fink. you may have seen him in the infamous irs video playing the role of dr. spock. >> captain, there may be another solution. i took the liberty doing a time warp scan of the galaxy. i found leaders who could be of assistance. they met back in the 21st century in anaheim, california. earth, sir. bill: hand him the oscar. that and other irs videos costing you $50,000. now the irs has to answer for it. chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel live from the hill. the hits keep coming from this group. other than spock, what do we expect from the hearing when it starts in 30 minutes? >> reporter: makes you wonder when he goes with the vulcan live long and prosper when they swear him in. the one of the early questions will be, what were you thinking? this was going on with the nation in a very deep recession when many americans were losing their jobs and homes. one top house leader predicts we're just scratching the surface of this irs mess. >> to me it's a cultural problem at the irs. on

fink, anyway, rat fink. what can he do as americans right now. it seems like a golden opportunity to go after a bloated bureaucracy, clean it out and create something. making star trek joints is pointless if there is no purpose. >> kimberly: enough of the irs. they can't do their own accounting. they didn't keep track of it. they are sorry because they got caught. otherwise as the best time of their life and they were looking forward to do it next year. they are an albatros on the taxpayer. if you don't pay your taxes you can go to jail. another a minimum they should lose their job. >> bob: there more waste in department of defense and retired generals and started a business. >> why are you picking on generals. >> greg: look over here at this. it's not a defense. what about the american public feel about like this. 68% said they think irs was motivated by that. i'm high. >> 65% of democrats. >> even if they with would be defensive for president obama, they do think government, government in power is too abusive and arrogant. 68%, that is prime op

fink, what were you thinking?> the fact of the matter is it's embarrassing, and i apologize. >> the top democrat watched the video a number of times ahead of the hearing. >> i swear to god, i looked at that video over and over again, and i swear i do not see the redeeming value. >> beyond the video, he he has hesitated asking to explain who authorized the spending of $4.1 # is million on one conference. >> i did not become aware of the massive expense until much later. i did not know what the expense was at the time of the conference that we were paying. >> but fink answered differently after it was revealed he signed a document with the cost on it before the conference. >> you signed off on a routeing slip. you participated in meetings understanding the cost before the conference happened. are you here claiming no responsibility at this point? >> absolutely not, that's why i'm here. i was aware of the cost when we did -- the estimated cost of 4.3 when we did the briefing for the two deputy commissioners. >> on th

darryl issa grilled ferris fink. you may know fink better as spock from this irs training video.watch the video and called it embarrassing. the irs misused money spending it on luxury hotel rooms and training videos. fink said he didn't have accurate records but said the spending could be as high as $5 million. larry, i know you have been asking how high up does the irs targeting scandal go? we have a new name, it's carter hall. the "wall street journal" obtaining interviews by congressional investigators with irs employees in cincinnati. one of those employees said officials at the irs in washington helped direct the probe of tea party groups and carter hall even sent questions to be asked of tea party groups. so if this is accurate it would debunk the original story by lois lerner that this targeting was done by a few rogue agents in cincinnati. larry, it looks like this scandal is heading to washington. all signs are pointing there as of today, certainly an interesting development. >> and it's going to grow. t.j., you are looking at this on the west coast, what do you see? >>

fink says the videos are meant to be funny. the conference was paid for by taxpayers. it cost more than $4 million. today fink said no rules were broken. >> they would not occur today based upon all the guidelines that exist, and frankly, they were not appropriate at that time, either, mr. chairman, and the fact of the matter is, it's embarrassing. >> two irs workers could lose their jobs over the scandal. they were placed on leave yesterday for accepting free food at a private suite during that conference. >>> we have a little storm system called andrea heading our way. >> just a little storm system. if you've been waiting for some rain -- >> it could be a big day for you tomorrow. >> it's a big day for you tomorrow and even tonight. i do think we're going to continue seeing that rain move in over the next couple hours. it's going to be heavy. rain coming in right now. that's going to slow down traffic all across the region, so if you were heading outside or beginning to think about heading somewhere, give yourself extra time throughout the night. i do expect to see f

fink, were you mr. spock in that video?, that is correct. >> holman: an inspector general's report found the i.r.s. spent nearly $50 million on 225 conferences over two years. fink said today new rules now put much lower limits on training and travel expenses. senate democrats and republicans blocked each other's proposals today to keep student loan interest rates from doubling. republicans wanted to tie rates on federally subsidized stafford loans to ten-year treasury notes, meaning they would rise as the economy gains. democrats sought to extend the current 3.4% rate for the next two years. barring congressional action, the rate goes to 6.8% on july first. new jersey governor chris christie has named his state attorney general, jeff chiesa, as interim u.s. senator. he succeeds long-serving democrat frank lautenberg, who died earlier this week. christie said today the new senator will serve just four months, and will not be a candidate in an october special election. >> i made him the offer, as i told you, he texted me the

we are looking at fink and he is dressed up like, i guess that is mr. of star wars because in one of their little parties the theme was star wars and he was playing spock. none of them know anything. they don't know anything. >> it's just our money. >> bill: yeah, lois lerner. >> it's other peoples money. >> bill: this is what happens in a banana republic. in a banana republic where leadership is non-existent the government does what it wants. every department does what it wants to do. the head of accountability guy, eric holder is too busy tapping phones and doing this stuff. can't be bothered with stuff like that. >> the idea that they have these team buildings conferences where a bunch of bureaucrats from field offices in washington, i guess they go to other cities like anaheim or las vegas. they are away from the families and whoop it up for several days and do stupid videos. they build the star wars bridge -- did you see that the bridge from star wars, cost $50,000 just to make the video and build the set for the video. -- star trek. meanwhile, ame

and i apologize. >> reporter: faris fink is now commissioner of the irs division that held a lavish $4 million conference in anaheim, california, where parody videos estimated to cost $50,000 were played. >> i live in a block where most people don't even make $50,000 a year. but yet, we can produce a video that has no redeeming value. none. >> reporter: during the conference, fink, a 32-year irs veteran, stayed in an upgraded hotel suite like this. fink didn't know how millions of taxpayers dollars were spent at this conference. >> you're totally ignorant and -- of the expenses? >> i was not involved in the planning. >> who was? >> or execution. >> reporter: lawmakers repeatedly blasted irs hypocrisy requiring taxpayers to save receipts but not saving its own documents. that $4 million conference may have cost more. >> could it be $6 million? think carefully. you're under oath. >> yeah. >> could it be $6 million. >> there's no way i know that. >> two irs employees were placed on administrative leave this week for accepting free food at the 2010 conference, but part of the problem was,

fink to complete this response. there is no question as you noted earlier, there is a redeeming value for training. these are complicated matters. the irs is about to engage in one of the most comprehensive and unprecedented aspects of its activities in terms of implementing the affordable care act. anther or not that was aspect of this conference, i will defer to mr. fang. -- how muchajority of the conference was devoted to screening? >> if i may, one key aspect in all the disclosure, my organization had a representative. >> this is important. i was going to ask you this. knowing whether irs employees there, there were employees of the inspector general there. >> we had one employee who was there. keep in mind, this was in the wake of the tragedy that occurred and -- in austin texas, when someone blew a plane into a building. one of our senior investigator spoke at a session on security and threats to irs as result of people who were disgruntled. >> the time is expired. does anyone need to answer that question? >>

larry fink has said it. meredith whitney has said it. i say don't listen to them.. >> not many guys saying -- that isn't so -- >> i still believet that. >> you have a bumpy ride along the way. >> why do you watch business news? this is a game that is changing rapidly. you have to keep your eye on it. i hate to be sort of flaky about this. >> you did point out as you have in your latest book, a phenomenal book, that it is kind of like a rigged market. it always is. so if people still sense that will they want to be a part of it. >> it should be rigged nat right way. if the market is purely contingent on whether the fed is printing money right now it is not contingent on corporate profit. >> this is all the fed. >> this is all the fed. we should point out there are two bubbles in the market. i thought there was a bubble that will pop. there is a bump on the bond market. the fed knows that. a lot of average people have bought bonds at very high prices. when that market pops that can be just as nasty as the stock market popping. >> the assumption that that money out of

it's terrible they spent $49 million on the conferences but the guy's name is faris fink.all he wants to do is use your and my $50,000 -- shell shell isn't that brillat? >> to play mr. spock. that's all he wants to do. what they did was they spent 49 million on 225 motivational conferences in three years. that's almost two weeks motivational conferences. the first thing, who in his right mind wants irs agents motivated. >> shepard: who wants to go to one of these things anyway? i feel bad for employees. what wants to go to one as those student things, dance around on stage. >> if you look at this video, it's hilarious, the worst movie since my uncle howie's video of his trip to yugoslavia in 1975. these are accountants trying to act. it makes adam sandler look like sir lawrence olivier. these are accountants. >> shepard: if you were working for them now, it's ph.d, piled higher and deeper. what too you tell them to do? >> the acting commissioner this week is danny werfel. an adult -- >> shepard: a great football player. >> terrific. what i would tell him to do is, sit down

liz: i'm sorry, larry fink has been mentioned? >> no.rt list, i'm told. >> maybe this is like a thing to put out his name so that he gets it. he wanted to be treasury secretary. there is no way he will be fed chairman. listen, he's a smart guy. i think he has a degree in history. liz: they won't pick a wall street guy. >> he created the mortgage-backed security. so listen. he knows the bond market obviously, but just out that he is the choice. at think it is between yelling, but when he goes around telling people is geithner, or could be geithner, don't rule them out, to me that means he has some insight from the government. obama goes with the likes. chuck hegel, like to personally, defense secretary, susan rice, like serve. i mean, he sticks with peopll that he likes. i know that there's anything wrong with that. but that is kind of a theme for him. liz: let's quickly talk about the detroit story that you have. >> i have been studying it. is there another detroit out there? talking to a lot of analysts. is this a 1-off or is this mered

fink, i am not so concerned about how you feel about it now. or even how you felt about it back then. i can't confirm one way or another. i certainly understand the embarrassment you must feel about this taking place. i appreciate the apology. but it is after-the-fact and i am certain that the biggest reason for the concern now is because it has come to light. you have made apologies, you have said there are measures being taken so this does not happen again. what type of confidence you have that is truly echo that measures are in place to make sure this does not happen again, that there are things we do in light of the fact why taxpayers are going through right now, that this has changed? >> the confidence i have is based upon looking at how significantly all of the cost have dropped based upon what the inspector general has reported. that gives me tremendous confidence. i also have confidence in the fact of looking at the changes put in place and i have cannot -- confidence because the acting commissioner has come in and he has spelled out wh

irs official ferris fink testified that the $4 million spent on a single conference in 2010 conformedo the government rules at the time. maryland congressman elijahings fired back saying how it was a -- elijah cummings fired back saying how it was a total loss. >> the money spent on that, that's my money. that's the lady who got the early bus this morning, that's her money. and so it was wasted. >> the training conference in question also included a produceded star trekschuit that starred ferris fink. the irs says spending on conferences have dropped by 75% last year. >>> the republican controlled house deals a blow to president obama's immigration reform. they rejected a measure that would have ended the deportation of immigrants who came to the united states illegally as children. the dream act would have awarded them legal status. the president's order protects them for two years. >>> we know michael douglas is drawing worldwide attention after he revealed doctors have linked his throat cancer to oral sex and hpv, doctors say it is a growing problem for men. >> because it was right

fink, we have what we understand is the swag from the event. it also included i'm kind of confused by saying this, a plastic squirting fish. why would people get a plastic squirting fish? >> congressman, as i mentioned, i honestly have no idea what the plastic squirting fish was. >> when did you think that something was wrong here? did you ever think something was wrong here? you are in charge. this is what is so infuriating. you are in charge. >> while your fellow he americans are losing their jobs and their health insurance and their homes you do not spend $4 million at a conference for which there is no accountability. >> i'm in the wrong business. i never got a plastic squirting fish ever. joining me with reaction, former speaker of the house newt gingrich. did you ever get a plastic squirting fish? i never got one. >> i think that big government is reaching new levels of really absurdity and the whole internal revenue is service scandal is one example of why big bureaucratic government doesn't work, can't work is not going to be held accou

fink, will you be resigning any time soon?hat we can stop running here, will you teak one moment to apologize to our audience of taxpayers for your actions? thank you very much, sir. >> greta: congressman tray gowdy joins us. i have talked to so many people in washington who say to me it was only $4 million. nothing compared in the grand scheme of things and i thought to myself people in my hometown must be so enraged when they lost jobs, federal employees who work hard like federal prosecutors across the county. finally you were able to i think really drive the point home that this is a big deal. people got furloughed while they are out partying. that is stealing. >> yeah, greta, when i listen to elijah's hopin elijah's opes and he was talking about bumping into people in his neighborhood. 2010 you are living like a king going to a conference, gowdy what were you doing? i was telling folks that you have to work two weeks with no pay and you are not going to have in any training and juste contrast between one set of government

spock is irs official ferris fink. there was this question for mr. fink. >> what were you thinking?s embarrassing. and i apologize. >> he said he regrets the videos were ever made. got ready for this. i hope you're sitting down. an inspector general report we went through and found. this the irs spent $50,187 on videos for this conference. of which 2,400 was used to construct a mock set of the star ship enterprise. it took 62 staff hours to produce the final video. and $4.1 million were spent on the conference. at least they think because supporting documents, ie receipts, are missing. yeah. it has been 672 days since u.s. lost its top credit rating. behavior like that may be part of the reason why. what are we doing to get it back? stocks bounced back today. >>> and now our fourth story "outfront," george zimmerman denied tonight in a pivotal pretrial hearing today, a florida judge denied a request by zimmerman's defense team to allow certain witnesses to testify confidentially. he is facing second-degree murder charges in the shooting death of 17-year-old trayvon martin. his trial

faris fink, came out, he was the star of that video. he faced the music today. i want to play what he had to say and we'll talk about it on the other side. here is what he said. >> those videos were, at that time they were made, were attempt to, in a well-intentioned way use humor. a "star trek" video to open the conference. the dance video was used to close the conference. they would not occur today based upon all the guidelines that exist and, frankly, they were not appropriate at that time either. melissa: i mean would it really not occur today given the guidelines? i don't feel like that's the case. we hear about things like this and hear about what happened with the gsa, hear about it after the fact when my money is gone. are the rules in place to stop this from happening again or not? >> well, i don't think they are. we may have to change the law but certainly, we, from what we heard the law wasn't broken. that's a problem because we need in place the law, to hold people accountable. and then, people managing these programs that aren't wasting them, taxpay

the betsy and jesse fink foundation. the hkh foundation. barbara g. fleischman. and by our sole corporate sponsor, mutual of america, designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. >> bill moyers: welcome. what if you were a corporation that stood to make a bundle if oil from the canadian tar sands was imported by the united states? and what if you thought federal laws to protect the environment were going to stop that oil-importing from happening? you'd set your sights on washington, spread some money around inside the beltway, hire big gun lobbyists to wine and dine the politicians, and stroke the regulators to let the "free market" work, right? right. you would do all that, but you wouldn't stop there. you'd also take your battle to the states, because if you can get laws that serve your interest in one state capitol after another, it might not matter much what washington has to say about it. especially in a time like this when our national government is polarized, paralyzed, and dysfunctional and an ob

fink, actually played mr. spock in the star trek parody. us now, congressman james lankford, a republican from oklahoma. he sits on the committee holding today's hearing, also chairman of the republican policy committee. congressman, thanks for taking a few minutes. i have to guess that most americans are aghast and angry over the kind of things we're now learning. we're just going to put it up on the screen for them to read. it's $50 million spent on 225 conferences, 2,600 managers flown to california. they spent $4.1 million on that conference. $135,000 for event planners, $60,000 for a video. my favorite was $11,000 for a happiness expert. congressman, should all the people who organized and approved these conferences be fired? >> they should have strict discipline if not gone entirely. these -- a conference costing more than $100,000 had to go up the food chain and be approved by higher-ups. this was approved by higher-ups, and that's what's amazing. there's supposed to be an accountability network built in so this doesn't happen. even

the head of the irs small business division, ferris fink, starred as mr.r trek" parody, one of three videos shown at a conference that ended up costing taxpayers $4 million back in 2010. today he offered lawmakers an apology. >> it would not occur today, based upon all the guidelines that exist and, frankly, they were not appropriate at that time neither, mr. chairman, and the fact of the matter is is, it's embarrassing and i apologize. >> but fink clashed with utah representative, jason chaffetz, over his lack of planning leading up to that anaheim conference. >> when did you become aware of the massive expense? >> i actually did not become aware of the massive expense until much later. i did not know what the expense was at the time of the conference, that we were paying. i did not know what those expenses were. >> and you're the number two person in that division? >> yeah -- >> and you're oblivious to the expenses? >> as i -- >> you're totally ignorant of the expenses? >> now, the irs spent nearly $50 million on some 225 conferences between 2012 and 201

michael fink of leewood, new jersey, is a home builder and developer in new jersey.ram. >> thanks. nice to be here. >> so why do you think this has happened? why is there a lack of qualified workers? >> i think where it's really coming in is in the skill trades, plumbers, carpeters, roofers, masons, that sort of thing. when you come out of a really deep recession like we've been in, the worst since the great depression, a lot of people leave. they get out of the business. if they're immigrant, they go back to their countries, if they are americans, they may find other employment, just to keep bread on the table. and so now, as home building is beginning to pick up, there's stress on the system in terms of the number of skilled workers who are available. >> now, is the onus on the businesses, the private sector, to ensure that the skill sets are there, that the education and the constant learning of new technologies and new things, is the onus on the private sector to do that? >> well, i think the onus is really on people, to see opportunity and say, i want to get thi

the betsy and jesse fink foundation. the hkh foundation. barbara g. fleischman. and by our sole corporate sponsor, mutual of america, designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. >> bill moyers: welcome. the summer blitz of blockbuster movies has arrived. super heroes or lesser mortals with excellent motor skills are here to save the earth from super villains, asteroids, aliens or other disasters, natural in nature, but probably induced by global warming. yes, it's another summer of excess and escapism with the thrills and chills of hollywood scaring us down to our popcorn, yet always with a happy ending. meanwhile, back here in the real world, where we actually live, the best film of the summer isn't an epic tale of horror or adventure but an eye-opening, heart-moving and mind-expanding reminder that millions of people in this richest country in the world, working men and women and their children, don't have enough to eat. the film's called "a place at the table" and it's one of the best documentaries i

the betsy and jesse fink foundation. the hkh foundation. barbara g. fleischman. and by our sole corporate sponsor, mutual of america, designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. >> bill moyers: welcome. there's hardly a sentient grown-up in this country who isn't aware that our economy is no longer working for vast numbers of everyday people. the rich and powerful have more wealth and power than ever. everyone else keeps losing ground. between 2009 and 2011 alone, qc: at the bottom, working people are practically flat on their back. we talk a lot about what's happening to the middle class, but the american dream's really become a nightmare for the poor. just about everyone has an opinion about the trouble we're in -- the blame game is at fever pitch in washington, where obstinate republicans and hapless democrats once again play kick-the-can with the problems we face. you wish they would just stop and listen to richard wolff. an attentive and systematic observer of capitalism and democracy, he taught ec

fink. what were you thinking?ct of the matter is, is it's embarrassing and, and i apologize. for all those who sleep for all those who sleep too hot or too cool, and struggle to sleep comfortably together, now there's a solution. the company that individualized your comfort with the sleep number bed is now introducing sleep number dual temp, the revolutionary temperature-balancing layer with active air technology that works any mattress, including yours. whether you sleep hot or cool sleep number dual temp allows each of you to select your ideal temperature. so you can both sleep exactly the way you like-at your own perfect temperature. and there's only one place in the world you'll find an entire collection of temperature-balancing solutions-including the revolutionary new sleep number dual temp layer-designed to give you the soundest sleep of your life: a sleep number store near you. sleep number. comfort individualized. visit sleepnumber.com to find one of our over 400 sleep number stores nationwide. martha: we

you're in charge. >> lawmakers repeatedly blasted fink for irs hypocrisy.xpayers to save receipts did not save its own documents to show what it spent at the conference. >> at the time of the conference, there was no guidelines or requirement to track costs. >> fimpg admitted it actually may have cost millions more. >> could it be $5 million? yes or no. >> yes. >> all right. could it be $6 million? think carefully. you're under oath. >> yes. >> could it be $6 million? >> there's no way that i know that. >> two irs employees were placed on administrative leave this week for violating ethics rules. they say because they accepted free food at a party at one of those -- at the conference. one thing that we should keep in mind, wolf, is part of the problem here is that most of this lavish spending was compliant with irs rules at the time. since, they have changed. but really, became clear watching this today, that the rules were not good at the time, and it allowed the spending to run amok. >> before i let you go, dana, congratulations on winning an slept award

the betsy and jesse fink foundation. the hkh foundation. barbara g. fleischman.nd by our sole corporate sponsor, mutual of america, designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. >> coming up -- deborah potter looks at a new movement to help the country's two million prison inmates. >> we don't recognize the god in our brothers and sisters who are in prison. >> and, popular evangelical leader joni eareckson tada on her battle with breast cancer. >> start where you are. this is the new base line, now get on with living. >> plus, the devotion of sufi whirling dervishes.

which is of course not the case of the room i fink. thank you very much for that well with incidents like these of course the questions will be raised on what are the root causes of things that happened like this on the streets at a time when france is facing a recession economically a deeply unpopular president in place this is yet another issue that france will have to seriously deal with reporting from brussels. well these continues live from moscow right after this break. i would rather i asked questions for people in positions of power instead of speak on their behalf and that's why you can find my show larry king now right here on r.t. question more. secret laboratory kirby was able to build the world's most sophisticated robot which all unfortunately doesn't give a darn about anything tunes mission to teach creation why it should care about humans in the world this is why you should care only on the r g dog. i get in the u.s. and chinese leaders are about to hold a summit which is already being labeled an historic meeting but th

no room i fink in a democracy if you hadn't seen folks using. it thank you very much for well with incidents like these of course the questions will be raised on what are the root causes of things that happened like this on the streets now at a time when france is facing a recession economically a deeply unpopular president in place this is yet another issue that france will have to seriously deal with reporting from brussels i'm tess or cilia and listen to some other stories from around the world a human chain that's around a bosnia's parliament which blog more than a thousand people inside the building has disbanded by protesters are vowing to fight on to make the government pass a new law that will give newborn babies valued official identification numbers after the previous idea legislation lapsed in savagery the demonstrations were sparked after a three month old child was prevented from leaving the country for a lifesaving treatment because the infant couldn't get a passport. fighting continues to rage in suburbs in the south and east of d

those groups to be banned and what is your position on banning groups political groups in france i fink in a democracy. you can say what you ones. in a democracy. ok thank you very much for that well with incidents like these of course the questions will be raised on the what are the root causes of things that happened like this on the streets at a time when france is facing a recession economically a deeply unpopular president in place this is yet another issue that france will have to seriously deal with reporting from brussels. and up next the story of a family living with it here in r.t. . the school board in batavia illinois has decided to punish one teacher for his bad behavior by putting him on a strict probation play or what did he do to be deserve be part of this probation plan to do select punch a student in the face or to go in some sort of horribly racist or sexist ranted for the class so he just reminded the students that as americans they have the right to not incriminate themselves to put it more simply he told the students that they didn't have to answer a questionable s