>> Bill: WE ARE JUST GETTING
RIGHT OUT OF TEXAS THAT
BILLIONAIRE ROSS PEROT HAS DIED
AFTER A FIVE MONTH BATTLE WITH
CANCER.
HE IS BEST REMEMBERED AS A
CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT IN 1992.
BILL CLINTON WENT ON TO WIN, BUT
GEORGE H.W. BUSH LOST HIS
REELECTION BID.
ROSS PEROT HAD JUST TURNED 89.
THE MAN AT THE CENTER OF ALL OF
THIS IN THOSE YEARS.
ED ROBERTS, THE CAMPAIGN MANAGER
FOR ROSS PEROT.
WELCOME BACK.
OUR CONVERSATION CONTINUES.
THE FIRST TIME YOU MET HIM?
>> HE WAS VERY CHARMING.
WHAT HE DIDN'T UNDERSTAND --
ONCE HE STARTED BEING
SCRUTINIZED AS A CANDIDATE, IT
WAS A POINT IN TIME WHERE HE WAS
LEAVING ALL THREE.
39%, BOTH BUSH AND CLINTON WERE
BEHIND HIM, BUT ONCE HE STARTED
BEING SCRUTINIZED BY THE MEDIA,
HE DIDN'T LIKE IT.
IN THE CASE OF DRUM, HE LOVES
IT.
GETS IN THE FIGHT BASICALLY.
HE HAD A 1-800 NUMBER.
HE HAD 6 MILLION PEOPLE CALL AND
VOLUNTEERED TO BE A PART OF
THAT.
IT WAS A PHENOMENAL MOVEMENT.
I AM NOT SAYING HE WOULD HAVE
WON, BUT HE CERTAINLY WOULD HAVE
DONE BETTER.
>> Sandra: A WONDERFUL FAMILY
MAN AS WELL.
HE HAD A SON BY HIS NAME.
ROSS PEROT JR.
HE WAS HEAD OF THE COMPANY,
PEROT GROUP.
HE DESCRIBED HIM AS A GREAT
FAMILY MAN, WONDERFUL FATHER.
BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, A
WONDERFUL HUMANITARIAN.
>> HE WAS EXTRAORDINARY.
THE EFFORTS THAT HE MADE.
ACROSS THE COUNTRY, GREAT
AMERICAN.
POLITICS WASN'T HIS CUP CUP OF
TEA, AND HE SAID TO ME ONE DAY I
JUST WANT TO RUN A CAMPAIGN.
HE DIDN'T UNDERSTAND POLITICS
AND THE NEWS MEDIA PARTICULARLY.
>> Bill: YOU AND I HAVE
DEBATED THIS IN THE YEARS PAST.
LET'S DEBATE IT AGAIN.
DID HE CAUSED A GEORGE H.W. BUSH
A SECOND TERM?
>> HE WAS 60% OF THE COUNTRY AT
ONE TIME, LOOKING TO SOMEONE TO
FILL THAT GAP.
DID HE TAKE THAT AWAY FROM
TRUMP?
OR I MEAN FROM BUSH?
I THINK HE DID.
I MADE THE CASE THAT THERE WERE
4 MILLION REPUBLICANS --
THEY WOULD HAVE VOTED FOR THE
CHAIRMAN OF THE PARTY, EITHER
ONE.
IT WASN'T ROSS PEROT VOTERS,
PER SE.
HE GAVE SOME TIME FOR CLINTON TO
GET HIS CAMPAIGN TOGETHER.
AT THE END OF THE DAY, HE DID
NOT COST HIM THE ELECTION.
>> Sandra: WE JUST GOT WORD
THAT ROSS PEROT HAS PASSED AWAY
AT THE AGE OF 89.
THEY HAVE CONFIRMED THAT AFTER
FIVE MONTH BATTLE WITH LEUKEMIA,
HE HAS PASSED AWAY.
HE WAS DIAGNOSED JUST IN
FEBRUARY.
HE HAD A MASSIVE INFECTION THE
NEXT MONTH THAT NEARLY KILLED
HIM ACCORDING TO HIS FAMILY.
HE SHOWED UP AT THE OFFICE MOST
DAYS WITH THE OMNIPRESENT
AMERICAN FLAG ON HIS LAPEL.
>> HE WAS A TOUGH LITTLE MAN.
>> Bill: HE WAS A VERY
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSMAN, DID A
GOOD DEAL WITH IBM.
THAT REALLY CATAPULTED HIS
BUSINESS CAREER.
HIS PERSONAL FORTUNE AS WELL.
WHY DID HE MAKE THE DECISION IN
THE LATE 1980s -- SHE THOUGHT
I NEED TO BE PRESIDENT BECAUSE?
>> HE DIDN'T THINK BUSH WAS
DOING THE RIGHT THINGS ON THE
ECONOMY.
HE CLEARLY THOUGHT THAT THE
DEFICIT WAS TOO SEVERE.
HE ALSO THOUGHT OF THE MEXICAN
TRADE DEALS WORTH BAD DEALS, AND
HE REALLY TAPPED INTO THE SAME
GROUP OF VOTERS DONALD TRUMP
TAPPED INTO.
>> Bill: SO THAT MEXICO DEALS
AT THAT TIME -- HE DIDN'T LIKE
THEM.
THIS IS A GUY FROM TEXAS WHO
WOULD KNOW VERY WELL WHAT
HAPPENS WHEN YOU DO BUSINESS
ACROSS BORDERS.
BORDERS.
SPEAK OUT ABSOLUTELY.
THERE WAS A LITTLE ARGUMENT
BETWEEN HIM AND THE BUSH FAMILY.
I DON'T THINK IT WAS AS PERSONAL
AS SOME PEOPLE MADE IT OUT TO
BE.
I THINK HE CARED ABOUT WHAT
HAPPENED.
HE WOULD GO ON "THE TODAY SHOW,"
HE WOULD GET ALL OF THESE PEOPLE
SAYING YOU NEED TO RUN.
VERY MUCH LIKE THE TRUMP
MOVEMENT.
>> Bill: REMEMBER THAT NIGHT
THAT HE DID THE DEBATE?
>> SURE.
>> Bill: IT REALLY SPIKED
RATINGS.
CNN REALLY HAD THE FIELD TO
THEMSELVES IN THE EARLY '90s.
DID ROSS PEROT EMBRACE -- OR DID
HE HAVE DISDAIN FOR THE MEDIA
AND THE NECESSITY THAT WAS
REQUIRED?
>> HE HAD A DISDAIN FOR THE
MAINSTREAM MEDIA.
HE LEFT LARRY KING,
"THE TODAY SHOW," CERTAIN PEOPLE
WHO TREATED HIM WELL.
BUT HE DIDN'T LIKE PEOPLE WHO
DIDN'T TREAT HIM WELL.
HE WANTED TO BASICALLY DO HIS
OWN THING.
HE DIDN'T WANT TO ACCOMMODATE
THE PRESS.
AND THAT IS WHAT DID HIM IN IN
THE END.
>> Sandra: WHAT WAS LIKE TO
WORK SO CLOSELY WITH HIM?
>> HE WAS TOUGH.
HE DIDN'T UNDERSTAND POLITICS,
AND HE WANTED RESULTS DAY ONE.
HE WAS VERY TIGHT WITH HIS MONE
MONEY.
>> Sandra: A BILLIONAIRE.
>> HE PROMISED THE COMANAGERS
THAT HE WOULD SPEND
$152 MILLION -- BUT GETTING
EVERY PENNY OUT OF HIM WAS HARD.
>> Bill: WHY DID HE SEEK YOUR
COUNSEL AT THAT TIME?
>> I RAN REAGAN'S CAMPAIGN.
I THINK HE SAW ME SORT OF AS
SOMEONE WHO WANT TO CHANGE.
I WAS SORT OF AN OUTSIDER.
I LIKED THE IDEA OF TAKING ON
THE ESTABLISHMENT.
I GOT A LITTLE DISILLUSIONED
WITH BUSH, CHAIRMAN OF THE
CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE.
AND I THOUGHT THAT WAS VERY --
>> Bill: YOU STAND BY HIM
TODAY.
YOU DON'T THINK ROSS PEROT COST
AND THE SECOND TIME?
>> I DON'T THINK SO.
>> Bill: BUT YOU HAVE NUMBERS
THAT PROVE THEM.
>> I STAND BY THEM.
I WILL SAY THAT BUSH CAUSED
HIMSELF THE ELECTION.
>> Bill: 'S WHEN YOU THINK
ABOUT THE LATE '80s AND EARLY
'90s, HOW WOULD A GUY LIKE
ROSS PEROT DO IN AMERICA TODAY?
SPEAK OUT IF HE WOULD RUN ALL
THE WAY THROUGH, TO BE ELECTED
GOVERNOR OR SENATOR, SHORE
APPEARED TO BE ELECTED
PRESIDENT, THAT IS -- I DON'T
THINK THAT HE WOULD BE
PRESIDENT.
>> Bill: YOU TALK ABOUT
6 MILLION AMERICANS.
YOU DO THAT AT A TIME WHEN YOU
DON'T HAVE SOCIAL MEDIA.
YOU CAN FOLLOW HIM ON FACEBOOK.
>> HE WOULD SAY WHERE ARE ALL
THOSE NAMES?
LOCKED THEM AND OF ALL.
I WOULD SAY I NEED THOSE NAMES.
I NEED TO SEND OUT MAILERS.
PEOPLE WHO NEED TO VOLUNTEER AND
DO SOMETHING.
TAKE ACTION.
HE SAYS I'M NOT GOING TO SEND
THEM JUNK MAIL.
I SAID IT'S NOT JUNK MAIL.
HE HAD NO UNDERSTANDING OF
POLITICS.
HE HAD A P.R. FIRM.
HE WAS INSTINCTIVE.
HE TAPPED INTO VERY MUCH LIKE
REAGAN OR TRUMP.
UNDERSTANDING WHERE THE COUNTRY
WAS.
HE DIDN'T LIKE POLITICS, PER SE.
>> Sandra: HOW WOULD YOU
DESCRIBE HIS IMPACT ON POLITICS
TODAY?
>> I THINK HE PROVED THAT AN
INDEPENDENT CAN RUN AGAIN.
19% -- A REAL CAMPAIGN.
THAT WAS A COMEBACK.
THE THE 30 DAY CAMPAIGN.
I DROPPED OUT EARLY, HE DROPPED
OUT THE DAY AFTER I LEFT.
ALL SUMMER, DIDN'T CAMPAIGN,
CAME BACK IN SEPTEMBER.
GOT INTO THE DEBATES, AND
OBVIOUSLY, THAT WAS PROBABLY
WHAT CAUSED BUSH THE ELECTION.
>> Bill: THAT WAS IT?
YOU WONDER WHAT A YOUNGER
DONALD TRUMP HAS OBSERVED FROM
AFAR.
NEW YORK BUSINESSMAN.
LOOK AT ROSS PEROT, WHAT DOES HE
THINK?
>> I THINK HE THOUGHT HE COULD
DO IT.
HE THOUGHT FOR A LONG TIME.
THERE HAS BEEN THIS GREAT
UNTAPPED -- THE ROSS PEROT
MOVEMENT.
TRUMP MOVEMENT.
ALL PART OF THE SAME MOVEMENT.
>> JUST SORT OF ANTI-WASHINGTON.
ANTIESTABLISHMENT.
>> Sandra: DESCRIBING
ROSS PEROT'S DEATH HERE.
89 YEARS OLD, DIED AFTER A FIVE
MONTH BATTLE WITH LEUKEMIA.
HE RAN FOR PRESIDENT TWICE.
1992 AND 1996, ABOUT WHICH WE
ARE SPEAKING NOW.
HE SAID "IN BUSINESS AND LIFE,
HE WAS A MAN OF INTEGRITY AND
LIFE.
A MAN OF REVERSION, PRINCIPAL,
AND DEEP COMPASSION."
HE TOUCHED THE LIVES OF
THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE AND THROUGH
HIS CHARITABLE ENDEAVORS."
TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT.
>> HE WENT TO ANNAPOLIS.
HE DIDN'T STAY IN THE MILITARY.
YOU WOULD GO INTO HIS OFFICE, IT
WAS LIKE AN ANT APPLE'S
HALL OF FAME.
HE WAS ALWAYS WITH THE POWs,
THERE WAS A LOT OF
CONTRADICTIONS.
AT THE END OF THE DAY, HE WAS A
TRUE AMERICAN.
LOVE THIS COUNTRY DEEPLY AND
PASSIONATELY.
AND PEOPLE LOVED HIM BACK.
>> Bill: WHAT WERE THE
CONTRADICTIONS?
>> HE WENT TO ANNAPOLIS BUT
DIDN'T WANT TO MAKE A CAREER OUT
OF IT.
FIVE YEARS, WANTED TO GET OUT
INTO AND A HALF YEARS.
BASICALLY, WE LIKE TO CONTROL
THINGS, AND OBVIOUSLY, HE DID A
LOT.
>> Bill: IF HE WERE TO HAVE
RISEN TO THE LEVEL OF PRESIDENT,
WHAT DO YOU THINK HIS POLICIES
WOULD HAVE BEEN?
HOW DO YOU THINK HE WOULD HAVE
CHANGED AMERICA?
>> I THINK THE BUDGET WOULD HAVE
BEEN VERY, VERY IMPORTANT.
HE THOUGHT WE WERE SPENDING WAY
TOO MUCH MONEY.
I THINK THE KEY THING WAS VERY
MUCH LIKE TRUMP, HE DIDN'T WANT
TO BE A PARTISAN REPUBLICAN OR
DEMOCRAT.
THE KEY THING WAS ALWAYS HOW
WOULD YOU DEAL WITH THE CONGRES
CONGRESS?
>> Bill: TOUGH TO DO.
>> THANK YOU.
TAKE CARE.
>> Bill: WE ARE A MEMBER OF