>> abramoff: in my view.talking about giving a gift to somebody who makes a decision on behalf of the public. at the end of the day, that's really what bribery is, but it is done every day and it is still being done. the truth is, there were very few members who i could even name or could think of who didn't, at some level, participate in that. >> stahl: abramoff prided himself on being a man who did good. he was devoutly religious and exorbitantly charitable, and he says he gave away 80% of his earnings. when he fell from grace, his reputation was in tatters, because it was not just that he had corrupted congress; it was found he had cheated his clients, like the indian tribes. >> abramoff: most of the money i made, i gave away to either communal or charitable causes. so i thought, frankly, i was one of the most moral lobbyists out there. >> stahl: things began to unravel for abramoff when the "washington post" published a largely unflattering portrait of him in 2004, reporting that he charged his clients te

i'm jack abramoff.h, i work out every day. >> that was kevin spacey in "casino jack," based on the true story of the most corrupt lobbyist of our time. in the spotlight tonight, jack abramoff. on january 3rd, 2006, jack abramoff pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy, corrupting public officials, tax evasion, and mail fraud. he received a reduced sentence in exchange for cooperating with federal investigators, which ultimately led to the conviction of one lawmaker, former ohio republican congressman, bob nay. joining me now is jacques abramoff, author of the new book, "capital punishment: the hard truth about washington corruption from america's most notorious lobbyist." jack, thanks for joining me tonight. >> thank you very much. >> so you name yourself our most notorious lobbyist. what other adjectives were on your list to self-describe? >> well, my list, probably none that -- other than notorious. other people had other adjectives, but i couldn't put them on the book. >> now, you know, the b

jam abramoff whop spent three years in federal prison on corruption and conspiracy charges. a year after being released he's out with a new book about how he made millions buys and selling influence in washington and warning the nation's capital is riffe with corruption in congress. welcome. >> thank you. >> your story is a cautionary sale for sure. i wonder if you think everybody that should be held accountable has been held accountable? >> probably not. part of the difficulty is that in the judicial process the justice department, at least my experience with them, is very careful to make sure that they can proceed with solid evidence. a lot of people on capitol hill, the members, are guarded by some of the provisions in speech and debate clause and things like that make it difficult for them it to proceed. while i don't know the details of the investigations, obviously they were very careful it seems to me and they did what they had to do. >> were you careful in not blowing the lid off of all the this. >> i answered every question i was gthis. most of the other folks who a

the interests of jack abramoff's lobbying clients.'d get conservative voters who hated gambling, for instance, to oppose some specific gambling legislation. not because they were going to stamp out gambling by doing that but that would help eliminate the competition for the casinos the guys were working for. ralph reed is supposed to be a christian leader. it couldn't look like he was being paid by the casinos. instead they laundered the money through ralph reed through a conservative activist group to make it look like it was all politics and not just money. the group they laundered the money was the grover norquist tax reform group. if you follow the money, it looks like conservative activism, looks ideological, looks principled. really, it's just what some rich company wants. and is willing to pay for. tim phillips and ralph reed got christians to write letters in support of keeping the "made in the usa" label on clothes that were being made in the mariana islands, a u.s. commonwealth. clothes being manufactured in near slave labor

i kept hearing it, abramoff, abramoff, abramoff. you're the subject of all these commercials.oday. >> that's true. >> i read your book. it's interesting to me because it seems like you -- it's very interesting to me because maybe it's human nature. you didn't seem to understand what you were doing at the time was wrong, but now you think in hindsight it was horrible. >> right. i think when i was in the middle of being a lobbyist in the middle of that whole system, i lot of sight of where the line in the sand was, and unfortunately that happens in life and i paid the price for it. >> sean: you said it was paraphernalia, perfect, a perfet arrange. you felt you had 100 congressional offices in your pocket. >> yep. >> sean: you owned them, to use your words. >> there were 100 offices. i had a team of lobbyists who worked for me and probably a little more than 100 offices, frankly. >> sean: you spent over a million dollars on sporting events and tickets to give tickets to senators and their families. a million dollars a year. you paid for private jets for them or your clients did.

that was the jack abramoff scam, right? that's tim phillips. runs the koch brothers group,prosperity. ralph reed runs the faith and freedom coalition. all the republican candidates except jon huntsman went to the ralph reed faith and freedom coalition event in iowa last month. this was the podium. there's ralph reed. remember, now, he was abramoff's guy, right? there's his logo. faith and freedom coalition you see there. what's that other logo behind him? the iowa energy forum. hold on a second. quick google search reveals the iowa energy forum is a project of the american petroleum institute. that's what these guys do. that's who these guys are. that's the values voter summit of ralph reed. brought to you by big oil. ralph reed and tim phillips did not go to prison like jack abramoff but they were part of the scam to get conservative voters to do something they thought was ideologically sound, at least ideologically motivated, right wing activism. it was really what some big corporate funder wanted and was willing to pay for. iowa energy forum

bush talking about jake abramoff. my guest. in 2006.our reaction to that? >> he's the leader of the free world. i was in the middle of one of the biggest political scandals since watergate. what's he supposed to do? come out and say he's my best friend and i was hand in glove with him? >> but it's completely implausible that he wouldn't have been aware of you, right? >> he's a politician. >> you're the republican party's top lobbyist. how could he not know who you were? >> well, i -- yeah, i can't speak for him. but he's a politician. and at the end of the day politicians are politicians. whatever, republican, democrat, there's a certain characteristic politicians have and often they're with you when they need you and often when you need them they're not there. but he was also the leader of the free world. and he had other things to do besides stand around talking about how he remembers the good old times with jack abramoff. >> take me back to the moment you knew the game was up. >> yeah. >> what was that moment for you? where were you?

abramoff joins us now.fraud, conspiracy, and buying political favorites, jack is now fighting the very same corruption he once went to prison for. without ending the revolving door, can you end the conflict of interest? >> no. i don't think you can. i think the revolving door has to be shut permanently. people who serve should never be allowed to cross that line. >> your new book is called capital punishment. the hard truth about washington corruption from america's most notorious lobbyist. in a nutshell, what's the hard truth? >> well, the hard truth is that nobody's reforming this system. people are basically carrying on as they always did. my scandal was supposed to be the scandal to end scandals as far as this goes and there would be real reform. i went off to prison, but shoving me into the prison didn't seem to actually solve anything. and i think what it gets down to is this system is messed up. and things have to be done that are dramatic to fix it. >> it's interesting, as you said that, i was think

. >> what adjectives would you use it about the jack abramoff before you got caught?that man really like? >> he was somebody who didn't know of any boundaries really, that didn't quite clearly see the lines, the lines that all of us need to see in life, the line between right and wrong. >> i mean, the contradictions i guess are that you're clearly a strong family man, that resonates through in the book. you're clearly a very religious man, a good fearing man. that, too, resonates in the book. what went wrong? >> well, i think that with me a couple things went wrong. i entered the arena to achieve certain things, i didn't set out certainly to break the law or do this evenings that were wrong. i set out to achieve paths and goals that were consistent with my philosophies as a conservative and as a free marketier and limited government person. and eventually participating within the system, having success, having an ability to have power, got to me as it gets to others and i stopped thinking about, again, where those lines ins sand were. and as a consequence, i in a trag

even jack abramoff thinks this is a problem for newt. i come in.go in pieces. [ female announcer ] you can't pass mom's inspection with lots of pieces left behind. that's why there's charmin ultra strong. its diamondweave texture is soft and more durable so it holds up better. fewer pieces left behind. charmin ultra strong. [ male announcer ] indulge all you want. now there's no need to hold back. ♪ new revolutionary scope with dualblast technology obliterates strong food odors and kills bad breath germs leaving your breath minty fresh. hey. sorry i'm late, baby. i bet you're starving. [ male announcer ] so there's no trace of evidence... hey, i thought i did the dishes. [ male announcer ] blast away strong food odors and bad breath germs with new scope dualblast. also, try crest complete extra white with scope dualblast. >>> coming up on "the ed show," the country is watching the penn state case.ç my next guest will tell us there are thousands of other sanduskys out there, and the government isn't doing enough to protect children. victims advocat

even jack abramoff thinks this is a problem for newt.impact by shopping small on small business saturday. one purchase. one purchase is all it takes. so, pick your favorite local business... and join the movement. i pledge to shop small at big top candy shop. allen's boots... at juno baby store. make the pledge to shop small. please. shop small on small business saturday. two of the most important are energy security and economic growth. north america actually has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. a large part of that is oil sands. this resource has the ability to create hundreds of thousands of jobs. at our kearl project in canada, we'll be able to produce these oil sands with the same emissions as many other oils and that's a huge breakthrough. that's good for our country's energy security and our economy. >>> coming up on "the ed show," the country is watching the penn state case. my next guest will tell us there are thousands of other sanduskys out there, and the government isn't doing enough to protect children. victims

is abramoff right? >> are you going to make me agree with that?f we can say that. i think this is a wake-up call to every member of congress, that, you know, life after serving may not be that of a lobbyist, because everything you do follows you and newt's living that right now. is abramoff right? could this really kill the candidacy of newt gingrich? >> it seems like it will because it gets to the very heart of the issues that he was talking about, this kind of duplicity. he was trying to push it off on senator dodd and barney frank, but in actuality, it sounds eerily similar to the folks on wall street. we kind of knew what was going on, we were telling people not to do it, oh, by the way we'll take the millions dollars on the other side. the american people are going to reject that. >> here's michele bachmann today saying gingrich was a shil for freddie mac. >> whether former speaker gingrich made $300,000 or whether he made $2 million, the point is is that he took money to also influence senior republicans to be favorable toward fannie and fre

jack abramoff knows ins and outs of power influence.r to operate among the washington elee i want to you watch this profile from our candy crowley. >> reporter: while scamming some of his clients, abramoff wined and dined washington's elite at his two restaurants. he got clients to foot the bill to take lawmakers and staff to far-flung golf meccas, most notably scotland's st. andrew's. abramoff leased four sky boxes in various sports arein thanks and doled out the seats. he hired or promised to hire former capitol hill staffers and the wives of lawmakers. >> jack abramoff pleaded guilty to corruption charges in 2006. he spent three and a half years in prison for conspiracy and tax fraud and tax evasion. and despite lobbying reform, he says washington has not changed. so, mr. abramoff, first of all, thank you for joining us. what do you think? should protesters occupy k street instead of wall street? >> yeah. i think they are probably better -- better going down there where they can -- to washington, where they can affect the government

. >> jon: jack abramoff just called you corrupt. jack abramoff called you corrupt. ( laughter ) that's like the pope telling you, you've got a nice house. ( laughter ) sorry, newt, you're out. pack your knives and stay. we'll be right back. ( cheers ( cheers and applause ). >> jon: welcome back. fleiss to see you. tonight, this is our final show. we have next week off. as you know, next week is thanksgiving. here are some thought on the holiday. we have an author of notsz, woman of letters. please welcome our new senior historical context correspondent, sarah vowell. sarah vowell, nice to see you ( cheers and applause ) let me be the first to say that th-- happy things. >> take that back, stewart. >> jon: what? take it back! why? >> thanksgiving is such an interior holiday, especially when there's a much better one the day after-- more stirring, more inspirational. it is called evacuation day. ( laughter ) >> jon: that's a little crass, don't you think? i mean, you're on npr. i know people eat turkey and rich foods, but i think what

abramoff, are you looking for redemption with this book? >> first, i'd like to talk about what that world really was. i think most america really doesn't understand what happens in washington and what goes on in those so-called smoke-filled rooms and behind the doors. as a former lobbyist and obtained a position higher than most now speaking about it, i felt that i had a responsibility and a role to educate people. and, number two, with my case, the media attention to my case, a lot was said about me and i wanted to, frankly, tell people what it was like, what my like was like that became the cartoon in the media. >> well, let me -- one of the things -- when you started cooperating with feds, there was quite a few members of congress that apparently you were implicating, besides tom delay. he was the one who got a lot of media attention at that point. when you look back, are you disappointed that more members of congress weren't punished for the crimes that you believe they committed? one. and, two, do you believe they are still serving? >>

jack abramoff says he was warned he was heading nor destruction. his biography is due out monday.e says his win it owl approach would leave him dead, disgraced or in jail in five years. he spent three years herein bars for bribery. proceeds from his book may help repay the $23 million in restitution owed to victims. >>> whether you agreed or not you always knew exactly where andy rooney stood. he died last night from complications from surgery. he was a bona fide curmudgeon and we wouldn't have him any other way. >> reporter: born in albany, new york, in 1919, andy rooney began his journalism career in the army writing for "stars and stripes" during world war ii, one of six correspondents who flew on the first american bombing raids in germany, one of first american journalists to visit a nazi concentration camp. after the war he joined cbs as a writer before moving back into news where he wrote dozens of special reports before joining his home, "60 minutes." a crotchety curmudgeon viewers loved. >> i don't know anything offhand that mist fys americans more than the cotton they pu

. >>> i want to move now to a story of jake abramoff. in the '90s the washington lobbyist began showering gifts on lawmakers in return for votes and tax breaks that favored his clients. >> all of that came crashing down five years ago when abramoff pleaded guilty to corrupting public officials, tax evasion and fraud. he served three and a half years in prison. on last night's "60 minutes" he told lesley stahl how he used his clients' money to buy powerful friends and influence laws. >> i was so far into it that i couldn't figure out where right and wrong was. i believed that i was among the top moral people in the business. i was totally blinded by what was going on. >> reporter: jake abramoff was a whiz at influencing legislation. one way he did that was to get his clients, like this indian tribes, to make substantial campaign contributions to select members of congress. >> as i look back, it was effective. it certainly helped the people i was trying to help, both the clients and republicans at that time. >> reporter: but even that, you

friday i interviewed jake abramoff. engaged in insider trading when he was a power player in washington. they would come to his restaurant and brag about how much money they were making in the stock market. itç sounds like it's been goin on for years. there is no question there are different rules for those on capitol hill than the rest of average american citizens. >> what restaurant was it? can i get a stock tip? >> you can. it was called signature's. it was a restaurant abramoff owned on pennsylvania avenue. as soon as he got notorious everyone stopped going there. there is a new place there now. >> let's be careful to criminalize things that haven't been criminalized yet. i appreciate eamon's piece and the piece on "60 minutes." perhaps the rules should be changed if members of congress will make huge stock purchases that they have to disclose it. i caution people not to listen to jack abramoff. he's a crook. lobbying isn't illegal. what he did s. it would be the equivalent of saying you have news anchors or report

-- >> chris, don't you mean historian jack abramoff? >> here he is with david gregory yesterday in a taping. abramoff admits he crossed the line and acted illegally. which is a good start for saying something. he says he wants to sound the alarm about the corruption in our system. on that note, gregory asked him about newt's ties to freddie mac. let's listen to this interesting, witness, if you will, what he said. >> this is exactly what i'm talking about. people who come to washington, who have public service, and they cash in on it, and they use their public service and their access to make money. and unfortunately, newt gingrich is one of them who's done it. he's engaged in the exact kind of corruption that america disdains. the very things that anger the tea party movement and the occupy wall street movement and everybody who's not in a movement and watches washington and says, why are these guys getting all this money? why did they go become so rich? why do they have these advantages? unfortunately, newt seems to have played right

the proceeds from abramoff's group may help repay the $23 million in restitution that's toed his victimsrmer heavyweight champ joe frazier has liver cancer. he was diagnosed about a month ago and is in hospice care. he was the first man to beat mohamed ali in 1971 in the fight of the century. he lost two other fights to ali. he won an olympic gold medal for boxes in 1964. >>> a musical like you've never seen before. the unusual production happening at a local high school. at a lo[ female announcer ] this is trish. trish uses aetna's personal health record to track her kids' immunizations, get lab results, see her family medical history, and when she's at the doctor's office, she uses it to remember what to ask before she leaves. it helps trish keep everyone in her clan healthy. even on the go. see for yourself, aetna.com. ♪ aetna. know more. get better. ♪ [ girl's voice ]s voice ] hi todd, hi, samantha. do you wanna be my boyfriend? [ chuckles ] sure! great -- gimme your melt. myy--melt? [ singsong voice ] yeah. i'm your girlfriend now. ahh, i don't think this is working out. [ male anno

he gives us jack abramoff on newt gingrich next. robert, out of your mouth. [ male announcer ] that onion after taste after you again? new crest complete with scope dual blast technology blasts away bad breath germs and food after tastes. new crest complete with scope dual blast. blast your way to fresh breath. >>> for the second day in a row a poll shows that newt gingrich is the leader of the republican presidential field. the economist ugov poll has him at 23% and cain 21%, romney at 19% and ron paul 7%. rick perry at 6%. michele bachmann is at 5%. as newt gingrich knows, a surge in the polls means more scrutiny. he acknowledged as much in a warning to a tea party crowd in jacksonville this afternoon. >> in the next three weeks, i predict you will have all sorts of questions about me, and it's fine. i will cheerfully answer every single question they ask, and at the end of it you will be relatively convinced, i believe that i did no lobbying of any kind. i did no influence pedaling of any kind but the truth is if you have the rep

jack abramoff called everything from pond scum to creep. has important things to say about how to fix the culture of corruption that has become our political system and i hope we pay attention to it. coming up, world famous cellist as you have never seen him before. diabetes testing? what else is new? you get the blood, hope it's enough, it's-- what's this? freestyle lite® blood glucose test strip. sure, i'll try it, but-- [beep] wow. yep, that's the patented freestyle zipwik™ design. it's like it-- [both] targets the blood. yeah, draws it right in. the test starts fast. you need just a third the blood of one touch.® okay. freestyle test strips. i'll take 'em. sure. call or click-- we'll send you strips and a meter, free. can't i just have these? freestyle lite test strips. call or click today. >> mike: well, he is the most famous cellist in the world but you have never heard him the way you are about to hear him now. part of a new project inspired by bluegrass but much different. welcome yo-yo and his new band the goat rodeo sessions. what

. >>> and in tonight's episode of "it could only happen here" michael moore meets jack abramoff, and0 rock when michael moore finished the segment with me and met the most corrupt lobbyist of them all jack abramoff coming in to join me for the next segment. and our trusty cam caught the reactions of both of them and neither one of them expected it to happen. >> well, my last word actually just took place when we went to commercial break because jack abramoff, one of the convicted lobbyists came on to the set, and i have seen his interview on "60 minutes" the other night where he is 100% revealing everything and encouraging the american people to stop people like him. i said to him, you know, god bless you for coming clean and making amends and saying what needs to be said, and actually there's no more powerful person to say it than you, jack, because you were there. you were at the epicenter of all of this greed, and you saw firsthand and you participated in it firsthand. so, i think that, you know, he's a bit of a broken man as you can see if you saw him there just now. but like all