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 help well i'm a mum is frustrated that there are 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 here after rethinking my life and what i was involved in decided that they want to clean up washington that i would help them figure out exactly how to do it 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 out of there mel that they were among the many who participated in some of the corruption that they were accusing me of when one of the senators a senator campbell was accusing me of corruption in 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 clients as 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 i had a staff of about forty lobbyists and some of them knew the people who work for me but. i found the whole thing to be hypocritical it was a kangaroo court and. 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 on porch a name 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 congressmen give money to congressmen in terms of political contributions by meals for them take them golfing take them on trips take them to 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 is something that goes on far too often in washington you want to say that and i found it very very interesting that 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 from that minute on those people are focused on that lobbying from their clients and it's not just me i saw it all over tell me 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 are 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 their businesses most the lobbying is deep that's keeping the government from doing things to industries and to companies and likely going to help them avoid to the haystack today but when i got presented in 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 industry. what was

interesting about your case it was not just politicians who cheated but also you cheated your clients namely those indian tribes with gambling interests who paid humanely and so what i did was what i did was where we're about to pled guilty to was some of the efforts that we did for the clients in their states worst to stop their competition from taking away their markets they would crush their competition 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's not something we we made up we're going to have any regrets about doing that well at the 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 shouldn't even 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 do 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 the problems the average citizen 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 a special interest is pushing on it that's where the problem starts so what i propose in my book and the effort that i've been engaged in since i got 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's one of the four things that i've proposed to clean up the system i think it's very important because the end of the day. contributions that 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 bribery like that well i mean ultimately every member of congress who's taking a check 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 at it all do 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 right there you say look 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 of the crimes that you committed there's still a sense that you were used as a poster boy a 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 the reason why 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 is perfectly fine in today's politics you know but i don't think so i think people should have the right to get think i've been fairly has this night. anything in return one on one why should you expect something in

return there are a 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 told their benefactors if somebody is worth a trillion dollars they live in some form in kansas and they never have any contact with any congressman ever and they see some congressman they love him they want to give him 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 i'm going to be very hard to track down to ask 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 are capable of figuring it out that decision only created a further complication in my view in the sense that it brought corporations in as

a possible donor to political efforts and again don't you think it effectively legalize this corruption and watched 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 as things the problem is that they didn't organize themselves like the tea party movement did which was politically tea party movement had a dramatic impact on the last election and probably will still in this election and i've spoken to the occupy people quite a lot and told them that until they get themselves organized politically they're not going to be meaningful because in america street protests don't really meaning that people don't like street protests in america first of all the destructive there's banda wising there's unsanitary things that go on and most. america is

a 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 a money to hire a lot of. well that might not be a bad thing but you know american people don't need lobby is they need to organize themselves i think that in america getting into first of all class and b. i think is very dangerous we've seen that every great. tele tarion 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 cheat 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 that get it like like i did like i help my clients do and like every lobbyist helps their clients do unfortunately had it not being for the jail time would you have been just as we're painting 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 and i should have been involved in 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 been sitting here with you i'd be sitting on capitol hill negotiating something for one of my clients. took my getting killed for me to come to the realisation that i should have been there what do you plan to do. in the process. possibly want to put the t.v. show thank you. this is claude. allen sitting on the edge of past

and present. mixing reality that's nothingness. but if you enter this time. the mystery of supernatural creatures. shaman of siberia. you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear or see some other part of it and realize everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm tom harvey welcome to the big picture. wealthy british sign on the sun holds a spot on the front. of.

the markets finance scandal find out what's really happening to the global economy for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines to name two causes a report on. the arab media said to decide whether to give the go i had to another month of their monitoring mission in syria while the opposition wants the u.n. security council to get involved. pushed to the edge of the internet erupts in a furor over plans to expand a web censorship strike in bad weather internet why blackouts and massive hacking attacks. israel and the us talk tactics over a possible conflict in the gulf as they gather forces out of iran's borders while the e.u. prepares to world bar over to iran's alleged nuclear ambitions. and in romania public anger spills over and hundreds of arrested and dozens injured as police

violence i met a massive ongoing anti-government protest. right now it's time to take a look what's happening in the world of sports here's kate. hello welcome to the first sports news this sunday and here are the headlines easy does it rough on the doll sweeps aside for those trying. to rush into the quarterfinals of the astroid you know that. one top flight thrill is nor it holds chelsea while bolton star live a full on a pulsating day in the english premier league the top so you are in action. and advantage was but no all russian final at the friendly tournament in dubai was becky songs olympians edge four star lineup a meeting with sony. but first to tennis and second seed rafael nadal has beaten fellow spaniard fifty on a low path in straight sets to book

a place in the quarterfinals of the australian open the two thousand and nine champion was broken only once as he eased to a six four six four six two victory the world number two one explain the we're not off the tamasha burdick this is nicolas almagro clash well meanwhile argentina's one man team del potro takes on. germany while four time champion roger federer is up against boston rising local favorites but not to make in the light notch. well over in the women's draw while the mystery victoria azarenka will play better than that in the quarterfinals both enjoyed easy witness against event that this of a good is respectively the only job in compliance this is because french open without gnarly of china top ranks day and caroline wozniacki faces formal while the number one lane yankovic's from serbia. while on saturday while the before maria sharapova went through to the fourth round of the comprehensive six want to sixteen a victory over. the two thousand and eight champion had had limited preparation for

the first grand slam of the season but has dropped five games in three matches so far. so good as a car. going to be before the match so if you prepare yourself for nothing if you go out there you play well enough to win with a comfortable scoreline. so or next space germany's sabine lisicki he came from a set down to knock out rushes like isn't sober two six six four six two six. one is also the end of the road for verizon to write about who suffered a shock defeat at the hands of fellow actually getting in the car about the next phase another up to the challenge in the guise of returning five time champion serena williams the american was in a devastating for against hunger is the director on. yet another russian to carry a leg up pulled out with a leg injury as a step down against second see such a critic of the czech republic. is looking for his second major title the chance to

leapfrog caroline wozniacki at the top of the world rankings. starting in the way next his former world number one ana event of each the serbian needed just over an hour throughout muscle american six. she has to return to the final for the first time since two thousand and. five on the men's side reigning champion novak djokovic powered. the top ranked rushed to eight six laps six one six one victory just over the french struggled with you. know taking his situation right now in matter but looking just over my game was was really really really fantastic going from from serve to the return all the shots going to the mat so. i'm happy with the way my first first we were here in australia hopefully we can continue the same. while also through his former finalist jo

wilfried tsonga the frenchman was an easy win her over portugal's frederico hero after taking a string sets to school in. the meanwhile for seeded twice beaten finalist andy murray is also through following a straight forward following a frenchman life a lot and i can't back up and come out and. we stayed up a brilliant five by going one fish to win in three hours and forty minutes while fifteen dad farah overcame argentina's quanties nothing in straight sets the next step for him is richelle gask a france so obviously and co tips are a bitch. football now in bolton stunned liverpool three one of the reebok stadium to change their first points over the red since two thousand and six a move out of the bottom three pulsating saturday in english premier league. it was your star performance or catch it was pleasurable you know when you're really what you know the results come in give it a read or see and see what we get to get eyes and have truth be told but when it goes to say a we knew but i wouldn't want to because it was three or was it just the one that

was of such a high standing the passing the movement through every table went forward and that's pleasing going to the second part of the season. meanwhile elsewhere but going grab a late draw at everton but stay in the bottom three when dempsey became the first american to score a premier league hat trick has fallen came back to thrash newcastle five two q.p.r. moved out of the drop zone with a three one win over we're going to stay bottom graham dorrans stoppage time free kick gave west brom their first win over staking ten games to one sunderland and the swans is four game unbeaten run to nil robbie keane scored twice against his former club as aston villa one three to ten man wolves while no reach further than to chelsea's title hopes of a goalless draw manager under a lush forest defended strike a philanderer torres whose goalless draw out has now extended to seventy. really i think. in the first half movements. and effective.

trying to get this. schools that he wants is a major impact also in the whole offensive. well meanwhile this sunday seems to more crunch time is leaving it as manchester city hosts third place top those are second place matched united travel to ask if well spares a five points behind city in their manager harry redknapp has once again laid down his side's championship ambitions. we want to go to get a result and play well and come away we start from the game but. i've said many times you know six point seven point eight point lead can evaporate very quickly can't they were seen it's only two arms over the years so. it's all good play for everybody still it's like everything i keep saying that top four is really where we want to be we want to get champions league football anything above that is a bonus for us. and in the meantime russian champions and age will face becky

stands olympic team in the final of the friendly match world cup in dubai after the ten month side edged russian premier league outfit brushed off one nil it was a winner takes all match in the emirates after both sides had won the right watches and the us backed the false step after the boks can you try a stunning croatia goalkeeper state but that's a case that thirteen minutes a well and get us jobs and ask us have all agreed the best chance to level for our stuff just before the break but after some definite works and a few waiting in the far post however the stuff we're given a huge very soon off to restart the suspect just on keeping money on the back of how would work outside the area and the sense of lots that outnumbers the asian side held back a lackluster outdoor stuff on one mill was how it stayed. for me was a quick one better than the lee county ponson booked a place in the final with a two one win over the iraq elaine picked team just eight minutes sooner than shut off ahead in the last. part of the second suspect side as the missing

a chance however a quick counterattack only in the second half saw the rockies pull level mohamad abdalla cassim volney nikolai's but sixteen minutes later and some eight found the match without the banco last of it chipping in across the alexander courage a call to love you spoke to others the way it finished the cynics taking the second wind. and finally rushes pentathlete a mocking one hundred years since the sport came to the country but with the olympics fast approaching there's little time for the best performers of last year to celebrate as a bouncer gorski records. russia's been a powerhouse this past decade in modern pentathlon the national team getting men's gold at three straight olympic games and dreamily savefile win in the footsteps of sydney gold medalist demetrius was called ski by reading in athens and then again in beijing and the man i'm so. knows that nothing short of flawlessness in each

discipline will be enough for a third straight. there's not one particular thing to work on as a pentathlete you pretty much have to do well in every discipline if you cannot perform at the highest level in every event you know you'll never be able to become an olympic medalist or a century of shooting swimming fencing equestrian and cross country is being marked in russia london two thousand and twelve looms large amid celebrations of past accolades. if it's top of the european and world championships and twenty eleven there are plenty of youngsters caught on the thirty two year old heels only two athletes will represent their country this summer a selection process which will definitely challenge the coaching staff. have to make a choice based on who gives us the best chance to win but it will be a tough one after this season. and runner up medals going for them. past champions so no doubt the selection process is going to be tough. other

competitors such as two thousand and ten world champion sergei currie arkan cannot be ruled out of the qualifying yet another man i know this summer the recently turned twenty four year old knows exactly who he has to be for the spot if he is to achieve that podium feat. so we all know who are patients who are the main thing for us is to get selected for the olympic games we've had the first preparation paid already starting the second phase of now out of the person after that will be entering a series of competitions so i'm going to work hard and hopefully stay injury free license so plenty of stake for russian what is a historic here for the sport in the country and while there's been no shortage of pentathlon glory during the past decade the pressure is greater than ever for the russians to win their fourth street gangs of gorski r t. that's almost nice i think.

wealthy british style seinfeld's sometimes. markets why not scandals. find out what's really happening to the global economy in these kinds of reports.

you know how sometimes you see a story and it seems so for lengthly you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear or see some other part of it and realize that everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm sorry welcome to the big picture .

machine would be soo much brighter than if you moved from phones to pressure in some. nice friends don't talk t.v. don't come. the arab league is set to decide whether to give a go it had to another month of the or monitoring mission in syria while the opposition wants the un security council to get involved. pushed to the edge the internet erupts in a furor over plans to expand web censorship striving baff with the internet why blackouts and massive packing attacks. israel and the us talk tactics over a possible conflict in the gulf as they gather forces at iran's borders while the e.u. prepares its oil embargo over two one alleged nuclear ambitions. and a mania of public anger spills over hundreds arrested and dozens injured as police

violence amid a massive ongoing anti-government protest. it is not in the russian capital you watching r t with me rima joshie today the sunday morning we take a look at the top stories of the week as well as the latest news that the arab league's fact finding mission in syria is waiting for the green lights to continue its monitoring activities for another month the decision is due to come later on sunday as the service report comes under scrutiny at the league's gathering in cairo now that's a bit harsh criticism from opposition groups which say the observer mission has failed to curb bloodshed the latest flare up at least fourteen people have reportedly been killed in a roadside bomb attack on a van carrying prisoners in the northwest of the country artists are first joining the observer says the visit of the town a year this year.