'Dan Rather Reports' to Broadcast Videotapes From Behind the Curtain of Wal-Mart - Tuesday, April 22 at 8:00 P.M. ET

'Dan Rather Reports' to Broadcast Videotapes From Behind the Curtain of Wal-Mart - Tuesday, April 22 at 8:00 P.M. ET

For the first time on television, viewers will see videotapes that demonstrate how one of America's biggest corporations spends millions to gain influence in Washington

DALLAS, April 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Wal-Mart is the largest corporation in the world, and this Tuesday's episode of "Dan Rather Reports" on HDNet will present recently obtained videos of corporate executives soliciting money for their Political Action Committee.

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For the first time on television, "Dan Rather Reports: Wal-Mart Goes to Washington" will feature segments of these videotapes recently acquired from Flagler Productions. The production company was hired by Wal-Mart to film internal meetings for more than twenty years. They were suddenly dismissed in 2006.

What the tapes reveal is how Wal-Mart used money to influence politicians in the company's favor on pending legislation, like the Patients' Bill of Rights. It is a stunning look inside a large company using money, lobbyists and Political Action Committees to gain valuable access to politicians in Washington.

"How many times have we heard lawmakers deny that money given to my campaign [gets] you a meeting with me," said Bill Hogan of the Center for Public Integrity in an interview with Rather about the tapes. "What we find in the videos, at least from Wal-Mart's perspective, that's exactly what the money does. It gets them a 90-minute meeting with a U.S. Senator."

Tuesday's episode also presents a report from India, where 167 million people -- the equivalent of half the population of the United States -- are routinely being raped, abused even murdered.

They are called the Dalits -- or the "broken people" -- and all across India they are born into a centuries old caste system that even today still assures a lifetime of poverty and discrimination.

Dalit women especially experience oppression and brutality on an unimaginable scale.

"Dan Rather Reports: Wal-Mart Goes To Washington" premieres on HDNet, Tuesday, April 22 at 8:00 p.m. ET with a re-air at 11:00 p.m. ET to accommodate West Coast Prime Time.

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Profile: International Entertainment