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GIANCARLO GRANDA:
Oh, shit, I don't-- [laughs]
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Let me mentally prepare myself
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'cause I know my parents
are gonna watch this one day.
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So, just-- Um...
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Look, if I would've known
that accepting this woman's invitation
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to go back to her hotel room
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would've led
to a scandal involving the president
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of the largest
Christian university in the world
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and the president of the United States,
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I would've walked away
and just enjoyed my private life.
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♪
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♪
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♪ Tell 'em, pray for me ♪
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♪ It was God that brought Dre to me ♪
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♪ Even brought the-- Kanye for me ♪
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♪ Bless... ♪
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GIANCARLO: If you go
to the Fontainebleau on a Saturday,
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it looks like you're in Vegas.
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♪ ...ashamed of the city where he live ♪
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♪ Make a--
hate the logo on the Dodger cap ♪
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GIANCARLO:
And if you don't have the connections,
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you're gonna wait two hours in line.
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It's a big party scene,
everyone's having a good time,
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people are drinking, there's cabanas.
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People ordering bottle service,
spending a lot of money.
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The waitresses would get hit on,
you know, us guys would get hit on too.
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That's why it's a fun job.
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♪ Mama, forgive me
'cause I'm tryin' to make a living, hah ♪
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♪ Them-- hating 'cause they... ♪
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GIANCARLO:
My job as a pool attendant
at the Fontainebleau was very simple.
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♪ Me and 'Ye killin' ♪
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♪ Something like my Jesus piece... ♪
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GIANCARLO: Folding towels,
fixing the chairs, umbrellas,
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and just interact with the guests.
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♪ Throw them suicide doors up ♪
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♪ And let the Holy Ghost swing ♪
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♪ Something like my Jesus piece... ♪
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GIANCARLO:
March 2012 was like any other day.
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I'm doing the usual, just, uh,
changing towels, talking to the guests.
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That day, I...
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I was flirting
with, you know, some girls.
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They were about my age.
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And then I look over,
you know, behind my shoulder,
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and I see this woman looking at me.
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She was just laying back,
sipping on a drink,
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and just eyeing me down,
just staring at me.
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She was actually snapping pictures of me.
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She was in her 40s,
more than twice my age.
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She was attractive.
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Yeah, she was a cougar.
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And I'm like,
"Why are you taking pictures of me?"
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And then she tells me,
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"Don't waste your time
with the younger ones.
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They don't know what they're doing."
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And at that moment, I knew
that she probably wanted something more.
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It started intensifying.
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She makes a proposition.
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She's like,
"You wanna go back to my hotel?"
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I'm like, "Let's go back. I'm down."
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Like, I-- I don't think any 20-year-old
would reject this proposition, right?
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If an attractive woman tells you
to go back to the hotel room,
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you're probably gonna take it.
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And then she told me,
"But one thing, though.
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My, uh, my husband wants to watch."
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♪
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REPORTER 1:
Jerry Falwell Jr. is officially out
as President of Liberty University.
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The evangelical leader resigning
from the college his father founded
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under a cloud of scandal.
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REPORTER 2:
His fall from grace was swift and steep.
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A one-time Miami pool attendant,
Giancarlo Granda,
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claiming he had a seven-year affair
with Falwell's wife, Becki,
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and that Falwell watched
when they were intimate.
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REPORTER 3: It is the latest
in a shocking string of scandals
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to hit one
of the most influential families
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in the evangelical Conservative movement.
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♪ Ooh, Lordy, trouble so hard ♪
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♪ Ooh, Lordy, trouble so hard ♪
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♪ Don't nobody know my troubles but God ♪
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♪ Don't nobody know my troubles but God ♪
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♪ Ooh, Lordy, trouble so hard ♪
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♪ Don't nobody know my troubles but God ♪
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♪ Don't nobody know my troubles but God ♪
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♪
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GIANCARLO:
I grew up in, uh, Westchester, Miami,
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which is a predominately Cuban,
working-class, uh, neighborhood.
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LILIA GRANDA:
He was a cute, little, blond baby.
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Everyone loved him-- Adorable.
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He was the typical,
annoying little brother.
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We have a seven-year difference.
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GIANCARLO:
My childhood was pretty much normal,
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you know, in Miami standards.
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MARK EBNER: Giancarlo may seem
a little aloof, a little guarded.
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That's just him
being a product of his upbringing.
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He was raised in a conservative
Catholic family in Miami.
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- Write to me, Jerry Falwell--
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MARK: His mom grew up
on The Old-Time Gospel Hour,
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courtesy of Jerry Falwell Sr.
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She was very religious.
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She was a true believer.
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LILIA: As a child,
he was always the social kid.
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He made friends everywhere he went.
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- I went to a Catholic high school
called St. Brendan High School.
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LILIA:
Once he got into the teen years,
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there was a little bit of a switch in him.
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He got really into video games.
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It was an addiction.
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GIANCARLO:
Just spent an unhealthy amount of time
playing video games.
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It became a problem.
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My personality
just completely transformed.
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I started to isolate, withdraw.
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- He became introverted, antisocial.
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GIANCARLO: My ability to feel comfortable
in a social setting was, uh, compromised.
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Like, I just--
I didn't wanna be out with friends.
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I didn't feel comfortable.
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LILIA:
It was rough to experience
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'cause no one really knew
how to handle it.
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GIANCARLO:
My parents, my sister,
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they were very supportive
during that time.
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It was a dark period for me.
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- It was sad and-- and hard
for all of us, especially my parents
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because they didn't really know
how to handle it.
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GIANCARLO: After high school,
I told myself, "I need to change my life,"
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so I started eating healthy,
started working out.
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00:06:02,779 --> 00:06:04,948
But I was still that shy, reserved kid.
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I still had insecurities.
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I wanted to-- to work and experience life,
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and-- and actually,
make money and save money.
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So I reached out to a friend
that worked at the Fontainebleau Hotel.
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- That's when he really started
coming out of his shell,
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dating girls, having a social life.
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He was doing good.
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He was excited about school,
excited about his future.
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GIANCARLO: I worked
at the Fontainebleau for one year.
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I was working full-time
and going to school part-time.
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There's days where I was making,
like, $200 to $500 a day in cash.
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It was pretty good for a 20-year-old.
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- From that dark time
when he was, like, 15
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to where he was at now,
like, it was just a different kid.
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MARK: When he started busting out,
that was a whole new world for him.
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And he went off the deep end head-first.
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♪
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GIANCARLO:
After my shift, I'm driving home.
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I tell my sister what's gonna happen.
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- This is a terrible idea.
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Like, this is weird.
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Who are these people? Where are they from?
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Are they just here in Miami
just to do sexual escapades?
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- She's like, "Oh,
this doesn't sound like a good idea."
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- There's only so much I could tell him.
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Like, once he makes up his mind
and is gonna do something,
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he's gonna do it.
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- I probably should've listened to her.
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♪
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- That's been our relationship
our entire lives.
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Like, if you'd just listened to me
from the beginning,
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your life would be a lot easier.
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GIANCARLO:
That night, I get a phone call
from a blocked private number,
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and, uh, it was the woman.
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She said, "We rented a hotel room
at the Days Inn just around the block."
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They didn't wanna
do it at the Fontainebleau
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'cause their kids were staying there.
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♪
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LILIA:
My brother calls me on his way
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so someone knew what he was doing
and where he was going.
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In case things got weird,
someone knew where to go to get him.
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GIANCARLO:
I walk into the-- to the lobby.
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00:08:03,650 --> 00:08:06,361
I'm nervous.
I'm like, "What the hell am I doing?"
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Again, this is a very stupid scenario
I got myself into.
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And I'm trying to talk myself out of it,
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00:08:12,826 --> 00:08:15,078
but then, I'm also thinking,
"Eh, who cares? I'll just do this."
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I was a horny 20-year-old.
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00:08:18,332 --> 00:08:21,168
Uh, there-- There really
is no other explanation other than that.
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MARK:
This guy was as green as they come.
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He never even had
a high school girlfriend.
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GIANCARLO:
She's sitting there on the couch.
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00:08:29,676 --> 00:08:30,928
I sit down. I'm nervous.
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00:08:30,928 --> 00:08:34,264
She's like, "Hey, I'm Becki.
Take this to-- to calm down."
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She told me that,
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"The night before, we were
at a swingers club called Miami Velvet."
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I'm like, "Oh, shit."
186
00:08:42,439 --> 00:08:45,025
"No, that's not our thing,
it's too public.
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00:08:45,025 --> 00:08:46,360
"We want something more private.
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00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:49,821
"We were looking around for other people,
and you were perfect."
189
00:08:50,906 --> 00:08:53,283
She stroked my inner thigh.
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00:08:53,951 --> 00:08:55,744
She did a very good job at seducing me.
191
00:08:57,913 --> 00:08:59,873
And the Jack Daniels definitely helped.
192
00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:05,128
And she said, "All right,
let's just go up to the room."
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00:09:05,128 --> 00:09:07,130
I'm like,
"All right. Shit, let's do it."
194
00:09:07,130 --> 00:09:10,133
♪
195
00:09:11,134 --> 00:09:13,136
It's a small hotel room. There's two beds.
196
00:09:14,346 --> 00:09:17,349
As I walk in, it's just her husband,
197
00:09:17,349 --> 00:09:20,394
he's laying on the bed,
jeans are unzipped.
198
00:09:20,394 --> 00:09:21,436
He's having a drink,
199
00:09:21,436 --> 00:09:24,106
kinda giggling to himself
'cause he-- he's excited.
200
00:09:25,190 --> 00:09:28,527
We did small talk, trying to just get
comfortable with each other.
201
00:09:28,527 --> 00:09:30,237
I told the husband, I'm like,
202
00:09:30,237 --> 00:09:32,656
"Hey, if you get jealous,
or you don't like this
203
00:09:32,656 --> 00:09:33,907
"and you-- you don't want me here,
204
00:09:33,907 --> 00:09:35,742
just let me know
and I'll walk out, no problem."
205
00:09:35,742 --> 00:09:37,870
"Oh, no.
Don't worry about it. Just go for it.
206
00:09:37,870 --> 00:09:40,873
I'm gonna sit right here,
and, uh, you guys do your thing."
207
00:09:40,873 --> 00:09:43,792
We start kissing,
we were feeling each other up.
208
00:09:43,792 --> 00:09:45,961
And then she said, "Anything but.
209
00:09:45,961 --> 00:09:49,256
No penetration,
no actual sex, just oral sex."
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00:09:50,257 --> 00:09:53,135
We're kissing, and,
you know, we go back to the bed.
211
00:09:55,262 --> 00:09:56,263
Oh, shit, I don't--
212
00:09:57,139 --> 00:09:59,308
Yeah, it's-- Ev-- Ev--
Whenever I think of it,
213
00:09:59,308 --> 00:10:01,602
I just-- I cringe
at the thought of it but...
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00:10:01,602 --> 00:10:04,938
♪
215
00:10:07,107 --> 00:10:10,068
The husband gets up,
and I get-- I get a little nervous.
216
00:10:10,068 --> 00:10:12,070
I'm like, "What is he doing behind me?"
217
00:10:12,070 --> 00:10:14,031
Uh, but he goes to the corner of the room.
218
00:10:14,823 --> 00:10:19,953
He took off his jeans
and then he just started, uh, jacking off.
219
00:10:19,953 --> 00:10:22,372
MARK:
Let's talk about cuck theory.
220
00:10:22,372 --> 00:10:25,417
Ultimately, it's a guy who likes to watch.
221
00:10:26,043 --> 00:10:28,587
"I'm fulfilled on a sexual level
222
00:10:28,587 --> 00:10:31,798
by watching my wife
with a Cuban stallion."
223
00:10:31,798 --> 00:10:34,468
GIANCARLO: I kept looking back,
and I saw him, like, in the corner.
224
00:10:34,468 --> 00:10:35,302
He was trying to hide.
225
00:10:35,302 --> 00:10:37,888
He didn't want
himself being exposed or anything.
226
00:10:37,888 --> 00:10:40,516
He just wanted to observe the situation.
227
00:10:41,183 --> 00:10:42,559
I wish the husband wasn't there.
228
00:10:42,559 --> 00:10:44,061
That would've been a better situation.
229
00:10:44,061 --> 00:10:45,646
That's what
I was telling myself at the time.
230
00:10:45,646 --> 00:10:47,189
As a horny 20-year-old,
231
00:10:47,189 --> 00:10:50,317
I'm like, "I'm gonna block this out,
I'm gonna have sex with this cougar."
232
00:10:51,068 --> 00:10:52,819
Instantly, like,
there was this connection.
233
00:10:52,819 --> 00:10:54,071
She was staring at me.
234
00:10:54,071 --> 00:10:56,740
I could tell that
she obviously wanted to do this again.
235
00:10:57,324 --> 00:11:00,327
♪
236
00:11:02,579 --> 00:11:05,415
The next day,
we hung out again at the Fontainebleau.
237
00:11:05,832 --> 00:11:08,043
I knew what
I was getting myself into at that point.
238
00:11:09,253 --> 00:11:10,671
After we finished,
239
00:11:11,672 --> 00:11:13,465
we actually hung out and we talked.
240
00:11:13,465 --> 00:11:16,468
And they said what their names were,
you know, Jerry and Becki.
241
00:11:16,468 --> 00:11:18,345
"Wow, nice to meet you guys."
242
00:11:20,222 --> 00:11:23,100
They said that
they help out a lot of young people,
243
00:11:23,100 --> 00:11:25,644
and if I ever need help
that they can definitely help me out.
244
00:11:26,854 --> 00:11:28,897
We were talking about politics.
245
00:11:28,897 --> 00:11:31,024
We had, you know, common beliefs.
246
00:11:31,024 --> 00:11:33,110
I-- I was raised Republican.
247
00:11:33,110 --> 00:11:36,238
I remember Becki said, "He's perfect."
248
00:11:37,197 --> 00:11:38,949
It was nice connecting with them
249
00:11:38,949 --> 00:11:41,118
and just humanizing the situation.
250
00:11:41,118 --> 00:11:42,536
It wasn't just these strangers anymore.
251
00:11:43,662 --> 00:11:45,038
After they left Miami,
252
00:11:45,038 --> 00:11:47,291
she gave me a really good review
on Tripadvisor.
253
00:11:48,667 --> 00:11:49,710
I didn't have her last name.
254
00:11:49,710 --> 00:11:51,128
I didn't really know who they were,
255
00:11:51,128 --> 00:11:53,839
until I-- I got an email on March 22nd.
256
00:11:54,339 --> 00:11:56,049
And it actually came from Jerry.
257
00:11:56,049 --> 00:11:59,303
It was a picture of us that we took
at the Fontainebleau Hotel.
258
00:11:59,303 --> 00:12:01,054
There's a picture with me and Becki,
259
00:12:01,054 --> 00:12:02,723
and then one with Jerry.
260
00:12:02,723 --> 00:12:06,101
He sent the email saying,
"Becki wanted me to send this to you."
261
00:12:06,101 --> 00:12:10,439
- Immediately, I was like, "Who?"
262
00:12:10,439 --> 00:12:12,399
- And she's like, "Oh, Jerry Falwell?"
263
00:12:12,399 --> 00:12:13,734
She-- She recognized the name.
264
00:12:13,734 --> 00:12:17,154
She's like, "Isn't that,
like, the famous pastor, preacher?"
265
00:12:17,154 --> 00:12:18,363
- Wait a minute. Hold on.
266
00:12:18,363 --> 00:12:22,993
This cannot be the same people
that I'm thinking about right now.
267
00:12:22,993 --> 00:12:24,786
- And I'm like,
"I-- I honestly don't even know."
268
00:12:26,038 --> 00:12:27,456
So I ended up googling him.
269
00:12:29,541 --> 00:12:32,377
- Becki, would you stand
in your Liberty Flames dress?
270
00:12:32,377 --> 00:12:34,379
[crowd cheering]
271
00:12:35,672 --> 00:12:37,841
I think it's very fitting
that she's wearing that dress
272
00:12:37,841 --> 00:12:40,302
because I believe
she's the hottest first lady
273
00:12:40,302 --> 00:12:41,887
of any college in the country.
274
00:12:41,887 --> 00:12:43,889
[crowd cheering]
275
00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:47,017
GIANCARLO:
"Oh, so he's the President
of Liberty University."
276
00:12:47,017 --> 00:12:49,603
I didn't know what Liberty University was,
never heard of it.
277
00:12:50,771 --> 00:12:52,105
♪ L-U ♪
278
00:12:52,105 --> 00:12:53,398
♪ I can't hear you ♪
279
00:12:53,398 --> 00:12:55,067
♪ L-U ♪
280
00:12:55,067 --> 00:12:56,235
♪ Turn it up, turn it up... ♪
281
00:12:56,235 --> 00:12:58,570
- Liberty University
is a one-of-a-kind school
282
00:12:58,570 --> 00:13:00,113
in Lynchburg, Virginia.
283
00:13:00,113 --> 00:13:03,283
It's a nonprofit Christian university,
284
00:13:03,283 --> 00:13:06,578
where both students and faculty
practice what they preach.
285
00:13:06,578 --> 00:13:08,121
♪ 154 students, man ♪
286
00:13:08,121 --> 00:13:09,164
♪ How could they manage? ♪
287
00:13:09,164 --> 00:13:11,542
♪ Now, we the biggest
Christian university on the planet... ♪
288
00:13:12,042 --> 00:13:14,044
GIANCARLO:
I knew immediately
that they were successful,
289
00:13:14,044 --> 00:13:17,798
and then I started learning that they were
not just successful and had money,
290
00:13:17,798 --> 00:13:19,842
but they were powerful and well-connected.
291
00:13:19,842 --> 00:13:23,470
- My father founded
Thomas Road Baptist Church in 1956.
292
00:13:23,470 --> 00:13:25,514
It is now located next door to campus.
293
00:13:25,514 --> 00:13:26,765
- Good morning.
294
00:13:26,765 --> 00:13:29,226
And I welcome you to the morning service
295
00:13:29,226 --> 00:13:33,313
at the Thomas Road Baptist Church
in Lynchburg, Virginia.
296
00:13:33,313 --> 00:13:35,732
- The church services
were broadcast nationally
297
00:13:35,732 --> 00:13:37,609
in the 1970s and '80s.
298
00:13:37,609 --> 00:13:39,403
REPORTER:
TV preacher, Dr. Jerry Falwell,
299
00:13:39,403 --> 00:13:41,363
whose doctorate is honorary, not earned,
300
00:13:41,363 --> 00:13:46,493
turned a small Virginia church of 35
into a Christians communications empire.
301
00:13:46,493 --> 00:13:49,538
Falwell preaches
to a church of 4,000 each Sunday,
302
00:13:49,538 --> 00:13:51,623
with a TV audience of 20 million.
303
00:13:51,623 --> 00:13:53,750
JERRY FALWELL SR.:
I believe these are the last days.
304
00:13:53,750 --> 00:13:55,794
What is the thing
that interests God the most?
305
00:13:55,794 --> 00:13:57,713
Getting people ready for his coming,
306
00:13:57,713 --> 00:14:00,299
getting people ready
for the sounding of the cross.
307
00:14:00,299 --> 00:14:03,427
- He founded Liberty University in 1971.
308
00:14:03,427 --> 00:14:05,846
REPORTER:
A school for 50,000 students,
309
00:14:05,846 --> 00:14:09,183
from kindergarten
right through a doctoral program.
310
00:14:09,183 --> 00:14:11,560
- We have what we think
is a boot camp here for the Lord,
311
00:14:11,560 --> 00:14:13,478
training soldiers for Christ.
312
00:14:13,478 --> 00:14:15,647
- He founded
Moral Majority a few years later.
313
00:14:15,647 --> 00:14:20,110
Moral Majority was a coalition that shared
pro-life and pro-family values.
314
00:14:20,110 --> 00:14:22,196
- One man for one woman for one lifetime.
315
00:14:22,196 --> 00:14:23,780
It's called the traditional family.
316
00:14:23,780 --> 00:14:25,240
It's worked for 6,000 years.
317
00:14:25,240 --> 00:14:27,034
- Many credited Moral Majority
318
00:14:27,034 --> 00:14:29,620
with the election
of Ronald Reagan in 1980.
319
00:14:29,620 --> 00:14:32,331
GIANCARLO: I told Jerry,
"I found out more about your dad.
320
00:14:36,084 --> 00:14:37,711
"I read about what he would say,
321
00:14:37,711 --> 00:14:41,048
blaming, uh, 9/11 on homosexuals."
322
00:14:41,048 --> 00:14:44,593
- The abortionists and the feminists
and the gays and the lesbians,
323
00:14:44,593 --> 00:14:46,011
all of them,
324
00:14:46,011 --> 00:14:47,221
you helped this happen.
325
00:14:47,221 --> 00:14:50,807
- "Honestly, if you wanna know my opinion,
I think your dad was a piece of shit."
326
00:14:51,225 --> 00:14:53,936
He's like, "Eh, you know,
yeah, a lot of people think that.
327
00:14:53,936 --> 00:14:56,188
But I'm completely different.
I'm not like my dad."
328
00:14:56,188 --> 00:14:58,774
He said, "I'm a business guy,
and I see the future,"
329
00:14:58,774 --> 00:14:59,566
and I liked that.
330
00:15:00,359 --> 00:15:03,612
MARK:
The Falwells are the Southern Gatsbys.
331
00:15:03,612 --> 00:15:06,532
They're wealthy
and they're sloppy as fuck.
332
00:15:06,532 --> 00:15:08,283
- How old was Becki when you guys met?
333
00:15:08,283 --> 00:15:09,952
Uh, some of our freshmen
don't know this story.
334
00:15:09,952 --> 00:15:11,995
- No, we don't need to get on that story.
335
00:15:11,995 --> 00:15:14,248
JERRY JR.:
She was 13 and I was 18 when I met her.
336
00:15:14,248 --> 00:15:16,875
BECKI:
All right, let's not get, um--
So, Candace. [laughs]
337
00:15:17,793 --> 00:15:21,547
Hey, girls, let's take a look at the ring
on Candace's finger, by the way.
338
00:15:21,547 --> 00:15:22,881
- I think it's 13 carats,
339
00:15:22,881 --> 00:15:24,633
the same age that you were,
Becki, when you guys met.
340
00:15:24,633 --> 00:15:25,843
[crowd cheering]
341
00:15:25,843 --> 00:15:28,595
MEGAN K. STACK:
Becki grew up in North Carolina.
342
00:15:28,595 --> 00:15:30,931
They were a religious family.
343
00:15:30,931 --> 00:15:34,560
She told me that her father was in timber.
344
00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:37,396
I later found out
her father was in trailer parks,
345
00:15:37,396 --> 00:15:39,940
and went to prison for tax evasion.
346
00:15:39,940 --> 00:15:42,067
- Becki, tell 'em how you proposed to me.
347
00:15:43,110 --> 00:15:47,781
- Falwell Jr. went to Liberty University
with Becki's older sister.
348
00:15:47,781 --> 00:15:49,575
- Yeah, I proposed to Jerry.
349
00:15:49,575 --> 00:15:53,954
He had finished law school,
and he had taken the bar exam.
350
00:15:54,913 --> 00:15:57,541
MEGAN:
She dropped out of Liberty
to support Jerry,
351
00:15:57,541 --> 00:15:59,877
who was down
at the University of Virginia.
352
00:15:59,877 --> 00:16:02,296
- And I said, "Can we get married now?"
353
00:16:02,296 --> 00:16:03,297
And he said, "Yes."
354
00:16:04,131 --> 00:16:06,758
MEGAN: Becki said to me,
with sort of embarrassment,
355
00:16:06,758 --> 00:16:09,386
"Oh, we had the most boring wedding
of anybody ever.
356
00:16:09,386 --> 00:16:13,182
There was no drinking alcohol.
There was no dancing. It was just awful."
357
00:16:13,765 --> 00:16:16,101
MARK:
And they popped out three kids,
358
00:16:16,101 --> 00:16:18,770
Trey, Wesley, and Caroline.
359
00:16:18,770 --> 00:16:19,771
MEGAN:
These are two people
360
00:16:19,771 --> 00:16:23,817
who have, for a long time,
been and remain very much in love.
361
00:16:23,817 --> 00:16:25,986
I don't see any daylight between them.
362
00:16:25,986 --> 00:16:29,156
They're just extremely intertwined,
psychologically and emotionally.
363
00:16:29,156 --> 00:16:32,117
It's very unusual
to come across a married couple like that.
364
00:16:32,117 --> 00:16:34,620
JERRY JR.: My father,
he would tell his congregation,
365
00:16:35,329 --> 00:16:37,873
"Don't get mad
when people tell lies about you,
366
00:16:37,873 --> 00:16:40,542
just be glad
they don't know the truth." So.
367
00:16:40,542 --> 00:16:41,543
[audience laughing]
368
00:16:41,543 --> 00:16:44,171
MEGAN:
In some ways, Jerry was a black sheep.
369
00:16:44,171 --> 00:16:49,510
A son who was not able
to access the kind of religious fervor
370
00:16:49,510 --> 00:16:53,472
that defined his father
and that was going to define his family.
371
00:16:54,056 --> 00:16:57,100
- Jerry Jr. had not been
a conventional evangelical.
372
00:16:57,100 --> 00:16:59,353
He believed that his role
to support the ministry
373
00:16:59,353 --> 00:17:00,312
would be in business.
374
00:17:00,812 --> 00:17:03,273
MEGAN:
He did set out doing real estate law
375
00:17:03,273 --> 00:17:05,776
and not working with his father.
376
00:17:05,776 --> 00:17:10,364
He came back to help get
the university out of financial distress.
377
00:17:10,364 --> 00:17:13,200
JERRY JR.: I spent many days
negotiating with creditors
378
00:17:13,200 --> 00:17:17,204
and spent many weekends begging
and borrowing from donors and lenders
379
00:17:17,204 --> 00:17:19,414
to cover the paychecks
that had already been issued
380
00:17:19,414 --> 00:17:20,791
on the Friday before.
381
00:17:20,791 --> 00:17:25,254
DUSTIN WAHL: Falwell Jr. was never
a good fit to be in a public-facing role.
382
00:17:25,254 --> 00:17:28,298
It wasn't something
that he sought out and asked for.
383
00:17:28,298 --> 00:17:30,300
He inherited it
when his father passed away.
384
00:17:30,717 --> 00:17:32,719
MEGAN:
He was a hero to Liberty, financially.
385
00:17:32,719 --> 00:17:35,973
It brought Jerry Falwell money.
It brought him power.
386
00:17:35,973 --> 00:17:38,684
It gave him
the tacit approval of his father,
387
00:17:38,684 --> 00:17:40,143
even after his father's death.
388
00:17:40,894 --> 00:17:43,021
MARK:
If you're part of this dynasty,
389
00:17:43,021 --> 00:17:46,149
then you can do
whatever the fuck you want,
390
00:17:46,149 --> 00:17:48,527
and that couple did it to the hilt.
391
00:17:48,902 --> 00:17:51,530
[indistinct chatter]
392
00:17:51,530 --> 00:17:56,201
DUSTIN: He was beloved
by a lot of students for his quirkiness.
393
00:17:56,952 --> 00:17:59,121
People didn't treat him
like he was the spokesperson
394
00:17:59,121 --> 00:18:03,834
for one of the largest Christian
and Conservative institutions
in the world.
395
00:18:03,834 --> 00:18:06,795
People treated him
like he was a cartoon character,
396
00:18:06,795 --> 00:18:08,213
or their crazy uncle.
397
00:18:08,213 --> 00:18:10,799
He realized that
that familiarity students felt with him
398
00:18:10,799 --> 00:18:12,217
gave him a lot of power.
399
00:18:12,217 --> 00:18:15,220
[crowd cheering]
400
00:18:16,221 --> 00:18:17,598
LILIA:
What my brother did
401
00:18:17,598 --> 00:18:20,225
was with almost like the first family
402
00:18:20,225 --> 00:18:23,854
of, like,
the evangelical Christianity Church.
403
00:18:27,024 --> 00:18:29,776
♪
404
00:18:29,776 --> 00:18:30,777
GIANCARLO:
Becki calls me,
405
00:18:30,777 --> 00:18:34,281
and she says they got a hotel
at the Cheeca Resort in the Keys.
406
00:18:36,992 --> 00:18:38,160
This trip was different
407
00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:41,622
because I wasn't just meeting them
and going back home.
408
00:18:41,622 --> 00:18:43,582
I'm actually gonna
stay there for the weekend.
409
00:18:43,582 --> 00:18:45,751
I remember driving down to Cheeca,
410
00:18:45,751 --> 00:18:47,461
I'm like, "Wait,
we're gonna be in the same room.
411
00:18:47,461 --> 00:18:48,921
Where's Jerry gonna be?"
412
00:18:50,380 --> 00:18:52,257
Uh, so that was-- that was a concern.
413
00:18:52,257 --> 00:18:53,926
The sleeping arrangement was,
414
00:18:53,926 --> 00:18:56,053
I slept on the bed with Becki
415
00:18:56,053 --> 00:18:59,097
and, you know,
Jerry slept, uh, next to the bed.
416
00:18:59,973 --> 00:19:02,893
Which, you know,
thinking back, it's kind of strange.
417
00:19:03,977 --> 00:19:06,021
It was, I don't know,
like 5:00 in the morning,
418
00:19:06,021 --> 00:19:07,981
and I just-- I randomly woke up,
419
00:19:07,981 --> 00:19:10,734
and I look over to the side
and Becki's just staring at me.
420
00:19:12,069 --> 00:19:13,570
She has these dark black eyes.
421
00:19:14,238 --> 00:19:15,948
I obviously kept hooking up with her,
422
00:19:15,948 --> 00:19:17,783
but, you know,
I'm like, "This is kinda weird."
423
00:19:17,783 --> 00:19:19,701
I'm like-- I was startled by it.
424
00:19:20,369 --> 00:19:22,663
♪
425
00:19:22,663 --> 00:19:26,416
MARK: The dynamic
of the relationship outside of the sex,
426
00:19:26,416 --> 00:19:28,210
he liked being around them.
427
00:19:28,210 --> 00:19:32,256
Jerry had the business acumen,
he was kind of a goofball.
428
00:19:32,256 --> 00:19:36,885
And Becki Falwell
was Giancarlo Granda's warm bathwater.
429
00:19:36,885 --> 00:19:38,095
She held his hand.
430
00:19:39,012 --> 00:19:41,598
- When we're talking,
it-- it just felt natural.
431
00:19:41,598 --> 00:19:44,226
We really connected
'cause we would talk about business,
432
00:19:44,226 --> 00:19:45,602
how he was a real estate attorney,
433
00:19:45,602 --> 00:19:47,187
how he developed real estate.
434
00:19:47,187 --> 00:19:48,897
And he would tell me
about Liberty University,
435
00:19:48,897 --> 00:19:51,608
how, you know,
they were doing over $100 million
436
00:19:51,608 --> 00:19:52,901
in construction projects.
437
00:19:53,402 --> 00:19:55,112
LILIA:
You go to Lynchburg, Virginia,
438
00:19:55,112 --> 00:19:56,822
and they own
half of the real estate in that town.
439
00:19:56,822 --> 00:19:58,532
He was impressed by them.
440
00:19:58,532 --> 00:20:00,534
- Your ego is being stroked,
441
00:20:00,534 --> 00:20:05,289
and you have Becki on one hand
telling him how beautiful he was,
442
00:20:05,289 --> 00:20:07,708
and then you get Jerry telling him,
443
00:20:07,708 --> 00:20:10,210
"You're a bright kid,
and I like your thinking."
444
00:20:10,794 --> 00:20:14,006
- After the Cheeca trip,
we're talking on the phone every day
445
00:20:14,006 --> 00:20:15,007
and texting every day.
446
00:20:15,007 --> 00:20:16,175
She became my girlfriend.
447
00:20:16,175 --> 00:20:19,178
♪
448
00:20:23,390 --> 00:20:25,976
MARK:
Becki was texting him 24/7.
449
00:20:25,976 --> 00:20:30,564
They didn't end a day
without at least one hour on the phone.
450
00:20:33,066 --> 00:20:36,320
- She's really making an effort
to maintain this relationship.
451
00:20:36,737 --> 00:20:39,114
MEGAN:
She said, finally she met somebody,
452
00:20:39,114 --> 00:20:42,284
and she felt that she was having
an adventure.
453
00:20:42,284 --> 00:20:43,535
She was having an affair.
454
00:20:43,535 --> 00:20:46,788
She was living this carefree,
youthful lifestyle
455
00:20:46,788 --> 00:20:49,291
that she never got to experience
when she was young.
456
00:20:49,958 --> 00:20:52,753
GIANCARLO:
Becki was the first woman
outside of my family,
457
00:20:52,753 --> 00:20:54,254
uh, to say, "I love you."
458
00:20:54,254 --> 00:20:56,048
This is three weeks after meeting 'em.
459
00:20:56,048 --> 00:20:57,508
I'm like...
460
00:20:59,384 --> 00:21:02,262
MARK: He's a kid,
he doesn't know what love is.
461
00:21:02,262 --> 00:21:05,140
And this is where
it became dangerous down the line.
462
00:21:05,140 --> 00:21:09,102
But in the beginning, it's like,
"Whoa, I'm being lavished with attention.
463
00:21:09,102 --> 00:21:11,355
"She wants to do it again?
464
00:21:11,939 --> 00:21:15,776
Which exotic locale are we going to now?"
465
00:21:15,776 --> 00:21:17,361
♪
466
00:21:17,361 --> 00:21:19,446
GIANCARLO:
Shortly after the Cheeca trip,
467
00:21:19,446 --> 00:21:21,615
they invited me to New York.
468
00:21:21,615 --> 00:21:23,033
They were gonna go there for business.
469
00:21:23,033 --> 00:21:24,117
And they're like, "Hey, come over
470
00:21:24,117 --> 00:21:26,537
and we can discuss
how we can become business partners."
471
00:21:27,037 --> 00:21:29,164
So I meet them,
and I stayed the weekend with them.
472
00:21:30,290 --> 00:21:32,876
We stayed at the Gansevoort Hotel
on Park Avenue.
473
00:21:32,876 --> 00:21:34,670
We're at dinner at STK,
474
00:21:34,670 --> 00:21:37,714
and I was really worried
that someone was gonna discover us
475
00:21:37,714 --> 00:21:39,967
and it's gonna end up in the tabloids.
476
00:21:39,967 --> 00:21:41,802
We're looking through the dessert menu,
477
00:21:41,802 --> 00:21:45,055
and Becki spotted
the Carnival Menage A Trois.
478
00:21:45,055 --> 00:21:47,015
And she was like, "Oh, let's get this."
479
00:21:47,432 --> 00:21:49,685
And I-- I remember just feeling awkward
480
00:21:49,685 --> 00:21:52,479
when she ordered
the Carnival Menage A Trois.
481
00:21:54,398 --> 00:21:57,150
Like, they're not being subtle about this.
482
00:21:57,568 --> 00:21:59,778
But after dinner, we're talking,
483
00:21:59,778 --> 00:22:02,573
and that's when he said,
"You need to make money yourself.
484
00:22:02,573 --> 00:22:06,410
"With my past in real estate,
it's a great way to build wealth.
485
00:22:06,410 --> 00:22:09,913
"We'll acquire a property
and we'll give you an equity stake in it.
486
00:22:09,913 --> 00:22:11,415
"You just have to manage it.
487
00:22:11,415 --> 00:22:13,208
"And then, you know,
when you make your first million,
488
00:22:13,208 --> 00:22:14,543
"we'll all drink champagne together
489
00:22:14,543 --> 00:22:16,003
and life is gonna be great."
490
00:22:18,046 --> 00:22:21,633
Deep down,
I always wanted to invest in real estate.
491
00:22:21,633 --> 00:22:22,968
I wanted to get in the game.
492
00:22:22,968 --> 00:22:23,969
I'm like, "This is it!"
493
00:22:25,053 --> 00:22:28,056
- I thought, "Well,
maybe they can help him in some way,
494
00:22:28,056 --> 00:22:31,518
"and however weird this thing started,
495
00:22:31,518 --> 00:22:33,145
maybe it'll turn into something good."
496
00:22:33,145 --> 00:22:35,105
They did what they wanted to do,
497
00:22:35,105 --> 00:22:36,315
everyone had their fun,
498
00:22:36,315 --> 00:22:39,276
and now let's go and be... adults.
499
00:22:40,027 --> 00:22:42,446
GIANCARLO:
But Jerry quickly wanted to cut to,
500
00:22:42,446 --> 00:22:45,032
"Hey, let's go back to the hotel room
and do what we have to do."
501
00:22:45,657 --> 00:22:46,700
♪ Yeah ♪
502
00:22:46,700 --> 00:22:48,827
♪ Woman got a big ol' ass
and bow legs... ♪
503
00:22:48,827 --> 00:22:51,538
GIANCARLO:
Becki, she said, "I have some good news.
504
00:22:52,247 --> 00:22:53,498
We can go all the way this time."
505
00:22:54,249 --> 00:22:55,876
They were both ready for me.
506
00:22:55,876 --> 00:22:57,586
They both felt comfortable with me.
507
00:22:57,586 --> 00:22:59,463
♪ 'Cause we gon' fuck tonight ♪
508
00:22:59,463 --> 00:23:00,672
♪ My dick is getting rock hard... ♪
509
00:23:00,672 --> 00:23:03,550
- They thought it was the right time
to actually go forward with it.
510
00:23:03,550 --> 00:23:04,676
♪ Gonna be some fuckin' tonight ♪
511
00:23:04,676 --> 00:23:06,136
♪ Take your panties off ♪
512
00:23:06,136 --> 00:23:08,472
♪ Moving things off to the side... ♪
513
00:23:08,472 --> 00:23:09,598
- And there's no holding back anymore.
514
00:23:10,098 --> 00:23:12,017
♪ Is we gon' fuck tonight ♪
515
00:23:12,017 --> 00:23:13,101
♪ Yeah... ♪
516
00:23:13,101 --> 00:23:16,480
MARK: As the relationship grew
and it intensified,
517
00:23:18,190 --> 00:23:22,778
Jerry could sort of move out
of that creepy corner that he was in.
518
00:23:25,572 --> 00:23:26,573
GIANCARLO:
Jerry, you know,
519
00:23:26,573 --> 00:23:29,618
he went from just, you know,
masturbating in the corner
520
00:23:29,618 --> 00:23:31,787
to whenever I would finish,
521
00:23:34,331 --> 00:23:36,667
he would go in, uh, for round two.
522
00:23:38,669 --> 00:23:40,754
MEGAN: They were both
kind of looking for these things
523
00:23:40,754 --> 00:23:43,924
that weren't actually available to them
within their religious community.
524
00:23:43,924 --> 00:23:47,010
Granda is part of that desire
that they shared.
525
00:23:47,010 --> 00:23:48,804
MARK:
He was that element of kink
526
00:23:48,804 --> 00:23:53,225
that they needed for them
to become closer, if you will.
527
00:23:55,102 --> 00:23:57,521
GIANCARLO: Fast forward,
I'm back in Miami looking for properties.
528
00:23:57,521 --> 00:23:59,648
I actually started
driving around by myself.
529
00:23:59,648 --> 00:24:01,275
I narrowed it down to Miami Beach.
530
00:24:02,442 --> 00:24:03,443
- What is happening?
531
00:24:03,443 --> 00:24:05,571
What do you know about any of this?
532
00:24:05,571 --> 00:24:06,905
Like, you're 20.
533
00:24:06,905 --> 00:24:09,283
He was like,
"I know, like, what I'm doing,
534
00:24:09,283 --> 00:24:10,534
"I know the right people.
535
00:24:10,534 --> 00:24:12,202
Like, we're gonna get this done."
536
00:24:12,202 --> 00:24:16,707
And he relied on the Fernandezes.
537
00:24:16,707 --> 00:24:18,709
♪
538
00:24:18,709 --> 00:24:21,336
GIANCARLO: I reached out
to a friend of mine at the time,
539
00:24:21,336 --> 00:24:22,546
Jesus Fernandez Jr.
540
00:24:22,546 --> 00:24:24,381
We called him Tito.
That was his nickname.
541
00:24:24,381 --> 00:24:27,968
And his dad, Jesus Fernandez Sr.,
he was a broker.
542
00:24:27,968 --> 00:24:30,721
LILIA: Him and his dad
are like your classic wannabe,
543
00:24:30,721 --> 00:24:32,681
just Miami bullshit artists.
544
00:24:32,681 --> 00:24:35,475
It never really made sense
how he was friends with him, honestly.
545
00:24:35,475 --> 00:24:38,896
- I met Giancarlo through Jesus.
546
00:24:39,563 --> 00:24:43,984
Giancarlo and Jesus
were kind of like best friends.
547
00:24:43,984 --> 00:24:47,279
I was Jesus' girlfriend,
and I was very close with them.
548
00:24:47,279 --> 00:24:50,324
I mean, everybody changed
in the five years that I dated Jesus,
549
00:24:50,324 --> 00:24:51,742
they kinda grew up.
550
00:24:52,284 --> 00:24:56,496
But Giancarlo did not strike me
as having any street smarts.
551
00:24:56,496 --> 00:24:58,582
Nothing, not even an instinct.
552
00:24:58,582 --> 00:25:01,335
He doesn't really have a hustle spirit.
553
00:25:02,336 --> 00:25:05,923
Jesus was the street-smart hustler
of the group.
554
00:25:07,174 --> 00:25:09,635
When I met him,
I was absolutely under the impression
555
00:25:09,635 --> 00:25:11,178
that that was a wealthy family.
556
00:25:11,929 --> 00:25:14,598
MARK:
Jesus Fernandez Sr. was, at one point,
557
00:25:14,598 --> 00:25:18,977
a big-time real estate investor
and a broker.
558
00:25:18,977 --> 00:25:22,314
That family had lived the American Dream.
559
00:25:22,314 --> 00:25:24,858
NICOLE:
The houses that they lived in
were gorgeous.
560
00:25:25,442 --> 00:25:28,320
Unfortunately, none of them lasted long
561
00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:31,990
before... the sheriff's department came.
562
00:25:34,201 --> 00:25:36,787
MARK:
If you look at Jesus Sr.'s rap sheet,
563
00:25:36,787 --> 00:25:39,039
there was a major bankruptcy,
564
00:25:39,039 --> 00:25:41,041
there were allegations of fraud.
565
00:25:41,041 --> 00:25:44,378
The guy didn't even have
a broker license anymore.
566
00:25:44,378 --> 00:25:47,923
None of this was disclosed to Giancarlo.
567
00:25:48,674 --> 00:25:49,883
GIANCARLO:
By me reaching out to them
568
00:25:49,883 --> 00:25:52,177
and telling, "Hey,
you're gonna get a commission from this,"
569
00:25:52,177 --> 00:25:53,762
I felt like I was helping them out.
570
00:25:53,762 --> 00:25:56,765
♪
571
00:26:11,905 --> 00:26:16,243
NICOLE:
I was an assistant general manager
working at South Beach Hostel.
572
00:26:16,743 --> 00:26:20,414
I mean, in Miami, hostels,
you build it and it's gonna be filled.
573
00:26:20,414 --> 00:26:23,166
It's like a fail-safe business.
574
00:26:32,676 --> 00:26:36,054
- Jesus knew the real estate side,
I knew the hostel side,
575
00:26:36,054 --> 00:26:39,224
and Giancarlo had the financial backing.
576
00:26:39,224 --> 00:26:41,727
- I called Jerry, I said, "Hey, come down.
577
00:26:41,727 --> 00:26:44,897
I have some guys that are gonna
find the best investment property."
578
00:26:45,606 --> 00:26:49,526
NICOLE: Jesus and Giancarlo,
his father eventually found a property.
579
00:26:49,526 --> 00:26:51,361
It was Miami Hostel.
580
00:26:51,862 --> 00:26:56,200
The first floor had a restaurant
and a liquor store.
581
00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:59,036
GIANCARLO: It was just in the heart
of South Beach, which is perfect.
582
00:26:59,036 --> 00:27:01,079
The land itself is very valuable.
583
00:27:01,747 --> 00:27:05,751
LILIA: Once the Fernandezes saw
these evangelicals come down here,
584
00:27:05,751 --> 00:27:09,254
they probably saw, you know,
just nothing but money signs everywhere.
585
00:27:10,172 --> 00:27:14,176
MARK: This is a guy from Lynchburg
trying to do business in Miami.
586
00:27:14,176 --> 00:27:16,303
He didn't know where the fuck he was.
587
00:27:16,303 --> 00:27:19,097
They should've done diligence
on these guys.
588
00:27:19,681 --> 00:27:22,476
NICOLE:
I understood flying him places,
589
00:27:22,476 --> 00:27:25,270
but I have never heard of anybody
590
00:27:26,188 --> 00:27:28,774
buying some kid,
that they met at the Fontainebleau pool,
591
00:27:28,774 --> 00:27:30,609
a four-and-a-half-million-dollar business.
592
00:27:30,609 --> 00:27:32,903
What the fuck? Like, what's going on?
593
00:27:34,071 --> 00:27:36,156
GIANCARLO:
Tito and his dad were both very curious,
594
00:27:36,156 --> 00:27:38,325
and they were trying
to find out what was going on.
595
00:27:38,325 --> 00:27:40,285
And they kept trying
to get answers out of me.
596
00:27:40,285 --> 00:27:41,954
I'm like, "No,
they just wanna help me out."
597
00:27:41,954 --> 00:27:43,497
Obviously, that didn't make sense.
598
00:27:43,497 --> 00:27:45,958
That-- That was just-- That was--
You know, it wasn't a good excuse.
599
00:27:46,416 --> 00:27:48,418
I think that they-- they were convinced
there was more to it,
600
00:27:48,418 --> 00:27:49,878
and they were right, there was more to it.
601
00:27:50,754 --> 00:27:54,341
- Now you got
the Fernandezes working Giancarlo,
602
00:27:54,341 --> 00:27:57,636
because they're smelling money,
real money.
603
00:27:57,636 --> 00:27:59,847
The long con had already started.
604
00:27:59,847 --> 00:28:04,601
Who knew what a buddy fucker
Jesus Fernandez turned out to be, right?
605
00:28:06,061 --> 00:28:08,897
LILIA: It was a few months
for the deal to actually close.
606
00:28:09,398 --> 00:28:11,024
Throughout this process,
607
00:28:11,024 --> 00:28:16,071
my brother and Tito,
their friendship started fracturing a bit.
608
00:28:16,864 --> 00:28:19,074
GIANCARLO:
The Fernandezes received their commission
609
00:28:19,074 --> 00:28:20,284
on the sale of the property,
610
00:28:20,284 --> 00:28:22,744
and we didn't really talk much after that.
611
00:28:22,744 --> 00:28:24,204
It was just like,
all right, the deal closed,
612
00:28:24,204 --> 00:28:25,873
and then they kind of just vanished.
613
00:28:26,540 --> 00:28:28,792
LILIA:
Between the time that he met the Falwells
614
00:28:28,792 --> 00:28:32,045
to when they closed on that property
was less than a year.
615
00:28:32,045 --> 00:28:33,797
- About 11 months after meeting them,
616
00:28:33,797 --> 00:28:37,176
we're closing on
a 4.65-million-dollar commercial property.
617
00:28:37,801 --> 00:28:39,344
It just felt like I was living in a movie.
618
00:28:39,344 --> 00:28:40,596
It just didn't feel real.
619
00:28:40,596 --> 00:28:42,931
I'm like, "Why am I here?
Why am I a part of this?"
620
00:28:43,599 --> 00:28:45,142
LILIA:
Imagine the first property you own
621
00:28:45,142 --> 00:28:47,352
is a four-and-a-half-million-dollar
property.
622
00:28:47,352 --> 00:28:49,813
GIANCARLO:
I saw it as a big opportunity to learn,
623
00:28:49,813 --> 00:28:51,315
to grow within business.
624
00:28:51,315 --> 00:28:52,649
It was tough to turn down.
625
00:28:53,442 --> 00:28:55,319
- Okay, so how did the deal break down?
626
00:28:55,319 --> 00:28:57,154
Who was the principal in name?
627
00:28:57,154 --> 00:28:58,238
It wasn't Jerry.
628
00:28:58,238 --> 00:29:00,574
He didn't want his name
anywhere near that deal
629
00:29:00,574 --> 00:29:02,367
with a 20-year-old pool boy,
630
00:29:02,367 --> 00:29:04,161
so he put it in Becki's name.
631
00:29:04,661 --> 00:29:06,872
- At this point,
my dreams were coming true.
632
00:29:06,872 --> 00:29:08,874
I can see
how I can make that first million.
633
00:29:08,874 --> 00:29:11,168
- How do you keep Giancarlo on a leash?
634
00:29:11,168 --> 00:29:13,003
Go into business with him.
635
00:29:13,003 --> 00:29:17,174
And Jerry was looking
at keeping his wife happy at that point.
636
00:29:17,174 --> 00:29:18,675
Where she was happiest
637
00:29:18,675 --> 00:29:22,262
was when Giancarlo Granda
was balls-deep inside of her.
638
00:29:24,431 --> 00:29:29,394
- So from March 2012
till about, like, June, June, July,
639
00:29:29,394 --> 00:29:32,231
you know, we had this sexual component
with the relationship.
640
00:29:32,648 --> 00:29:33,482
I broke it off.
641
00:29:33,482 --> 00:29:35,150
I told Becki, I'm like,
"We can't have sex anymore
642
00:29:35,150 --> 00:29:36,902
"'cause I found a girl my age.
643
00:29:36,902 --> 00:29:40,614
I wanna date her, I like her a lot.
We obviously can't be doing this."
644
00:29:40,614 --> 00:29:42,115
She didn't take it very well.
645
00:29:42,115 --> 00:29:44,910
Becki cried.
She made me feel guilty for it.
646
00:29:45,327 --> 00:29:47,204
"Oh, you replaced me for someone younger."
647
00:29:47,204 --> 00:29:49,706
She would tell me, "God put us together."
648
00:29:49,706 --> 00:29:53,210
I'm like, "I need to live my own life.
I need to find someone my age."
649
00:29:53,210 --> 00:29:55,462
And then Jerry said,
"Well, she doesn't have to know.
650
00:29:55,462 --> 00:29:56,380
We won't tell her."
651
00:29:56,380 --> 00:29:58,090
And I said,
"No, I'm sorry, I just-- I can't.
652
00:29:58,090 --> 00:29:59,383
I-- I don't feel comfortable doing it."
653
00:29:59,383 --> 00:30:01,885
What I did agree to,
and it's not-- it's not right,
654
00:30:01,885 --> 00:30:03,846
I continued the emotional connection.
655
00:30:03,846 --> 00:30:06,223
I kept texting her,
I kept talking to her every day.
656
00:30:06,223 --> 00:30:07,850
I felt like I was living a double life.
657
00:30:09,685 --> 00:30:12,187
Becki, she would call me every day,
she would text me every day.
658
00:30:12,187 --> 00:30:15,440
If I didn't respond to her right away,
she would call me crying.
659
00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:18,110
If I didn't respond for a couple days,
then Jerry would call me.
660
00:30:18,110 --> 00:30:19,111
He was disappointed.
661
00:30:19,111 --> 00:30:21,238
He'd say, "Hey, what's going on?
Like, she loves you so much.
662
00:30:21,238 --> 00:30:23,615
"Why are you trying to break away?
She's been so nice to you.
663
00:30:23,615 --> 00:30:26,243
"And we're going to bat
for you for this property.
664
00:30:26,243 --> 00:30:27,661
Why-- why break up now?"
665
00:30:28,245 --> 00:30:32,833
Things started slowly morphing into,
"Oh, this is just sex and friendship,"
666
00:30:32,833 --> 00:30:35,085
to "Now we're gonna control you."
667
00:30:36,295 --> 00:30:38,463
LILIA:
Imagine how sick and twisted that is.
668
00:30:38,463 --> 00:30:43,218
Like, you're middle-aged people
calling him, making him feel bad
669
00:30:43,218 --> 00:30:45,137
because he's not texting your wife?
670
00:30:45,137 --> 00:30:46,597
What the fuck is wrong with you?
671
00:30:46,597 --> 00:30:47,598
- So I had two options:
672
00:30:47,598 --> 00:30:49,808
I could just walk away
and never talk to 'em again
673
00:30:49,808 --> 00:30:53,228
and lose out on this multi-million-dollar,
uh, commercial property,
674
00:30:53,228 --> 00:30:55,147
or just trust them and see what happens.
675
00:30:56,064 --> 00:30:57,441
MARK:
These are predators.
676
00:30:57,441 --> 00:31:02,237
Becki, she was addicted to the idea
of being in love with this kid,
677
00:31:02,237 --> 00:31:04,198
and she was not gonna let go.
678
00:31:06,909 --> 00:31:09,161
♪
679
00:31:09,161 --> 00:31:11,121
GIANCARLO:
One day, Becki texted me,
680
00:31:11,121 --> 00:31:14,583
"I was watching
some video clips on my phone... Wow."
681
00:31:23,675 --> 00:31:25,886
At that moment,
that just, like, set off an alarm.
682
00:31:25,886 --> 00:31:28,013
And that was the first time
that I realized,
683
00:31:28,013 --> 00:31:29,973
"Oh, they were recording everything."
684
00:31:31,808 --> 00:31:34,686
I felt like it was a subtle hint as to,
685
00:31:34,686 --> 00:31:37,439
you know, "We got the goods on you too.
Like, don't forget that."
686
00:31:37,940 --> 00:31:40,275
MARK:
Jerry Falwell Jr., at the time,
687
00:31:40,275 --> 00:31:43,403
was everything
that Giancarlo wanted to be.
688
00:31:43,403 --> 00:31:46,823
Giancarlo wanted all of this
and they knew it.
689
00:31:46,823 --> 00:31:50,577
So they were using it
as a method of control.
690
00:31:50,577 --> 00:31:52,955
"Hey, you know,
have fun with your little girlfriend,
691
00:31:52,955 --> 00:31:54,289
but we own your ass."
692
00:31:54,289 --> 00:31:57,292
♪
693
00:32:07,511 --> 00:32:08,220
- You're fired.
694
00:32:09,096 --> 00:32:11,098
♪ Money, money, money, money ♪
695
00:32:11,098 --> 00:32:12,683
GIANCARLO:
September 2012,
696
00:32:12,683 --> 00:32:15,227
Becki gives me a call saying,
"Hey, do you wanna meet Donald Trump?"
697
00:32:15,227 --> 00:32:17,688
'Cause at the time,
he wasn't who he is today.
698
00:32:17,688 --> 00:32:21,483
He wasn't running for president.
He was just the star on The Apprentice.
699
00:32:21,483 --> 00:32:23,569
They knew that I liked Donald Trump,
700
00:32:23,569 --> 00:32:25,863
that I read his book, The Art of the Deal.
701
00:32:25,863 --> 00:32:27,948
LILIA:
My brother loved business
702
00:32:27,948 --> 00:32:30,617
and thought Donald Trump was great,
and so he was like--
703
00:32:30,617 --> 00:32:31,618
- Yeah, absolutely!
704
00:32:32,744 --> 00:32:34,705
MARK:
They were bringing him into a world
705
00:32:34,705 --> 00:32:37,040
that he couldn't even imagine.
706
00:32:37,040 --> 00:32:41,962
"Real estate, politics,
my future, everything is here."
707
00:32:42,546 --> 00:32:45,465
He had never in his life imagined
708
00:32:45,465 --> 00:32:49,344
being able to be allowed entrée
into that world.
709
00:32:51,471 --> 00:32:54,391
GIANCARLO: I paid
for the ticket from Miami to Lynchburg,
710
00:32:54,391 --> 00:32:55,976
then they put me at a hotel.
711
00:32:55,976 --> 00:32:58,312
But after a day, they're like, "Hey,
you don't need to stay there actually.
712
00:32:58,312 --> 00:33:00,105
Just come stay with us at our house."
713
00:33:00,731 --> 00:33:03,025
It was the first time
that I met their kids.
714
00:33:03,025 --> 00:33:05,277
I don't think they suspected anything
at the moment.
715
00:33:05,277 --> 00:33:08,488
Jerry and Becki did tell the kids
they were helping me out,
716
00:33:08,488 --> 00:33:12,242
that they wanna give me
the opportunity to rise within business.
717
00:33:12,659 --> 00:33:16,371
Jerry was the leader
of this Christian university,
718
00:33:16,371 --> 00:33:18,707
so they're around young adults.
719
00:33:19,374 --> 00:33:20,501
It's actually pretty reasonable.
720
00:33:20,501 --> 00:33:23,128
No one really asked why I was around.
721
00:33:23,128 --> 00:33:24,963
I just kind of blended right in.
722
00:33:26,423 --> 00:33:27,716
I was kind of expecting
723
00:33:27,716 --> 00:33:31,220
this weird Bible college
in the middle of nowhere,
724
00:33:31,220 --> 00:33:34,389
but Liberty University is one
of the nicest campuses I've seen.
725
00:33:35,641 --> 00:33:36,975
Jerry was very proud,
726
00:33:36,975 --> 00:33:40,562
and he mentioned that the endowment
was about two billion dollars.
727
00:33:41,188 --> 00:33:45,234
Coming from Miami where you have
people from all parts of the world,
728
00:33:45,234 --> 00:33:46,485
it's a melting pot,
729
00:33:46,485 --> 00:33:50,739
but what I did notice at Liberty,
there weren't many Black students.
730
00:33:50,739 --> 00:33:53,325
It was mostly white evangelicals.
731
00:33:55,536 --> 00:33:58,830
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.: Today,
I want to say to the people of America
732
00:33:58,830 --> 00:34:00,457
and the nations of the world,
733
00:34:01,291 --> 00:34:03,418
we are not about to turn around.
734
00:34:04,586 --> 00:34:05,921
We are on the move now.
735
00:34:07,172 --> 00:34:10,926
Yes, we are on the move,
and no wave of racism can stop us.
736
00:34:10,926 --> 00:34:12,678
[crowd clamoring]
737
00:34:12,678 --> 00:34:17,432
- March 1965 is a big turning point
for many white evangelical pastors
738
00:34:17,432 --> 00:34:19,309
to understand that the world was changing.
739
00:34:19,309 --> 00:34:20,811
They would have to consider
740
00:34:20,811 --> 00:34:23,605
what side of that world
that they wanted to be on.
741
00:34:23,605 --> 00:34:27,025
Would they be on the side
of the Civil Rights Movement,
742
00:34:27,025 --> 00:34:29,778
or would they be on the side
of white supremacy?
743
00:34:29,778 --> 00:34:31,822
And Jerry Falwell Sr. made a choice.
744
00:34:32,489 --> 00:34:35,951
JERRY SR.:
I remember preaching a sermon
justifying the segregationist position.
745
00:34:36,535 --> 00:34:39,204
One can make the Bible say almost anything
he wants to make it say.
746
00:34:39,204 --> 00:34:41,582
- Our God is marching on.
747
00:34:41,582 --> 00:34:43,542
Glory hallelujah!
748
00:34:44,084 --> 00:34:45,836
Glory hallelujah!
749
00:34:46,420 --> 00:34:48,255
Glory hallelujah!
750
00:34:49,756 --> 00:34:54,219
- Jerry Falwell Sr. says that ministers
should not be involved in the political,
751
00:34:54,219 --> 00:34:58,140
they should only be involved
in preaching the Gospel of Jesus.
752
00:34:58,140 --> 00:35:00,434
But later on, his game had changed.
753
00:35:01,602 --> 00:35:04,104
REPORTER:
School districts began desegregating today
754
00:35:04,104 --> 00:35:05,564
under Supreme Court orders.
755
00:35:06,190 --> 00:35:08,442
- Jerry Falwell Sr. was not happy
756
00:35:08,442 --> 00:35:11,737
about the Brown v. Board of Education
decision.
757
00:35:11,737 --> 00:35:13,530
- But as the public schools reopen,
758
00:35:13,530 --> 00:35:17,910
a number of new private schools,
all white, sprang into existence.
759
00:35:17,910 --> 00:35:20,245
- He started his own
segregation academy there
760
00:35:20,245 --> 00:35:22,748
in conjunction with
the Thomas Road Baptist Church.
761
00:35:23,707 --> 00:35:26,460
- These segregation academies
were not called segregation academies.
762
00:35:26,877 --> 00:35:28,504
They had Christian names.
763
00:35:28,504 --> 00:35:30,422
But they were built to make sure
764
00:35:30,422 --> 00:35:35,344
that white children did not have to be
in contact with African American children.
765
00:35:35,344 --> 00:35:39,264
- The IRS wants to revoke
the tax exemptions for private schools
766
00:35:39,264 --> 00:35:42,601
which discriminate racially
in their admissions policies.
767
00:35:42,601 --> 00:35:45,145
MATTHEW SUTTON:
In the 1970s, the IRS determines
768
00:35:45,145 --> 00:35:48,315
that if you were
a charitable institution by definition,
769
00:35:48,315 --> 00:35:50,359
so it means you get tax exemption,
770
00:35:50,359 --> 00:35:52,027
you cannot practice segregation.
771
00:35:52,528 --> 00:35:56,073
And one of the things they'd then target
are these Christian-segregated academies.
772
00:35:57,074 --> 00:36:00,452
So this really wakes up Falwell
and a number of other ministers,
773
00:36:00,452 --> 00:36:03,455
and they realize that if they don't have
allies in the Federal Government,
774
00:36:03,455 --> 00:36:05,749
they're not gonna be able
to keep doing what they're trying to do.
775
00:36:06,667 --> 00:36:08,001
JERRY JR.:
I preached a few years ago
776
00:36:08,001 --> 00:36:10,546
that Christians
shouldn't be involved in politics,
777
00:36:10,546 --> 00:36:12,381
but I think we have every right to speak.
778
00:36:12,381 --> 00:36:13,715
We're citizens too.
779
00:36:13,715 --> 00:36:18,011
- He actually at least had the integrity
to acknowledge that he was a hypocrite.
780
00:36:18,011 --> 00:36:22,057
- Jerry Falwell Sr.'s idea
about ministers being involved in politics
781
00:36:22,057 --> 00:36:24,518
was to support the status quo
of white supremacy.
782
00:36:25,269 --> 00:36:28,188
- Falwell is really at the ground level
doing this through his school,
783
00:36:28,188 --> 00:36:30,232
through his academy
in Lynchburg, Virginia.
784
00:36:32,776 --> 00:36:34,778
♪
785
00:36:35,821 --> 00:36:37,823
- We're waiting in this back area.
786
00:36:37,823 --> 00:36:40,242
I'm with Becki and the kids.
787
00:36:41,243 --> 00:36:43,453
And then Trump and Jerry walk in.
788
00:36:43,453 --> 00:36:46,498
Immediately, Trump just
sucked up the energy of the room.
789
00:36:46,498 --> 00:36:49,793
Jerry says, "I wanna introduce you
to our business partner in-- in Florida.
790
00:36:49,793 --> 00:36:51,378
He-- He used to work
at the Fontainebleau."
791
00:36:54,548 --> 00:36:58,218
And then he signed my book, and he wrote,
you know, "Giancarlo, work hard!"
792
00:36:59,094 --> 00:37:00,429
And it was-- it was a cool moment.
793
00:37:00,929 --> 00:37:03,265
And it just reinforced all the things
that Becki was telling me,
794
00:37:03,765 --> 00:37:06,602
that I'm very lucky
to be mentored by Jerry.
795
00:37:06,602 --> 00:37:08,145
I mean, he's clearly well-connected.
796
00:37:08,145 --> 00:37:11,023
He's in a powerful position,
there's a lot of influence.
797
00:37:11,023 --> 00:37:13,609
If I learn from him,
look what I can potentially become.
798
00:37:13,609 --> 00:37:15,527
I felt special.
799
00:37:15,527 --> 00:37:19,656
Like I was part of this exclusive club,
part of their inner circle.
800
00:37:19,656 --> 00:37:21,074
It was intoxicating.
801
00:37:22,117 --> 00:37:23,368
Michael Cohen was present.
802
00:37:24,286 --> 00:37:25,746
I didn't know who he was,
803
00:37:25,746 --> 00:37:29,958
I just saw him as, uh, like,
"Oh, his attorney or business associate."
804
00:37:30,792 --> 00:37:33,378
Michael Cohen kinda leaned over,
he's like, "Who is that guy?"
805
00:37:34,046 --> 00:37:36,340
Like, he just didn't really get it.
806
00:37:36,340 --> 00:37:39,718
He's like, "What? I mean,
this guy's, you know, 21 years old."
807
00:37:39,718 --> 00:37:41,220
At that moment,
I'm like, "Does he know?"
808
00:37:41,887 --> 00:37:43,931
Like, it was just this moment
like, "Why-- Why did he ask him?
809
00:37:43,931 --> 00:37:45,641
Why did he react that way?"
810
00:37:45,641 --> 00:37:49,186
- He was paid,
you know, to dig up dirt on people
811
00:37:49,186 --> 00:37:52,064
and to be able
to control them with that dirt.
812
00:37:52,064 --> 00:37:56,068
- At that moment, he registered
that there may be something here.
813
00:37:58,320 --> 00:38:00,447
[indistinct chatter]
814
00:38:00,447 --> 00:38:03,033
Liberty University has this big arena.
815
00:38:03,033 --> 00:38:04,868
[crowd cheering]
816
00:38:04,868 --> 00:38:05,827
I walk in.
817
00:38:06,703 --> 00:38:08,205
I'm not sure
how many people are seated there,
818
00:38:08,205 --> 00:38:11,166
I don't know what the capacity is,
but thousands.
819
00:38:11,166 --> 00:38:12,209
Thousands of students.
820
00:38:12,960 --> 00:38:15,587
We're on the big screen
and people were clapping for us
821
00:38:15,587 --> 00:38:17,130
as we were walking to the front row.
822
00:38:17,130 --> 00:38:19,675
We are the sole focus of the show.
823
00:38:19,675 --> 00:38:20,717
I-- I just couldn't believe it.
824
00:38:21,802 --> 00:38:24,346
Trump was speaking
at this thing they called the Convocation.
825
00:38:24,847 --> 00:38:26,181
I didn't know what Convocation was.
826
00:38:26,849 --> 00:38:30,102
♪
827
00:38:30,102 --> 00:38:32,688
DUSTIN:
Convocation is sort of like a big chapel.
828
00:38:32,688 --> 00:38:34,231
It's three times a week.
829
00:38:34,231 --> 00:38:37,150
If you live on campus,
you are required to be there.
830
00:38:37,150 --> 00:38:39,361
- You have no right to be ordinary.
831
00:38:42,865 --> 00:38:45,033
DUSTIN:
The person that comes up to speak,
832
00:38:45,033 --> 00:38:49,246
they get the blessing of having
a stage that they can stand on
833
00:38:49,246 --> 00:38:51,540
that has spiritual legitimacy.
834
00:38:52,082 --> 00:38:55,210
So it's especially nefarious
when that stage is abused.
835
00:38:55,794 --> 00:38:57,129
And that stage is abused all the time.
836
00:38:57,129 --> 00:38:59,047
WOMAN:
Good morning, Liberty University.
837
00:38:59,047 --> 00:39:00,799
Are you excited to be here?
838
00:39:01,592 --> 00:39:04,428
- Mr. Trump
single-handedly forced President Obama
839
00:39:04,428 --> 00:39:06,305
to release his birth certificate.
840
00:39:06,305 --> 00:39:08,807
[crowd cheering]
841
00:39:10,475 --> 00:39:13,187
I would like to ask Donald Trump
to join me at the podium.
842
00:39:13,187 --> 00:39:14,897
[crowd cheering]
843
00:39:14,897 --> 00:39:16,648
GIANCARLO:
Donald Trump gave a speech.
844
00:39:16,648 --> 00:39:21,236
- You know, your founder,
Jerry Falwell, was a great man.
845
00:39:21,236 --> 00:39:25,490
So impressive, so smart,
so tough when you had to be tough.
846
00:39:26,450 --> 00:39:28,368
GIANCARLO:
When I'm sitting there in the front row,
847
00:39:28,368 --> 00:39:29,745
I started to think to myself,
848
00:39:30,370 --> 00:39:33,332
"Everything about Liberty University
and the Falwells is all about power,
849
00:39:33,332 --> 00:39:35,751
and making sure
that people are aware of this power."
850
00:39:36,168 --> 00:39:39,713
- Don't let people take advantage--
This goes for a country too, by the way.
851
00:39:40,380 --> 00:39:43,300
Don't let people take advantage.
852
00:39:43,300 --> 00:39:44,384
Get even.
853
00:39:44,384 --> 00:39:45,844
[crowd cheering]
854
00:39:45,844 --> 00:39:47,221
GIANCARLO:
And then I find out
855
00:39:47,221 --> 00:39:49,264
that the students
aren't even allowed to dance,
856
00:39:49,264 --> 00:39:51,808
or drink alcohol,
or hold hands or hug, or anything.
857
00:39:53,602 --> 00:39:57,439
- The Liberty Way is this set of rules
858
00:39:57,439 --> 00:39:58,899
that students have to live by.
859
00:40:00,067 --> 00:40:01,652
Dress modestly.
860
00:40:01,652 --> 00:40:03,028
You cannot attend a dance.
861
00:40:03,529 --> 00:40:04,905
You're not allowed to drink
862
00:40:04,905 --> 00:40:08,617
And it controlled
the sexual conduct of the students.
863
00:40:09,409 --> 00:40:11,912
And you agree that, you know,
"The school can fine me
864
00:40:11,912 --> 00:40:13,914
if I violate one of these rules."
865
00:40:14,957 --> 00:40:17,960
For a small violation like swearing,
866
00:40:17,960 --> 00:40:21,755
you're probably just gonna end up
getting a few points put on your record.
867
00:40:21,755 --> 00:40:24,550
For something more serious,
like possession of alcohol,
868
00:40:24,550 --> 00:40:27,052
right away, you could get a $300 fine,
869
00:40:27,886 --> 00:40:32,975
which is the same potential fine
for committing a felony, like rape.
870
00:40:33,475 --> 00:40:35,644
- They run a Christian university,
but this is what they're doing.
871
00:40:35,644 --> 00:40:37,855
They're staying at the Fontainebleau
and partying and drinking.
872
00:40:38,438 --> 00:40:40,816
MARK:
This is Jerry Falwell Jr.,
873
00:40:40,816 --> 00:40:42,484
this is Becki Falwell,
874
00:40:42,484 --> 00:40:47,114
and this is their ultimate hypocrisy.
875
00:40:47,114 --> 00:40:48,907
Becki and Jerry as a team,
876
00:40:48,907 --> 00:40:51,994
they didn't play
by anyone's rules but their own.
877
00:40:51,994 --> 00:40:53,370
GIANCARLO:
I started feeling guilty.
878
00:40:53,370 --> 00:40:56,957
The students, they have no idea
what's really going on behind the scenes.
879
00:40:56,957 --> 00:41:00,919
They all think that the Falwells
are this godly, perfect family.
880
00:41:01,753 --> 00:41:02,963
I just felt very awkward.
881
00:41:04,756 --> 00:41:08,427
- You know, it's not too late to get back
in the presidential race, is it?
882
00:41:08,427 --> 00:41:09,469
I don't know.
883
00:41:09,469 --> 00:41:10,804
[crowd cheering]
884
00:41:10,804 --> 00:41:13,473
- Jerry and his family
have absolute control,
885
00:41:13,473 --> 00:41:17,895
and no one is going to stand up to them
'cause they're gonna get crushed.
886
00:41:17,895 --> 00:41:19,897
- My brother was so into this world,
887
00:41:19,897 --> 00:41:23,567
he was, like, high
off the power and the money,
888
00:41:23,567 --> 00:41:26,987
and being around
all these powerful people.
889
00:41:26,987 --> 00:41:29,406
He owned this building on Miami Beach.
890
00:41:29,406 --> 00:41:31,074
He was, like, on top of the world.
891
00:41:31,909 --> 00:41:35,162
♪
892
00:41:35,621 --> 00:41:37,539
GIANCARLO:
When my ex-girlfriend and I broke up,
893
00:41:37,539 --> 00:41:39,625
Becki pretended like she was sad,
894
00:41:39,625 --> 00:41:41,293
but she was obviously very excited
895
00:41:41,793 --> 00:41:44,129
because it meant
that we were gonna go back
896
00:41:44,129 --> 00:41:46,465
to the original nature
of the relationship.
897
00:41:46,465 --> 00:41:49,301
You know, we just started up again
as we did on day one.
898
00:41:49,301 --> 00:41:53,388
A part of me
felt like I-- I owed them this.
899
00:41:53,388 --> 00:41:56,391
They had this weird
psychological hold over me
900
00:41:56,391 --> 00:42:00,729
with these constant guilt trips
and me being financially tied to them.
901
00:42:00,729 --> 00:42:03,398
I can't really explain it,
but I felt like I had to.
902
00:42:03,398 --> 00:42:05,442
♪
903
00:42:05,442 --> 00:42:07,486
I get invited to Trey's wedding.
904
00:42:09,279 --> 00:42:11,657
LILIA:
There's like the first level of weirdness
905
00:42:11,657 --> 00:42:12,658
about the whole thing,
906
00:42:12,658 --> 00:42:17,329
and then what really took
my weird feelings to the next level
907
00:42:17,329 --> 00:42:19,665
is when he started
being friendly with the kids.
908
00:42:21,542 --> 00:42:23,418
GIANCARLO: The Falwells stayed
at the Presidential Suite.
909
00:42:24,545 --> 00:42:26,630
- Why the fuck
are you going to that wedding?
910
00:42:26,630 --> 00:42:28,924
I mean, why are you invited to that?
911
00:42:31,176 --> 00:42:34,388
- And I would just sneak away,
go to the room, and we would have sex.
912
00:42:34,388 --> 00:42:37,015
MARK:
The idea of getting caught
913
00:42:37,015 --> 00:42:39,393
was part of their sexual kink.
914
00:42:39,393 --> 00:42:41,687
Why else would you be so reckless?
915
00:42:41,687 --> 00:42:44,648
MEGAN: There was a sense
that if they just went along
916
00:42:44,648 --> 00:42:45,941
and got the university rich,
917
00:42:45,941 --> 00:42:47,401
that people would leave them alone
918
00:42:47,401 --> 00:42:51,280
and that they could pursue
this very racy private life.
919
00:42:51,947 --> 00:42:54,116
GIANCARLO:
Becki would refer to Trey
920
00:42:54,116 --> 00:42:57,035
and their other son, Wesley,
and their daughter as my siblings.
921
00:42:57,786 --> 00:42:59,454
If you look at it,
it's a good cover story.
922
00:42:59,454 --> 00:43:00,747
They were always gonna be able to say,
923
00:43:00,747 --> 00:43:03,041
"Yeah, you know what?
We saw him as a son
924
00:43:03,041 --> 00:43:04,626
and we were just trying to help him out."
925
00:43:04,626 --> 00:43:07,337
Christians are known
to reach out to people that are vulnerable
926
00:43:07,337 --> 00:43:09,089
and going through a tough time,
and lifting them up.
927
00:43:09,923 --> 00:43:11,508
The kids saw it as something admirable.
928
00:43:12,217 --> 00:43:13,552
They had no idea
929
00:43:13,552 --> 00:43:17,556
that their dad liked to watch his wife
get fucked in a room by a younger guy.
930
00:43:18,682 --> 00:43:21,226
LILIA:
Involving your kids with this person
931
00:43:21,226 --> 00:43:23,228
that you had
this sexual relationship with,
932
00:43:23,228 --> 00:43:26,773
they're the adults in the room,
they run a university, they're parents.
933
00:43:26,773 --> 00:43:29,651
He was at the age of,
like, I think, one of their sons.
934
00:43:29,651 --> 00:43:31,570
The whole thing was just, like, icky.
935
00:43:32,404 --> 00:43:34,615
GIANCARLO: With family vacations,
whenever they went down to Miami,
936
00:43:34,615 --> 00:43:38,243
Becki would just sneak away
and, you know, have sex with me.
937
00:43:38,243 --> 00:43:41,371
There was a running joke
amongst the kids and everyone,
938
00:43:41,371 --> 00:43:42,748
they're always like, "Where's Becki?"
939
00:43:42,748 --> 00:43:44,291
She was always-- She was always missing.
940
00:43:44,291 --> 00:43:47,085
They actually made a shirt
that said, "Where's Becki?"
941
00:43:47,085 --> 00:43:49,338
It was a little inside joke
amongst everyone.
942
00:43:49,338 --> 00:43:50,547
She was hanging out with me.
943
00:43:51,298 --> 00:43:54,051
Jerry, his job was to distract the kids.
944
00:43:54,051 --> 00:43:55,177
"All right, let's go to the beach.
945
00:43:55,177 --> 00:43:57,763
Let's go to the pool.
Let's go get drinks. Let's go explore."
946
00:43:57,763 --> 00:43:59,890
And then Becki and I
would just hang out in the hotel.
947
00:43:59,890 --> 00:44:02,434
As long as we recorded it,
he was okay with it.
948
00:44:03,018 --> 00:44:04,811
A lot of pressure came from Jerry.
949
00:44:04,811 --> 00:44:10,275
Basically, her job was to seduce me
and successfully have sex with me.
950
00:44:10,275 --> 00:44:13,612
And if she wasn't able to do that,
Jerry would get upset.
951
00:44:15,030 --> 00:44:17,115
The lies just started building up.
952
00:44:17,533 --> 00:44:19,159
I had to lie to my girlfriends,
953
00:44:19,159 --> 00:44:20,953
I had to lie to my family.
954
00:44:20,953 --> 00:44:22,454
It was exhausting.
955
00:44:22,454 --> 00:44:25,666
If you look at the Falwells,
they were living their best life.
956
00:44:25,666 --> 00:44:28,168
They were professionals
at living a double life.
957
00:44:29,211 --> 00:44:31,755
Over the years,
it just-- it weighed on me.
958
00:44:31,755 --> 00:44:34,424
When you're forced
to hold this secret and lie to everyone,
959
00:44:34,424 --> 00:44:35,884
you start to become a liar.
960
00:44:35,884 --> 00:44:37,386
And I didn't like who I was becoming.
961
00:44:37,386 --> 00:44:40,013
At a certain point, you just--
you just don't wanna do it anymore.
962
00:44:44,768 --> 00:44:45,894
MARK:
And then all of a sudden,
963
00:44:45,894 --> 00:44:51,358
the Fernandez duo, father and son,
started making claims what they would do.
964
00:44:51,358 --> 00:44:53,318
And they started making threats,
965
00:44:53,318 --> 00:44:55,404
and they started being a pain in the ass.
966
00:44:55,904 --> 00:44:58,615
- I think that visions of grandeur
and money,
967
00:44:58,615 --> 00:45:00,158
that was in everybody's head.
968
00:45:00,158 --> 00:45:01,660
Everything kind of turned sour.
969
00:45:01,660 --> 00:45:03,704
Greed fucks everybody up.
970
00:45:06,331 --> 00:45:07,833
GIANCARLO:
I hadn't heard from the Fernandezes
971
00:45:07,833 --> 00:45:09,334
since the deal closed,
972
00:45:09,334 --> 00:45:12,880
then all of a sudden, in fall, 2014,
973
00:45:12,880 --> 00:45:15,299
I received a letter from an attorney
who was representing them.
974
00:45:16,675 --> 00:45:18,760
And it had to do with breach of contract.
975
00:45:19,928 --> 00:45:23,891
They were claiming that they were promised
50% of my equity stake,
976
00:45:23,891 --> 00:45:25,893
but they weren't promised an equity stake.
977
00:45:26,476 --> 00:45:28,520
- To the best of my understanding,
978
00:45:28,520 --> 00:45:31,982
the agreement
was a real estate commission.
979
00:45:31,982 --> 00:45:35,694
I've never heard of them speaking
about being 50-50 in the property.
980
00:45:35,694 --> 00:45:37,529
GIANCARLO:
I give him a call.
981
00:45:37,529 --> 00:45:40,574
- Hello, Mr. Giancarlo Granda.
982
00:45:40,574 --> 00:45:41,950
- Just being theatrical.
983
00:45:41,950 --> 00:45:44,328
- As a devout Christian, I'm heartbroken
984
00:45:44,328 --> 00:45:48,290
about the things that my client
is telling me about the Falwells.
985
00:45:48,290 --> 00:45:50,459
GIANCARLO:
He referenced compromising images,
986
00:45:51,043 --> 00:45:52,586
photos of me and Becki.
987
00:45:53,795 --> 00:45:56,965
Obviously, I'm like, "Oh, my God,
everyone's gonna find out.
988
00:45:56,965 --> 00:45:58,550
"My family's gonna find out.
989
00:45:58,550 --> 00:46:00,219
"This is all gonna crumble.
990
00:46:00,219 --> 00:46:01,720
"Oh, my God, what-- what do they have?
991
00:46:01,720 --> 00:46:04,723
"Did they have the videos of me and Becki?
992
00:46:04,723 --> 00:46:06,600
Do they have that?
I didn't-- I didn't really know."
993
00:46:06,600 --> 00:46:08,477
It does not feel good when you know
994
00:46:08,477 --> 00:46:11,897
that this secret part of your life
is about to be exposed.
995
00:46:12,564 --> 00:46:13,774
- He was definitely nervous.
996
00:46:13,774 --> 00:46:18,904
I think this also started
his becoming a little paranoid.
997
00:46:18,904 --> 00:46:21,073
Who do you trust? Who you can't trust?
998
00:46:21,740 --> 00:46:23,367
GIANCARLO:
I was so frustrated
999
00:46:23,367 --> 00:46:27,704
at the fact that I was being betrayed
by someone who I saw as a friend.
1000
00:46:27,704 --> 00:46:28,997
It's just disgusting
1001
00:46:29,498 --> 00:46:32,751
to threaten to reveal our private lives.
1002
00:46:33,252 --> 00:46:36,588
You know, later, I found out that
his dad owed a lot of money. [chuckles]
1003
00:46:36,588 --> 00:46:40,008
He owed like, I don't know, like,
34 million dollars or something like that.
1004
00:46:40,008 --> 00:46:44,847
So the $15,000 that they got
from commission wasn't gonna put a dent.
1005
00:46:44,847 --> 00:46:49,393
NICOLE: Jesus and his father
are always looking for the next hustle,
1006
00:46:49,393 --> 00:46:51,478
and that was Jerry Falwell Jr.
1007
00:46:52,479 --> 00:46:54,523
- I just told him, "You're gonna
be hearing from my attorney."
1008
00:46:54,523 --> 00:46:56,692
Called Jerry immediately after.
1009
00:46:56,692 --> 00:46:59,152
I said, "It seems like
we're being blackmailed here."
1010
00:46:59,820 --> 00:47:02,364
♪
1011
00:47:05,075 --> 00:47:06,326
There's a mediation.
1012
00:47:06,326 --> 00:47:07,870
Jerry flies down to Miami.
1013
00:47:09,246 --> 00:47:13,417
- The Falwell attorneys
actually made an offer to the Fernandezes.
1014
00:47:13,417 --> 00:47:15,752
But you see, greed doesn't play that game.
1015
00:47:16,378 --> 00:47:18,130
GIANCARLO:
The reason why it was a shakedown
1016
00:47:18,130 --> 00:47:19,798
and not just a normal legal dispute
1017
00:47:19,798 --> 00:47:22,676
is because they were claiming
for half of my equity stake
1018
00:47:22,676 --> 00:47:23,677
and anything that I made.
1019
00:47:24,303 --> 00:47:27,431
And we offered it to 'em,
and they declined.
1020
00:47:27,431 --> 00:47:30,058
- They figured
they could get a hell of a lot more.
1021
00:47:30,058 --> 00:47:33,270
- They didn't really want half
of the equity stake, they wanted millions.
1022
00:47:33,270 --> 00:47:36,106
He disguised this shakedown as a lawsuit.
1023
00:47:36,106 --> 00:47:38,192
It was just them saying,
1024
00:47:38,192 --> 00:47:40,819
"We know what happened
with this relationship.
1025
00:47:40,819 --> 00:47:43,488
"Not only do we know,
but we have compromising material.
1026
00:47:43,488 --> 00:47:44,656
We have photographs."
1027
00:47:55,792 --> 00:47:58,420
GIANCARLO: "If you don't pay us,
then it's gonna become public."
1028
00:47:59,421 --> 00:48:01,882
At this meeting, they showed the images,
1029
00:48:01,882 --> 00:48:04,343
and it was the images
that she shared with me.
1030
00:48:04,343 --> 00:48:06,678
LILIA:
Pictures? [chuckles] Okay.
1031
00:48:06,678 --> 00:48:10,641
Like, pictures of you guys doing stuff?
1032
00:48:11,058 --> 00:48:11,934
- Yeah.
1033
00:48:11,934 --> 00:48:13,310
- Well, you're fucked.
1034
00:48:14,811 --> 00:48:17,147
- I told Jerry, I'm like,
"Like, I didn't give it to them.
1035
00:48:17,147 --> 00:48:19,066
They just somehow obtained them."
1036
00:48:19,483 --> 00:48:22,611
And Jerry's like, "Look, I trust you.
Don't even worry about it.
1037
00:48:22,611 --> 00:48:24,071
I know we're all on the same team here."
1038
00:48:24,571 --> 00:48:26,406
I tell him, like,
"We need to call the FBI.
1039
00:48:26,406 --> 00:48:28,033
"We shouldn't pay them,
you know, a penny."
1040
00:48:28,367 --> 00:48:32,788
But it seemed like Jerry, he never
really wanted to testify under oath.
1041
00:48:32,788 --> 00:48:34,122
He has a lot to hide.
1042
00:48:35,040 --> 00:48:37,918
MARK:
He knew the volatility in those photos,
1043
00:48:37,918 --> 00:48:43,465
and he knew that they had something
that could literally destroy him.
1044
00:48:43,465 --> 00:48:45,884
- I told Jerry, I'm like,
"What did you tell your attorneys?"
1045
00:48:45,884 --> 00:48:48,762
And he's like, "Well, I told them
that you had a crush on Becki,
1046
00:48:48,762 --> 00:48:53,058
and you somehow got, you know, the images,
and then your friends got it somehow."
1047
00:48:53,642 --> 00:48:55,519
I'm like, "Uh, that's not what happened."
1048
00:48:55,936 --> 00:48:59,147
And at that point, I'm like,
"Is this-- Am I being represented here?
1049
00:48:59,147 --> 00:49:01,733
"Like, are they looking out
for my best interests
1050
00:49:01,733 --> 00:49:03,443
at this point for this lawsuit?"
1051
00:49:03,443 --> 00:49:05,988
I mean, I was concerned
because, obviously, Jerry has influence.
1052
00:49:05,988 --> 00:49:07,781
He has power. He has connections.
1053
00:49:08,448 --> 00:49:12,995
I just saw how easy it was for them
to just spin this to favor the Falwells.
1054
00:49:12,995 --> 00:49:15,831
At that point, I'm like, "I'm screwed."
1055
00:49:21,587 --> 00:49:25,382
- Once the threat
of the Fernandezes started getting real,
1056
00:49:25,382 --> 00:49:27,050
things might come out.
1057
00:49:27,050 --> 00:49:30,220
He, I think, thought,
"Well, let me tell my parents
1058
00:49:30,220 --> 00:49:32,014
before they find out any other way."
1059
00:49:32,014 --> 00:49:34,850
- "I don't want any secrets.
This is what happened. It was stupid.
1060
00:49:34,850 --> 00:49:37,227
"But we are business partners,
and that's it.
1061
00:49:37,227 --> 00:49:40,314
It was stupid,
I was young, but I'm moving on."
1062
00:49:41,857 --> 00:49:43,442
Obviously, my parents were upset.
1063
00:49:43,442 --> 00:49:45,152
My mom was blown away by that.
1064
00:49:45,152 --> 00:49:46,236
She was shocked.
1065
00:49:46,737 --> 00:49:49,781
You know, she really thought
that they were an amazing family
1066
00:49:49,781 --> 00:49:50,991
for helping me out.
1067
00:49:50,991 --> 00:49:52,201
It broke her heart.
1068
00:49:52,784 --> 00:49:56,455
♪
1069
00:49:57,331 --> 00:49:58,415
Becki called me.
1070
00:49:59,291 --> 00:50:01,418
I told her I was stressed out.
1071
00:50:01,418 --> 00:50:02,503
I want no part of this.
1072
00:50:02,503 --> 00:50:03,837
I'm-- I want out.
1073
00:50:03,837 --> 00:50:06,507
"Oh, the lawsuit?
Don't even worry about it.
1074
00:50:06,507 --> 00:50:07,883
"We called our friend, Michael Cohen,
1075
00:50:07,883 --> 00:50:10,052
"and he's gonna take care
of those guys that are suing us.
1076
00:50:10,969 --> 00:50:13,347
It's never even gonna go public.
We're in good hands."
1077
00:50:15,098 --> 00:50:17,309
Whenever you need something
to go away or get settled,
1078
00:50:17,309 --> 00:50:19,770
or any sort of legal dispute
to be, uh, resolved,
1079
00:50:19,770 --> 00:50:23,440
then, uh, people within Trump's orbit,
they would reach out to Michael Cohen.
1080
00:50:25,734 --> 00:50:27,611
After Michael Cohen intervened,
1081
00:50:27,611 --> 00:50:30,447
it seemed like
our problems just went away.
1082
00:50:30,447 --> 00:50:33,283
The Fernandezes
and the lawsuit just vanished, you know?
1083
00:50:33,283 --> 00:50:34,701
And it did for a while, at least.
1084
00:50:46,171 --> 00:50:49,466
- It's true that Michael Cohen
helped them out with the legal dispute.
1085
00:50:49,466 --> 00:50:53,303
But he didn't just help 'em out,
now he owns the compromising material.
1086
00:50:54,471 --> 00:50:56,390
MARK:
This story isn't quite over
1087
00:50:56,390 --> 00:51:00,310
in terms of Michael Cohen
and what his business was
1088
00:51:00,310 --> 00:51:03,730
and may still be with the Falwells.
1089
00:51:03,730 --> 00:51:05,983
Who owns who in this situation?
1090
00:51:07,276 --> 00:51:10,279
♪
1091
00:51:11,655 --> 00:51:13,657
GIANCARLO:
I'm at the hostel doing work.
1092
00:51:13,657 --> 00:51:16,118
I get a phone call from Jerry and Becki,
1093
00:51:16,118 --> 00:51:17,995
and they told me they were in Miami.
1094
00:51:17,995 --> 00:51:19,538
And they said,
"Hey, come over to the Loews,
1095
00:51:19,538 --> 00:51:21,164
we gotta talk about something serious."
1096
00:51:21,832 --> 00:51:23,876
And I'm like, "Oh, shit, what's going on?"
1097
00:51:25,335 --> 00:51:27,379
So the first thing that Jerry says--
1098
00:51:28,130 --> 00:51:31,717
He offered me
1.1 million dollars for my equity stake
1099
00:51:31,717 --> 00:51:32,968
in the property in South Beach.
1100
00:51:32,968 --> 00:51:36,722
And then he also said
he owns a hotel in-- in Lynchburg,
1101
00:51:36,722 --> 00:51:37,931
it's La Quinta.
1102
00:51:37,931 --> 00:51:42,895
And they-- they offered me an equity stake
just equivalent of $50,000 a year.
1103
00:51:43,312 --> 00:51:45,606
He said, "Do you want it?"
And I said, "Yeah."
1104
00:51:45,606 --> 00:51:47,441
I accepted immediately
right there on the spot.
1105
00:51:47,441 --> 00:51:51,069
But he's like, "We're gonna have
to wait till we settle this lawsuit
1106
00:51:51,069 --> 00:51:53,614
because there's this legal claim on us."
1107
00:51:53,614 --> 00:51:54,990
It's like kind of, like, having a lien.
1108
00:51:54,990 --> 00:51:57,409
I was essentially
handcuffed to this property.
1109
00:51:58,410 --> 00:52:02,581
- I think at this point, he was
very much over the bullshit of it all.
1110
00:52:02,581 --> 00:52:04,416
GIANCARLO: Over the years,
Jerry would always tell me,
1111
00:52:04,416 --> 00:52:06,793
"Wouldn't it be nice
if you just come work over at Liberty?"
1112
00:52:06,793 --> 00:52:08,754
He just really wanted me in that world.
1113
00:52:09,421 --> 00:52:13,842
I asked, "Why are you being so generous
with this proposition? What's going on?"
1114
00:52:14,176 --> 00:52:17,304
Then he told me, he's like,
"Michael Cohen approached me,
1115
00:52:17,304 --> 00:52:19,973
"and Donald Trump's
gonna run for president,
1116
00:52:19,973 --> 00:52:21,892
and they want my endorsement."
1117
00:52:23,727 --> 00:52:25,979
I didn't take it seriously.
I'm like, "You can't be serious, right?"
1118
00:52:25,979 --> 00:52:27,481
Like, it's probably for ratings.
1119
00:52:27,481 --> 00:52:29,191
There's no way he's actually running.
1120
00:52:29,191 --> 00:52:31,360
He's like,
"No, no. He really wants to run.
1121
00:52:31,360 --> 00:52:33,695
And, uh, we believe
that he can actually win."
1122
00:52:35,072 --> 00:52:37,699
If Jerry was gonna get
more involved with politicians,
1123
00:52:37,699 --> 00:52:39,159
just like how his dad did,
1124
00:52:39,159 --> 00:52:42,287
he had to ensure
that all loose ends were tied.
1125
00:52:45,123 --> 00:52:46,375
MATTHEW:
In the 1970s,
1126
00:52:46,375 --> 00:52:49,920
when the evangelicals and Jerry Falwell
became engaged in politics,
1127
00:52:49,920 --> 00:52:52,214
they realized that
the civil rights issue was wrong,
1128
00:52:52,214 --> 00:52:53,966
like, they-- they were
on the wrong side of that one.
1129
00:52:53,966 --> 00:52:55,884
And so they begin
to shift towards other issues.
1130
00:52:55,884 --> 00:52:58,971
- There was a kind of a period
of almost market testing
1131
00:52:58,971 --> 00:53:03,100
to see which issues would grab
these evangelical voters.
1132
00:53:03,684 --> 00:53:05,352
MATTHEW:
They go after the feminist movement.
1133
00:53:05,352 --> 00:53:08,105
JERRY SR.: God didn't make women
for NFL football or combat,
1134
00:53:08,105 --> 00:53:09,273
or a lot of other things.
1135
00:53:09,273 --> 00:53:14,319
I don't believe we should demean womanhood
by saying that men and women are the same.
1136
00:53:14,319 --> 00:53:16,321
- They also began to go after pornography.
1137
00:53:16,655 --> 00:53:19,616
JERRY SR.: Until once again
the pornographers are looked on
1138
00:53:19,616 --> 00:53:23,203
as the sleazy merchants of garbage
as they once were,
1139
00:53:23,203 --> 00:53:25,372
and in fact, still are, we haven't won.
1140
00:53:25,372 --> 00:53:27,040
- They go after the gay rights movement.
1141
00:53:27,040 --> 00:53:30,502
- The scriptures are very clear
that homosexuality is moral perversion.
1142
00:53:30,502 --> 00:53:33,630
And that's in violation of everything
that the Word of God teaches.
1143
00:53:33,630 --> 00:53:36,133
- In a nation
that's becoming ever more diverse,
1144
00:53:36,133 --> 00:53:39,178
Falwell is trying to roll back
any progressive change
1145
00:53:39,178 --> 00:53:40,220
that's gonna happen.
1146
00:53:40,220 --> 00:53:44,725
- In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court
today legalized abortions.
1147
00:53:44,725 --> 00:53:47,436
The majority, in cases
from Texas and Georgia said
1148
00:53:47,436 --> 00:53:51,148
that the decision to end a pregnancy
during the first three months
1149
00:53:51,148 --> 00:53:54,776
belongs to the woman and her doctor,
not the government.
1150
00:53:54,776 --> 00:53:59,865
- Abortion was considered a Catholic issue
by evangelicals in the 1970s.
1151
00:53:59,865 --> 00:54:03,410
- Evangelicals really felt
like abortion was a personal decision
1152
00:54:03,410 --> 00:54:05,495
that could be made
with a minister and a doctor.
1153
00:54:05,495 --> 00:54:08,123
What they don't want
is the state telling people what to do.
1154
00:54:08,540 --> 00:54:11,502
RANDALL:
It wasn't until the '78 midterm elections,
1155
00:54:11,502 --> 00:54:14,796
abortion finally begins
to appear on the radar screen
1156
00:54:14,796 --> 00:54:16,757
of American evangelicals.
1157
00:54:16,757 --> 00:54:20,844
- Abortion could be
the most volatile, single, political issue
in the country today,
1158
00:54:20,844 --> 00:54:24,264
and the right-to-lifers,
the most powerful, single issue block.
1159
00:54:24,264 --> 00:54:28,685
RANDALL:
Several conservative activists,
pro-lifers, Roman Catholics,
1160
00:54:29,520 --> 00:54:31,271
target four senate races.
1161
00:54:31,271 --> 00:54:34,316
REPORTER: Right-to-lifers passed out
300,000 leaflets
1162
00:54:34,316 --> 00:54:35,943
the weekend before the election.
1163
00:54:35,943 --> 00:54:37,110
RANDALL:
Two days later,
1164
00:54:37,110 --> 00:54:41,323
all four Democratic nominees
who were highly favored
1165
00:54:41,323 --> 00:54:44,952
lost to anti-abortion Republicans.
1166
00:54:45,744 --> 00:54:48,580
At that point, Falwell realized
1167
00:54:48,580 --> 00:54:51,083
they had an issue
that would work for them politically.
1168
00:54:53,585 --> 00:54:57,339
- Jerry Falwell Sr. does not preach
his first sermon against abortion
1169
00:54:57,339 --> 00:55:00,092
until five years after Roe v. Wade.
1170
00:55:00,092 --> 00:55:01,927
JERRY SR.:
Abortion is a moral issue.
1171
00:55:01,927 --> 00:55:03,470
It is a human rights issue.
1172
00:55:03,470 --> 00:55:07,099
An issue that concerns the human rights
of unborn babies,
1173
00:55:07,099 --> 00:55:12,354
who, by the hundreds of thousands,
are being murdered.
1174
00:55:12,354 --> 00:55:15,107
ANTHEA: Abortion becomes
the number-one wedge issue
1175
00:55:15,107 --> 00:55:18,569
that they can all agree on,
and all get in line behind.
1176
00:55:18,569 --> 00:55:21,029
Jerry Falwell Sr. saw that as a way
1177
00:55:21,029 --> 00:55:24,658
to put himself in the forefront
of the culture wars of the day.
1178
00:55:24,658 --> 00:55:27,953
It's much easier
to say you don't want abortion
1179
00:55:27,953 --> 00:55:30,831
than to say you don't want
a little Black child on the school bus
1180
00:55:30,831 --> 00:55:31,915
with your little white girl.
1181
00:55:33,000 --> 00:55:36,753
And this becomes
a very lucrative business proposition.
1182
00:55:36,753 --> 00:55:39,298
- I want every one of you
to leave here this morning
1183
00:55:39,298 --> 00:55:41,925
without a penny, a nickel,
a dime, or a quarter.
1184
00:55:41,925 --> 00:55:43,177
No change left.
1185
00:55:43,177 --> 00:55:45,512
This is the cash receipts department.
1186
00:55:46,013 --> 00:55:50,058
I'm guessing, today,
they will probably do $200,000 here.
1187
00:55:50,058 --> 00:55:52,352
- $200,000 a day?
1188
00:55:52,769 --> 00:55:54,104
REPORTER:
At its peak,
1189
00:55:54,104 --> 00:55:58,483
Falwell's ministry brought in
nearly 100 million dollars a year.
1190
00:55:58,483 --> 00:56:03,155
- This is the country God has raised up
for the purpose of world evangelization.
1191
00:56:03,155 --> 00:56:04,239
ANNOUNCER:
Jerry Falwell,
1192
00:56:04,239 --> 00:56:07,326
a Lynchburg, Virginia, preacher
who runs Moral Majority,
1193
00:56:07,326 --> 00:56:09,953
a new political machine
that's anti-abortion,
1194
00:56:09,953 --> 00:56:12,372
anti-ERA, anti-gay rights,
1195
00:56:12,372 --> 00:56:14,875
and for, what he calls, a "Moral America."
1196
00:56:14,875 --> 00:56:18,295
- All the moral issues that count today
are in the political arena.
1197
00:56:18,295 --> 00:56:21,256
There's no way to fight these battles
except in that arena.
1198
00:56:21,256 --> 00:56:24,301
REPORTER:
Moral Majority claims
47 state organizations
1199
00:56:24,301 --> 00:56:27,262
and a network of 72,000 preachers,
1200
00:56:27,262 --> 00:56:30,933
combining to form, what some call,
a Christian political machine.
1201
00:56:30,933 --> 00:56:33,143
MATTHEW:
They want to use political power
1202
00:56:33,143 --> 00:56:35,562
to help elect a president
who can appoint judges
1203
00:56:35,562 --> 00:56:38,315
to reverse
the Court's decision on abortion.
1204
00:56:38,315 --> 00:56:41,109
- We're gonna make it impossible
for a fellow to run for dog catcher
1205
00:56:41,109 --> 00:56:42,277
if he's pro-abortion.
1206
00:56:42,277 --> 00:56:44,947
MATTHEW: Liberty University
is going to be the essential stop
1207
00:56:44,947 --> 00:56:46,532
for political candidates,
1208
00:56:46,532 --> 00:56:47,950
especially Republican Candidates,
1209
00:56:47,950 --> 00:56:50,327
especially Conservative
Republican Candidates,
1210
00:56:50,327 --> 00:56:51,495
for getting out your message
1211
00:56:51,495 --> 00:56:54,248
and for substantiating
what you wanted to do with the country.
1212
00:56:56,416 --> 00:56:59,294
ANNOUNCER:
This is an NBC News Special Report.
1213
00:57:00,087 --> 00:57:03,257
- Donald Trump is lining up,
what could be, key endorsements.
1214
00:57:05,884 --> 00:57:08,262
REPORTER: For Trump,
a major evangelical endorsement,
1215
00:57:08,262 --> 00:57:09,972
Jerry Falwell Jr.
1216
00:57:09,972 --> 00:57:13,267
Falwell could give Trump
the credibility he needs.
1217
00:57:13,267 --> 00:57:15,727
- Can we just put our hands together
for our great president?
1218
00:57:15,727 --> 00:57:17,187
President Falwell, everybody. Come on.
1219
00:57:17,187 --> 00:57:19,231
[crowd cheering]
1220
00:57:24,528 --> 00:57:29,157
- Matthew 7:16 tells us
that by their fruits, you shall know them.
1221
00:57:29,157 --> 00:57:32,953
In my opinion, Donald Trump
lives a life of loving and helping others
1222
00:57:32,953 --> 00:57:35,163
as Jesus taught in the great commandment.
1223
00:57:35,163 --> 00:57:39,084
Please welcome back
to Liberty University, Mr. Donald Trump.
1224
00:57:39,084 --> 00:57:40,210
[crowd applauding]
1225
00:57:40,210 --> 00:57:41,211
- Wow.
1226
00:57:43,046 --> 00:57:44,339
It's an honor to be here.
1227
00:57:44,840 --> 00:57:46,049
I wrote The Art of the Deal,
1228
00:57:46,049 --> 00:57:47,134
I wrote many bestsellers.
1229
00:57:47,134 --> 00:57:51,597
I always say,
a deep, deep second to the Bible.
1230
00:57:51,597 --> 00:57:53,265
The Bible is the best. The Bible.
1231
00:57:54,558 --> 00:57:57,352
GIANCARLO:
Jerry was entrenched
in, now, the political world
1232
00:57:57,352 --> 00:57:59,146
in campaigning for Donald Trump.
1233
00:57:59,146 --> 00:58:02,316
- Evangelicals are tired
of being betrayed.
1234
00:58:02,316 --> 00:58:05,944
And I think the song from 1971 by The Who,
1235
00:58:05,944 --> 00:58:10,324
Won't Get Fooled Again,
is very pertinent in this situation.
1236
00:58:10,324 --> 00:58:12,993
And I think
that's how a lot of evangelicals feel.
1237
00:58:13,744 --> 00:58:15,537
We don't wanna get fooled again.
1238
00:58:16,038 --> 00:58:19,249
DONALD:
Jerry Falwell Jr. was so helpful.
He was so helpful.
1239
00:58:19,249 --> 00:58:22,002
You know,
I'm leading with the evangelicals.
1240
00:58:22,002 --> 00:58:23,086
I'm a good Christian.
1241
00:58:23,086 --> 00:58:25,047
- The majority of evangelicals believe
1242
00:58:25,047 --> 00:58:27,758
that Donald Trump is best equipped
to save the country.
1243
00:58:27,758 --> 00:58:31,303
DUSTIN: He was one
of the very first Christian leaders
1244
00:58:31,303 --> 00:58:33,639
who made it possible
for other Christian leaders
1245
00:58:33,639 --> 00:58:34,556
to get on board
1246
00:58:34,556 --> 00:58:36,683
and get their congregations on board
with the Trump campaign.
1247
00:58:37,100 --> 00:58:38,977
- The evangelicals, they're with me
1248
00:58:38,977 --> 00:58:41,063
'cause they know one thing about me,
I'm not a liar.
1249
00:58:41,063 --> 00:58:43,023
- Well, you just heard it
from Donald Trump.
1250
00:58:43,023 --> 00:58:44,650
Christians love him.
1251
00:58:44,650 --> 00:58:46,485
GIANCARLO: If Trump didn't get
into real estate development,
1252
00:58:46,485 --> 00:58:48,695
he could've been an evangelical preacher.
1253
00:58:49,112 --> 00:58:51,031
- There's 15 devils.
1254
00:58:51,031 --> 00:58:52,491
GIANCARLO:
And he's a character.
1255
00:58:52,491 --> 00:58:54,993
All these pastors, they're all characters,
1256
00:58:54,993 --> 00:58:56,245
they're putting on a show.
1257
00:58:56,245 --> 00:58:57,788
- Everybody wants to talk about my hair.
1258
00:58:57,788 --> 00:59:00,374
- Maybe they don't like my hair,
which is real, by the way.
1259
00:59:00,374 --> 00:59:01,208
Look at that sucker.
1260
00:59:01,208 --> 00:59:02,042
[audience laughing]
1261
00:59:02,376 --> 00:59:04,086
RANDALL:
You can make a case that Donald Trump
1262
00:59:04,086 --> 00:59:07,339
is very much in the tradition
of the televangelist.
1263
00:59:07,339 --> 00:59:09,716
He was an evangelist for capitalism.
1264
00:59:10,217 --> 00:59:12,886
- Many of you would need
to anoint your billfold with this oil
1265
00:59:12,886 --> 00:59:14,096
for a financial blessing.
1266
00:59:14,930 --> 00:59:17,224
DONALD:
Trump Steaks are by far the best tasting,
1267
00:59:17,224 --> 00:59:19,226
most flavorful beef you've ever had.
1268
00:59:19,560 --> 00:59:23,814
RANDALL: And so, Donald Trump emerged
as the champion for the religious right,
1269
00:59:23,814 --> 00:59:25,232
much like Reagan did in 1980.
1270
00:59:26,358 --> 00:59:29,069
RONALD REAGAN:
I was asked once what book I would choose
1271
00:59:29,069 --> 00:59:30,988
if I were shipwrecked on an island.
1272
00:59:31,488 --> 00:59:32,322
The Bible.
1273
00:59:33,073 --> 00:59:35,409
RANDALL:
What this is, is politics.
1274
00:59:35,409 --> 00:59:36,785
Politics in the pulpit.
1275
00:59:36,785 --> 00:59:38,370
REPORTER:
Few concern themselves
1276
00:59:38,370 --> 00:59:41,456
with the delicate balance
between church and state.
1277
00:59:41,456 --> 00:59:43,500
JERRY SR.:
Mr. Reagan's enemies are my enemies,
1278
00:59:44,251 --> 00:59:45,294
and they're yours too.
1279
00:59:45,294 --> 00:59:48,839
- Donald Trump is the only candidate
who cannot be bought.
1280
00:59:49,631 --> 00:59:54,386
- I am the law and order candidate.
1281
00:59:54,386 --> 00:59:56,263
- You wanted law and order in this town,
1282
00:59:56,263 --> 00:59:57,389
you've got it.
1283
01:00:04,229 --> 01:00:06,940
- All of us are sinners.
All of us are redeemable.
1284
01:00:06,940 --> 01:00:08,317
- Falwell stood by his side
1285
01:00:08,317 --> 01:00:11,111
and continued to argue
that Christians should support him.
1286
01:00:11,111 --> 01:00:12,529
JERRY JR.:
Five years from now,
1287
01:00:12,529 --> 01:00:14,781
when the Supreme Court is stacked
1288
01:00:14,781 --> 01:00:17,492
with people who will rip
our Constitution to shreds,
1289
01:00:17,492 --> 01:00:19,203
get rid of the Second Amendment,
1290
01:00:19,203 --> 01:00:21,580
nobody's gonna be thinking
about what Donald Trump said
1291
01:00:21,580 --> 01:00:23,790
on a videotape in 2005.
1292
01:00:23,790 --> 01:00:26,793
ANTHEA: Evangelicals didn't care
about Donald Trump not being Christian.
1293
01:00:26,793 --> 01:00:30,130
They were willing to take a man
who had been married three times
1294
01:00:30,130 --> 01:00:32,758
and had five children
from three different mothers,
1295
01:00:33,258 --> 01:00:36,553
just like they didn't care
that Ronald Reagan wasn't evangelical.
1296
01:00:37,304 --> 01:00:38,972
RANDALL:
Here you have Jimmy Carter,
1297
01:00:38,972 --> 01:00:43,519
a born again,
Southern Baptist, progressive evangelical.
1298
01:00:43,519 --> 01:00:46,980
And evangelicals,
they turned dramatically against him
1299
01:00:46,980 --> 01:00:49,107
and then settled, improbably,
1300
01:00:49,107 --> 01:00:54,404
on a divorced and remarried,
former Hollywood actor,
1301
01:00:54,404 --> 01:00:57,908
who, as Governor of California in 1967,
1302
01:00:57,908 --> 01:01:01,203
signed into law the most liberal
abortion bill in the country.
1303
01:01:01,203 --> 01:01:04,456
- When you interrupt a pregnancy,
you are taking a human life.
1304
01:01:04,957 --> 01:01:06,250
- As you know, I'm pro-life.
1305
01:01:06,750 --> 01:01:08,210
INTERVIEWER:
Should the woman be punished
1306
01:01:08,210 --> 01:01:09,211
for having an abortion?
1307
01:01:09,211 --> 01:01:11,004
- There has to be some form of punishment.
1308
01:01:11,004 --> 01:01:12,130
INTERVIEWER: For the woman?
- Yeah.
1309
01:01:12,130 --> 01:01:14,341
- Moral Majority founder,
the Reverend Jerry Falwell
1310
01:01:14,341 --> 01:01:15,217
is quoted as saying,
1311
01:01:15,217 --> 01:01:18,512
he expects a reshaped Supreme Court
by President Reagan
1312
01:01:18,512 --> 01:01:20,305
would outlaw most abortions.
1313
01:01:20,305 --> 01:01:23,141
- Do you wanna see the Court
overturn Roe v. Wade?
1314
01:01:23,141 --> 01:01:26,520
- Well, if we put
another two or perhaps three justices on,
1315
01:01:26,520 --> 01:01:29,147
that's really what's going to be--
That will happen.
1316
01:01:29,147 --> 01:01:32,442
- Evangelicals,
all they wanted to do was win,
1317
01:01:32,442 --> 01:01:35,696
and they were willing to win
with anyone that they possibly could.
1318
01:01:35,696 --> 01:01:39,324
BOTH:
We will make America great again.
1319
01:01:39,324 --> 01:01:42,953
- In 1984, my father stood
at this convention
1320
01:01:43,537 --> 01:01:45,205
and offered the opening prayer
1321
01:01:45,205 --> 01:01:48,166
before our party's candidate,
Ronald Reagan.
1322
01:01:48,166 --> 01:01:49,710
- We pray for our beloved president.
1323
01:01:50,460 --> 01:01:52,546
Upon a man that many of us believe,
1324
01:01:52,546 --> 01:01:55,799
indeed, to be our greatest president
since Lincoln.
1325
01:01:55,799 --> 01:01:57,342
[crowd cheering]
1326
01:01:57,342 --> 01:02:00,345
- Ronald Reagan went on
to accept the nomination
1327
01:02:00,345 --> 01:02:01,805
and win in a landslide.
1328
01:02:02,139 --> 01:02:04,266
A little over 30 years later,
1329
01:02:04,266 --> 01:02:07,352
I stand here with the sincerest prayer
1330
01:02:07,352 --> 01:02:12,149
that history is about to repeat itself
with the election of Donald J. Trump.
1331
01:02:12,149 --> 01:02:13,358
[crowd cheering]
1332
01:02:17,863 --> 01:02:20,949
GIANCARLO: Just about four days
before the Republican National Convention,
1333
01:02:20,949 --> 01:02:22,868
I received a text message from Jerry.
1334
01:02:23,911 --> 01:02:26,371
He said that
"You have equity in the company,
1335
01:02:26,371 --> 01:02:29,249
you've worked really hard
in maximizing the value of this company."
1336
01:02:29,249 --> 01:02:30,292
No matter what happens,
1337
01:02:30,292 --> 01:02:33,128
whether he buys it out
or we sell the property,
1338
01:02:33,128 --> 01:02:36,507
that he would ensure
that I get no less than $600,000.
1339
01:02:37,007 --> 01:02:38,759
I was making it clear
that this legal dispute
1340
01:02:38,759 --> 01:02:41,637
was, you know,
taking a toll on my mental health.
1341
01:02:41,637 --> 01:02:43,514
I just wasn't feeling well. I wanted out.
1342
01:02:44,014 --> 01:02:45,891
He probably wanted
a clean cut from everything too.
1343
01:02:46,517 --> 01:02:50,896
LILIA: This was just another form
of trapping my brother in,
1344
01:02:50,896 --> 01:02:53,106
giving him a reason
to, you know, stay close.
1345
01:02:53,106 --> 01:02:55,817
Now there was this whole new dynamic.
1346
01:02:55,817 --> 01:03:00,656
Jerry Falwell was getting himself involved
with the future president of this country,
1347
01:03:00,656 --> 01:03:03,825
so he needed to make sure
that his circle was tight,
1348
01:03:03,825 --> 01:03:08,372
and that no one was gonna be out there
saying anything crazy about them.
1349
01:03:09,456 --> 01:03:13,168
ANNOUNCER:
Fox News decision desk has called
1350
01:03:13,752 --> 01:03:15,838
Pennsylvania for Donald Trump.
1351
01:03:16,255 --> 01:03:19,466
This means that Donald Trump will be
1352
01:03:19,466 --> 01:03:23,136
the 45th president of the United States.
1353
01:03:23,136 --> 01:03:24,721
ANTHEA:
Evangelicals have played a role
1354
01:03:24,721 --> 01:03:28,308
in electing every Republican president
since Ronald Reagan.
1355
01:03:28,308 --> 01:03:30,227
NARRATOR:
The numbers were overwhelming.
1356
01:03:30,227 --> 01:03:34,064
81% of self-identified white,
born again, or evangelical Christians
1357
01:03:34,064 --> 01:03:35,357
ultimately voted for Trump.
1358
01:03:35,357 --> 01:03:37,484
It was an evangelical turnout for Trump
1359
01:03:37,484 --> 01:03:40,153
that exceeded George W. Bush in 2004,
1360
01:03:40,153 --> 01:03:42,030
John McCain in 2008,
1361
01:03:42,030 --> 01:03:43,490
and Mitt Romney in 2012.
1362
01:03:45,409 --> 01:03:47,578
MARK:
Much like his father before him,
1363
01:03:47,578 --> 01:03:50,706
Jerry Falwell Jr. is now a kingmaker.
1364
01:03:51,915 --> 01:03:54,334
DUSTIN:
After Trump was inaugurated as president,
1365
01:03:54,334 --> 01:03:56,044
Falwell felt invincible.
1366
01:03:56,670 --> 01:04:00,215
And he was increasingly weaponizing
Liberty University,
1367
01:04:00,215 --> 01:04:03,510
and making it into an arm
of the Trump Administration.
1368
01:04:04,011 --> 01:04:07,347
- I call Liberty the Fox News Network
of the academic world.
1369
01:04:07,931 --> 01:04:10,809
- Why is it that the left mocks God?
1370
01:04:10,809 --> 01:04:15,564
- Welcome to the United States of America,
1371
01:04:15,564 --> 01:04:19,860
where illegal aliens have more rights
1372
01:04:19,860 --> 01:04:22,613
than American citizens.
1373
01:04:22,613 --> 01:04:25,741
DONALD TRUMP JR.:
Enough. Enough of the PC garbage.
1374
01:04:25,741 --> 01:04:28,410
Enough of the never-ending movement
of the woke.
1375
01:04:28,410 --> 01:04:33,415
- Gun owners know that the only
truly free people that have ever lived
1376
01:04:33,415 --> 01:04:34,917
have been armed people.
1377
01:04:35,375 --> 01:04:39,588
- President Jerry Falwell,
I'm inspired by the work you're doing.
1378
01:04:40,839 --> 01:04:43,717
GIANCARLO: You're forcing them
to attend every single speech,
1379
01:04:43,717 --> 01:04:45,344
and you're repeating the same rhetoric.
1380
01:04:45,344 --> 01:04:47,638
To me, that's--
that's kind of like indoctrination.
1381
01:04:47,638 --> 01:04:48,639
- Praise Jesus.
- Yes.
1382
01:04:49,348 --> 01:04:51,475
- Jerry and I have gotten
to be friends over the last year,
1383
01:04:51,475 --> 01:04:53,685
and I can tell you,
my respect for him is boundless.
1384
01:04:53,685 --> 01:04:58,232
- It's so refreshing
to come to a university
1385
01:04:58,232 --> 01:05:00,400
where people care about their country,
1386
01:05:00,400 --> 01:05:02,444
and-- and it's okay
to say, "Merry Christmas."
1387
01:05:02,861 --> 01:05:04,530
JERRY JR.:
John Kelly, Rex Tillerson,
1388
01:05:04,530 --> 01:05:07,908
lots of deep state people,
really run the government.
1389
01:05:07,908 --> 01:05:11,662
- That issue of the Confederate flag
was not about hate.
1390
01:05:11,662 --> 01:05:15,082
- As Christians,
we should be unbelievably concerned
1391
01:05:15,082 --> 01:05:18,836
that the left, first and foremost,
they wanna turn government into God.
1392
01:05:19,253 --> 01:05:22,673
DUSTIN: Jerry and Charlie Kirk
founded the Falkirk Center.
1393
01:05:22,673 --> 01:05:25,509
It operates as Liberty's think tank.
1394
01:05:25,509 --> 01:05:27,845
But they don't do actual research.
1395
01:05:27,845 --> 01:05:31,515
There's no academic product
that comes from the Falkirk Center.
1396
01:05:31,515 --> 01:05:34,643
It's just like a big Trump troll farm.
1397
01:05:34,643 --> 01:05:38,605
CHARLIE KIRK: The launch of this center
is answering the important questions:
1398
01:05:38,605 --> 01:05:40,524
Was Jesus Christ a socialist?
1399
01:05:40,524 --> 01:05:43,277
MARK:
Jerry had the board under his thumb.
1400
01:05:43,277 --> 01:05:45,571
And as soon as someone
from the board spoke up,
1401
01:05:46,154 --> 01:05:47,155
boom.
1402
01:05:47,656 --> 01:05:48,574
REPORTER: New this morning,
1403
01:05:48,574 --> 01:05:51,368
a Liberty University board member
has resigned
1404
01:05:51,368 --> 01:05:54,288
after publicly criticizing
the school's president.
1405
01:05:54,288 --> 01:05:58,584
DUSTIN:
Mark DeMoss was Jerry Falwell Sr.'s
personal chief of staff.
1406
01:05:58,584 --> 01:06:01,378
DeMoss speaks
to the Washington Post and says,
1407
01:06:01,378 --> 01:06:05,340
"Donald Trump's behavior
does not reflect the Christian values
1408
01:06:05,340 --> 01:06:07,968
that have been taught
at Liberty for generations."
1409
01:06:07,968 --> 01:06:12,055
That was the last time a board member
stood up to challenge Falwell.
1410
01:06:12,639 --> 01:06:14,933
GIANCARLO: At this point,
I noticed that Jerry's behavior
1411
01:06:14,933 --> 01:06:17,853
was becoming more
just egotistical and arrogant.
1412
01:06:17,853 --> 01:06:19,563
- Can you imagine
if the governor was trying
1413
01:06:19,563 --> 01:06:21,690
to take away our First Amendment rights?
1414
01:06:21,690 --> 01:06:24,860
Second Amendment's
just as-- just as sacred.
1415
01:06:24,860 --> 01:06:26,945
- The culture at Liberty was affected
1416
01:06:26,945 --> 01:06:29,531
by this permissiveness
that Falwell Jr. felt.
1417
01:06:29,531 --> 01:06:31,992
- I think they're gonna be faced
with civil disobedience,
1418
01:06:31,992 --> 01:06:35,329
not just by citizens
but by police officers.
1419
01:06:35,746 --> 01:06:39,499
GIANCARLO: Jerry was offered
the position of secretary of education.
1420
01:06:39,499 --> 01:06:41,293
They said, "Are you gonna take it?"
1421
01:06:41,877 --> 01:06:43,045
And he said,
1422
01:06:43,045 --> 01:06:46,590
"My dad told me that it's better
to be a kingmaker than a king."
1423
01:06:46,590 --> 01:06:49,384
I think he was just, like, drunk on power.
1424
01:06:49,384 --> 01:06:50,511
LILIA:
And literally drunk,
1425
01:06:50,511 --> 01:06:53,055
with his bottle of tequila
in his hand at all times.
1426
01:06:53,055 --> 01:06:56,266
- Mr. Trump learned about Clyde Fra--
Ooh, sorry.
1427
01:06:56,266 --> 01:06:58,101
[crowd laughing]
1428
01:06:58,101 --> 01:07:00,604
- He would walk around campus
with a water bottle
1429
01:07:00,604 --> 01:07:02,773
with half-water, half-tequila.
1430
01:07:02,773 --> 01:07:04,942
- A lot of people at Liberty had told me
1431
01:07:04,942 --> 01:07:08,195
that Jerry was drinking during the day
at the university,
1432
01:07:08,195 --> 01:07:11,490
that he was going into meetings
smelling of alcohol.
1433
01:07:11,490 --> 01:07:13,033
DUSTIN:
He literally said--
1434
01:07:13,033 --> 01:07:16,119
- I couldn't say half the things I say
at any other university either.
1435
01:07:16,119 --> 01:07:17,371
[crowd laughing]
1436
01:07:17,371 --> 01:07:18,956
DUSTIN:
Which was exactly right.
1437
01:07:18,956 --> 01:07:21,416
He couldn't, uh, because
someone would hold him accountable.
1438
01:07:21,416 --> 01:07:23,126
But nobody at Liberty ever did.
1439
01:07:23,126 --> 01:07:24,503
- Look at this.
1440
01:07:24,503 --> 01:07:26,505
[crowd chanting "Jerry"]
1441
01:07:26,505 --> 01:07:28,340
- Jerry texted me a picture
1442
01:07:28,340 --> 01:07:31,468
of a former student
exposing herself at his private property.
1443
01:07:33,554 --> 01:07:35,722
MARK:
Just think of that young girl's parents.
1444
01:07:35,722 --> 01:07:37,724
They're paying
for their kid to go to Liberty,
1445
01:07:37,724 --> 01:07:39,977
and this is the receipt they got?
1446
01:07:39,977 --> 01:07:41,645
- He was basically untouchable.
1447
01:07:42,563 --> 01:07:44,481
♪
1448
01:07:44,481 --> 01:07:47,109
They own, like, a 500, 600-acre farm
1449
01:07:47,109 --> 01:07:49,862
with a Confederate cemetery on it.
1450
01:07:50,529 --> 01:07:52,489
[guns firing]
Shooting guns in the backyard.
1451
01:07:52,489 --> 01:07:54,700
And then Jerry said,
"Well, the good thing is,
1452
01:07:54,700 --> 01:07:57,077
"now I know if Becki
were to run away with someone,
1453
01:07:57,077 --> 01:07:58,078
I know who it is."
1454
01:07:58,078 --> 01:08:00,455
He said, "If that were to happen,
if she tried to divorce me,
1455
01:08:00,455 --> 01:08:01,748
I'd probably have her killed."
1456
01:08:03,166 --> 01:08:06,336
At that moment,
I really took it as a serious threat.
1457
01:08:07,921 --> 01:08:10,966
People have so much influence,
they control this town.
1458
01:08:10,966 --> 01:08:15,179
If they wanted to make me disappear,
they could do it without a trace.
1459
01:08:15,804 --> 01:08:17,014
LILIA:
I mean, at the end of the day,
1460
01:08:17,014 --> 01:08:19,266
Jerry endorsed the guy
who ended up becoming president.
1461
01:08:19,266 --> 01:08:21,852
So you're like,
"I don't wanna fuck with these people.
1462
01:08:21,852 --> 01:08:24,563
I don't know what they would do to me
to keep their charade going."
1463
01:08:24,563 --> 01:08:26,356
You don't know
what lengths people are willing to go,
1464
01:08:26,356 --> 01:08:28,275
especially when they have so much to lose.
1465
01:08:29,610 --> 01:08:30,736
GIANCARLO:
As time went on,
1466
01:08:30,736 --> 01:08:33,238
his behavior continued
to become more radical.
1467
01:08:33,906 --> 01:08:37,659
- How the establishment, the deep state--
They look at all of us as deplorables.
1468
01:08:37,659 --> 01:08:41,455
But I have the distinct honor
of being the first person
1469
01:08:41,455 --> 01:08:43,749
that Hillary Clinton called a deplorable.
1470
01:08:43,749 --> 01:08:49,004
It was 2015, and it was right after
the San Bernardino shootings, and I said--
1471
01:08:49,004 --> 01:08:52,341
If some of those people
in that community center
1472
01:08:52,341 --> 01:08:55,177
had had what I've got
in my back pocket right now--
1473
01:08:55,177 --> 01:08:56,970
[crowd cheering]
1474
01:08:59,056 --> 01:09:02,893
If more good people
had concealed carry permits,
1475
01:09:02,893 --> 01:09:04,686
then we could end those Muslims
1476
01:09:04,686 --> 01:09:07,064
before they--
before they walk in and kill.
1477
01:09:07,064 --> 01:09:08,774
[crowd cheering]
1478
01:09:08,774 --> 01:09:12,486
- At this point, I didn't really see
much common ground with Jerry anymore.
1479
01:09:12,486 --> 01:09:16,532
- It just boggles my mind
that anybody would be against
1480
01:09:16,532 --> 01:09:19,660
what Jesus told his disciples
in Luke 22:36.
1481
01:09:19,660 --> 01:09:23,580
He told 'em if they had to sell their coat
to buy a sword, to do it.
1482
01:09:23,580 --> 01:09:25,541
Because he knew danger was coming,
1483
01:09:25,541 --> 01:09:27,668
and he wanted them to defend themselves.
1484
01:09:27,668 --> 01:09:28,669
[crowd applauding]
1485
01:09:28,669 --> 01:09:32,631
GIANCARLO:
We have seen the divide happen
between Conservatives and Liberals,
1486
01:09:32,631 --> 01:09:34,258
and, you know, he was cognizant of that.
1487
01:09:34,258 --> 01:09:35,509
He would just always bring it up.
1488
01:09:35,509 --> 01:09:39,096
- Virginians, including my family,
went to war in the Revolutionary War.
1489
01:09:39,096 --> 01:09:41,306
Revolution always bubbles up.
1490
01:09:42,850 --> 01:09:44,476
CHILD:
Wow, good shot!
1491
01:09:44,476 --> 01:09:46,812
- That's what's happened
with President Trump.
1492
01:09:46,812 --> 01:09:49,940
And so they can--
they can oppress people for a while,
1493
01:09:49,940 --> 01:09:52,943
but, eventually,
people speak for themselves,
1494
01:09:52,943 --> 01:09:53,986
and they've had enough.
1495
01:09:55,195 --> 01:09:57,322
GIANCARLO: He would say,
"We're so close to a civil war."
1496
01:09:58,240 --> 01:09:59,241
- Got it.
1497
01:09:59,241 --> 01:10:03,829
- I'm noticing this really obvious,
blatant divide within our country.
1498
01:10:04,913 --> 01:10:09,459
This extreme violent rhetoric
being pushed by Trump
1499
01:10:09,459 --> 01:10:11,920
and everyone within his orbit,
including Jerry.
1500
01:10:12,462 --> 01:10:15,174
I started noticing that there's
actual consequences to these words.
1501
01:10:15,174 --> 01:10:16,216
It's not just words anymore.
1502
01:10:16,550 --> 01:10:18,010
It's leading to violence.
1503
01:10:18,427 --> 01:10:20,345
DONALD: People proudly had
their Confederate flags.
1504
01:10:20,345 --> 01:10:21,805
They're not talking about racism.
1505
01:10:21,805 --> 01:10:22,848
They love their flag.
1506
01:10:22,848 --> 01:10:25,100
It represents the South.
They like the South.
1507
01:10:25,100 --> 01:10:26,518
People, right now, like the South.
1508
01:10:27,102 --> 01:10:29,813
REPORTER 1: A young white man
accused of killing nine people--
1509
01:10:29,813 --> 01:10:31,982
REPORTER 2:
Roof revealed that he chose the church
1510
01:10:31,982 --> 01:10:34,776
because it was
a historic African American church.
1511
01:10:34,776 --> 01:10:38,363
- Corrupt, power-hungry globalists.
1512
01:10:38,363 --> 01:10:39,907
You know what a globalist is, right?
1513
01:10:39,907 --> 01:10:41,575
You know what a globalist is.
1514
01:10:41,992 --> 01:10:44,453
REPORTER 1: A gunman
burst into the Tree of Life Temple
1515
01:10:44,453 --> 01:10:46,788
down the tree-lined streets
of Squirrel Hill.
1516
01:10:47,289 --> 01:10:48,624
11 people killed.
1517
01:10:48,624 --> 01:10:50,751
The shooter's social media page stating...
1518
01:10:55,339 --> 01:10:57,799
REPORTER 2: Do you think
somebody's helping that caravan?
1519
01:11:00,469 --> 01:11:02,888
DONALD: I wouldn't-- I don't know who,
but I-- I wouldn't be surprised.
1520
01:11:02,888 --> 01:11:04,056
A lot of people say, "Yes."
1521
01:11:04,056 --> 01:11:07,935
- The shooter had posted
about the caravan of migrants
1522
01:11:07,935 --> 01:11:11,939
moving up from, uh, Central America,
called them invaders.
1523
01:11:11,939 --> 01:11:15,067
- That's an invasion.
That's not-- That's an invasion.
1524
01:11:15,984 --> 01:11:18,195
- And then, you-- you have
what happened in Charlottesville.
1525
01:11:24,409 --> 01:11:26,078
REPORTER 1:
Hundreds of white nationalists,
1526
01:11:26,078 --> 01:11:27,955
some wearing what appeared to be uniforms,
1527
01:11:27,955 --> 01:11:30,832
carrying weapons, Confederate flags,
and Nazi symbols--
1528
01:11:30,832 --> 01:11:32,251
[crowd screaming]
1529
01:11:32,251 --> 01:11:36,171
A horrifying scene,
as this car plowed into a crowd of people.
1530
01:11:36,171 --> 01:11:38,173
- Very bad people in that group.
1531
01:11:38,173 --> 01:11:43,762
But you also had people
that were very fine people on both sides.
1532
01:11:44,346 --> 01:11:46,598
- Falwell rushed to Donald Trump's defense
1533
01:11:46,598 --> 01:11:47,641
as eagerly as ever.
1534
01:11:48,517 --> 01:11:50,269
JERRY JR.:
One of the reasons I supported him
1535
01:11:50,269 --> 01:11:54,189
is because he doesn't say
what's politically correct,
1536
01:11:54,189 --> 01:11:56,817
he says what's in his heart,
what he believes.
1537
01:11:56,817 --> 01:11:58,569
And sometimes, that gets him in trouble.
1538
01:11:59,194 --> 01:12:02,531
MATTHEW: The seeds of that were
in the work of people like Jerry Falwell
1539
01:12:02,531 --> 01:12:04,116
generations earlier.
1540
01:12:04,116 --> 01:12:06,577
He laid the foundations
for-- for this kind of political violence
1541
01:12:06,577 --> 01:12:08,662
that we've seen, really, since the 1990s.
1542
01:12:08,662 --> 01:12:11,248
- The man charged
with killing an abortion doctor
1543
01:12:11,248 --> 01:12:13,792
says he has a defense, the Bible!
1544
01:12:14,793 --> 01:12:20,591
- Roe vs. Wade has resulted
in 10 to 12 million deaths
of little children.
1545
01:12:21,717 --> 01:12:24,386
MATTHEW:
Jerry Falwell has unleashed demons
1546
01:12:24,386 --> 01:12:25,971
that he can no longer control.
1547
01:12:25,971 --> 01:12:27,306
[explosion blasting]
[screaming]
1548
01:12:27,806 --> 01:12:29,808
JERRY SR.:
Contrary to the wishes of the founders
1549
01:12:29,808 --> 01:12:34,021
who wanted neutrality as the policy
of the government toward religion,
1550
01:12:34,021 --> 01:12:36,231
in fact, the government
was becoming hostile,
1551
01:12:36,231 --> 01:12:37,733
in my opinion, towards religion.
1552
01:12:37,733 --> 01:12:39,359
- This new Christian nationalism
1553
01:12:39,359 --> 01:12:41,737
gives rise to things
like the Oklahoma City bombing--
1554
01:12:41,737 --> 01:12:44,990
REPORTER 1:
It looks like part of the building
has been blown away.
1555
01:12:44,990 --> 01:12:47,242
REPORTER 2: Look at that shot.
REPORTER 1: Wow. Holy cow!
1556
01:12:47,242 --> 01:12:48,827
REPORTER 2:
It is absolutely incredible.
1557
01:12:48,827 --> 01:12:50,704
- And nobody's bothering you, right?
- Well--
1558
01:12:50,704 --> 01:12:51,747
[explosion blasting]
1559
01:12:52,456 --> 01:12:54,791
BILL CLINTON: The bombing
at Centennial Olympic Park this morning
1560
01:12:54,791 --> 01:12:56,627
was an evil act of terror.
1561
01:12:56,960 --> 01:12:58,337
REPORTER 1:
Eric Rudolph is charged with
1562
01:12:58,337 --> 01:13:01,131
the 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bombing.
1563
01:13:01,131 --> 01:13:05,093
REPORTER 2:
Rudolph next struck at a Sandy Springs,
Georgia, abortion clinic,
1564
01:13:05,093 --> 01:13:06,428
then a gay bar in Atlanta,
1565
01:13:06,428 --> 01:13:09,556
and finally, another abortion clinic
in Birmingham, Alabama.
1566
01:13:09,556 --> 01:13:12,809
REPORTER 3: Rudolph is believed
to belong to the Christian identity
1567
01:13:12,809 --> 01:13:15,062
known as a white supremacist sect.
1568
01:13:15,062 --> 01:13:16,688
MATTHEW:
One thing Jerry Sr. taught us
1569
01:13:16,688 --> 01:13:21,068
was that politics, demagoguery,
and hysteria is a way to make more money,
1570
01:13:21,068 --> 01:13:22,653
give them more influence and more power.
1571
01:13:23,320 --> 01:13:24,947
And so, Jerry Jr. recognizes this
1572
01:13:24,947 --> 01:13:27,574
and really picks up
with what his father had started.
1573
01:13:27,574 --> 01:13:31,662
- I did notice that the only time
the president calls me to go on TV
1574
01:13:31,662 --> 01:13:33,038
is when he's in real trouble.
1575
01:13:33,038 --> 01:13:35,624
- I felt guilty.
I'm like, "I know the truth about Jerry.
1576
01:13:35,624 --> 01:13:37,626
"He's trying to appear
as this, like, strongman,
1577
01:13:37,626 --> 01:13:40,504
but I know him as just the cuck
in the corner of the room."
1578
01:13:43,549 --> 01:13:47,052
ARAM ROSTON:
I started looking at Jerry Falwell,
1579
01:13:47,052 --> 01:13:49,763
in part, because
of his endorsement for Trump.
1580
01:13:50,556 --> 01:13:51,849
For a lot of people, it was a surprise.
1581
01:13:51,849 --> 01:13:55,227
Trump didn't fit the model, necessarily,
of the evangelical candidate.
1582
01:13:55,811 --> 01:13:56,812
It was a puzzle.
1583
01:13:58,564 --> 01:14:01,108
One of the things you routinely do
as a-- as a journalist
1584
01:14:01,108 --> 01:14:02,609
is you look at people's backgrounds,
1585
01:14:02,609 --> 01:14:05,028
and one of those things is litigation.
1586
01:14:05,028 --> 01:14:08,657
And that's where I saw,
you know, this-- this-- this lawsuit.
1587
01:14:11,243 --> 01:14:13,120
The lawsuit alleged
1588
01:14:13,120 --> 01:14:18,166
that this father and son
had been inappropriately cut out
1589
01:14:18,166 --> 01:14:19,793
of this business transaction
1590
01:14:19,793 --> 01:14:23,630
involving this youth hostel,
Giancarlo Granda, and Falwell.
1591
01:14:24,882 --> 01:14:27,134
I did my best to find Giancarlo Granda.
1592
01:14:27,134 --> 01:14:28,927
I did my best to figure out who he was.
1593
01:14:31,471 --> 01:14:32,931
GIANCARLO:
Aram Roston texted me,
1594
01:14:32,931 --> 01:14:35,225
introducing himself,
that he's a journalist,
1595
01:14:35,225 --> 01:14:37,186
and he would like
to have a conversation with me.
1596
01:14:38,687 --> 01:14:41,273
He was asking questions about the lawsuit,
1597
01:14:41,273 --> 01:14:43,025
about Michael Cohen.
1598
01:14:43,025 --> 01:14:45,277
I realized that this was gonna get messy.
1599
01:14:46,236 --> 01:14:48,113
But I was instructed by the Falwells
1600
01:14:48,113 --> 01:14:49,198
to give him no comment,
1601
01:14:49,198 --> 01:14:52,117
and just to communicate
with my attorney, or Jerry.
1602
01:14:53,493 --> 01:14:54,828
LILIA:
What do you do, right?
1603
01:14:54,828 --> 01:14:56,330
He didn't know what the right thing was.
1604
01:14:56,330 --> 01:15:00,042
And then has the Falwells
really putting the pressure on him now
1605
01:15:00,042 --> 01:15:02,044
like, "This is the time.
We gotta stick together.
1606
01:15:02,044 --> 01:15:03,212
They don't have anything."
1607
01:15:03,212 --> 01:15:05,672
But at the end of the day,
you know, my brother was worried,
1608
01:15:05,672 --> 01:15:06,798
as he should've been,
1609
01:15:06,798 --> 01:15:10,052
because people are gonna dig
and more things are gonna come out.
1610
01:15:10,052 --> 01:15:14,181
- Everything that I was afraid of
was about to actually materialize here.
1611
01:15:14,181 --> 01:15:16,350
Uh, the whole world
was gonna find out about it.
1612
01:15:16,350 --> 01:15:19,353
♪
1613
01:15:19,353 --> 01:15:20,687
ARAM:
Our first BuzzFeed story,
1614
01:15:20,687 --> 01:15:23,815
it disclosed the existence
of this business relationship,
1615
01:15:23,815 --> 01:15:26,735
this unusual litigation,
1616
01:15:26,735 --> 01:15:28,570
this unusual youth hostel,
1617
01:15:29,071 --> 01:15:31,365
the involvement of the pool attendant.
1618
01:15:31,365 --> 01:15:33,492
It also mentioned Michael Cohen.
1619
01:15:33,492 --> 01:15:37,663
And it also mentioned the endorsement
and how important that endorsement was.
1620
01:15:39,081 --> 01:15:43,836
A source said that
even before announcing his candidacy,
1621
01:15:44,253 --> 01:15:46,755
this source believed
there was an understanding
1622
01:15:46,755 --> 01:15:48,882
that Trump would get
Falwell's endorsements,
1623
01:15:49,466 --> 01:15:51,718
which meant
there was some sort of relationship
1624
01:15:51,718 --> 01:15:53,512
between Falwell and Trump,
1625
01:15:53,512 --> 01:15:54,805
and I was trying to understand that.
1626
01:15:56,139 --> 01:15:59,893
What was clear was that we didn't know
as much as we thought we knew
1627
01:15:59,893 --> 01:16:01,311
about the Falwells.
1628
01:16:04,815 --> 01:16:08,861
- I should tell you that they don't have
what you're telling me they have,
1629
01:16:08,861 --> 01:16:12,239
because he made it
sound like they told him...
1630
01:16:12,239 --> 01:16:13,198
- Mm-hmm.
1631
01:16:13,198 --> 01:16:16,660
- ...that they have pictures
that supported their theory...
1632
01:16:16,660 --> 01:16:17,494
- Mm-hmm.
1633
01:16:17,494 --> 01:16:20,289
- ...that there was something
going on between you and me.
1634
01:16:20,289 --> 01:16:21,290
- Yeah.
1635
01:16:21,290 --> 01:16:23,417
- Just wanna let you know,
this is gonna work out fine.
1636
01:16:23,417 --> 01:16:24,418
- Yeah.
1637
01:16:25,252 --> 01:16:27,045
- I'm going to bed. Good night, y'all.
1638
01:16:27,045 --> 01:16:28,338
- Okay.
- All right, have a good night.
1639
01:16:28,338 --> 01:16:30,048
- You wait. You can talk to me.
1640
01:16:30,757 --> 01:16:32,634
- I'm actually really tired too.
1641
01:16:32,634 --> 01:16:34,178
- I'm sure you are.
1642
01:16:35,929 --> 01:16:36,930
It's so hard.
1643
01:16:37,890 --> 01:16:38,891
- Yeah.
1644
01:16:39,641 --> 01:16:41,018
- Especially when we're not talking,
1645
01:16:41,018 --> 01:16:42,311
I just feel lost.
1646
01:16:43,312 --> 01:16:44,980
[sighs heavily]
1647
01:16:46,231 --> 01:16:47,774
I'm sorry about all this.
1648
01:16:48,525 --> 01:16:50,235
- Anyways, I'm gonna go to bed, okay?
1649
01:16:51,153 --> 01:16:52,321
- Okay.
1650
01:16:52,321 --> 01:16:53,989
- All right. Good night.
1651
01:16:55,490 --> 01:16:56,491
- I love you.
1652
01:16:57,492 --> 01:16:58,493
- Love you too.
1653
01:16:59,411 --> 01:17:02,664
- After the BuzzFeed story,
Giancarlo's fucked.
1654
01:17:04,041 --> 01:17:05,250
You go on the internet,
1655
01:17:05,250 --> 01:17:09,421
and anything attached to his name
read "Pool Boy,"
1656
01:17:09,421 --> 01:17:13,008
which became a meme in short order
1657
01:17:13,008 --> 01:17:17,346
and really started
to upend Giancarlo's life.
1658
01:17:17,346 --> 01:17:19,264
- They don't really have all the facts.
1659
01:17:19,264 --> 01:17:20,807
They started just spreading lies.
1660
01:17:21,308 --> 01:17:23,727
LILIA:
My brother now, he's in a bad place.
1661
01:17:23,727 --> 01:17:27,147
He's upset,
falls into, like, this depression.
1662
01:17:27,147 --> 01:17:29,399
- It was the first time
my name appeared in the press.
1663
01:17:29,816 --> 01:17:31,944
No one taught me how to deal with it.
1664
01:17:31,944 --> 01:17:33,111
It sucks.
1665
01:17:33,654 --> 01:17:37,658
LILIA: Imagine that your job
that you had when you were in college
1666
01:17:37,658 --> 01:17:39,117
for one year of your life,
1667
01:17:39,117 --> 01:17:42,371
that that's what
now you're associated with forever.
1668
01:17:44,331 --> 01:17:46,625
- This is definitely
a manifestation of my worst fears,
1669
01:17:46,625 --> 01:17:49,044
from-- dating back to 2012.
1670
01:17:51,421 --> 01:17:53,841
MARK:
Perhaps BuzzFeed did him a favor,
1671
01:17:53,841 --> 01:17:56,468
'cause it planted the seeds
for his escape.
1672
01:17:56,468 --> 01:18:00,013
[phone line ringing]
1673
01:18:00,013 --> 01:18:02,850
And as if this story
can't get more bizarre,
1674
01:18:02,850 --> 01:18:04,351
enter Tom Arnold.
1675
01:18:04,685 --> 01:18:06,895
MICHAEL COHEN: [over phone] Hello?
- Hey, buddy. Tom Arnold.
1676
01:18:07,437 --> 01:18:08,480
MICHAEL: [over phone]
Tom, how are you?
1677
01:18:08,480 --> 01:18:10,357
- Happy 4th of July.
Happy Independence Day.
1678
01:18:10,357 --> 01:18:11,900
MICHAEL: [over phone]
Same to you. Same to you.
1679
01:18:11,900 --> 01:18:13,068
How are you doing?
- I'm doing well.
1680
01:18:13,068 --> 01:18:18,365
ARAM: So Tom Arnold audiotaped
a conversation he had with Michael Cohen
1681
01:18:18,365 --> 01:18:20,617
about the Falwells.
1682
01:18:20,617 --> 01:18:25,956
And Michael Cohen
told Tom Arnold about this episode.
1683
01:18:25,956 --> 01:18:27,583
MICHAEL: [over phone]
And I'm just disappointed.
1684
01:18:27,583 --> 01:18:30,002
Donald doesn't speak to me anymore.
1685
01:18:30,002 --> 01:18:33,338
Um, even the Falwells,
who I brought to the table.
1686
01:18:33,338 --> 01:18:34,840
- Yes, you did. You did.
1687
01:18:34,840 --> 01:18:37,134
MICHAEL: [over phone]
None of the evangelicals
wanted to support Trump.
1688
01:18:37,134 --> 01:18:39,428
- Right. Well,
you definitely brought the Falwells in.
1689
01:18:39,428 --> 01:18:41,471
You definitely-- With that--
1690
01:18:41,471 --> 01:18:45,267
I mean, you did the deal
with, uh, the pool, uh, the pool boy.
1691
01:18:45,267 --> 01:18:48,437
ARAM: And Michael Cohen
laid out for him the scenario
1692
01:18:48,437 --> 01:18:49,771
where he said there were,
1693
01:18:49,771 --> 01:18:52,774
what Michael Cohen called,
personal photos.
1694
01:18:52,774 --> 01:18:54,693
Uh, he said
that they were the type of photos
1695
01:18:54,693 --> 01:18:57,821
that a couple wants
to keep between themselves.
1696
01:18:57,821 --> 01:18:58,572
- Yeah.
1697
01:18:58,572 --> 01:19:01,074
MICHAEL: [over phone]
But there's a bunch of photographs,
1698
01:19:01,074 --> 01:19:03,410
you know, personal photographs, you know?
1699
01:19:03,410 --> 01:19:05,913
The evangelicals
are kinkier than Tom Arnold.
1700
01:19:05,913 --> 01:19:09,082
- I became a little obsessed
with this Jerry Falwell thing
1701
01:19:09,082 --> 01:19:12,377
because Jerry Falwell gave license
to all the other evangelicals
1702
01:19:12,377 --> 01:19:14,379
to go, "Yeah, this is the guy."
1703
01:19:15,047 --> 01:19:17,132
I had a show called
The Hunt for the Trump Tapes.
1704
01:19:17,132 --> 01:19:19,635
I-- I wanted to meet
everybody in Trump's world
1705
01:19:19,635 --> 01:19:20,844
that was kinda pushed out.
1706
01:19:20,844 --> 01:19:23,680
And so I just wanted to connect the dots--
I wanted the truth.
1707
01:19:23,680 --> 01:19:25,015
MICHAEL: [over phone]
It's terrible, you know?
1708
01:19:25,015 --> 01:19:28,268
Nobody wants their--
You know, their private photos.
1709
01:19:28,268 --> 01:19:29,978
Especially not when you have children
1710
01:19:29,978 --> 01:19:31,396
and now grandchildren.
- Oh, geez.
1711
01:19:31,396 --> 01:19:33,982
MICHAEL: [over phone]
So my heart went out for Becki, you know?
1712
01:19:33,982 --> 01:19:36,109
I loved them. They were like family to me.
1713
01:19:36,109 --> 01:19:37,903
- He goes, "No, no, what I did,"
1714
01:19:37,903 --> 01:19:40,197
and he explains
what he did for the Falwells.
1715
01:19:40,614 --> 01:19:44,826
And he's like, "No, it wasn't like sex.
It's like a boudoir picture of Becki."
1716
01:19:44,826 --> 01:19:45,827
And then he says--
1717
01:19:45,827 --> 01:19:47,287
MICHAEL: [over phone]
I actually have one of the photos.
1718
01:19:47,704 --> 01:19:49,665
- He has--
He showed me some pictures.
1719
01:19:49,665 --> 01:19:53,252
I feel like
a bit of a scumbag too because
1720
01:19:53,836 --> 01:19:57,297
even the "boudoir" pictures are like porn.
1721
01:19:58,131 --> 01:19:59,758
But that's not the end of this story.
1722
01:20:00,175 --> 01:20:05,472
Michael Cohen used the pictures
to say, "Hey, look what I did for you.
1723
01:20:05,472 --> 01:20:07,224
Now I need you to do something for me."
1724
01:20:07,224 --> 01:20:09,142
It-- It was a quid pro quo.
1725
01:20:10,477 --> 01:20:12,896
- The Falwells enlisted
Michael Cohen's help
1726
01:20:12,896 --> 01:20:15,315
to make this blackmail threat go away.
1727
01:20:15,315 --> 01:20:17,109
Then the following January,
1728
01:20:17,109 --> 01:20:18,569
Cohen helped persuade Falwell
1729
01:20:18,569 --> 01:20:21,363
to issue his endorsement
of Trump's presidential candidacy.
1730
01:20:21,947 --> 01:20:25,158
- When Michael Cohen published his book,
he was very specific.
1731
01:20:25,158 --> 01:20:30,122
He said he would call in this favor,
not for himself but for the Boss,
1732
01:20:30,122 --> 01:20:34,168
at a crucial moment
in his journey to the presidency.
1733
01:20:34,168 --> 01:20:36,795
- It's fair to say that Jerry
was gonna endorse Trump,
1734
01:20:36,795 --> 01:20:40,465
but the compromising material
that Michael Cohen had,
1735
01:20:40,465 --> 01:20:42,467
I think that was just insurance.
1736
01:20:42,467 --> 01:20:45,470
♪
1737
01:20:51,476 --> 01:20:54,229
- These events may have
changed the course of history,
1738
01:20:54,229 --> 01:20:58,567
but in the New York Times' quest
to explain why Falwell endorsed Trump,
1739
01:20:58,567 --> 01:21:02,112
they left the most important question
unanswered:
1740
01:21:02,613 --> 01:21:04,489
Did someone fuck the pool guy?
1741
01:21:04,489 --> 01:21:07,242
[audience laughing]
1742
01:21:07,242 --> 01:21:10,037
♪ Wake up, Becki ♪
1743
01:21:12,164 --> 01:21:15,083
♪ I've got something to say ♪
1744
01:21:15,083 --> 01:21:17,252
♪ Listen to me... ♪
1745
01:21:17,252 --> 01:21:21,423
- My brother, in 2018, gets accepted
into grad school at Georgetown,
1746
01:21:21,423 --> 01:21:22,424
to the master's program.
1747
01:21:22,424 --> 01:21:24,343
So we make a road trip out of it.
1748
01:21:24,343 --> 01:21:27,346
♪
1749
01:21:28,931 --> 01:21:32,976
It's me, my mom,
my brother, and the dog.
1750
01:21:36,855 --> 01:21:39,900
GIANCARLO: We go to DC.
My family's helping me move
into my new apartment.
1751
01:21:40,400 --> 01:21:43,403
♪
1752
01:21:45,989 --> 01:21:48,283
I get a phone call from Jerry.
1753
01:21:48,283 --> 01:21:51,036
He said, "Hey, we have
this event at the White House,
1754
01:21:51,036 --> 01:21:53,539
"but after that,
we're going to the Trump Hotel.
1755
01:21:53,539 --> 01:21:54,581
You guys should come over."
1756
01:21:54,581 --> 01:21:57,584
♪
1757
01:22:00,712 --> 01:22:02,297
LILIA:
They were at the White House for--
1758
01:22:02,297 --> 01:22:04,216
It was some sort of evangelical event.
1759
01:22:04,216 --> 01:22:08,053
Every top preacher in the country
was there that night at the White House.
1760
01:22:08,887 --> 01:22:10,889
GIANCARLO:
Meet up with the Falwells
at the Trump Hotel.
1761
01:22:11,557 --> 01:22:14,351
♪ Becki, I'm almost home... ♪
1762
01:22:14,351 --> 01:22:17,271
- Everyone's drinking
and having a really good time.
1763
01:22:17,271 --> 01:22:20,023
There was one in particular
that, I had no idea who she was,
1764
01:22:20,023 --> 01:22:22,359
but my mom's like,
"Oh, she's on TV. What's her name?"
1765
01:22:22,359 --> 01:22:26,905
[speaking in tongues]
1766
01:22:26,905 --> 01:22:28,907
- Her act is-- is crazy!
1767
01:22:28,907 --> 01:22:33,328
[continues speaking in tongues]
1768
01:22:33,328 --> 01:22:35,330
But when you meet her in person,
she's nothing like that.
1769
01:22:35,330 --> 01:22:38,709
She's kinda flirting with people.
She was flirting with me.
1770
01:22:39,543 --> 01:22:43,881
- I think that night my mom had
a kind of a-- a come-to-Jesus moment.
1771
01:22:43,881 --> 01:22:47,551
- She's like,
"Oh, I understand now. It's all a show."
1772
01:22:47,551 --> 01:22:49,261
They have a public image,
1773
01:22:49,261 --> 01:22:52,598
but behind the scenes, they're all freaks.
1774
01:22:53,974 --> 01:22:57,519
LILIA: I think my mom was like,
"Okay, um, I think we're good.
1775
01:22:57,519 --> 01:22:59,229
"We don't need to be around them anymore.
1776
01:22:59,229 --> 01:23:00,272
Like, ever again."
1777
01:23:00,272 --> 01:23:03,275
♪
1778
01:23:07,279 --> 01:23:09,865
GIANCARLO:
I'm in my first semester of grad school,
1779
01:23:09,865 --> 01:23:11,867
and I'm trying
to just move away from the Falwells.
1780
01:23:13,160 --> 01:23:14,953
LILIA:
Once he starts school,
1781
01:23:14,953 --> 01:23:15,954
he's loving it.
1782
01:23:15,954 --> 01:23:17,664
He loves DC.
1783
01:23:17,664 --> 01:23:19,124
He's making new friends.
1784
01:23:19,124 --> 01:23:20,959
He starts applying for jobs.
1785
01:23:22,211 --> 01:23:25,464
It's a little difficult for him
to even get people to call him,
1786
01:23:25,464 --> 01:23:26,965
because they're googling his name,
1787
01:23:26,965 --> 01:23:29,259
and no one wants
to be associated with this.
1788
01:23:29,968 --> 01:23:31,637
GIANCARLO:
It was just 'cause they were worried.
1789
01:23:31,637 --> 01:23:33,805
Like, why would they go with me
1790
01:23:33,805 --> 01:23:36,600
where there's so many other people
with a similar resume
1791
01:23:36,600 --> 01:23:38,435
with no national scandal?
1792
01:23:38,435 --> 01:23:41,939
- But he finally gets
this interview with this company.
1793
01:23:41,939 --> 01:23:43,482
He's super excited.
1794
01:23:43,482 --> 01:23:45,108
- The hiring manager emailed me
1795
01:23:45,108 --> 01:23:49,196
saying, "Congratulations.
We wanna move forward with hiring you."
1796
01:23:49,196 --> 01:23:50,572
Right there, he offered me the job.
1797
01:23:50,572 --> 01:23:56,036
LILIA: Finally, he sees some sort of light
at this end of this, like, insane tunnel.
1798
01:23:56,036 --> 01:23:57,538
- It was exactly what I needed.
1799
01:23:57,538 --> 01:24:01,375
I was so excited,
that, um, I just-- I shared it with Becki.
1800
01:24:02,125 --> 01:24:04,127
The following week,
I get an email from the firm,
1801
01:24:04,545 --> 01:24:07,005
and the hiring manager
rescinded the offer.
1802
01:24:10,217 --> 01:24:11,718
And, you know,
there's times where I felt like
1803
01:24:11,718 --> 01:24:14,555
he was purposefully
sabotaging everything around me
1804
01:24:14,555 --> 01:24:18,350
in order to keep me close
and them being my only option.
1805
01:24:18,851 --> 01:24:20,435
I just felt so overwhelmed.
1806
01:24:21,103 --> 01:24:24,690
That's it.
I'm forever attached to the Falwell name.
1807
01:24:24,690 --> 01:24:26,233
I was so loyal to this family.
1808
01:24:26,233 --> 01:24:28,527
I protected them. I lied for them.
1809
01:24:28,527 --> 01:24:31,196
And I end up
getting attacked by the media,
1810
01:24:31,196 --> 01:24:32,406
and I'm still defending them.
1811
01:24:33,532 --> 01:24:35,033
Everything was crumbling.
1812
01:24:35,033 --> 01:24:36,493
I felt like there's no way out.
1813
01:24:36,493 --> 01:24:37,953
It's all over for me.
1814
01:24:37,953 --> 01:24:40,372
- He felt like
that was just really the end of the world,
1815
01:24:40,372 --> 01:24:42,374
so he went into a really dark place.
1816
01:24:42,374 --> 01:24:45,002
It was a really difficult time.
1817
01:24:46,753 --> 01:24:48,964
- I started contemplating suicide.
1818
01:24:48,964 --> 01:24:51,175
I just wanted to go away peacefully.
1819
01:24:51,175 --> 01:24:52,676
And I told Becki, I said,
1820
01:24:52,676 --> 01:24:55,846
"My life and my reputation,
everything is completely ruined."
1821
01:25:02,728 --> 01:25:03,729
Um...
1822
01:25:04,688 --> 01:25:06,732
Then at that moment,
I just thought about my, uh,
1823
01:25:07,733 --> 01:25:10,485
I thought about my mom,
and my dad, and my sister
1824
01:25:11,278 --> 01:25:13,405
and I just-- I couldn't--
I couldn't make them go through that,
1825
01:25:13,405 --> 01:25:15,115
so I just-- I stopped.
1826
01:25:16,909 --> 01:25:18,368
Just-- I-- I need a moment.
1827
01:25:22,706 --> 01:25:24,625
LILIA:
You know, getting calls from your brother
1828
01:25:24,625 --> 01:25:26,960
telling you that he wants to kill himself,
1829
01:25:26,960 --> 01:25:28,504
that there's no way out of this,
1830
01:25:29,296 --> 01:25:30,923
he's never gonna recover.
1831
01:25:30,923 --> 01:25:31,924
It's--
1832
01:25:32,674 --> 01:25:37,179
It's hard to [clears throat]
explain what that feeling is like
1833
01:25:37,179 --> 01:25:40,557
when someone that you love so much,
1834
01:25:40,557 --> 01:25:44,478
someone that you want
nothing but the best for, is--
1835
01:25:46,021 --> 01:25:47,731
is thinking of hurting himself.
1836
01:25:48,440 --> 01:25:49,608
[exhales]
1837
01:25:56,907 --> 01:25:58,617
- That was obviously a dark time,
1838
01:25:58,617 --> 01:26:02,329
so... just had to relive it
at that moment there.
1839
01:26:02,329 --> 01:26:04,540
But [clears throat]
should be good now.
1840
01:26:07,709 --> 01:26:10,796
- And then, to add insult to the injury,
1841
01:26:10,796 --> 01:26:14,591
for an undisclosed amount
to make this lawsuit disappear,
1842
01:26:14,591 --> 01:26:18,303
Jerry Falwell Jr.
settles with Tito Fernandez.
1843
01:26:19,304 --> 01:26:22,099
GIANCARLO: There were three events
that pushed me to rock bottom
1844
01:26:22,099 --> 01:26:24,434
and left me at a crossroads.
1845
01:26:24,434 --> 01:26:27,855
The first one
was losing out on the job offer.
1846
01:26:28,730 --> 01:26:32,359
The second was Jerry settling with Tito.
1847
01:26:42,494 --> 01:26:46,123
- Meanwhile, my brother,
who actually worked his ass off for years
1848
01:26:46,123 --> 01:26:49,376
running this building,
managing it, overseeing it,
1849
01:26:50,252 --> 01:26:51,712
he had actual stakes in it.
1850
01:26:52,462 --> 01:26:54,173
- How do you think Giancarlo felt
1851
01:26:54,173 --> 01:26:59,928
knowing that of all people to get a check,
it would be Jesus Fernandez?
1852
01:27:00,596 --> 01:27:02,598
GIANCARLO:
I was upset because they settled,
1853
01:27:02,598 --> 01:27:05,434
but there was no more talks
about buying me out
1854
01:27:05,434 --> 01:27:08,979
or any word from Jerry saying
that he was gonna honor his promise.
1855
01:27:08,979 --> 01:27:10,647
They just kept stringing me along.
1856
01:27:10,647 --> 01:27:13,942
- They, you know, dangled the carrot
of, like, "We're gonna help you.
1857
01:27:13,942 --> 01:27:17,154
"We're gonna set you up with,
you know, real estate and get you going
1858
01:27:17,154 --> 01:27:19,406
so you can fulfill all of your dreams."
1859
01:27:19,406 --> 01:27:22,034
And they just
completely fucked him in the end.
1860
01:27:22,868 --> 01:27:24,161
GIANCARLO:
I texted Jerry.
1861
01:27:32,044 --> 01:27:33,921
"Just own up to your promises
1862
01:27:33,921 --> 01:27:36,089
and we can move on with our lives
in a peaceful manner."
1863
01:27:36,757 --> 01:27:40,302
- He wasn't threatening them,
he was saying, "I want my life back.
1864
01:27:40,302 --> 01:27:41,512
"Give me what you owe me.
1865
01:27:41,512 --> 01:27:45,057
"Let's call it a day.
Let's go our separate ways.
1866
01:27:45,057 --> 01:27:46,433
Let's be done with this."
1867
01:27:46,433 --> 01:27:50,312
- The third and final blow
was... what broke all of us.
1868
01:27:50,312 --> 01:27:51,647
It was summer 2020.
1869
01:27:52,648 --> 01:27:54,024
REPORTER 1:
In just a few short months,
1870
01:27:54,024 --> 01:27:58,195
this pandemic has infected
some two million here at home.
1871
01:27:58,195 --> 01:28:00,280
MARK:
So by the summer of 2020,
1872
01:28:00,280 --> 01:28:03,659
the mood in this country
was like, "Is the world gonna end?
1873
01:28:03,659 --> 01:28:06,912
Was Jerry Sr. right?
Are end times upon us?"
1874
01:28:06,912 --> 01:28:11,250
I mean, it's biblical
how fucked up this world had become.
1875
01:28:11,834 --> 01:28:13,335
REPORTER 1:
100,000.
1876
01:28:13,335 --> 01:28:17,130
The obituary names grow daily
with no end in sight.
1877
01:28:17,130 --> 01:28:18,632
JERRY JR.:
There's some bad strain of the flu
1878
01:28:18,632 --> 01:28:20,175
that comes in every two years.
1879
01:28:20,175 --> 01:28:22,177
For some reason,
it's always on election years.
1880
01:28:22,177 --> 01:28:23,846
I don't-- I don't know why that is.
1881
01:28:23,846 --> 01:28:26,265
GIANCARLO:
2020, it was a terrible year.
1882
01:28:26,265 --> 01:28:27,516
We had the pandemic.
1883
01:28:27,516 --> 01:28:28,600
George Floyd's murdered.
1884
01:28:28,600 --> 01:28:31,019
[protesters chanting "I can't breathe!"]
1885
01:28:31,019 --> 01:28:33,230
Civil unrest is unfolding,
1886
01:28:33,230 --> 01:28:34,189
it's intensifying.
1887
01:28:34,189 --> 01:28:36,275
[crowd clamoring]
1888
01:28:36,275 --> 01:28:38,443
And then you have Trump just,
uh, kind of doubling down
1889
01:28:38,443 --> 01:28:40,863
and not trying to unite the country.
1890
01:28:40,863 --> 01:28:42,197
Instead, he was enjoying this.
1891
01:28:42,197 --> 01:28:43,824
And he was magnifying this division.
1892
01:28:44,324 --> 01:28:47,160
DONALD: You know what I say?
Protesters, your ass.
1893
01:28:47,911 --> 01:28:50,372
These are not acts of peaceful protest.
1894
01:28:50,372 --> 01:28:53,250
These are acts of domestic terror.
1895
01:28:54,001 --> 01:28:55,752
- You know, initially, going back to 2012,
1896
01:28:55,752 --> 01:28:56,962
I admired Trump.
1897
01:28:56,962 --> 01:28:59,506
I thought he was someone
I would like to become.
1898
01:29:00,132 --> 01:29:02,759
But now he aspired to be a dictator.
1899
01:29:03,677 --> 01:29:07,347
My family fled a country
where there was a dictator
1900
01:29:07,347 --> 01:29:08,807
that consolidated power.
1901
01:29:09,683 --> 01:29:13,353
I didn't feel optimistic
about our country's future.
1902
01:29:14,188 --> 01:29:15,522
At that moment, I realized
1903
01:29:15,522 --> 01:29:19,318
how much weight there was
behind, uh, Jerry Falwell Jr.'s words.
1904
01:29:19,318 --> 01:29:23,989
And if this man was able
to anoint Donald Trump in 2016,
1905
01:29:23,989 --> 01:29:27,993
then why wouldn't he have
that same power in 2020?
1906
01:29:28,994 --> 01:29:34,875
MARK: Giancarlo certainly feels like
Jerry is responsible for all this chaos.
1907
01:29:34,875 --> 01:29:36,502
You know, and why wouldn't he?
1908
01:29:37,252 --> 01:29:38,754
The kingmaker, right?
1909
01:29:39,421 --> 01:29:40,631
Now, look what happened.
1910
01:29:43,759 --> 01:29:46,094
GIANCARLO:
When I hit rock bottom, I had two choices:
1911
01:29:46,094 --> 01:29:48,847
take my own life or take back control.
1912
01:29:48,847 --> 01:29:54,019
And, um, you know, one big takeaway
from, uh, from Trump's speech in 2012,
1913
01:29:54,603 --> 01:29:58,273
in his advice to win
in real estate or business,
1914
01:29:58,273 --> 01:29:59,733
or whatever you're doing is--
1915
01:29:59,733 --> 01:30:02,736
- Don't let people take advantage.
1916
01:30:03,237 --> 01:30:04,238
Get even.
- Get even.
1917
01:30:04,696 --> 01:30:07,950
It feels like right now,
this is happening for a reason.
1918
01:30:08,367 --> 01:30:10,369
Me confessing to the world
what happened...
1919
01:30:12,913 --> 01:30:15,249
would somehow stop
one of Trump's closest allies,
1920
01:30:15,249 --> 01:30:16,708
which is Jerry Falwell Jr.
1921
01:30:16,708 --> 01:30:18,252
I felt like I had a responsibility.
1922
01:30:18,919 --> 01:30:20,337
I texted Jerry.
1923
01:30:41,650 --> 01:30:45,737
- I think he just wanted
to just unburden himself of all of this
1924
01:30:45,737 --> 01:30:47,990
and just say,
"This is what actually happened."
1925
01:30:47,990 --> 01:30:50,242
He had no other choice left at that point
1926
01:30:50,242 --> 01:30:53,620
but to just come out and speak his truth.
1927
01:30:53,620 --> 01:30:55,622
♪
1928
01:30:56,206 --> 01:30:59,334
- I'd been trying
to talk to Giancarlo Granda
1929
01:30:59,334 --> 01:31:01,587
since I first started working on this.
1930
01:31:01,587 --> 01:31:03,589
And I-- I didn't have any luck.
1931
01:31:05,048 --> 01:31:06,049
GIANCARLO:
I texted him.
1932
01:31:06,049 --> 01:31:08,385
I said, "Hey, I would love
to meet with you
1933
01:31:08,385 --> 01:31:10,137
and just talk about everything
that happened."
1934
01:31:11,263 --> 01:31:14,808
- I finally met Giancarlo near DC.
1935
01:31:15,601 --> 01:31:17,769
GIANCARLO:
Obviously, he was shocked,
1936
01:31:17,769 --> 01:31:21,440
but, like, it kinda confirmed
everything that he, uh, speculated.
1937
01:31:21,940 --> 01:31:24,401
- There was an element of hypocrisy here
1938
01:31:24,401 --> 01:31:26,195
that was very glaring.
1939
01:31:27,529 --> 01:31:31,408
To stand up our story,
we needed some corroborating evidence.
1940
01:31:31,408 --> 01:31:36,914
- I had certain evidence
dating back to 2012, 2013, 2014.
1941
01:31:38,123 --> 01:31:39,708
ARAM:
There were these texts.
1942
01:31:40,626 --> 01:31:43,462
Sort of romantic, loaded phrases.
1943
01:31:44,379 --> 01:31:46,840
And another one was this audio recording.
1944
01:31:47,257 --> 01:31:50,594
- All right.
- Gian's been very busy lately, studying.
1945
01:31:50,594 --> 01:31:51,929
- Yeah, yeah, sorta.
- It's good, good.
1946
01:31:51,929 --> 01:31:55,140
- His new thing is, like, telling me
every time he hooks up with people,
1947
01:31:55,140 --> 01:31:57,392
like, I-- like I don't have feelings
or something.
1948
01:31:57,392 --> 01:31:59,269
- You're gonna make her jealous, Gian.
- Yeah.
1949
01:31:59,269 --> 01:32:00,938
- Aw. I'm not trying to do that.
1950
01:32:00,938 --> 01:32:04,650
- Like a week ago,
I was in tears for a whole freakin' day.
1951
01:32:04,650 --> 01:32:05,817
Completely depressed.
1952
01:32:06,360 --> 01:32:08,779
- Come on. You don't--
You don't care about me anymore.
1953
01:32:08,779 --> 01:32:10,989
- Maybe the more you tell me,
the more I'll get used to it.
1954
01:32:10,989 --> 01:32:12,366
- You don't care about me anymore.
1955
01:32:12,908 --> 01:32:14,451
- Oh, yeah? Really?
1956
01:32:15,452 --> 01:32:16,703
Yeah, obviously.
1957
01:32:17,621 --> 01:32:18,455
- In an ideal world,
1958
01:32:18,455 --> 01:32:20,290
you'd have videotape
of everything that ever happens,
1959
01:32:20,290 --> 01:32:22,751
but this is not the way the world works.
1960
01:32:22,751 --> 01:32:25,003
[phone ringing]
1961
01:32:25,003 --> 01:32:26,672
GIANCARLO:
When I showed them the video,
1962
01:32:26,672 --> 01:32:28,423
I mean, it was case closed right there.
1963
01:32:29,132 --> 01:32:31,969
On January 16th, 2019,
1964
01:32:32,469 --> 01:32:35,305
Becki and I, uh,
we hop on a FaceTime call,
1965
01:32:35,722 --> 01:32:37,933
and she's drinking white wine,
1966
01:32:38,559 --> 01:32:41,728
and then she starts stripping,
uh, completely naked.
1967
01:32:42,229 --> 01:32:44,523
She's walking around the house.
1968
01:32:44,523 --> 01:32:47,985
She's going from room to room,
the places where we've had sex.
1969
01:32:47,985 --> 01:32:49,278
She's says, "Oh, do you remember this?"
1970
01:32:49,278 --> 01:32:51,446
She's going to the kitchen,
she's showing the island.
1971
01:32:52,030 --> 01:32:53,740
"Oh, I know you remember doing it there."
1972
01:32:53,740 --> 01:32:56,201
And then she went into the kids' rooms,
"Remember doing it there?"
1973
01:32:56,201 --> 01:33:00,330
Which is crazy, as, you know,
we-- we had sex in, uh, their kids' rooms.
1974
01:33:01,206 --> 01:33:03,792
"So, do you remember this spot?
Do you remember this spot?"
1975
01:33:04,710 --> 01:33:05,836
ARAM: And at one point,
1976
01:33:05,836 --> 01:33:08,672
Jerry Jr. appears to peek out
from behind a doorway.
1977
01:33:11,592 --> 01:33:13,719
GIANCARLO:
And at that moment, I'm like, "Oh, my God,
1978
01:33:13,719 --> 01:33:16,847
"I finally have
the smoking gun that I needed,
1979
01:33:16,847 --> 01:33:18,515
uh, to prove my side of the story."
1980
01:33:20,893 --> 01:33:22,102
- Well, that helped.
1981
01:33:23,687 --> 01:33:26,315
I mean, that--
that was the-- the, you know?
1982
01:33:26,315 --> 01:33:28,525
That was, uh, very helpful,
1983
01:33:28,525 --> 01:33:32,571
the, uh, FaceTime video with Becki naked.
1984
01:33:34,323 --> 01:33:38,285
GIANCARLO: Like, this is 100% true,
and Jerry has been involved since day one.
1985
01:33:40,329 --> 01:33:42,623
- Well, we wouldn't have been able
to run the story
1986
01:33:42,623 --> 01:33:44,291
if we hadn't been convinced,
1987
01:33:44,291 --> 01:33:47,252
if there wasn't the corroboration
that there was.
1988
01:33:49,171 --> 01:33:53,008
- A photo posted then deleted
from Jerry Falwell Jr.'s Instagram
1989
01:33:53,008 --> 01:33:54,259
is now going viral.
1990
01:33:54,259 --> 01:33:57,387
A Houston Chronicle reporter
posted this screenshot
1991
01:33:57,387 --> 01:34:01,058
showing Liberty University's president
with his pants unzipped--
1992
01:34:01,058 --> 01:34:04,102
MEGAN:
And it was an atomic scandal at Liberty.
1993
01:34:04,102 --> 01:34:07,689
All these things that were not permissible
inside the Liberty community,
1994
01:34:07,689 --> 01:34:09,316
are contained in this photograph.
1995
01:34:09,316 --> 01:34:14,321
- This scandal was just another thing
that was going to back me up.
1996
01:34:14,321 --> 01:34:15,864
INTERVIEWER:
And I'm just gonna throw it to you.
1997
01:34:15,864 --> 01:34:17,741
What was up
with that picture on Instagram?
1998
01:34:17,741 --> 01:34:19,660
JERRY JR.: [slurring]
You know, it was weird [indistinct].
1999
01:34:19,660 --> 01:34:21,036
She was-- She's pregnant,
2000
01:34:21,036 --> 01:34:23,914
so she couldn't get her--
she couldn't get her pants zipped.
2001
01:34:24,498 --> 01:34:27,167
And, uh, I was, like, trying to, like--
2002
01:34:28,293 --> 01:34:31,463
My-- I had a pair of jeans
that I haven't worn in a long time,
2003
01:34:31,463 --> 01:34:33,173
so I couldn't get mine zipped either.
2004
01:34:33,173 --> 01:34:35,592
- It was evident
that he was drunk on that call.
2005
01:34:35,592 --> 01:34:37,052
I mean, he was slurring his words.
2006
01:34:37,052 --> 01:34:39,763
JERRY JR.: [slurring]
I promised my kids I'm gonna try to be--
2007
01:34:39,763 --> 01:34:42,224
I'm gonna try
to be a good boy from here on out.
2008
01:34:42,224 --> 01:34:43,851
- It just showed you who he really was.
2009
01:34:43,851 --> 01:34:45,686
He was just-- He was a mess.
2010
01:34:45,686 --> 01:34:49,064
- This announcement was made
just before 05:00 this afternoon.
2011
01:34:49,064 --> 01:34:51,400
It followed a meeting
of the Executive Committee
2012
01:34:51,400 --> 01:34:53,527
of Liberty's Board of Trustees.
2013
01:34:53,527 --> 01:34:57,531
The committee requested Falwell
take an indefinite leave of absence.
2014
01:34:57,531 --> 01:34:58,740
Falwell agreed.
2015
01:34:59,449 --> 01:35:03,287
- Liberty's board was going to pay
for Falwell's rehab,
2016
01:35:03,287 --> 01:35:06,790
and they fully anticipated
to bring him back, uh, afterwards.
2017
01:35:07,457 --> 01:35:09,960
MEGAN: Either they didn't think
that they would get caught
2018
01:35:09,960 --> 01:35:11,420
or that it would come back to them,
2019
01:35:11,420 --> 01:35:14,298
or on some level,
Jerry Falwell just didn't care.
2020
01:35:14,298 --> 01:35:16,216
Because there was
some part of him that thought,
2021
01:35:16,216 --> 01:35:20,846
"If I can't live my life
in this very fun way,
2022
01:35:20,846 --> 01:35:22,431
then I don't even want this life."
2023
01:35:24,433 --> 01:35:27,686
LILIA: My brother was talking
to the reporter for months.
2024
01:35:28,395 --> 01:35:30,647
I, at one point, had to speak to him
2025
01:35:30,647 --> 01:35:33,775
because they really
just went through every detail,
2026
01:35:33,775 --> 01:35:35,360
they fact-checked everything.
2027
01:35:35,944 --> 01:35:38,989
- I'm an investigative reporter,
so I take a long time with stories.
2028
01:35:39,531 --> 01:35:43,702
You know, we never publish
until we get it, you know, damn solid.
2029
01:35:44,536 --> 01:35:45,662
GIANCARLO:
It was a tough process,
2030
01:35:45,662 --> 01:35:46,997
and there were certain times
where I'm like,
2031
01:35:46,997 --> 01:35:48,415
"I don't think this is gonna happen.
2032
01:35:48,415 --> 01:35:49,708
I think it's gonna get killed."
2033
01:35:49,708 --> 01:35:51,835
- At this point, he knows
2034
01:35:51,835 --> 01:35:57,466
that perhaps Falwell and his team
are planning something nefarious.
2035
01:35:57,466 --> 01:35:58,467
To his credit,
2036
01:35:59,259 --> 01:36:00,761
Giancarlo was right.
2037
01:36:00,761 --> 01:36:02,888
♪
2038
01:36:02,888 --> 01:36:06,892
ARAM: The night before
we were going to run our story,
2039
01:36:06,892 --> 01:36:12,481
a local newspaper here in Washington
published this statement by Jerry Jr.
2040
01:36:12,481 --> 01:36:14,775
that laid out this alternate account
2041
01:36:14,775 --> 01:36:19,071
of the entire relationship
between Giancarlo and the Falwells.
2042
01:36:19,071 --> 01:36:20,364
REPORTER:
Jerry Falwell Jr.,
2043
01:36:20,364 --> 01:36:24,451
the son of one of the most influential
TV evangelists of all time,
2044
01:36:24,451 --> 01:36:27,913
is publicly sharing a story
of his wife's infidelity,
2045
01:36:27,913 --> 01:36:31,291
which led to, what he describes as,
an extortion scheme.
2046
01:36:31,291 --> 01:36:33,710
GIANCARLO: Although I was expecting it,
when you actually see it written,
2047
01:36:33,710 --> 01:36:37,047
"Oh, extortionist. He's a criminal,"
this and that, it-- it hurts.
2048
01:36:37,047 --> 01:36:39,883
It's like, uh-- It's like
just getting punched in the gut.
2049
01:36:40,384 --> 01:36:42,803
- It's extremely fucked up how,
2050
01:36:42,803 --> 01:36:45,097
for my brother
to be able to tell his story
2051
01:36:45,097 --> 01:36:46,306
and to come public with it,
2052
01:36:46,306 --> 01:36:48,559
it had to go through months of vetting,
2053
01:36:48,559 --> 01:36:51,854
and then on the flip side,
you have the Falwells
2054
01:36:51,854 --> 01:36:57,192
who just email someone
that they know at the Washington Examiner ,
2055
01:36:57,192 --> 01:37:02,322
and they just basically
copy and paste whatever Jerry said,
2056
01:37:02,322 --> 01:37:04,575
and then it gets published that same day.
2057
01:37:04,575 --> 01:37:07,953
- They published this,
uh, this bullshit article
2058
01:37:07,953 --> 01:37:10,831
to attempt to discredit my move
of coming forward.
2059
01:37:11,456 --> 01:37:12,457
REPORTER:
Falwell writes,
2060
01:37:12,457 --> 01:37:16,336
"Becki had an inappropriate
personal relationship with this person,
2061
01:37:16,336 --> 01:37:18,714
something in which I was not involved."
2062
01:37:18,714 --> 01:37:23,969
It deteriorated into, what he describes
as, a fatal attraction type of situation.
2063
01:37:23,969 --> 01:37:26,471
The man is Giancarlo Granda,
who worked poolside--
2064
01:37:26,471 --> 01:37:28,015
MARK:
The main takeaway was,
2065
01:37:28,015 --> 01:37:31,018
that motherfucker
just threw his wife under the bus.
2066
01:37:32,019 --> 01:37:34,062
- And they were doing everything possible,
2067
01:37:34,062 --> 01:37:35,814
everything in their power
to kill that story.
2068
01:37:35,814 --> 01:37:37,649
And they almost did.
2069
01:37:37,649 --> 01:37:39,484
But I was waiting. I was waiting.
2070
01:37:39,985 --> 01:37:42,821
And the next day,
you know, the Reuters article comes out.
2071
01:37:43,322 --> 01:37:47,242
♪ Ooh, Lordy, trouble so hard ♪
2072
01:37:47,993 --> 01:37:51,538
♪ Ooh, Lordy, trouble so hard ♪
2073
01:37:52,372 --> 01:37:56,793
♪ Don't nobody know my troubles
but God... ♪
2074
01:37:57,503 --> 01:37:58,670
GIANCARLO:
And then Becki texted me.
2075
01:38:01,632 --> 01:38:03,050
"Jerry just resigned."
2076
01:38:03,050 --> 01:38:05,219
REPORTER 1:
This morning, Jerry Falwell Jr.'s time
2077
01:38:05,219 --> 01:38:08,305
as president of Liberty University
may be coming to an end.
2078
01:38:08,805 --> 01:38:10,933
Falwell telling
The Wall Street Journal overnight
2079
01:38:10,933 --> 01:38:13,018
he submitted his resignation letter.
2080
01:38:13,018 --> 01:38:15,646
"Because I don't want
something my wife did
2081
01:38:15,646 --> 01:38:18,315
to harm the school
I've spent my whole life building."
2082
01:38:18,315 --> 01:38:22,069
REPORTER 2: Today's news comes
amid allegations that Jerry Falwell Jr.,
2083
01:38:22,069 --> 01:38:25,781
while president of one of the nation's
largest Christian universities,
2084
01:38:25,781 --> 01:38:29,576
used to watch his wife Becki have sex
with another man.
2085
01:38:30,160 --> 01:38:33,914
- Quickly, the empire starts crumbling,
as it should.
2086
01:38:34,248 --> 01:38:38,502
JOHN CARLIN: Liberty University is suing
its former president, Jerry Falwell Jr.,
2087
01:38:38,502 --> 01:38:41,129
for upwards of 40 million dollars.
2088
01:38:41,129 --> 01:38:44,299
REPORTER 3: It alleges he was dishonest
with the Executive Committee
2089
01:38:44,299 --> 01:38:46,510
when negotiating
a generous severance package.
2090
01:38:46,510 --> 01:38:48,720
Now, the school claims during that time,
2091
01:38:48,720 --> 01:38:53,267
Falwell Jr. knew a brewing sex scandal
would likely force him out at some point.
2092
01:38:53,267 --> 01:38:56,436
- Giancarlo took on
all these people by himself.
2093
01:38:56,436 --> 01:38:58,355
That's a fucking lonely place.
2094
01:38:58,355 --> 01:39:00,315
Giancarlo put a stake in his heart.
2095
01:39:00,315 --> 01:39:01,483
He just buried it.
2096
01:39:02,150 --> 01:39:04,862
- Jerry was, you know,
in the room, laying--
2097
01:39:04,862 --> 01:39:07,447
You know, there's two beds,
he was laying on one bed.
2098
01:39:08,031 --> 01:39:10,742
So Jerry texted me
after the article was published,
2099
01:39:11,660 --> 01:39:13,912
and, uh, he wasn't too happy about it.
He texted me...
2100
01:39:16,248 --> 01:39:19,209
I mean, he's obviously...
He's kind of fucked at this point.
2101
01:39:19,209 --> 01:39:21,378
- Jerry Falwell, as you know,
has accused you of lying,
2102
01:39:21,378 --> 01:39:23,505
saying that while you did
have an affair with his wife,
2103
01:39:23,505 --> 01:39:25,132
he was not involved in any way.
2104
01:39:25,132 --> 01:39:26,133
- Jerry's lying.
2105
01:39:26,133 --> 01:39:28,093
Um, that was his game plan
from the beginning,
2106
01:39:28,093 --> 01:39:30,762
to just throw her under the bus,
um, which I--
2107
01:39:30,762 --> 01:39:34,766
- The Falwells are predators,
and they prey upon people.
2108
01:39:35,350 --> 01:39:38,103
It's psychologically so abusive.
2109
01:39:38,103 --> 01:39:41,481
REPORTER: Granda also calling
Jerry Falwell Jr. a predator,
2110
01:39:41,481 --> 01:39:43,233
alleging Falwell sent him an image
2111
01:39:43,233 --> 01:39:47,613
of a Liberty University student
exposing herself at their farm.
2112
01:39:47,613 --> 01:39:49,448
GIANCARLO:
In the middle of the media blitz,
2113
01:39:49,448 --> 01:39:50,949
Politico drops a bombshell.
2114
01:39:51,366 --> 01:39:54,995
And in this article,
one of Trey's bandmates,
2115
01:39:54,995 --> 01:39:57,331
he claimed that, uh,
Becki jumped into bed
2116
01:39:57,331 --> 01:39:58,790
while he was sleeping
2117
01:39:58,790 --> 01:40:01,627
and she started performing oral sex.
2118
01:40:02,586 --> 01:40:04,004
But he didn't really want it.
2119
01:40:04,588 --> 01:40:07,341
REPORTER 1:
The Falwells deny the allegation.
2120
01:40:07,341 --> 01:40:09,635
- When he mentioned
that, uh, she was pursuing him,
2121
01:40:09,635 --> 01:40:14,181
sending him, uh, like, love songs
and, uh, inspirational quotes,
2122
01:40:14,181 --> 01:40:16,433
it just reminded me of my younger self.
2123
01:40:16,433 --> 01:40:19,102
I'm like, "Yeah, that's exactly
what she was doing with me."
2124
01:40:19,102 --> 01:40:23,565
- Anytime you have sex,
and then lies, and then mix religion,
2125
01:40:25,108 --> 01:40:27,402
I mean, that's some nasty, nasty shit.
2126
01:40:28,862 --> 01:40:33,534
DUSTIN: What Granda did
was to make it possible for other students
2127
01:40:33,534 --> 01:40:37,788
or other victims
of the Falwells and of the culture
2128
01:40:37,788 --> 01:40:39,748
to come forward with their stories.
2129
01:40:39,748 --> 01:40:45,087
REPORTER 1:
A new lawsuit says Liberty University
"Enabled on-campus rapes."
2130
01:40:45,087 --> 01:40:49,550
- According to over 50
former female students and staffers--
2131
01:40:49,550 --> 01:40:53,220
- I was drugged and forcibly raped
2132
01:40:54,638 --> 01:40:55,931
by multiple people.
2133
01:40:56,932 --> 01:40:59,476
REPORTER 2:
Heather filed this police report
2134
01:40:59,476 --> 01:41:01,728
naming her alleged attackers.
2135
01:41:01,728 --> 01:41:05,315
- My assailants were prayed for
and let go back into society.
2136
01:41:05,816 --> 01:41:10,737
REPORTER 3:
They also allege that LU weaponized
its honor code, The Liberty Way.
2137
01:41:10,737 --> 01:41:11,864
REPORTER 4:
Jane Doe 6 claims
2138
01:41:11,864 --> 01:41:14,533
her boyfriend
slipped drugs into her drink,
2139
01:41:14,533 --> 01:41:17,828
but LU fined her $500
for breaking the Liberty Way
2140
01:41:17,828 --> 01:41:18,996
for drinking alcohol.
2141
01:41:18,996 --> 01:41:23,542
- I think 100% the Liberty Way has been
weaponized against women on campus.
2142
01:41:25,544 --> 01:41:28,338
♪
2143
01:41:28,338 --> 01:41:29,840
LILIA:
I'm very proud of my brother.
2144
01:41:30,340 --> 01:41:32,050
To see these other stories come out,
2145
01:41:32,050 --> 01:41:33,969
I was like, "You did this."
2146
01:41:33,969 --> 01:41:38,348
Like, "You came out, you told your truth,
you went through so much shit,
2147
01:41:39,057 --> 01:41:41,393
but now there's, like,
a light at the end of the tunnel."
2148
01:41:41,393 --> 01:41:43,770
Like, "People believe you
because you're telling the truth.
2149
01:41:43,770 --> 01:41:47,983
"You put a spotlight on the grossness
that was going on in the school,
2150
01:41:47,983 --> 01:41:49,443
the abuse of power."
2151
01:41:50,360 --> 01:41:52,196
This is who these people really are.
2152
01:41:52,196 --> 01:41:56,950
They're not the good Christians
that they try to portray themselves to be.
2153
01:41:58,035 --> 01:42:00,704
- I am a survivor of-- of abuse,
2154
01:42:00,704 --> 01:42:02,289
and I believe Giancarlo is.
2155
01:42:02,789 --> 01:42:05,876
Because now we-- we think of abuse
in a lot of different ways.
2156
01:42:07,711 --> 01:42:11,882
- Coming forward and exposing
your-- your-- your, uh, private life,
2157
01:42:11,882 --> 01:42:15,302
and everybody knowing
your-- your-- your business, it's not fun.
2158
01:42:15,719 --> 01:42:17,387
But I knew that I did the right thing.
2159
01:42:19,765 --> 01:42:22,226
MEGAN: Jerry,
he has literally been kind of exiled
2160
01:42:22,226 --> 01:42:25,729
from the place that he built
and his family's sort of legacy.
2161
01:42:26,063 --> 01:42:29,942
You have to remember,
his parents are buried on that campus.
2162
01:42:29,942 --> 01:42:32,861
By banning him,
they have effectively prevented him
2163
01:42:32,861 --> 01:42:34,321
from visiting his parents' graves.
2164
01:42:35,155 --> 01:42:37,824
REPORTER: Falwell tells CBS News
he believes he was targeted
2165
01:42:37,824 --> 01:42:41,578
because of the number of evangelicals
that he was able to bring over
2166
01:42:41,578 --> 01:42:43,956
for Donald Trump in 2016.
2167
01:42:43,956 --> 01:42:45,457
He told us today by phone,
2168
01:42:45,457 --> 01:42:49,795
"Bottom line, it's an election year
and I expected this."
2169
01:42:50,546 --> 01:42:53,257
ARAM: Falwell Jr. didn't make
any more political appearances,
2170
01:42:53,757 --> 01:42:55,384
and no more endorsements of Donald Trump.
2171
01:42:57,302 --> 01:42:59,555
♪
2172
01:42:59,555 --> 01:43:02,140
- The Fox News decision desk
can now project
2173
01:43:02,140 --> 01:43:07,229
that former Vice Present Joe Biden
will win Pennsylvania and Nevada,
2174
01:43:07,229 --> 01:43:11,066
putting him over
the 270 electoral votes he needs
2175
01:43:11,066 --> 01:43:14,903
to become the 46th president
of the United States.
2176
01:43:14,903 --> 01:43:18,699
- The Associated Press said
that Joe Biden is president.
2177
01:43:18,699 --> 01:43:22,411
[laughing derisively]
[audience laughing]
2178
01:43:24,204 --> 01:43:25,289
DUSTIN:
After the election,
2179
01:43:25,289 --> 01:43:29,209
Conservative Christians,
Trump Republicans, were telling lies
2180
01:43:29,209 --> 01:43:32,337
about what had happened in the election
and-- and trying to spread doubt.
2181
01:43:32,337 --> 01:43:36,049
- At this point, we do not know
who has prevailed in the election.
2182
01:43:36,049 --> 01:43:39,303
REPORTER: Tonight,
President Trump refusing to admit defeat.
2183
01:43:39,303 --> 01:43:40,721
[crowd chanting "Go, Trump, go!"]
2184
01:43:40,721 --> 01:43:42,598
MAN: God has voted.
2185
01:43:42,598 --> 01:43:46,643
Donald J. Trump will stand again
in this land, whether you like it or not.
2186
01:43:46,643 --> 01:43:49,813
- All hell is going
to break loose tomorrow.
2187
01:43:49,813 --> 01:43:52,107
- You are not gonna steal this election.
2188
01:43:52,107 --> 01:43:55,194
DUSTIN:
There were Falkirk Center contributors
2189
01:43:55,194 --> 01:43:58,071
who were at the January 6th insurrection.
2190
01:43:59,072 --> 01:44:01,825
TOM:
Charlie Kirk paid for 80 buses of people
2191
01:44:01,825 --> 01:44:05,579
to go to the insurrection rally
on the-- the 6th of January.
2192
01:44:06,246 --> 01:44:09,666
That money could have come
from Jerry Falwell and Liberty University.
2193
01:44:16,089 --> 01:44:18,342
RANDALL:
These are people parading around
2194
01:44:18,342 --> 01:44:20,511
with Christian symbolism,
2195
01:44:20,511 --> 01:44:24,973
and invoking God, and Jesus, and the Bible
2196
01:44:24,973 --> 01:44:28,018
in the service of sedition.
2197
01:44:28,018 --> 01:44:29,394
- We fight like hell.
2198
01:44:29,394 --> 01:44:32,689
And if you don't fight like hell,
you're not gonna have a country anymore.
2199
01:44:33,357 --> 01:44:35,108
DUSTIN:
There was nothing Christian, obviously,
2200
01:44:35,108 --> 01:44:37,319
about what happened on January 6th.
2201
01:44:37,861 --> 01:44:42,074
There's nothing Christlike
about Trumpism or Christian nationalism.
2202
01:44:42,074 --> 01:44:45,702
JACOB CHANSLEY:
Thank you, Heavenly Father,
for blessing us with this opportunity.
2203
01:44:45,702 --> 01:44:46,870
We love you and we thank you.
2204
01:44:46,870 --> 01:44:48,372
In Christ's holy name, we pray.
2205
01:44:48,372 --> 01:44:49,998
ALL:
Amen!
2206
01:44:49,998 --> 01:44:52,501
ANTHEA:
Christian extremism is just as dangerous,
2207
01:44:52,501 --> 01:44:55,087
or even more dangerous
than Islamic extremism
2208
01:44:55,087 --> 01:44:56,672
for one very big reason:
2209
01:44:56,672 --> 01:44:58,674
Christian extremists live next door to us.
2210
01:44:58,674 --> 01:45:01,802
They sit in the pews next to you,
and they work with you.
2211
01:45:03,220 --> 01:45:05,347
[screaming]
2212
01:45:05,347 --> 01:45:06,223
- Help!
2213
01:45:07,015 --> 01:45:09,560
ANTHEA:
And the attack in the Capitol on 1/6
2214
01:45:09,560 --> 01:45:11,019
was Christian jihad.
2215
01:45:11,019 --> 01:45:15,148
- We are gonna have one nation under God,
we have to have one religion under God.
2216
01:45:15,148 --> 01:45:16,900
ANTHEA:
Evangelicalism today
2217
01:45:16,900 --> 01:45:20,571
inserts their belief system
into the government of America,
2218
01:45:20,571 --> 01:45:25,576
hoping to change it into a theocracy
ruled by white Christians specifically,
2219
01:45:25,576 --> 01:45:27,286
and men in particular.
2220
01:45:27,911 --> 01:45:31,790
GREG LOCKE: You cannot be a Christian
and vote Democrat in this nation!
2221
01:45:31,790 --> 01:45:36,253
They are God-denying demons
that butcher babies and hate this nation!
2222
01:45:36,253 --> 01:45:38,422
REPORTER 1:
The Supreme Court has ruled
2223
01:45:38,422 --> 01:45:42,009
on the future of abortion rights
in the United States.
2224
01:45:42,009 --> 01:45:44,845
REPORTER 2: The landmark decision
from the United States Supreme Court
2225
01:45:44,845 --> 01:45:48,473
which has ended
Constitutional protections for abortion
2226
01:45:48,473 --> 01:45:51,101
that had been in place
for nearly 50 years
2227
01:45:51,101 --> 01:45:54,521
REPORTER 3: Evangelicals became
fully radicalized in the goal.
2228
01:45:54,521 --> 01:45:58,400
That was the justification
for the religious right's deal
with Donald Trump.
2229
01:45:58,400 --> 01:46:01,361
He single-handedly shifted
the Court far enough to the right,
2230
01:46:01,361 --> 01:46:04,239
it could finally undo
abortion rights in this country.
2231
01:46:04,907 --> 01:46:06,617
MEGAN:
In a very real way,
2232
01:46:06,617 --> 01:46:10,245
Jerry Falwell Jr. has now
officially completed the work
2233
01:46:10,245 --> 01:46:11,580
that his father began.
2234
01:46:12,247 --> 01:46:16,960
The black sheep and the rejected member
of the evangelical community
2235
01:46:16,960 --> 01:46:20,714
actually has delivered to them
in a very tangible way,
2236
01:46:20,714 --> 01:46:22,591
the one thing that they most sought.
2237
01:46:23,717 --> 01:46:26,261
RANDALL:
One of the great glories of this nation,
2238
01:46:26,261 --> 01:46:30,307
and I believe America's best idea,
is the First Amendment
2239
01:46:30,307 --> 01:46:32,267
and the separation of church and state.
2240
01:46:32,267 --> 01:46:35,103
[protesters chanting
"Separation of church and state!"]
2241
01:46:35,103 --> 01:46:38,357
This whole so-called
Christian nationalism movement
2242
01:46:38,357 --> 01:46:43,654
that insists that America was
and always has been a Christian nation,
2243
01:46:44,321 --> 01:46:46,949
the founders were
very, very clear about that.
2244
01:46:46,949 --> 01:46:49,076
Their intention
was precisely the opposite.
2245
01:46:49,743 --> 01:46:53,705
To protect the nation,
protect the government,
2246
01:46:53,705 --> 01:46:57,543
protect the people
from religious factionalism.
2247
01:46:58,210 --> 01:47:00,963
Go back on that fundamental principle,
2248
01:47:01,713 --> 01:47:03,006
to compromise that in some way,
2249
01:47:03,006 --> 01:47:06,051
I think is deeply, deeply perilous.
2250
01:47:18,939 --> 01:47:21,942
♪