>> bill: it is wednesday april 11. good morning everybody. welcome to the "full court press," the "bill press show." your new morning show here on current tv. i'm bill press liberal and proud of it! on current tv. talking about all of the big issues of the day. taking your calls. it is sayonara for rick santorum. no surprise little ricky dropped out of the race. the big surprise is he lasted as long as he did. he's the most extreme conservative you can find.

he still won 11 states and 281 delegates which proves how much even republicans don't like mitt romney. well, we'll talk about that and a whole lot more on the "full court press." but first, let's get the latest here with today's current tv news update out in los angeles jacki schechner. good morning jacki. >> good morning, bill. good morning everyone. rick santorum has dropped out of the race for the g.o.p. presidential nomination but he leaves some work behind for mitt romney. santorum put a lot of emphasis on his conservative stance on social issues that leaves a void for romney to fill. he has to figure out how to do so without alienating moderate republicans and independents. i may feel pressure to find a running mate who can help him win over santorum's core supporters. santorum hasn't said specifically why he dropped out but it is a combination of his daughter's illness, low funds and the recognition that another

big loss in pennsylvania following his loss to bob casey in 2006 will put him in a tough spot to run again for any political office down the line. newt gingrich and ron paul welcome the news that santorum's delegates are up for grabs. newt gingrich reaffirming his commitment to continue to run at least until the convention in tampa. and wrong paul saying he's now the one true conservative left in the race. newt gingrich is making news for money problems. i love this story. his campaign bounced a check for $500 in utah. the salt lake tribune said he was trying to get on the ballot for the june 26th primary there and his campaign bounced that $500 check. they have to make it up in nine days or it's not going to happen. president obama back in d.c. still talking about the buffett rule and then he'll meet with the secretary of defense this afternoon and attend another fund-raiser at the w. join us in chat. we're back right after the break.

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as i understand it in radio they can't see you, so this is big for me. >>tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's new morning news block. >>it's completely inappropriate for television. >>sharp tongue, quick wit and about all, politically direct. >>politically direct to me means no bs, the real thing, cutting through the clutter.

my show is the most important show in the world. >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show". >> bill: rick santorum throws in the towel! because he didn't want to lose pennsylvania. and get egg all over his face. hey, what do you say? good to see you today. good morning everybody. and welcome. welcome to the "full court press." here we go on this wednesday april 11. of looking forward to tackling the big issues of the day for the next three hours on sirius

x.m. on your local progressive talk radio station wherever you happen to be in this great land of ours and on current tv. thank you for joining us. lots to talk about today. we've got rick santorum dropping out of the race. got mitt romney once again showing how rich he is. president obama campaigning again yesterday for the buffett rule and the miami marlins making a stupid, stupid decision to suspend their manager for a few games. man, we've got lots to cover today. we'll get right to it and we'll take your calls as we say we always -- in our little town hall every morning, we have a seat at the table for you. you're part of the conversation. if you can't be here physically in studio, just give us a call at 866-5 55-press. bill press here.

ready to serve you as well as team press peter augburn. >> peter henning. >> hi, there. >> hi, there. >> and cyprian bolling our videographer. >> i'm here. >> i think i can hear through the door. >> how many horses do you own? >> about 12. >> what kind? >> dressage horses. >> of course. >> i have stallions. >> i think they're called lipizzaner. >> that's right. >> how do you not know? >> i have so many. >> he has a special breed they're called zipperzanner. >> it is a strange conversation. one that i've never really had either. i've never had a conversation about my friends who own nascar teams. i've never had a conversation

about my friends who own nfl teams. i've never had a conversation about the new car elevator i'm putting in my mansion. >> oh, darn, i was going to ask you if you had any information on that. >> i don't have information on how many cadillacs dan drives. i've never had a conversation about making $374,000 in speaking fees and not much money. and i sure as hell, mitt romney, have never had a conversation as he had with john hannity about the kind of -- by the way fancy horse -- this is not a plow horse, this is not a horse you get for your kid to learn how to ride. what kind of expensive damn horses, carol might have but here's mitt romney. >> it is important to point out this is off-camera. this is how mitt romney talks when he's just having a conversation. >> bill: he's going to have an interview -- sean hannity is going to interview him. they're in vegas. while they're chatting getting

ready for the interview this is what he talks about. >> so, she's like okay i've gone four straight weeks. we've not been home in four weeks. christmas was the last time we were home. she said i've got to get some time on the horse. and away from you. >> february -- what kind of horses do you have? >> she has austrian warm bloods. it is a dressage horse. >> i have a missouri foxtrotter. it is like a quarter horse. it moves very fast. the and doesn't tire. and it is easy to ride. it is smooth. >> bill: this is such an out-of-this-world conversation. this guy -- >> this is small talk. >> bill: and he thinks he can identify with the middle class of america? you know with average working guys? have that kind of a

conversation? it is like they're comparing their corporate jets. i mean seriously. >> i understand a lot of you people are hurting. some of you only have mississippi foxtrotters. >> bill: i want you to know, australian warm bloods are a lot better than australian cold bloods. >> if we're talking dressage horses here, you're right. >> bill: they're much smoother to ride. >> they have a much smoother gait. >> bill: he's not part of the 1%. he's part of the .0001%. can't wait for this campaign to get started. we've got -- such a great line-up for you today. joe rome is the -- one of the world's leading experts on global warming climate change with the center for american progress going to be here with us in about 20 minutes from now. one of the leading teamsters of the country, ken hall will be

here to talk about the buffett rule and very proud to say that a member of the president's cabinet, labor secretary hilda solis will be right here in studio with us to talk jobs. you want to know about jobs? get right to the top! that's what we do here on the "full court press." but first -- >> announcer: this is the "full court press." >> on this wednesday, other headlines making news -- it is wednesday. the manager of the miami marlins baseball team apologized for saying he loves fidel castro. ozzy guillen said those words. he said he's very sorry and that things may have gotten lost in translation as he was speaking spanish at the time and he meant he was impressed that the cuban leader was still alive after all of these years with many people trying to take him down. still, the marlins have suspended guillen without pay for five games. he says he respects his decision. money is the last thing he's

thinking about. >> bill: this is a cowardly part on the marlins they're afraid of the cuban community just like every president has been afraid of the cuban-american community in miami. it is a disgrace that they suspended him. what's wrong with saying you admire the fact that fidel castro has outlasted every american president? and the stupid boycott we have, i'm sorry. >> it is your show holmes. what are we going to do? >> bill: i know. let me just finish that then. >> please. >> bill: that boycott we've had of cuba since john f. kennedy did it stupidly in 1962 hasn't worked and we said it is a time we weren't going to deal with cuba until fidel castro died. guess what! he's still alive. you have to admire something about that old fart, you know? all right, go ahead. >> we're learning more of the guests names that will be appearing at the april 28th

white house correspondents dinner. abc is bringing cast members of its hit show "modern family." sofia vergara, jesse tyler ferguson julie bowen and aaron stonestreet and lawrence from the hunger games. anna paquin and glee's darren. >> bill: they have a lot to do with the white house right? not. for the record, i'm bringing as my guest play the fanfare -- >> drumroll. >> bill: all right. i'm bringing as my guest, jennifer granholm. host of "the war room." eliot spitzer, host of "viewpoint." chenk uygur, host of "the young turks." >> all who cover politics. >> at least have something to do

with the dinner. >> you sure you didn't want to get somebody famous, like a famous celebrity? >> and former today show host is not happy about nbc having sarah palin on the program as cohost. bryant gumbel hosted the program for 15 years. he spoke with the daily saying he was embarrassed by the network's decision to have her on. gumbel said gone is the era where hosts were judged by their interview to interview and report. now, that's secondary to just being popular. >> if bryant were there this never would have happened. >> you're right. >> classy guy. thank you. >> bill: where to start. where i would like to start today, that's on the latest out of florida. we cannot lose track of this trayvon martin case because first of all there's such an outrageous crime that was committed. there is such injustice in this case so far. but things are moving. want you to know about the latest and get your comments. what do you think it means at

866-55-press. two things yesterday. we talked yesterday about the fact that the special prosecutor in the case, angela cory had said she was not going to convene a grand jury. we talked about that. yesterday on top of that, she said that she will have a major announcement in this case within the next 72 hours. obviously she's got some new information. we don't know what that announcement is going to be. she's been into the case now for the last couple of weeks at least. full time boogie. she's just said she'll have a major announcement within 72 hours. that could happen today. the second thing that happened is george zimmerman has really started acting wacky. done some crazy things. nobody knows where he is. the police say they have no idea where he is. his attorneys say they have no

idea where he is. his father does not know where he is. says he doesn't at any rate. zimmerman has left town. left the state. not in touch with anybody number one. at the same time he has posted a web site, this web site where he's asking for donations and where he complains that this whole thing has been so hard on him. he says on his web site, i quote here "as a result of the incident and subsequent media conversation, i have been forced to leave my home, my school, my employer my family and ultimately, my entire life." give me a freaking break! he's still got his life. trayvon martin doesn't have his life. what the hell does this guy

think he's getting away with? this is so upset. you're lucky you still have a life, you douche bag! number three, he's been making phone calls. he's called from wherever he is. he called the special prosecutor. he called angela corey and wanted to talk to her. he's nuts. she wouldn't talk to him without his attorneys present. and then he also called sean hannity. oh, what a quink a dink. he calls fox news. he knows, man, he's going to get a sympathetic ear from sean hannity. he knows fox news will help paint him as a hero. so, he reaches out to hannity and hannity, there was this rumor on hannity last night on his tv show confirmed he had this conversation. >> one of the reasons that was cited during the press conference was an alleged conversation that george zimmerman had with me. before we continue tonight, i want to set the record straight about a couple of things. now, for a few weeks, we have been pursuing an interview with

mr. zimmerman to give him a chance to tell his side of the story. yesterday, i was contacted by an individual that we, in fact, believe was george zimmerman. he reached out to me. we spoke on the phone about his case. i agreed not to report on the contents of that conversation. that's it. >> bill: so, zimmerman calls sean hannity and then the third thing is this is, i think loaded with meaning. george zimmerman, the two attorneys representing him said they were dropping the case. they were walking out. they would no longer represent george zimmerman. craig sonar, first of all, one of the two partners made the announcement. >> they're withdrawing his counsel for mr. zimmerman. we've lost contact with him. up until this point, we've had contact every day. he's gone on his own. i'm not sure what he's doing or who he's talking to. >> bill: lost contact. he wouldn't talk to them.

he called -- and then hal urich the other partner pointed out, again, going back to this phone call, he made to the prosecutor without telling them. >> we heard today that george had contacted the were prosecutor's office directly. one of the thing every defense attorney tells his client is don't talk to the prosecutors or the cops. frankly, don't talk to anybody until we get control of the situation and do it through counsel. >> bill: what do you think it means when his attorneys say they'll no longer represent him? i think there's a lot more to it than the fact that they haven't talked to him. i think there is a lot more to it than he moved out of town. i think there's a lot more than the fact that he called sean hannity or called the special prosecutor. i think they know that this guy's whole story is built on sand. that it is bogus. it is phony. they know that they could never win this case! they could never defend this guy

because he's guilty as sin. that's what it tells me. they know something that we don't know and we'll know it soon enough. 866-55-press. george zimmerman's attorneys drop the case. what's it all mean? >> announcer: this is the "bill press show," live on your radio and current tv. >> we don't stop until we get answers that are truthful, serious, and not based on simplistic answers. >>we're here because we're independent.

really? yeah, i'd like that. who are you talking to? uh, it's jake from state farm. sounds like a really good deal. jake from state farm at three in the morning. who is this? it's jake from state farm. what are you wearing jake from state farm? [ jake ] uh... khakis. she sounds hideous. well she's a guy, so... [ male announcer ] another reason more people stay with state farm. get to a better state. ♪ ♪

>>just refreshing to hear. no other television show does that. we're keeping it real. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 25 minutes after the hour. we'll talk climate change next. right now, we're talking about the fact, astounding, stunning development in the trayvon

martin case where george zimmerman's attorneys said we don't want to represent this guy anymore. he's gotten too crazy for us. what do they know that we don't know. levon is calling from atlanta georgia. >> caller: hey, hey. okay, let me tell you what i think. i think they're all crazy. i think his lawyers were manipulated by george zimmerman. he used them to seek and engage what his chances might be of innocence and because he sees he's going to be considered guilty in this he's running and there is no way that this man who acted this irrational right now acted rationale with a gun in his hand chasing a 17-year-old boy probably 100 feet from his house. >> bill: good point. look at his behavior that we know about before this incident and yeah, look at his behavior today and say this is the guy who very calmly did what he had to do? yeah baloney right? >> caller: mr. press, let me tell you something. >> bill: go ahead.

>> caller: i'm going to tell you i do not believe in george zimmerman in this situation. how can you stand your ground when you're not even on your ground. you're 100 feet away from this child's house. he's standing his ground. you can't go into a shark-infested water and claim you got attacked by sharks. >> bill: right. again, levon, he got out of the car. he was told not to. he pursued him. he was told not to. he had a gun and the neighborhood watch people aren't supposed to have a gun. look, i'm not a lawyer. i don't even think the stand your ground law would apply in this case. i don't think it applies in this case. levon, good to hear from you. william is out in santa clarita california. good morning on the west coast. >> caller: yes, good morning. he's clearly running. and can you hear me? >> bill: yes, you're on. go ahead. >> caller: yeah, he's clearly running and i mean the stand

your ground thing it is like when john lennon got stop and killed. it sounds like the same thing. i mean, you know, he went out and looked for him and he killed him. >> bill: i'm not sure it is the same thing in this case but i do think -- from what we've seen of the facts george zimmerman was not in any danger. if he was, it was only because he put himself in danger. but still, he had a gun and the other kid did not. he weighed 100 pounds more than he did and the kid was on his property as levon pointed out on his ground. george zimmerman was not. if there is anybody who was an intruder in this case, it was george zimmerman under the mask of the neighborhood watch. i'll telling you, these attorneys know a lot. they know more than we know. they know something we don't know. they know this dude is guilty! >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

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for information about all of the good work they perform in counties and cities across the country and state governments as well, go to the web site, asfcme.org. we'll be talking here, continuing to take your calls about this stunning development in the trayvon martin case. the two attorneys for george zimmerman dropping out yesterday saying they will no longer represent him. what do they know that we don't know. want to talk about climate change with dr. joe rome from the center for american progress. first, our spin for the day, i don't think we've ever had this. actually, it was a double spin. a double spin today. given the news that rick santorum dropped out yesterday the reaction from rick santorum himself and newt gingrich. first, santorum saying i'm not really dropping out. i'm really winning. >> at a time when over and over again, we were told forget it, you can't win. we were winning.

we were winning in a very different way. >> bill: yeah, we were winning by losing. right? he might have 281 delegates but mitt romney has 700 or so. he's got well over half the delegates he needs to get there. 300 or 400 more than rick santorum but we're still winning. we're winning in a different way. >> we're winning in a different way. it is called losing. >> bill: newt gingrich says that's okay, i'm the one. >> there is a conservative and there's mitt romney. it clears the space out and it also means that people have got to come to some decisions. >> bill: no it doesn't newt. newt, nobody thinks you're really still in the race. come on. i don't even think calista believes it anymore. although i'm not sure. i don't know.

so, back to your calls in just a second. i've gotta talk about this. i saw a story on the news the other night that got me thinking about what -- what's going on? the month of march, the hottest march since we've been keeping records. of monthly temperatures. i think back to 1895. what does it all mean? dr. joe rome is the senior fellow at the center for american progress. he is their chief senior fellow for climate progress. joining us on our news line this morning. hey, joe, good to have you with us again. >> thanks for having me. >> bill: are we reading too much into these march temperatures? i mean there are all kinds of records broken all over the country. >> yeah, this is definitely unmatched in recorded history for the united states. it is not just that it was the warmest march on record.

the -- the national oceanic and atmospheric administration released a bunch of amazing statistics. there were 15,000 warm temperature records broken in the month of march. half of them were daytime and half of them were nighttime. i mean this is the incredible thing. there were 21 instances where the nighttime temperature was warm or warmer than the hottest daytime record ever recorded at that particular location. >> bill: wow. >> it just really -- >> bill: the average temperature was like 8 or 9 degrees higher, right, than it normally is. >> it was about 8 degrees higher in the continental u.s. you know the most extreme weather ever recorded in the -- again in 100 -- over 100 years of recordkeeping. >> bill: we also -- this comes on top of, for most of the country, no winter right? we certainly here in d.c. didn't have a winter.

>> absolutely. this is being called the year without a winter. and there was a connection because it was so warm for most of the winter, there was very little snow. when there's no snow, you know, when the wind blows over snow it obviously gets colder and can bring cold everywhere. when there's no snow, the reverse happens. so, you know, it is all really connected and i think there's no question, you know, that the metaphor people are saying is it is sort of like the weather is on steroids. and you know, it is not that when a baseball player is on steroids, you can say every home run was due to steroids but statistically, they hit a lot more home runs and more of them go further. and that's what we're doing through the weather with greenhouse, gas emissions burning fossil fuels. >> bill: it also seems to me that we have seen much more

evidence earlier and more of tornadoes than we've seen before. yes or no and weather related? >> yeah, it does seem that way. the connection between, you know, more tornadoes and global warming is a lot harder to make statistically but it does seem clearer that the tornado season is starting earlier. much as the wildfire season is starting earlier. and for very similar reasons. when it is warm earlier, you get the conditions for tornadoes earlier. when it is dry by the way, this lack of snow, of course, means drought and like over a third of the country is in drought or near drought conditions and that of course, is when you combine drought and heat, you're going to see wildfires. >> bill: so, what conclusions can we draw from this physical evidence of warming, certainly in march in the last couple of

months? is it too much of a leap to say here it is. we told you so. global warming is happening. >> well, i think if you talk to most of the leading climate scientists, you know, they will say that the degree of extreme heat would have been exceedingly unlikely to have happened without human cause man-made global warming. that doesn't mean the entire heat wave was due to global warming. again, it is -- the kinds of extremes we're going to see, we see extremes all the time but now, they're juiced up with these steroids and they become much more intense. they also become longer lasting. this was a massively long heat wave and geographically, much bigger. that's another projection of global warming but it is certainly the case, two or three decades ago, scientists warned us if you keep pouring heat trapping gases in the atmosphere, you're going to warm up the planet and heat waves and

droughts and floods are going to become more intense. >> bill: well, you know, it just seems to me that if you look around, open your eyes, you've got the glaciers melting you've got this one south pacific island where they're making arrangements to relocate the entire population because the island is soon going to be underwater. the icecaps are melting. i mean, go on and on and on and now this latest, this temperature -- record temperatures being broken all over across the united states. what's it going to take, joe until this -- we do something about climate change and the politicians get serious about it? >> well, you know, as you know, bill better than anyone, you know, one party in this country is in the death grip of an extremist wing the tea party which has been captured and funded by you know, the fossil

feel industry like the koch brothers so it is very hard for them to embrace even the rational policies that john mccain and hey, mitt romney used to strongly endorse just a few years ago. i will say that we did a post on climate progress. john kasich last week amazingly said this isn't popular at all to say but i believe there is a problem with climates. climate change in the atmosphere. i mean, it was like so -- >> bill: kasich said that? >> yes, we put it on climate progress which i should say we've re-- we've now merged with think progress and we have a whole blogging team now of like four people dedicated to bringing people the climate and energy news. >> bill: that's at climateprogress.org.

>> people can go to think progress. we're the top bar named climate. if people haven't taken a look recently, i would urge them to. but i think that, like you said, the weather is just going to get more extreme. i think it is going to be harder and harder for you know, even anyone but the most extremist to say that you know, the scientists weren't right and the climate isn't changing. >> bill: well, we'll never convince james inhoff but i hope there are some other people who will be open-minded about this because the evidence is so overwhelming. go to climateprogress.org for all of the latest on this. i don't think there's anymore important issue because it really -- we're talking about the survival of the planet here. joe romm is the senior fellow at the center for american progress. mr. climate change. joe, always good to have you on the program. keep up the good fight. maybe we'll get some action

eventually. >> we're going to have to one way or another. >> bill: thanks, joe romm. climateprogress.org. still interested in your comments and i see a lot of you -- your calls on the trayvon martin case. very significant. when his two attorneys who have talked to him every day for the last three weeks they know what's gone on. they know what his story is. they know they can't defend this guy and win. they drop the case yesterday. what does it tell you? 866-55-press. my show is the most important show in the world. as i understand it in radio they can't see you, so this is big for me. >>tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's new morning news block. >>it's completely inappropriate for television. >>sharp tongue, quick wit and about all, politically direct.

>>politically direct to me means no bs, the real thing, cutting through the clutter. my show is the most important show in the world.

>>i'm a political junkie. this show is my fix. [[vo]]this former two-term governor is ...

♪ >> announcer: the latest from the world of politics, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right 13 minutes before the top of the hour here. happy wednesday. wednesday, april 11. a lot of news to cover this week from florida. in the trayvon martin case from florida and the ozzy guillen -- >> guillen. >> bill: ozzy guillen of the miami marlins. we haven't even gotten around to the buffett rule yet. good thing we have three hours. on the trayvon martin case, the fact that his attorneys say outta here george. you're acting so crazy plus we think you're guilty. we're not going to represent you anymore. hubert is calling from austin, texas. good morning, sir. >> caller: good morning. >> bill: what do you think? >> caller: well, first off, i don't know why we're even having this discussion. we knew in the beginning that

zimmerman did not even fit the standing your ground law. they already said that. after a few days, they said he was told not to go after the kid. he did it anyway. >> bill: yes. >> caller: question is why wasn't he arrested then? >> bill: we've been asking that question for a long time. still, still, still no charges filed. >> caller: still none. he is still out. why we need to have the special prosecutor i'm going to take care of it. she could have done that weeks ago. >> bill: first, you need a prosecutor because the local police department didn't do its job. that's why she was brought in. why she hasn't acted until now -- i mean, hubert, i'll tell you, i'll give her the benefit of the doubt as long as she does the right thing. i understand that this is a tough case and she wants to be -- with all of this national attention, when she acts, she wants to be sure she's got every

i. dotted and every t. crossed. if she's taking her time to get it right, i'll cut her some slack but if she lets this guy go, oh man. lamont is out in los angeles california. what do you say? >> caller: good morning to you. love your show. >> bill: thank you. >> caller: here's the thing. i want to make this really, really quick. of course i'm very angry. i'm african-american. i had two young black gentlemen walk up and rob me in a pretty nice neighborhood. they were -- to make a long story short, when i heard about this case, i was willing to give this zimmerman guy the benefit of the doubt. i was one of the few african-americans that was willing to say maybe this kid did something. and then of course willing to say -- i heard the 911 call.

my thoughts are for this kid's parents. for me, this is not about race. it is not about -- it is about somebody really stupid having a license to carry a firearm. when you give stupid people guns, this is what happens. he was told of course we don't need you to do that. you heard the 911 call. >> bill: and again, it is not just the stupid person. i would say more you give a zealous person like this a person who thinks, right that he's god's answer to law enforcement and look -- just look at the fact that he made 46 calls to 911 in the last year. i mean, he's just -- over the top. i agree with you. the only way i disagree with you is i didn't give him the benefit of the doubt in the beginning. he looked guilty then and more guilty now.

in mesa, arizona debbie, good morning. >> caller: hi, how are you? >> caller: my comment basically is that i watch a lot of current tv and i watch a lot of fox news and on fox news -- >> bill: you're watching both extremes here, right? >> caller: yes aim. i'm a little strange. on fox news, they get a lot of airtime to the black panthers who make a lot of racist comments about whites and there is a lot of outrage about that but there's no outrage against the racial profiling that george zimmerman did against trayvon martin that the police did and no outrage against that. >> bill: debbie, first of all don't expect anything better from fox news. i'm not going to try to explain certainly not going to defend fox news. they keep trying to make -- they keep trying to make a case of these -- the new black panther party, right? this is so ridiculous. do you know how many -- i don't know but i would guess how many

members of the new black panther party there are in this country. i don't know whether you're watching on tv or listening on the radio. i'm holding five fingers up, probably the entire membership of it. it is a non-- it is a nonissue. it is a nonentity. it is a nonorganization. it is totally, totally made up by fox news. but look, what gets me is, for example, the fact that sean hannity even talked to this guy and sean hannity says he wanted to pursue george zimmerman so george zimmerman could tell his side of the story. his side of the story is he shot and killed an unarmed 17-year-old who was 100 yards from his father's girlfriend's house. end of story! no threat. no reason to shoot him. no danger. he shot and killed him. end of story. lock him up! >> announcer: on your radio on

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>>this is outrageous! we've have no choice, we've lost our democracy here.

taking your e-mails on any topic at any time, this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: agree or disagree, it is always good to hear from you. thanks for joining us with your comments on twitter, on facebook and in your e-mails. we mentioned ozzy guillen getting suspended for five games because they said he had some

affection -- admired fidel castro. i think it was a stupid move but bill wants me to know the miami marlins knew $500 million ballpark is in the middle of miami's little havana. as you probably know, castro is loathed by the hundreds of thousands of cubans in south florida. of course i know that. they've been running u.s. foreign policy for the last 60 years. bill says the suspension of ozzy guillen has not a political decision but it was a business decision. yeah, i think you're absolutely right. they suspended him because they were afraid that too many cuban-americans would be pissed off and not buy tickets to see the marlins. i don't think that's necessarily true. i don't think young cuban-americans give a rat's you know what about fidel castro anymore. time for the cuban-americans to grow up. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

>> bill: hey, good morning! it is wednesday, april 11. good to see you today. welcome. welcome to the "full court press." the "bill press show." your new morning show here on current tv. i'm bill press, liberal and proud of it! good to have you with us this morning with lots going on and we'll bring you all the latest and here's the latest in the trayvon martin case down in florida. have you heard? george zimmerman's two attorneys, both of them have dropped out of the case. they're no longer going to represent him. you know they're not dropping out because they think he's too nice a guy.

they're not dropping out because they think he's got such a strong case. they're dropping out because they've looked into this case and they know they can't win it. they know he is guilty as sin! so, there you go. just one of the things we'll be talking about this morning. but first, we jump out to los angeles and get the latest current tv news update from jacki schechner. hey, jacki. hey, bill, good morning everyone. president obama is back in d.c. and still stumping for the buffett rule. apparently it is bring your secretary to a speech day because deputy press secretary josh ernest tweets out the audience at the white house is going to be filled with millionaires who support tax fairness and their secretaries. as the president hones in on taxes and the economy, a new poll out by abc news and "washington post" has healthcare reform at an all-time low with popularity at 39%. the supreme court hearings on the constitutionality of the law didn't help with its popularity and half the public thinks the

supreme court justices are going to be partial and partisan in their rulings. but on healthcare as an issue, obama still holds stronger by romney by 10 points. it is important to know when we look at the polls when people are asked about individual components of the law like not reare jecting people for pre-existing conditions, those individual pieces are more popular than the law in its entirety. secretary of state hillary clinton gave a speech last night at the u.s. naval academy and she was asked a question about the moments leading up to osama bin laden's death. we've all seen the now iconic photo of the president clinton and others watching the mission unfold. abc reports that clinton told the audience of future officers that "no one could breathe for 30 to 35 minutes." she also spoke of the pride she felt watching the spontaneous gathering of young people outside the white house when president obama announced that obama had been killed. join us in chat, online, current.com/bill press. we'll be right back after this break.

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as i understand it in radio they can't see you, so this is big for me. >>tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's new morning news block. >>it's completely inappropriate for television. >>sharp tongue, quick wit and about all, politically direct. >>politically direct to me means no bs, the real thing, cutting through the clutter.

my show is the most important show in the world. >> bill: i'm outta here before i lose pennsylvania bad is what it was all about. i want to run again in 2016 and i don't want to lose my home state. good morning everybody. what do you say? it is wednesday, april 11. this is the "full court press". otherwise known as the "bill press show" coming to you live all the way across this great land of ours from our radio studio and tv studio and book

factory here, all combined, multimedia center on capitol hill in washington, d.c. great to see you today. thank you for joining us. as we tackle the big stories of the day. and take your calls. there is always room for you at the table here in the "full court press." join the conversation any time by giving us a call at 866-55-press. there's so much to talk about today. the trayvon martin case the latest with george zimmerman's attorneys dropping out. we've got the decision by the miami marlins to suspend manager ozzy guillen for his comments about fidel castro and president obama on the road pushing the buffett rule. lots of political talk going on and we're going to start this hour talking about a very interesting book called the republican brain. see, didn't know they had one did you? so, lots to cover. let's get right to it. we have team press here. peter ogborn and dan henning.

joining us in studio, very pleased to welcome chris mooney who wrote a very important book. we talked about his first book called the republican war on science. hi, chris, good to see you again. >> hi. >> bill: following up with the republican brain. the science of why they deny science and reality. they deny them both, right? >> indeed so. >> bill: good to have you with us. we have lots to talk about. i mention president obama on the road yesterday. he was in florida at atlantic university in between some different campaign events, giving a strong, strong pitch on this whole issue of the buffett rule and as it applies to dos something about income inequality in this country. >> this is not just another run of the mill gabfest in washington. this is the defining issue of our time. this is a make-or-break moment for the middle class. >> bill: it is. i think the defining

certainly -- certainly one of the defining issues of our time. the president is on it. and it is more interesting for him to run on this issue i think when you have -- as his opponent, mitt romney who is the poster child of the affluent and the person who can't tell you -- doesn't open up his mouth without telling you how many friends he has who own nfl teams and yesterday, talking about all of the horses he and his wife own and the expensive horses that they own in addition to the cadillacs. i'm telling you. we've got a great line-up today. starting off this hour with chris mooney. we're joined by ken hall who is an official with the teamsters talking about the buffett rule. karl frisch, our good friend from bullfight strategies will be in studio as a friend of bill. very honored to welcome a member of the president's cabinet labor secretary hilda solis in to talk about jobs in the next

hour. but fist, dan. >> announcer: this is the "full court press." >> quick check of the weather headlines. big story. the ones that really matter. i'm a hard core journalist. cast changes coming to "saturday night live." kristin wiig made it clear on alec baldwin's new york-based radio program yesterday she's likely leaving the nbc program when her contract expires at the end of this season. she's been with the show for seven years. "us weekly" also reported that andy samburg who of course played rick santorum on the program and jason sued ache is will be exiting the comdy show. >> bill: they won't need the rick santorum character. >> golf fan is out on bond after getting arrested at the masters this past sunday. >> was it a woman who showed up? >> bill: it was a man in drag. >> clayton price baker slipped under the rope line at the end of the final round of the golf tournament and he tried stealing sand out of a sand trap on the course at augusta national in

his beer cup. he was caught after a brief foot chase across the course. he was arrested. "golf week" reports the suspect had been drinking heavily. >> bill: what? no! shocking. a beer cup of sand? augusta is going to miss it? >> head to france on vacation and be prepared to deal with rude people. the country tops a new sky scanner survey of the world's rudest country. russia is number two on the list. >> bill: it is just paris, it is not all of france. >> it is all of france. >> bill: i know france. >> france, germany and china. brazil is 34th on the list being the least rude destination ahead of the caribbean and the philippines. >> where is the united states? >> not in the best five or the worst five. somewhere in the middle. >> bill: really? we're not that rude? >> not that rude. >> bill: it depends. >> depends on where you go.

>> new york city? >> bill: i think it would be up there with pair is. i don't know. >> rudest travelers in other countries, we would have that locked up. when we travel to other countries, we're pretty rude. >> bill: speak for yourself. so, the book is the republican brain. chris, i'm fascinated by this. i haven't had a chance to read the whole thing. i've been reading various parts of it since i got it. my first question is we know there are these -- and again the subtitle is the science of why they republicans deny science and reality. and there are a lot of republicans, conservatives conservatives who deny global warming. so, my question is why? is it because they're just not intelligent? is it because they're bought and sold by oil companies? or is it because obama's for it, they have to be against it? >> the last, i think is the most important. it isn't about intelligence.

what the data show is the more educated you are as a conservative today which is maybe a proxy for intelligence or the more you're paying attention to the issues, the more you deny reality on global warming. that's the relationship between knowledge and acceptance of fact. >> bill: you would think it would be the opposite. >> right. so, something else is going on here. we have to try to understand the brain. the psychology of republicans. >> bill: what else is going on here? you think republicans -- conservatives, there is a brain defect? >> it is not a defect. humanity is made up of liberalism and conservatism. it seems to be a recurring feature. research suggests left and right persists across countries and it is rooted in psychological traits. it is very normal we would have these kind of divides but the traits that go along withtism being loyal being patriotic can lead to being fixed in your beliefs. sometimes too open-minded.

these are psychological traits that underlie. >> bill: i've never been sure what the best definition of a liberal is. but one that i -- i forget who said it now, said a liberal is somebody with an open mind. open heart. open hand even. easy hit on the street for a homeless person or something. but open mind does seem to define what a liberal is all about. and you're saying that that's almost inbred or you're born with it? you get your strength? >> there's research on the genetics of politics. i spend about four pages on it but it is fascinating. it suggests that about 40% of the variance in left, right might be traceable to genes and they do this by studying identical twins and fraternal twins and the identical are closer in their political outlooks when you study a large

group of twins. it turns out policy itics is a great trait that's partly genetic. then there's 60% that everything else that happens in your life is being accounted for there. so, you know, we have to be cautious. there is some basis for thinking politics is nature. >> bill: the subhead of your book intrigues me. the science. this is not just your theory. this is based on scientific study, research? >> bill, i'm a science journalist and a political journalist, kind of a hybrid. what i did was i interviewed the psychologists mainly but also researchers who are doing cognitive neuroscience, physiology of politics, i interviewed people working in all of these fields. psychologists the most. what's amazing is how much science there is on ideology. how much science there is on why we go left, why we go right and how much we completely ignore it.

so, i was -- my eyes opened, the more i dug into this and i interviewed the people doing it and so i sort of synthesized everything they're finding. so, it is a series of studies, what they mean, what they don't mean. have to be careful about that as well. >> bill: well, it is fascinating to me because i've long suspected that some of my conservative friends are mentally ill. or mentally deficient. >> that's not what it means. >> bill: i want to jump to that conclusion. >> but they emphasize -- the researchers, politics is personality. we know that. that's one of the most firm findings. liberals and conservatives differ. it is a big difference between liberals and conservatives. you can measure it. it is only an average difference. you can find open conservatives but the range liberal conservative is a normal range for humanity and the same thing on all of the traits. they're not saying the conservatives are somehow off. this is not abnormal psychology.

it is normal psychology. >> bill: chris mooney is the author of "the republican brain." fascinating stuff. we often wonder why conservatives you know are so dense. why they don't see the light. how can they deny -- look at all of the evidence there is for global warming. we just had the head of the climate progress think for american -- center for american progress on in the last hour who was talking about this last march was the hottest march in recorded history. 15,000 heat records broken across this country. you look all around at the overwhelming evidence for climate change. and yet they deny the science. >> it is amazing. rick santorum with a wave of his hand dismissed over 100 years of science. this is -- i like to emphasize the science of global warming goes back to 1859, the year that darwin published the origin species and other scientist john tindel was figuring out the role

of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. >> bill: darwin is responsible for the theory of evolution. >> which is why i like to use that example. so, this is interesting. conservatives will double down and not change and it may last 100 years as it did with -- as it has. liberals, not everything they do is rational but if it will be irrational, it will be faddish. >> bill: here's the thing. they not only deny -- as you point out in the book -- they not only deny science and scientific evidence, they also deny history or they try to rewrite history. i mean -- and you've got a good -- collection of them at the beginning of the book. but for example, that we are a christian nation. we were founded -- they keep saying that over and over and over again. it is just not true. >> i think it is as open and shut as the scientific issues. historical issues are also based on evidence, consensus of

experts. >> bill: why do they hold to that? they keep saying it and they know it is not true? >> because they want to defend their heritage and history. it is important to conservatives to be part of something that's enduring but they also want that history to align with who they currently are. then all you need is a couple of experts, quote experts by the way who are willing to reaffirm this and dress it up with what sounds like scholarship and that's always easy to find in every single one of these issues. they'll have their own people they can quote and cite and that's how it goes. >> bill: i was thinking. ronald reagan, he'll say -- never, never never would ronald reagan be for raising taxes. he raised taxes seven out of eight years. i'm a californian. biggest tax cut. we played a clip of ronald reagan saying the wealthy should not pay a lower rate of tax than their secretary pays. he's for the buffett rule in 1985. republicans still deny it.

here's the book. it is called "the republican brain." chris mooney is the author. he's in the studio with us. i can't figure the conservatives out. maybe you can. chris mooney has done a pretty good job of it in the republican brain which presumes that they have one. be glad to have you join the conversation at 866-55-press. we'll be right back. lost our democracy here. >>this is outrageous! we've have no choice, we've lost our democracy here.

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the newest voice in cable news is on the new news network. >>it is an independent progressive voice and i love that. >>jennifer granholm joins current tv. a former two term governor. >>people like somebody who's got a spine. >>determined to find solutions... >>we need government to ensure that people have freedom. >>driven to find the truth... >>what's really going on? >>fearless, independent and above all, politically direct. >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show."

>> bill: ken hall is the number two man with the teamsters union in studio with us in the next segment. right now we're talking talking with chris mooney, his new book is "the republican brain." how they deny the science -- the science rather of why they deny science and reality. chris, before we get to calls here, i just want to ask you you mention a site i never heard of before that conservatives were so concerned about people not getting the truth right like from wikipedia or google that they put up their own conservative blog, got it up here now called conserve pedia. do they make stuff up or what? >> they seem to manage to be wrong a great deal there and i talk about the antieinstein entry, the theory of relativity entry. >> bill: they deny global

warming and the theory of relativity? >> what's amazing about this site, it has a large readership. what's amazing is the elaborate rationalization of why relativity is wrong. thousands of words and the guy writes equations and he writes them to disprove einstein. it is like -- uh! >> bill: people believe this crap? i don't know. >> then he cites the bible. >> bill: the bible proving the theory of relativity -- dave calling from anaheim california. hi, dave, what do you say? >> caller: hey bill. i really believe -- i'm not a big conspiracy nut or anything like that but i really think there's just this ends justify the means attitude of they just want to destroy the federal government. they think -- it is all about destroying the federal government. they can lie, whatever they have to do to attack it and it is weird because every time they

put one of the fox people in the laughlin group, it is attack, attack, attack. there is no logic or anything involved. it is fear. and it is just -- it is a one-track sort of attack mode, you know. it is -- >> bill: i appreciate the comment and the call, dave. chris? >> well, what he's getting at is i also talk about liberals and conservatives have different moralities. one of the core aspects of morality. it means this is deep-seated emotions that affect how you view issues before you're thinking about them is this idea of individualism. in other words a fair system is one in which you get ahead or fall behind based on your own merits. that's the way it should be. they view all issues through that lens. so the federal government is seen as an assault on individualistic values, it would be attacked, attacked, attacked. >> bill: shrink it to the size where you can drown it in the bathtub and i hear all of this

talk about individualism. just like they talk about free market. it is totally bogus right? there is no free market. most of these corporations don't want a free market because they want their subsidies just like the oil companies, the big subsidies. they're sucking at the public tit but then they attack government. the individuals the tea partiers out there attacking the government. don't mess with my medicare. >> we couldn't really have an individualistic system of the sort they seem to dream of but the emotion is there that leads them -- >> bill: so, chris, five or ten seconds are you saying it is just hopeless? there's no hope for all of the conservatives? >> i'm saying we can understand them better if we understand they think very differently than liberals. so, you can actually communicate better to them and the middle by being aware. >> bill: i still want to believe they're mentally ill. you don't say that. chris mooney. the book is "the republican brain."

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." as i understand it in radio they can't see you, so this is big for me. >>tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's new morning news block. >>it's completely inappropriate for television. >>sharp tongue, quick wit and about all, politically direct. >>politically direct to me means no bs, the real thing, cutting through the clutter. my show is the most important show in the world.

>> announcer: this is the "full court press." the "bill press show." live on your radio and on current tv. >> bill: happy wednesday. it is wednesday april 11. good to see you today. thank you for being part of the program here as we tackle the big issues of the day on the "full court press" at 33 minutes after the hour. coming to you live from our nation's capital. brought to you today by our good friends and sponsors, the international brotherhood of teamsters for our radio audience. we all look better thanks to the good work of the men and women of the teamsters union. i'm with president jim hoffa.

you can visit teamster.org under president jim hoffa and ken hall joins us in studio. >> it is good to see you. >> bill: thank you again for all of your support over the years for the program. let's start with the latest job numbers. secretary of labor. hilda solis is coming in the studio next hour to talk about jobs. we have the latest report on friday. 120,000 jobs in the month of march. not as much as people were expecting. what's it all mean? >> well, obviously it is disappointing to us. we wanted to see more jobs. part of the problem is what's going on in this country today is if you look at the major companies, right now, they're hoarding up a lot of money and they're not adding any jobs in the united states. many of those jobs are going overseas. i was just looking at some numbers yesterday. it looks like with wages being

down and over the past -- since 2007, during that period, we've -- went through the recession, of the s&p 500 companies, profits are up 23% but they're keeping the money rather than creating jobs. that's one of the things that's slowing down the economy. >> bill: i keep hearing that. why are they sitting on this money? have they just realized they can make more money without spending any money or without hiring? they can pocket more by spending less or what? >> well, you know, unfortunately, my belief is that to some extent, they're exploiting the recession. if you take a look at -- wages are at a 50-year low. and so companies, even though they're making these kind of profits, think about 23% profit for the s&p 500 conference.

so, if you keep people nervous and make them think with unemployment rates you're lucky to have a job, that's a way to hold the wage rates and labor cost down. it is really unfortunate because that's not how this economy grows. this economy grows by providing good-paying jobs with good benefits because afterall, it is the workers who are really stimulating the economy because they're putting money back into this economy and that's what -- of all of the ideas people have and i know the republicans want to cut out every job and they won't even now provide funding for construction work which is one of the things that's leading -- we're in a peak construction season. so, right now the republican congress won't approve deals to do road construction and infrastructure which is -- which would create a lot of jobs. it is just nonsensical. >> bill: well, they did pass a highway bill, a 90-day extension. >> yes, it was a 890-day -- a

90-day. it is crazy politics they're playing because with a 90-day extension, that makes it difficult for companies to make a long-term decision. you're going to make a decision to invest in infrastructure when you don't know what the status of that is going to be. >> bill: what struck me about that highway bill is that this is -- they always say we need more bipartisan, we need more cooperation. this is one case where the chamber of commerce and organized labor afl-cio were both together saying we've got to support -- they need this legislation because this is the time of the year when we've got all of these projects and we need to have some lead time for a lot of these projects. they together went to congress and still the republicans voted no. so, what's that say about republicans being pro business? >> well, i mean it is fine to be pro business. not at the expense of average workers. that's what's really going on here. there is another group that also

agreed. the senate. which is pretty remarkable. overwhelming passing -- >> bill: 5 votes to 74 votes. right. bipartisan by the way. >> absolutely. >> jim inhoff and barbara boxer to get those two together on any bill. ken hall is in studio with us. we'll be glad to take your calls about jobs and any of the other issues. ken hall is the general secretary treasurer of the international teamsters. some of the press recently, the teamsters going out after hostess. why? didn't hostess declare bankruptcy? >> well, actually, they're in chapter 22 which means that they filed bankruptcy twice now. they filed bankruptcy -- they filed the second time only three years after exiting bankruptcy in 2009. and what we have actually been

trying to do is to reach an agreement to allow this company to be able to come out of bankruptcy and be a profitable and on-going company. it has been incredibly frustrating because our members -- despite what the company has put out and media reports, our members have taken over $70 million per year pay cuts and that's been going on since 2008. other unions like the bakery worker's union took similar cuts so this company has enjoyed about $140 million in concessions from their workers. since 2008. and what they have done with that is essentially squandered that money. they have invested no money in research and development. they've invested no money -- or little to no money in capital expenditures and perhaps more importantly, they have invested no money in looking at new brands. because in that business, you have to change with the likes and needs of the consumers. when the consumers want something that's a more healthy product, you have to change to do that.

they haven't done that. instead, they've run this company in the ground. we continue -- we sit at the table. we've been at the table for months. we're willing to do something to help them. but it is very difficult to help a company that can't seem to find a way to help themselves. >> bill: where are they located? >> their headquarters originally was in kansas city because their three ceos, were coming out of bankruptcy, that person happened to be from texas. he moved the corporate headquarters to texas closer to him despite the fact they don't have any manufacturing plants there. yet another example of the mismanagement of this company. >> bill: if they've got all of this cash, we're talking about what -- is it hostess or what's the official -- hostess brands. if they've got all of this -- what are they doing with their money? >> one of the things they've done with their money unfortunately is given their executives huge raises. this would seem almost unbelievable to anyone in america i don't care whether union or nonunion. as much as i've heard during

this republican presidential debate about how unions are the cause of all of the problems and workers make too much money i defy anyone including -- it doesn't make sense for a company who is in bankruptcy to have just, in july, have given their top executives raises, their ceo got a raise of over 240%. eight other top executives -- >> bill: get out of here! >> 75% to 80% raises. put this in perspective. >> bill: they get these raises for driving their company in the ditch, right? >> exactly. and to be very very specific, these executives previously were paid on a bonus system. if the company does well, they get bonuses. since they've run the company in the ground, they're not going to be eligible for bonuses. what they did in july is convert that and put it into a base pay salary so that some of the

executives got $400,000 raises. some of them got $2350,000 -- $250,000. the ceo, over a million dollars. this is at a time when they had already hired restructuring lawyers. we knew they were going to bankruptcy. first of all, we're investigating whether or not they have violated federal bankruptcy laws. the one thing that's clear, this is a company that -- that's what's making this so difficult. as we sit at the table and talk about giving them more flexibility and frankly giving them concessions they're, at the same time giving these outrageous increases to their management team. now, that comes despite the fact that as they come out of bankruptcy in 2008, this company signed a document with the teamsters and other unions saying that they would -- they agreed to equality of sacrifice. very specifically saying anything given up by union members would be equally given

up by management and then they do this. it is sabotage in negotiations. >> bill: at the same time they're demanding that workers work -- employees work for less, give up some of the benefits or pay more for their healthcare and everything. they're taking these big bonuses and we're talking about hostess brands. ken hall is our guest in studio. general secretary treasurer of the teamsters union. we want to talk about the buffett rule, too. and some of the things about u.p.s. and calls. your calls welcome. join the conversation. your questions if you can -- on anything job economy-related. 866-55-press. we'll be right back. >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." now on current tv. we will not settle for easy answers. (vo) the former governor of ny

eliot spitzer, joins the new news network. >>every night we will drill down on the days top stories in search of facts that inform. >> we don't stop until we get answers that are truthful, serious, and not based on simplistic answers. >>we're here because we're independent.

the newest voice in cable news is on the new news network. >>jennifer granholm joins current tv. this former two term governor is politically direct.

>> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 13 minutes before the top of the hour. secretary of labor hilda solis in studio with us in the next hour. we're visiting here with ken hall, the general secretary treasurer newly elected to that position from the teamsters union. back to ken and your calls in just a second. first, a little word about good friends of ours here on the program offering a great service, great product. we encourage you to take advantage of. if you're looking for blinds or drapes or shutters for your home, go to blinds.com. peter and i have both done so. peter got new blinds for his home. carol and i, new drapes for our

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ken, let's say hello to paul calling from portland, oregon on the west coast. hello, paul. >> caller: good morning, bill. good morning ken. i wanted to point out the obvious here. the reason that these megacorporations and what not are not creating jobs so to speak as they're called, the job creators, it is the entire system. it is the taxation, the banking trade policy and the antilabor policies that's completely set up and there's constantly dog whistles and code language coming from congress and the market that tells the corporations keep your money in the market, you'll get a better return and we won't tax you as much if you do your duty and create jobs and secondly, i would like to ask ken what do you think the future of the teamsters and other organized labor is with respect to the occupy movement? i'm deeply involved with occupy portland. we did coordinated strike on the ports.

we aided in the eventual settlement with the ilwu and their contract with egd that was recently ratified after a two-year struggle. we're still working closely together. we're doing lots of workshops trying to bridge the gap between occupy and organize labor. i really feel like occupy has the advantage without the constraints of the taft hartley act and that unions have to abide. i was wondering what is your opinion on the future of organized labor and organized people? >> bill: excellent question, paul. thanks for your good work out there. as i recall, ken teamsters were one of the first unions to endorse the occupy movement. >> yes, that's right. it is a great question, paul. we're going to continue to be very, very aggressive in this area. i think it is incredibly important for the general public, sooner or later people are going to get the message. they're going to understand that when you have -- when you have the top 1% of the people that's bringing in over 23% of all of the money in this country and

with the -- it is incredible. you're right. the companies, the corporations are just hoarding up the money. they're not creating jobs. and that seems to be what the republican congress wants to happen right now. but that's not -- there's only one way to bring this economy back and that's to grow the economy. it is like any other -- industry. it is like any corporation, if you want to be successful, you have to grow. and so we're going to continue to press. we're going to continue to work with occupy -- we're going to continue to be aggressive in getting the message across. it is sort of like what we're going through right now with hostess. even though they are trying to destroy our members' jobs, we are not going to roll over. we're going to fight back and we're going to take them on and frankly, we'll take on the people who are very much responsible. that's the wealthy people, the hedge funds that don't care about jobs but rather care about getting their money out. so, all of those go hand in

hand. we're going to continue to be more and more aggressive in that area. >> bill: one of the areas that you've been responsible for at the teamsters not in this present position but your previous position is the working with u.p.s.ú certainly a great company and a union company, right? i don't know whether people realize that. >> they are a union company. in fact, we represent 250,000 workers at u.p.s. so they are unionized in terms of their basic delivery company. >> bill: fedex is not? >> fedex has no one organize -- except some of their pilots. so, the interesting thing is -- and again, as we hear so much about how labor costs and unions are destroying this economy the fact is you look at u.p.s. it is the largest contract in america. they are the best paid in the industry. they have the best benefits in the industry. they're paying on average

about -- a u.p.s. worker on average makes $14 to $16 more per hour more than a ned ex worker yet this company u.p.s. is wildly successful. they do very very well. so, it is very much proof that you can have a unionized company and still be profitable. >> bill: yeah. that is astounding. i think -- i hope our listeners and viewers understand that there is a choice, right? first of all u.p.s. is a damn, good service as well. u.p.s., all union and fedex not. ken hall. we didn't -- barely scratched the surface. i really appreciate you coming in this morning. my union brother. thank you for being here. keep up the good work. we'll talk to you again soon. >> thank you for the opportunity. >> bill: we'll be back. i'll tell you what the president will be up to today and then karl frisch joining us in studio in the next hour. >> announcer: on your radio, on

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