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Wal-mart. i mean, if that tells you anything. it's a real old, historic town, built in the 1800s. >> anthony: the american dream in miniature. a place where generations of immigrants and dreamers could work and lift up their family. >> alan: the town of welch, when it was booming, the sidewalks were so crowded there would be traffic backed up like a mile. you couldn't find a place to park. we had three hospitals, had a taxi cab stand, had, like, three jewelry stores. it was just a wonderful place. >> anthony: the rest of the country took a lot of money out of these hills over the decades. bill...

[ laughter ] >> bob: we got spoiled. the last coal mines i worked at i made -- base salary was $94,000 a year. i also taught vocational school and most of the kids i had said, "well, i don't need this. i'm going to go in the coal mines." >> jina: there's just an education piece there now that we're trying to instill in some of the people that still have the mentality that coal is king. you know, we don't doubt that but we try to think outside the box to look at some other opportunities that might be there. >> thomas bell: the job that i >> coach: get more physical. let's go! run. >> anthony: t...

I'm not trying to force my opinions on anybody else. that being said, we will defend ours. >> ashley: yeah, we will. >> anthony: i was guessing. >> ashley: yeah. >> anthony: i grew up in an environment, you see somebody at the super market carrying a hand gun, that would be cause for red alert. do you think there can be common ground between somebody who grew up absolutely thinking guns are a bad thing? >> justin: i say no. >> anthony: okay, you're an honest man, i appreciate it. >> justin: i'm a responsible gun owner, why should i be crippled in what i'm able to do as far as protecting my fam...

Being part of the media, but living here, is a really big challenge because rarely, people like myself actually are the ones that control our narrative, that control our story. ♪ >> anthony: it was always too easy to come gawk at west virginia. to make it the poster child for whatever the agenda of the moment was. lazy depictions of stereotypical west virginians. hillbillies and hicks, tucked into isolated hollers to be pitied or made objects of laughter and derision. >> elaine: if you google appalachia to this day, you're going to see dirty-faced kids, bare foot on a front porch, shaking ly...

Oc in the black coal mines ♪ >> anthony: to think about, much less empathize with somebody who comes from five generations of coal miners, in a place that looks like this, is to our enduring shame, unthinkable. why can't these coal miners get retrained, maybe put up solar panels for a living? why would these conservative, deeply religious people vote for a thrice-married billionaire new yorker? well, i went to west virginia, and you know what? screw you. here in the heart of every belief system i've ever mocked or fought against, i was welcomed with open arms by everyone. i found a place bot...