over the past twelve months. and occupy activists descended on congress and the black tiles saying it's not the money that makes all decisions at the top but events it didn't think about the right. to draw tens of thousands of people. when it comes to big money in america's politics lobbyists a lot of people who know exactly how it works but it starts he talks to form an obvious jack off explains why he thinks washington is corrupted to the cool. i i. i'm sitting down with jack abrams off once the most powerful lobbyist in washington referred to as the man who bought washington he brought government officials in order to gain political support for his clients in two thousand and six he was convicted of ripping off his clients jack abramoff served three and a half years in prison guilty of conspiracy fraud and tax evasion mr abrams

thank you very much for coming since your release from jail you've been very vocal about corruption in washington i read your book and i got a sense of your frustration about the fact that while you were sent to jail people involved in the same corrupt practices are sitting pretty in their offices on capitol hill well i'm a mom is frustrated that their people didn't go to jail or prison and prison is not fun and i wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy but i guess what i'm frustrated about is that when they had my hearings and trials and when i was sent off there was a big exclamation and celebration here that they cleaned up washington but in fact they didn't clean up washington and so when i came out you have to rethinking my life and what i was involved in i decided that they want to clean up washington and i would help them figure out exactly how to do during that senate hearing when you

were publicly bashed by the senate is what were you thinking what were your thoughts as you faced the distinguished panel well i probably was thinking they were a little less distinguished than others were thinking i was reminded can simulate by every word of their milk that they were among the many who her to sympathize in some of the corruption that they were accusing me of when one of the senators was senator campbell was accusing me of corruption and wrecking the democratic system. i was thinking back to the breakfast i had with him a couple years before where i handed him checks from my client you know contributions and he said that they would never have a problem with his committee so i was thinking that basically about each of them i didn't know a lot of them personally because i had people working for me at a staff of about forty lobbyists and some of them knew the people who worked for me but. i found the whole thing to be hypocritical it was a kangaroo court and it was

a show people say you were a tory it seems your ability to buy members of congress how did you do that i don't think i was necessarily accept on the margins much different than most of what goes on here but what happens here and what's unfortunate in which what i did in terms of pushing over the lines even of this activity is lobbyists and people want something from congress raise money for congressman give money to congressman in terms of political contributions by meals for them take them golfing take them on trips take them the sporting events and i probably did more of it than most did and i pushed over certain lines that are in the sand and broke the law but it says something that goes on far too often in washington you want to set and i found it very very interesting that once you just a moment you offered a job to a congressional staffer you own them. right there was no greater control that people could have over congressional offices than to have the head of that office

know that they're going to come in a few months to come work for a lobbying firm and from that minute on those people are focused on that lobbying from their clients and it's not just me i see it all over all over town and it's not something i bet it it's something i noticed and something that i propose now to get rid of by banning people who work on capitol hill or members of congress from ever joining the lobbying industry or the influence industry in america what did your clients want by investing in politics by investing in you well mostly my clients one of the federal government not to. get all over the back and tax them and affect their businesses most the lobbying is defense keeping the government from doing things to industries and to companies and my jewels to help them avoid to going back to neighbors i don't know i just presented a bunch of indian tribes and the way i got into it the first representation i had with the tribes was to stop the federal government from putting a thirty percent tax over the gross revenues of their gambling industries what was

interesting about your case it was not just politicians who cheated but also you you cheated your client's name namely those indian tribes with gambling interests who paid millions of them what i did was what i did was guilty to was some of the efforts that we did for the clients in their states worse to stop their competition from taking away their market. and i would crash their competition yes yes we would attack their competition and we would do everything we could to keep them from invading the market of our client and that's normal in america fortunately for better or for worse that that's not something we we made up what i have any regrets about doing that well i'd be end of the day i regret using the political process as a weapon against competitors because at the end of the day i don't think the government should be used like that i didn't have a problem with it then. and i should have it. and if we're talking about millions of dollars in contributions it's still peanuts for any big corporation it's

a tiny fraction of what they make did you get a sense of how powerless average americans are when the interest so big guys like that are at stake on capitol hill well americans have a very tough time competing with these special interests special interests come in with a lot of money and you're right it's miniscule amounts of money compared to what they could do and some of them do a lot of money but it's still a small amount of the problems the average citizen here is not engaged politically and when they're able to bring in money and influence members of congress to vote on things that are not good for the country and not good for the general interest because somebody with special interest is pushing it that's where the problem starts so what i propose in my book and the efforts that i've been engaged in a sense side gotten out of prison is a way to separate money out of politics here and basically to say that if you're a lobbyist or you're somebody who's trying to get something from the government here you may not give a dollar politically of any kind and that that's one of the poor things that i've

proposed to clean up the system i think is very important because the end of the day political contributions if i give you something if you're a congressman and i give you a contribution and i want something from you that contribution may not be cold a bribe but it is a broad at the end of the day how many members of congress are involved in corruption like that in bribery like that well i mean ultimately every member of congress is taking a check a contribution from a lobbyist or from a company or from a union or anyone who needs or get something from washington whether it's conscious or not they're involved in it alternately you can't accept something from somebody without unless you're really all doing well yes absolutely they all do and what i'm saying is you can't as a human being if somebody gives you something you're going to feel gratitude and even if you don't do with that person once or. there you say look i can't you can't buy my vote for two thousand dollars and most of them say that of course but the

issue is if you do something nice for me in my heart i'm going to have to feel little bit better about you and what i'm saying is that is the moment of the problem if you're a public servant with all the crimes that you committed there's still a sense that you were used as a poster boy is kind of a scapegoat for the corrupt system that is very much alive and kicking i want to ask you about the supreme court decision from almost two years ago that allows on limited campaign contributions lobbyist must be really happy about that decision aren't they some are some are and i think the decision was for the most part very good the decision basically said that people shouldn't have the right to get money constricted i don't have a problem with that what i have a problem with his people who want something back giving money even a dollar that's the difference with with me now corporations the problem with corporations they do you are contradicting yourself you were just talking about how any contribution can be seen as bribery and now you're saying no being able to funnel as much money as you want these perfectly fine in today's politics no i

don't think so i think people should have the right to get think i've been fairly consistent night and not to expect anything in return one on one and why should you expect something returned there are lot of people who give money in this country by the way because they like the ideology of the candidate they like the candidate themselves they're not going in there and asking for a grant or a tax break or a contract most people don't do that but it still contradicts what you were saying a few moments ago and that is with any form of contribution especially a big contribution an elected official finds themselves in a situation when they owe their benefactors if somebody is worth a trillion dollars and they live in some form in kansas and they never have any contact with any congressman ever and they see some congressmen they love they want to get a million dollars because they think they're fantastic and they never ask for a thing from that person i personally think that's all right and i'm very hard to track down who asked. possibly i've talked i've talked to law enforcement about this about my ideas and once the laws are set in place i think that they're capable

of figuring it out that decision only created a further complication in my view in the sense that it brought corporations then as a possible donor to political efforts and again don't you think it effectively legalize this corruption in washington why i think corruption is legal in washington right now thousands of people took to the streets across america to say no to jack paper amounts to saying no to politics in washington do you think there is a chance that action like that that awareness like that can change anything i think the occupy wall street movement had behind it some good in saying problem is that they didn't organize themselves like the tea party movement did which was political tea party movement had a dramatic impact on the last election and probably will still in this election and i spoke to them totally occupy people quite a lot and i told them that until they get themselves organized politically they're not going to be meaningful because in america street protests don't really mean

people don't like street protests in america first of all the destructive there's vandalizing there's unsanitary things that go on and most americans are repelled by that but what most americans will respect is political activism an organization on the left or on the right now i think that there is anger out there and you don't have money to hire lobbyists. who are biting i might not be a bad thing but. you know american people don't need lobbyist they need to organize themselves i think that in america getting it to first of all class and b. i think is very dangerous we've seen that every great. totalitarians movement in certainly in the twentieth century started with class and instead of class and be able to focus themselves not on those who succeed but those who choose to succeed in the sense of using the government and using the state to make their lives easier to make more money and there are plenty of those like you get. like like i did like i helped my clients do and like every lobbyist help certain lines do unfortunately

had it not been for the jail time would you have been just as we panting as you are now if i hadn't had the fall if i hadn't had been destroyed i would love to sit here and tell you i would have all my own come to how bad this was and you know i should have been doing what i should have been valving that kind of lobbying but i'm not going to lie to you i would never thought that i thought i was doing the right thing that's the sad part of it all for me so as i look back i would have stopped i would have still been doing it instead of sitting here with you i'd be sitting on capitol hill negotiating something for one of my clients it took my getting killed for me to come to the realization that i should have been there what do you plan to do. in the process to. possibly want to help with a t.v. show thank you.

loser. wealthy british style. sometimes violent.

market why not come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with mike stronger for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines in two cars a report on our. serious leadership says it's prepared to let the arab league observers stay on in the country well into that any change in the scope of their brief meanwhile international pressure continues to mount on president that. the syrian deadlock on some nuclear program and the u.s. missile shield or under scrutiny at russia's foreign ministry bosco's top diplomats are set to face tough media questions on the country's policies have. twelve months . activists have descended on congress and white house saying it's now money that makes all the decisions at the top. didn't live up to the hype. to draw tens of

thousands of people. joins us now the latest sports news. i know the time for sport and all to welcome to the program thanks for joining us this hour and headlines. off the mark murray shop was quiet for a second open toddling five years gets going in style. while on the men's side of the action defending champ and noble joker which drops just two games on his way to a straight sets whitewash. anton winning three. to read their full protective victory in the k h l. start with tennis where roger federer has advanced into the third round of the australian open the world number

three didn't actually play in the second round opponent under a speck of germany withdrew from the tournament with an injury seven feet tall most republic had no problems to make any interview next round after between the belgium in three sets juan martin del potro also qualified for round three time defeated lost. in the only three starts to go to the next round the second seed planted sent germany's tommy haas tracking six four six three six four. russian female player involved in the action on the third day of the tournament mean a broad sense for the made it into the next round should be. in straight sets six two six one to leave now wants to strong for local deliverable the chinese dropped the ball game throughout the night. it was almost perfect as the eleventh seat belt. for its bronze six love six one and wild one

and top seed colin is now. a soft touch of georgia six one seven six to join the third round to suppose. world number one raced into the second round at the expense of pile of rain so. needing just an hour and a half to kill all three talents like resistance six to six six laugh to finish up some terrible trouble i hope this makes. i should think that changed from from me winning two thousand and eight in last year was that. i get on to the court. believing in my abilities more dinner then i did back then and playing more consistent playing well in a consistent level throughout the whole year rather than two thousand and eight. in

the women's game maria sharapova who is seeking her second australian open crown easily made it into the second round of the two thousand and eight champ was a no nonsense motor gave just the other dual core of argentina. galloping up to the opening set before winning a long rally for the match six love six one the final score there delighted to be off the mark. i had a pretty tough first turning point in coming into my first a man of the year. speed me last time and playing at a major so. you can definitely play some really good tennis and think i just mentally prepared for the. getting my knee another time to sing here so. i think i played pretty good aggressive. another russian maria kirilenko is also through to the second round following

a straight sets six four six two victory over local player jamila. while very disheveled failed to book a place in the second round following a straight defeat to second seed fitter peter check now meat products are of viral spring. in other news russia has claimed to get another gold medal at the first winter olympic games in spring. one the women's cross-country five kilometer classic rushing completed the distance in a time or fourteen minutes and eighteen seconds so even is an america which finished almost twenty seconds behind the winner unfold to bronchial the tunnel fifty minutes and one point. when i took in the kontinental hockey league back on winning ways the armament thresh nifty him in for one on home ice to claim their fourth consecutive victory and blue state chances for plouffe sport robot

fodder now has more. the stakes are high cisco are gearing up to secure a playoff spot in the western conference next to him ik trying hard to bellow out in the east their first players this season was an extra work with the petrochem this proving to be stronger than three two tuesday night in the russian capital so the muscovites fired back in style just four minutes into the game that they're just law for and he's gone to give their only man believe one nil the home side kept on building up pressure here is the nice part driven through the visitors the fans i'm been after him exhaust their chances on counter-attacks keeping the host goalie the rest is love stana busy showing off his skills. i never it was sisko who scored again sedition roag of question in seconds after the first

intermission to make it to mill stomach at shining saying one shot after another while his team mates kept on scoring in playing one man down nicolas person breaking away and netting in style here three nil. and when it came to the army men in a power play they promptly to run the show that alexei yashin ripped up the scoring for nil eight minutes from the final whistle visitors didn't give up the fight and managed to score a consolation goal but after the outcome it's always easier when you see the boys are playing well and now working hard. makes want to work hard for them and when they scoring it's always gives also confidence not just the damage to me that today tonight we can win this game because the boys can score and. the lock is on our side so it's our it's always easier when you are ahead when scoring scot claimed

their fourth consecutive win although on thursday there annan will face in much tougher challenge the two time to go in cup winners at bars a bit more than their own r.t. moscow. staying with it was a very busy tuesday in the league so here are the rest of the results of eastern conference leaders trying to beat the best in the east start something. we want. need time to be put away in slovakia for other games finished in a shootout after the least virus and rode their luck. to football now where espanyol has made a remarkable comeback from two goals down to miranda in the first leg of their copyright court final thought had already knocked out for the rail and racing since the road to the last eight and the course of events showed that they were ready to

continue bettering primera liga sides of goals from alone and probably in front to silence the crowd but had only twenty minutes to twelve minutes to actually performed a miraculous five back from the eighty feet to the eighty ninth minute to the house now to great goals to find themselves the winners in this drama spaniard spoiled the decider for the us. in the meantime barcelona prepare to take on their eternal rivals from madrid within the same stage of the spanish car pep guardiola gives his credit to poland and doesn't stick to the outcome of the first classic of the season when barcelona fully deserved their three one victory from computers because that will produce you via the champions so this can petition the leaders of the spanish league deals you know the best record in the champions league group see this time as we're playing against the strongest royal we can ever fleece in any computer. we should be ourselves in play the best possible game turn

to school goals with our thoughts on the second leg. finally in the english premier league chelsea have paid almost eleven million dollars for bolton wanderers defender gary cahill the twenty six year old england international holroyd in made seven appearances for the national team wants to continue his progress with the blues but i got to a stage of ball on where it was nice to move on but as always move on a bit like sour grapes or every move done in good lie i moved on for a forward step in my career so i just want to improve again now i've got to a level that i need to keep improving going out with. ok that's all the sports do is for the moment more into hours time here on r.t. for the next stay with us.

blind rush is going to be soon which brightened if you knew about song from finest impressions. whose phone starts on t.v. dot com. when clinton comfortable question leads to a grave accusation the world who is more xeno fogging. the president who isn't supposed to hide anything. or it's someone asking him why do you make a secret out but when the powers to be suppress the voice of those who think different or when you go experiencing very serious problems often the saakashvili government came to power in two thousand and three but it was a book that was when the problems began piling up. interviews were now off limits

to our journalists they were often beason up and humiliated in public one of the attempt to protect property puts life in real danger that we have been deprived of the only needs of and living on have gone to the original sit all the papers. be on their little ice the ownership rights on the basis of cause freedom becomes just a stage prop wealthy british style seinfeld's that's not tied to the last time. the british. markets why not scandals. find out what's really happening to the global economy in cars a report on. download

the official tea allocation tool on the phone pod touch from the top story. life on the go. video on demand tease my old girls. are in

a sense feed now with the palm of your. question on the dot com. the syrian leadership says it's prepared to that the arab league observers stay on in the country but international pressure mounts on the president that. the syrian deadlock iran's nuclear program and a u.s. missile shield out all under scrutiny as russia's top diplomat prepares to face tough questions from the country's foreign policies over the past twelve months also. coming up my my. occupy activists descend on congress in the white house saying it's now money that makes all decisions at the top.