things are going in the right direction. 00:01:41.960 --> 00:01:48.000 But then what happened over the course of that second term is these abuses happened. 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:50.160 These horrible incidents happened. 00:01:50.700 --> 00:01:58.480 You can put a force out in the streets to stop crime, but you also have to have management of that force, or else it's going to become a wrecking ball. 00:01:58.480 --> 00:02:00.520 And I think that's kind of what happened. 00:02:00.520 --> 00:02:04.860 But in this moment, everything is still possible for Rudy Giuliani. 00:02:04.860 --> 00:02:09.880 Election day is not yet over when the New York Times dubs Giuliani King Rudolph. 00:02:09.880 --> 00:02:13.980 And he was, until he wasn't. 00:02:13.980 --> 00:02:20.440 Giuliani's celebratory moment at his 1997 victory party could have been lifted from the disaster romance Titanic. 00:02:20.440 --> 00:02:26.740 About halfway through the film, Leonardo DiCaprio's character Jack leans out over the stern of the ocean liner and shouts the phrase. 00:02:30.260 --> 00:02:35.000 Halfway through his mayorship, Rudy Giuliani seems to be just as confident. 00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:38.600 But just like in Titanic, treacherous waters lie ahead. 00:02:38.600 --> 00:02:40.360 And it's the people closest to him. 00:02:40.360 --> 00:02:42.700 I had hoped to keep this marriage together. 00:02:42.700 --> 00:02:44.040 And his fellow New Yorkers. 00:02:47.240 --> 00:02:49.280 Who would bear the consequences? 00:02:52.460 --> 00:02:53.760 I'm Alice Finno. 00:02:53.760 --> 00:02:55.180 And I'm Peter Shea. 00:02:55.180 --> 00:03:03.700 This is Shoe Leather, an investigative podcast that digs up stories from New York City's past to find out how yesterday's news affects us today. 00:03:03.700 --> 00:03:11.560 This season, we're taking a deep dive into the life and career of Rudy Giuliani, one of the most influential politicians in New York City's recent history. 00:03:12.840 --> 00:03:22.140 Before he went to work for Donald Trump, before he was disbarred and bankrupt, before all the trouble, Giuliani rose to prominence as a prosecutor and a politician. 00:03:22.140 --> 00:03:25.900 In this episode, we look at Giuliani's second term as mayor. 00:03:25.900 --> 00:03:30.740 This is Shoe Leather, season 6, Giuliani, The Unraveling. 00:03:30.740 --> 00:03:34.300 You're listening to episode 5, King Rudolph. 00:03:37.780 --> 00:03:44.740 To understand what went wrong in Giuliani's second term as mayor, you have to understand what went right the first time he was elected. 00:03:44.740 --> 00:03:48.960 So let's back up, to the end of Giuliani's first term. 00:03:48.960 --> 00:03:53.180 His success in making the city safer resonates with New Yorkers. 00:03:53.180 --> 00:03:58.860 So the mayor decides to run again, building his campaign for reelection on his tough on crime policies. 00:03:58.860 --> 00:04:01.400 Crime down more than 50 percent. 00:04:01.400 --> 00:04:04.940 Murder down an amazing 65 percent. 00:04:04.940 --> 00:04:08.480 New York became a model for police in this country and around the world. 00:04:08.480 --> 00:04:09.960 You have to deal with murder. 00:04:10.480 --> 00:04:11.760 You have to deal with rape. 00:04:11.760 --> 00:04:17.680 You have to put more resources into that than you do dealing with street-level drug dealing or street-level prostitution. 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:21.440 But you can't ignore that either because then you create a lawless environment. 00:04:21.440 --> 00:04:27.220 In the 1997 mayoral race, Ruth Messinger is Giuliani's main opponent. 00:04:27.220 --> 00:04:31.800 Tonight New Yorkers will get their first look at Rudy Giuliani and me side by side. 00:04:31.800 --> 00:04:37.400 It is seriously a contest between two candidates with different styles and different priorities. 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:45.200 Messinger was Borough President of Manhattan when she became the first woman to receive the Democratic nomination for mayor. 00:04:45.200 --> 00:04:49.080 I reached out to her to ask what she remembered about the race. 00:04:49.080 --> 00:04:51.860 I wouldn't say I was this pleased with what Giuliani was doing. 00:04:51.860 --> 00:04:54.960 I was this pleased with all the things he wasn't doing. 00:04:54.960 --> 00:05:00.920 So I decided it was worth challenging him, but I didn't get much coverage. 00:05:00.920 --> 00:05:04.800 I got some supporters, but I didn't get much media coverage. 00:05:05.340 --> 00:05:08.740 Messenger's campaign brings attention to schools and education. 00:05:08.740 --> 00:05:13.700 It is a weak spot for Giuliani, who has cut the school budget significantly in the previous years. 00:05:13.700 --> 00:05:20.840 At the time, there are issues of overcrowding in schools and reports that some students were forced to have classes in bathrooms due to a lack of space. 00:05:20.840 --> 00:05:28.840 Whatever he did to overhaul the police department, doesn't seem to be bringing that interest or that energy to any other city agency. 00:05:28.840 --> 00:05:32.060 But Giuliani himself was confident about his track record. 00:05:32.060 --> 00:05:38.340 He portrayed Messenger as too liberal for the city and reminded people of the decrease in crime every time he had a chance. 00:05:38.340 --> 00:05:49.020 What he was actually doing was helping to unify the city, unify them around common ground, the common ground about quality of life, about being safe when you walk down the street. 00:05:49.020 --> 00:05:52.480 That's Adam Goodman again, Giuliani's media advisor. 00:05:52.480 --> 00:05:59.760 To some extent, Hispanics and Asian Americans and African Americans, they came to understand that. 00:06:02.420 --> 00:06:09.180 In 1997, Giuliani receives more votes from black and Hispanic people than he did in 1993. 00:06:09.180 --> 00:06:13.340 He ends up winning with a 16-point margin over Messenger. 00:06:13.340 --> 00:06:19.500 I would like to now introduce the mayor of the city of New York, the Honorable Rudolph W. 00:06:19.500 --> 00:06:22.220 Giuliani. 00:06:22.220 --> 00:06:35.960 Thank you very much to all of the people of the city of New York for giving me four more years as your mayor, the greatest job in the world and the greatest city in the world. 00:06:35.960 --> 00:06:45.000 I want to first thank my family for their love, for their kindness, for their support, for their help. 00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:53.680 On the Ivovis inauguration, Giuliani hires 1,600 new police officers, bringing the size of the police department to over 40,000. 00:06:54.520 --> 00:07:06.460 Now is the time to make our efforts redouble, stronger, to fight harder, and to see if we can make these reductions in crime permanent and make them happen even more. 00:07:06.460 --> 00:07:11.780 Giuliani was doubling down on the very thing that got him elected, fighting crime. 00:07:11.780 --> 00:07:13.520 It's an effective strategy. 00:07:13.520 --> 00:07:17.980 76% of New Yorkers approve of his handling of crime. 00:07:17.980 --> 00:07:21.480 But Giuliani's growing political ambition will not stop in New York. 00:07:22.480 --> 00:07:26.240 The mayor seems increasingly drawn to the national spotlight. 00:07:29.820 --> 00:07:37.580 In the first months of 1998, Giuliani positions his second term on issues that might seem inconsequential compared to his first term. 00:07:37.580 --> 00:07:47.820 He pushes welfare reform, revitalizes the Times Square theater district, and endorses financial incentives to benefit the owners of the New York Yankees. 00:07:47.820 --> 00:07:51.440 Giuliani spars with the Daily News and other New York media outlets. 00:07:52.480 --> 00:07:59.900 In 1999, he bars press conferences from the steps of City Hall, only for a judge to later receive the rule. 00:07:59.900 --> 00:08:02.620 And this also got his future to think about. 00:08:02.620 --> 00:08:08.400 Because of New York City's major term limits, he has to think about what's next for his political career. 00:08:08.400 --> 00:08:14.420 In November 1998, Democratic Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan announces that he will not seek another term. 00:08:14.420 --> 00:08:21.400 If his name sounds familiar, that's because Moynihan was the man who told a much younger Giuliani he had to wait his turn before becoming a federal judge. 00:08:21.880 --> 00:08:23.960 That was back in Episode 2. 00:08:23.960 --> 00:08:30.020 Moynihan has represented New York and the US Senate for 21 years, and he wields a lot of power. 00:08:30.020 --> 00:08:33.500 Giuliani is immediately expected to be a candidate. 00:08:33.500 --> 00:08:46.940 The camera-ready Rudy expands beyond local television and starts showing up on national television shows, including appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Ladies and gentlemen, Mayor extraordinaire, his honor, Rudy Giuliani. 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:48.200 Saturday Night Live. 00:08:48.200 --> 00:08:49.120 Hello, everyone. 00:08:49.120 --> 00:08:52.300 It's great to be here hosting Saturday Night Live. 00:08:52.300 --> 00:08:55.180 And maybe most appropriately, Law and Order. 00:08:55.180 --> 00:08:57.020 Good morning, Mayor Giuliani. 00:08:57.020 --> 00:08:57.640 Good morning, Mr. 00:08:57.640 --> 00:08:58.420 Mayor. 00:08:58.420 --> 00:09:01.280 Nora and I worked together on many organized crime cases. 00:09:01.280 --> 00:09:03.940 She was always nervous, but always brilliant. 00:09:03.940 --> 00:09:07.320 Well, it is a little daunting coming in behind Adam Schiff. 00:09:07.320 --> 00:09:11.960 But then, a new candidate with even more star power enters the race. 00:09:14.800 --> 00:09:22.340 On July 7, 1999, on his farm in upstate New York, Senator Moynihan walks out for a press conference. 00:09:22.340 --> 00:09:27.920 With him is Hillary Clinton, the wife of then President of the United States Bill Clinton. 00:09:27.920 --> 00:09:42.000 Yesterday, Hillary Clinton established an exploratory committee as regards candidacy for the Senate, United States Senate from New York, a seat in which I will vacate in a year and a half. 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:43.740 I think she's going to win. 00:09:43.740 --> 00:09:46.340 I think it's going to be wonderful for New York. 00:09:46.340 --> 00:09:50.380 Well, I want to thank Senator Moynihan and my friend Liz Moynihan. 00:09:50.380 --> 00:09:54.880 Moynihan stands next to Clinton, dressed in linen pants and a frumpled button-up. 00:09:54.880 --> 00:09:58.680 Clinton is immaculately tailored in a pressed blue pantsuit. 00:09:58.680 --> 00:10:02.220 Moynihan looks like an old boxer, escorting a new young fighter into the ring. 00:10:06.440 --> 00:10:12.460 Giuliani just got a new opponent in his battle for the Senate, and this one is a heavyweight. 00:10:13.860 --> 00:10:16.420 Clinton has never won elected office. 00:10:16.420 --> 00:10:19.440 She has risen in politics alongside her husband. 00:10:19.440 --> 00:10:28.900 In Bill Clinton's second term, his presidency and his marriage were nearly sunk by the scandal of his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. 00:10:28.900 --> 00:10:30.860 Indeed, I did have a relationship with Ms. 00:10:30.860 --> 00:10:33.360 Lewinsky that was not appropriate. 00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:36.560 In fact, it was wrong. 00:10:36.560 --> 00:10:40.780 Hillary Clinton's public approval numbers have risen during the Lewinsky scandal. 00:10:40.780 --> 00:10:44.320 She has become a prominent figure in democratic politics. 00:10:44.320 --> 00:10:52.420 Republican Rudy Giuliani and Democrat Hillary Clinton are positioned for a brutal battle to win the open New York Senate seat. 00:10:52.420 --> 00:10:57.160 For months, the stage for the most celebrated Senate race in the country appeared set. 00:10:57.160 --> 00:11:00.000 The city's mayor versus the nation's first lady. 00:11:00.100 --> 00:11:01.340 Oh, they're beautiful. 00:11:01.340 --> 00:11:03.660 Are you getting all well? 00:11:03.660 --> 00:11:07.400 Giuliani campaigns hard on his record as prosecutor and two-term mayor. 00:11:07.400 --> 00:11:12.140 He tries to draw a distinction between his record and Clinton's lack of leadership experience. 00:11:12.140 --> 00:11:17.200 He also tells the press that Hillary ought to go back to Arkansas, the state where her husband used to be governor. 00:11:18.460 --> 00:11:23.060 Clinton is a fast learner and quickly shows her adeptness at campaigning. 00:11:23.060 --> 00:11:34.980 But then let's also get rid of the obstacles of high taxes, high utility costs, poor transportation, and let's take advantage of training people so they can get the jobs of the new global economy and move forward. 00:11:34.980 --> 00:11:44.880 By February 2000, six months before the election, Clinton and Giuliani are in a dead heat, with the mayor leading by just one percentage point over Clinton in a statewide poll. 00:11:44.880 --> 00:11:46.780 Giuliani is in a fight. 00:11:46.780 --> 00:11:51.480 Through his campaign for Senate, Rudy sees a path for life after the mayorship. 00:11:51.480 --> 00:11:57.520 But then, something happens that would fundamentally change the way New Yorkers see Giuliani and his leadership. 00:12:02.140 --> 00:12:05.880 Patrick Dorismond has just finished his shift as a security guard. 00:12:05.880 --> 00:12:08.980 He heads to a bar with a friend for a few drinks. 00:12:08.980 --> 00:12:10.580 It's March 16th, 2000. 00:12:11.880 --> 00:12:15.080 It's after midnight when Dorismond decides to go home. 00:12:15.080 --> 00:12:21.140 He's Asian-American, and he lives in an apartment in Flatbush with his girlfriend and his one-year-old child. 00:12:22.620 --> 00:12:27.380 Dorismond is standing outside the Wacamba cocktail lounge in middle Manhattan. 00:12:27.380 --> 00:12:34.160 He's waiting for a taxi with his friend when an undercover narcotics officer approaches him and asks for drugs. 00:12:34.160 --> 00:12:36.600 The encounter escalates quickly into a confrontation. 00:12:37.400 --> 00:12:41.240 There are conflicting reports of the events from that moment. 00:12:41.240 --> 00:12:47.280 What we know is that in a matter of minutes, Dorismond is shot and killed. 00:12:47.280 --> 00:12:49.980 He was 26 years old. 00:12:49.980 --> 00:12:53.040 He would have turned 27 the following day, St. 00:12:53.040 --> 00:12:54.480 Patrick's Day. 00:12:57.980 --> 00:13:01.260 That morning, Giuliani holds a press conference. 00:13:01.260 --> 00:13:20.080 According to a New York Times article from the time, he says, quote, I would urge everyone not to jump to conclusions and to allow the facts to be analyzed and investigated without people trying to let their biases, their prejudices, their emotions, their stereotypes dictate the results, unquote. 00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:24.920 Tensions between the black community in the city and the police department are already high. 00:13:24.920 --> 00:13:30.120 This is the third time a black unknown man has been killed by the NYPD in the past 13 months. 00:13:30.820 --> 00:13:40.680 The young African immigrant died when four plainclothes cops shot him 19 times, firing 41 bullets, then staking the wallet in his hand for a gun. 00:13:40.680 --> 00:13:44.200 The killing of Amadou Diallo is still vivid in people's minds. 00:13:44.200 --> 00:13:48.940 Only three weeks have passed since the officers who shot Diallo 41 times were acquitted. 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:55.320 During the Giuliani administration, the tactic of stop and frisk was widely used by the NYPD. 00:13:55.320 --> 00:13:59.860 Based on this policy, police officers could stop anyone they found suspicious and search them. 00:14:01.080 --> 00:14:04.440 This led to the disproportionate targeting of black people. 00:14:04.440 --> 00:14:16.480 In April 1999, stop and frisk reports from the street crime unit of the NYPD show that about 64% of the people stopped were black, 20% Hispanic and 6% white. 00:14:19.560 --> 00:14:28.540 As I was looking into the case, I submitted a public records request to the NYPD to get the police incident report and other documents that could tell me more about the shooting. 00:14:29.940 --> 00:14:33.420 After a few weeks, I received two short documents. 00:14:33.420 --> 00:14:41.300 Most of the information was redacted, but I saw that the Dorismont shooting was not classified as a stop and frisk incident. 00:14:41.300 --> 00:14:46.440 In this case, the officers had approached Dorismont as part of an undercover operation. 00:14:47.520 --> 00:14:55.580 Within 24 hours of the shooting, Giuliani does something unexpected, something that will attract heavy criticism. 00:14:55.580 --> 00:14:58.080 He releases Dorismont's sealed criminal record. 00:14:59.260 --> 00:15:03.400 Well, the reality is, what those records demonstrate is a propensity to violence. 00:15:03.400 --> 00:15:22.100 That is important for people to know in judging whether the police officers were telling the truth that he began the violence and caused his own death, or the witness who says that the police officers struck him first, but his record was relevant to his propensity for violence. 00:15:22.100 --> 00:15:24.860 But Dorismont has never been convicted of a crime. 00:15:24.860 --> 00:15:30.140 He was accused of robbery and assault, but the charges were either dropped or reduced to disorderly conduct. 00:15:30.140 --> 00:15:34.160 One of them was sealed because he was 13 when the incident happened. 00:15:34.160 --> 00:15:38.640 A few days later, Giuliani speaks about the case on Fox News Sunday. 00:15:38.640 --> 00:15:41.260 He says Dorismont was no altar boy. 00:15:41.260 --> 00:15:45.900 He's being metaphorical, but in fact, Dorismont was an altar boy. 00:15:45.900 --> 00:15:48.440 He went to school at Bishop Laughlin. 00:15:48.440 --> 00:15:53.260 If the name sounds familiar to you, it's because it's the same Catholic school that Giuliani attended. 00:15:54.560 --> 00:15:59.140 I remember the mom in her broken English going, Mr. 00:15:59.140 --> 00:16:04.860 Giuliani, my son goes same school as you. 00:16:04.860 --> 00:16:07.200 My son no criminal. 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:11.680 That's Yolette Williams, the head of the Haitian American Association of New York. 00:16:11.680 --> 00:16:14.860 She helped the family organize Dorismont's funeral. 00:16:14.900 --> 00:16:23.540 He was killed, not only it was a senseless killing, but to make him pass as a criminal was really upsetting. 00:16:23.540 --> 00:16:26.720 It was as upsetting as the killing. 00:16:26.720 --> 00:16:30.840 Williams remembers the protest that broke out the day of Dorismont's funeral. 00:16:30.840 --> 00:16:35.860 The funeral procession turned out to be like a march. 00:16:35.860 --> 00:16:42.520 And for the funeral service, the priests really had to control even the media. 00:16:42.520 --> 00:16:45.340 The priests did not allow everyone to come in. 00:16:45.800 --> 00:16:56.340 A lot of elected officials were there, many community leaders, and so, and family and friends. 00:16:57.180 --> 00:17:02.540 So that's why there was so many people outside, and people were barricaded. 00:17:02.540 --> 00:17:10.440 But a lot of people from the community, the Haitian community came, and people were very upset by this. 00:17:10.440 --> 00:17:15.840 That day, about 5,000 people joined the procession to escort Doorsman's body to the church. 00:17:15.840 --> 00:17:19.960 Protesters chant and hold signs calling for Giuliani's resignation. 00:17:19.960 --> 00:17:22.720 Then, clashes with the police erupt. 00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:26.200 27 people are arrested, and 23 officers are injured. 00:17:28.880 --> 00:17:29.980 Giuliani must go on! 00:17:35.740 --> 00:17:37.960 Giuliani has to step down! 00:17:37.960 --> 00:17:39.600 Enough is enough! 00:17:39.600 --> 00:17:42.320 Giuliani, you don't have no heart! 00:17:42.320 --> 00:17:44.620 Giuliani defends what he did. 00:17:44.620 --> 00:17:58.220 I laid out the facts that were being ignored by the press so that they could do basically what they're doing now, which is create a vacuum, seal the public off from certain facts, and blame it completely and clearly on the police officers. 00:17:58.220 --> 00:17:59.980 I haven't reached a judgment. 00:17:59.980 --> 00:18:02.080 And actually, I have no right to reach a judgment. 00:18:02.080 --> 00:18:04.140 A grand jury and a jury reaches a judgment. 00:18:04.780 --> 00:18:09.900 A grand jury ultimately decides not to file criminal charges against the officers. 00:18:09.900 --> 00:18:14.840 The Dorismont family sues the city for wrongful death and settles. 00:18:14.840 --> 00:18:21.900 A poll conducted days after the shooting shows the mayor has the lowest job approval ratings of his seven years in office. 00:18:22.940 --> 00:18:26.980 Giuliani has also lost points in the Senate race against Clinton. 00:18:26.980 --> 00:18:32.040 At the beginning of April, the First Lady has a 49 to 41 percent lead over Giuliani. 00:18:33.120 --> 00:18:37.440 For the first time, Clinton is leading the race. 00:18:37.440 --> 00:18:40.900 A few weeks later, Giuliani holds a press conference. 00:18:40.900 --> 00:18:43.360 He has a major announcement. 00:18:43.360 --> 00:18:44.880 Good morning. 00:18:46.720 --> 00:18:52.220 I was diagnosed yesterday with prostate cancer. 00:18:52.220 --> 00:18:55.200 My father had prostate cancer, which is the reason why I went and got tested for it. 00:18:55.200 --> 00:18:56.960 It brings up very painful memories. 00:18:57.380 --> 00:19:01.780 And I miss my father every day of my life. 00:19:01.780 --> 00:19:08.740 And he's a very, very important reason for why I'm standing here, as the mayor of New York City. 00:19:08.740 --> 00:19:14.280 The 55-year-old mayor of the largest city in the nation is suddenly vulnerable. 00:19:14.280 --> 00:19:16.480 One of the reporters asks him a question. 00:19:16.480 --> 00:19:20.700 Has this made you think about the values in life and what's important? 00:19:20.820 --> 00:19:22.460 Absolutely, sure, yeah. 00:19:22.780 --> 00:19:25.400 I don't mean between yesterday and today. 00:19:25.400 --> 00:19:33.060 Just the contemplation of it for the last two weeks makes you think about what's important in life and what are the most important things. 00:19:33.060 --> 00:19:34.540 But you should be thinking about that anyway. 00:19:34.540 --> 00:19:37.720 It just reminds you to think about what you should be thinking about. 00:19:37.720 --> 00:19:41.700 Reporters want to know how the diagnosis will impact his political career. 00:19:41.700 --> 00:19:45.980 Could you at least tell us what you think or how, if at all, this affects the Senate race? 00:19:45.980 --> 00:19:46.600 I have no idea. 00:19:47.180 --> 00:19:57.020 I think in fairness to me, to the Senate race, to the Republican Party, all the parties and everybody else, you need some time to think about it. 00:19:57.020 --> 00:19:59.700 And I really need to know what the course of treatment is going to be. 00:19:59.700 --> 00:20:05.760 In the weeks after the public admission, City Hall receives hundreds of emails and letters of support from around the country. 00:20:05.760 --> 00:20:10.700 Polls also say that New Yorkers believe Giuliani is still a strong candidate to take on Clinton. 00:20:10.700 --> 00:20:13.960 But the cancer diagnosis complicates the already tight race for Senate. 00:20:14.700 --> 00:20:19.600 Members of his inner circle, like Adam Goodman, are unsure if their boss will even continue with the campaign. 00:20:19.600 --> 00:20:21.240 We were writing against Hillary Clinton. 00:20:21.240 --> 00:20:25.000 We were thinking, oh my god, this is going to be the biggest campaign of the year in America. 00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:26.340 I got a call one day. 00:20:26.340 --> 00:20:31.400 And they said, you know, Rudy just came back from the doctor and it's not good. 00:20:31.400 --> 00:20:38.980 He's got prostate cancer and he's going to decide, yet to decide, what to do. 00:20:38.980 --> 00:20:41.460 He had a very contentious relationship with the media. 00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:45.420 Alice Hennigan was a reporter and columnist for Newsday in the 1990s. 00:20:45.420 --> 00:20:49.340 He treated us like shit and we gave him quite a bit back, I would say. 00:20:49.480 --> 00:20:52.780 I don't think he was personally popular. 00:20:52.780 --> 00:20:56.280 I mean, the reporters didn't like him, didn't particularly identify with him. 00:20:56.280 --> 00:21:01.660 Although I think anybody that covered him in those years had to recognize that he had skills. 00:21:01.660 --> 00:21:08.480 He aimed recklessly too high politically by deciding to launch a campaign for Senate. 00:21:08.480 --> 00:21:11.120 All of this stuff coming at it essentially the same time. 00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:13.920 And in the middle of it, getting a prostate cancer diagnosis. 00:21:13.920 --> 00:21:16.600 So you've got all that stuff coming on top of each other. 00:21:16.600 --> 00:21:23.660 Looking back, it's hard to remember exactly the order they all came in, but they all they all crashed down on his head at once. 00:21:23.660 --> 00:21:32.180 Just one week after Giuliani announces he has cancer, the New York Post snaps a photo of Giuliani dining with a quote, a mystery woman. 00:21:33.440 --> 00:21:41.100 The paper identifies her to be Judith Nathan, a pharmaceutical sales representative and former nurse. 00:21:41.100 --> 00:21:50.200 The article insinuates that Nathan and Giuliani had dined together before, even quoting the restaurant manager as calling the mayor one of our favorite customers. 00:21:51.840 --> 00:21:56.560 At the time, Giuliani is still married to the journalist Donna Hanover. 00:21:56.560 --> 00:21:59.220 The Post article says that Hanover declined to comment. 00:22:00.060 --> 00:22:07.980 The next day, when asked about his relationship with that mystery woman at a press conference, Giuliani says, She's a good friend, a very good friend. 00:22:07.980 --> 00:22:13.700 And beyond that, you can ask me questions and that's exactly what I'm going to say. 00:22:13.700 --> 00:22:19.100 Back at the Gracie Mansion, Giuliani's private life is about to be made very public. 00:22:20.300 --> 00:22:27.560 When the New York Post publicizes Giuliani's relationship with Judith Nathan, the focus of the New York media turns to the mayor and his wife, Donna Hanover. 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:34.920 Within a week, the story is picked up by the Village Voice, Newsday, the Daily News, even the New York Times. 00:22:34.920 --> 00:22:45.280 Throughout her husband's mayorship, Donna Hanover seldom talks to the tabloid media, but her job as an anchor for New York One News means that she can't avoid the press forever. 00:22:45.280 --> 00:22:46.700 Here's Seneca again. 00:22:46.700 --> 00:22:49.260 She was not easily accessible to us as a reporter. 00:22:49.260 --> 00:22:53.440 She wasn't hanging out with reporters when Rudy was in Gracie Mansion. 00:22:53.440 --> 00:22:56.260 And here's Charlie Perkins, one of Giuliani's advisors. 00:22:57.020 --> 00:23:00.880 They had, from my eyes, a wonderful, loving relationship. 00:23:00.880 --> 00:23:02.340 Donna was a journalist. 00:23:02.340 --> 00:23:04.620 She'd gone to Columbia Journalism School. 00:23:04.620 --> 00:23:06.720 She understood New York City politics. 00:23:06.720 --> 00:23:10.380 She was a calm, moderate person. 00:23:10.380 --> 00:23:13.400 And I think she had a huge impact. 00:23:13.400 --> 00:23:18.620 But the press attention and Judith Nathan herself will not go away. 00:23:18.620 --> 00:23:21.160 It's May 10th, 2000. 00:23:21.160 --> 00:23:28.360 One week after Giuliani's relationship with Judith Nathan becomes public, and two weeks since he's diagnosed with cancer. 00:23:28.360 --> 00:23:32.900 Giuliani holds yet another press conference, this time in Bryant Park. 00:23:32.900 --> 00:23:35.260 Reporters ask him about the state of his marriage. 00:23:38.000 --> 00:23:39.540 It's very, very painful. 00:23:44.680 --> 00:23:54.380 For quite some time, it's probably been apparent that Donna and I lead in many ways independent and separate lives. 00:23:56.120 --> 00:24:14.560 But I don't think I'm saying anything that you haven't all written, that over the course of some period of time, in many ways, we've grown to live independent and separate lives, and we should probably strive toward formalizing that. 00:24:17.460 --> 00:24:20.800 It's a moment that comes as a surprise to his wife. 00:24:20.800 --> 00:24:26.920 She, like the rest of the world, learns of her husband's decision to end their marriage from this press conference. 00:24:30.840 --> 00:24:43.880 Three hours later, in the afternoon of that same day, Hanover reads a brief statement to a collection of New York media outside the gates of Gracie Mansion, the home she has shared with Rudy and their children since her husband was sworn in as mayor six and a half years earlier. 00:24:45.380 --> 00:24:48.520 Today's turn of events brings me great sadness. 00:24:48.520 --> 00:24:50.460 I had hoped to keep this marriage together. 00:24:51.940 --> 00:24:59.660 For several years, it was difficult to participate in Rudy's public life because of his relationship with one staff member. 00:24:59.660 --> 00:25:08.840 Beginning last May, I made a major effort to bring us back together and Rudy and I reestablished some of our personal intimacy through the fall. 00:25:08.840 --> 00:25:12.460 At that point, he chose another path. 00:25:12.460 --> 00:25:16.980 Rudy and I will now go forward to discuss the possibility of a legal separation. 00:25:18.140 --> 00:25:22.280 Donna Hanover speaks for less than one minute and takes no questions. 00:25:22.280 --> 00:25:27.800 Jade Adapter is reporting for New York television station WABC 7, the day of the news conference. 00:25:27.800 --> 00:25:33.520 I've never been at a news conference where every reporter looked at each other and went, what the fuck? 00:25:33.520 --> 00:25:37.760 Excuse my language, but this was unprecedented. 00:25:37.760 --> 00:25:41.720 He basically says he's having an affair and he's getting a divorce from his wife. 00:25:42.300 --> 00:25:47.000 I mean, it was all in a news conference that wasn't even called for that. 00:25:47.000 --> 00:25:50.380 Those close to Giuliani are shocked too, like Charlie Perkins. 00:25:50.380 --> 00:25:56.200 I thought his behavior then was atrocious, and I like Donna very much. 00:25:56.520 --> 00:26:02.320 And his announcing in a press conference that he was divorcing his wife was beyond the pale. 00:26:02.320 --> 00:26:07.080 That may be an example of how I think he kind of lost his way in the second term. 00:26:07.080 --> 00:26:08.860 The news spreads across the country. 00:26:09.520 --> 00:26:14.460 The marriage of Rudy Giuliani and Donna Hanover is over, and in a spectacular way. 00:26:21.520 --> 00:26:24.960 Rudy Giuliani's candidacy is toast, it's history. 00:26:24.960 --> 00:26:28.920 I think it's so hard at the human level to see how Rudy Giuliani can endure this. 00:26:28.920 --> 00:26:37.040 But man, he's got a marriage to put together, he's got a wife who's angry, he's got a new girlfriend he cares a lot about, and he was very human in expressing that. 00:26:37.040 --> 00:26:43.100 He's got children to reassure, and he's got a Senate race that the whole world is going to be looking at to focus on. 00:26:43.100 --> 00:26:51.940 Giuliani's admission of the affair and the public insult of separating from his wife during a press conference for many New Yorkers is unforgivable. 00:26:51.940 --> 00:26:56.380 Giuliani and Danover had been married for 17 years. 00:26:56.380 --> 00:27:02.940 Danover stays in Gracie Mansion with their two children, Andrew and Caroline, until the end of the mayor's term. 00:27:02.940 --> 00:27:10.480 After the separation, Rudy Giuliani moves to a guest room at Gracie Mansion, and eventually, he'll pack up and leave the house entirely. 00:27:10.480 --> 00:27:18.620 Now, he still has two other fights on his hands, his battle against prostate cancer and his campaign for the Senate against Hillary Clinton. 00:27:20.520 --> 00:27:26.200 Giuliani has been the subject of one controversy after another, but the race is still on. 00:27:26.200 --> 00:27:34.300 About a week after he announces the separation from his wife, a Quinnipiac College poll shows that Clinton is leading 44% to Giuliani's 43%. 00:27:34.780 --> 00:27:41.800 That was an extremely, potentially competitive race. 00:27:41.800 --> 00:27:44.500 Both candidates had high negatives. 00:27:44.540 --> 00:27:49.080 That's Lee Miringoff, the Director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion. 00:27:49.080 --> 00:27:51.640 He conducted polls during the race. 00:27:51.640 --> 00:27:59.580 I don't remember a time when the political atmosphere of New York was any more intense than it was then. 00:27:59.580 --> 00:28:10.480 I mean, these were two heavyweights going toe to toe, and I remember we were polling regularly on that race. 00:28:10.480 --> 00:28:18.500 The two candidates faced different struggles, as the media intensely covers the tumultuous events of Giuliani's life, Clinton is overshadowed. 00:28:18.500 --> 00:28:22.260 On his end, Giuliani doesn't seem very interested in winning the race. 00:28:22.260 --> 00:28:27.480 While Clinton visits all 62 New York counties, Giuliani barely travels outside of New York City. 00:28:27.480 --> 00:28:38.020 When an upstate fundraising event conflicts with the opening day at Yankee Stadium, Giuliani cancels the fundraiser, saying, Long before I was a politician, I was a Yankee fan. 00:28:38.020 --> 00:28:43.920 Adam Goodman, who worked on Giuliani's campaign for mayor, is now working on his Senate run. 00:28:43.920 --> 00:28:51.600 I never saw Rudy necessarily being entirely happy as one of 100 voices in the United States Senate. 00:28:51.600 --> 00:28:53.360 Remember, he was an executive. 00:28:53.360 --> 00:28:55.920 I mean, as the mayor, you're an executive. 00:28:56.900 --> 00:29:01.840 As a senator, you're a legislator, and you're just one of many votes. 00:29:01.840 --> 00:29:10.840 And so I think to exchange that kind of job, where it's Rudy, Rudy, Rudy all over the streets of the five boroughs, to, oh, hi, Senator. 00:29:10.840 --> 00:29:15.520 I think that wasn't necessarily the most compelling life change he was looking forward to. 00:29:15.520 --> 00:29:18.740 I think intellectually, he willed himself to do it. 00:29:18.740 --> 00:29:22.920 It wasn't the same Rudy that I worked with back in the 90s. 00:29:22.920 --> 00:29:24.240 It was just a different Rudy. 00:29:24.240 --> 00:29:31.180 I can tell you in his heart of hearts, there was not a better act, second act, after being mayor for two terms for Rudy. 00:29:34.060 --> 00:29:40.700 On May 19th, 2000, three weeks after his cancer diagnosis, Giuliani calls a press conference. 00:29:42.140 --> 00:29:48.800 I guess because I've been in public life so long, in politics, I used to think the core of me was in politics, probably. 00:29:48.800 --> 00:29:49.920 It isn't. 00:29:53.960 --> 00:30:16.640 When you feel your mortality and your humanity, you realize that the core of you is, first of all, being able to take care of your health and make sure that you're in good health, and to deal with a disease like cancer in the most effective way possible, so you can be useful to the people that you really care about and really care about you. 00:30:16.640 --> 00:30:20.880 I've decided that what I should do is to put my health first. 00:30:20.880 --> 00:30:23.600 This is not the right time for me to run for office. 00:30:23.600 --> 00:30:26.580 And with that, Giuliani leaves the Senate race. 00:30:29.820 --> 00:30:35.720 His redoubled efforts to fight criminality in the city backfired after the Doorsman shooting. 00:30:35.720 --> 00:30:41.060 His public announcement about ending his marriage further damaged his reputation. 00:30:41.060 --> 00:30:48.100 And all of that, together with his prostate cancer diagnosis, cost him the Senate seat. 00:30:48.100 --> 00:30:54.260 With 18 months left to his term, Giuliani commits to devote the remainder of his time as mayor to New Yorkers. 00:30:55.600 --> 00:31:01.720 What he didn't know was that New York and the United States were about to change forever. 00:31:06.440 --> 00:31:09.160 It's 852 here in New York, I'm Bryant Gumbel. 00:31:09.160 --> 00:31:13.160 We understand that there has been a plane crash on the southern tip of Manhattan. 00:31:13.160 --> 00:31:15.300 You're looking at the World Trade Center. 00:31:15.300 --> 00:31:19.220 We understand that a plane has crashed into the World Trade Center. 00:31:19.220 --> 00:31:21.400 We don't know anything more than that. 00:31:21.400 --> 00:31:22.940 So you have no idea right now? 00:31:22.940 --> 00:31:23.760 Oh, there's another one. 00:31:23.760 --> 00:31:25.980 Another plane just hit. 00:31:26.060 --> 00:31:26.760 Oh, my God. 00:31:26.760 --> 00:31:30.060 Another plane has just hit another building. 00:31:30.060 --> 00:31:32.120 It flew right into the middle of it. 00:31:32.120 --> 00:31:33.620 Explosion. 00:31:33.620 --> 00:31:34.060 My God. 00:31:34.060 --> 00:31:36.600 It's right in the middle of the building. 00:31:36.600 --> 00:31:41.140 That, yes, that was definitely looked like it was on purpose. 00:31:41.140 --> 00:31:49.320 On the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001, Rudy Giuliani is having breakfast at the Peninsula Hotel in Midtown Manhattan. 00:31:49.320 --> 00:31:52.860 He's told that a plane has struck one of the World Trade Center towers. 00:31:52.860 --> 00:31:54.160 He and his staff head to the scene. 00:31:54.840 --> 00:31:57.620 They see medical staff and stretchers lined up in front of St. 00:31:57.620 --> 00:31:58.960 Vincent's Hospital. 00:31:58.960 --> 00:32:02.640 Giuliani knows that the situation is serious. 00:32:02.640 --> 00:32:05.600 But the reality is worse than he fears. 00:32:05.600 --> 00:32:09.020 Both towers collapse later that morning. 00:32:09.020 --> 00:32:15.280 The attacks on the World Trade Center kill more than 2,600 people and shock the world. 00:32:15.280 --> 00:32:20.040 In one of the darkest moments in American history, Giuliani shines. 00:32:20.040 --> 00:32:25.580 The mayor races to the World Trade Center site to direct the city's response to the attacks. 00:32:25.580 --> 00:32:33.360 As the south tower falls, the mayor and a handful of staff leave town, literally running for their lives. 00:32:33.360 --> 00:32:40.620 But Giuliani regroups and takes whatever control he can of the city in a morning full of confusion and horror. 00:32:40.620 --> 00:32:45.940 Throughout his second term, Giuliani struggles through mistakes both personal and political. 00:32:45.940 --> 00:32:47.560 He can't seem to get out of his own way. 00:32:51.840 --> 00:32:59.320 But on the morning of September 11th, 2001, less than four months before leaving office, he projects calm and control. 00:33:02.040 --> 00:33:07.660 Suddenly, Rudy Giuliani is at the center of the universe, trying to hold this country together. 00:33:07.660 --> 00:33:13.260 Well, before George Bush, the president, could kind of parachute in and do his piece. 00:33:13.260 --> 00:33:15.320 He was there, and boy was he trained for the moment. 00:33:16.020 --> 00:33:22.800 I mean, when Rudy, when that, when the planes hit, he wasn't looking around to his team saying, what do we need to do? 00:33:22.800 --> 00:33:24.520 He knew what to do. 00:33:27.540 --> 00:33:33.740 I feel terrible for the people that we lost, some of whom I talked to just 15 minutes before we lost them. 00:33:34.800 --> 00:33:36.740 And the city is going to survive. 00:33:36.740 --> 00:33:37.980 We're going to get through it. 00:33:37.980 --> 00:33:40.560 It's going to be a very, very difficult time. 00:33:40.900 --> 00:33:45.960 I don't think we yet know the pain that we're going to feel when we find out who we lost. 00:33:45.960 --> 00:33:53.100 But the thing we have to focus on now is getting the city through this and surviving and being stronger for it. 00:33:53.100 --> 00:34:00.380 And more than that, because of the prostate cancer, he had something he didn't have in the early years, at least not publicly. 00:34:00.380 --> 00:34:02.060 He had empathy. 00:34:02.060 --> 00:34:03.060 He had empathy. 00:34:03.060 --> 00:34:04.180 He had heart. 00:34:04.180 --> 00:34:07.100 I think his mortality gave him that. 00:34:07.100 --> 00:34:14.140 And that quality, more than anything else, I think he did in those days after the planes hit the World Trade Center. 00:34:14.140 --> 00:34:17.040 That is what people will remember the most. 00:34:17.040 --> 00:34:18.480