welcome to the lower show where we get the real headlines with none of the mercy or can we live in washington d.c. now tonight we're going get a live update from on the ground in oakland are unions local businesses even city workers are all expected to join the occupy oakland movement for a general strike as they're calling it and while he will continue to occupy cities across the u.s. it looks like some people on capitol hill might be getting the message in pieces of his speech and his fareed of the young turks about an amendment that was introduced to overturn the citizens united ruling and we'll speak to dean baker to hash out

a proposed transaction tax other countries haven't acted but how has wall street unified back against the effort here have all that morphy tonight including a dose of happy hour but first let's take a look at the mainstream media has decided to miss. our well it's another day of the mainstream media is still going absolutely crazy over the herman cain sexual harassment story or maybe non-story now as i mentioned yesterday this kind of stuff is the bread and butter that catnip of the mainstream media and let's admit viewers always love to get the juicy details of a good scandal too it's like high school gossip doesn't matter which side you're on you still want to know everything about everybody and the gossip mongers now are the mainstream media are happy to provide. herman cain is surging in the polls but he's now fighting factional harassment allegation firman cain still not being able to shake the sexual harassment story following him to every interview now one of

cain's accusers is trying to cancel her confidante confidentiality agreement so she can tell her story her attorney joel bennett says the only thing stopping his client from going public is a confidentiality agreement and he says that it's clear these are political rivals who are fanning the flames of this controversy here a new york times report is putting a price on one former female staff member of silence thirty five thousand dollars came in fifteen never sexually harassed anyone. they know how to find funny here this is some of these anchors act legitimately surprised that this story is calling him everywhere he goes interview or interview it really is that shocking to you considering that you've been feeding the frenzy yourselves twenty four hours a day for the last few days spare me the famed look of surprise if somebody has a shady past and wants me the president of the united states it's probably good for us to know about it but here's this really gets me is that even though people like to know it doesn't mean that it will change their opinion or influence their decision it take for example the back of the mainstream media themselves admitted

that herman cain is still surging in the polls and he rasmussen poll shows that he has a double digit lead over mitt romney in south carolina and iowa reports show that no one really cares all that much in concord one headline literally said i when's that yawn at herman cain allegations and why sexual harassment allegations don't bother americans or if they should bother americans that's a separate conversation that can be had by the mainstream media thinks that this is the most important thing in the world why the economy occupy wall street our wars in iraq and afghanistan why those should be thrown on the back burner that's a conversation that needs to be had right now the news is supposed to inform educate make us smarter not more dog but they're doing the exact opposite which is why i'm guessing that they care more about herman cain's possible cost for the national restaurant association and the fact of the man is not fit to be president for many other more important reasons you know i'm going on rants before about how completely unaware he is when it comes to foreign policy but let me give you

a new and very sad and yet very real example here is herman cain talking about china news hour and whether or not they're in military threat. yes the military through. they're trying to develop nuclear capability and they will need to go aircraft carriers like we have solutions from south considered a little timidly. if you catch that little thing that he said there we know they're trying to develop nuclear capabilities harman darling china already has nukes lots of them we don't know the exact number it's estimated to be somewhere between one hundred four hundred most commonly used figure about two hundred forty but still enough nukes a do a lot of damage and a lot of destruction and one more thing has been china has have those nukes since the first test of them in one thousand nine hundred sixty four so this isn't some new development you just missed this is been a fact of life throughout your life i think you say you've been studying up on foreign policy over the last couple of months. anyway and after i got herman let's

get back to the mainstream media is guy is an idiot and they feel no need to call it out for it and show the country why he is indeed not fit to be president you want somebody to be the commander in chief of the armed forces who has no idea what other countries are nuclear powers because i don't but apparently the mainstream media thinks that a sex scandal where there are still very few details available to prove anything is much more important to point out to trying to spread it him than a real life scandal one of a lack of intelligence which has been proven over and over again but the mainstream media that's chosen to miss. well today occupy oakland is holding a huge gathering something they're calling a general strike thousands are expected to participate including local business owners in the area and here's a picture of men's warehouse that actually closed their doors for the day now a number of unions have shown their support for this event and although the strike

wasn't planned enough in advance to legally allow those union members to strike they have expressed their solidarity and they said the employees might use their day off or simply leave work early to join city officials have also agreed to let non-essential workers use vacation days leaving a few people out there very confused mainly the open police union which attacked mayor jean quan for her flip flop on occupy oakland and making the police not as the bad guys so it's going all the details on the ground to see how this strike is panning out joining me is our chief producer lucy half enough lucy thanks so much for joining us so you know tell us what it looks like down there is there a big turnout today. where. students.

from out here or. i mean all. of these build many parks. as you mentioned earlier are. most part. for martial arts all right so tell us is there a large police presence too because i know that they had said every oakland police officer forget about your vacation days if you have the day off you better come to work. yeah maybe they're working maybe they're dry and coffee shop somewhere but a lot of the weirdest thing is i have literally not noticed the police officers that i've been here yesterday evening was named. after you've lost some weight but he's obviously. leaving sense because of so you know i suppose a lot of the protesters here. now because. the other shoe to drop one

interesting i was trying to talk. i think that i think we may have lost. we're going to. hear that that route. yeah we'll argue for a second so tell us you're going to tell us about a side note something we had noticed when you were driving up yes yes yes as you drive. up the stairs i want training coliseum here for the march second house perhaps a lot of these guys. about what expresses there right now. compare that because newark occupy wall street for weeks on end how would you compare the mood or the entire environment from wall street to occupy oakland. or asked. mary. things that struck me as sort of expressed about

spirit these turntables. can't sing before the general assembly same time it's good as their start of course. there are a lot more militants at there point you know one of. your protesters or. scalpels for example also tiptoed around the issue of the house vote very very carefully and they sort of wanted to watch the words and not your own middle america not to came here there's a there are a opposed them they are sick of the system as it is sans they're going to. do whatever it takes to change things for a certain stance or explode here now obviously the park is where the entire movement started in september and oakland has been going for a couple of weeks but the last week or so has really drawn a lot of attention there because of the clashes with police because of scott olsen do they feel like now they're becoming the focal point or the the center of the

occupy movement there. oh absolutely and. the relevance is the speakers are getting letters of solidary. pakistan for example and egypt so you can hear it very much american rock world is watching that almost. some say it's not much and ok regardless of what happens with the strike if they are able to shut down the. park on a. consequence just. because it will take. time to. proceed is. just simply. very very. i want to ask you how people are reacting to this open letter that the

oakland police union decided to write basically telling mayor thanks a lot you cliff you told us to go out and arrest these people to clear the park then suddenly you decided that you support them or letting city workers take the day off and what are we supposed to be work on the middle and you look you make us look like the bad guys i'm just wondering if people are being sympathetic to the police unions arguments here or if they really do see them as the bad guys. no organized. but. that apart. i. actually had a flash. before the press. that

. but i was. curious to know what. that is a big margin. trying to slow down or do you think. that people right now are getting out of our market. now. but. that's already affecting their very thought of what works. for strike.

or. whether all the. cards. are loose they want to thank you so much for. and you know hopefully we'll keep getting more details but it looks like so far this day is a success over there in oakland thanks. and last week iraq war veteran scott olsen was critically injured by a tear gas canister thrown by police i don't one week later iraq veterans against the war marched in new york city to express their solidarity with the ninety nine percent r.t. correspondent if they see a choice in the report from the march on wind increasing number of veterans or identifying with this occupy movement. a marine

outraged with police treatment of occupy wall street protesters. has inspired a movement america's war veterans have come out on to the streets of new york to publicly support the occupy wall street movement let's find out what has led them out here our constitutional rights are being curtailed and we'll search for them for. another catalyst for anger former iraq war veteran scott olsen unconscious after being injured in occupy oakland protests last week but you do. it with a moment of silence the veterans show this tally just won't fly with them what do you think about veterans joining occupy wall street do you think it's a strong message that your sky also veterans one hundred zero zero zero veterans of all ages who have served their country at war are now fighting for change at home better and stuff really do represent many of the struggles that all americans are

going through we have extremely high unemployment rates. these veterans also see themselves as the ninety nine percent the very wealthy are not paying their fair share and so forth so i believe that and i think most people do here to support that traditionally these veterans have been standing up against america's wars but today the cost of stock exchange calling for a complete revamp of america's financial system what makes you angry about the system right go if you like corporations and banks and wall street currently have a disproportionately large voice in our government as compared to the citizens if you like citizens of america deserve a government that will listen to them be accountable to them and be transparent and right now we don't have that. iraq veterans against the were marching through the streets of new york city to get says a cardi part the biggest occupy wall street care. many in the u.s. were veterans are greeted at the occupy wall street you are gambling with cheers

that people here believe that veterans joining a crowd will give more credibility to the. fact that they're ready now to really open their voice to let it be heard. because it credible and i think it's really going out with a movement and a huge way as the world trade center first responder i'm right up there with them as a matter of fact just like them i myself had got literally spit on by the system even those not active in the protests are supportive you know to be a veteran myself and i'm not surprised that they would do that since. they're very conscious of what's happening in this country right now so i didn't know they were joining them saw very happy to hear that tens of thousands of soldiers are supposed to return from iraq when the people here say this will only amplify the number of outreach veterans of the united states they have been part of yet it's the first time that americans given by the two thousand and eight meltdown have reacted and

you can just feel that small was the still maybe and it's large enough it's supported by an enormous percentage of americans to some degree or another i think it's a real change of mood in america but you know a change of mood increasingly difficult to ignore those who fought for the u.s. abroad now forced to fight for the u.s. at home and artsy new york. sort of comes to money and politics it's a toxic combination that's only gotten worse since the citizens united ruling courts and now a group of lawmakers with that issue. i believe the right. kinda. like

stuff that nobody seems to know. that never appropriate the face but hardly argument that they're being overly dramatic. you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then something else here sees some other part of it and realize that everything is or you don't know i'm sorry welcome to the big picture.

i'm more in mr. well here's a quick update for you guys tonight russian businessman pictured boot was convicted this afternoon in new york on charges of attempting to sell weapons to

a colombian terror group now the case has been watched closely both here in the u.s. and in russia back in two thousand and ten the u.s. used political pressure to have extradited from thailand where he was arrested in the lab or its sting operation to new york now the u.s. media dubbed him the merchant of death he was accused of seeking to make millions of dollars by selling weapons to a character so could tap u.s. forces that were helping the colombian government have been his attorney of argue that u.s. authorities framed illegitimate businessman they point out the case is built on recorded conversations that were open to interpretation and never resulted in the exchange of any arms or money but today booth was convicted of conspiracy to kill americans and u.s. officials deliver anti-aircraft missiles and aid a terrorist organization as yuri reached the verdict after deliberating for about six hours over the course of two days who could get life in prison when he sentenced in february of next year. and now thought about the supreme court's citizens united ruling one that allows for unlimited flows of money from

corporations and unions into our elections and it's finally getting challenge on paper from lawmakers on capitol hill last night six democratic senators introduced a constitutional amendment that would in effect overturn the ruling restore the author already to congress and the states can regulate the campaign finance system and it's a move that's sure to get some cheers from the occupy wall street crowd and as we head into the next presidential election where an unprecedented amount of money is expected to be spent it could be a more important time but what are the chances of an amendment actually going through joining me from our studio in los angeles an experience co-host of the young turks and i want to thank you so much for joining us tonight and now you are you know i was talking about this before you and james have been calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn the citizens united ruling and what do you know somebody is actually calling for the exact same thing within the halls of congress so are you excited. i'm half excited and a little skeptical and i'll explain why in a second so you have senators tom you all and michael bennett proposing they are

authored this constitutional amendment and it sounds good on paper what they're asking for is to end corporate personhood which is something that i'm definitely in favor of they want to overturn citizens united which has been completely toxic to our political system however they want to allow congress to regulate campaign finance ok n.p.r. not putting any language in this constitutional amendment that would dictate what the regulations should be so they're leaving it up to congress which makes me a little skeptical because is congress willing to bite the hand that feeds i don't really think so the majority of people in congress right now are bought so are they really going to be. strong leaders in campaign finance i doubt it but i don't even think we're going to get to that point i don't think that this constitutional amendment will even get the votes necessary from legislators in order for it to

pass are able to tell me how you would like to think in a perfect world how would have this have been done or you know in a way that you enjoy or asking for this to happen what would it look like. well we would like to make sure first of all you need to make sure that all campaign contributions are disclosed and that's something that democrats in congress tried to get passed in the past but it did not work at all republicans are not buying it they want corporations and you know even political action committees to donate as much money as possible without even having to disclose how much money they've donated and whom they've donated it to so that's a really big problem and another problem is we need real campaign finance reform we need to limit the amount of money that people can donate to politicians so with wolfpack which is something that jane cuber launched he is saying that donation should be limited to one hundred dollars and i think that's extremely reasonable that way everyone has a voice you don't have to be a millionaire you don't have to be the elite in this country you know small

donations are enough and you have publicly financed campaigns as opposed to having these private corporations take over everything ok but so you know you said that you don't think that what's in there in utah and other centers right now are proposing is going to go through because there isn't the political will but would there be the political will for change is proposing the let's also talk about how difficult it actually is to get a constitutional amendment you either need two thirds of congress or any three quarters of state legislatures and the route is actually never even been taken so what do you think the chances realistically of something like this ever happening are. i'm not overly optimistic it's going to be extremely difficult i mean in the history of the united states there have been eleven thousand constitutional amendments proposed only twenty seven of them have actually passed in terms of congress passing a constitutional amendment we have never had the necessary two thirds of congress approve a constitutional amendment we have to depend on the states to have something known

as a constitutional convention and we need to have three quarters of all states have a constitutional convention that approves a constitutional amendment so that's the way that's the route that jake is going to attempt to do this and do i think that that's still going to be extremely difficult absolutely but we're seeing more and more grassroots efforts throughout the country for instance you see boulder colorado they have just passed a ballot measure saying that they would like to see citizens united overturned the same thing happened in madison wisconsin so you're starting to see more and more people on a local level ask for this constitutional amendment and if you get enough support you can completely i pass congress and make it happen the question is are we going to be able to convince people and inform people enough of what's really going on in our political system a lot of americans aren't even aware of citizens united or the fact that our

supreme court has granted corporations personhood so you need to inform the public you need to know but you need to let them know exactly how this has really destroyed our own political system and get them to be politically active and i think the fact that occupy wall street and all these occupy movements have been so successful thus far really helps us with this goal yeah will be a tough battle because it's a little more than a year before the next presidential election we know that both candidates republicans and democrats both sides are going to try to get as much money as they can and so we know that both parties don't want to sit in the you know to be over here. and i'm happy that you mentioned the local route let's also talk about something about a movement is doing in iowa they decided to occupy the iowa caucuses and they're going to try and close down the offices of all the republican candidates there and president obama do you think the that's a good idea of this finally a way that they're finding you know to make themselves more politically viable to

really try to interfere with the political process and i actually think it's genius and i'll tell you why right now the mainstream media is very focused on the elections and it's not just the mainstream media it's also politicians right the number one thing on their minds right now are the elections you know what's going to happen with the republicans who are we going to end up nominating that kind of thing and at this point i think that it's a great way for the protesters to get themselves into that story so for them to occupy presidential headquarters in iowa is a big story it's going to get a lot of attention and it's going to get attention from the actual politicians so i'm in favor of it i think that it's a great strategy as long as they remain peaceful and they don't do anything illegal you know that as soon as they do the mainstream media is going to focus on that aspect of the story as opposed to what their actual demands are but i think that this is a smart strategy and i hope that it turns out to be a success. hopefully that there it won't and the same way you know what we saw

going on in oakland over the last week in terms of violence focused on the news because they happen to be there but i know that you're actually going to open tonight are you going. i'm going because i mean first of all this movement is so inspirational to me personally but also i want to be there i think that it's historical and i want to be there to show the protestors that the young turks and you know nonconventional media is definitely supporting them and i want to hear from them i want to interview as many people as possible and get their perspective on what's going on with this movement so i'm extremely excited about being there you know i did a little coverage from occupy l.a. and just speaking to those protesters you get a better idea you get a better sense of just how intelligent they are and just how horrible the coverage has been of these movements movements of the mainstream media because as you and i have talked about several times you know they get to trade as these idiots who don't know what they're even there for and you know when you really talk to them firsthand you get a sense of just how intelligent and well informed they really are. which i can go

to like we have lucy doing a great job out there for us and i thank you so much for joining us tonight thanks alona. now and when we return we have can i think you said it i read it correctly and then i should watch creepy hit with a transaction tax on everything the trade they make some people on capitol hill are proposing that for diving to the top they can just. say that the police. were contesting nobody seems to know. that never pepper sprayed the face but part of the argument that they're being overly dramatic .