jack abramoff was a good lobbyist, doing fairly commonplace things in washington. those included creating shell corporations and other institutions, groups whose financial ties are obscure so that he could play in washington and not leave fingerprints and traces. as i said, it was a trove of private e-mail that really made the difference, access to private communications in his case, that helped us learn what was going on. but what he did and did well was to try to hide the ways in which his money was producing legislative results. and that is what we are all about. as advocates that share the desire to see this information splashed in the public domain, we are all trying to make sure the people know what is happening. >> let me defer for a moment on another subject. it has to do with a journalist's role. you were a finalist for a pulitzer prize for the abu ghraib stories. >> we were looking at the events that led to abu ghraib. >> were you there? >> no, i wasn't. we were trying to get information here in washington about the investigations that were being conducte

. >> he won the pulitzer prize for his reporting on tom delay and jack abramoff.the senate will talk with jeff smith of the "washington post" on c-span's q&a. >> the c-span video library has every c-span program since 1987, but did you know that includes every author that has appeared on "book tv?" the c-span video library is "book tv" your way. >> sunday, syndicated talk show host bill bennett. he is the author of more than 20 books for adults and children. three hours with bill bennett sunday, part of "book tv's" three day holiday weekend on c- span2. >> for a snapshot of washington and the 111th congress, the c- span direction -- congressional directory. the president's cabinet, supreme court justices and state governors, all at your fingertips. order online net c-span.org /store. >> "washington journal" continues. >> our guests ali noorani is the executive director for the national immigration forum. thank you for joining us. you met with the president about immigration reform. what did you want to hear and what did you hear in the meeting? guest: we wanted to

. -- jack abramoff. >> now, the head of the national counter-terrorism center in washington -- the will discuss the current strength of al qaeda and pakistan and the intelligence of the whereabouts of osama bin laden and policy decisions for targeting individual terrorists. he was -- this was a recent conference on homeland security. >> for those of you who joined us just today, i want to introduce myself -- and the director of the home and security program and the organizer of the first annual security forum. the proceedings today are being covered by c-span for later broadcast and i want to welcome the just our c-span viewers but the listeners from aspen public radio. before we get started with today's session, just a few housekeeping matters. i mentioned there is a survey on the tables. we are hard at work planning next summer's second aspin security form. please complete those forms so embittered compete for that. i want to mention that a number of people were featured throughout the forum are authors and books related to comment security and counter-terrorism. those books are avail

you were one of the biggest recipients of jack abramoff. you were acting as a pitchman for a questionable from -- firm promoting free government money. they sent out a release: new " -- a release calling you, "j.d. huckster." >> you have changed position so much that we should set up an extra podium for you, depending on which john mccain will answer the questions. rather than dealing with insults, and i invite everyone, because a mile of the time, to go to my website, to see the extended explanations. let me explain and this should be about issues. it is about mr. mccain's record on amnestied cap co-op an duringd trade -- record on amnesty, coauthoring cap and trade. he does not want to run his record. that is why he is engaged in these attacks. it is unbecoming to you. you're not a statement any longer. you are a political shape shifter. >> senator mccain. >> there you go again, just as i predicted at the beginning of this debate. congressman hayworth was one of the big spenders. he told people, like jeff and me, who were fighting against

he is a pulitzer prize-winning columnist for his reporting on jack abramoff and tom delay. jeffrey smith on sunday's edition of "q&a." >> the former education secretary and drug czar is the author of more than 20 books. join the conversation with bill bennett sunday, part of the holiday weekend. get the whole schedule at booktv.org. host: on your screen is congressman john tierney of massachusetts. a report on contract thing in afghanistan. the famous phrase that an army moves on its stomach. we have a $2.1 billion contract there. what are we getting from it? guest: yes, $2.16 billion for contacting that goes through everything from food to supplies. they are getting the goods delivered. there is no argument on that. but there is a failure on the side of authorities to know who they are paying in these contracts, what impact that might have in terms of waste, fraud, and abuse, and in terms of the counterinsurgency mission in afghanistan. host: that last part is what you seem to emphasize in your report. guest: we are not really tracking a lot of these companies. and they go

. >> he won the pulitzer prize for his reporting by jack abramoff and tom delay. the daschle investigative correspondent for "the washington post" on c-span's "q&a". >> the senate judiciary committee held a confirmation for supreme court nominee elena kagan. next, we will show you portions from three days of that hearing, beginning with opening statements from the chairman and the ranking member. as well as from the nominee. this is about 40 minutes. host: [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> good afternoon. welcome. everybody here, just so you know the procedure, senator sessions and i have discussed this, we are going to recognize senators and order of seniority, doing the usual back and forth. the senator sessions and i will each give an opening statement and following those, take turns back and forth. i would urge the senators to stay. we will have to stay within the 10 minutes, just simply to keep on schedule. welcome to our committee room. there are somewhat more people here than

committees and their influence on congress and won the pulitzer prize for reporting on tom delay and jack abramoff. sunday, on c-span's "q&a". >> c-span, our public appears content is available on television, radio, and on line. you can also connect with us on twitter, facebook, and youtube, and sign up for scheduler e- mail's that's c-span.org. >> stewart udall, the secretary of the interior under presidents kennedy and johnson, died in march at nine, three months after his death -- died in march at 90. a memorial service was organized. from santa fe new mexico, this portion is an hour and 25 minutes. ♪ >> we are ready to get going here today. we are starting on time, as that has requested -- as dad has requested. first of all, happy father's day. let's have all those fathers stand-up and give them a hand. [applause] happy father's day. then as you all, my brother dennis and i will be your masters of ceremonies today. you will see dennis on a regular basis. family and friends have gathered today to celebrate our father's life and legacy. i have already had a lot of tears with many of you, but let

. >> he writes about political action committees and won a pulitzer for his reporting on jack abramoff. we will talk to jeff smith on c- span. >> the video library has every c-span programs since 1987. did you know that includes every author who has appeared on c- span2's booktv? the c-span video library. it is "booktv" your way. sunday,,your questions for bill bennett on a "in depth." is the author of more than 20 books and join the discussion on american history, education, and politics. three hours with bill bennett on sunday, part of the three day holiday weekend on c-span2. but the whole schedule on booktv.org. c-span is now available in the 100 million homes bringing you a direct link to public affairs, politics, history, and nonfiction books as a public- service greeted by america's cable companies. -- created by american's cable companies. "washington journal" continues. host: we have john hall, executive director of the florida center for fiscal and economic policy. he joins us from tallahassee. what our conditions in the sunshine state these days? guest: conditions are tough.

and secretary norton left amid the scandals involving jack abramoff to work as general counsel for shell. her successor oversaw the lease sale to bp of the future mcconnell well. he also oversaw the deeply flawed assessment of the potential of the empire medal impacts associated with this lease sale, an assessment that did not anticipate the possibility or impacts of a catastrophic blow out. as a result of the assessments, bp did not have to include an oil spill response discussion or cite specific oil spill response plan or a scenario in its exploration plan. in many ways congress was complicitous in this oversight. the energy policy act of 2005 granted royalty relief and subsidies of the inventory -- industry, but cosdid not strengthen response. in the department's budget, secretary salazar requested more inspectors for offshore facilities, but there is little evidence of these reforms change the approach of mms and regulating the bp well. the april 20 blowout was a wake- up call for this administration and for congress. secretary salazar is now reorganizing mms, issued a 30- day safet

he writes about political action committees and won the pulitzer prize for his reporting on jack abramoffnight, we will talk with jeff smith with "the washington post" unc-span's "q&a." [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> members raise concerns of the impact on jobs and the economy on prime minister's questions. "prime minister's questions," >> senator jeff bingaman, democrat from the mexico and chairman of the energy and national resources committee, thank you for being our guest this week. joining us for questions is stephen powers from the "wall street journal"