and one thing this koch-chaired non-profit has done is offer the charles g. program. the koch summer fellowship is a paid public policy internship "at the state level the fellowship strengthens the institutional capacity of market-oriented think tanks." you and i might not get invited to the kochs' fund-raising party in the desert. we don't get to watch them building their network. but every so often we get a glimpse of the kochs' network itself building. >> next -- and this is my personal favorite because it's the one i direct, is the koch summer fellow program. and the koch summer fellow program is run by the institute for humane studies, and here are the basics. and obviously, i can go into a lot more detail in the q & a session. it's a paid internship program which pairs you with opportunities throughout the entire country. so we work with state policy network, and one of the advantages that we have there is many of the state groups aren't able to pay internships. they only have unpaid internships. and so through the koch summer fellow program we actually

politico.com broke the news on friday about the kochs' pitch this year. re rolling out a new more integrate add proech to politics. that includes wading into republican primaries for the first time to ensure their ideal candidates end up on the ticket and also centralizing control of their network to limit headache-inducing freelancing by affiliated operatives." so the kochs are reportedly selling more influence over which candidates are running and more control over the network. all the non-profits with the hard to follow anonymous-sounding names that have been freelancing out there, right? more control. and good on politico for being able to report that out in advance of the meetings this weekend. because we know how secret they like to keep this stuff. i've got to say, though, when that story broke i always wonder now, every time i see somebody report something new on the koch brothers and particularly on what the koch brothers fund, i wonder if they are getting buried under a ton of lawyer papers every time they report this stuff too. or whether the ko

and a big report out today on the koch brothers' massive donor network. we'll tell you what it means for president obama's agenda. >>> plus, the republican national committee is delaying its annual meeting, and you will not believe why. >>> and remembering the doctor who saved martin luther king jr.'s life and saved history. stay with us. [ male announcer ] this is the story of the little room over the pizza place on chestnut street the modest first floor bedroom in tallinn, estonia and the southbound bus barreling down i-95. ♪ this magic moment it is the story of where every great idea begins. and of those who believed they had the power to do more. dell is honored to be part of some of the world's great stories. that began much the same way ours did. in a little dorm room -- 2713. ♪ this magic moment ♪ ♪ this magic moment i'm bethand i'm michelle. and we own the paper cottage. it's a stationery and gifts store. anything we purchase for the paper cottage goes on our ink card. so you can manage your business expenses and access them online instantly with t

including groups affiliated with, the koch brothers. port on the koch brothers funding distribution networks and groups small and large all over the country who have received funding through mechanisms the koch brothers have set up to support conservative candidates and activism and research and advocacy. and the koch brothers lawyers are not denying that they fund these networks or that the florida foundation for government accountability is one of the groups that has been funded through these networks. but nay really do not want anyone reporting any connection between what the groups do and who gives them the money that they do tip with. the koch brother letter, includes a script they want me to read to you on the air denouncing my own reporting on the florida drug test the poor story and telling you that they are not involved in promoting any such issue. i am not going to read their script. i'm not going to renounce my own reporting on the story. because the reporting on the story stands. it is true. and, now we also know that the koc

the wealth of the koch brothers has increased. are two of the richest billionaires in the world. one of the little known facts is koch's public sector lobbied against the wall street reforms of derivatives, more regulation of derivatives. get yourd like to reaction to the "washington .ost" report , first't you go through of all, this whole issue of shielding donors, not knowing where the money is coming from that is affecting elections all over the country. >> it has been a long-standing practice in the united states for ordinary charities like the red cross or others to have anonymous donors, to have donors that are not disclosed to a charity. but what we're seeing is really a growth in the amount of money going to what are known as sea for nonprofits. those are tax exempt. the donations to them are not attack seduction. we have seen enormous rise in the activity of c4 organizations that are really political era running ads in our elections. what this really important story in "the washington post reveals is this network that has

if you want to control the words used, then speak for yourself. mr. koch, the other mr. discuss them live, in person, without interruption. it will be easy to set up. you apparently already have my number. that does it for tonight. we appreciate it. happy new year. >> "weekends with alex witt" starts now. >>> deep freeze. historic cold freeze across the u.s. it is bringing mind boggling low temperatures. exactly how low and where? details next. >>> clemency for edward snowden? what will it take for that to happen or if it should happen. >>> the biggest security operation in sports history, but will it be enough? new questions today about the olympic games in russia. >>> sticker shock. that's what you might find at the grocery store in the new year. how high might some prices go?

that's the koch brothers group that has been promoting this idea, right, the same koch brothers group that has been telling people not to get health insurance. they're the ones that came up with the idea that it's a great use of state funds. the court laughed out loud at that in their ruling. that court ruling was from the fall of 2011. just a few months before the florida drug test the poor policy went into effect. the policy got blocked by the courts. the state was mocked by trying to have pretended that this koch brothers group was some sort of expert think tank on the subject. but even after that, that same group, the koch brothers affiliated group, they traveled around the country marketing florida's great policy success as something that all the republican-controlled states should try to do. look, here's their press release about how they attended public hearings in georgia to share florida's drug test the poor success story. here's the guy who was the author of that pamphlet that the court laughed at in its court ruling. here's him being photographed with a republican state sen

pipeline and they're very concerned the koch's are very concerned about killing off the whole debate about global warming warming and so chris christie just before just after meeting with david koch but just before meeting with charles koch in vail in between those two coke meetings chris christie shockingly pulls the state of new jersey out of the regional greenhouse gas pack and the words he's actually doing the one thing new jersey could do to reduce greenhouse gas emissions between two meetings with the brothers koch and after that and suddenly get six million dollars from an organization which by name they had started many years earlier it sounds too coordinated there's too many coincidences here and if it's not just a coincidence if it's more than a coincidence then it's a violation of federal law yeah that's remarkable that regional pact was the pact where all the states got together and said if all of the rest of you states reduce your emissions then we will too if i'm remembering right that's right and it was and was actually you know here we have chris christie running aroun

newly resurrected children's future happened to come the same week that david koch announced that he was pushing chris christie for president it also happened at the same time that that children's future was represented by a group called black rock black rock is the organization which also is the sole spokes person for a group called restore our future and one of the main funders of restore our future is bill koch the third koch brother this all happened after. secret meetings which were never never shown on christie's schedule between david koch and chris christie and charles and david koch one in manhattan one meeting manhattan one meeting in vail colorado these are not on his schedule why is this important because tom if christie is secretly coordinated. consulting giving any hints or working at all with the coax and a so-called independent committee to spend six million dollars remote him and blowed up his political career that's still against the law citizens united or not that's still the last remaining law that chris christie may have figured out how to break

but look, the koch brothers are targeting all the democratic women.epublican war on women. they've got three women democratic senators -- >> this has nothing to do with health care. >> they're pouring millions of dollars in it. i do not think the republicans are going to take back the senate by targeting women and using the money of the extreme right to try to -- >> he's very clever. >> -- fore-monger these election pz p. >> socarides is a very clever guy but to suggest this is a war on women -- >> let's come up with two names for richard to consider. terry lynn lannon in michigan who is surging and is going to be the upset special in the senate race, and in colorado amy -- >> huge upset. >> amy stevens in colorado. it's awfully hard to wage a war on women when in fact women are waging a war on democrats and they are waging the war on democrats because their health care is poor. my friend mary catherine handler came up with the term doc shock. women more than men are going to experience doc shock when they find their health care has collapsed. try and

groups affiliated with the koch brothers raise more money during the twenty twelve elections than all presidential candidates raised twelve years ago during the two thousand elections to separate small d democratic republic on its way to becoming your oligarchy talk about that and more into night's big picture politics and also as the weather gets colder times get tougher for america's halmos what we do right now to help the worst off in our societies stay warm in the dark of winter or on that connecticut senator chris murphy later on in the show and republicans are willing to let people die for the most shallow of reasons to tell you the reason it's a nice feeling that. you need to know this nine hundred americans have already finished pain their social security taxes for the year of twenty fourteen let me repeat nine hundred americans actually it's probably more than that by now have already finished painting all their social security taxes for this kamin new year. the next twelve months not surprisingly those nine hundred americans are some of the nation's wealthiest people they're

i want to salute the koch brothers and thank them. now, what else can we do? i mean, i don't know of anything else we can do. the brilliance of article 5 in the state convention process is it bypasses obama and harry reid and boehner and the court and the massive bureaucracy, and somebody might say, well, how is it -- if they don't comply with the constitution today, obama as an example -- what makes you think that it will comply with these amendments. that's the brilliance of the process. whether they comply or not, the states will decide what they states comply with. so if three-fifths of the state overturn a federal statute and obama wants to continue to implement the federal statute, then he is violating the constitution and the states need not comply. so, if you're going to have a president, like congress, that is so lawless now, that they blatantly violate something of that sort, there's no reason they states have toed a their what the -- to adhere to what the president and the congress are doing. we're making a constitutional argument and the others are

there is a north carolinians a friend of pope, the koch brothers. , veryis a smart man shrewd, intelligent very ruthless. as the reporter noted, this is more than north carolina. this shows what a wealthy individual can do in any state where he or she is willing to put their money into politics in this way. ours a harbinger of how democracy -- organized money is the greatest threat to democracy because it unbalances the equilibrium. democracy is supposed to check the excesses of private power and private grade. disestablishment is that equilibrium, we are in trouble. we have answer that seen to organized money is organized people. that is what first drew me to north carolina. i was on the board of week for four years. -- on the board of wake forest for years. when i saw what was happening on these moral mondays -- i knew nothing about them until the press story started to come out. reverend barber himself is a shrewd, cool cat, and i knew what he was doing in organizing. the first arrest came in in the summer and then the news media started to pay attention. it was obvious people were beco

number one, the koch brothers don't fund anything that i do. number two, no groups buy my .. >> host: buses, leaflets. >> guest: i have no idea about buses or leaflets, but so what if they do? gee whiz, the democrats never use big money to fund anything. let's see, what was the other thing he said, do you remember it all? yeah, i know, it was so memorable. but -- i can't think of everything that he said. but -- >> host: he couldn't get through on your screeners. ing? that's a good screen or. [laughter] sometimes they sneak through, sometimes they don't. but everything he said there is a lie. every single thing he said there is a lie. >> host: but to the larger issue or to another issue -- >> guest: yes. >> host: -- of talking with and >> to another issue of talking with and reading people you disagree with. >> i have discussions with people i disagree with. substantive, intelligent discussions. if a guy calls me and says somebody funds something that they happened funded, if they are pushing the left-wing conspiracy crap, what am i is supposed t

last year they made billions of dollars, the koch brothers. what they're doing is spending their pw-fls dollars on governors races, and on the state level and of course spending huge amounts of money around the country attempting to defeat democrats both in the house and the senate. mr. president, the republican leader has long been an opponent of the campaign finance reform. this has been part of his career. so it is no surprise he opposes the administration's efforts for greater disclosure. the abuse here is not the administration enforcing the law but folks like the koch brothers pretending to be social welfare organizations. the presiding officer has dedicated much of his life to improving the social welfare of people from his state, and these social welfare organizations are extremely helpful to do things to help people who have problems. but the koch brothers aren't a social welfare organization but they're plainly acting as political organizations, spending tens, hundreds of millions of dollars. they act as if it is nothing dealing with

the koch brothers run big business. hat sheldon adelson spend his money during the presidential primary last year? >> we don't do presidential elections. you just said that you respected and thought that he was sensible -- >> i am talking about the house and the senate. >> let's go back to the koch brothers. >> i didn't talk about adelson personally. i said the money he invested went to candidates that were in support of the enterprise system. >> that's what i meant. i didn't mean to characterize what you are saying. you made it clear that why comes to congress, you approved of the way that sheldon adelson spend his money. >> generally speaking. >> let's get to the koch brothers. fact they spend money. they challenge conventional wisdom and they are business people. they really understand the serious challenges that we face. they might support, it is still to see. there haven't been to many people aggressive in primaries. we did a few of them last time. we do discuss the matter with them. we cannot coordinate with the ca

. >>> coming up next, they say the koch brothers are operating. has that and plus much more in the morning playbook. ♪ ♪ stacy's mom has got it goin' on ♪ ♪ stacy's mom has got it goin' on ♪ ♪ stacy's mom has got it goin' on ♪ [ male announcer ] the beautifully practical and practically beautiful cadillac srx. lease this 2014 cadillac srx for around $319 a month with premium care maintenance included. ♪ we know we're not the center of your life, but we'll do our best to help you connect to what is. (voseeker of the sublime.ro. you can separate runway ridiculousness... from fashion that flies off the shelves. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. and only national is ranked highest in car rental customer satisfaction by j.d. power. (natalie) ooooh, i like your style. (vo) so do we, business pro. so do we. >>> welcome back to "morning joe." here is a beautiful shot outside. >> nice. >> the sun almost up. isn't that nice? >> where is the sun? >> bustling city. >>> have you guys seen this?

organize them and get better wages for their members but part of it is the political thing you know the koch brothers in the the far right is always looking at two thousand and fourteen two thousand and sixteen they have maps of every state why did we lose why did obama win in michigan when they have a republican governor and the answer was organized labor why did obama win ohio organized labor so what do they attack organized labor because they realize we're the ones with organization we can rally people to go out and talk about the issues and talk about getting out the vote registration we do tremendous voter registration and they realize that organized labor stands in their way to taking over michigan making it a completely red state or ohio and they cannot believe to this day that they lost michigan when they ran mitt romney and they had a republican governor and republican legislature and the same thing in ohio but the answer is it happened because of organized labor so we're the ones standing in their way so a lot of this attack is political because we realize we can pass right to work

the koch brothers plan to help republicans take over the senate. >>> and women for office can change the dynamic and it's a lot more than just about so-called women's issues. >>> plus, lawmakers reading mean tweets people have written about them. >> you are proof that this country has gone to hell in a hand basket. >> yep, you're about as original as an old pair of shoes. >> good morning, i'm chris jansing. right now the president is on his way to north carolina. it's his first trip outside the beltway in 2014. he's trying to put the focus on economy, the manufacturing, and jobs. but back in washington, the deal to help 1.3 million people who are unemployed crumbled. republican senators blocked a bill that would extend unemployment insurance. the complaint was that for the most part, not about the bill itself, but about senate procedures and amendments. >> i have a number of members who feel the unemployment insurance issue is a serious matter that ought to be addressed, but addressed in a fair and bipartisan way. >> at the end of the day, this debate is not about amendments or compl

the koch brothers are clearly conservative but they give enormous amount of money to hospitals. >> and say give them credit for that. >> yes. you don't have to agree with everything. i don't know if i agree with either side but i think they all deserve credit. there are also a lot of people who aren't billionaires, who aren't even millionaires who write small checks or give their time. they work and lobby their elected officials to take government money and try to improve the health of everybody. they deserve credit as well. >> maybe that feeds in to what you were talking about. some people feel that their lives have improved. how can they care about the problems that you are talking about? >> the question is, are you willing to spend less than one percent on saving lives for a few thousand dollars per life. the european governments tend to be about twice as generous on these eight issues as the united states is. they set a good example. even the u.k. is making increases. it is a political decision. if this cynicism, the lack of understanding that good things are happening is out there

resembling oil and then refined and we and the bizarre part about it is you know these refineries that the koch brothers and others own down on the gulf coast we keep the poisons from the refining process we get the cancers we get the polluted air and then we ship the diesel fuel and gasoline off to mexico or england or china or you know someplace else i mean is that right. and how is that conservative why are the republicans like all over the us. larry in vancouver b.c. hey larry thanks for calling you want to talk about a national popular vote. cocked your comment i really appreciate your show thank you. for your question i want to know. any effort to reform congress critter. gerrymandered. there is no serious free effort in answer that i can answer very quickly. in terms. of poker your record being a national presidential vote for any effort to reform got it well yeah that you're getting a lot more traction there larry thanks for the call it and there's good news and bad news there are states that have signed up that have agreed to legislatively have agreed to or by citizen ballot initiative

templeton and prominent families in town including the beaches and leaders of wichita aviation fame, the kochs, parents and friends of people in this room. liked to talk about people and the places he had been and the inclusive bohemian club in california. he would run around talking with everybody, al new heart of usa today, british actor david niven beloved to brag about the people he met. from the stories he was a downright hazardous driver and definitely a worse time but. i thought about a title, why stop at red? apparently red lights and willard didn't really agree. i am sure i will hear some stories after this. but he was a fantastic dancer who once landed himself in a cool after one too many exuberance that close to the edge. then he went home and changed into a new tuxedo prompting the other guests at a party to assume willard was the only man in town with two tuxes. i wasn't sure that was true. one person tells you a story you don't know and i told that the y p o meeting and someone said i was at that party. .. from one of his talks to this very which don't let their patients unfamili

your big-money people, the polluters, the koch brothers, they insist on it. they demand you ignore the facts. and citizens united, that god-awful supreme court decision, means that the big polluters' big money can drowned out elections particularly in republican primary elections, every reasonable person -- republican, independent or democrat -- who gets that we need to act. so the party on the other side is stuck, trapped by the campaign finance rules and the big money of the big polluters. we could in congress be awake and helping and meeting the call of duty. we could be working with the froze implement his climate action plan -- with the president to implement his climate action plan. the environmental protection agency, under the strong leadership of chairman barbara boxer, recently held an oversight hearing on the president's climate action plan. what did we get in that hearing from our republican colleagues? denial, quarreling, and obfuscation. the polluter party line. they actually brought in as a republican witness a witness whose organization took mo

i'll speak to the ceo koch . the youth unemployment, the ceo of cisco, about how he sees the next stage of the internet being about inanimate objects like bridges that warn you when they're about to fail. the forum is about big ideas, and i'm going there because i think you deserve as much access to those ideas as those who have the time, money and influence to attend. so i'ming about to be your ice and ears to let you know about the dig themes being discussed, so you can prosper from those ideas, too. i'm there to work. i won't hit the slopes, not even once but that's not much of a challenge because i'm not that good of a skier. that's our show today. i'm ali velshi. al jazeera america. we understand that every news story begins and ends with people. >> the efforts are focused on rescuing stranded residents. >> we pursue that story beyond the headline, pass the spokesperson, to the streets. >> thousands of riot police deployed across the capital. >> we put all of our global resources behind every story. >> it is

individual contribution limit of twenty six hundred dollars which will leave billionaires basically the koch brothers can just by their intended completely bankroll the staff the whole candid operations as well as all that seems completely fair sam come on let's let's get on the same page here. does any other country other than america i found this really understand i mean i don't know living here i kind of i'm biased but it just seems kind of out ranges that we just broke a billion dollars it's just expected to go up in that in the last election cycle does any other country compare really when it comes to this insane amount of spending looking at sort of western democracies no not really i mean there are a few countries where you see huge amounts of corporate spending india's expected to have a two billion dollar election brazil had something around the tune of a two billion dollars election even president dilma rousseff ninety eight percent of her contributions came from corporations but you know as the united states alexa think of itself as the beacon of democracy for the rest of the worl

very rigidly were a good concept until the koch brothers took control of them and now they're nothing but a a right wing arm of the of the money people who want to bring the republicans even farther right than they already are whether oppose the republicans appear to be in trouble is a definite breakage in that party oh there's a solution to that you have or what will you nothing never you were never i know i was never republican i was never democrat in fact if you go back larry and i know you'll remember this because you're old enough i voted for john anderson if you were john way i mean i could be eighty's i've never voted for democrats or republicans my entire life i find an alternative to vote for john as i was a terrific man yes it was a great mode most third party people are people to break off from the two gangs you're a veteran what did you make of the way syria was and boldly eventually zero zero zero avoided conflict well i didn't like the fact of the hypoxia of america we're going to go to war over chemical weapons right right excuse me what's naipaul that's a chemical weap

political i see the political process as it is is part of this problem of the rich because you can get the koch brothers and they can fund this tea party and you know bill in reinvent themselves in the next election cycle possibly and it's still the same thing you have to have money to have your voice heard social media isn't enough. so so you're right except for one small thing that has shifted in the aftermath of the financial crisis for the first time in this country since i can remember we're actually having a discussion about the dignity of human life and it was obama who raised this discussion you know many people called him everything from a communist or socialist but for the first time in this country we are actually having that discussion about the dignity of human life now the europeans are with head of us on this in the european union they're discussing a law that actually talks about the minimum standard of lifestyle not not minimum wages but a minimum lifestyle so again you know i think there is some hope and it's a very incremental slow process that we are actually having a discus

estimated to have to end world hunger this year thirty billion and we have fifty trillion thirty billion the koch brothers alone could do it right and we have that number in a graphic i think we do to bring the graph. will care now they care now they get it see this is what we need to give kids in school. i mean spread it around and talk about it wow incredible what you. you know it's amazing fox news covering this sure there's the bounce and you just got to throw those numbers on the nipples and then you're all good we. you know speaking of billionaires have you heard about the real life elise the i'm being created in nigeria this is absolutely ridiculous it's all the rich people who are building their own little you know their own little hub that they can you know when climate change comes down when the fan they'll have their own little terrarium i mean how do you feel about the apartheid two point zero here so it's a fake island which i think is great you know you when the devastation that you've created comes you go off to your little fantasy world they could you know they could call it up it

i'll speak to the ceo koch. the youth unemployment, the ceo of cisco, about how he sees the next stage of the internet being about inanimate objects like bridges that warn you when they're about to fail. the forum is about big ideas, and i'm going there because i think you deserve as much access to those ideas as those who have the time, money and influence to attend. so i'ming about to be your ice and ears to let you know about the dig themes being discussed, so you can prosper from those ideas, too. i'm there to work. i won't hit the slopes, not even once but that's not much of a challenge because i'm not that good of a skier. that's our show today. i'm ali velshi. >> hello, you're at the "listening post." this week, south sudan, what they're fighting over as opposed to what the media is reporting there. russia is doing something that it hasn't done since it was the soviet union. and we're in israel and the free newspaper that has been a game changer. and what would