the issue of money and politics, craig unger? >> the spectacle everyone witnessed, at the 15,000 reporters report on, is the nomination of mitt romney. what i saw happening on screen was the coronation of karl rove as the party boss, and it means he has an unelected position with no term limits, and he gets to preside over this vast sum of money and to engineer how it will be spent, and induce them not just for this election, but for the foreseeable future. i think we should also not forget the base of the republican party. certainly, it is fueled by billionaires, but the tea party based very much supports it. looking around the convention hall, it had the reverse of the 1950's country club. nonetheless, the tea party really supports this notion of meritocracy. if you are rich, it is because you're successful, so you must be smart and capable. >> i want to go to the questioning of david koch right now. mr. koch, do you think unchecked concentration of wealth will undermine democracy? >> i am sorry, i am deaf in one interview. >>

unger is the man to talk to joins me now from from his home craig welcome to the program. thanks for having me and in new york i should say what drew you to karl rove and cause you decide to write this particular book about this fellow. well i think what was remarkable as if you go back to the zero eight election a lot of people were overwhelmed by the sense of hope and change that obama brought and the disaster of the bush presidency that is when bush left office he had started two wars that were ongoing rove had been forced out in disgrace really and was a prime suspect in the two biggest scandals of the bush era the u.s. attorney scandal and the valerie plame affair bush's approval rating was twenty two percent and it seemed like there was a huge mandate to enter a new era that bush had been an extreme turn to the right and now we are finally out of that and yet when i realize just a year into obama's term. in early two thousand and ten call roe was coming back he was not simply a creature of the bush family he was far more than that and in his vision of a permanent rep

unger unger right after this break. dreaming of a luxury see round trip with open air entertainments. a little min of exercise to get in better shape. and queasy with only healthy ingredients. in this case something to remind of our summer sales on our chief. wealthy british style sign. that's not on the. market. it's going to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with mike stronger for a no holds barred look at the global. financial headlines tune into kinds a report on our. blog a back to conversations in the great minds of speaking with investigative journalist a new york times best selling author craig unger his new book boss rove inside karl rove secret kingdom of power is due out september fourth let's get back to it craig i'm curious where or what role billionaire ripper murdoch in the fox news is the shane played in the rehabilitation of coral rose well as issues grove and roland if you go back. back to the nixon era roger ailes who of course is a chairman of fox news when he was in the nixon a

that's craig unger, author of "boss rove." pick it up. and after the break, to be honest we're never quite sure what brett ehrlich comes up with on a friday. he kind of starts the weekend a little early, if you know what i mean? >> at the end of the week what answers will remain unanswered well, not that one i'll have the question that answers that question after this. anybody? anybody? what time is it? oh, right. go time! >>> we here have a resolve that these dead shall not have died in vein that this nation under god shall have a few freedom government by the people for the people shall not parish from the earth. ♪ >> we can't tell our people they can vote yes on abolishing slavery unless at the same time we can tell them that you are seeking peace. >> how many hundreds of thousands have died during your industry? >> congress must never declare equal those who god declared un unkwal. >> god has afforded us to instill this moment now! now! now! >> jennifer: love it if trailers are supposed to get you fired up to see a movie in addition

unger in tonight's conversations with great moms. download the official publication. choose your language stream quality and enjoy your favorite. t.v. is not required to watch on t.v. all you need is your mobile device to watch r.t. any time. he. for tonight's conversations of great minds i'm joined by american investigative journalist and author craig unger he's previously worked as the deputy editor of the new york observer and editor in chief of the boston magazine also he's been a frequent contributor to c.n.n. the new yorker esquire and vanity fair his book house of bush house of saudi is a new york times best seller and his most recent book boss rove inside karl rove secret kingdom of our documents the return of karl rove following the disastrous bush administration and is set to hit shelves of temper for karl rove is promising to spend upwards of a half billion dollars the selection to be feet president obama and progressives around the country so for a glimpse into what's motivating rove and how he works and what could happen

that's craig unger, author of "boss rove." pick it up. and after the break, to be honest we're never quite sure what brett ehrlich comes up with on a friday. he kind of starts the weekend a little early, if you know what i mean? >> at the end of the (vo) always outspoken, now unleashed, joy behar. >> on my next show, the panel and i will try to find the humor in today's political climate. think we'll have far to look? what we need are people prepared for the careers of our new economy. by 2025, we could have 20 million jobs without enough college graduates to fill them. that's why at devry university we're teaming up with companies like cisco to help make sure everyone's ready with the know how we need for a new tomorrow. [ male announcer ] make sure america's ready. make sure you're ready. at devry.edu/knowhow. ♪ ♪ >>> we here have a resolve that these dead shall not have died in vein that this nation under god shall have a few freedom government by the people for the people shall not parish from the earth. ♪ >> we can't tell our p

investigative journalist craig unger has been on the case for years. the author of two books on the bush dynasty, he's now written this account of an astonishing comeback, "boss re: inside karl rove's secret kingd of por." craig, welcome to the show. >> thanks for having me, bill. >> you've taken on karl rove in this latest book. what prompted that? >> it was really, once the citizens united came down, i saw him go into action. and i could see what was happening was not being followed by the mainstream press. and i thought, "here is going to be one of the great untold stories of the 2012 election." and we saw it start to play out in 2010. and the republicans won, i believe, with 63 seats in that. it was a tremendous victory for them. and this was at a time when rove was supposedly out of it. and there he was behind the scenes with these super-pacs, with american crossroads. and i could see that he was preping himself for 2012. and not just 2012, but beyond. that he was something other than people had thought he was. most people thought he was a creatur

investigative journalist craig unger has been on the case for years. the author of two books on the bush dynasty, he's now written this account of an astonishing comeback, "boss rove: inside karl rove's secret kingdom of power." craig, welcome to the show. >> thanks for having me, bill. >> you've taken on karl rove in this latest book. what prompted that? >> it was really, once the citizens united came down, i saw him go into action. and i could see what was happening was not being followed by the mainstream press. and i thought, "here is going to be one of the great untold stories of the 2012 election." and we saw it start to play out in 2010. and the republicans won, i believe, with 63 seats in that. it was a tremendous victory for them. and this was at a time when rove was supposedly out of it. and there he was behind the scenes with these super-pacs, with american crossroads. and i could see that he was preping himself for 2012. and not just 2012, but beyond. that he was something other than people had thought he was. most people thought he was a c

investigative journalist craig unger has been on the case for years. the author of two books on the bush dynasty, he's now written this account of an astonishing comeback, "boss rove: inside karl rove's secret kingdom of power." craig, welcome to the show. >> thanks for having me, bill. >> you've taken on karl rove in this latest book. what prompted that? >> it was really, once the citizens united came down, i saw him go into action. and i could see what was happening was not being followed by the mainstream press. and i thought, "here is going to be one of the great untold stories of the 2012 election." and we saw it start to play out in 2010. and the republicans won, i believe, with 63 seats in that. it was a tremendous victory for them. and this was at a time when rove was supposedly out of it. and there he was behind the scenes with these super-pacs, with american crossroads. and i could see that he was preparing himself for 2012. and not just 2012, but beyond. that he was something other than people had thought he was. most people thought he was a

unger in tonight's conversations with great minds.

we're joined by "new york times" best selling author craig unger whose new book is "boss rove: inside karl rove's secret kingdom of power," joy reid, and julian epstein. is mr. romney now such a poorly performing candidate that karl rove is likely to say, you know what, let's forget about the presidency and let's go for seats in the house and in the senate? >> he's absolutely at the edge of that point. rove is the king-maker. he's king of the super pacs. he's put together about a billion dollars which he has to spend in the next few weeks. you're starting to see some money go to senate races, even some of the congressional races from the american crossroads and other super pacs. meanwhile you can also see rove trying to shake up things in the romney camp. the fall guy is a man named stewart stevens. a lot of critical stories trying to blame him for the miscue. >> of course, he was responsible for the clint eastwood escapade. there's still time for romney to become a human being, perhaps even a decent presidential candidate. but it's only two weeks. it's only two weeks till the first d

craig unger, thanks for being with me.g avinbme, il>>l.thanks. >> that's it for now. next week we'll consider some ways to get our democracy back from the plutocrats with our guest trevor potter, the noted lawyer who helped stephen colbert set up his own super-pac and still stay out of jail. that's next week's broadcast. meanwhile, go to billmoyers.com. you'll find an exclusive advance look at articles from "the nation's" special issue on "the 1% court." that's at billmoyers.com. see you there, and see you here next time. >>> don't wait a week to get more moyers. visit billmoyers.com for exclusive blogs, essays and video features. this episode of "moyers & company" is available on dvd for $19.95. to order, call 1-800-336-1917 or wre to the address on your screen. >>> 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 clemen