Jackie speier they had identified people they wanted to kill. We were on top of a powder keg. Craig melvin its almost impossible to fathom even now more than 900 americans dead in the jungle at jonestown. It was something out of a horror movie. Don harris youre telling me this man said, drink this poison. Yeah. Don harris and they drank it . Thats right. Craig melvin we take you inside the mission that exposed the dangerous truth. Dont you touch my kids Jackie Speier im thinking, oh, my god. Its true. Everything we feared is true. Craig melvin the only Video Camera there to capture It All belonged to Nbc News. He said, i can never put this camera down. Craig melvin rare pictures and powerful details from those who survived. They were shooting Point Blank. My whole shirt was just dripping with red blood. Jackie speier all of a sudden, i was hit. I thought, oh, my god. This is it. Craig melvin a riveting look at the story that still haunts the world. The enormity of It All. And the insanity of it. It still comes up. And you just cant push it down. [theme music] hello. And welcome to dateline. Jim jones led nearly 1,000 americans to a remote area in South America promising a religious paradise. What followed was more like hell on earth, the horror almost too tragic to believe. Just what happened in that jungle . Youre about to hear from a handful of eyewitnesses who lived to tell the tale. Heres Josh Mankiewicz with jonestown an American Tragedy. [suspenseful music] Josh Mankiewicz it is a moment frozen in time a group of journalists posed on a Jungle Airstrip in South America. One day later, three of these men and the us congressman they were traveling with would be murdered by members of an american cult. A few miles away, hundreds of members of that cult would also perish in an orgy of Mass Murder and suicide. Good evening. In one of the strangest cases of Mass Suicide and murder ever recorded, the government of guyana said today Josh Mankiewicz This Is The Story behind the story of an American Tragedy called jonestown as it was recorded and reported by the journalists of Nbc News. We do have a particular interest in it. Two Nbc News men were shot to death there. Josh mankiewicz Our Story Begins In San Francisco in the Mid 70s Where A Charismatic Preacher named Jim Jones was making a name for himself and attracting a particular flock. He considered himself a socialist. And San Francisco is a very liberal community. Josh mankiewicz Tim Reiterman was a young Wire Service Reporter at the time. He was perceived as an activist preacher, somebody who practiced what he preached, somebody who brought in poor people and helped poor people. Josh Mankiewicz Jones had migrated to california from the midwest in the 60s, preaching a gospel of racial harmony and communal living. In San Francisco, his Peoples Temple ran elderly homes, offered drug counseling, and fed the poor. Jones was a darling of democrats. Politicians like Mayor George Moscone and Governor Jerry brown courted him. But the reverend Jim Jones was also controversial. He claimed to be christ reincarnated, a socialist god who could heal the sick, make the blind see, and the lame walk again. Tim reiterman jones had established a reputation as a faith healer, as someone who could remove cancers from peoples bodies. And much of this was, of course, fakery. But it did bring people through the door. Josh mankiewicz while Researching A Story About Jones for the San Francisco examiner, reiterman says he met with former followers who told Him Hair Raising stories about jones that differed from the public image, stories of disciplinary beatings and public humiliations. On one occasion, it was described he had a woman in the Inner Circle disrobe in front of everybody so that they could make fun of her body. This was also discipline, Teaching Somebody a lesson. Yeah, basically do away with your ego, identify with the group, the group alone. Josh Mankiewicz Jones had to have known if reporters were closing in, Trouble Wasnt far behind. So in the summer of 77, shortly before Press Reports Critical of the Peoples Temple were to be published, Jim Jones left town. He resurfaced thousands of miles away at a Jungle Compound the temple had established in guyana, a small country on the northeastern edge of South America. Why guyana of all places . Well, for one reason, guyana is an english speaking country. And its small enough and poor enough that the temples financial resources would buy a welcome. Josh mankiewicz over the next few months, jones brought roughly 1,000 of his followers there. [cheering] what a swing. What liberation bring. Josh mankiewicz in promotional films, jones portrayed his Jonestown Settlement Jim Jones with noodles, Chow Mein noodles. Couldnt go through all the koolaid. Josh mankiewicz as a tropical paradise. Jim jones american bananas are nothing like these. Mm, mm, mm, mm, mm. Josh mankiewicz and the new settlers urged family and friends to join them there. Itll be nice when things get worked around that you can come down and share our freedom, complete freedom here in the promised land. Armadillos are almost blind. Josh mankiewicz the Guyana Move abruptly divided many families. Joness followers gave up property and paychecks to the temple. And according to former members, jones demanded that those moving to jonestown surrender their passports. Families brought their concerns to Bay Area Congressman Leo Ryan. Complaints from constituents prompted him to form a Fact Finding Mission to find out whether the people who were living in jonestown, including the children, were free to leave or not. And Congressman Ryan went down there to see what was really true. Tim reiterman exactly. And you went with him. Tim reiterman exactly. I essentially invited myself along. Josh mankiewicz it was shortly before the 1978 midterm elections that Nbc News assigned correspondent Don Harris and a Camera Crew to accompany ryan to guyana. What first impressed me in meeting the Nbc Crew was that they were all experienced. Some had covered wars. Josh mankiewicz with little time to prepare, Harris Dove into the jonestown story. He interviewed temples supporters, critics, and high Profile Defectors like grace stoen. But you have to understand my ignorance is so great at this point. Im doing research at the same time were doing the taping, which is a tough way to operate. But there just wasnt enough time to do the homework. Well, i just wanna tell you one thing. You will never meet up with another man like Jim Jones. Don harris oh, thats for sure. Im telling you the truth. Josh mankiewicz with grim foreshadowing, debbie Layton Blakey, a defector, told harris that jones sometimes ordered his followers in guyana to drink from a vat that supposedly contained poison. Everyone stood in a line, went up and drank this red you know, it was kind of a tasted like whats this that thing, the drink little children drink, but you have to put a lot of sugar in it first . Don Harris Koolaid . Koolaid without sugar. Thats what it was. I dont know. But you know, it had a horrible taste initially. And you kind of think, well, maybe there is something in that. He said, it will take 45 minutes. And he assigned several people to faint or to pretend they were dead. Don harris how many people would you say were there then . 11 well, between 1,100 and 1,200 people. Don harris youre telling me this man took 1,100 people and gathered them together. Well, he does every day, yeah, and said Don Harris and said, drink this poison. Yeah. Don harris and they drank it . Thats right. Don harris you drank it. Yeah. Josh mankiewicz just before leaving for guyana, Cameraman Bob Brown called his Wife Connie and said this about his latest assignment. And he says, you know, if these people these people are very strange. But if half of what theyre saying is true, this is a terrible story. Its incredible. Craig melvin Coming Up, the first look inside jonestown. Ron javers when we met him the first day there, he struck me as just evil personified. Im thinking, oh, my god. Its true. Everything we feared is true. Craig melvin when dateline continues. What can you do with sensitive skin . cetaphil moisturizing Lotion Hydrates for a full 48 hours. Because a lot can happen in 48 hours. Cetaphil. We do skin. You do you. Hi. I use Febreze Fade defy plug. And i use this. Febreze has a microchip to control Scent Release so it smells firstday fresh for 50 days. 50 days . And its Refill Reminder Light means ill never miss a day of freshness. 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Dont wait call, click or visit an xfinity store today. Josh mankiewicz when Nbcs News Crew packed for the trip to guyana in november 1978, this is what they carried 70 pounds of Camera Gear at the time, that was State Of The Art and boxes full of clunky 20 Minute Video tapes. Sound Tech Steve sung did much of the heavy lifting. I had to carry the tape deck. It weighs about, oh, 35, 40 pounds, maybe 35 pounds. And theres no remote control. It just Video Feed directly into the machine. So you gotta be connected to the cameraman at all times. All time. Josh mankiewicz eight journalists would enter jonestown with Congressman Ryan, half of them from Nbc News. Cameraman Bob Brown had worked for all three networks, covering riots, shootouts, and war. Connie brown henderson ill tell you what bob told my brother before we went to vietnam. Josh mankiewicz browns Wife Connie. Nick said to him, how can you go into a War Zone without a gun . And bob said, well, first off, i figure if its that bad, therell be guns lying around. But if i dont have a gun, i can assure you im gonna get the picture of the [bleep] damned Son Of A Bitch who shoots me. Josh mankiewicz like brown, correspondent Don Harris had covered riots at Home And War in vietnam. The m16s are old and battered. Man [laughs] but they say they have enough ammunition. I always said, its gonna be ok. You know . Ill be fine. Josh Mankiewicz Shirley Oliver heard a lot of that during her 20 Year Marriage to don. I tried not to worry too much. He was in vietnam for five weeks on the front line. And they called him mr. Lucky [laughs] because he always came back. Josh mankiewicz leading the Nbc Team was veteran Field Producer Bob flick. He was a big, tall, strong, bull of a man. Josh mankiewicz San Francisco Chronicle Reporter Ron Javers. Wore a tshirt that said God Rides A Harley and had a big white golf cap. And we bonded, you know, right away. Josh mankiewicz along with javers and reiterman were washington Post Reporter Charles Krause and San Francisco Examiner Photographer Greg robinson. He says, i got it. It looks like im going to South America. Im gonna do an assignment there. Josh Mankiewicz Gregs Sister andrea robinson. I said, are you serious . Thats incr thats incredible. We were both so excited. Josh mankiewicz it took 26 hours for the ryan entourage to travel from San Francisco to georgetown, guyana. But once there, Jim Jones refused to let them visit his compound. I still hope we can work out something between mr. Jones and i. Josh mankiewicz for three days, they waited while the congressman negotiated with temple lawyers. Nbc correspondent Don Harris interviewed concerned relatives like jim cobb. Don harris what are you doing down here . Well, im here essentially to try to see my relatives. I have a mother, three sisters, and a brother that i i havent seen my sisters and brothers in about four years now. Josh Mankiewicz 28yearold Jackie Speier was Congressman Ryans legislative aide. Shed helped arrange the Jonestown Trip and knew enough to be afraid. I was concerned about making that trip. Josh Mankiewicz Temple defectors shed interviewed had told her jonestown was a virtual prison camp, a place where members were brainwashed, armed, and willing to kill for Jim Jones. I was in the process of purchasing a condo, my first home in arlington, virginia. And i literally made the Contract Contingent on my surviving the trip. Almost like you had some omen . Almost like i had a premonition about it. Josh mankiewicz it was friday, november 17, 1978 when Jim Jones finally agreed to see the Ryan Group. So far so good. Josh mankiewicz after landing in Port Kaituma, a small village a few miles from jonestown, the Ryan Group was taken the rest of the way in the back of a temple Dump Truck. It was after dark by the time the reporters finally arrived in jonestown, too dark to see anything except what Jim Jones wanted them to see. We see people all lined up in the big pavilion. They welcome us to come in. [indistinct singing] Steve Sung they start with the Music Singing like welcoming party for us. So at that point, its kinda what you thought. Its everybodys happy. You can see the video tape. The people are happy, and they will welcome us come in. Charles krause they had some very good musicians down there who did some really good music. Josh mankiewicz washington Post Reporter Charles Krause. [woman singing indistinctly] Charles Krause but i also noticed that there were people who were, like, comatose, who were, you know, clapping but without any kind of nothing related to the music. Thats a pretty clear sign that everything maybe isnt as it seems. Thats right. Josh mankiewicz presiding over all of it was Jim Jones. Ron javers when we met him the first day there in jonestown, he struck me as just evil personified. And we were almost sure that he was on drugs. And at one point, he had asked his Wife Marceline to give me a pill. And she was overheard saying, no, no pills. Josh mankiewicz in the spirit of the moment, Congressman Ryan took to the stage and complimented his hosts. I can tell you right now that from the few conversations ive had with some of the folks here already this evening that whatever the comments are, there are some people here who believe this is the best thing that ever happened to them in their whole life. [cheering and applause] Josh Mankiewicz and everybody cheers. And the sense you get is, well, everythings fine. Well, it was almost a manic cheering, almost to the point that it made you a little uncomfortable. Josh mankiewicz it was during that raucous applause that someone passed a note to Nbc Correspondent Don Harris. The note signed by two people read simply, please help us get out of jonestown. Don brings this note over to us and says, you might wanna see this. And Leo Ryan looks at it and then hands it to me. And im thinking, oh, my god. Its true. Everything we feared is true. Josh mankiewicz Don Harriss son Jeff Humphrey was 17 when his father went to guyana. He believes he knows exactly how his father responded to that note. Jeff humphrey well, this is my dads Nbc News notebook. It says its jonestown on the front of it. He was trying to write this note to somebody without anybody else knowing about it. And it says, find me tomorrow. Whether you find me or not, ill help. That secret plea for help is just the beginning. Tensions reach a Breaking Point as reporter Don Harris confronts Jim Jones. And the fragile order of jonestown starts to unravel. Coming up dont bring those kids back here Jackie Speier word started to get out that people were leaving. Craig Melvin Di