code. and rebecca williams discusss the tax system and your facebook calls, comments and tweet on washington journal. live at 7 a.m. eastern on c-span. coming up, the "the communicators" with minnesota senator al franken on the propos proposed comcast-time warner merg merger. and then "the up side of down" and michael lewis on his most recent book called "flash boys" and later" fragile by the design" c-span created 35 years ago

and brought to you as a public service by your local cable provider or satellite provider. >> a few week ago on the comm e communicatcommun -- "the communicators" -- we had david cohen to talk about the proposed merger between comcast-time warner. he is on the privacy and technology and the law committee. yesterday at the hearing held by the committee you said that a merger between comcast-time warner would result in fewer choices, higher prices and even worse service. how do you come to that conclusion? >> well, because that has been the case when there is cons

consolidation of media and telecommunication media. that is what is happening here. comcast is the biggest cable tv company in the country. and it is the biggest internet broadbrand company in the country and it is wanting to buy the second biggest cable tv and the third biggest internet broadbrand company and that is just too big. and not only that but comcast has about 12-13% of all televisioning program after buying nbc universal and their 20-something cable channels including bravo and msnbc and cnbc and in fact we talk a little bit about that merger or acquiring of nbc universal in

the hearing. i talked about it. when we were discussing that, and i was against that one, too, brian roberts, the ceo of comcast said that you know, look we compete, it is okay for us to buy nbc universal and content because we have to compete with the other distributors and mentioned time warner as one of those competitors and said we are not expanding our distrubution so we can vertically integrate this way. they can not have it both ways and they are trying to have the both ways. in one hearing they say we compete with time warner cable. and then in the next couple years later it is so, we don't

compete with time warner. that is what they had. they are contradicting themselves completely. when they have this power now of you know, they are going to, you know, control so much broadband space and on the cable area they are competing with direct tv and satellite tv. even if you get satellite or direct tv or any kind of satellite tv you still want to be on the internet and you are going to have to go back to comcast. and when they have been talking to their investors in these talks with goldman sachs and other investment banks that have investment they talk about they

would bundle and use this power to leverage. and that is their job as a corporation: make as much money for their investors as possible. so they were mischaracterizing what the market looks like. and this is going to, you know, their service is terrible. i sent out an e-mail asking people to tell me their views on this merger and i got over a 100, 000 letters and emails and people talked about how lousy the service is and how they can only go to comcast. and mr. cohan thanks de me for pointing out how bad the service was. >> host:

>> guest: he said that prices may go up faster than they have before and he cannot guarantee that. so i don't know how he is saying that. that seems to contradict what he had. >> host: when you talk about business, comcast talked about giving up subscribers to keep under the 30 threshold folks have talked about. is that enough here? is giving up subscribers enough

to address the comcast bigness? >> that 30% threshold is about one sector. they will have a bigger threshold on cable-internet and they have 12-13% of all programming. the original 30% was having it in one sector like cable tv. it is difficult when you have pieces you are putting together and you can leverage and they have shown they do. we had a dispute, not a dispute, but a discussion about mr. cohen filing to the doj and he had a footnote saying there was only one condition that was put on us by the fcc and the doj that they

even looked at and that was they were suppose today create a stand alone broadband package for people so they didn't have to get the bundle. they did that but didn't tell anyone or market it so they were fined for that. they said that was the only one. and i said really? because actually you didn't also follow the other condition that was on bloomberg and the reason that was brought up is bloomberg is a cable-financial news network, right? and one of the conditions is you have neighborhooding and that means you put the cable news stations next to each so that if you are watching those things you can switch from one to the

other and they also put cnbc there and that is a financial news network. they were supposed to neighborhood bloomberg. and comcast owns cnbc and want as many eyeballs on it as possible so they can charge as much for the advertising on cnbc because that is how the game and tv works. if they put bloomberg in the neighborhood people say i would like to sample that. i have not seen that. i want to see bloomberg's financial news network and then they might like it. and they don't want people not watching cnbc. so bloomberg is way in the nose

bleed seats so people couldn't find it. they didn't put it into neighborhood and that was leveraging their position which is what they talk about when they talk to their investors. they had in a conversation with one of the big wall street banks in 2012 that was com plaining we don't think you are leveraging your position enough and the executive from comcast said we are. our per customer we are going up $4-$6 a month and that was for internet. and i asked are you going to -- that is your job to get the biggest return on investment.

are you going to use this l leverage to do things like bundle? and they told investor after this deal was announced we will tell your call center people to push bundles. to push it. and this again goes back to that earlier condition that they were fined on where they put stand a aloneband bud di -- broadband but didn't tell anyone. and was very frank. we instructed people to say they do exist, the stand alone

package, but doesn't mean they need to advertise it. they are going to up sale the bundles they said. this is going to cost people, in my state, in minnesota, this is going to cost consumers more money. we have seen the cost of your basic cable packages from 1995-2010 go up more than double inflation. and usually when technology gets better and better the price goes down. you saw that with computers, big screen flat tvs. this is consolidation and that means leverage. and this leverage on who supplies them and who supplies the set top boxes and who susupplies the routers. this is very, very troubling.

>> host: senator franken how would you propose to increase competition in the cable market? >> the first thing i would do is not let the largest cable tv company buy the second largest cable company. that is where i would start. by job on the judicial meetings is to raise concern. mr. cohen seems like a smart guy but my job was to ask tough questions. they have 107 lobbiest.

they warming capital hill. but i had more than a 100, 000 people write me their objection so the first thing i would do is stop this deal. i would not let this go through. if isn't up to me. it is up to the fcc and the doj >> i would like to talk about another issue on capital hill and that is surveillance. you have been one of the people to call for more trance transparency and i am wondering if you can spell out the changes you see and the ways they will change the way they collect data. >> i have a bipartisan bill with the senator from nevada being

who is the lead co-sponsor. i believe in transparency and i believe the american people should be entitled to understand how many american's information is being stored, and how much of it is then being accessed. so for example, in the meta data program, which the administration has changed now, and they are going to do where the phone companies keep the data and you have to get a warrant to do that. and i think that is is a very acceptable change. but, i think that americans would need to know how main americans data is actually looked at. because the meta data is the time of the call and duration.

it isn't content. at the point where they will have to get a warrant to look at this stuff. americans want to know how much of our information is looked at. how many americans are caught up in that? that is something americans need to know so they can decide if this is the right thing to do. i voted against the 210 and 207 options because i didn't think there was enough transparency. in the 702 that is capturing the internet traffic of people, non-americans over sea who have a tie to terrorism and i think that is crucial do that.

but the statue says you are not supposed to make american's information. obviously if a known bomb maker is doing traffic with somebody in colorado and that guy is talking about bombing the new york subway that is when it is good to be able to get his own data so the fbi can go in and see he is talking to someone in philadelphia and together they are plotting to bomb the united states subways. it is important we have these in place. we just need transparency. and those two guys, the guy in philadelphia and the other are in prison. >> and senator, that is the surveillance side of things. on the commercial online privacy there is talk about transparency

and new rules. >> i have a bill there and a version passed last congress through the committee. the location measure. i think you have the right to allow people to take your location information and give them permission to do that and keep it and give it or sell it to a third party. part of this is stacking. the first hearing i did on this, one of the fist testimony came from the minnesota coalings of battered women and they gave hair raising testimony. they talked about a woman in st. louis county and she was in an abusive relationship and went to a domestic building at the

county building. and she got a text saying why are you in the county building are you getting a restraining order? and she gets to the court house and the question on the phone is are you getting retraining order against? that is gps stalking. part of my bill would start to keep records on this. doj only has records from 1996 on the number of gps stalking inciden incidences. and it was then 25,000. think of how many more people have smart phones and there has been an explosion of use since

then. this would make the manufacture and marketing of these stocker apps. they are marketed as follow your girlfriend to see if she is cheating on you. >> on the issues you have brought up and reforming the 1986 law that violates digital process. what do you think happens as we get closer to the end of the year? >> well, chairman lay carries about this and chairman has written a lot of these and i think and hope we will get to this.

>> host: and what is the next step with regard to the comcast-time warner proposal with relationship to the committee? >> i would like us to do more hearing but we will see. >> have you shared your views with the fcc and the doj? >> yes, we have. as soon as the proposed deal was announced i wrote to both doj and the fcc to express by concerns and i have had a returni returning correspondence with them. >> host: senator al franken thanks for joining us on the "the communicators." and what did you hear from senator franken? >> it isn't over. and not because he wants another hearing but there are other hearings to come. the committee holds a look at

the deal in may, i believe may 8th. and the chairman says he might hold a hearing because comcast filled formal documents with the fcc hours before the inquiry took place. there might not be as many critics on the hill who share the senator's concern but plenty of questions and concerns going forward. >> what did you hear from the other senators at the hearing yesterday? was senator franken's views shar shared? was there support for the merger? >> many are concerned about higher rates, and many are concerned it could affect

broadband and the breakdown over democrats and republicans over what the fcc and doj should do. senator hatch doesn't think the fcc should take a strong hold on the deal. we only got the documents and folks are beginning to parse them. we will hear more on the hill but lots of interest on cable and broadband. >> comcast is under neutrality and the only company that operates under those rules of the nbc merger do you see conditions being put on the merger? >> comcast said it would provide the transaction to time warner and that expires in a few short years. the fcc's open internet rules

are in legal jeopardjeopardy. cohen is saying you don't need a strong condition because the fcc will figure out how to address net new tratralitnewtrality. >> host: senator franken talked about a hundred plus lobbest do you see them up there? >> they are out there a lot. the house and sentate committees did a study and comcast gave to all but a small member of numbers. it is even outside of

washington. i went to philadelphia where comcast is based and city councils and individual proposals in the state house. $50,000 to pennsylvania governor tom coberrbit. and shelled out money defeat a paid sick pay leave in the city. and you can find them from california to chicago all the way to washington, d.c. there is a lot for opponents to overcome. public knowledge and free press have started making noise but the question is will comcast drown it out given the amount it spends and the ability to talk >> and you asked about privacy legislation. where does that stand? >> i feel like we talk about this every time we are here. privacy is stuck. plenty of interest with

something happening and there is a rush and call to legislate on capital hill but it doesn't produce law and never gets pass the committee stage. surveyerance reform is what all of the talk is on. congress is going to have to return to this issue. there is widespread disagreements to collect phone records and data. >> tony romm, another issue is when '96 telecom act and whether it is time to rewrite thereat. >> there is plenty of talk about it. the house committee with energy and others have been talking this and holding hearing and papers and statements to things but they have not started

writing legislation and we have so many industries to wade through it will be a while if we even get there. the future of cable leanly legislation and satellite and where it goes from now. and potential for reform. the telecom update is talked about every time. >> as someone that covers capital hill, how do you see the comcast deal playing out? >> there is going to be a lot of noise made about this. with every hearing more stories and interviews done to draw attention to the good and bad. the fcc and the justest department that get to decide this not congress. but congress can apply pressure.

in the comcast move they wanted the fcc to move faster and not use agreaseive ways. while nbc and time warner are very different transaction, chairman tom wheeler before getting to the commission wrote about the importance of merger conditions and it came up regularly during her conformation and plenty asked if whether he felt his previous right wright writings were correct. and wheeler is going to be in the spot here. it hasn't started yet. we only have heard rumors. but if the fcc looks like it will use meaty conditions and that doesn't look good, you can see a clash on capital hill. >> tony romm, thanks for being on the "the communicators."

>> thanks for having me. rachel bay look as efforts to fix the tax code and then citizens for tax justice is william mcbride discusss the fa fairness of the tax system and what needs to be reformed. >> here on c-span 2 a look at china has the second largest economy and their policiepolici.

you can watch live coverage starting at 9 a.m. eastern. and on c-span 3, former state advisors discuss the muslim brotherhood in the middle east over the years. edison was a plant scientist as well as interest in the other sciences. the story is he knew it didn't freeze in fort myers. so a lot of the interest he had in this area were based on his love of plants. by the 1920's the united states was relying on foreign rubber and we were headed into war. they decided the plant material and the process to be done in this country. edison ford and