assange's lawyer, mark stevens. in the last hour or so. and he said they are on target to have raise that had money. so if you like that's one tick in the box. mr. assange and his legal team feel they have covered. it's now up to today's high court judge to decide whether or not to grant him bail. >> that was john mcgwire talking a short while ago and julian assange is now at the high court in central london. with eel bring you the details precisely as they come to us here on bbc news. now unlimited damages. that's the cost for b.p. after it is being sued over the gulf of mexico oil spill. eight other companies also named as the authorities look to recoop billions upon billions of dollars. b.p. says the claim of negligence is still just an allegation though it will cooperate. here's our correspondent. >> when the deepwater horizon drilling rig exploded, it claimed 11 lives and released a plume of oil for months. it led to a deluge of lawsuits from local businesses seeking compensation. they have now been joined by the u.s. government. it c

so much more information and the fact that he's been in solentary confinement -- >> that is not mark stevens, that's the australian filmmaker who did a documentary on julian assange wikileaks. peter alexander was inside that courtroom, literally standing next to julian assange. peter, good morning. what's going on there in? >> chris, we want to give you a better sense of what happens right now. it is really a work in progress right now. we have just heard that the swedish authorities have said

this is his attorney mark stevens answering questions from the press. >> what did he say to you?very pleased, everybody on the legal team and many others put in many hours of work this week getting very little sleep and part of the problem is preparing the evidence. it was, of course, an enormous relief, but it is tinged with enormous sadness that we on his legal team know that he is abut to leave the jail for another night in solitude confinement where he is not allowed to talk to other prisoners and locked up for 23 1/2 hours a day and subject to infrared 24 hours a day. his mail is not getting through and he's not being allowed to read the newspapers or "time" magazine who sent him a magazine. that was ripped up at the prison. >> so, mark stevens, trying to get the money to the court so he can get julian assange out of jail. already swedish authorities are saying they're going to appeal that decision and we'll follow that out of london. >>> in the meantime, you may have heard this north korea threatened the south with nuclear war yesterday and, of course, that raises the quest

mark. >> steven williams, thank you, mr. speaker. the prime minister, i'm sure is aware is world aids day. what is the coalition government doing to make sure the stem of hiv is staying both at home and abroad. >> the right honorable gentlemen is right for this issue and we need to look at both what's happening at home and abroad. obviously the biggest decision was to maintain the commitment for 1.7% of gross national income to go on our aid budget. and we do make a very big contribution out of our aid budget in terms of the battle against aids globally and making sure antiretroviral judges are available. and there are infection rates that are still extremely high and we need to get the message out today and on other days about the importance of safe sex and the proportions that people should take. >> i was shocked to witness with my own eyes 13-year-old palestinian children in leg irons and man cals in israeli military prisons. it's one of numerous breaches of the u.n. charter and 49 of the fourth geneva convention. but certainly as

set to take place in london on january 11th, shep, although julian assange's london-based lawyer mark stevenstells me he doesn't expect a final decision on that extradition to sweden until sometime in february. julian assange, meantime, outside the high court today said he will fight extradition all the way and he thanks those who have supported him so far. listen. >> to all the people around the world, who have had faith in me, who have supported my team while i've been away, to my lawyers who have put up a brave and ultimately successful fight. >> julian assange will spend the time waiting for the extradition hearing at a house in suffolk, england. that's northeast of london. it sits on 600 acres. and assange will have to report to the local police station every day. but in true british countryside style, that police station, shep, is only open between the hours of 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. >> shepard: convenient. even as he waited in court, we saw more cables from wikileaks including accusations of wrongdoing by the oil giant chevron. >> yeah, this was an interesting cable. it basically said

mark stevens. >> assange's lawyers would not say where assange is staying, but he is hiding because hethreats, they say. >>> pedophile barbie? the mattel company, maker of barrie, on the defensive tonight after that doll has been mentioned in the same breath with sexual predators. an internal memo from sacramento's fbi office warns that barbie video girl that has a camera in her neck line could be "possible child pornography production method." the story's being carried in newspapers all around the world. the feds and mattel are rushing to say there have been no reports of barbie video being used illegally. >>> sworn in as california's first filipina american supreme court chief justice by the governor today. she said she can't wait to go to work. >> it's not a learning curve. it's a vertical climb. i take comfort in knowing the governor of this great state and the chief justice of this great state have faith in my ability to figure it out and to execute it. >> reporter: the governor calls the new chief justice a fine jurist and a shining example of the american dream. she replaces chi

>> i spoke at some length to mark stevens, the london based lawyer and he told me when the arrest warrantwas passed on by the swedish authorities to interpol, they gave it to all their member nations including britain. the british police looked at that arrest warrant and "realized it was hopeless. it was invalid." so the british police sent it back to sweden, said do your homework, then redo it. and we'll take another look but mr. stevens also told me he believes the swedes will never be able to come up with a valid arrest warrant, shep, because the case against julian assange on this is so weak. >> shepard: and the lawyer insists this isn't about that case anyway. they're trying to get it to that. they can't get him on anything for the document dump. >> i said to mr. stevens directly, do you believe this is about alleged sex crimes or about the bigger picture here? and this is what he said. "i'm not a naive lawyer. when i see a prosecutor meaning the swedish prosecutor showing such a high handed disregard for the law, i ask myself what's going on? i also note with concern that sweden is

his lawyer, mark stevens, said assange offered himself up for arrest after a second european warrant issued from sweden. calm in court, assange was told two women have accused him of rape and sexual coercion, in particular to have unprotected sex. then came the question of whether he should be given bail. during the hearing, a charity worker, ken loach, the filmmaker, and john pilcher, the journalist, offered to pay thousands of pounds should julian assange abscond. the judge refused bail. he says the evidence in this case wasn't clear but the charges were serious and there was a substantial risk he could disappear. their offers of what lawyers call surety of bail rejected, assange's supporters turned to the media. >> i'm here because i believe this is about the principle of the universal right of freedom of information. and our right to be told the truth. >> reporter: the judge said this case was about sex, not wikileaks. but john pilcher is suspicious. >> the swedish case is chaotic. the senior swedish prosecutor dismissed it. and it was only brought back after the intervention of

his british lawyer mark stevens challenged the swedish prosecutor to do the job herself. >> get on these. come and meet julian assange. >> reporter: but sitting down with assange is no easy task. his lifestyle is as esoteric as the network he founded according to vaughan smith of the press organization front line club. >> he lives out of a suitcase. he clearly doesn't have a fixed address and doesn't live a very comfortable life. it's not easy for him to do that. but it comes out of a conviction that this is the right thing to do. >> reporter: assange's version of the "right thing" releasing more than 250,000 u.s. diplomatic cables sparked a crippling cyber attack on the wikileaks website. it was pulled off several servers. and donations through the on- line payment service pay pal have been stopped. stevens blames the u.s. government. >> i have no conclusive proof, but i look at the bellicose statements that are made by the americans at this point in time and i know that they don't want this out there. >> reporter: but that won't keep wikileaks from getting help. c-net political corre

that means he could be a free man anytime now, and his attorney, mark stevens, spoke on the court steps just a few minutes ago. >> as you can imagine, we're utterly delighted and thrilled with the results here today. we think it was an unnecessary appeal. >> reporter: followed by a crowd of cameras, this morning's ride to court may be julian assange's final trip in police custody. the founder of wikileaks seen here through the police van's heavily tinted windows is in for an extraordinary change of scenery. from solitary confinement at a prison to this 600-acre estate outside london, so big it straddled two counties. assange's own lawyer jokingly referred to as mansion arrest. the ten-bedroom english manner volunteered by vaughn smith, the owner of a british club for journalists where assange has appeared in the past. >> i let him stay there. i believe in supporting the underdog. he's a friend of mine. i trust him. >> reporter: smith acknowledged it will likely be one of the most unusual christmases i have ever experienced. for the man who has made freedom of information his life's work

sorry, mark zuckerberg will take the honor this year. >> steven colbert has won twitter. he claims. specifically he gets the nod as the person who wrote the tweet with the most retweets so when the talk show host broet on the bp spill in honor of oil-soaked birds, tweets are now gurgles, it was retweeted and requoted more than anything else written on twitter this year. >> the number one most retweeted tweet in 2010. it's official! i won twitter! i have harpooned the whale. tonight we dine -- >> they awarded a completely fake award to the fake host. so steven colbert, winner of twitter in 2010. an award he completely made up. >> an award he's completely proud of. thank you very much, scott. >>> it's 5:51 right now. bay area researchers are hoping a remarkable patient halfway across the world can help them find a cure for hiv. the breakthrough happened when an hiv-positive patient in germany got a bone marrow transplant to treat leukemia. the donor did not have a gene called ccr-5. it turns out that gene is what allows hiv to enter a cell. when hiv cannot infect other cell

so at 26, mark zuckerberg is one of the youngest billionaires and the youngest honoree since the magazine first ever person of the year which was charles lindbergh in 1927. >>> and steven colbert the most retweeted celebrity of 2010. tweet in honor of oil soaked bird tweets are now gyringel was retweeted more than any other messages on the social networking site. he has more than 1.9 million followers on twitter. lady gaga the woman in the meat dress she is the queen of twitter with more than 7 million followers. >>> time for your birthdays megan. >> all right. >> megan from columbia turns 5. that is recent picture of her from a field trip at a pumpkin patch. >> also celebrating today, tim who lives in federal hill is celebrating a birthday today. at least tim you've lot of fun places to visit for your birthday. you in the right neighborhood. and fanny turning 50 and is fabulous today i hope the 50 is a great birthday for you frany. >> we don't have a photo of this up on the board for us, but kim facebooked wanting to wish her baby girl addison a happy first birthday. go to the wmar facebook fan page and look at this picture and she is absolutely adorable. >> cuteie pi

marks its 40th anniversary, the never report televised oral history by a former congresswoman on the work of the caucus and her efforts on behalf of homemakers and working women. then, richard and steven ford share their memories about the only man to be vice-president and president of the united states without being elected. see the complete weekend schedules online at c-span.org/ history, where you can also press the c-span alert button and have our schedules e-mailed to you. >> and now, the author of a book titled "white women have less wealth," from today's "washington journal." this is 45 minutes. continues. st, mariko chang, is the author of "shortchanged: why women have less wealth and what can be done about it." thank you for being with us this morning. guest: oh, it's a pleasure to be here. host: u're joining us from boston. wanted to mention that. you opened your book in the chapter called "the women's wealth gap" and you talked about the president signing into law the lilly ledbetter fair pay act. what's the impact of that law? guest: oh, an absolutely monumental piece of legislation. however as important as it is for women to have equal pay in the workplace, income and equ

and as the congressional black caucus marks it's 40th year of history, yvonne burke and her effort on homemakers and women. then richard and steven ford share their members about the man to be vice president and president of the united states without being elected. see the complete weekend schedule online at c-span.org/history where you can press the alert button and have our schedules e-mailed to you. >> now mary jane volk, senior financial director for emily's lift talks. this is an hour and 15 minutes. >> my name is patrick griffin, i'm the academic director of the institute. it is a professional institute that attempts to convey concepts, principals, and techniques, and tactics on becoming a professional advocate here in washington, d.c. our first speaker this afternoon is ms. mary jane volk. we are delighted to have her. she's the senior finance tracker at the political department of emily's list. ms. volk has had a very broad and long and successful experience -- career in fund raising -- political fund raising both at emily's list and in her own political consulting, working on the campaign committees on capitol hill or as

the congressional black caucus marks its 40th anniversary, a never before televised oral history by a former congresswoman evan braithwake burke. then richard and steven ford share that i memories about the only man to be vice president and president of the united states without being elected. see the complete weekend schedule online at c-span.org/history where you can also press the c-span alert button and have our schedules emailed to you. >> a quick reminder that at 1:45 we'll go back to american university's advocacy institute for discussion on political fundraising. s cable companies. it's good joining us, two familiar faces -- host: joining us, two familiar faces, david frum, former assistant to president bush, and william galston, former assistant to president client on domestic policy. how would you frame no labels in a sentence of what you're trying to do? guest: an effort to change the tone and content of our nation's politics so that the big problems that we have can be addressed successfully despite division of power between the political parties. host: mr. frum, why this effort >> guest: i think it is always true. people say it is worse n