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This week on NOW:
* He's been called the master of money, politics, and power. NOW
profiles House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and reports on the criminal
investigation into his alleged fundraising improprieties in DELAY,
INCORPORATED.
* The right to torture? David Brancaccio sits down with Ron Daniels,
executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, to discuss
the powers of a wartime President.
* The secret government returns. Bill Moyers talks with Tom Curley,
president and CEO of the Associated Press about what journalists should
do to guarantee freedom of information.
===================================================================
DELAY, INCORPORATED
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) has been called one of the most
powerful and controversial leaders Congress has ever seen. Over the
years, many believe DeLay has become the nexus of corporate money and
politics in Washington. Today, one of his political action committees,
Texans for a Republican Majority (TRMPAC), is at the center of a
criminal investigation. What will this investigation reveal about the
man they call "The Hammer" of the House of Representatives? NOW goes
inside the current investigation into DeLay's alleged fundraising
improprieties. With interviews from prosecutors and Washington insiders,
NOW profiles DeLay, examines the case against TRMPAC, and analyzes what
his brand of political fundraising means for democracy.
===================================================================
RON DANIELS
What are the powers of a president in times of war? This week, Attorney
General John Ashcroft refused to release the government memo that
contends that a wartime president is not bound by existing laws
prohibiting torture and wouldn't comment on any advice he might have
given the President regarding the memo. Some argue that the memorandum
laid the ground work for the abuses that surfaced in the Abu Ghraib
prison scandal. David Brancaccio talks to Ron Daniels, executive
director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, which, this week along
with the Philadelphia law firm Montgomery, McCracken, Walker and Rhoads,
filed lawsuits against two US corporations contracted in Iraq. The
Center claims these contractors, in the name of corporate profits,
conspired to humiliate, torture and abuse persons detained by U.S.
authorities in Iraq.
===================================================================
TOM CURLEY
There's a movement afoot among the press in Washington to push for less
secrecy in government. Last Month, Tom Curley, president and CEO of the
Associated Press unveiled a plan for a "media advocacy center" to lobby
for open government. "The government is pushing hard for secrecy," said
Curley, "We must push back equally hard for openness." Curley has led
the Associated Press since June 1, 2003, and he is the 12th person to
head the worldwide news organization since its founding in 1848.
Previously, Curley was president and publisher of USA TODAY, the
nation's largest-selling daily newspaper. A Bill Moyers interview.
===================================================================
NOW WITH BILL MOYERS continues online at PBS.org (www.pbs.org/now). Log
on to the site to track local and national donations online; to find out
who the biggest donors are to both parties; to explore viewers' reform
ideas and add your own; to debate the balance between national security
and civil liberties; to look at the history of using the Freedom of
Information Act; to get more information on international courts and the
Geneva Conventions; and more.
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