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 raping office clients jack abramoff served three and a half years in prison guilty of conspiracy fraud and tax evasion mr 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 decided that they want to clean up washington and 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 their mental 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 and me 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's contributions and who 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. so a lot of them personally because i had people working for me 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 it was a show people say you were in 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 and 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 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 set and i found it

very very interesting that that once you just a moment you offered a job took on rational thought for 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 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 effect 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. 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 and 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 them aliens and what i thought 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 that 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 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 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 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 propose 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 who's taking a check or 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 a they're 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 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 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 and they will 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 is 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. it 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 i mean not to expect anything in return one on one on 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 or a contract most people don't do that but it's 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 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 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 they have been 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 them as a possible donor to political efforts and again don't you think it effectively legalize this corruption in washington 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 corrupt 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 spoke to the occupy people quite a lot and told them that until they get. themselves organize 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 lies in the unsanitary things that go on and most americans in repelled by that 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 the 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 that get it like like i did like i

help my clients do and like every lobbyist helps their clients do importunately 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 of. possibly one amp with a t.v. show thank you.

this is claude. allen sitting on the edge of. its present. mixing reality as nothingness. but if you enter this part of the mystery of supernatural creature you. shaimaa know siberia on our t.v. .

and. now round up of the week's top stories in today's headlines the arab league calls on syrian president bashar all the songs to surrender some of his powers to his vice president and form a national unity government with the opposite opposition this comes as the league extends its observer mission despite a lack of progress in ending almost a year of violence. early results show croatia has voted in favor of joining the european union this comes as yet another member of the financially stricken union romania rises up against its governments and charity measures. and other stories that shape this week the tension over iran's nuclear program reaches new

highs as the e.u. debates an oil embargo and the u.s. ups its military presence in the region. and the power of the internet in action a massive all mine backlash over u.s. plans to expand web censorship leads to the suspension of a pending anti-piracy law and some. sports news is coming up next with kate. hello welcome to the sports and here's what's coming up. easy does it rafael nadal and roger federer coast into the quarter finals of the australian open. while different strokes kim clijsters comes back from the brink while carline defies a second set fightback to reach the last eight. and showtime east meets west

once again in the annual all star extravaganza in front of a sellout arena in latvian capital every guy. at first a tennis and second seed rough on the doll has beaten fellow spaniard filippi on our life 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 and he eased to a six four six four six two victory against his misfiring davis cup team mate thank you thank you thank you to unforced errors while nidal felt a little remorse after knocking out his off court. for a number of days one of my best friends and. that's the game that's a sport and you understand that's all the. agape. there are about who wants to win their way by the ones to do have. the ones who can emerge with the was a better result for the motions are similar you know it's happens very often

nothing. and up next one adult is big serving come march third who produced twenty eight aces in his grueling and ill tempered for settling disputes they are moderate the check was booed off of the match at the seventh he refused to shake hands with his opponent that it apparently took offense after all mike overturned a ball and his head during the fourth set and wouldn't accept and we apologise. who is afraid to tenney's know that record is pretty big and you always have a some space to put the ball in and months not even a few if you stand each other like you're four meters close to the guy just try to hit it straight straight to your face you know i was just able to do something someone down just hit me in the arm and and that seed you know i actually did use these know the way i would to any z's. well elsewhere there was a bit of heartbreak for the local crowd as home favorite in our time it was formerly beaten by roger federer

a trademark backhand winner clinched the second set of the swiss drew the applause of white america that sounds better than swiftly served out the third as the wild number three reached his thirty first consecutive quarter final to slam events. and waiting for federal in the last eighty one martina del potro after the argentinian rolled in it called strive at the germany. while women's defending champion kim clijsters played to an ankle injury and slaved for much points to stun the french open champion li na the belgian contemplated retiring after landing or quickly it's. the one time to take six to eight in the second set tie break but a jubilant prices for back to take the thirty six ball. last moment. you can use i could just try to do another to mitigation. sink in or you know if i could get through those the first twenty minutes of our. i think the pain

would go away a little bit and then maybe would you do another and i could just through it and. have these they're going to give up. the belgian will next face top save caroline wozniacki who held up a second set fight back by serbia's yelena yankovic's the former while number one committing to her fiftieth unforced error to hand wozniacki six seven five victory the dane went out in the semifinals last year to second life and depending on how one can point the one spot. in form by the russian victoria azarenka hit a forehand when i brushed aside yvetot an issue about the czech republic sixty six two three see you enjoy it so well that the string victory. and waiting in the quarter finals is number eight. seed agnieszka around the pole needed less than an hour to overpower germany's you six one six one twenty two year old running in

confidence after injuring its three set battle in her opening match. and despite resting from men on break at a lanka and not kissed each discussed a trance to massive underdogs minsk by an impressive fifty point margin here in moscow to maintain the group the lead in the international d.t.b. tournament while the home side got off to a rather slow start as dwayne hawkins poured into travels all the bats to get the better she visited and early eight for lead the american would eventually top score with nineteen points let's put themselves in to try to seat by the end of the opening for staff and never look back sasha can lead to that charge with a team high eighteen points and some spectacular slam dunks six more players finished in total to detail who eventually won it one hundred ten to sixty moscow club chalking up their night's win intend games since the start of the regular season and later admitted it's more a training session that this is something. the world is

a little water and well our opponents on squad at the same level as the other teams in the lead what about all it's to do any team can beat another team at any given time but if you don't give your all so i'm happy with the way i played. and over in the n.b.a. the grizzlies won their sixth straight game with a one hundred twenty eight to ninety five home way of the struggling kings late in the first quarter mike conley signed his seventh basket from seven shots but memphis thirty four twenty one out of sacramento climbed back to within eight points in the second after the deaths jumper just seconds to go but then the home side pulled away after the break marc gasol and rudy gay for a stylish dunk packed with repeated the feat a perfect hour you memphis seventy eight sixty ahead in the final quarter it was all about gasol as the verses won by thirty eight points all of their players collecting twenty points. finally to ice hockey and fans of fans flooded to

the latvian capital of riga on saturday to watch the east remain unbeaten against the west in the fourth k h l all-star extravaganza rather to further new and reports. lead in the hockey burns region note for the stores. it was their turn to meet the biggest jones your strongest league has stalled for at the all star game twenty two world. with one of the greatest russian clear civil time sergei further of living the peak of the eastern conference and the pride of latin hockey san this was a lynch captioning the best from the west that is why for the first time in the history of the event the arena that would jump thousand spectators one passionately behind one side the west. and also mention to promptly to believe in the so-called super skills show which is a traditional warm up ahead of the all star games with another local idol number

regus miccolis well at least winning the fastest skater competition. after three more contests the western conference team were still on bitten although their opponents from the east managed to still the show and win. with truckers like somebody results of producing a record breaking one hundred eighty three kilometer no heat in the current shot contest and sergei further up edging out sunday's all strange in the captain's deal which saw some extra hockey skills on display from the two legends i think were like i've been. having. so i'm just like that i like that it was it was sort of very technical material so it was different it was new how the words were like it and it was it was good innovation meanwhile the most i guess in contest shootouts left many doubts if it's really possible in this world what's bugging the press

into the various sankoh is the reason i don't know how what does it look like the puck was going our way in the wrong side mccain back this way so i don't know if you know he's a magician. the secret was that i just made a tiny hole in the park and pollution one through. my father told me the street has to be a video on no three previous occasions take a chill star game so the team from these. claimed victory over the peak of the west so this time around greece hope we were about to witness something more than just a friendly showcase love but the real deal moderate the action started with no goals in the first ten minutes of the match proving that teams were not just having fun on ice just as they promised before the game we had a winning streak on so. i think. it might be up for grabs today as a book good players on both sides i think they're going to try a lot harder to do one of the sides they get a win under their belts. it was the west open the school and girls galore while

again to all the teams to turn schooling and taking the lead but if there are periods under way on level terms all the off to the further fifteen schools through in a row to make it will eight the old town was never double the team from the east remains unbidden at the cage all star games fifteen eleven the final school i think it begins as a friendly. friendly game canonizing these and then as soon as the somebody gets ahead it will but more the others name starts to. wear you again we can't let it get away like that then they'd just stand gradually becomes a little bit. more more competitive than it was in the beginning but still of long game nobody wants to get heard of course. and so have a good time and enjoy themselves this time around was different from any i appear i think it was. twenty interesting combinations i think guys basically try boy fun so

it period. as you know we just. for any all-star games but like i said we have a streak of for awful goals one line do have really good job but. we got lucky and we got. quite advantage there next year the all stars who make it to the point of the euro mountains of the eastern russian city of chile haven't. the best but the neon artsy lucky. and also. by hand.

it's.

a roundup of the week's top stories in today's headlines of the arab league calls on syrian president bashar al assad to surrender some of his powers to his vice president and form a national unity government with the opposition this comes as the league extends its observer mission in spite of lack of progress in the ending almost a year of violence. early results show croatia has voted in favor of joining the european union this comes as yet another member of the financially stricken union a romania against its governments and the measures. and other stories that shape this week the tension over iran's nuclear program reaches new highs as

the e.u. debates on oil embargo and the u.s. ups its military presence in the region. thanks for being with us five o'clock here in moscow the arab league is demanding a series of reforms in syria to stabilize the country in the wake of almost a year of violent uprising it has called on president assad to cede some of his powers to the vice president as well as work towards the formation of a national unity government arab league official says their monitors will continue to implement a peace plan in the country despite saudi arabia withdrawing in contingency and as our sara furth reports there's a desperate need for mediation in the conflict. crucially it was also expected to happen is that they're going to be.