NARRATOR: This program contains subject
matter and language that may be disturbing to some viewers.
Viewer discretion is advised.
JACOB: My name is Jacob.
I'm 25, and I live in Las Vegas.
I grew up in Ford City, Pennsylvania, a small town
in the middle of nowhere, so Vegas was a total new start.
Jake's dream was to get involved in politics, first
on a campaign level and then maybe even
get into an elected position, because he
really wanted to help make a difference in people's lives.
I got a job opportunity to work for a US
senator's campaign in Nevada.
Next thing I know, I'm at the airport
having a one-way ticket to Las Vegas.
After about two years living in Vegas,
my drinking has quadrupled.
I will always have a drink in my hand.
I'm a raging alcoholic.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
The moment that I wake up, I start drinking
to keep me from not being sick.
LEE: I have no idea where Jake is getting his money.
He's lost a lot of jobs.
And I know that recently, he just got fired from a job.
I think I got this.
I feel like it's at a point where Jake would
do anything to get alcohol.
I've done a lot of things that I'm
not proud of when I'm drunk.
LEE: He's in Vegas and I'm in Pennsylvania.
So it's very hard for me to know what's
actually going on in his life.
If Jake continues down this path,
I don't think he'll see 26.
I'm drinking every single day just to forget the past.
[BLEEP] Son of a bitch.
LEE: Jacob is from the Siberia region of Russia.
And he was four years old when we adopted him in 2000.
JACOB: My parents were very religious,
and they had a dream to have a large family.
LEE: My wife and I adopted a total of eight children,
and Jacob and Hannah were the youngest.
Because there was a lot of kids,
it was very hard growing up.
Everyone was fighting for attention.
Hannah is six months younger than me,
and we were like two peas in a pod.
Hannah was the one family member that I could talk to, even
during very emotional times.
After the divorce, my mother just kind of lopped
six kids in a townhome, and there
was no structure or authority.
LEE: Jacob, he had behavioral issues.
So we got social services involved in the family
and what was going on in order to get him counseling
and what he needed.
When he was 10 years old, I was assigned
to work with Jake and his family as a social worker
through a mental health agency.
Brian is somebody that I would call almost
like a stepfather in that time.
Jake's mom had her own mental health issues.
And I could tell, working with her,
that she really struggled to give her kids what they needed.
LEE: At the time, I was totally unaware of what
all went on in that house.
But she was totally overwhelmed, I think.
And there was so much chaos going on
that she was actually recommended that they
move back into my house.
JACOB: My dad took me in and provided love.
He provided the whole 10 yards and the entire stadium to me.
LEE: Jacob was proud to be an American citizen,
and he found politics a way to express that.
JACOB: While working for these elected officials
in Pennsylvania, I've met Ted Cruz, Mitt Romney,
I've met Donald Trump, Mike Pence, Joe Biden.
BRIAN: Jake struggled in school.
He didn't finish his senior year,
but he always wanted to make a change in the world.
And over the next few years, he made a career out of it.
Jake and I met when we were both working on Trump's
presidential campaign.
Jake was doing so well, he got an offer
to work on a political campaign in Las
Vegas for Senator Dean Heller.
JACOB: The job was to work as a field
coordinator for the campaign.
I was only 22, but I jumped on that opportunity.
It was like a dream come true.
JACOB: So I got a one-way ticket to Las Vegas.
I was making a lot of money, and I got a brand new apartment.
And I was making a lot of friends.
It was exciting.
I was somebody to other people.
Being in a new state that I've never been to
and being in a new environment, it was a blessing, because it
allowed me to be myself.
So just a few months after I moved to Vegas,
I decided to come out as gay.
I didn't come out until after I moved
to Vegas, because I was afraid what my family would say.
But moving to Vegas and going to the gay bars
helped me find that sense of belonging and people
who accept me for who I am.
When I came out to my father, I was hoping that he was
going to be more supportive.
Jake's dad is a very religious man.
So coming out a gay male, he was clearly against it.
I told Jacob outright that I didn't approve of it,
and it wasn't what I desired for him to be.
My father not supporting me because I'm gay, it hurts.
As a father, acceptance is something that you
should just have in your heart.
When Jacob came out as gay, I never judged him.
But after our siblings found out,
they didn't want anything to do with him.
They completely took what family should be
and destroyed that.
Coming out as gay also played a major role
in my political career.
I was at a political event, and somebody approached me
and said, if you want to go far in politics,
then it doesn't necessarily suit your needs
if you come out as gay.
They just pretty much started to shut me out.
It got me very depressed, and that's when
I first started drinking a lot.
After coming out as gay, I think
Jake really felt rejected by his political party and his family.
I think he lost his sense of purpose.
I just started trying to see what kind of job I could get,
just to make ends meet.
And that was the point where I was just going
out every day to get drunk.
And it just continued unchecked.
Tell me about Jake.
I know that he was adopted.
He was born in the hospital, and
his mother just left him there.
So that's where his life started.
When my mom split, basically my mom didn't
want anything to do with us.
I felt like neither of us belonged there,
that nobody wanted us there.
Were there any other traumas that you can
think of that impacted Jake?
He was abused.
We were both abused by a sibling.
By a sibling?
OK.
When we were about age nine, mentally and physically.
He lived with his mother, and I wasn't there.
And I wasn't allowed to have anything to do with them.
Did the authorities get involved?
Or was anybody prosecuted, anybody arrested?
They were involved at that point
because there was so much havoc, but it managed
to get brushed under the table.
I was getting physically abused at my mom's house
by my older sibling for many, many years.
It's like a scar.
It's embedded in me.
And it changed the way that I see love.
Eventually, the problem came back to me, because his mother
told me that either he was going to come to live with me
or he would be in a foster home.
Did she say that to Jake?
Yes, she was going to give him up for foster care
unless I wanted to take him to live in my house.
And which I did.
Currently, what is your ex-wife's involvement
with Jake?
She won't even answer his phone calls.
Hi, Jake.
What's happening?
Come on in.
You know everybody.
[GENTLE MUSIC]
Good to see you.
Oh my god.
Say hello to everybody.
I'm still a little bit distressed
from the whole humiliation.
Oh, wonderful times had by all.
Please have a seat.
First of all, you know that God loves you and thinks
you're amazing, and I love you, too.
And I know that you can do anything you want to
and you can be successful at anything you want to.
I apologize for any time that I was too busy or too tired
or whatever to be there for you and Hannah because it
was a pretty tough time there.
I really care about you 100%.
I'd like to see you be the person you're supposed to be,
and I respect you for that.
I love you for that.
I just want to start out by saying, I love you.
You've been there for me through everything.
I can talk to you about anything.
I miss our talks and fun times we had.
Your addiction impacted my life because I
no longer can call you and have that relationship
we used to have.
I don't want to see you hurting or alone.
You were full of so much joy and potential.
You are worth more than anything in this world.
I'm sorry for not trying harder to protect
you like you did for me.
I know you're hurting, and I'm hurting, too, for you.
Jake, will you please accept this gift and opportunity?
You're not doing this alone.
I'm going to go do counseling for my pain
and hurting as well.
Please, I just want my brother back.
I love you as much as you love me.
I really don't like this at all.
You're putting me in a very uncomfortable situation.
Jake, will you take this gift?
Please.
I can't.
I can't accept that right now, and I will not accept it.
This is another humiliation.
The humiliation is more of being
drunk and lying on the floor.
You're really asking for a lot.
Would you be willing to give it a try?
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Yes.
LEE: Jacob needed love very bad tonight.
I love you, Hannah.
LEE: And I feel so much more relieved
that Jacob did accept the invitation and is on his way.
JACOB: To have my father, who also is my hero,
come all the way from Pennsylvania
to tell me that he loves me and cares for me,
it was very intense for me.
I feel like I have a family now.
The reason why I'm here is because we're trying
to resolve my drinking problem.
And what I look forward to is coming
out of here a changed man.
[GENTLE MUSIC]