So, abuse is a made up human construct.
BONNIE: As much as I thought this was a curriculum for growth,
it's really just a weapon.
MARK: Everything was designed to protect him.
ANTHONY: I got played, and I helped this guy build
whatever he was building around him.
And I was apart of that.
We didn't join a cult! Nobody joins a cult.
Nobody!
KEITH RANIERE: How we illustrate human nobility is to get rid of
the concept of victim like that.
CATHERINE: They may be assigning an FBI taskforce.
They wanna speak to witnesses immediately.
SARAH: I just had my meeting with the FBI today.
I gave them all my evidence.
MAN: A Tell the truth.
KEITH: Good people do bad things all the time.
-Mark Vicente: Yeah, you're right. -Cameraman: Oh, move the camera?
Vicente: Yeah, move the camera, just a little bit.
-So, you want me to-- -Vicente: Yeah.
Okay, I, I wrote a fable once,
that started that there was a mighty king
that took over, uh, a culture,
and this king used torture and fear
to create obedience.
And over time,
people found that if they just obeyed what the king said,
there was peace across the land.
But what they sacrificed for that was their traditions,
their customs, and all of their identity.
So they just became a group of slaves, almost like cattle,
that were used by the king.
The threat of violence was enough to keep social order.
But if the king went and killed everyone,
then he would have to do all the work.
So, the people who are being victimized
have a certain power.
And they can stand against the king.
And even though the king has all sorts of weapons that they don't have,
and all sorts of violence that they don't have,
ultimately, they would likely prevail.
("Dream State" by Son Lux playing)
♪ DAYS WE WERE YOUNG ♪
♪ WE TOOK PHOTOGRAPHS OF EVERYTHING WE COULD SEE ♪
♪ WE HAD TO RUN FROM IT ♪
♪ PRIEST AND PROPHETESS ♪
♪ WE WERE NOTHING WE WOULD DEFY ♪
♪ OH, INVISIBLE SKIN ♪
♪ WHERE IS THE WORLD WITHIN ♪
♪ INVINCIBLE SKIN ♪
♪ IT'S HOW WE ALL BEGIN ♪
(phone ringing)
Frank.
Okay.
Yeah.
♪
Toni Zarattini: AS OF, UH, RIGHT NOW,
OUR BELOVED VANGUARD WAS IN MONTERREY.
AND I HAVE A PICTURE COMING WITH CONFIRMATION, SO WAIT FOR IT.
He's on the run.
Bonnie Piesse: Show us the picture. Can you hold it up?
Uh, yeah.
SO, THE PICTURE.
THAT'S KEITH RANIERE RIGHT THERE.
AND THAT WAS TODAY,
IN MEXICO.
Then I'd like to call the FBI and the police and tell them,
"This is what we've heard's happening.
"So, if you guys are serious about any of this,
"you're about to lose your shot,
BECAUSE THERE'S THOUSANDS OF LOYAL ESP-IANS IN MEXICO."
THE CHILDREN OF VERY INFLUENTIAL FAMILIES
ARE RUNNING THE CENTER DOWN THERE.
YOU KNOW, LIKE, EMILIANO SALINAS.
HE IS THE SON OF ONE OF THE EX-PRESIDENTS.
HE'S SORT OF LIKE THE JFK JR. OF MEXICO.
AND SO KEITH HAD A LOT OF POLITICAL CLOUT THERE.
(car alarm chirps)
-(dog barking) -Catherine Oxenberg: Greg?
Hi, little pup. Aw!
Vicente: I mean, he's got a lot of power around him down there.
Oxenberg: And they've moved all their classes to Mexico?
So, we're in a tricky spot, because
law enforcement has said, "Stop. Don't do any more shit." And we're like...
It's a, it's a waiting game.
Greg Hannley: So didn't he have houses and offices
and stuff like that in, um, Albany?
Vicente: Yeah. All in other people's names.
-Yeah. -Vicente: Many of them are--
the houses are quiet and shuttered now.
Hannley: So, all of that got disrupted.
-Yeah. -Piesse: There's still some diehards there.
Hannley: Like India? Is she one of the diehards that are over there?
-Vicente: Yeah. -She's here. I'm seeing her this afternoon.
Hannley: But she's not here recruiting people.
We don't know.
She's meeting with me today at three o'clock.
Hannley: Well, and, and right now,
she's got such blinders on that,
she's not questioning anything except for you.
Oxenberg: Correct. Shit. What do I do if she's going--
if she goes to Mexico?
Hannley: You just continually...
It's the same way. It's kind of like a reverse brainwash.
You just continually play the message over to her,
till one day maybe she hears it.
And the message is?
Well, tell her to stop doing weird shit.
Oxenberg: Okay.
-(all chuckling) -Hannley: You know?
-"Stop doing..." -Hannley: Yeah. If you're doing weird shit,
-people want to hear about it. -(laughter)
Well, you ask questions that
she would have to think about now.
Why is he in Mexico?
Why are the houses shuttered?
-Piesse: Yeah. -Why is the FBI investigating him?
Doesn't it seem a little odd that a guy who's
on the up-and-up and doing good business
and helping people and doing the right thing
has to move to Mexico?
So, 2000 and...
I think nine, was when...
a number of the Mexicans spoke to him at V Week
and said, you know, "We are under enormous,
"uh, fear in our country.
"You know, we're being kidnapped,
Kidnapping is a business. You know, we don't know what to do."
AND KEITH SAID, "I CAN SOLVE THIS."
Keith called all the Mexicans together and sat and spoke to them,
and I recorded all those conversations.
(indistinct chatter)
Good to see you.
-Marquitos. -Vicente: Yes!
(woman speaking Spanish)
It's interesting, because when I was express kidnapped,
I asked a lot of questions, and I had a conversation with these guys.
Uh, and for them at least, my impression was,
that they go into their business, like,
like they tell their wives, you know, "I'm going to work."
Vicente: NXIVM MEXICO, I MEAN, IT JUST, IT BASICALLY SEEMED LIKE
THEY LIVED IN SOME KIND OF RAREFIED AIR.
A LOT OF MONEY.
And even in the mission statement,
it talks about reaching the most influential, powerful, you know,
wealthiest people, blah, blah, in the world because...
if you go and try and give this education
to the people that have zero influence,
the lowest laborers,
they have no influence over society at all.
The only sustainable way to change a society
is the wealthiest, most powerful people
needed this education.
And that would trickle down to everything else.
Keith Raniere: I think part of the problem here
is that you guys are numb to your own condition.
Class neutrality is one of the biggest problems in Mexico.
It's one of the things that's generating a lot of fear, if you will.
The entitlement of the poor to take from the rich,
and the fear of the poor that they're,
they're nothing. Oblivion.
And the fear of the rich that they've gotten their riches for no reason
and really, they don't deserve them, either.
I want you to imagine a $10 bill.
Do you know what that $10 bill means?
Some person in Mexico is probably willing to work, what, a day?
They're willing to go and sweat,
and spend a whole day, just to get that little piece of paper.
You hold the life of a whole family in your hand
when you hold that $10 bill.
And you go out and spend that $10 bill on what?
Drinks at a bar?
That's what I think of your family.
That's what I think of your efforts.
That's what I think of a whole day of your work.
I just piss it off.
I piss on your family.
So why am I saying all of this?
'Cause you have to understand the nature of it,
and you have to understand the nature of what you do.
And do the wealthy people have to change? Yeah.
You have to respect the wealth that you have,
and what it represents in the world.
Vicente: KEITH SAID TO ME, "YOU KNOW, IT WOULD BE COOL
IF YOU COULD CONTINUE DOCUMENTING THIS." I SAID, "I'D LOVE TO."
So I followed them down to Mexico to see
what would they do with these, this information in these meetings.
Raniere: This thing will not work
if you do not resolve your class struggle.
You have to be visible, day after day,
location after location,
on the radio, in the news.
Yes, I am.
Although I don't know how to implement this.
I, I don't know how to organize people like that.
Well, start small.
(newscaster speaking Spanish)
IN LAK'ECH translates to "you are my other me."
(speaking Spanish)
Raniere: So there's two aspects. There's the economic aspect,
which is the creation of affluence, so to speak.
AND THEN THE OTHER HAND IS PEACEFUL DRILLS AND TOOLS OF PEACE.
Vicente: EVERY SUNDAY AT 3:00 P.M.,
3,000 TO 5,000 PEOPLE WOULD STAND
all over Mexico and basically say this particular pledge that he had written.
Raniere: ALL VIOLENCE IS A MISTAKEN IDENTITY.
All violence traces back to a, a fear.
(speaking Spanish)
So what is the nature of compassion?
To get to the root of the violence,
to transform the violence.
(Emiliano Salinas speaking Spanish)
Vicente: I DECIDED TO MAKE A FILM ABOUT THE MOVEMENT.
I named it "Encender El Corazón."
"IGNITE THE HEART."
I WAS LIKE, I'M GONNA FUCKING MAKE THIS FILM A WAKEUP CALL.
AND SO I FOUND GREAT STORIES. AND GREAT PEOPLE.
(indistinct chatter)
I MET TONI ZARATTINI IN ESP,
PROBABLY IN 2005.
AND TONI WAS KIDNAPPED, UM, MANY YEARS BEFORE.
And for ransom from his family, they cut off his ears,
and they cut off one of his fingers.
(speaking Spanish)
Vicente: TONI AND I HAD KNOWN EACH OTHER FOR A LONG TIME,
AND I CONSIDERED HIM A HERO.
He tried to escape once from his kidnappers.
They beat the shit out of him, put him back in,
and eventually he tried again, and, and got away.
TONI'S A GREAT MAN.
HE WAS A COACH IN NXIVM,
until he discovered that one of his dear friends was involved in DOS,
and had been branded, and he was horrified.
AND SO HIS BATTLE WITH THE ENTIRE MEXICAN ESP COMMUNITY BEGAN.
One of the reasons I got out
is when I learned that Mark had gotten out.
It was like, "What? He got out?
"Mark Vicente got out?
"He's like, like what? How? He's a Green.
"He's on the board.
What do you-- What-- What do you mean he's out?"
And they said, "No, well, he wanted to go make movies."
Didn't make any sense.
(line ringing)
This is my friend.
HOLA.
Vicente: Um, do you have any updates?
Vicente: I hope so, Toni, because if it doesn't,
they're gonna hunt us forever.
Vicente: Yeah.
Right.
Yeah.
Vicente: THERE'S BEEN A CERTAIN LEVEL OF UNCERTAINTY
BECAUSE OF, LIKE, LAW ENFORCEMENT GETTING MORE INVOLVED.
AND I DON'T KNOW IF THEY HAVE A CASE OR NOT.
EVERYTHING WE DID BEFORE WAS, WE NEED TO GET THIS EXPOSED.
WE NEED TO GET THIS OUT THERE.
WE HAD A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF CONTROL OVER WHAT WE WERE DOING.
AND IT FEELS LIKE IT'S LESS IN OUR HANDS NOW.
When I first saw her, like, oh, my God. I love this child so much.
Just being able to, like, kiss her and hug her.
(sighs) And...
I feel so many mixed emotions, I can't tell you.
On one hand,
I did-- I planted a lot of stuff,
but I swear to God, I felt like I was planting seeds...
in... (sighs)
granite.
Well, there's no getting through to her
that what she's doing is super fucked up.
And I did say what Greg said. Like, I said, you know,
"This is very weird." She said, "So what if it's weird?"
I mean, what do you say to somebody?
I'm like, "Well, the world thinks it's weird."
And I said, "Not okay weird.
Like fuck-- Like, creepy weird."
But it doesn't seem to be a problem for her.
And I can just see how, um,
like, how her morality has been bent.
So I was saying, "Well, what if people are going to jail?
And what if people have broken the law?"
And she said, "Well, I don't think that I've done anything,
personally, to break the law."
I said, "I believe that you would never break the law knowingly."
I said, "But what if you were guided to break the law by people who knew?
Why do you think Keith fled?"
"Well..." Her response is, "'Cause there's a lot of people who don't like him."
And I'm like, "Well, why do you think they don't like him?"
And...
again, she couldn't really come up--
She couldn't come up with an answer.
(sighs)
She really thinks that Mark and Bonnie are the masterminds
of this whole operation,
and that I'm being used by Mark and Bonnie.
Uh, Sarah and Nippy are being used, like, everybody's being used.
If there's hope...
it's not in any of the words that were communicated.
It's in... it's in here.
You know?
What we're up against is such darkness.
Such incredible darkness.
(sobbing)
I don't have any evidence at all,
but I feel like we're gonna get her back.
But I don't have any evidence at all.
(indistinct)
(baby babbling)
-(sign dings) -Electronic voice: TO PREPARE FOR LANDING,
PLEASE CLOSE YOUR TRAY TABLE, AND PUT AWAY CARRY-ON ITEMS.
PLACE YOUR SEAT IN THE ORIGINAL...
Piesse: WHEN MARK AND I LEFT, WE PUT EVERYTHING IN STORAGE.
Electronic voice: ANY ITEMS YOU WISH TO DISCARD...
Piesse: IT'S YEARS AND YEARS OF OUR LIVES.
Electronic voice: WE'LL BE LANDING SOON.
♪
(indistinct announcement over PA)
NOW THAT KEITH'S GONE,
WE FINALLY FEEL OKAY TO GO BACK.
Vicente: I can see why we like LA.
Piesse: This is, like, gray and dead.
-Vicente: Disgusting. -Piesse: Yeah.
But being back here just reminds me
of the heartache of, like, how much we've lost, you know?
We have lost a lot of friends.
-(car alarm beeps) -Piesse: You want to go first or you want me?
(dog barking)
(doorbell rings)
It's a puppy.
-(door lock clicks) -It's a puppy.
-It's a puppy. It's a puppy. -Hi.
Hi.
-Hi, puppy. -Oh, you're so-- Are you cold?
-Come in here. -Oh, no, I'm all right. I actually kind of like it.
-Hi! -Hi.
-Hey. -Piesse: How's it going?
Something I never thought I'd see standing in my doorway.
-Vicente: Really? -Piesse: Yeah.
Yeah. You.
Where do you wanna sit? Actually, I'll sit here, boo.
-Yeah. Okay. -And you sit here.
Toni, thank you so much for opening up your house to us.
Oh, and, listen, thank you so much for opening your eyes.
-Vicente: (laughs) It took a while. -Like, that's just...
-Piesse: It took a while. -Hey, I don't care
when anyone wakes up,
how they wake up, as long as they wake up.
-Is that right? How did that work? -Vicente: Well...
-I don't-- Let me think. -Piesse: I never felt like enemies.
-Vicente: I never felt-- -I felt like you were enemies.
-(laughter) -No, I, I understand,
-and you should have, absolutely. -Toni Natalie: I'm sorry.
-Yeah. -No, no. You should have.
-Not anymore! -Natalie: Right.
It's good.
It had to be very difficult for him
to not be able to split you guys up. So how hard did he try?
-Piesse: Pretty trying. Pretty hard after I left, yeah. -Yeah, yeah. Right?
Yeah. To me, you...
You both leaving was a big deal.
Because someone that close to him leaving,
is a crack in his plate.
When he loses that control,
he loses his mind.
I have something for you.
I'm looking for the letter that I sent to Mark in 2010.
-2010? -Mm-hmm.
-(keys clicking) -Piesse: Right when I came in.
-Yeah. -Piesse: Wow.
Vicente: But I, I never received it back then.
So that was like eight years ago.
Natalie: Mm-hmm.
-Is that the one? -Natalie: Yeah, yeah. That's it.
Um, it was in response to a TED Talk
that Mark did.
MY NAME IS MARK VICENTE.
I'M A FILMMAKER FROM THE APARTHEID ERA SOUTH AFRICA.
I HAVE AS MY MENTOR AN AMERICAN SCIENTIST
AND PHILOSOPHER BY THE NAME OF KEITH RANIERE.
HE ASKED ME A QUESTION,
AND THE QUESTION HE ASKED ME WAS,
"WHAT IS BRAVERY?"
WHAT IS IT?
Nobody's ever seen this letter.
Natalie: No. No. I just sent it to you.
It says, "Mark,
"I think it's very important that you temper
"how much of your good deeds you attribute to Keith Raniere.
"By attributing your goodness to Raniere, you give him credit.
"And worse yet, credibility, where none is due.
"Just look at how he cons people
"into believing that they are doing good deeds,
"when in fact, all they're doing is helping to make
"his sordid lifestyle possible.
"If only you and others would be brave enough
"to truly look at his past and his present,
"and objectively, you would see that you've been conned.
"Keith destroys people's lives and will continue to do so
"until people like yourself are brave enough
"to really look at what he does.
"And if you choose not to,
then you must ask yourself why."
You did, though.
-Mm-hmm. Finally. -You did wake up.
Yeah, but you know what?
-It doesn't matter. -Seven years later.
It doesn't matter, Mark. It's that you woke up.
Vicente: Yeah, I wish I got it.
Natalie: You weren't ready.
Vicente: I wasn't ready.
Fuckin' hell.
Aah.
(turn signal clicking)
This, this is our old house right here.
On top of the garage, to the right,
-the receivers and transmitters. -Piesse: See, they're watching us.
-There's probably a camera there, as well. -They're watching us.
They're probably watching us, yeah.
They have, like,
cameras all around at the ESP-ians' houses.
So they're monitoring. Someone's monitoring.
Keith could be looking at that in Mexico.
Puts us in a little bit of danger.
If they have papers ready for us,
and they've been trying to find us, they could come and serve us.
'Cause we've been in hiding.
This is dark right here.
KEITH WAS TRYING TO SEE HOW SUBMISSIVE I'D BE.
AND HE'D CALL ME FOR WALKS AT LIKE, 3:00 A.M.
AND I JUST JUMPED RIGHT OUT OF BED AND WENT,
LIKE IT WAS, IT WAS AN HONOR.
Piesse: OKAY.
(Piesse crying)
♪
Piesse: AT ONE POINT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT,
I WAS WALKING WITH HIM,
AND HE WAS DOING LITTLE TESTS WITH ME.
AND HE SAID, YOU KNOW, "WHY DON'T YOU RUN TOWARDS THAT TREE?
SO I STARTED-- I RAN TOWARDS THE TREE AND I STOPPED.
I DIDN'T MASH MY FACE UP.
AND I CAME BACK AND HE SAID, "INTERESTING HOW PROTECTIVE OF YOUR BODY YOU ARE."
AND I FELT ASHAMED.
BUT I SAW THAT AS A LIMITATION.
AND THEN HE SAID, YOU KNOW, "YOU'RE SO UPTIGHT ABOUT DIRT.
GO AND LICK THAT PUDDLE. YOU'RE SO UPTIGHT ABOUT DIRT. LICK THE PUDDLE."
SO I WENT AND LICKED THE PUDDLE.
I WAS TRYING TO LET DOWN MY, MY GUARDS,
AND ALL MY FEARS, AND, YOU KNOW,
TO OPEN MYSELF UP TO HIS TEACHING.
I THINK I FAILED WHATEVER HIS TESTS WERE.
Raniere: OKAY, LET'S, LET'S JUST DO A...
START IT. LET'S SEE, HERE.
-(laughter) -Sorry. Could you just...
-(singing on computer) -I'm a little punchy, that's all.
Don't mind me. (laughing)
(Emiliano Salinas speaking Spanish on computer)
This is history of the movement, right?
(Emiliano Salinas speaking Spanish on computer)
Who cares?
-(snores) -Vicente: Boring?
Not boring, but not of the emotional tenor you need.
Raniere (over computer): THE REASON WHY I THINK YOU SHOULD IS...
The thing that I say about Mexico being an optimal time,
maybe that's something.
This is very documentary, intellectual...
Raniere: In this situation,
I see there are four basic philosophies for which--
Great. I don't give a shit.
I don't even know the word philosophy.
I'm a typical person watching this.
(Emiliano Salinas speaking Spanish on computer)
I mean, I-- Nothing against being myself.
Now, to, to put this on pause a second.
(video stops)
So again, I have to keep in mind,
who's the typical person that's seeing this?
If you go to all of the wealthy, educated people
and they all see this film, and whatever,
you're not gonna change Mexico.
It's not gonna work.
I don't-- Do you-- I don't think I need to see much more.
I think you need to rethink this. It's essential.
I agree.
-Okay. -Thanks.
-So I'll speak to you later. -Yes, you will.
-Later, later. -I gotta think.
Woman: This is funny.
-(laughing) -I knew I'd mess things up.
Yeah, I knew you would, too.
Vicente: HE MADE PEOPLE FEEL REALLY SHIT ABOUT THEMSELVES
SO THAT THEY WOULD FEEL
THEY OWED SO MUCH MORE THAN THEY WERE GIVING
HE REALLY WORKED EMILIANO
ABOUT THE POWER AND CORRUPTION OF HIS FAMILY,
AND USED THAT TO TRY TO CONVINCE EMILIANO THAT HE HAD A LOT TO DO
TO FIX WHAT HIS FAMILY HAD DONE,
WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT HE DID WITH CLARE AND SARA, AS WELL.
Bye-bye.
-(all chattering goodbyes) -Bye-bye. Bye-bye.
Vicente: YOU FELT LIKE SHIT,
AND HE WAS THE ONLY ONE THAT COULD FIX IT.
(shutter clicks)
Vicente: I mean, it's a long story.
Vicente: Um, 30-second version.
Lived here for 12 years. Was part of an organization
that turned out to be a very dangerous cult.
Blew the whistle on human trafficking and sex trafficking.
Now there's a massive federal investigation underway.
This is the first time we're back in a year.
Man: Do you mind if I ask what they're called?
Vicente: The umbrella company is NXIVM. N-X-I-V-M.
-No way. -Vicente: That's the one!
I actually had a meeting with them one time, accidentally.
Right? Like, just that--
And it's weird. I don't know.
Piesse: It starts off, it feels like real answers.
Like, I think the experience you had was weird.
But there are different ways that, like--
For us, we came in because we had real, legitimate,
good experiences with people.
And it was people we trusted.
-So... -Woman: Yeah. No, I think it all starts
with someone you know, essentially, right?
No. No.
I dragged her in.
Yeah.
Piesse: I think the hardest thing is the shame.
It's easy to think that people are stupid for getting involved.
And I don't think we're stupid.
I think we're sensitive, good people, and...
It's just... it's hard.
-Not anymore. -Not anymore.
(door clattering)
Vicente: This is our life.
Piesse: Oh, geez. (laughs)
It was a whole apartment.
Vicente: Look what I found.
First one I had as a camera assistant.
-Wow. -Piesse: That's my action figure.
I've got very long arms.
I wrote this book.
In another life.
It's a lot of shit to go through.
I mean, I've got modules, here.
"World Audience." "Pain and Suffering."
Oh, Shifter strategy!
-Vicente: Oh, you got "Shifter" there? -Yep.
Piesse: "The term 'Shifter' does not usually refer to a person,
"but rather to a strategy that is an unlimited form of cheating.
"HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A MAGIC TRICK
THAT WAS SO INCREDIBLE THAT YOU COULDN'T FIGURE OUT HOW IT WAS DONE?"
-Oh, wait. How do you do that? -(clapping)
(whistling noise)
Piesse: "Maybe you wanted to watch it again and again
"to try to figure it out.
"Then one day, you learned how it was done
"and you couldn't believe that you were taken in by it.
It became so obvious to you."
-Tails. -(slaps)
Tails.
"We do not live in a world that plays by the rules.
If you and I are playing a game..."
And I'm cheating and you're not,
chances are, I'm gonna win. Unless you discover my cheating.
-Hand goes faster than the quarter does. -Oh!
-Right. -(slaps)
(clattering)
Ooh, what's this?
"Suppressive: someone with very low self-esteem.
"Whenever this person sees something good,
"they want to suppress it and destroy it.
These people never have anything nice to say about anyone."
AFTER I LEFT, I HEARD THAT I WAS BEING CALLED A SUPPRESSIVE.
'CAUSE YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO ASK QUESTIONS AND YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO LEAVE.
(sighs)
IN ESP, WE LEARNED THAT EVERYONE HAS SUPPRESSIVE TENDENCIES.
WE ALL HAVE NARCISSISTIC TRAITS.
BUT A FULL SUPPRESSIVE IS SOMEONE WHO,
LIKE, REALLY HAS BAD INTENT,
AND WANTS TO HURT PEOPLE.
THAT WAS DESCRIBED IN THE MODULE "THE FALL."
Raniere: THERE'S AN INTERESTING BOOK WRITTEN, UH,
poem, actually, "Paradise Lost," by Milton.
Written a while ago. It's about the fall of Lucifer
from the Garden of Eden.
At one point, he's personifying Lucifer,
and Lucifer looks up and sees Heaven,
and then sees Heaven's creation, which is man.
And you know what Lucifer's first reaction to man is?
He is amazed by man.
He admires, even loves, man.
One can interpret that.
But then you know what his reaction is?
"That creature reminds me of what I lost.
"The perfection of that creature
"brings such hate, such memories,
"such awful things in me. I must destroy that.
I don't want to see Heaven embodied anywhere."
So he seeks to destroy.
♪
Piesse: SO, "THE FALL" WAS DESCRIBED AS, LIKE, THIS DISCOVERY
THAT A PERSON CAN MAKE.
THAT IF THEIR SELF-ESTEEM GETS SUPER, SUPER LOW,
THEY ACTUALLY HAVE A TON OF OPTIONS
IF THEY DESTROY THEIR CONSCIENCE,
AND BY HURTING PEOPLE
OR BY DOING DESTRUCTIVE THINGS,
THEY ACTUALLY CAN FEEL GOOD.
This is what Vanguard terms a Luciferian.
It's the worst possible thing that could ever occur,
because Luciferians look like you,
and they seem to act like you,
but they are nothing like you.
It's like an aching. They wake up in the morning,
and they feel vengeful. They feel bad.
And the only thing that can relieve that gut, that pain,
is to go out and destroy and to exercise power.
(papers shuffling)
Piesse: KEITH DID SEEM TO HAVE,
LIKE, A FASCINATION WITH PSYCHOPATHS,
AND PEOPLE WHO WERE REALLY EVIL,
OR HAD, HAD NO CONSCIENCE.
If those people of what we call anti-conscience,
the Luciferic people, didn't exist,
we'd have to invent them.
They're very important for us.
-Vicente: MM-HMM. -Raniere: IT'S A REAL PARTNERSHIP.
AND SUCH A PERSON COULD EVEN ARGUE THAT
genetically, they are superior.
They're not burdened by a conscience.
They're not burdened by a system of honor.
They're Machiavellian.
The sociopath, who doesn't have the circuitry in the brain,
looks at everything like a video game.
And because they look at things like that,
they have more degrees of freedom
than an empathy-feeling person.
The truth of the matter is, sociopaths have made us what we were.
If it weren't for sociopaths, we wouldn't understand compassion.
Yeah.
Piesse: I THOUGHT THAT THAT WAS JUST BECAUSE HE WANTED
to help people not become that way,
and know what they were looking at,
so they could avoid being hurt by people like that.
But I think ultimately, what he was doing was just
putting everything in plain sight.
Vicente: I HAD THE KIND OF LOVE WITH KEITH THAT WAS UNEASY,
BECAUSE I LOVED HIM AND I WAS AFRAID OF HIM.
(indistinct chatter)
(sobbing)
It feels like, uh...
I looked into Hell and I got stuck there.
I feel super fucked up.
I READ THE DOCUMENT ON MY COMPUTER.
It was just called "V.doc."
The "V" was the nickname
for Keith Raniere, like Vanguard.
I didn't know what it was, and I just, like,
opened it up and I read it, and I was like, "What the fuck?"
And it's basically-- It's like a story idea...
that he came up with.
And, um, basically about, like, a corporation
where there's like a,
a good guy that's running the corporation,
and there's like this mentor character.
And the good guy kind of realizes that there's a psychopath...
that's in the system, trying to destroy everything.
And the punchline in the end is that he realizes that the mentor,
who he thought was a good guy, is actually the psychopath.
And it just...
I was fucking horrified, 'cause it's like, "You fucker.
"Ten years ago, you showed me
exactly what you were gonna do to me."
And I know this is what he wanted,
'cause this is fun.
It was the best practical joke ever.
Oh, Jesus. The hair!
Now that your hair's out of the way, it's much better.
Vicente: Not bad.
You're not gonna do that, are you?
-(laughing) -You didn't do that, did you?
How would you respond to somebody
who believes that the cause of violence is poverty?
IT IS POVERTY.
HOW DO YOU DEFINE POVERTY? POVERTY OF WHAT?
Let me just tie that together.
-Are you rolling? -Cameraman: I'm rolling.
Vicente: How was the exposure? Good?
-Cameraman: It was good. -Vicente: We're still rolling, guys?
Okay. Let's go back to that question,
which was basically, how would you respond to somebody
who says the cause of violence is poverty?
Well, uh, it is poverty, actually.
Uh, but a poverty of what?
You're born into a rich family.
You're not stealing anything, per se.
But you haven't earned it.
You're born into a rich family.
That means you haven't stolen anything, per se.
But you haven't earned it, either.
But imagine a $10 bill.
Do you know what that $10 bill means?
Some person in Mexico is probably willing to work, what?
A day?
So you hold the life of the whole family
in your hand when you hold...
that $10 bill.
AND YOU GO AND SPEND A $10 BILL ON WHAT?
(scoffs) DRINKS AT A BAR?
That's what I think of your family.
That's what I think of your efforts.
That's what I think of a whole day of your work.
Just spend it on a drink at a bar.
I just piss it off.
I piss on your family.
I piss on your whole family.
(indistinct chatter)
Vicente: TONI ZARATTINI HAD TO RESHOOT EVERYTHING.
ALL HIS STUFF AGAIN, TO GIVE TRIBUTE TO RANIERE.
(Zarattini speaking in Spanish)
Done, done to him for a long period of time?
Okay.
Vicente: I WAS A FUCKING SERVANT.
I mean, I was a...
I was obedient to him.
I know.
I know he gets pleasure in this.
This is one of those things where if you got stabbed in the soul,
and there's no way-- There's nothing that's gonna make it better.
And he's done that to my friends.
He's done that to my wife.
And he knows he did.
And that was his joy.
♪
Piesse: THIS IS SILVER BAY,
WHERE V WEEK WAS.
AND I DO HAVE SOME REALLY NICE MEMORIES
OF, LIKE, WALKING ACROSS THE GRASS.
♪ BREAKING DOWN ALL THE CROOKED LINES ♪
♪ UNRAVELING ♪
Vicente: THIS PLACE IN THE FALL IS BEAUTIFUL.
I MEAN, THE WHOLE MOUNTAIN IS JUST ORANGE,
AND THERE'S A LAKE AND THERE'S GREEN GRASS.
♪ MEMORIES ARE FALLING TO THE GROUND ♪
♪ SPIRALING ♪
♪ IT'S WHO YOU ♪
♪ WHO YOU ARE ♪
♪ NOT WHO YOU ♪
♪ BELIEVE IN ♪
♪ IT'S WHO YOU ♪
♪ WHO YOU ARE ♪
(cheering and applause)
♪ NOT WHO YOU ♪
♪ BELIEVE IN ♪
(distant birds chirping)
(footsteps thudding)
(phone jingling)
Hey, boo, it's Sally. Do you want to take it?
-Piesse: I'll go outside and call her. -Here.
Piesse: Okay.
-No. What? -No.
-No! -Fuck me.
Oh, my God.
Fuck.
Fuck!
-I'll tell you what, Sally. -Put it in the thread.
-Fuck me! -I don't have my phone. My phone's in the car.
Can we pass this on to the rest of the team?
'Cause I want to let the rebels know.
(cheering, excited chatter)
Oh, I wanna--
(laughing excitedly)
Oh, my God. I'm so happy.
-(excited chatter over phone) -Please let me see your face.
OH, MY GOD. I'M SO FUCKING EXCITED I JUST DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO.
-Catherine. -Oxenberg (over phone): I CAN'T EVEN SPEAK
I'M SO EXCITED.
Piesse: (laughing) Love you, Catherine!
Guys, it's in the press.
-It's in the press! It's in the press. -It's in the press.
Zarattini: There you are, darling. On the front page.
Alleged leader of a secret society
accused of branding women has been arrested
just hours ago.
(jazz music playing)
(footsteps tapping)
(people conversing in Spanish)
Look at this picture of Keith Raniere
in the back of the cop car.
(laughing) HE LOOKS SO UNHAPPY.
"The defendant, Keith Raniere,
"is scheduled to appear in the northern district of Texas
"tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. for arraignment.
"The government respectfully submits this letter in anticipation
"of the defendant's expected removal to the eastern district of New York,
"AND IN SUPPORT OF THE GOVERNMENT'S REQUEST
FOR A PERMANENT ORDER OF DETENTION."
(laughs) I can't believe they're doing this.
Vicente: "THE DEFENDANT, WHO WAS LIVING IN MEXICO PRIOR TO HIS ARREST,
"and has access to vast resources,
"poses a significant risk of flight.
If released, he would pose a danger to the community."
-Piesse: They got him. -They fuckin' got him.
-(sniffles) -(sighs)
(exhales)
Newscaster: FBI CREWS RAID A HOME IN WATERFORD
WITH APPARENT CONNECTIONS
-TO THE ALLEGED CULT IN OUR AREA. -(distant siren blaring)
Newscaster 2: HEY, GOOD EVENING, CAMILLE. WHILE FBI AGENTS
CONTINUE TO RAID THE HOME BEHIND ME HERE IN WATERFORD
ON OREGON TRAIL.
THEY'VE BEEN HERE ALL DAY LONG, SINCE THIS MORNING.
Now, according to neighbors, Nancy Salzman left the home yesterday,
after the leader of the company she helped to start
WAS ARRESTED AND CHARGED WITH SEX TRAFFICKING.
Newscaster 3: SO THERE'S A LOT OF LAYERS TO THIS THING,
BUT FIRST OF ALL, THEY GOT THIS GUY, UH, KEITH RANIERE
DOWN IN MEXICO AND THEY BROUGHT HIM BACK. HE'S GOING TO BE EXTRADITED.
Newscaster 4: NOW, RANIERE IS EXPECTED BACK IN NEW YORK IN THE COMING DAYS.
HE IS STILL UNDER THE CUSTODY OF US MARSHALS.
Newscaster 5: KEITH RANIERE IS NO LONGER
AT THAT FEDERAL TRANSFER CENTER IN OKLAHOMA.
RIGHT NOW, RANIERE IS ON A BUS
ON HIS WAY BACK TO NEW YORK.
Court clerk: OKAY, SO WE HAVE A CRIMINAL CAUSE FOR AN ARRAIGNMENT.
18M132, UNITED STATES VERSUS KEITH RANIERE.
-Man: GOOD AFTERNOON. -Judge: GOOD AFTERNOON. GOOD AFTERNOON, MR. RANIERE.
Raniere: GOOD AFTERNOON.
Judge: HAVE YOU SEEN A COPY OF THE COMPLAINT
THAT HAS BEEN FILED AGAINST YOU IN THIS CASE?
-Raniere: YES, YOUR HONOR. -Judge: OKAY.
IN LIGHT OF THE NATURE OF THE CHARGES
AND THE, UH, EVIDENCE LAID OUT IN THE GOVERNMENT'S LETTER,
THE COURT IS GOING TO ISSUE A PERMANENT ORDER OF DETENTION.
DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT, MR. RANIERE?
-Raniere: YES, YOUR HONOR. -Judge: OKAY.
Marc Agnifilo: Good afternoon, everybody.
We just wanna say, um,
Mr. Raniere, uh, denies these allegations.
We are looking forward to a swift resolution.
We're not waiving any speedy trial time.
We don't think the government can prove these things,
and we look forward to our day in court.
Reporter: Some people might say that, uh,
simply by virtue of the fact that he fled to Mexico,
if that's the right word, that's-- those are the acts of the guilty.
Keith Raniere did not flee to Mexico.
We will explain what happened at the appropriate time.
Reporter: HE'S MAINTAINING HIS INNOCENCE. I MEAN,
to hear him say that, I mean, what comes to mind?
He's a sociopath. Of course he's going to maintain his innocence.
It's very hard for me to be in this courtroom
because my, my daughter is a victim of this man.
If you listen to what he has to say,
he claims, you know, no one involved in this is a victim.
But, but India is, in your mind.
India-- They're-- Ultimately, they're all victims
of, of Keith Raniere. Ultimately.
If you could say something to your daughter right now?
I love you. Come home.
Agnifilo: THIS IS A CASE ABOUT HOW GROWN ADULTS
are intimate with each other,
and the choices that grown adults make,
in terms of how to live their lives.
THERE ARE WELL-KNOWN GROUPS OF MEN
THAT BRAND THEMSELVES.
IT'S UTTERLY UNCONTROVERSIAL.
BUT A GROUP OF WOMEN DECIDE TO BRAND THEMSELVES,
AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN, WE ASSUME THAT THEY'RE VICTIMS.
Quite frankly, I think this is something that women very much can do
on their own, as a matter of their own free choice.
AND I, I ASSURE YOU, I'VE SPOKEN TO MANY WOMEN.
AND THEY'VE GIVEN ME THEIR REASONS.
This was their choice.
Newscaster: RANIERE NOT THE ONLY MEMBER OF NXIVM...
Newscaster 2: ALLISON MACK'S IN A WORLD OF HURT.
Newscaster 3: SHE WAS ARRAIGNED IN FEDERAL COURT
ON CHARGES OF SEX TRAFFICKING AND FORCED LABOR.
Reporter 1: What do you say about the charges against you?
Reporter 2: Were you involved in a sex cult?
Newscaster: THE ALLEGED FINANCIAL BACKER OF THE OPERATION,
CLARE BRONFMAN, WAS ALSO INDICTED TODAY.
Newscaster 2: I HAVE NEVER SEEN BAIL SET AS HIGH AS IT WAS TODAY.
CLARE BRONFMAN COULD GO FREE.
ALL SHE HAD TO DO WAS POST $100 MILLION.
Reporter: Do you have anything to say?
Newscaster 3: ARRESTED TODAY, NANCY SALZMAN,
THE CO-FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF NXIVM,
AS WELL AS HER DAUGHTER, LAUREN SALZMAN.
Newscaster 4: IF CONVICTED OF THESE, UH, CHARGES,
THEY'RE LOOKING AT A MAXIMUM OF 20 YEARS.
Reporter 1: You co-founded this group, Nancy.
Reporter 2: Any comment? Why do you think you were misguided by Raniere?
Nancy Salzman: NOW, WHEN KEITH AND I GOT TOGETHER,
he asked me if I wanted him to be my mentor.
AND I SAID, "I WOULD DO ANYTHING TO BE YOUR STUDENT."
AND HE SAID TO ME, "NOT SO FAST.
"IF YOU'RE GOING TO WORK WITH ME,
you have to work with me for the rest of your life."
Salzman: LOYALTY IS GOOD IN CERTAIN CONTEXTS,
AND VERY BAD IN OTHER CONTEXTS.
WE TALK ABOUT GETTING LOST IN THE MOVIE.
WE'RE KIND OF LOST IN THE ROLE OF OUR LIFE.
WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO IS STOP BELIEVING THAT THAT'S WHO YOU ARE.
THEN YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR ROLE.
♪
(phone ringing)
-(phone line clicks) -Electronic voice: THIS CALL IS FROM...
Raniere: KEITH RANIERE.
Electronic voice (over phone): AN INMATE AT A FEDERAL PRISON.
♪
("Dream State" by Son Lux playing)
♪ DAYS WE WERE YOUNG ♪
♪ WE TOOK PHOTOGRAPHS OF ♪
♪ EVERYTHING WE COULD BE ♪
♪ WE KNEW WE WERE ♪
♪ IMPERVIOUS NO MATTER HOW WE'D BLEED ♪
♪ WE NEVER FOUGHT FOR BREATH ♪
♪ PRIEST AND PROPHETESS ♪
♪ WE WERE NOTHING WE WOULD DEFY ♪
♪ OH, INVINCIBLE SKIN ♪
♪ IT'S HOW WE ALL BEGIN ♪
-♪ OH OH OH ♪ -♪ AWAKE, AWAKE ♪
-♪ OH OH ♪ -♪ THIS IS A DREAM STATE ♪
♪ OH OH OH, OH OH ♪
♪ OH OH OH... ♪