guest: we had do it differently than anyplace else. host: this is one semester, maryland, republican caller. caller: your guest briefly touched on the voting rights act.

tell me how the voting rights act and the civil-rights act impacts voting. can you give the details about geography and percentage of minorities. the recent supreme court decision, did that affect any redistricting at all? guest: that's a very good question with regard to creating so-called minority opportunity district, the minority population itself has to be reasonably compact into an area, according to the supreme court decision, in order to require a state to create a district where minorities could play an effective and influential role in electing a candidate of their choice. that has the effect of creating districts that are more compact which most people funk is a good thing. there's really no percentage of

minority voters that you have to put in there in order to create this opportunity under the voting rights act. it varies depending on how much political cohesion there is among minority voters and it depends on how much white bloc voting happens. the supreme court decision last week upheld the constitutionality of the voting act. it leaves the status quo in play. the supreme court seemed to signal that the case comes back down the road it could invalidate the pre-clearance process. that would require redistricting in about 16 states. caller: thank you for taking my call this is my first time. this is an important topic. i live in new jersey, democratic

governor, who is spending. there is a time when there were many school budgets that were defeated, especially in this difficult time. . they spent $17,000 per student with poor results. the other average district spend about $13,000. what is the constitutionality of the present situation and how does he feel it will affect education? guest: this is an extremely important. redistricting affects the issues that impact their lives very directly. when you elect a legislature and your congressional members, that often determines what resources will be allocated in your state. also how they will be allocated.

this depends on whether one or the other party is in control. members of the legislature can say what their priority is and each member that is elected typically will look at their own single-member district and make sure they bring the bacon home for their district. you end up in this competition among legislators to really allocate resources that best fit you. if you are in a powerful secession in the legislature as opposed to a rookie, you are likely to have more resources and produce the kind of impact that the caller was referring to. host: you can learn more at gerald hebert's website. thank you for being with us. >> u.s. district judge denny chin and in doubt and a sense

in the bernie madoff case. he has been sentenced to the maximum 150 years in prison for his multi-billion dollar brought screen. attorneys had sought 12 years while prosecutors one of the maximum. judge chin called for a staggering and noted that spend 20 years. he said the breach of trust was massive. the 71-year-old former nasdaq german pleaded guilty in march. he has been jailed since. it is the noon hour here in washington, d.c. in the 1:00 hour, we expect words from president obama on climate change and energy. we will bring that to you live and that is scheduled for 1:15

eastern, here on c-span. today you can watch a house hearing on regulating executive pay at publicly-traded companies. that is it 12:30 eastern time on our companion network, cspan 2. later, admiral timothy keating, speaking at the atlantic council, talking about north korea's most recent missile testing. we will have live coverage at 5:30 eastern, here on c-span. >> file-sharing has wreaked havoc on our business. >> tonight, digital music, the internet, and copyright policy with the chairman of universal public -- universal music publishing group. >> we want companies to take more responsibility for providing music. >> he is the chairman of

universal music publishing group, tonight at 8:00 p.m., on "the communicators." >> next, a look at 30 years of close-up television on c-span. we will hear from current and former associates of the show, including joe garrity. the guests will take questions from students and teachers of the close-up academy. this is one hour. >> hi, i am from western the sake >> i am your host and here we are in the newseum. we bring students face to face with current events, the workings of government, and the press. this week, we will look at 30 years of close-up television programming on c-span. our audience consists of students and teachers from the close of the academy. let's meet some of them now. hello and welcome to close up at a newseum.

hello and welcome. >> i am from kingwood, texas. >> what has been the biggest highlight of your week here in washington, so far. ? >> we went to the world war two monument. i love the statues and the stars and everything like that. it is well done. >> you met with the congressional delegation? >> know we have not. >> i am sure you will be going to capitol hill and that will be a highlight. every time we get a school student, we talk about the recession and how it is -- it has impacted your life in high school for it the things you do on the weekend, the things you do during the week, what are you found in batphone? >> gas prices are high and it is harder to pay for gas. we're not driving around nearly as much as we used to. the school is even working with budget cuts and cutting

teachers'. we redid the school recently. we did not have enough money to finish it. >> what year are you in? >> i am a senior. >> what happens next year? >> god knows. [laughter] >> are you off to college? >> yes. >> do you know which one? >> no idea. >> good luck to you. i hope to hear more from you. right now, we will meet someone else here in washington. i will say hello and welcome to close about the newseum. i understand you are a history teacher. >> i am from holland, michigan. >> when you bring a group of students to washington, what would you like them to pay attention to? >> my favorite thing we have done so far is simulation with a federal judge. i would definitely want them to

be a part of something like that. i want them to be able to get close to the capital and to be in the power center. this museum is wonderful. to have them see real people, real events, live. >> give us an accurate depiction of what a history teacher actually does during the summer recess. i am guessing you do not just kicked back and drink iced drinks all summer. >> know, although, we have a little of that in washington. [laughter] i know i speak for many of my colleagues -- least research. we are updating constantly. we look for the real story behind the things that are in the textbooks, what do we do to liven things up? what is current? how could we tie this in and show that history is relevant to

what is happening today? our job changes every day the news changes. we are constantly updating. >> the computer and all the information that is out there nowadays, is it more of a challenge for the teacher to incorporate all that or is it more -- or does it make things more difficult? >> that depends on your district and the funding and how much access you have to media. there is great stuff out there. you can start digging in. the recession hits teachers in that way. it is unbelievable what is available per of that is another thing we do in the summer. we have good people behind us, like our teaching history grant people who can help us dig through that stuff and get through quicker. >> thank you and welcome and we

hope to hear more from you as the program goes on. our program this week will include guests talking about the last 30 years. these of the people who work the longest on the close of the program for it join us today is a job garrity, and others. joe has been the senior producer since 1986. he has won many awards for his documentary work, including a 2003 grand award for best information documentary at the new york festival. marcus hartin it is -- works at the newseum. he has also co-produced close up at the newseum. john teaches a course of politics and medium -- and media

at penn state. please welcome our guests. [applause] we will take a look back at 30 years of programs that truly brought high school students face to face with the nation's leading decision makers on a weekly basis. what better way to start at the top? our first clip as with president ronald reagan. >> ronald reagan spoke to our students five times. we have amazing access and they're all televised on c-span. this one we will show you to start -- a student from miami as to my hypothetical question. the answer was memorable. it led to -- it lead on the cbs news that evening. >> mr. president, my name is robert pupo. i would like to commend you for

getting america is strong and efficient administration. my question is, if the situation in central america worsens, would you consider sending in american troops? >> that is your question? >> if the situation in central mike: workmen's -- central america worsens, would you consider sending in american troops into central america? >> it would have to be very evident that it was a direct threat to the united states. the truth of the matter is, dating back to sunday's win the big colossus of the north, the united states, did leon practice gunboat diplomacy -- our own friends and neighbors down there do not want us to send that kind of military help.

they do not want our troops down there. we respect them for that. the president of el salvador has said that he needs help with weapons and ammunition but they need training. we're providing that for them. we will provide the manpower. that is what he says. yours is a hypothetical question and mine is a hypothetical answer. you have to be something that we saw as a threat to our security and our safety and we would defend ourself. -- set ourselves. >> what does it feel like to take the show to the white house? >> you cannot get any better than that. when that is going on, it was before my time, i have been doing it for 23 years, you know that the staff is in all that he

is answering hypothetical question. when i saw on dan rather that evening, we got some attention. >> the president did not need an invitation to get on close up. set up our next ronald reagan clip. >> i am not sure i remember this program. this is memorable. you have to remember that cspan went on the air in 1979. ronald reagan became president in 1980. this is all very new. there was no cable in washington, d.c. later in the evening, after this account with students, the founder of cspan and a founder of close-up, host a forum with students about their experience, asking them the kind of questions you ask. they got a surprise caller, a call from the white house. the calls are being screened and she thinks it's a prank call. when she realizes it is

legitimate, she types a message to brian lamb. the next call says this is from washington, d.c. the club can show the rest of what happened. >> let's go to the videotape. >> washington d.c., go ahead please. hello? hello washington? one last time time >> is this mr. bryan lamb? would you hold one month for the president? [laughter] >> we don't have a commercial ready. >> mr. lam andb students, i came upstairs to the study and turned on the set and there you were. i watched long enough to hear

several questions that showed your concern about the exclusionary rule. evidently, i did not finish the answer. you are so conscious of the clock going but i did not mean that the police would be free to do whatever they wanted in the line of getting evidence and breaking the law. i did explain the exclusion rule is not a lot. it is something called case law. judges made rulings in a court and he's become president. --precedent. >> classic damage control. >> this gives us a word said -- it on to say a word about brian lamb. tell us about him. >> he was the kid with a football. i want to say thanks for a couple of people. we have to start the top with brian lamb.

steve janger and all the other founders. tom gerard is another one. he passed away but he was working with metromedia broadcasting at the white house. he is the guy who introduced brian lamb and steep janger -- steven janger. \ he was the early founder. without those visionaries, that applies to brian lamb and steve janger and gerard. >> you should tell the story about the camel. >> cspan had just gone there and they were showing only what was going on in the house of representatives. >> with cameras on by the house.

>> right did not on cameras and they cannot have anything else on the air. steve janger , founder and former ceo, went to bryant and asked about getting cameras. closeup bought the first cameras for cspan. back. our television programming. that was in december of 1979. from there, it just built and the relationship got stronger. it evolves over time. >> i was working at a get washington bureau in the 1980's and whenever close-up brought this from our market, we were on capitol hill meeting with members. sometimes we could get a story about 27 of our 10 stations with one visit it was certainly a marriage made in heaven for the

close of program and the newseum. >> it was more like a marriage made board room. charles overby was good friends, and i don't know what other commission he had, at the point where the freedom forum newseum developed enough television capacity to help the show to be of service to close up, we got recruited to the cause. it is a johnny come lately thing. that was 14 or 50 years ago. >> we talk -- we promise to talk about the things that happened since you were alive. [laughter] cspan had a small studio on north capitol street.

brian lamb did footnotes and the studio got smaller. we have students sitting on top of students. it was a relief when the newseum invited us to be partners and we had space. >> let's hear from a student. >> i have a question. i was wondering what your most memorable moments were? >> i have one. it has nothing to do with anything -- [laughter] it was the day the power went out. we were in the middle of a taping, write about like this. a favre -- a fellow named ken paulson was discussing a first amendment program and yet -- and uttered the word yoko ono. the lights and everything and the control room went out >> i

was holding my breath when you said that. >>yoko ono is our patron saint and nothing could be worse than that. there was an arc welder plug into our circuit who shot the lights off. >> instant karma. >> we have a picture of yoko ono with a welding outfit on from that time on. >> that sounds like it when she is singing. >> how many of you know who yoko ono is? >> out many have heard her sing? [laughter] good memories? i would like to move on because we talk about memories. john, you took the show to berlin. 1990's, close-up made a trip to

berlin after the fall of the wall. talk about the next clip. >> this was a fascinating time. we did programing twice for berlin and we went back after this to see what was happening. the thing that is most memorable for may was the east german students. they were savvy about what was happening in their lives. they knew that in their schools that they had essentially been lied to about world history and world relations. they were receiving soviet propaganda. they were really worried about how they would keep up with their west german counterparts, now that their world for integrated. one of the students, like connected with, he had a pin which was a junior soviet club or something, i asked about that. i said that is quite a collectible. he ticked off and gave it to me.

he said," take it." >> what were your initial impressions? >> i remember it very well. i was watching tv and they said it on tv. i was just staring at this regard i could not believe it. everything changed. in the streets you could see many eastern people in the department stores. you could talk to them. it was very interesting. >> michael -- >> it is the freedom now. i like that very much for it in the evening, i heard it in a press conference. i did not believe it.

the next day i heard it on the news and i could not believe it. >> what are the impressions you have now but maybe are different than what you thought before the fall of all? --wall? >> it is the free atmosphere. it was hard for us. it was like a prison. now, it is open. is very good. >> michael was that student. >> it is amazing when you listen to students talk about things we take for granted from a different perspective. marcus, i know annually we have done a program since the breakup of the soviet union with students from the former soviet republic. it is always a fascinating session to see the whole

gradation of how they have embraced freedom for that freedoms are still withheld from them. >> absolutely. the freedom and first amendment topics have been particularly resonant with close-up audiences. high-school students that come to washington are pretty attuned to it. i do not think there is any group in the country whose first amendment freedom are more regularly and routinely infringed upon than high school students. it is a resonant topic. >> we always talk and get fascinating feedback on "no child left behind" and immigration policy which is new announced by region. -- nuanced by region. >> the one thing you appreciate

working for close-up all these years is that every area of the country has a different aspect and outlook on politics. it is one of the secrets that makes the greater close-up program work. we bring these communities together. in many cases, they are roommates for the week, two kids from york, two kids from southern california or north dakota and for recovery -- and puerto rico. that creates more understanding between the students. >> most of those places have the first amendment. >> as you know, in the green room, when you are preparing the guests for the program, you tell them to remember that these are students from all over the country. it keeps the politicians honest. they have to enter these questions. >> it is challenging for them. economic assumptions about the audience and what kind of ideas they have. it is never monolithic.

>> hello and welcome to close about the newseum. >> i am from washington, d.c. since you have been around for over 30 years, i know you have probably experienced many changes in administration, many changes in congress, and many changes to american history. i was wondering, what was one of your most memorable stories about american history that you covered through the 30 year you have been here. ? >> the fall of the berlin wall and that story -- it is hard to beat that. we were actually there covering history at it unfolded. -- as it unfolded. we are not a news show very we look at things with prospective and analysis and reporting students in and we have discussions. we are not cutting edge news. there, we were there when they weren't