Roots in Politics

GATES: I'M HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR.

WELCOME TO "FINDING YOUR ROOTS".

IN THIS EPISODE, WE'LL MEET CONGRESSWOMAN TULSI GABBARD, SENATOR MARCO RUBIO, AND CONGRESSMAN PAUL RYAN.

RYAN: I DO.

GATES: THREE POLITICIANS FROM DRAMATICALLY DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS, UNITED BY A COMMON DREAM.

RYAN: THE CONDITION OF YOUR BIRTH DOESN'T DETERMINE THE OUTCOME OF YOUR LIFE.

THAT TO ME IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL STORY EVER TOLD IN HUMANKIND AND THAT'S THE AMERICAN STORY.

RUBIO: WHAT I THINK ABOUT AMERICA OFTEN IS, IT IS THIS ONE PLACE WHERE YOU SAID TO PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD, "MAYBE YOU LIVE SOMEWHERE WHERE THEY WON'T LET YOU BE WHO YOU KNOW YOU CAN BE BECAUSE YOUR FAMILY ISN'T THE RIGHT PEOPLE.

BUT HERE IT DOESN'T MATTER.

HERE WE'RE GOING TO JUDGE YOU BY HOW HARD YOU'RE WILLING TO WORK AND HOW MUCH YOU'RE WILLING TO REACH."

GABBARD: I HAD THE CHANCE TO GROW UP IN A PLACE THAT IS ESSENTIALLY, UM, THIS MELTING POT OF CULTURES FROM AROUND THE WORLD, WHERE YOU TRANSCEND ALL OF THESE OTHER BARRIERS THAT OFTEN TEAR PEOPLE APART.

GATES: TO UNCOVER THEIR ROOTS, WE'VE USED EVERY TOOL AVAILABLE.

GENEALOGISTS HELPED STICH TOGETHER THE PAST FROM THE PAPER TRAIL THEIR ANCESTORS LEFT BEHIND.

WHILE DNA EXPERTS UTILIZED THE LATEST ADVANCES IN GENETIC ANALYSIS TO REVEAL SECRETS HUNDREDS OF YEARS OLD, AND WE'VE COMPILED IT ALL INTO A BOOK OF LIFE, A RECORD OF OUR DISCOVERIES.

YOU ARE LOOKING AT THE RECORD OF THE MOMENT THAT YOUR ANCESTORS FIRST STEPPED FOOT IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

RYAN: HOW DID YOU GET THAT?

RUBIO: THAT'S AMAZING!

I MEAN I DIDN'T EVEN BELIEVE ANY OF THIS STUFF EXISTED.

GABBARD: THIS IS REALLY COOL.

GATES: MY THREE GUESTS HAVE DEVOTED THEIR LIVES TO PUBLIC SERVICE, DRIVEN BY VISIONS OF WHAT AMERICA IS, AND WHAT AMERICAN CAN BE.

IN THIS EPISODE, WE'LL SEARCH THEIR FAMILY TREES TO SEE WHERE THOSE VISIONS CAME FROM, INTRODUCING THEM TO ANCESTORS WHO INFLUENCED OUR NATION IN WAYS THEY COULD NEVER HAVE IMAGINED.

(THEME MUSIC PLAYS).

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ POLITICIANS LEAD VERY PUBLIC LIVES.

BUT FIRST AND FOREMOST, POLITICIANS ARE INDIVIDUALS GUIDED BY VALUES THAT THEY HAVE LONG HELD BEFORE THEY EVER CAME TO WASHINGTON, VALUES THAT WERE FORGED IN THEIR CHILDHOOD HOMES.

IN THIS EPISODE, WE'RE GOING TO LOOK AT THIS PROCESS FROM THE INSIDE, MEETING THREE OF AMERICA'S LEADING PUBLIC SERVANTS, TO SEE HOW THEIR FAMILIES SHAPED THEM, AND, BY TURN, SHAPED OUR NATION.

FOR WISCONSIN CONGRESSMAN PAUL RYAN, THE STORY BEGINS WITH A TRAGEDY.

IN 1986, HIS FATHER, AN ATTORNEY STRUGGLING WITH ALCOHOLISM, DIED AT THE AGE OF 55, AND PAUL DISCOVERED THE BODY.

RYAN: HIS SECRETARY CALLED IN THE MORNING LOOKING FOR HIM, SO I WENT TO, TO FIND HIM AND HE HAD PASSED AWAY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.

SO HE WAS, HE WAS, HE WAS DEAD.

I CALLED AN AMBULANCE.

I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO AND UM, AND THEN I HAD TO TELL THE REST OF MY FAMILY.

UM, SO YOU GROW UP REAL FAST WHEN YOU HAVE A SITUATION LIKE THAT WHEN YOU'RE 16 YEARS OLD.

GATES: PAUL'S FATHER'S DEATH WAS A WATERSHED MOMENT IN HIS LIFE.

IT DROVE HIM TO SWEAR OFF HARD LIQUOR, TO FOCUS ON SCHOOL WORK AND PHYSICAL FITNESS, AND ABOVE ALL, HE SAYS, IT TRANSFOMRED HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS MOTHER.

RYAN: MY DAD'S BUDDY PULLED ME ASIDE AT THE UM RECEPTION AFTER THE FUNERAL AT OUR HOUSE.

GATES: MM-HM.

RYAN: AND HE WAS JUST KIND OF A STOIC GUY, UH AND HE BASICALLY SAID YOU CANNOT BE A BURDEN ON YOUR MOTHER.

SHE NEEDS YOUR HELP.

YOU'VE GOT TO GROW UP AND BE A MAN OF THE HOUSE AND HE KIND OF GAVE ME THAT SORT OF LECTURE.

GATES: YEAH.

RYAN: BECAUSE SHE HAD HER OWN PROBLEMS.

SHE WAS GRIEVING AND GOING TO SCHOOL.

MY GRANDMA WAS SLIPPING PRETTY QUICKLY WITH ALZHEIMER'S SO I DID NOT WANT TO BE A PROBLEM.

SO I JUST WANTED HER TO BE PROUD AND NOT WORRY ABOUT ME AND THAT WAS BASICALLY KIND OF WHAT MOTIVATED ME.

GATES: IN THE ENSUING YEARS, PAUL'S MOTHER BECAME THE CENTRAL FIGURE IN HIS LIFE, INSPIRING HIM WITH HER OPTIMISM AND HER SENSE OF ADVENTURE, EVEN NUDGING HIM, GENTLY, TOWARDS HIS CAREER.

RYAN: I HAD, IN 1991, INTERNED FOR MY THEN US SENATOR FROM WISCONSIN, AND A GUY NAMED CAESAR CONDO, WHO WAS THE STAFF DIRECTOR AT THE TIME, SAID WE THINK YOU COULD DO THE JOB FOR THE GUY YOU JUST INTERNED FOR IN OUR OFFICE, AN ECONOMIC POLICY STAFFER RESEARCHER ON A COMMITTEE AND HE SAID AND WE CAN PAY YOU HALF AS MUCH AS WE PAID HIM.

SO, I WAS REALLY INTO SKIING AT THE TIME.

I'M A BIG MOUNTAIN... GATES: YEAH.

RYAN: I LOVE MOUNTAINS, SO I WAS INTO SKIING AND BACKPACKING AND THE REST.

I WAS THINKING OF GOING OUT WEST TO TRY TO GET A JOB AS A SKI PATROL FOR TWO YEARS.

AND MY MOM, I TOLD HER CAESAR CALLED ME AND GAVE ME THIS OFFER.

SHE KNEW ME WELL.

SHE SAID TWO YEARS ARE GOING TO TURN INTO FIVE, FIVE IS GOING TO TURN INTO TEN.

BEFORE YOU KNOW IT YOU'LL BE A SKI BUM AND YOU'LL HAVE NOTHING TO SHOW FOR YOUR LIFE.

TAKE THIS JOB.

GATES: SHE'S A GOOD MOM.

RYAN: YEAH.

GATES: LIKE PAUL RYAN, FLORIDA SENATOR MARCO RUBIO GREW UP IN A FAMILY BESET BY ADVERSITY, BUT OF A VERY DIFFERENT KIND.

MARCO'S PARENTS IMMIGRATED TO THE UNITED STATES FROM CUBA IN 1956, THREE YEARS BEFORE A REVOLUTION WOULD TRANSFORM THEIR COUNTRY FOREVER.

THEIR TIMING WAS FORTUITOUS, THEIR MOTIVATIONS WERE STRAIGHTFORWARD: THEY WERE POOR, THEY HAD LITTLE TO LOSE.

RUBIO: THEY WEREN'T POLITICAL PEOPLE, AT LEAST NOT TO MY KNOWLEDGE, BUT THERE WAS SORT OF AN AIR OF UNCERTAINTY ALREADY IN, IN CUBA AROUND THIS TIME THAT, THAT MADE SOME PEOPLE NERVOUS.

AND SO, I THINK THEIR VIEW OF, THEY DIDN'T OWN ANYTHING, THEY WEREN'T WEALTHY LANDOWNERS, THEY DIDN'T HAVE PROPERTIES OR ANYTHING AT STAKE IN CUBA, AND THEY HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO GO JUST AN HOUR NORTH AND THEN GET A BETTER LIFE UH, FOR THEMSELVES AND THEIR FAMILY, VERY TYPICAL THING THAT DREW PEOPLE HERE FOREVER.

GATES: THAT'S A BIG HOUR THOUGH, MAN.

RUBIO: IT IS.

IT'S A BIG JUMP AND I'M SURE THOSE EARLY YEARS WERE, WERE DIFFICULT FOR THEM.

GATES: MARCO'S PARENTS STRUGGLED MIGHTILY TO MAKE IT IN AMERICA, MOVING FROM NEW YORK TO MIAMI TO LAS VEGAS, WORKING IN CASINOS AND HOTELS.

IT WAS AN IMMENSE EFFORT.

BUT EVEN SO, THE COUPLE TOOK GREAT CARE TO MAKE SURE THAT THEIR CHILDREN DIDN'T SEE THEIR EXPERIENCE AS A LIABILITY.

RUBIO: I NEVER REMEMBER GROWING UP FEELING LIKE I WAS LIMITED BECAUSE MY DAD WAS A BARTENDER AND MY MOM WORKED AS A MAID AT THE IMPERIAL PALACE.

SOMEHOW THEY WERE ABLE TO INSTILL IN US THE BELIEF THAT THERE WAS NOBODY WE SAW ON TELEVISION THAT WE COULDN'T BE ONE DAY.

GATES: THAT'S FABULOUS.

MY PARENTS WERE THE SAME WAY.

THERE WAS NOTHING THAT WE COULD ASPIRE TO THAT WE COULD NOT ACHIEVE.

RUBIO: YEAH.

GATES: NOTHING.

RUBIO: THAT'S A REAL GIFT.

GATES: BUT WHERE DO YOU THINK IT CAME FROM IN YOUR CASE?

RUBIO: I DON'T KNOW, UM.

GATES: I MEAN IT'S KINDA CRAZY WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT.

RUBIO: WELL I THINK IT WAS JUST KIND OF THE POINT OF MY PARENTS' LIFE.

THEY TRIED A LOT OF DIFFERENT THINGS, AND I THINK THEIR FEELING WAS WE WOULD HAVE THE CHANCE TO DO THINGS THEY NEVER HAD A CHANCE TO DO, BUT INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH, THEY NEVER HAD A SPECIFIC DREAM FOR US, THEY JUST WANTED US TO HAVE A DREAM, WHATEVER THAT WAS, AND KINDA PURSUE IT.

GATES: MARCO, OF COURSE, DID INDEED FIND HIS OWN DREAMS TO PURSUE.

AFTER GRADUATING FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI LAW SCHOOL, HE ENTERED POLITICS, RISING TO BECOME ONE OF ONLY A HANDFUL OF LATINOS IN THE U.S. SENATE.

LOOKING BACK, HE REMAINS INTENSELY GRATEFUL TO HIS PARENTS, AND SEES HIS SUCCESS AS A VALIDATION OF THE CHOICE THEY MADE IN IMMIGRATING, AND OF THE NATION THEY CHOSE AS THEIR NEW HOME.

RUBIO: AMERICA IS THIS ONE PLACE WHERE YOU SAID TO PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD UH, MAYBE YOU LIVE SOMEWHERE WHERE THEY WON'T LET YOU BE WHO YOU KNOW YOU CAN BE BECAUSE YOUR FAMILY ISN'T THE RIGHT PEOPLE.

BUT HERE IT DOESN'T MATTER, HERE WE'RE GONNA JUDGE YOU BY HOW HARD YOU'RE WILLING TO WORK NOT ON WHAT YOUR LAST NAME IS OR WHERE, WHAT YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER DID.

GATES: MY THIRD GUEST IS HAWAIIAN CONGRESSWOMAN TULSI GABBARD.

GABBARD: ALOHA.

GATES: A RISING STAR ON THE NATIONAL STAGE.

TULSI COMES FROM A MILITARY FAMILY, AND FOLLOWED THAT SAME PATH HERSELF.

SHE JOINED THE ARMY NATIONAL GUARD IN 2003, WHEN SHE WAS 22 YEARS OLD.

THE NEXT YEAR, THE MAJORITY OF HER UNIT WAS SELECTED FOR SERVICE IN IRAQ, BUT TULSI WASN'T, SO SHE MADE A BOLD DECISION.

GABBARD: I KNEW VERY QUICKLY THAT THERE WAS NO WAY THAT I COULD STAY BACK IN BEAUTIFUL HAWAII AS YOU KNOW, MY FRIENDS AND BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN UNIFORM DEPLOYED.

GATES: SO YOU VOLUNTEERED.

GABBARD: SO I VOLUNTEERED.

I CALLED MY COMMANDER AND I TOLD HIM.

I HAVE TO GO WITH YOU GUYS.

AND, AND HE SAID, NO, YOU DON'T HAVE TO.

AND IT TOOK A FEW CONVERSATIONS FOR ME TO GET HIM TO UNDERSTAND THAT I WAS NOT GOING TO STAY HOME.

GATES: TULSI WAS SENT TO A BASE IN IRAQ NICKNAMED "MORTARITAVILLE" DUE TO FREQUENT ENEMY ATTACKS.

SHE SERVED IN A FIELD MEDICAL UNIT, OBSERVING CASUALTIES AND INJURIES ON A NEAR DAILY BASIS, CONFRONTING FIRSTHAND THE REALITIES OF WAR.

GABBARD: IT REALLY SHOWS YOU WHAT'S IMPORTANT IN LIFE AND, UM, THE SMALL THINGS FALL AWAY.

GATES: YEAH.

GABBARD: WE HAD A BIG SIGN IN OUR CAMP RIGHT ON ONE OF THE GATES WHERE THE PATROLS WENT IN AND OUT, BIG BLACK LETTERS.

IT SAID: "IS TODAY THE DAY?"

GATES: WOW.

GABBARD: AND IT WAS AN EVER-PRESENT REMINDER OF HOW FRAGILE LIFE IS AND THAT OUR TIME COULD COME AT ANY MOMENT, SO MAKE IT COUNT.

DON'T TAKE ANYTHING FOR GRANTED.

GATES: TULSI TOLD ME THAT HER SERVICE WAS A MAJOR MOTIVATION IN HER DECISION TO RUN FOR CONGRESS, DRIVING HER TO RECONSIDER AMERICA'S MILITARY POLICIES IN TERMS OF THEIR IMPACT ON SOLDIERS AND CIVILIANS.

GABBARD: WHAT WILL THE COST OF THIS BE, DEVASTATION TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, TO THE WORLD, AND WHAT, FOR WHAT?

GATES: A NOTION THAT TRULY HIT HOME WHEN SHE RETURNED TO HER FAMILY, AND SAW HOW POWERFULLY HER ABSENCE HAD AFFECTED THEM.

GABBARD: WHEN I CAME HOME FROM MY FIRST DEPLOYMENT.

WE PROBABLY LANDED AT 3 OR 4 IN THE MORNING.

WE SAW THE SUN RISING AS WE WERE MARCHING INTO UM, THIS HUGE HANGAR WHERE ALL OF OUR FAMILIES WERE GATHERED.

AND AS SOON AS THE GENERAL SAID THAT WE WERE DISMISSED, UH I RAN TO MY FAMILY AND MY DAD WAS THE FIRST ONE THAT I HUGGED AND UM, HE WAS SOBBING.

I DIDN'T, I DIDN'T KNOW HOW, YOU KNOW, I WAS SO FOCUSED IN MY WORLD AND WHAT I WAS DOING I DIDN'T FULLY REALIZE UNTIL THAT MOMENT HOW ANXIOUS AND STRESSED AND WORRIED THEY WERE.

GATES: AFTER SPENDING TIME WITH MY GUESTS, I WAS STRUCK THAT EACH HAD BEEN MOLDED AND MOTIVATED BY ADVERSITY.

AS I DUG INTO THEIR ROOTS, I FOUND THAT THEIR FAMILY TREES WERE FILLED WITH PEOPLE WHO SHARED THAT TRAIT.

BUT THEIR STORIES HAD LARGELY BEEN FORGOTTEN.

IT WAS TIME TO UNEARTH THEM.

I STARTED WITH PAUL RYAN.

AS HIS NAME SUGGESTS, HIS FATHER'S FAMILY IS IRISH, AND PAUL IS WELL-VERSED IN THEIR EXPERIENCE.

HE'S EVEN VISITED THE TOWNS IN IRELAND WHERE THE RYANS ONCE LIVED.

HIS MOTHER'S ROOTS, HOWEVER, ARE A DIFFERENT MATTER.

HE KNOWS THAT SOME OF HER ANCESTORS WERE GERMAN, BUT LITTLE MORE.

SO WE BEGAN WITH HIS MATERNAL GRANDFATHER, WHOM PAUL LOVED, AND WHOSE NAME WAS PARTICULARLY GERMAN.

THAT'S DR. ADOLPH HUTTER.

RYAN: MHMM.

CAN YOU IMAGINE HIS NAME WAS ADOLPH HUTTER?

GATES: I KNOW.

WOW.

THAT'S... RYAN: HE WAS IN THE US NAVY IN WORLD WAR II.

GATES: THAT'S TOUGH.

RYAN: YEAH.

GATES: AND YOU'VE WRITTEN THAT GROWING UP YOUR GREATEST ASPIRATION WAS TO BE LIKE DR. ADOLPH HUTTER.

RYAN: YEAH.

GATES: TELL ME ABOUT THAT.

RYAN: I ADORED THE MAN.

UGH, HE, HE, LIKE MY MOM, HE WAS A REALLY CHIPPER, HAPPY, FUNNY GUY, VERY SMART, UM, WARM.

PEOPLE LIKED BEING AROUND HIM, UM, I JUST ADORED HIM.

GATES: PAUL HAD BEEN TOLD BY HIS RELATIVES THAT THE HUTTER FAMILY ORIGINALLY IMMIGRATED TO THE UNITED STATES FROM BAVARIA.

BUT HE DIDN'T KNOW WHEN THEY CAME, OR ANYTHING AT ALL ABOUT THE DETAILS OF THEIR JOURNEY.

WE FOUND THE ANSWERS IN A PAMPHLET, WRITTEN BUT NEVER PUBLISHED BY ADOLPH'S GRANDFATHER, A MAN NAMED JOSEPH HUTTER.

RYAN: "I WAS BORN JUNE 17, 1848 IN GERMANY AND IN 1854 WE CAME TO AMERICA.

I HAD NO IDEA THEY CAME THAT EARLY.

IN 1854, WE CAME TO AMERICA STOPPING AT HAVERSTRAW, NEW YORK STATE UNTIL 1855."

GATES: HAVERSTRAW IS ABOUT 40 MILES NORTH OF NEW YORK CITY, BY THE WAY.

RYAN: OH OKAY.

NEVER HEARD OF IT.

"WE TRAVELED BY RAIL TO MILWAUKEE.

WE WERE PENNILESS, AND IN ORDER TO CONTINUE OUR TRAVEL TO MADISON BY RAIL, WE HAD TO PLEDGE ALL OF OUR PERSONAL BELONGINGS, SUCH AS BEDDING, ETCETERA, FOR WHICH WE RECEIVED $12, AND THIS TOOK US TO MADISON, WISCONSIN."

THAT'S AN IMMIGRANT STORY IF THERE EVER WAS ONE.

MAN, THAT'S A GREAT STORY.

I LOVE THAT STORY.

GATES: HAPPILY FOR PAUL, HIS ANCESTOR'S STORY WAS ABOUT TO GET EVEN BETTER.

ACCORDING TO JOSEPH, THE HUTTERS CAME TO WISCONSIN TO SETTLE IN SAUK COUNTY, WHERE THERE WAS A GROWING COMMUNITY OF GERMAN IMMIGRANTS.

BUT BY THE TIME THEY REACHED MADISON, THEY WERE PENNILESS ONCE AGAIN, AND SAUK COUNTY WAS OVER 50 MILES AWAY!

THEY HAD NOTHING LEFT TO SELL, SO THEY CONTINUED THEIR JOURNEY, ON FOOT.

JOSEPH WAS ONLY SIX YEARS OLD AT THE TIME.

RYAN: THEY WALKED 50 MILES.

GATES: YEAH 50 MILES.

THEY HAD NO MONEY.

CAN YOU IMAGINE?

RYAN: NO.

GATES: AND IF WE DO THE MATH, JOSEPH'S MOTHER WAS LIKELY PREGNANT WHEN THE FAMILY IMMIGRATED AND WHEN THE FAMILY WAS MAKING THAT 50 MILE WALK TO SAUK COUNTY.

CAN YOU IMAGINE THAT?

TALK ABOUT TOUGH.

RYAN: WOW, WOW.

PREGNANT WALKING 50 MILES TO PLAIN, WISCONSIN FROM MADISON.

IT'S A PRETTY HILLY AREA TOO.

I KNOW THAT SPOT.

WOW.

GATES: WE NOW TURNED TO THE ARCHIVES, TO COMPARE JOSEPH'S ACCOUNT WITH THE HISTORICAL RECORD.

THE 1860 CENSUS SHOWED JOSEPH AS AN 11-YEAR-OLD BOY LIVING ON THE SOUTH EDGE OF SAUK COUNTY WITH HIS PARENTS: JOHN AND BARBARA HUTTER.

THEY ARE YOUR THIRD GREAT-GRANDPARENTS.

RYAN: DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THAT.

DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THEIR NAMES.

WOW.

THAT'S REALLY SOMETHING.

GATES: NOW I'M GOING TO SHOW YOU SOMETHING REALLY COOL.

COULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?

RYAN: ALL RIGHT, ALL RIGHT.

GATES: SOMETHING YOU NEVER DREAMED YOU'D SEE IN YOUR WHOLE LIFE.

PAUL, YOU'RE LOOKING AT THE PASSENGER LIST, RYAN: OH REALLY?

GATES: FOR A SHIP CALLED THE "CAESAR", IT ARRIVED AT THE PORT OF NEW YORK ON JUNE 20, 1854.

RYAN: HOW THE HECK.

HOW DO YOU GUYS GET THIS STUFF?

HOW DO YOU DO THAT?

GATES: WOULD YOU PLEASE READ WHO WAS ON THAT SHIP.

RYAN: THERE YOU HAVE IT RIGHT THERE.

"JOHANNES HUTTER, 42, FARMER, BARBARA, 42, MICHAEL, 9, JOSEPH, 5."

GATES: YOU ARE LOOKING AT THE RECORD OF THE MOMENT THAT YOUR ANCESTORS FIRST STEPPED FOOT IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

RYAN: WOW.

WOW.

THE "CAESAR" PASSENGER MANIFEST.

GATES: MM-HMM.

RYAN: THAT'S AMAZING.

GATES: THE HUTTERS ARRIVED IN AMERICA WITH NO MONEY AND NO CONNECTIONS, AND FOUND THEMSELVES NEAR THE BOTTOM OF THE ECONOMIC LADDER.

BUT THEY DIDN'T STAY THERE FOR LONG.

PAUL'S GREAT-GREAT GRANDFATHER JOSEPH WOULD RISE UP, WORKING FOR A BRICK MASON BEFORE FOUNDING HIS OWN CONSTRUCTION BUSINESS, AND ASSURING HIS FAMILY'S SUCCESS.

RYAN: WOW.

GATES: WHAT'S IT LIKE TO SEE THAT?

RYAN: I THINK IT'S A BEAUTIFUL STORY.

I JUST LIKE THE FACT THAT I'M A PART OF THE WOVEN FABRIC OF THE COUNTRY.

I THINK THAT'S JUST REALLY INTERESTING.

I THINK IT'S REALLY INTERESTING.

GATES: YEAH, YEAH ME TOO.

RYAN: IT'S NEAT TO SEE WHAT PEOPLE DO TO MAKE A BETTER LIFE FOR THEMSELVES AND HOW HARD IT WAS TO GET GOING IN THIS COUNTY, TO GET THINGS STARTED.

GATES: YEAH AND THEY RISKED EVERYTHING.

RYAN: EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING.

GATES: AND THEY WERE JUST GLAD TO BE HERE.

RYAN: THEY WALKED 50 MILES.

GATES: AND THEY WALKED 50 MILES, YEAH.

RYAN: WHAT ARE THEY DOING, HOW DID THEY DO THAT?

YEAH.

IT'S NEAT.

GATES: IT'S INCREDIBLE.

RYAN: YEAH IT REALLY IS, IT REALLY IS.

GATES: UNLIKE PAUL, MARCO RUBIO KNOWS THE IMMIGRANTS IN HIS FAMILY TREE.

THEY'RE HIS PARENTS, WHO CAME TO THE UNITED STATES FROM CUBA IN 1956.

BUT MARCO'S DEEPER ROOTS WERE LARGELY A MYSTERY TO HIM.

AND AS WE BEGAN OUR RESEARCH, WE SOON UNDERSTOOD WHY.

HIS FATHER, MARIO RUBIO REINA, LOST BOTH OF HIS PARENTS BY THE TIME HE WAS A TEENAGER, AND ENDED UP LIVING ON THE STREETS OF HAVANA.

A TRAUMA SO DEEP, IT WAS RARELY DISCUSSED.

RUBIO: I KNOW VERY LITTLE ABOUT HIS UPBRINGING.

I KNOW HIS MOTHER DIED WHEN HE WAS VERY YOUNG OF TUBERCULOSIS OR SOME LUNG DISEASE.

AND THEN UH, HIS FATHER AT SOME POINT REMARRIED, AND UM, AND THEN, WHEN HE WAS STILL VERY YOUNG, CERTAINLY BEFORE HE WAS 18, HE MOVED OUT WITH ONE OF HIS BROTHERS AND LIVED SOMEWHERE ELSE.

YOU KNOW, THIS IS A GUY 14, 15 YEARS OF AGE ON HIS OWN.

GATES: AS IT TURNS OUT, MARCO'S FATHER WASN'T THE ONLY ONE IN HIS FAMILY TO SUFFER SUCH LOSSES.

WE DISCOVERED THAT BOTH OF MARIO'S PARENTS WERE ORPHANED AT AN EARLY AGE, MEANING THAT AT LEAST TWO GENERATIONS OF MARCO'S ANCESTORS HAD TO FEND FOR THEMSELVES AS CHILDREN.

RUBIO: YOU CAN BEGIN TO SEE WHY SOME OF THESE STORIES WERE NOT TOLD, ESPECIALLY THEY DIDN'T HAVE, IF THEIR, IF THESE KIDS WERE VERY YOUNG WHEN THEIR PARENTS DIED THEY JUST PROBABLY DIDN'T KNOW AS MUCH ABOUT THEIR PARENTS AND COULDN'T PASS IT DOWN.

AND IT CERTAINLY EXPLAINS A LOT ABOUT, MY, MY FATHER CERTAINLY WASN'T, I DON'T THINK HE WAS ASHAMED OF HIS FAMILY'S HISTORY, HE JUST WASN'T A PROMINENT FEATURE.

YOU WOULD THINK HE KIND OF, YOU KNOW, JUST APPEARED ON THE EARTH ONE DAY AND THERE WAS NOTHING THAT CAME BEFORE IT OTHER THAN VERY VAGUE NOTIONS.

GATES: AND WHO WANTS TO REVISIT ALL THAT PAIN?

RUBIO: YEAH, ABSOLUTELY.

GATES: THAT'S SAD.

RUBIO: IT IS.

GATES: I WANTED TO RECOVER THE STORIES THAT MARCO'S FAMILY HAD LOST AMIDST ALL THIS TRAGEDY.

ONE STOOD OUT AS ESPECIALLY MEANINGFUL.

IT CONCERNS HIS THIRD GREAT-GRANDFATHER, A MAN NAMED JOSE DE REINA Y TOSTA, WHO WAS BORN AROUND 1760 IN SEVILLE, SPAIN.

JOSE'S BIRTHPLACE WAS NOT UNEXPECTED, AS MANY CUBANS HAVE SPANISH ANCESTRY, BUT HIS OCCUPATION TOOK BOTH OF US BY SURPRISE.

RECORDS SHOW THAT HE RECEIVED A LAW DEGREE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF GRANADA.

RUBIO: OH WOW.

HE'S A LAWYER.

GATES: 1786.

RUBIO: SO MY GREAT- GREAT GRANDFATHER, MY THIRD GREAT-GRANDFATHER, WAS A LAWYER?

GATES: HE GOT A LAW DEGREE 200 YEARS BEFORE YOU DID.

RUBIO: WOW.

WELL, WE WAITED LONG ENOUGH.

THAT'S UNREAL.

THAT'S REALLY AMAZING.

GATES: YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE THE FIRST LAWYER.

RUBIO: I THOUGHT I WAS.

GATES: WRONG.

RUBIO: THE FIRST IN TWO CENTURIES.

BUT UH, WOW.

GATES: AND GUESS WHAT?

HE WENT ON TO BECOME A PUBLIC PROSECUTOR.

IN THE YEAR 1793 HE WAS ADMITTED TO THE ATTORNEYS PROFESSIONAL GUILD IN SEVILLE, AND HE WENT ON TO BECOME A PUBLIC PROSECUTOR.

RUBIO: SO, THERE YOU GO.

WELL, IT'S THE FIRST TIME I READ ANYWHERE THAT ANYBODY IN MY FAMILY HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH GOVERNMENT UP UNTIL ME.

GATES: JOSE NEVER REACHED THE HEIGHTS THAT HIS DESCENDENT MARCO HAS REACHED, BUT HIS CAREER IN GOVERNMENT WAS MARKED BY ONE INCREDIBLE ACCOMPLISHMENT.

IN THE EARLY 1830S, JOSE WAS SERVING IN MURCIA, A PROVINCIAL CAPITAL, WHEN A CHOLERA EPIDEMIC STRUCK THE CITY.

AMIDST STAGGERING CASUALTIES, JOSE FOUND HIMSELF THRUST INTO THE SPOTLIGHT, COORDINATING HEALTH AUTHORITIES, THE POLICE, AND THE COURTS, AS OTHER HIGH-RANKING OFFICIALS DIED OR FLED.

RUBIO: SO HE WASN'T JUST A GUY THAT WAS THERE, PUNCHING THE CLOCK.

GATES: YOU'VE HAD TO DEAL WITH HURRICANES.

RUBIO: YEAH?

GATES: CAN YOU RELATE TO HIS HANDLING OF A LARGE-SCALE CRISIS?

RUBIO: YEAH, EXCEPT THEY DON'T HAVE THE RESOURCES WE HAVE, YOU KNOW?

GATES: YEAH.

RUBIO: I MEAN JUST IMAGINING HOW THIS THING WAS SPREADING, PROBABLY HAD PEOPLE CLOSE TO HIM.

THEY WERE LIVING THE TRAGEDY ALONG WITH HAVING TO ADMINISTER IT.

YOU KNOW, PEOPLE YOU KNEW, PEOPLE THAT WORKED FOR YOU ALL OF A SUDDEN GOT SICK, SO YOUR WORKFORCE WAS UNDER ATTACK.

IT MUST'VE BEEN AN EPIC CRISIS AND VERY DIFFICULT TO HANDLE, BUT HE COULD'VE LEFT AND HE STAYED.

GATES: HOW'S THAT MAKE YOU FEEL?

RUBIO: I GOT SOME SHOES TO FILL, HUH?

GATES: JOSE SURVIVED THE EPIDEMIC, LIVING UNTIL HE WAS ABOUT 70 YEARS OLD.

HIS SON, MARCO'S GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER, ALSO TOOK UP GOVERNMENT WORK, SERVING IN THE PAY CORPS OF THE SPANISH ARMY.

SURVEYING THEIR LIVES, MARCO WONDERED HOW THESE ANCESTORS MAY HAVE INFLUENCED HIM, EVEN THOUGH THEIR STORIES HAD BEEN LOST.

RUBIO: THOSE CAMPAIGNS THAT I RAN MY DAD LOVED THEM, I MEAN HE LOVED BEING INVOLVED IN IT AND LOVED DOING IT.

I CAN'T IMAGINE HE KNEW ANY OF THIS, LIKE NO ONE'S EVER TOLD US ANY OF THIS.

SO IT JUST KINDA TELLS YOU THAT SOMEWHERE, YOU KNOW, IN, IN THEIR BLOOD BACK THEN IT WAS SOMEONE WHO CARED ABOUT AND WAS INVOLVED IN GOVERNMENT SERVICE AND, AND THEN THERE WAS THESE THINGS THAT MADE IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR THREE GENERATIONS TO DO IT, AND THEN SUDDENLY YOU PUT SOMEONE IN THE RIGHT ENVIRONMENT AND THEY WIND UP, YOU KNOW, IN THE US SENATE.

THAT'S JUST UNBELIEVABLE.

GOD.

WOW.

GATES: LIKE MARCO, MY NEXT GUEST, HAWAII'S TULSI GABBARD, SEEMS TO HAVE INHERITED A CALL TO SERVE.

INDEED, THE VERY REASON THAT THE GABBARD FAMILY ENDED UP IN THE PACIFIC AT ALL LIES WITH THE MILITARY.

TULSI'S GREAT-GRANDFATHER, A MAN NAMED BENJAMIN GABBARD, CAME TO SAMOA AS A SAILOR WITH THE U.S. NAVY.

AND WHILE ON LEAVE, HE VISITED THE ISLAND OF APIA, WHERE HE MET A LOCAL RESIDENT.

A WOMAN, NAMED CARRIE BARTLEY.

WE PICK UP THE COUPLE'S STORY IN A 1920 EDITION OF THE "SAMOA TIMES".

GABBARD: "A MAN-O'-WARSMAN SPENT HIS WEEKEND AT APIA.

DURING HIS SHORT STAY HE WAS MARRIED TO A SAMOAN BELLE, THE BRIDE WAS MISS CARRIE BARTLEY, THE BRIDEGROOM, MR. B.H.

GABBARD, WAS ATTENDED BY A NUMBER OF HIS COMPANIONS IN THE U.S.

NAVY."

GATES: THAT'S YOUR GREAT-GRANDPARENTS' WEDDING ANNOUNCEMENT.

ISN'T THAT COOL?

GABBARD: THAT IS COOL.

"SAMOAN BELLE."

GATES: SAMOAN BELLE.

GABBARD: LITTLE DIFFERENT THAN THE SOUTHERN BELLE.

GATES: INDEED.

THE NAVY WAS THE ONLY REASON THAT HE WAS IN SAMOA, WITHOUT IT YOU NEVER WOULD HAVE BEEN BORN.

SO THANK GOD FOR THE NAVY.

GABBARD: YES.

GATES: TO TRACE THE ROOTS OF TULSI'S GREAT-GRANDPARENTS, WE FOUND OURSELVES EXPLORING ARCHIVES SCATTERED ACROSS THE GLOBE.

BENJAMIN'S ROOTS STRETCH THROUGH KENTUCKY, VIRGINIA AND PENNSYLVANIA TO GERMANY!

CARRIE'S MOTHER WAS A SAMOAN NATIVE, WITH ANCESTORS WHO HAVE LIKELY BEEN IN THE PACIFIC ISLANDS FOR CENTURIES.

AND CARRIE'S FATHER, A MAN NAMED CHARLES BARTLEY, WAS BORN IN A PLACE THAT TULSI HAD NEVER ASSOCIATED WITH HER FAMILY.

WANT TO TAKE A WILD GUESS WHERE WE FOUND HIM?

I'LL GIVE YOU A NICKEL.

GABBARD: I DON'T KNOW.

CALIFORNIA?

GATES: YOU LOSE.

GABBARD: I OWE YOU A NICKEL.

GATES: YOU OWE ME A NICKEL.

PLEASE TURN THE PAGE.

TULSI, ON THE RIGHT IS A BIRTH REGISTER FROM THE YEAR 1858.

WOULD YOU PLEASE READ THE TRANSCRIPTION?

SURPRISE.

GABBARD: "BIRTHS IN THE DISTRICT OF AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND.

GATES: TULSI, YOU HAVE ROOTS IN NEW ZEALAND.

THIS IS WHERE YOUR PEOPLE COME FROM.

DID YOU HAVE ANY IDEA?

GABBARD: NO.

NO.

WOW.

THIS IS REALLY COOL.

GATES: CHARLES BARTLEY IS TULSI'S GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER, AND HIS BIRTHPLACE POSED A QUESTION: HOW DID SOMEONE BORN IN NEW ZEALAND IN THE 1850S END UP STARTING A FAMILY IN SAMOA IN THE 1880S?

THE ANSWER LAY IN A SAMOAN ENCYCLOPEDIA, WHERE CHARLES' LIFE SOUNDED LIKE THE PLOT OF AN ADVENTURE NOVEL.

GABBARD: "MR. CHARLES BARTLEY, STOREKEEPER AND TRADER, OF SALANO, SAVAII, WAS BORN IN AUCKLAND IN 1857, BUT WAS EDUCATED IN APIA, HAVING BEEN ONLY FIVE YEARS OLD GONE WITH HIS PARENTS TO SAMOA.

AT TEN YEARS OF AGE, HE RAN AWAY TO SEA AND SPENT 12 YEARS IN A ROAMING LIFE."

GATES: WHAT A STORY!

ACCORDING TO THIS ENCYCLOPEDIA, YOUR FAMILY LEFT NEW ZEALAND FOR SAMOA SOMETIME AROUND 1862, WHEN CHARLES WAS FIVE YEARS OLD.

BUT CHARLES DIDN'T STAY LONG IN HIS NEW HOME.

AS THIS TELLS US, AT THE AGE OF TEN HE WENT TO SEA.

CAN YOU IMAGINE?

A TEN-YEAR-OLD ON A SHIP?

GABBARD: GOSH.

NO.

GATES: HOW DO YOU THINK STORIES LIKE THIS ARE LOST?

GABBARD: I DON'T KNOW.

I THINK THAT MY PARENTS THEY'RE HUMBLE PEOPLE AND I THINK SOMETIMES NOT DOCUMENTING AND NOT TAKING THE TIME TO FOCUS ON THIS BECAUSE YOU'RE FOCUSING ON WHAT'S RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU STORIES LIKE THIS PROBABLY, UM, FELL TO THE BACK.

GATES: WHAT'S YOUR DAD GOING TO MAKE OF THIS STORY?

GABBARD: I THINK HE WILL BE MIND-BLOWN.

GATES: WE CAN'T VERIFY THE ENCYCLOPEDIA'S ACCOUNT OF CHARLES' ROAMING YOUTH, BUT WE DO KNOW THAT HE DID, IN FACT, SETTLE IN SAMOA AND THAT HE DID INDEED BECOME A TRADER.

WE ALSO KNOW THAT AS AN ADULT, CHARLES FACED A DAUNTING CHALLENGE, ONE THAT WOULD HAVE SPECIAL SIGNIFICANCE TO TULSI.

IN 1905, A SAMOAN VOLCANO ERUPTED, SENDING LAVA RUSHING STRAIGHT TOWARDS CHARLES' DOOR.

GABBARD: "LAVA SPREADS OVER ISLAND.

THE VOLCANO ON THE ISLAND OF SAVAII IS STILL ACTIVE.

SOME PERSONS WILL NOT LEAVE THEIR HOUSES UNTIL THE DWELLINGS ARE ACTUALLY SET ON FIRE BY THE BURNING LAVA.

THE LAVA HAS DESTROYED ALL OF SALAGO, INCLUDING THE HOME OF MR. BARTLEY, A WELL-KNOWN RESIDENT."

GATES: CHARLES LOST HIS HOME.

GABBARD: GEEZ.

GATES: THIS ERUPTION WAS HUGE INTERNATIONAL NEWS, AND YOUR GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER CHARLES WAS MENTIONED BY NAME IN MANY ARTICLES, IN MANY NEWSPAPERS.

IN FACT, A PHOTO OF HIS HOUSE RIGHT BEFORE IT WAS DESTROYED MADE IT INTO AN AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPER CALLED "THE TOWN AND COUNTRY JOURNAL."

THERE IT IS ON THE LEFT.

GABBARD: "MR. H. C. BARTLEY'S HOUSE, TAKEN AT 1 PM ON SATURDAY, JANUARY 27, 1906.

LAVA CAN BE SEEN OVER THE BUGGY IN THE DISTANCE, SOME 60 YARDS AWAY.

THE HOUSE WAS BURNED AND STONE COVERED HALFWAY UP THE WINDOWS AT 11 O'CLOCK THE SAME NIGHT."

GATES: CAN YOU IMAGINE?

GABBARD: SADLY I CAN BECAUSE WE ARE LITERALLY SEEING THIS HAPPENING ON HAWAII ISLAND.

GATES: RIGHT NOW.

GABBARD: RIGHT NOW.

I WAS JUST THERE AND BOTH FLEW OVER AND WALKED ON THE LAVA THAT HAS BEEN SPOUTING.

GATES: WOW, THAT'S AMAZING.

GABBARD: AND IT'S JUST YEAH, BEEN INCREDIBLE TO SEE HOW COMPLETELY IT HAS CHANGED EVERYTHING.

I MEAN HOUSES THAT I SAW, FARMS THAT I SAW DURING THE FIRST WEEK OF THE ERUPTION NOW ARE, IT'S LIKE THEY NEVER EXISTED.

GATES: THE VOLCANO ON CHARLES' ISLAND CONTINUED TO ERUPT FOR SIX YEARS, AND DESTROYED MUCH OF WHAT HE OWNED.

BUT TULSI'S ANCESTOR REFUSED TO FOLD .

GABBARD: "MR. BARTLEY IS THE LARGEST LOSER BY THE PRESENT VOLCANIC ERUPTION, HAVING HAD HIS TWO STORES AND CONTENTS BURNED, AND HIS BOAT HAS ALSO GONE.

MR. BARTLEY, HOWEVER, IS MADE OF STERN STUFF AND IS NOT DISCOURAGED.

HE IS NOW PREPARING FOR A FRESH START BEYOND THE REACH OF THE PRESENT VOLCANIC OUTBREAK."

GATES: STERN STUFF.

GABBARD: TRULY A TOUGH GUY.

GATES: YEAH.

DOES THIS SOUND LIKE ANYBODY IN YOUR FAMILY?

GABBARD: OH, YES.

GATES: PRETTY COOL.

GABBARD: YES.

THAT'S REALLY SPECIAL.

GATES: WE HAD ALREADY TAKEN PAUL RYAN BACK TO HIS GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER, JOSEPH HUTTER, A GERMAN IMMIGRANT WHO FOUNDED A CONSTRUCTION BUSINESS IN WISCONSIN.

NOW, WE WANTED TO GO FURTHER ON THIS LINE, TO SEE WHERE EXACTLY THE HUTTER FAMILY ORIGINATED, AND TRY TO LEARN WHY THEY MADE THEIR JOURNEY TO AMERICA.

THESE ARE QUESTIONS THAT HAVE LONG ANIMATED PAUL.

AS, GROWING UP, HIS GERMAN ROOTS WERE NEVER AS MUCH-DISCUSSED AS HIS IRISH HERITAGE.

RYAN: I ALWAYS WONDERED WHY THEY IMMIGRATED.

I DIDN'T KNOW.

BECAUSE I KNOW THE FAMINE IRISH.

I KNOW THE IRISH STORY.

THAT'S A PRETTY SIMPLE STORY, YOU KNOW.

GATES: YEAH, SURE.

RYAN: BUT I NEVER REALLY KNEW THE BAVARIAN STORY, BUT I DON'T KNOW IF YOU KNOW THAT OR NOT.

YOU'RE GONNA GET THERE.

GATES: WAIT AND SEE.

RYAN: I HAVE NO CLUE.

I DON'T WHY.

GATES: TRACING PAUL'S FAMILY IN GERMANY WOULD PROVE TO BE A SUBSTANTIAL TASK.

WE KNEW THAT JOSEPH HUTTER ARRIVED IN NEW YORK IN 1854, BUT HIS ARRIVAL RECORD DIDN'T NAME HIS HOMETOWN.

SO ALL WE HAD TO GO ON WAS A FAMILY STORY THAT THE HUTTERS ORIGINALLY CAME FROM BAVARIA.

FORTUNATELY, BAVARIAN CHURCHES KEEP VERY GOOD RECORDS.

RYAN: JOHANNES HUTTER, BORN JANUARY 6TH, 1812 IN HOCHABRUNN.

PARENTS: JOHANNES HUTTER, WEAVER, WEAVER IN HOCHABRUNN, AND HIS WIFE MARGARETHA."

GATES: YOU'RE LOOKING AT THE BAPTISMAL RECORD... RYAN: HOW DO YOU GUYS GET THIS STUFF?

GATES: FROM 1812 FOR YOUR THIRD GREAT-GRANDFATHER, YOUR GREAT-GREAT- GREAT-GRANDFATHER'S BAPTISMAL RECORD.

RYAN: HOW DID YOU GET THAT?

YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME.

GATES: AND JOHANNES OF COURSE BECAME KNOWN AS JOHN.

RYAN: YEAH.

MY GOSH.

GATES: WE NOW KNEW THAT PAUL'S ANCESTORS CAME FROM HOCHABRUNN, A VILLAGE ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF THE TOWN OF WALDMUCHEN IN EASTERN BAVARIA.

AND THIS ALLOWED US TO PROVIDE SOME CONTEXT TO HIS FAMILY'S DECISION TO EMIGRATE.

BY THE TIME THE HUTTERS LEFT, IN 1854, MOST OF HOCHABRUNN'S POPULATION WERE TRADESPEOPLE OR TENANT FARMERS, EARNING A MEAGER LIVING, OFTEN STRUGGLING SIMPLY TO FEED THEMSELVES.

THEY LEFT LITTLE EVIDENCE OF THEIR LIVES BEHIND, BUT PAUL WAS THRILLED TO SEE ANYTHING WE COULD FIND.

RYAN: "JOHANNES HUDERER.

BORN JANUARY 29," THAT'S MY BIRTHDAY.

GATES: OH, WOW.

RYAN: 1788 IN HOCHABRUNN.

"PARENTS: JOHANN", OH MY!

GATES: YEAH, JOHANN.

RYAN: "JOHANN ADAM HUDERER, WEAVER IN HOCHABRUNN, AND HIS WIFE BARBARA."

GATES: THIS IS ANOTHER BAPTISMAL RECORD, FOR YOUR FOURTH GREAT-GRANDFATHER.

RYAN: FOURTH GREAT-GRANDFATHER.

GATES: YEAH, JOHANNES.

AND NOW... RYAN: NOBODY IN MY ENTIRE FAMILY KNOWS ANY OF THIS STUFF.

NOBODY KNOWS THIS STUFF.

GATES: WOW, THAT'S GREAT.

WELL YOU JUST MET ANOTHER GENERATION OF YOUR FAMILY, YOUR FIFTH GREAT-GRANDPARENTS, HIS PARENTS JOHANN ADAM HUDERER, ANOTHER WEAVER AND HIS WIFE BARBARA, BABL, JOHANN OR ADAM AS HE WAS KNOWN, WAS BORN APRIL 1, READY FOR THIS?

1757 IN HOCHABRUNN.

RYAN: 1757.

GATES: 1757.

THAT'S 18 YEARS BEFORE THE BATTLES OF CONCORD AND LEXINGTON.

RYAN: YEAH, RIGHT, RIGHT.

MY GOSH.

GATES: IT'S AMAZING.

WHAT'S IT LIKE TO SEE THAT DOCUMENT?

RYAN: I DON'T KNOW.

I CAN'T, I NEVER, I DIDN'T EXPECT YOU TO DO THIS.

WOW.

THAT'S REALLY SOMETHING.

I DON'T REALLY HAVE WORDS FOR THIS.

I'M AMAZED YOU FOUND THIS STUFF.

GATES: YOU HAVE DEEP ROOTS IN GERMANY AND WE DON'T KNOW FOR SURE BUT WE THINK THEY CAME FOR ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY.

THAT'S THE ONLY THING THAT MAKES SENSE.

RYAN: THAT'S MY GUESS, I GUESS.

I MEAN, YEAH... GATES: LET ME PUT IT THIS WAY.. RYAN: POOR FARMERS IN BAVARIA AND THEY CAME FOR.

GATES: PEOPLE WITH A LOT OF MONEY IN THE BANK DON'T MIGRATE.

RYAN: YEAH.

RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT.

GATES: WE HAD ONE MORE SURPRISE FOR PAUL: A SECRET HIDDEN WITHIN HIS OWN DNA.

WHEN WE ANALYZED HIS ADMIXTURE, WHICH REFLECTS HIS ANCESTRY OVER ROUGHLY THE LAST 500 YEARS, WE DISCOVERED THAT HIS HERITAGE WAS MORE VARIED THAN THE PAPER TRAIL HAD REVEALED.

COULD YOU READ YOUR ADMIXTURE PERCENTAGES?

RYAN: OKAY.

61% IRISH/SCOTTISH/WELSH.

GATES: WHAT A SHOCK!

RYAN: WHAT A SHOCK!

61% IRISH.

15% SCANDINAVIAN, 9% EASTERN EUROPEAN, 3% ASHKENAZI JEWISH, THAT'S REALLY COOL.

GATES: THAT IS A LOT.

RYAN: IS IT REALLY?

GATES: YEAH, THAT MEANS SOMEWHERE, THERE'S A JEWISH GUY THERE.

RYAN: THAT'S REALLY COOL.

YEAH, THERE'S A JEWISH GUY IN THERE SOMEWHERE.

GATES: OR A WOMAN.

RYAN: YEAH, YEAH, YEAH.

RIGHT!

VERY COOL.

GATES: THREE PERCENTAGE POINTS INDICATES THAT PAUL COULD HAVE A THIRD GREAT-GRANDPARENT OF FULL ASHKENAZI JEWISH DESCENT, THOUGH IT IS ALSO POSSIBLE THAT HE HAS MULTIPLE LINES WITH MORE DISTANT JEWISH ANCESTRY.

REGARDLESS, THE DNA EVIDENCE IS UNEQUIVOCAL: PAUL RYAN HAS JEWISH ROOTS.

A RESULT THAT HE WELCOMES, AS A REFLECTION OF AMERICA'S GREAT DIVERSITY.

RYAN: I THINK OF THE MELTING POT.

I THINK OF THE FACT THAT YOU CAN COME FROM ANY BACKGROUND WHATSOEVER AND MAKE IT IN THIS COUNTRY BECAUSE OF FREEDOM, BECAUSE OF OUR SYSTEM, BECAUSE OF PLURALISM.

GATES: IT'S WHO WE ARE.

IT'S PART OF OUR CULTURAL DNA.

RYAN: YEAH.

I THINK THAT'S FASCINATING.

GATES: YEAH, IT IS.

RYAN: IT IS.

GATES: WE'D ALREADY INTRODUCED TULSI GABBARD TO HER GREAT-GRANDFATHER BENJAMIN, THE SAILOR WHO CAME TO SAMOA WITH THE U.S. NAVY.

NOW, TURNING TO HER MOTHER'S FAMILY TREE, WE CAME UPON ANOTHER MILITARY STORY, FROM A VERY DIFFERENT TIME AND PLACE.

TULSI'S THIRD GREAT GRANDFATHER, A MAN NAMED LEWIS PORTER, GREW UP IN PENNSYLVANIA AS THE UNITED STATES MOVED INEXORABLY TOWARDS THE CIVIL WAR.

GATES: DID YOU HAVE ANY IDEA?

GABBARD: NO.

NO.

I'VE, I'VE YOU KNOW, LOVED READING ABOUT IT AND LEARNING ABOUT IT AND YOU KNOW, WE'VE GONE THROUGH GETTYSBURG AND YOU KNOW, SEEN SOME OF THE REENACTMENTS BUT I HAVE NEVER IMAGINED THAT MY ANCESTORS WERE THERE FOR THAT.

GATES: COULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?

NOW, YOU KNOW WHERE THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES IS, RIGHT?

GABBARD: YES.

GATES: THIS IS A PAGE OF A RECORD THAT WE FOUND IN THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES.

WOULD YOU MIND READING THE TRANSCRIBED SECTION?

GABBARD: "STATE OF OHIO, TOWN OF WARREN.

I, LEWIS PORTER, BORN IN PENNSYLVANIA, AGE 40 YEARS, VOLUNTEERED THIS 31 DAY OF MARCH 1864 TO SERVE AS A SOLDIER IN THE ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA."

WOW!

GATES: YOUR GREAT-GREAT- GREAT-GRANDFATHER VOLUNTEERED TO FIGHT IN THE UNION ARMY AGAINST THE CONFEDERACY, HOW DOES THAT MAKE YOU FEEL?

GABBARD: WOW.

HONORED.

GATES: TULSI'S ANCESTOR NOT ONLY VOLUNTEERED, HE SERVED IN ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT CAMPAIGNS OF THE ENTIRE WAR.

IN THE SPRING OF 1864, JUST WEEKS AFTER HE'D ENLISTED, LEWIS PORTER'S REGIMENT SET OFF UNDER GENERAL WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN, ON HIS FAMED ATLANTA CAMPAIGN.

WITH LITTLE TRAINING, LEWIS SUDDENLY FOUND HIMSELF MOVING SOUTH, STRAIGHT INTO THE HEART OF THE CONFEDERACY.

NOW, YOU'VE SEEN COMBAT, GABBARD: YEAH.

GATES: HOW DO YOU THINK LEWIS MUST HAVE FELT?

GABBARD: OH, MY GOSH.

THIS IS A TOTALLY DIFFERENT LEVEL I MEAN, WHAT THEY, WHAT THEY WENT THROUGH.

I ACTUALLY, AS PART OF MY OFFICER CANDIDATE TRAINING, IN ORDER TO EARN MY COMMISSION AS A LIEUTENANT WE WENT AND WALKED THROUGH THOSE BATTLEFIELDS AND HEARD ABOUT YOU KNOW, THE TACTICS AND THE BATTLES THAT WERE FOUGHT THERE.

GATES: AND IT NEVER OCCURRED TO YOU THAT ONE OF YOUR ANCESTORS COULD BE THERE.

GABBARD: GOSH, NO.

GATES: THAT'S AMAZING.

THAT IS AMAZING THAT YOU'VE BEEN THERE.

GABBARD: IT WAS COOL JUST TO BE THERE AND KIND OF WALK THROUGH THOSE FOOTSTEPS THAT THEY TOOK, BUT UM, NO, I, THE THOUGHT NEVER CROSSED MY MIND.

GATES: THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN WOULD PROVE A SPECTACULAR SUCCESS.

BUT IT CAME AT A HEAVY COST.

THE UNION WAS OPPOSED BY ONE OF THE LARGEST ARMIES IN THE CONFEDERACY.

AND THE TWO FORCES SOON FACED OFF AT A SMALL TOWN IN NORTHERN GEORGIA KNOWN AS RESACA.

FOR TWO DAYS, THE UNION STRUGGLED TO DRIVE THE CONFEDERATES FROM THE FIELD, FIGHTING ON TERRAIN THAT WAS ILL-SUITED FOR AN ATTACK.

LEWIS'S REGIMENT WAS ON THE FRONT LINES.

WE FOUND A NEWSPAPER ARTICLE, WRITTEN JUST WEEKS AFTER THE BATTLE, THAT DESCRIBES WHAT THEY ENDURED.

GABBARD: "PORTIONS OF PALMER'S CORPS, IN ATTEMPTING TO CHARGE THE REBELS IN FRONT, WERE COMPELLED TO WADE A CREEK WAIST DEEP, WHICH RAN AT THE FOOT OF THE BLUFF; AND THEN ACROSS A VALLEY FILLED WITH DITCHES, FULLY EXPOSED TO A FIRE FROM THE REBEL WORKS.

NEVER DID MEN GO TO WORK MORE GALLANTLY, OR CONTEST MORE NOBLY; BUT THEY COULD NOT ACCOMPLISH IMPOSSIBILITIES, AND, AFTER SEVERE LOSS, WERE OBLIGED TO WITHDRAW."

GATES: COULD YOU IMAGINE?

GABBARD: IT'S TOUGH.

GATES: NOW, WE DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED TO LEWIS IN THAT BATTLE, BUT HIS REGIMENT WAS ASSAULTING THE VERY SAME CENTER STRETCH OF THE CONFEDERATE LINE DESCRIBED IN THAT ARTICLE.

HE AND HIS COMRADES LIKELY DESCENDED A STEEP RIDGE, AND THEN CROSSED A CREEK AND SCALED AN ALMOST VERTICAL SLOPE WHERE THE CONFEDERATES HAD DUG EARTHWORKS, ALL THE WHILE EXPOSED TO DIRECT ENEMY ARTILLERY AND RIFLE FIRE.

GABBARD: JEEZ.

GATES: SO HE WAS OUT THERE.

I MEAN HE WAS EXPOSED.

HE WAS ON THE LINE.

DO YOU FEEL A SENSE OF PRIDE?

FOR YOUR... GABBARD: I DO, I REALLY DO.

JUST... GATES: KNOWING THAT THIS GUY EXISTS ON YOUR FAMILY TREE?

GABBARD: ABSOLUTELY.

YOU KNOW?

IT SAYS A LOT ABOUT THIS ETHIC OF SERVICE... GATES: INDEED.

GABBARD: GOING BACK MUCH FARTHER THAN I KNEW.

GATES: LEWIS PORTER SURVIVED RESACA, BUT SOON FACED AN EVEN GREATER ORDEAL.

JUST DAYS AFTER THE BATTLE, HE TOOK ILL, AND WAS SENT TO A FIELD HOSPITAL.

HE NEVER FULLY RECOVERED.

OVER THE NEXT SIX MONTHS, LOUIS WAS TREATED IN FOUR DIFFERENT HOSPITALS, SUFFERING FROM STOMACH AILMENTS THAT WOULD PERSIST FOR DECADES FOLLOWING THE WAR.

ONE OF HIS DOCTOR'S DESCRIBED HIS CONDITION IN SOME DETAIL, AS PART OF LEWIS'S APPLICATION FOR AN INVALID PENSION, FILED IN 1882.

GABBARD: "I HAVE CAREFULLY EXAMINED LEWIS PORTER, LATE A PRIVATE, CO. A., 105TH REG'T, OHIO INFANTRY WHO IS AN APPLICANT FOR AN INVALID PENSION, THE SAID LEWIS PORTER IS ONE-FOURTH INCAPACITATED.

THE DISABILITY IS PROBABLY PERMANENT.

LEWIS PORTER STATES THAT HE SUFFERS AND THAT HE IS LABORING UNDER THE DISEASE AT THIS TIME."

THIS IS 1882.

GATES: HE WAS DISCHARGED FROM THE ARMY ON JULY 22ND, 1865, I MEAN THE POOR GUY IS STILL.

GABBARD: SUFFERING STILL.

I MEAN THIS UNFORTUNATELY UM, I MEAN THIS REMINDS ME OF WHAT I HEAR FROM VIETNAM VETERANS WHO CALL AND ASK FOR HELP AND WHO SIMILARLY DECADES, DECADES AFTER COMING HOME ARE STILL SUFFERING.

GATES: YEAH.

GABBARD: YOU CAN TALK ABOUT THE DOLLARS AND CENTS, BUT IT'S NOT TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE HUMAN COST AND WHAT OUR COUNTRY PROMISES TO THOSE WHO GO AND SERVE.

GATES: WE PROMISE THEM EVERYTHING AND THEN TREAT THEM AS IF THEY'RE AN EMBARRASSMENT TO THE COUNTRY.

GABBARD: SADLY.

GATES: LEWIS PORTER SUFFERED A GREAT DEAL FOR HIS COUNTRY, BUT HIS STORY HAS A SURPRISINGLY HAPPY ENDING.

RECORDS SHOW THAT LEWIS LIVED TO BE 86 YEARS OLD, NOT ONLY THAT, HE MANAGED TO HAVE A FULL LIFE DESPITE HIS ILLNESS, MARRYING THREE TIMES, AND FATHERING AT LEAST 12 CHILDREN.

GATES: HE MIGHT HAVE BEEN SICK BUT HE WASN'T DEAD.

GABBARD: THAT'S RIGHT.

GATES: WHAT'S IT BEEN LIKE FOR YOU TO LEARN THIS STORY?

GABBARD: IT'S INCREDIBLE AND EXCITING TO HEAR AND IN MY OWN VERY SMALL WAY BE ABLE TO RELATE IN SOME FASHION TO THE CHOICES THAT HE MADE UM, TO VOLUNTEER AND UM, GOSH, WHAT HE WENT THROUGH.

GATES: DID IT EVER OCCUR TO YOU WHEN YOU'RE FIGHTING TO GET YOUR NAME ADDED TO THE DEPLOYMENT LIST THAT BASICALLY YOU'RE CHANNELING YOUR THIRD GREAT-GRANDFATHER.

YOU KNOW, YOU'RE CARRYING OUT A TRADITION.

GABBARD: NOW I KNOW WHERE I GET IT FROM.

GATES: YEAH.

THAT'S ASTONISHING, ISN'T IT?

GABBARD: THAT'S INCREDIBLE.

YEAH.

GATES: WE HAD ALREADY TRACED MARCO RUBIO'S FATHER'S FAMILY FROM THE STREETS OF HAVANA TO THE COURTYARDS OF SEVILLE.

NOW, TURNING TO HIS MOTHER'S ROOTS, WE EXPECTED TO MAKE A SIMILAR JOURNEY, BUT OUR SEARCH LED US ELSEWHERE.

WE STARTED WITH MARCO'S GRANDFATHER, PEDRO GARCIA, A MAN WHOSE LIFE WAS MARKED BY HARDSHIP.

RUBIO: MY GRANDFATHER HAD AN UP OR DOWN EXISTENCE.

YOU KNOW, HE AT ONE POINT HAD A PRETTY GOOD JOB WORKING IN A, FOR THE RAILROAD COMPANY OR WHATEVER IT WAS AND THEN HE LOST THAT JOB, AND THEN HE STRUGGLED.

HE HAD BEEN UH, HANDICAPPED AS A BOY WITH POLIO.

AND THERE WERE TIMES WHERE HE REALLY STRUGGLED TO PROVIDE FOR THEM BECAUSE PHYSICALLY HE COULDN'T, YOU KNOW, DO SOME OF THE WORK THAT OTHER PEOPLE COULD DO.

GATES: PEDRO IMMIGRATED TO AMERICA FROM CUBA IN THE 1950S.

MARCO KNEW HIM, AND REMEMBERS HIM FONDLY AS A MAN WHO LOVED HISTORY AND LOVED STORY-TELLING.

BUT PEDRO RARELY SPOKE ABOUT HIS CHILDHOOD, AND MARCO KNOWS NEXT TO NOTHING ABOUT HIS ROOTS.

RUBIO: I JUST KNOW HE WAS ONE OF A LOT OF KIDS AND, AND YOU KNOW, THE STORY ALWAYS WAS HIS PARENTS, I'M NOT SURE WERE EVEN MARRIED.

GATES: MARCO, THEY HAD 17 CHILDREN.

RUBIO: ALL FROM HER?

GATES: ALL FROM HER.

RUBIO: THAT'S SOMETHING ELSE.

GATES: THAT'S HARD WORK.

RUBIO: YEAH.

GATES: DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHERE THIS PART OF YOUR FAMILY CAME FROM?

RUBIO: I DON'T.

WE ARE NOW AT THE LIMITS OF MY KNOWLEDGE OF MY FAMILY'S ANCESTRY, RIGHT HERE.

GATES: TO PUSH BEYOND THE LIMITS OF MARCO'S KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED SOME LUCK.

WE WERE ABLE TO LEARN VERY LITTLE ABOUT PEDRO'S FATHER CARLOS, AND WE COULD ONLY TRACE HIS MOTHER RAMONA BACK ONE GENERATION, TO THE 1850S.

BUT TURNING TO PEDRO'S WIFE, A WOMAN NAMED DOMINGA RODRÍGUEZ Y CHIROLDE, WE WERE ABLE TO GO MUCH FURTHER BACK IN TIME.

MANY OF HER ANCESTORS LIVED IN PINAR DEL RÍO, A LARGELY RURAL PROVINCE IN WESTERN CUBA, WHERE WE FOUND A SERIES OF BAPTISM AND MARRIAGE RECORDS TAKING HER ROOTS BACK ALMOST 300 YEARS.

MEANING MARCO RUBIO'S FAMILY HAS LIVED IN CUBA FOR MUCH LONGER THAN HE EVER DREAMED.

YOU'RE LOOKING AT THE NAME OF YOUR FIFTH GREAT-GRANDFATHER.

RUBIO: MANUEL RICARDO DEL ALDANA?

GATES: HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF HIM?

RUBIO: NO.

GATES: HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF THAT SURNAME, ALDANA?

RUBIO: I'VE HEARD IT, BUT I CAN'T CONNECT IT TO ANYBODY OR ANYTHING.

GATES: YOUR FIFTH GREAT- GRANDFATHER WOULD'VE BEEN BORN AROUND 1730.

RUBIO: 1730.

GATES: SENATOR, THERE ARE A LOT OF AMERICANS WHOSE ANCESTRY HAILS FROM NORTHERN EUROPE WHO CANNOT GO BACK THIS FAR.

RUBIO: GET THIS FAR?

YEAH.

GATES: IN THEIR FAMILY TREE.

RUBIO: YEAH.

THAT'S AMAZING, IT REALLY IS.

NO ONE CAN SAY I'M NOT CUBAN.

GATES: NOBODY.

RUBIO: YEAH.

GATES: MARCO WAS SURPRISED TO SEE THAT HIS MATERNAL ROOTS RAN SO DEEPLY IN CUBA, HE'D EXPECTED THEM TO TRACE IN THE NEAR PAST BACK TO SPAIN, AS WE'D SEEN ON HIS FATHER'S SIDE.

BUT HE WAS EVEN MORE SURPRISED BY WHAT RECORDS REVEALED ABOUT HIS THIRD GREAT-GRANDFATHER, A MAN NAMED JUAN JOSÉ CHIROLES.

HE WAS A LANDOWNER.

HE OWNED A TOBACCO FARM.

DID YOU KNOW THAT?

RUBIO: I DID NOT.

I HAD NO CLUE.

IT'S THE FIRST TIME EVER THAT SOMEONE SAYS THAT ANYBODY IN MY LINEAGE OWNED ANYTHING IN CUBA BEYOND THE CLOTHES ON THEIR BACK.

GATES: AS IT TURNS OUT, JUAN OWNED ROUGHLY 30 ACRES OF LAND ON WHICH HE GREW TOBACCO, CORN AND RICE, BUT THAT WASN'T ALL HE OWNED.

WE FOUND THE BAPTISMAL RECORD FOR A CHILD BORN TO HIS SLAVE.

RUBIO: "I, THE PINAR DEL RÍO PARISH PRIEST, SOLEMNLY BAPTIZED ISABEL, BORN ON THE 19TH OF LAST MONTH, DAUGHTER OF THE "MOREAN CRIOLLA" ANGELA AND AN UNKNOWN FATHER, BOTH SLAVES OF JUAN JOSÉ CHIROLDE, WHO LIVES IN THIS PARISH."

WOW.

THAT'S WHAT I FEARED WHEN WE WERE GOING INTO THIS WHOLE EXPERIENCE ABOUT THE LAND AND SO FORTH.

THAT WAS GONNA BE MY FOLLOW-UP QUESTION, BUT I DIDN'T WANT TO KNOW THE ANSWER, SO.

GATES: DID YOU EVER IMAGINE THAT YOU HAD A SLAVE OWNER IN YOUR FAMILY TREE?

RUBIO: NO, I DIDN'T.

I MEAN I DIDN'T THINK THEY OWNED ANY LAND, SO I DIDN'T THINK THEY COULD OWN PEOPLE.

GATES: WHAT ARE YOU FEELING?

RUBIO: IT'S JUST HARD TO KIND OF PROCESS IT ALL.

I MEAN IF YOU BAPTIZED THEM IT'S BECAUSE YOU BELIEVED THEY HAD A SOUL AND WERE CREATED IN GOD'S IMAGE.

HOW THEN COULD YOU OWN THEM AS A, AS A PIECE OF CATTLE OR YOU KNOW AND, AND, AND AS A, AS, I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND THAT.

GATES: DOES THIS CHANGE THE WAY THAT YOU THINK OF THIS PART OF YOUR FAMILY'S HISTORY?

RUBIO: YEAH.

I MEAN OBVIOUSLY IT'S JUST NOT SOMETHING I EVER THOUGHT, YOU KNOW, I NEVER THOUGHT OF IT.

I JUST DIDN'T THINK IT WAS THERE.

YOU SORT OF SEE LIKE ONE GENERATION OWNS LAND AND UM, SADLY OWNS HUMAN BEINGS AND ALL THAT, AND, AND WITHIN TWO GENERATIONS, I MEAN, THEY'RE BARELY FEEDING THEIR KIDS, AND THEY'RE STRUGGLING TO PROVIDE FOR THEIR FAMILIES.

I MEAN IT JUST TELLS YOU HOW QUICKLY PEOPLE'S FORTUNES CHANGE, RIGHT?

GATES: REVERSAL OF FORTUNE.

RUBIO: WOW.

GATES: THE PAPER TRAIL HAD NOW RUN OUT FOR EACH OF MY GUESTS.

IT WAS TIME TO SEE WHAT DNA COULD REVEAL ABOUT THEIR DEEPER ROOTS.

WE'D ALREADY SHOWN PAUL RYAN THAT HIS ADMIXTURE REVEALED HIDDEN JEWISH ANCESTRY.

FOR TULSI GABBARD, THE SAME TEST REFLECTED THE ENORMOUS DIVERSITY WE'D SEEN IN HER GENEALOGY, TYING HER TO ETHNIC GROUPS ACROSS THE GLOBE, FROM NORTHERN EUROPE, TO SOUTHEAST ASIA!

GABBARD: GOSH.

THIS JUST SHOWS HOW CONNECTED WE ALL ARE.

GATES: INDEED.

GABBARD: THIS IS FURTHER PROOF AND EVIDENCE.

WHEN WE LOOK AT OUR LIVES AND THOSE WHO'VE COME BEFORE US WE'RE ALL CONNECTED.

GATES: WE'RE ALL CONNECTED.

TURNING TO MARCO RUBIO, WE HAD ONE FINAL REVELATION TO SHARE.

WHEN WE ANALYZED HIS MITOCHONDRIAL DNA, A GENETIC FINGERPRINT PASSED DOWN UNCHANGED FROM MOTHER TO CHILD FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS, WE FOUND THAT HIS DIRECT MATERNAL LINE WAS NATIVE AMERICAN.

ONE OF YOUR GREAT-GREAT- GREAT-GRANDMOTHERS WAS A PURE NATIVE AMERICAN.

RUBIO: YEAH, WOW, LOOK AT THAT.

GATES: SCHOLARS BELIEVE THAT THE NATIVE AMERICAN POPULATION IN PINAR DEL RÍO MIGRATED FROM THE YUCATÁN PENINSULA ABOUT 4000 BC.

RUBIO: RIGHT.

GATES: SO, TALK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, ANCESTRAL ROOTS IN CUBA, YOUR FAMILY ON YOUR NATIVE AMERICAN LINE'S BEEN THERE FOR A LONG, LONG TIME.

RUBIO: RIGHT.

I'VE BEEN TO THOSE RUINS IN THE YUCATÁN.

GATES: OH YEAH?

RUBIO: AT CHICHEN ITZA, AND WHO KNEW I WAS GOING BACK HOME?

GATES: MARCO'S DNA UNDERSCORES A LARGER POINT: ALMOST EVERY AMERICAN DESCENDS FROM SOMEONE WHO WASN'T BORN IN OUR COUNTRY, BUT HAS EMBRACED, AND ENRICHED IT JUST THE SAME.

WE'D SEEN THIS OVER AND OVER IN MY GUESTS' FAMILY TREES, AND ITS RELEVANCE WASN'T LOST ON ANY OF THEM, LEAST OF ALL ON MARCO RUBIO.

RUBIO: THIS REALLY BRINGS IT TO LIGHT ABOUT AMERICA.

IN AMERICA WE DON'T HAVE A COMMON ETHNICITY, A COMMON LANGUAGE.

I MEAN THERE'S, THERE ARE COUNTRIES IN THIS WORLD THAT DOING THE DNA OF THE POPULATION WOULD NOT BE VERY COMPLICATED, EVERYONE AT SOME POINT IS PRETTY SIMILAR.

GATES: LIKE ICELAND.

RUBIO: LIKE, YEAH, RIGHT.

SO, I, AND OTHER PLACES.

AND, BUT IN AMERICA WE'RE, IT'S NOT JUST A GENETIC MIX.

WE COME FROM DIFFERENT CONTINENTS AND DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD.

IF YOU GO FAR ENOUGH, WE COME FROM EVERYWHERE.

BUT I'VE ALWAYS SAID THAT THE ONE THING WE HAVE IN COMMON IN ALL OF OUR DNA AS AMERICANS IS WE ALL DESCEND FROM GO-GETTERS.

EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US DESCENDS FROM SOMEONE WHO OVERCAME INCREDIBLE ADVERSITY, WHETHER IT WAS UH, THE JOURNEY THAT BROUGHT THEM INTO, INTO SLAVERY AND THEN SURVIVED IT IN BRUTAL CONDITIONS FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS, WHETHER IT'S SOMEONE WHO CAME LAST WEEK FROM ANOTHER COUNTRY IN SEARCH OF A BETTER LIFE, OR SOMEONE WHO CAME 200 YEARS AGO IN SEARCH OF A BETTER LIFE.

OUR COMMON DNA IN AMERICA IS WE ALMOST ALL DESCEND FROM A GO-GETTER, SOMEONE WHO REFUSED TO ACCEPT THE LIMITS PUT UPON THEM IN THE OLD WORLD, AND SO THEY REACHED FOR THIS ONE PLACE WHERE THEY WERE GONNA BE JUDGED BY WHO THEY WERE, NOT WHERE THEY CAME FROM.

GATES: THAT'S THE END OF OUR JOURNEY WITH MARCO, TULSI, AND PAUL.

JOIN ME NEXT TIME WHEN WE UNLOCK THE SECRETS OF THE PAST FOR NEW GUESTS ON ANOTHER EPISODE OF "FINDING YOUR ROOTS".

GATES JR: ISN'T THAT AMAZING?

MEYERS: THAT IS AMAZING.

NARRATOR: NEXT TIME ON "FINDING YOUR ROOTS" SARAH SILVERMAN.

SILVERMAN: IS THAT MY GRANDFATHER?

NARRATOR: TIG NOTARO.

NOTARO: THIS IS ALL A SURPRISE.

NARRATOR: AND SETH MEYERS.

MEYERS: YEA, I MEAN I'M JUST BLOWN AWAY.

NARRATOR: THREE COMEDIANS UN TANGLE FAMILY HISTORY.

SILVERMAN: HERMAN HALPIN IS REALLY HYMAN COHEN?

NARRATOR: AND DISCOVER DISTANT COUSINS.

NOTARO: IS IT BEYONCE?

MEYERS: OH WELL, LOOK AT THAT.

SILVERMAN: NO WAY!

NARRATOR: ON THE NEXT "FINDING YOUR ROOTS."