>> martin smith: meet michael clifford. >> i didn't see the email confirmation from them. did they confirm? >> smith: he calls himself an educational entrepreneur. >> dennis' read on it is that the regionals have just never had to deal with that before. >> smith: from his headquarters in the sleepy beach community of del mar, california, clifford is building an empire. >> was it mark twain that said don't let college get in the way of your education? ( laughs ) >> smith: he invests in failing universities, and injects them with large amounts of capital. when they go public, he can make a bundle of money in the process. >> the regulatory environment has changed so much. >> smith: one of his schools was involved in a major 2008 ipo on wall street-- grand canyon university. you may never have heard of it, but today, it's valued at $1.2 billion. >> hello, this is michael. >> smith: a former musician who never attended college, michael clifford is an unlikely player in the rarefied world of academia. >> i was doing a lot of cocaine, drinking a lot. smoking a lot of pot from the

: they don't have those at the pentagon, you know. >> tom smith: i did not know that. >> david martins, part tribute to "star trek". >> tom smith: we, certainly, again, wanted that projection of high-tech, that we're on a cutting edge. we're making things that are, you know, right out of hollywood. we're the wired version of a "star trek" phaser. >> david martin: the smith brothers may not have invented the taser, but they certainly turned it into the household name it is today. they took a device that had been fired by gunpowder and converted it to compressed gas. that freed them from all the regulations which govern the use of firearms, and turned taser into a $100 million a year company. in the eyes of federal regulators, getting rid of the gunpowder converted taser from a firearm to a run-of-the-mill consumer product, and that allowed the smith brothers to corner the market. >> alpert: it moved it from a regulated weapon to an unregulated tool that allowed not only police officers but civilians to use them without any kind of mandated training or with any kind of mandated rules. >

prosecutor robert smith had only heard the tales of racial hatred from his grandfather who helped and even housed civil rights leaders like medgar evers and dr. martin luther king jr. it was before smith was even born, back in the '60s, when both men were shot down in a terrible wave of racial violence. on june 26th, that ugly past was suddenly present. when you first saw the video, the surveillance video, what was your reaction? >> certainly breathtaking. unbelievable. i thought about the fact that that could have been anyone, including myself. >> reporter: the district attorney has charged deryl dedmon, the teen driving the truck that killed anderson, with capitol murder. a second teen, john rice, has been charged with simple assault. five other white teenagers who were there have not been charged. anderson's family has kept their grief and frustration mostly private. but after a court hearing, anderson's sister could not contain her emotions. >> go to brandon, mississippi. go to brandon, mississippi, and get those other five murderers who committed such a horrendous, violent act against my beloved brother, james craig anderson. >> reporter: you h

smith, jonas max ferris along with john thomas, financial ceo tom belisis, scott martin from accent asset management and democratic media consultant steve murphy. welcome to everybody. tom, no deal, a b. s. deal for jobs? >> i agree. i mean, these cuts that take place in 18 months are a budget b. s. it's a budget crap. you have to make these cuts now and they have to stop messing around and put an end to the uncertainty on america's economic future and the job creators right now. they have to make the cuts. no one is going to be happy but it's their job and responsibility for the future of this country to make the tough decisions even if it's not the right ones. >> i don't know, jonas, you're smiling. that may be because you're in miami or maybe because you're disagreeing with tom. >> some cuts are better than no cuts. i actually like severe, serious cuts which is the penalty for no action and they kick in later as would the tax increases if there's no action and that's actually kind of good because the economy is not so great right now. and it can't handle either tax increases or major s

allen martin takes a closer look at where she's turned up and why her time in oregon didn't last long. >> reporter: gwen smith, we want to talk to you! >> reporter: when we first caught up with gwen smith, it was late october in the town of forestville in sonoma county. she sped past our cameras as we tried to ask her about eight court judgments against her, judgments in favor of landlords, like connie cook. >> she started claiming that the apartment was unhabitable. the water was not healthy. there was a gas leak. >> reporter: the judge ruled smith's conduct of not paying rent and filing numerous legal actions, malicious and a tactical delay and awarded cook $49,000 in damages. after leaving cook's house, smith moved to oregon, renting a room in this house. >> she had a bed up there. >> reporter: landlord lance hill says within days, he realized he had made a big mistake. >> i got, you know, the roommate from hell. >> reporter: she put a lock on her room and started complaining about everything. >> it's all about her. i mean, your life is -- she's like a full-time job. >> reporter: then smith moved into pame

smith have penned a biography about events and then go. also tonight, marie lu on her book "legend." glad you have joined us. >> every community has a martin luther king boulevard. it's the cornerstone we all know. it's not just a street or boulevard, but a place where walmart stands together with your community to make every day better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. with every question and every answer, nationwide insurance is proud to join tavis in working to improve financial literacy and remove obstacles to economic empowerment one conversation at a time. nationwide is on your side. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] tavis: steven naifeh and gregory white smith are pulitzer prize- winning authors. their latest is easily one of the most talked-about books of the year. a new biography of a vincent van gogh. it is titled "van gogh: the life." good to have you here. >> thank you very much. tavis: let me start by asking what it is about a vincent van gogh that makes it worth giving 10 years of your life to do. we all make decisio

smith. jon and marla, back to you. >> christie, thank you. >>> cal isn't the only bay area college tracting protests this morning. pickets outside the martin luther king jr. library at san jose state university. they even had a band come out to help pass the time. protesters are rallying against what they say are scu's misplaced priorities. they say the system puts executives first during bargaining with employee unions. >>> today, a south bay community is coming together to mourn the senseless death of a 14-year-old girl. tonight at 7:00, people who knew tamara romero will join together at the center on monterey road. she was killed in a drive-by shooting friday night outside an apartment complex. three of her teenage friends were also injured. romero's father tells us the teens were just waiting for a ride home. >> we have to find strength and i'll honor her every day of my life. >> police arrested five suspects for the shooting, four of whom are pictured right here. all five are suspected gang members who range in age from 17 to 23 years old. and will have their first court hearing this afternoon in santa clara county supreme court. >>>