Trump's Showdown (full documentary) | FRONTLINE

FRONTLINE traces the U.S. response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the devastating consequences that unfolded across four presidencies. From veteran FRONTLINE filmmaker and chronicler of U.S. politics Michael Kirk, this feature-length documentary draws on both new interviews and those from the dozens of documentaries Kirk and his award-winning team have made in the years since 9/11. "America After 9/11" offers an epic, two-hour re-examination of the decisions that changed the world and transformed America — from the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and beyond to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol — and the ongoing challenges that legacy poses for the U.S. president and the country. FRONTLINE is produced at GBH in Boston and is broadcast nationwide on PBS. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Major funding for FRONTLINE is provided by the Ford Foundation. Additional funding is provided by the Abrams Foundation; the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Park Foundation; and the FRONTLINE Journalism Fund with major support from Jon and Jo

It’s been 15 years since the rebellion in Syria against Bashar al-Assad’s government began. “The Regime” examined how the uprising started and the brutal crackdown that followed. (Aired 2011) On March 6, 2011, young boys painted messages on the walls of a school 60 miles south of Syria’s capital, Damascus. “Freedom, freedom and freedom, only,” read one message. “Down with the corrupt Assad,” read another. Soon after, the boys were rounded up by the government’s secret police. Their fathers went to see the police chief, a cousin of Syria’s then-president, Bashar al-Assad, and begged him to release their children. Airing later that year, “The Regime” examined what happened to the boys, and how outrage over their fate helped to fuel the Syrian uprising. “That very instance of repression, of torture, seemed to galvanize the town itself,” the late reporter Anthony Shadid said in the documentary. “And almost from that moment, the uprising seemed to gain momentum.” As Syrians took to the streets to protest and to call for more freedoms, the swift and brutal response by Assad’s security forces followed

An investigation into the fight for justice after a deadly 1981 attack on the village of El Mozote and surrounding areas, and how the case against high-ranking military officials faltered. (Aired 2021) This short documentary from FRONTLINE, Retro Report and ProPublica examined the horrors of what happened when U.S.-trained and equipped Salvadoran soldiers killed some 1,000 civilians, many of them children, in an attack more than 40 years ago. In the documentary, Raymond Bonner — who was one of the first journalists to bear witness to the aftermath of the massacre — recounted the experience of reporting the story and spoke with survivors of the attack. This on-the-ground investigation detailed how, for decades following the tragedy, there was little movement towards holding anyone accountable, and how the case against high-ranking military officials faltered under Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele. “Massacre in El Salvador” laid bare the nation’s grisly past and the decades-long struggle for justice. “Massacre in El Salvador” is a FRONTLINE and Retro Report production with ProPublica. The producer and writer is Kit R. Roane. The senior producers are Frank

FRONTLINE goes inside the showdown between U.S. President Donald Trump and the courts over presidential power. President Donald Trump’s allies, opponents and experts talk about how he is testing the extent of his power, the legal pushback and the impact on the rule of law. “Trump’s Power & the Rule of Law” is a FRONTLINE production with Kirk Documentary Group, Ltd. The director is Michael Kirk. The producers are Michael Kirk, Mike Wiser, Vanessa Fica and Philip Bennett. The writers are Michael Kirk & Mike Wiser. The reporters are Vanessa Fica and Brooke Nelson Alexander. The editor-in-chief and executive producer of FRONTLINE is Raney Aronson-Rath. Explore additional reporting on “Trump’s Power & the Rule of Law” on our website: FRONTLINE is produced at GBH in Boston and is broadcast nationwide on PBS. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Additional support for FRONTLINE is provided by the Abrams Foundation, Park Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the FRONTLINE Journalism Fund, with major support from Jon

FRONTLINE goes inside the fight over abortion. Drawing on a landmark FRONTLINE film from the 1980s, the documentary takes a look at both sides of the abortion divide in a community still embroiled in the conflict. (Aired 2019) In 1983 – 10 years after Roe v. Wade – a landmark FRONTLINE documentary, “Abortion Clinic”, showed the experience of and conflict over abortion like never before on American television. Nearly 40 years later, FRONTLINE returned to Pennsylvania to look at both sides of the abortion debate in “The Abortion Divide.” From producers Mark Obenhaus and Elizabeth Leiter, “The Abortion Divide” offers a window into the sometimes difficult and deeply personal choices women face with unplanned pregnancy – and examines the steadfast belief of the anti-abortion community that there should be no choice at all. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Major funding for FRONTLINE is provided by the Ford Foundation. Additional funding is provided by the Abrams Foundation; the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Park Foundation; and

Decades after the Vietnam War shattered his childhood, journalist Nguyen Qui Duc traveled to his homeland and documented the changes he witnessed in the country. (Aired 2003) Decades ago, the Vietnam War shattered Nguyen Qui Duc’s childhood. Over the years, Nguyen, who came to the U.S. as a refugee, returned to his homeland as a journalist, reporting on the country’s culture and establishing connections with writers and artists living there. In 2003, he documented a journey through Vietnam for FRONTLINE/World, looking, he said, “for home, for a bit of myself, for a country that always exists in my memory.” As Nguyen traveled to different parts of the country in “Vietnam: Looking for Home,” he shared his reflections about the nation: “It’s easy to remember Vietnam has a habit of adopting and resisting changes. The culture, the people, will survive.” Several years after “Vietnam: Looking for Home” aired, Nguyen returned to Vietnam, this time for good. He filed occasional dispatches with FRONTLINE and FRONTLINE/World, and opened an influential arts and culture salon that pushed the boundaries of Vietnam’s communist government. Nguyen