The Big One Page #11

walking around Michigan

looking for Roger...

and I say,

"Yeah, come on out."

- Really?

- Yeah.

- Is Phil there?

- Yeah.

- And he wants to see Michael?

- Yeah.

MOORE:
Whoa. Are you serious?

Is this a prank call?

KEITH:
Come on out.

We'll talk whatever you want to.

MOORE:
Thank you for the offer.

MOORE:
I couldn't believe

the chairman of Nike...

was granting me a visit.

I was met at the door by

P.R. Director Keith Peters...

who warned me

that Phil Knight's wife...

had given Phil my book...

as her wedding anniversary

present to him...

with his face circled.

This was not the way

I wanted to meet...

the first CEO

willing to talk to me.

- Hey. How you doing?

- Good.

Thanks for having me in here.

I appreciate it.

I got a little gift for you.

I always come bearing gifts

whenever I get to meet a CEO...

which I'll tell you

isn't that often.

KNIGHT:
Then you don't have

to take too many gifts.

MOORE:
No. This is a good one.

You'll like this one.

I've got here two tickets...

one in my name

and one in your name...

for you and I

to go to Indonesia together.

And you show me those factories,

you explain this to me...

What's the date

on those tickets?

- Sunday.

- Oh, no, not a chance.

- No?

- No.

But they're transferable.

I can change it to another day.

No, and I'll tell you...

Seriously. Look at this.

Michael Moore...

I got it right here

in your name here...

And Phil Knight.

Look at this.

You and me

on Singapore Airlines.

- No, no. I'm not going.

- It's a good airline.

It's a great airline.

Here, sit back down.

- We gotta negotiate this deal.

- Have you been there?

- I've never been to Indonesia.

- Oh, you've gotta go.

I can't go between now

and the rest of this year.

Your wife. Remember the wife

that gave you the book?

My wife may make me go.

That's why

I won't tell her about it.

Tell her Michael Moore

came here with a free ticket.

- This is a free ticket, Phil!

- Another anniversary present.

- A free ticket to Indonesia.

- I understand that.

Basically, you've got,

you know...

an underdeveloped country

with a repressive regime.

And the way they pull

themselves out of this thing...

is by having... trade helps them.

That's a separate discussion

from an American company...

going into Indonesia

and working with a regime...

that killed 200,000 people.

That's almost

a form of genocide.

I know that

that's got to bother you.

I don't know you personally...

but I know

you have a conscience.

[Exhales]

I certainly wouldn't approve of

any of that sort of thing.

But, basically... I mean...

how many people were killed

in The Cultural Revolution?

How much is enough?

How much is enough

if you are a billionaire?

Wouldn't it be OK to be

just a half a billionaire?

Wouldn't it be OK

for your company...

to make a little less money...

if it meant providing

some jobs here in this country?

- No, but I mean...

- Just think about this.

I've thought about it a lot,

I'll give you the answer to it.

Basically, what drives me

is not money anymore.

MOORE:
Right.

I wouldn't think so.

KNIGHT:
And basically,

what I want to do...

before I go to that great

shoe factory in the sky...

is make this as good a company

as I can make it.

I simply have a basic belief,

having been burned on it once...

and really believing

this very strongly...

that Americans

do not want to make shoes.

They don't want to make shoes.

MOORE:
That's wrong.

You are wrong.

If I could find 500 people

in Flint, Michigan...

who want to make shoes,

will you open the factory?

I didn't say

they didn't want to make shoes.

I think they don't want

those jobs.

No, if they do...

if they will work those jobs...

will you come to Flint?

[Chuckling]

You'll have to convince me

that they want to make shoes...

and can do so

reasonably economically.

Now, they won't work

for five dollars a day.

I understand that.

- But reasonably economically...

- I will explore it.

You will do that?

I didn't say I'd come.

I said I'll explore it.

MOORE:
You'll explore it.

Seriously, now?

- With sincerity.

- I'll shake your hand for that.

- All right. Thank you.

- All right.

Filmmaker Michael Moore

is urging...

the world's largest

athletic shoe company...

to open a factory,

a factory in Flint.

Michael Moore chastised...

the chairman of Nike,

Philip Knight...

criticizing the company...

for making most

of its shoes in Indonesia.

So Moore has come home

to convince Knight.

He's staging an event tomorrow

in front of City Hall.

So tomorrow at noon,

I want to prove him wrong.

I want the people of Flint

who would like to work...

who would like

to have a job at Nike...

to come here and stand

in front of City Hall.

I'll have my film crew here.

Dress warm.

And we'll make

a video message to him...

and show him

that the people of Flint...

if they had an opportunity

to work, would certainly work.

We need jobs! We need jobs!

We need jobs! We need jobs!

Flint needs jobs!

Flint needs jobs!

Flint needs jobs!

Flint needs jobs!

Flint needs jobs!

Flint needs jobs!

Mr. Knight, I'm 37 years old.

For 25 years,

I've been wearing Nike.

If Nike means

that much to me...

Flint should mean

that much to you.

If you don't make 'em here,

we shouldn't buy 'em.

There's a lot of people

in Flint...

and all over Michigan

that need jobs...

but especially in Flint,

and I'm one of those people.

If I can buy my son

these Air Jordans...

and he can wear 'em...

you best believe

I will help you make 'em.

Come to Flint.

MAN:
All right!

We're hard workers in this area.

We've been working a long time.

Five generations...

four generations of hard workers

puttin' cars together.

We can put together

your tennis shoe.

Please give us a chance.

Thank you.

- Very impressive.

- So what do you think?

I think that a lot of people

without jobs will take any job,

But that given choice...

Americans really don't want

to work in shoe factories.

I still believe that.

But I just showed you

these people here.

Yeah, they said that.

I think any unemployed person

will say "I would like any job."

Basically, Flint isn't on

our radar screen right now...

as far as a warehouse

or a sales office.

Would you do it

as a personal favor to me?

[Chuckles] No.

MOORE:
Phil swore he would

never build a factory in Flint.

But he did present me with

the only American-made...

pair of Nike shoes,

built just for me.

I'll tell you what...

How about this?

Why don't you and I have a race?

We're not gonna have a race.

That was suggested already.

No, how about this?

We'll do a 100-yard dash,

you and me, right?

And if you win,

I'll always wear these Nikes...

wherever I go,

on every TV show, whatever.

If I win, you have to build

the shoe factory...

in Flint, Michigan.

No, there's no race.

How about arm wrestling?

Come on.

I'm not gonna arm wrestle.

You would win that one.

- No, no. Don't assume that.

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