Made possible by jodi westin, the wallach family, the Sherry Millstein family. Mutual of america, designing customized, individual and Group Retirement plans. Thats why were your retirement company. Additional support is provided by and by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. From the tish wnet studios in new york, arnie sreenivasan. Good evening. We look at the effect of the shutdown on congress. President obama has pressed the republicanled house of representatives to follow the senates lead and pass a Immigration Reform bill. Speaker boehner says Immigration Reform is an important subject that needs to be addressed and said he was, quote, hopeful. This weekend the governor from california became the first republican that said he would sponsor legislation that would give millions of undocumented immigrants a pathway to citizenship. For more on Immigration Reform this year, were joined by washington from alan gomez. Alan, first question. How significant is this announcement by the California Republican congressman yesterday that hell co sponsor legislation with democrats, talking about immigration . If youre a democrat in the house, its very significant. Theyre hoping hes first of several that will be coming on board. They have a most wanted list of about a dozen House Republicans that are interested in some sort of bill that includes a pathway to citizenship. But thats always going to remain in the minority in the house. Theres still that large conservative base of the house that is just uneasy about any kind of bill that passes citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Its a big step for them. Theyre seeing this as a way to push for an immigration package that includes that pathway. Theyre hoping to get the speaker to do something along the lines of what we just saw with the shutdown, where you saw democrats and a small group of republicans voting to pass something, but like i said, there is still a big chunk of that house thats resistant to this. Its a small step but definitely the right direction for the house democrats. So they only need three dozen votes for republicans to switch sides . Are there other pieces of legislation that are winding their way through about immigration . Yes, there is quite a few, and this is what makes things in the house so complicated, as always. You have this bill, its a democratic bill. Its got about 180 democratic cosponsors and now the one republican one. Then you kind of move into the middle of the spectrum a little bit where you got somebody like representative darrell isa, also from california, who should be introducing this week a bill that would allow for the nations undocumented immigrants who apply for legal status for a period of six years. That would be sort of an intermediary way of approaching it, and thats something i know a lot of House Republicans have been interested in because they dont want to see all 12 million as one big block. They kind of want to split it up in little groups and treat them differently. Then on the other end of the spectrum, you have the House Republican leadership. Theyve been pushing this piece by piece approach. Theyve been advancing smaller bills that deal with small sections of the immigration issue, so border security, more visas for hightech workers, more visas for lowskilled workers, and theyre trying to proceed with that so that they can kind of address separate parts of the immigration issue without having to do it all at once. So is this key idea of pathway to citizenship likely to cause a similar rift within the Republican Party between moderates and more conservative republicans . Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, we look at the immigration debate as its changed over the last year. The magic number remains for republicans the 27 of hispanic voters that mitt romney got a year ago in the election. So when you look at the gop from a national perspective, senator mccain, other senators in the Republican Party who were thinking on the broader scale, on the national scale, for them its very important to include something that includes a pathway to citizenship so they can start having a better conversation with hispanic voters who continue to increase, who continue to be a bigger portion of the electorate. But at the same time, when you look at these house members, a lot of them, just from 2010 to 2012, after redistricting, House Republicans represent 6. 6 million fewer minorities. Now their districts are, on average, up to 75 white. So there are just dozens and dozens and dozens of House Republicans who have just a tiny, tiny fraction of minorities in their district, so for them, this idea of the grander party trying to appeal to hispanics is not as important for them. It doesnt really resonate back in their home district, so for them its not that important. So i would say there is a good, good chunk of that house that is just resistant to anything that includes a pathway to citizenship as many of them refer to it as amnesty, so there is absolutely going to be that friction. House Speaker Boehner is back where he needs to be these days trying to corral different sides of his caucus. Whats the likelihood . They have such a small window left. They do. Theres only, i think, about 14 legislative days left in this calendar year. Obviously, that can stretch into next year a little bit. The likelihood, if i knew that, i would be writing that story right now at my desk. Its very difficult to get this through, but they do have some time, and they have a lot of bills teed up ready to go, ready to be introduced on the house floor and to be voted on. If it happens, it could happen very quickly. We should know a lot more in the next couple weeks. Alan gomez from usa today. Thanks so much. Thank you. New revelations today about the extent of u. S. Spying on german chancellor angela merkel. The german magazine said merkels phone first appeared on a list of spying targets in 2002. A german newspaper quotes u. S. Intelligence officials as saying president obama was informed of the spying operation in 2010 but let it continue. Here in new york, as the anniversary of Superstorm Sandy approaches, the state has announced creation of a 3milliongallon gasoline reserve. There was a shortage for weeks after the storm. New york is creating its own reser reserve. Another wave of violence in iraq. People were killed and dozens wounded after a car bomb. Al qaeda affiliates were thought to be responsible. From saudi arabia tonight, some of the women who protested the ban against driving in that country yesterday have been fined or arrested. One newspaper said 14 women were detained. Other reports said at least 16 were fined the equivalent of nearly 300. Women activists vowed to continue their acts of defiance. A setback to arrange an International Peace conference to end the civil war in treaty. Nine rebel groups issued a statement saying the proposed meeting in geneva next month would amount to a treason and those who attended would be held accountable. The president of iran said it would participate if invited. In a sign of changing times in iran, the municipal government of tehran has voted that billboards denouncing the United States be taken down. The local government said they were put up without official authorization. And finally, an important figure in rock and roll. Guitarist and songwriter lou reed has died. He was 71 years old. Reed had undergone a liver transplant last spring. Among his greatest hits was walk on the wild side. A walk on the wild side baby, take a walk on the wild side and now to our signature segment, original indepth stories about important but underreported topics. This evening we look at efforts to boost the prospects of new businesses, a move that could lead to more job creation. This past wednesday, the sec proposed rules that would allow anyone to buy a stake in small, private companies. Its a form of whats known as crowd funding, raising a big pool of money on line from many small contributors. It represents a big change to depressionera laws designed to protect small investors from risky investments. Special correspondent carl woy h worthy has our story. Reporter hes trying to raise money for his startup company. Its called juicy canvas, an Online Business that allows users to customize original artwork, to make prints, sheet cases or mobile equipment. Its an idea he thinks could be huge, so hes doing what most startups do at this stage, trying to sell his idea to big investors, venture capitalists. But competing for their money is a timeconsuming and difficult process. It takes facetoface meetings, networking and luck to hook in an investor with big bucks. There is only so much theyre going to invest per year, and every hour, there is exponentially more and more and more startups getting into the market, so its going to be harder for us to kind of bubble up. Overall new businesses account for reporter but now startup businesses could soon have another form of cash. For startup businesses, this bill is a potential game changer. Reporter thats because a little known provision in the 2012 jobs act signed by president obama allows nonpublicly traded companies to use the internet to raise investment capital. Its a practice known as crowd funding, raising a large pool of money for many small contributions. Companies could raise up to a Million Dollars a year. Before the jobs act, to invest in most startups, an individual had to be accredited, meaning that they earned more than 200,000 a year, or worse, at least a Million Dollars. Now even if you earn less than 100,000 a year, youll be allowed to invest up to 2,000 or 5 of your annual income in these new companies. For the first time, ordinary americans will be able to go on line and invest in entrepreneurs that they believe in. Reporter the question is this. Will it provide an opportunity for someone of ordinary means to get in early on a potentially lucrative investment, or is it a disastrous rollback of laws minute to protect investors from risky inventions that often fail . Steve case cofounded aol and is now ceo of evolution, an Investor Firm in washington, d. C. He is convinced the law would encourage the creation of more startups. I think it will unleash a new way of entrepreneurship across the nation. Reporter case was on president obamas jobs council and was a major supporter of the jobs act. The jobs act will help provide more entrepreneurs in more places and in more sectors of our economy the ability to raise the capital, to get started or to grow their company. Reporter arturo says this new law could help him raise money. It will allow us to focus on growth much faster and not have to deal with the standard Angel Funding ventures we would have to go on. Reporter is this also going to create more jobs . Absolutely. If we want to get our Economic Growth up, the place to start is startups. To make sure were competitive, the focus is startups. Reporter according to the bureau of labor statistics, each year since 1994, startups gained more of all u. S. Businesses. To upgrade the law so anyone can raise money over the internet, entrepreneurs will have more access to capital and will, in turn, create more jobs. The internet didnt exist 80 years ago. Most people didnt have television 80 years ago. Most people didnt have cars 80 years ago. The world has changed, and we need to reflect that. Reporter but what about the risk to investors . Businesses who may have failed to raise enough money from venture capitalists. The issue is is it a good idea for investors . And i think the answer to that is a resounding no. Reporter attorney mark stocker represents investors. He says the new provision under the jobs act has protection put in place during the great depression. If we change them now, were forgetting not only what we learned then but what we learned in this Great Recession we just came through. Reporter people are saying were just bringing these laws into this century. The internet wasnt around back then, and we really just need to update these laws to reflect the way business works now. Whats your response to that . Thats certainly been a part of the huge mass appeal to crowd funding. It sounds kind of sexy and kind of 21st century, and most importantly, kind of democratic because everyone can get involved. The thing that they are actually asking to be updated is traditional limitations on the ability of Small Private Companies to raise money from mom and pop retail investors. Those restrictions have been in place historically because those are very risky investments. Reporter isnt there some benefit to having this open to Credit Investors that are more wealthy and more sophisticated and know whats entailed in the risk and more knowledgeable in investing . I understand the concern, but we dont have that limitation in terms of letting people buy a house, which is risky. We dont have that limitation letting people invest in the stock market, which is risky. We dont have that limitation in terms of people gambling in las vegas, which is really risky. Why should we tell people they cant invest in startups. 80 years ago, you essentially had to be a millionaire to invest in startups. Reporter i know some skep c skeptics are worried about fraud and protecting the investors. Is that something youre concerned about, that some of these mom and pop investors might get fleeced . There is always the risk of that. The right protectors are being put in place. 80 years ago, the internet was just starting to be an idea. When people talked about ecommerce and put their credit cards on the internet, people said, thats never going to happen. Over time people got comfortable that they would be protected. These new ideas will take some time to really settle out and have the impact they can have. But theres a catch. Even though startups were supposed to be able to use this new tool to raise money the past january, the sec still hasnt completely analyzed the crowd data of the jobs act. There are Companies Growing and providing jobs but they cant do that because they dont have the capitol. Reporter arturo will be preselling tshirts to fund his business. Reporter what kind of impact is that going to have on your company . It would have a major impact. It would let us do what we really want to do much faster. Youre just going to have a lot more einsteins that would never see light of day be able to get into the market. This country is built on that. Despite the rules proposal from the sec this week, crowd funding for investing is still months away. The rules are open for Public Comment the next 90 days and then the commission will decide whether or not to adopt them. See how one Small Business owner is attracting investors by exercising his new freedom to advertise. Visit newshour. Pbs. Org. A startling report in todays washington post. The newspaper says more than a thousand of the nations nonprofits have each acknowledged losses of a quarter Million Dollars or more because of theft, investment fraud, embezzlement. Each exposed the problem by checking a box on the tax form indicating whats called a significant diversion of funds. For more on this, were joined in washington by chris stevens. Hes the coauthor of todays piece. Your article says just the ten largest losses youve identified out of 500 million. Give us some examples. Thats right, almost half a billion dollars. Theyre all across the board, all kinds of nonprofits in major amounts. The potential loss we had was this one and they got caught up in the Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme, which is pretty famous. A lot of nonprofits got caught up in that and lost tens of thousands of dollars to that ponzi scheme. So that was a major sense of losses. However, there are a lot of large losses from different scams and schemes. There is the global fund to fight aids. They had a problem. They found tens of millions of dollars had gone missing through a whole range of financial problems. Theyre working on getting some of that money back. There are jewish material claims against germany which it pays republic ration of the sort. He was involved with some insiders and he took mill yonds of dollars that were supposed to go to holocaust survivors. Some of them are horrified to hear about it. The group says they involved. Directors, bookkeepers, very long. But it also goes all the way down to your neighborhood groups boy scout groups, volunteer firpts. This hasnt been known, because to begin with, in the past before 2008, they didnt have to disclose like they do now. They also, what we found now is the new reporting requirements require you not only to check that box, that you attach a description of what happened to your annual disclosure form. What we found is sorry. In your reporting there, it actually shows that not everybody chose to disclose what was happening. And so when you look at even these findings, which are startling, but this is of the people who chose to disclose it, of the people that actually checked the box, of the people who are registered of all the nonprofits that are out there. So really, how much bigger is this problem . Thats exactly right. More than a thousand, we found, is just a sliver of the total universe, and it makes it absolutely impossible to estimate how big the losses are. But they obviously are larger than we had known and a lot of kind of gritty details in these reports. But the other major finding of our investigation is that an awful lot of these groups arent giving out many details. Even the one that checked the box. Saifl we had a major diversion. They dont really disclose what happened. A lot of them dont even give. Many so it raise az lot of questions of what really is going on out there, how bad is it. But what weve seen is bad enough. Do you think this could turn and let people be smarter about it and hold the organizations they donate to more accountable. Just because a group has been victimized in and of itself doesnt mean its a Bad Organization or they did anything wrong. But the experts say this should be a sign to donors, to supporters, to volunteers, if you see this on your form and, and what have you done to make sure that they get there. Readers can go to the website. We put together the first public searchable database of the significant diversion. You can put in the yam of your city, your state. It blows a significa bodes a significant way to look at it. Thank you, steve, very much. Thank you. Obesity is hardly just an american problem. Mexico has a high obesity rate and Great Britain struggles with that problem, too. Now Great Britain has gotten 12 of its largest food manufacturers to reduce the number of saturated fats they use. Simon harris reports. Reporter for the healthy eaters, the supermarket shelves can be a mine field. Too much fat, too much sugar. Now they want us to put saturated fats on the worry list. Im not sure cupcakes and cake, thats not the fight you do want to have. Sgrz twothirds of the year could be safe if the nation cuts their fat by just. A 12year Heart Disease, and Heart Disease is coming through. Lets put were ignoring the governments campaign. A multiple number of people not signing up for the deal, going on eating saturated fat. And that is a tragedy. What you need to do to reduce your risk of Heart Disease is to an adult, a diet thats low in magnesium fate. Some of the country. People argue that it isnt the answer. They say it needs to be compulsory and legally enforced. Join us on the news hour tomorrow on air and on line. Science correspondent miles obrien reports on how last years Superstorm Sandy is affecting residents. Thank you for watching. The wallach family, bernard and irene schwartz, rosalind p. Walter. Corporate funding is provided by mutual of america, designing customized and individual Group Retirement products. Thats why were your retirement company. Additional support is provided by and by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you, thank you. This week on Moyers Company that deal between the Justice Department and Jpmorgan Chase requires a second look. If the Justice Department were being tough on wall street, they would be talking about bringing criminal cases against individuals who helped to perpetrate this immense crisis. And historian peter dreier reveals the radical message of dr. Seuss. Stand up to arbitrary authority and take back your own life and be a fighter for justice and for your own integrity. Announcer funding is provided by Carnegie Corporation of new york, celebrating 100 years of philanthropy, and committed to doing real and permanent good in the world. The kohlberg foundation. Independent production fund, with support from the partridge foundation, a john and polly guth charitable fund. The clements foundation. Park foundation, dedicated to heightening Public Awareness of critical issues. The herb alpert foundation, supporting organizations Whose Mission is to promote compassion and creativity in our society. The bernard and audre rapoport foundation. The john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. More information at macfound. Org. Anne gumowitz. The betsy and jesse fink foundation. The hkh foundation. Barbara g. Fleischman. And by our sole corporate sponsor, mutual of america, designing customized individual and Group Retirement products. Thats why were your retirement company