The power and influence of Exxon-Mobil

Democracy Now!:

We look at one of the largest and most powerful corporations in the world: Exxon Mobil. Last week, the corporate giant reported it earned $9.5 billion in profits in the first three months of this year — or almost $104 million per day. We speak with Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Steve Coll who pulls back the curtain on Exxon Mobil in his exhaustive new book, "Private Empire: Exxon Mobil and American Power." "Exxon Mobil really sees itself as an independent sovereign in the world, almost the equivalent of a state," Coll says. "They really are one of the most closed corporations headquartered in the United States."

Steve Coll, President of the New America Foundation and a staff writer at The New Yorker. His most recent book is called, “Private Empire: Exxon Mobil and American Power.” Previously, he was managing editor of the Washington Post and has also been a reporter, foreign correspondent and editor at the paper. He was awarded his second Pulitzer Prize for the book, “Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the C.I.A., Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to Sept. 10, 2001.” He is also author of “The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century.”