although it is evident that public officials and political candidates use polls to guide their actionsin the vermont statehouse and what is once again an extraordinary turnout. poussaint: it was an issue that brought more people to vermont's state capitol than any other in memory. i've been working here for 20 years, and there's never been an issue like this one. poussaint: david moats won a pulitzer prize for his editorials in vermont's rutland herald about the state's passage of a so-called "civil unions bill." it was the most volatile and heated and divisive issue i've ever covered. poussaint: the civil unions legislation was passed by vermont's general assembly in the spring of 2000. woman: well, there you go. poussaint: it gave this state the distinction of becoming the first to give gay and lesbian couples the same legal rights as married couples. and by the end of today, we will be, believe it or not, legally connected to each other. well, civil unions is about sex, morality, marriage. it's about how society organizes itself. it's about equal rights. it's about the dignity of pe

and public officials should be held to a higher standard. that almost seems impossible right now, but the very pillars of the civil society depend on such. >> sabrina, when you're a public servant, you're supposed to be on duty 24/7, right? >> you are. and i love the idea of this, but corruption and scandal is as old as itself. we all know the fable, the scorpion will sting no matter what he promises the frog. the bigger question is, why can't we attract more people to public office? trying to root them out is a waste of all of our time. we have to look for better people to run for office. >> i have to get you to be specific on this, sabrina, should we fire them? >> i tend to think let's let the people fire them at the next election. >> next election. rick, what do you think? >> fst of all, i'm actually with you on what you said about mayor ford. i don't get that at all. you're right, if that call comes at 3:00 in the morning, this isn't the guy i want to count on to be ready to handle it. i actually have bleeding heart liberal love even tho

and made an offer it's here to expand one week and his constituency to see what the life of a public official entails and he says that that offer is still on the table if. i take him up on for now i'll spend a week with them ok well i can bring television cameras along as well do you think that could create some i don't know some synergy that would be able to break this for out of the irish politics because it seems that. your petition seem to go round the circles in implementing various policies and again they are continuing on your path of criticizing that doesn't seem to change minds do you think that could lead to any significant change if you put your passions together you know that. come from different perspectives and that's it i think you're making too much of. discreet and you can you know i don't matter a damn and the disagreement is trivial it is of no consequence but for there is consequence is a disagreement. etiology really. see himself nonideological you would see him self not bored by etiology but everybody is and we all have. with the strong perspective. on life and it. gives

move the ball down the field for themselves and now you want to jail for conspiracy to bribe public officials and tax evasion as well now after your conviction how would you say lobbyist have adapted in order to avoid jail time themselves well i think it's important to note that ninety nine percent of the things i was involved in were legal and which is actually quite disturbing that most of the time you really don't need to cross the line and those who are crossing the line often are going to get into a situation like i was in which is the ends justify the means and you really want to win and it's important that are xander but most lobbyists actually don't get near the line they don't have to get near the law and the laws are written by lobbyists and by people on capitol hill who want to be lobbyists in a way that frankly you can be completely contemptible within the law and never have to worry about going to jail now as a lobbyist when you were you were known for your safe cracker method which was a technique of raising money in order to get in the door and in the good graces of congressman

thousand and six was sentenced to six years in federal prison for mail fraud conspiracy to bribe public officials and tax evasion join me earlier today from our new york studio to discuss the lucrative business that is the lobbying industry and i started off by asking him how soon after the passage of dodd frank did he think that the lobbyists of k. street started working to have this arranged the bill in the interests of their clients. well i'm not certain they ever stopped trying to do that regardless of the passage but let's give them the benefit of the intel and say it was ten minutes. how very funny answer how good a job do you think they did out of disarray davis bill. well i mean i think they're doing a very good job at moving legislation forward that's going to pick it apart piece by piece of course the the bill about swaps is one of the examples these guys know they're the role they know how to play the game and they know what needs to happen to pick apart a bill like that not that it's easy by the way it's always easier to play defense a sub something for becoming a wall than to try to

move the ball down the field for themselves and now you want to jail for conspiracy to bribe public officials and tax evasion as well now after your conviction how would you say lobbyist have adapted in order to avoid jail time themselves. well i think it's important to note that ninety nine percent of the things i was involved in were legal and which is actually quite disturbing that most of the time you really don't need to cross the line and those who are crossing the line often are going to get into a situation like i was in which is the ends justify the means and you really want to win and it's important that are xander but most lobbyists actually don't get near the line they don't have to get near the law and the laws are written by lobbyists and by people on capitol hill who want to be lobbyists in a way that frankly you can be completely contemptible within the law and never have to worry about going to jail now as a lobbyist when you were you were known for your safe cracker method which was a technique of raising money in order to get in the door and in the good graces of congressma

if you're a public official, you cannot be invested.you have immunity from investigation and prosecution while in office. so what they do is take the money they get through corruption, send it overseas to a safe haven and a soon as they leave office, to join their money and spend it in the safe haven or somewhere else in the world. the countries victimized by their in office by bad governments. and when they're out of office by the fact that money is gone from our country, at least the poster was good enough to spend the money in the u.s. that they made. in terms of your question about dealing with the officials in the country, the problem is they may be the only officials. so now, you are trying to deal with an administration in some of the mall countries are developing countries, even larger countries, where you have no choice. as long as that country a thousand people in office to have that immunity, you really are going to have a difficult time ever get and what of corruption. if you don't get rid of corruption ornish are listed or

that was nonsense to the public officials that said it over the years, were not aware of what they were talking about. spike and i formed partnership in the late '90s. after the directors had gone out and become law and presidential directors, nobody addressed a fundamental, legal fact of our system. that is called the fourth amendment. when you are going prosecute someone for a criminal case in the united states, the defendant is entitled to know how you investigate. what was the predication of the information. why did you open it? what techniques did you use? if you used title iii authorized electronic surveillance, wiretapping, what was the basis of it? reveal the avid, motions are filed under discovery to reveal all of these facts and only a very limited minuscule amount of information basically the identity of a considerable informant that might have been used in an of a david can be withhold. otherwise the defendant is pretty much entitled to everything. the agency is pretty much required to open the book to the defense attorneys to allow the defendant to see. it the directives, i

city hall has become a marketplace where public officials trade public assets for some benefits to their careers. what is happening in the public library is an example to every city department. every city wants a friends group because it's the rich instead of the many. the virtues of the city's assets causes real harm to people. david chiu's decision to arrest me cost the law. >> members of the board, ray -- thus the state never intentionally confronts a man's sense intellectual or moral but on the his body. it is with superior physical strength. i was not born to be forced. i will breathe after my own fashion. let us see who is the strongest. what you see on the screen, is a letter that is september to the san francisco bay guardian. i'm here to talk about the letter. after it was found to violate the law the statement of economic interest, the library commission wanted to help. so what they decided to do is hold a series of discussions outside the public. these were to formulate and revise and statement which demonstrated for release. this was all done illegally. violation of the sunsh

public officials, the insurance commissioner in kansas. others say it can't be done.im donno lan, the president of the national association of insurance commissioners and louisiana - these are public officials, not insurance companies and they are saying: >> i guess the question is what happens to the people who had their policies cancelled, if their old insurance companies decide they can't or won't offer the policies they dropped. >> the people will be in the same position they are in now. in order to keep your plan next year, if the president's plan happens the insurance company has to despite whether to offer the plan. insurance commissioners will have to approve it. then people have to be notified that the plan was cancelled, but not any more, it's resurrected and they'd have to enrol in the plan. all that has to happen before 2014. we are working on a short time frame here. if that will help millions of americans, that would be a lot time. >> confusion in louisiana. the insurance commissioner joim donno lan, but the diplomatic senator said something else saying:

they have dominated the four largest industries affected by the unions, corrupted public officials, police, and regulators, all the way through washington. the elimination of prohibition did not eliminate the mafia growth that had been allowed and created, able to flourish was then entrenched, and now they could move to other things, other aspects to make money, and it was too late to take them out then, and it's taken, you know, 75 years of coordinated effort and sustained attack to reduce them now, and we have been successful in reducing them, and the example i would give is if you watch godfather one, it is a very accurate depiction of the power and control in the u.s. in the 40s, 50s, and 60s. as a result of the statute, wiretapping authority and sustained attacks went from god father one to the sopranos arguing over vacant lots in newark, new jersey. that reduction of power and influence from 26 national families down to a handful was significant, but it took 75 years to do it, and, really, the elimination of prohibition did not weaken them. it was the continuing attack later that did

imperial palace in japan's ancient capital of kyoto has opened to the public for its annual autumn viewing. the palace is the former official residence of the japanese emperors and it opens to the public twice each year in the spring and fall. this year visitors can view seven of the palace buildings. on display a famous painting that decorated sliding doors during the time of the emperor in the 19th century. seven dolls dressed in traditional dancer's attire also attracted much attention. >> translator: the palace buildings are amazing. >> translator: seeing various displays helps me understand how people in ancient times carried out politics. >> the palace will next open to visitors in the spring. >>> that is all for this edition of nhk. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks very much for joining us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com ♪ >> the wilson forum is the living memorial to our first internationalist president. chartered by congress in neck and 68, the u.s. key, nonpartisan non-policy form -- 1968, the u.s. key, non-partisan policy forum. our goal is to create the next generation of leaders for the policy ch

ought citizens of the county and now the world are watching to see if our local public officials take a stand for accountability. >> a public comment session is going on right now and there is a march scheduled for today at 1:00 o'clock through the district attorney's office and members of the community of calling for the sheriff deputy to be fired and indicted. >> thank you. >> california's biggest casino opened today in sonoma county, the $800 million las vegas style grayton resort and casino in rohnert park. it is a big parking lot right now and we can see the casino and see not roads approaching it are slow but we are not seeing the freeways. wayne joins us from the casino. wayne? >> it is a crowded casino. behind me, some of the people who have just gotten in and over here some of the people hoping to get in. the casino is restricting the number of people to come in right now to make sure that everyone has a quality experience weapon they get here so they are bringing people in slowly. as to the traffic you talked about, we took a good look. it wasn't as bad as the california hig

if he cannot send his children to the best public school available, if he cannot vote for the public officials will represent him, if, in short, he cannot enjoy the full and free life that all of us want, then who among us would be content to have the color of his skin changed and stand in his place? who among us would then be content with the councils of patience and delay? 100 years have passed since president lincoln freed the slaves. yet their heirs, their grandsons are not fully free, they're not fully free from the bonds, they're not yet free from social and economic oppression, and this nation, for all its hopes and all its boast, will not be fully free until all its citizens are ree. >> now the trumpet sumance us again. not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need. not as a call to battle though embattled we are. but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle year in and year out rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, a struggle against the common enemies of man. tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself. all this will not be finished in the first 100 days nor will it

they have now corrupted public officials at police and regulators and all the way to washington. so the elimination of prohibition didn't eliminate the mafia growth that had been allowed and created and able to flourish was then entrenched. now they could move to other things, other aspects, to make money. and it was too late to take them out then, and it's taken, you know, 75 years of coordinated effort and sustained attack to reduce them now. and we have been successful in reducing them. and the example i would give is, if you watch "godfather i," it is an accurate depiction of cosa nostra's power and control in the u.s. in the '40s, '50s, and '60s. it went from "godfather i" to the sopranos arguing over vacant lots in newark, new jersey. that reduction from 26 national families down to a handful was significant, but it took 75 years to do it. and really the elimination of prohibition didn't weaken them. it was the continuing attack later that did. >> robert f. turner? >> i'm bob turner from the university of virginia. i want to follow up on your comments on la cosa nostra. hol

think -- the question of restoring confidence in public officials is going to permeate that campaign. >> congress is showing a sense of optimism. maybe your kids are going to do a little bit better. a lot of questions about whether de blasio is a good manager. if you can't run a city, we will know that. it will be a mess. >> it is exactly like obamacare. you can have the best intentions in the world. >> exactly. >> it is a big question right now. >> de blasio represents a real threat to what has been the dominant approach of the national democratic party for the last 25 years, which is we will be business friendly. we will be as pro-business as the republicans, -- we will not be as pro-business as the republicans, but we will be business friendly. let's not have too much divisiveness. ran? goodwith it idea? bad idea? >> iran knows if they do not meet the standards of the international community, sanctions could be increased and even worse if the clock ticks down to where you have a dangerous situation, there may be no option but the military option. >> that's the secretary of state. t

understand that finding such a statement is perjury, even when it is not done in front of the public official under oath. and i have to believe that someone as intelligent does not understand those matters and there must be many more city employees who do not understand, and potentially a lot of other were filing and complaints with the ftpc against the members. >> and it is the same as mr. herrera in similar amounts. >> in section ten is says that due to the records involved. and it has been side tracked from the regular duties end quote, under the sunshine ordinance and the san francisco public records act. and responding to public records requests, they are among the regular duties of every city employees. this mistakingly represents this as something that they are being taken away from their duties. it is part of their duty and any city employee who is asked for a record is a requirement and part of their job duties to provide a job response. and putting this in a report saying that they are taken away from the regular duties it is simply a ploy and the record request to something and it

but it gets back to why we don't trust our government and public officials. congress doesn't work many days. only -- it's a very part-time congress. they pass fewer bills this year than any other congress in recent years. >> but politics -- there was an op-ed in "the washington post" by trent lot and tom daschle, both former senate majority leaders and we used to measure ourselves but what we could get done. and now it does seem like everything in washington is geared toward what you can stop. >> such a game of who got who that -- the email traffic from the political parties and the senator offices and even the white house and their allies, is always about look what somebody said. and isn't this really an outrage here? gwen: which brings -- >> about who's ahead and who's behind? gwen: this question from julie in illinois who's concerned about this basic idea that washington just isn't working. let's listen. >> i think right now, what worries me most is the sense of divisiveness we have. and the inability of folks to see things from other points of view. it se

. >> the nursing home industry is so darn powerful that they put a lot of pressure upon public officials they through campaign contributions... and money is the megaphone. the lobbyists have the ear of the legislators. >> ombudsman don't have that. residents don't have that. >> lobbyists and lawmakers behind closed doors, decide what the industry can live with and cap out the recoveries at that level. and then impose that on the public. and the problem is, when you immunize wrong-doers from the consequences of their neglect, they're more likely to repeat that neglect. and they're neglect multiplies. >> that lack of corporate accountability has left the mayberry sisters angry. their ninety six-year-old mother erytha suffered dementia. so they put her in what they thought was a good nursing home - in oklahoma city. >> when the daughters began to notice some of erytha's personal items missing, they came up with a plan to do something about it. >> we said well why don't we put a camera in the room, because then we could catch the theft. so we put the camera in the room and never expected, ne

that i'm familiar with teaches that things like that are not the right way to go and we do have public officials who are happy to mention their own religion and i get a kick out of it and check their voting record because on this issue and on your issue, they are part of the problem. who are they? they are your friends. they are the people you like. they like environmental things, other things. these things i tried to talk to them and so have others much more powerful than i am. he was in mexico for 3 months. he had a mental breakdown. he thought he was dead. to check if he was dead he stepped out in front of a trick and the truck missed him. and his mother went day in and day out to check the bodies in tijuana and finally he wondered back and finally the lawyers at a c l u, made a case t . the government was unrepent ant. the best way to do is go to the place and look at the people and be a voice coming out as best you can and say this is what i saw and on the 5th floor, some of them well-dressed people i mentioned in my statistics go into a room to get advice as to how to handle their particul

understand that finding such a statement is perjury, even when it is not done in front of the public officialh. and i have to believe that someone as intelligent does not understand those matters and there must be many more city employees who do not understand, and potentially a lot of other were filing and complaints with the ftpc against the members. >> and it is the

. >> every public official will hold up a baby, will talk about how children are our greatest assets, but it seems to some communities and the community that i represent, that some babies matter more than others. >> those opposed say "nay" >> the proposal went nowhere. the majority voting to move ahead without the amendment. >> i'm for doing well for the poor, but you don't do it by making it easy for them to stay in poverty, you have to drive them out and make them uncomfortable in their poverty and they will do for themselves. they will earn for themselves and they will be much better off at the end of the day when they have earned it on their own, versus when they have gotten handouts. >> but why would politicians in a state clearly in the midst of a crisis, with such high numbers of babies dying before their first birthday, turn down money that could make a real difference? >> i'm sebastian walker with al jazeera. i just wanted to see if senator obhof is available to speak about the medicaid expansion. >> you can leave your information and i can ask him about it. >> okay, thank yo

or some version of it or in some other way to make sure that people are confident that their public officials have transparency in mind and the best interest. so with that, i look forward to hearing the testimony. >> thank you, senator flake. this is the first hearing of this subcommittee in this congress. and i'm happy to have you as a new ranking member as this subcommittee. it's now my pleasure to introduce my friend and colleague, the senator from nevada, senator hellor. two weeks ago we introduced an improved version of this bill. i think that his support for this bill and his presence here speaks to the fact that transparency is a bipartisan iss issue. some of the best work in the judiciary committee on the issue of transparency has come from our chairman and others on our side working with folks like the ranking member senator grassley and senator cornyn and many others. this bill is an effort to continue that tradition. senator hellor? >> thank you, mr. chairman. and to senator flake, i'm real pleased to be here today. i'd like to thank you also for inviting me to testify. i want to t