russell simmons. >> super rich. you have been to the park about 50 times? >> maybe 30 or 40. >> and you meditate in the morning you said with the people town there. >> with some of the people they meditate to the morning. i do sometimes. >> that's cool. i don't have any problem with that. do you of feel bad, you are a wealthy, wealthy, wealthy man and you never have to work another day in your life. >> no. >> do you of feel bad about being rich, guilty about being rich? >> no, i worked hard to get where i am at. absolutely not. i feel good about giving. i run five charities but i don't feel bad about earning or that the system allows me to earn either. >> are you uncomfortable with what has gone on down there, sex in public, many, many anti-similarretic statements by people town there, many instance of nudity and drug use and then it got violent in a lot of locations. do you have any problem associating yourself with a movement that also has a strong element that is quite negative? >> i have two thoughts about this. one, we are very compassion national, the

now a lot of people are, incomiincome ing russell simmons, et cetera, et cetera, senator udall. this is good news. we don't all agree on how to get to rome, but you're going to get to rome. you're going to have jack abramoff on this program right after us. what is the difference -- maybe you can ask him this question. what's the difference between a $25 or a $100 donation from a grandmother in iowa, is there a quid pro quo that's accompanied with that, and a $25 million donation to a super pac from the koch brothers or warren buffett? because i'm pretty sure that the quid pro quo is still a quid pro q quo. >> i'll ask him. sus susan, your thoughts? >> i agree with jimmy. whether you agree or disagree with your amendment, it cuts it off. it says, money does not equal speech. we've heard different proposals, they're the ones that want to weg la regulate themselves. that's a formula for disaster. >> look at how that turned out. and penn state did that. >> maybe we're just cynical at this point. >> no, penn state regulated itself, that's all working out so well. >> quae. >> i agree

completely. >> those that russell simmons is talking to, the people who are supporting your amendment. just, until they get there, that's where the change is going to come from. >> let me ask you a question. let's say there's all these disparate communities, right, from all these different places that want to get money out of politics. for whatever their motivation is, whatever their organization may be, whether it's conservative or liberal, or whatever it is. what would be the impact -- i'll ask you this, jimmy, if those groups and all these disparate occupations, portland, new york, l.a., wherever, everybody converged on washington, d.c. so instead of occupying, you know, and disrupting the secretaries who are trying to get to work in lower manhattan or disrupting the coffee shop in portland or whatever it is, which the intention is there, but it's disruptive to people that are, you know, they're like, why is this -- why me. why not have that disruption be to every lobbyist, every congressperson, every staffer, so that it is their walk to work, that it is their commute, that it is t

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simmons down there saying there is no cohesive message. and maybe the people they think are on their side aren't on their side. >> how do you think the city should be handling the protesters? you have gene quan who seems to be bending over backwards to try to be their friends, and now they are basically walking all over her. and then you have mayor bloomburg who is hands-off, but not to the extent she is. >> when you have barricades that are preventing people from getting to businesses, and you have them struggling, i think it becomes a responsibility to do something. i am all for peaceful protests. but when it becomes violent and when it becomes a problem for the city, the last thing we need are representatives of city councilmembers em boldening that behavior. that goes for our president as well for that matter. >> didn't somebody say it is up to them now? they have taken over the city? that's kind of -- how do you say -- get the national guard in there. and then let's get peace. >> but all for peaceful protest. >> can't make an omelette

we're live with russell simmons as well as a live report from downtown. >>> newt gingrich on the rise even as he tries to explain away his more than $1 million payday from freddie mac. will the revelations take the newt trang off the tracks? >>> and new developments in the penn state sexual abuse case. victims say they are ready to break their silence. this as police at penn state say coach mike mcqueary never reported sandusky's alleged shower rape of a 10-year-old boy. we'll have all the updates on that story. it's nice to have you with me today. i'm thomas roberts and now, it's two months of protests. one day of action in today's game plan is causing some serious trouble. an estimated 700 antiwall street activists woke up early and staged protests that krycripple rush hour traffic in downtown manhattan. at this moment, we're tracking it all from the air and on the ground. now, in a few hour, protesters say they're going to take their fight underground as activists plotting to gather at seven subway stops in five boroughs, but right now, let's go downtown to mara schiavocampo with t

next in hollywood where film maker michael moore, alec baldwin, russell simmons have all voiced their separate support for the movements yet they are among the elite 1%. it's good to know the occupy wall streeters have friends in high places. that does it for me today. i appreciate your time. see you tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. eastern time. until then follow me on twitter. @thomasaroberts. alex, what'sç next? >> hey, thomas. thanks. is president obama obsessed with mitt romney? also, rick perry's hail mary plan to overhaul d.c. and profiting from politics. are the rule it is same for wall street as they are for washington? i'll be joined by hard ford, jr., alicia menendez, jed die i can't bila and wes more next on "now." year ♪ ♪ co-signed her credit card - "buy books, not beer!" ♪ ♪ but the second that she shut the door ♪ ♪ girl started blowing up their credit score ♪ ♪ she bought a pizza party for the whole dorm floor ♪ ♪ hundred pounds of makeup at the makeup store ♪ ♪ and a ticket down to spring break in mexico ♪ ♪ but her folks didn't know 'cause her fol

and hip-hop mobile russell simmons has defended michael moore and some other celebrities as well. >>reporter: here in san jose the police are vested in the theft of gold necklaces from kids in schools. this happened three times in the recent weeks. police believe the same adult hispanic woman is responsible in each case each time the suspect approaches a child pretended to be a friend of the family and then remove the gold necklace. security has been stepped up at the schools, and the district is reminding parents to talk with their children about the dangers of talking to strangers. >>reporter: in santa clara city council members will decide if they will prove as we is and $10,000,000.20 this side of it proposed 49er stadium. the 49ers davis these rendering of the stadium. it will be built on the side of the vacant parking lot on centennial. the mayor says the money will be used to remove infrastructures. a spokesperson for the 49ers told me that they're making good progress and hope to open the $1 billion stadium in 2015. >>gabe: in tech news, the campbell fire tablet is now on

russell simmons putting forth a constitutional amendment to get private money out of campaigns. these are specific things being done that may benefit all of us in the united states. >> you see this move 789 as having legs and you think this will continue on? as you look and sort of one month, two months, months down the line, what do you see? >> it's hard to predict. this became a global movement within days of it starting in zucotti park in new york. we are seeing much more of a message. the message is we are the 99%. that pertains to most of us. it's a .1 per that is the upper, upper echelon. almost all of us are in the 99.9%. this is a movement of almost everybody in the united states. rick: we heard from mike gallagher, then we had a problem with his microphone. thanks for sticking around. julie: some protesters in one city coming under fire after new voicemail recordings reveal questionable practices. wait until you hear who they are turning to for help. rick: video an attempted robbie inside a jewelry store when an armed man suddenly grabs a woman. wait until you see what