♪ ♪ >> it's thursday, thursday april 12th. good morning, everybody. welcome to the full-court press, the bill press show. i am bill press. liberal and proud of it. good to have you with us as we tackle the big stories of the day. and certainly, the big story this thursday morning is: he is finally, behind bars zimmerman, arrested in connection with the killing of 17-year-old trayvon martin. >> that's good to see justice

done in this case. >> that's step 1. step 2 has to be moving on now to repeal the stand your ground law law, the kill at will law in florida and other states. we will dive right into that here at the top of the show this morning. first, let's get all of the latest ut latest. out to the los angeles with jackie jacki schechner. >> good morning. as bill mentioned, the big story is that george zimmerman is in custody charged with second degree murder. the first hearing according to the associated press will be today at 1:30 eastern time. he will plead not guilty. his lawyer will ask that the judge grant a bond mark omera. he is asking the media and the public not to rush to judgment. >> there has obviously been a lot of information flowing. i think a lot of it has been both premature and it may be inappropriate. >> of course maybe a little late for that given all of the

attention. omera has been practicing law for 30 years and he was referred to zimmerman by other attorneys. jury selection starts today in former senator john edwards' trial. he is charged with six felony and six misdemeanor counts regarding how he handled campaign funds. he is on trial in federal court and his former mistries. ryeal hunter is expected to testify. >> president obama continues to make the case for the buffett rule which will hit the senate floor on monday. he will meet with local t.v. anchors in cedar rapids iowa, st. louis and reno in an effort to appeal to senators in that state. if you want to see what you pay in taxes compared to mitt romney's 13.9% in his 2010 tax return look at barack obama.com. the average rate that the wealthiest americans pay is 18.1% in comparison to what you might pay. we are on chat.

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no other television show does that. we're keeping it real. ♪ >> broadcasting across the nation, on your radio and on current tv, this is the bill press show. >> charged with second degree murder. george zimmerman, behind bars. angela corey lowereking the boom yesterday at 6:00 p.m. a great big thursday morning. april 12th. good to see you today. it is the full court press coming to you live from our nation's capitol. i am bill press, host of the bill press show. it's good to have you with us today. boy, there is a lot going on

florida, here in washington d.c., in north korea, around the country, around the globe. here at our nation's capitol. we bring it all to you every morning here for three hours on your local progressive radio station and on current t.v. your new morning show and so good to have you on board. we got lots to talk about and lots you want to talk about. get ready to give us a call at i 6-5577377. not just the trayvon martin case but president obama yesterday meeting with a group of patriotic millionaires. one of them actually going to be right here in studio with us today coming from the white house to our studio to tell us all about that. so again get ready to chime in at 866-7377. here with dan henning, cyprian boulding. how are you doing. >> good. pumped up.

ready to go, you know. i like big news days. >> certainly a lot of news happening. >> yes. absolutely. and i forgot the big political news of the day. the biggest political news of the day and that is president obama has got a huge endorsement last night on the colbert. nobody expected this to come so soon but she made her announcement last night. >> have you endorsed him yet? are you prepared to do that? >> i am prepared. i am endorsing my husband, barack obama. i think he will be a phenomenal president. he has done a phenomenal job. he is my man. >> he is my man. i like that. >> nobody saw this coming. >> nobody saw that coming. >> that's bigger than oprah. >> that's right. >> that's big. >> you know what i mean? >> yeah. >> good thing, man. if she hadn't endorsed him, she would have been with beau out in the doghouse. >> it sounds like a no-brainer.

there are plenty much wives who wouldn't endorse their husbands in these situations. so good for them. >> ann romney has been too busy out exercising her aust yerian warmblood. jamal simmons will be in the studio with us democratic strategist strategist, speaking out and writing about the trayvon martin case as well as with former judge katherine crier. we want her take on the case. as we mentioned, charlie, one of our millionaires to talk about the buffett rule and why maybe we should change the name of it. but first, this is the full-court press. >> on this thursday, other headlines making news, one of t.v.'s biggest kept secrets has finally, been revealed where the town of springfield is. where where the simpsons takes place,

matt granney, over 2 years tells him that homer's hometown is after springfield, oregon outside of eugene. >> springfield maine. >> a springfield ohio. >> they all had their little -- you know, they had their little fest values, simpsons fest villa thinking they could be the one. >> he watched the show "father knows best" and that took place in the same town. he liked it. also, it's near his hometown of portland. >> say what you will, though, you look high and low and you wouldn't find a shelbyville, oregon in the simpsons so i am not convinced. >> simon cowles fired paula abdul. who is in line? brittney speers is the most likely candidate according to eonline. the singer is close to signing a $15 million deal.

that would make her the highest paid reality singing duhs on t.v. jennifer om gets 12 million a season. >> unbelievable. i can't believe how much money they get for nothing jobs. pilothouse dog. >> am new style of pizza crust debuting a hot-dog stuffed crust pizza. at a time will have a mustard drizze drizle and a pizza on top of of it. >> pizza filled with a hot dog. >> the ring of crust on the outside. it's stuffed with hot dogs. >> mustard glaze on top of that. only available right now in the united kingdom. no plans as of yet to bring it to the u.s. at a time could happen if it takes off. >> we ought to unleash michelle obama on these people. >> i thought you would like

that, being a hot doc guy. >> i like hot dogs. i like pizza. i don't like to put hot dogso pizza. >> there you go. amen to that, brother. amen to that. all right. just take my hot dog with mustard and either onions or sawyer sauerkraut. a good baseball hot dog. >> you don't like a slice of pepper own e oni pizza in the so you are a normal human? >> i wouldn't go that far. >> true. >> i am telling you, it was a moment to watch yesterday, 6:00 o'clock east coast time. angela corey the special prosecutor in the trayvon martin case. she came forward with her announcement. we talked about this yesterday. she said she would have an announcements in 72 hours. several of you callers said

god, what's taking her so long? she is dragging her feet. i said yesterday i was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt if she made the right decision. well, damb it, she sure did. she showed it. i wouldn't want to go up in any court of law against this lady. man, she is one tough-ass prosecutor and she knows her law and she knows her stuff and i think anybody looking had to say she is going to be tough, but she is also going to be fair. so we have been waiting a long time for some action to be taken in this case and action was taken yesterday. here she is, as special prosecutor, angella corey announcing what she had decided to charge. >> we filed an information charging george zimmerman with murder in the second degree. >> murder in the second degree. we will talk more about that in just a moment. she announced that he was in custody somewhere in the state of florida. later that evening he was

brought to the county courthouse in seminole county florida, and charged and spent the night in jail. she recognized that one part of his defense would be the -- that he was operating within his rights under florida's stand-your-ground law. >> if stand-your-ground becomes an issue we fight it if we believe it's the right thing to do. if it becomes an issue, we will fight that affirmative defense. >> i really thought maybe her finet moment was when she said, look. this is who we are. we are law enforcement people. we are out there to fight for victims. it doesn't matter who the victim is. >> that's our charge. here is how she put it. >> those of us in law enforcement are committed to justice for every race every gender, every person of any persuasion whatsoever. they are our victims. we only know one category of, as prosecutor is says v for

victims. >> that's the way has to be. lots of questions. did she take too long? did she go too far? did she not go far enough? and what happens next? 866-55-press. 866-55-77, 377. my only sdpoement was that she didn't criticize the sanford police department. she just kept saying: look they were doing their investigation. we came in and took advantage of the work. i thought she should have said i wouldn't be here if they had done their job. law enforcement fraternity. she wasn't going to do that. it's importantly for us to understand, this was not a first degree murder charge no matter what we think about george zimmerman. we have to realize he did not know trayvon martin. he did not the think ahead of time: i am going to kill trayvon martin. he did not go into that garden with his gun with the in tension of killing trayvon martin. i think we can say that. on the other hand, a lot of

people thought he should have been charged with manslaughter. he went in there. a scuffle ensued, and he got in a fight t and he pulled out his gun to defend himself. that would have been the lesser charge. well, of course, the least charge wol have been to let him walk which is what the sanford police department did but that wasn't going to happen. it could have been first degree. at a time continue have been first degree. might have been manslaughter. she chose the one in between, which is a tough test. second degree murder. second degree numbered means the minimum, the minimum punishment is 25 years. the maximum is life. and here is what they have to prove. they have to prove -- here is the key phrase. that that the death was caused by a criminal act, quote, from the law, demonstrating a depraved mind without regard for human life. >> that's what you have got to prove to the judge and to the jury, that that was the case

with george zimmerman. and she chose to go there and she said yesterday -- and this is important. she said, yesterday, we would for the file these charges -- i'm paraphrasing but she said they would not chargefile the charges unless they were convinced that they could get a conviction unless they felt the evidence was there. so she has been into this case. they have taken their time. they know what evidence they have got. a lot more than we know ballpark this case and she's convinced that george zimmerman is guilty of and she can convict him of second degree murder and put him away for life. meanwhile, meanwhile, george zimmerman has a new attorney. remember his other two attorneys quit because he was acting so crazy. he has a very well known defense attorney by the fame of mark omara who came out yesterday. he has got a right to defend this guy and george zimmerman certainly has every right to make his case and to have a good strong defense lawyer for mark

omara want us to feel how sorry we ought to feel, wants us to feel sorry for george zimmerman. and here is how tough it is he said, for george zimmerman. imagine this. listen carefully. >> it must be frightening to not be able to go into a 7-11 store and literally to be in effect a prisoner. so that would trouble all of us. i am sure he is wearing some of the, you know, the fallout from that. >> i must admit i was stunned when i heard that for the first time. can you believe this will guy? he wants us to feel sorry for george zimmerman and recognize how tough it is for george zimmerman that he canted walk knack 7-eleven without being recognized. un-freaking-believable. how about this, mr. omera? how about how tough it is not to be able to walk into a 7-eleven without getting shot and killed?

how about this mr. omara: how tough it is, do you think, never to be able to walk intoxa 7-eleven ever again because you are dead? how tough is that? honest to god. what an idiot. but you know what? justice will be done in this case now. an arrest has been made. the family says that's what they wanted. they are happy with that decision. i think we all the should be happy with that decision, trust that the right decision will be made. >> that's not enough. now, we have got to move on and we have got to move on to challenge this stand-your-ground law at the same time and make sure this doesn't happen again and get rid of that kill-at-will law down in the state of florida. and one final clip here and women take your calls at 855-55-press. john soltz was in a program in new york. great guy. we have had him on the show many

times. he pointed out that people in florida have more leeway in using their guns under the so-called stand-your-ground law than our troops do in iraq. and he is a veteran of two tours of duty. >> there is no shoot-first law in our troops in afghanistan. we cannot hit somebody because they have a hijaba on. everybody in iraq has a weapon and all u.s. forces are scared. this is not a legal defendants. it's not even close. >> not even close. so, man, did angela corey do the right thing? why should citizens in florida under the stand your ground law have more right to use their gun than our troops in iraq and afghanistan? 866-55-press. full-court press on this thursday, april 12th. let's go. >> radio meets television: the bill press show now on current tv. ♪

it's completely inappropriate for television.

♪ >> this is the full court press, the bill press show, live on your radio and on current tv. >> at 25 after the hour special prosecutor, angela corey filing second degree murder charges against george zimmerman. all eyes on the stand your ground law. remember, law enforcement officials, police officers police chiefs across florida oppose this law. this law was written by the koch brothers and the american legislative exchange council and pushed through the florida council by the nra over the objections of police officers who didn't want to have

wildvillewild vigilantes like george zimmerman shooting anybody they saw and didn't like in self defense. what about this? jim in cleveland, ohio. hey, jim. what do you say. >> hey how are you doing? >> good morning. >> i want to prevface this by saying i don't think trayvon martin is guilty in any way, shape, or form. >> all right. >> okay. safe start. go ahead. >> let's just look at the possibility. i think that trayvon reacted the way that any guy would. he thifrningdz he is being followed by somebodynks he is being followed by somebody. and let's assume what zimmerman said is true. he is walking and trayvon martin comes out of nowhere and punches him. i personally would have done the same thing. >> first of all, i have heard how do you know what zimmerman has said? >> that's what they have been talking about on the news like

non-stop. >> but have we heard zimmerman at all? have we seen him at all? so you have heard third or fourth hand what maybe zimmerman told somebody and then they told somebody else. you know what i mean? i think you are a little slippery slope here, jim. >> i am just basing it on what they have been saying from police reports and everything else. >> what about the fact that -- what about the fact that the police told zimmerman not to get out of his car and not to pursue him? >> here is the thing. i think that zimmerman made horrific mistakes. i am not saying that he is innocent in any way, shape, or form. >> so what's your point? >> however, the point is, is that wouldn't they both actually have thought that they were in a matter of life and death through this? >> you know what jim? >> why we have a trial. between a bag of skittles and a

9 millimeter gun, yeah, give me a freaking break. kimberlin is calling from las vegas, nevada. >> hi, mr. press. >> bill. bill. bill. >> hi, mr. bill. i was taught by a southern alabama grandmother, give respect. i am a first-time caller. i must say to you, god bless you, sir, for the coverage you have given this horrible tragedy mr. press. >>. >> i think it deserves it t trayvon deserves it. thank you. >> if i could have a few moments. >> quickly. >> i have truly cried for america since the break of this tragic story. it is very disheartening to know that here in 2012, we are dealing with the division over the death of a child. >> kimberlin you could not have said it morel quently. i hate to can youut you off. we are right up against the clock. thank you so much.

thank you for being with us every morning. >> this is the bill press show. the ted conference held here every year in southern california is an event designed to bring the brightest minds in the world together to share their most powerful, influential and creative ideas. the speakers share a common goal, making the world a better, smarter place through innovation, technology and the power of big ideas. peter diamendes is the co-founder of the singularity university, an academic institution which strives to address one issue. computers are getting really smart really quickly. so, what are us flesh and blood types going to do about it? human brains haven't

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♪ >> listen and watch the bill press on your favorite radio station and now on current t.v. this is the bill press show. welcome to the spin room. >> it's a business beautiful thursday april 12th. 33 minutes after the hour, we are taking your calls on the charge of second-degree murder yesterday in the trayvon martin case. george zimmerman in jail charged. he is expected to plead not guilty today. did angela corey do the right thing?

did she go far enough? what about the stand-your-ground law? 866-55-press. first, into the spin room, we go. yesterday, on this case sean hannity. remember sean hannity on fox news talked to george zimmerman, a man he says they are pretty sure was george zimmerman who called him and hannity seems to be turning himself inside out to find a way that he can identify with george zimmerman and say, you know, this guy, you know, maybe -- maybe we are just jumping to go conclusions here last night, he even says on the t.v. show that he thinks that angela coriey might have gone too far. >>ey might have gone too far. >> >>. here we are at this point. they did the investigation. a lot of attorneys that i have spoken to say they overcharged. >> overcharged? they killed this 17-year-old kid

for no reason whatsoever claiming he did it in self defense. overcharged. the big question is: why does hannity feel compelled to defend george zimmerman 8-55-press but there is a lot of other stuff going on. i want to take time out now for something that we have been following closely, also following closely here on the bill press show. and then we will get back to your calls. and that is what happened up in maryland with the big mega millions last week when one woman came forward and said she was the win we are. it turned out she wasn't. and the real winners came forward later. he von wanger has been covering this story for the baltimore sun. hi yvonne. >> thank you for having me. >> thank you for being up early for us this morning. so they called themselves the three amygos.

who are they? >> we don't know. state law of maryland allows them to remain anonymous. >> come on. you know. >> no. we have been -- we have been trying to find out. they are 3 educators in the maryland public school system. so far, their secret hasn't gotten out. >> i understand. so they all work. are they teachers? >> two are teachers. one is special ed, and the other teaches elementary school. the third is a school administrator. >> and one's are they like friends and the same age? do we know that much about them? do they work in the same school? >> they don't work in the same school. and they are different ages. the winners are a woman in her 20s, a man in his 40s, and a woman in her 50s. >> wow. >> and we are told that they, you know, have a friendship from their professional career but

beyond that, we don't know much else. >> how much money did they -- they pooled their tickets? right? i mean, they all went in? right? bought their tickets together? >> right. >> how many tickets did they buy? >> they bought 60 tickets, and they each decided today take the lump sum payment, which means they will have $35 million wired to their bank accounts within the next week and a half. >> how long do you think before we will know their identity? >> i don't know. we've all been to high school. you know how people talk. i am hoping it won't be too long. >> yeah, it seems to me that at some point, it's got to leak out. but tell me again. you started out by saying under maryland law, they could remain anonymous? >> yeah. apparently, maryland is in the minority nationwide with a law that allows the winners to remain anonymous. i talked to a lawyer in ohio who

gives seminars about coaching lottery winners. and he said -- >> a whole industry. >> he encourages lawyers to, you know, relay to their clients. and one of them is the miranda rights for lottery winners. you have the right to remain silent and we think you should. >> i guess they feel if they remain silent, then they are not going to be badgerred by every charity on the face of the earth or everys by every charity on the face of the earth or every. >> there was one winner in maryland that the last i guess, 10 jackpot winning prizes. his name is bunky bartlett and he is an interesting character but, you know, he talked to our paper recently and gave some advice to the new winners encouraging them to remain anonymous. he says that he's got, you know,

a big heart and he gave a lot of his money away. he won about $33 million in 2007 and he's only got about 15 million left. >> i mean first of all you can't feel sorry for him. he has 15 million left. but still. what a dummy. if he had invested it he could have 50 or 60 or something right now. so you think they are going to -- at least at this point. final question: what are they going to do? what are they saying? is this it? we are never going to see them again in the schoolroom or retire and enjoy their money or what? >> yeah. according to the lottery officials, these winners said that they went back to work this week. it was spring break last week. >> they went back to work this week? >> apparently so. and, you know, their dreams are pretty modest so far. one of the winners the woman in her 20s -- well actually i am

not sure which is which, because they wouldn't disclose that. one of the winners said she wanted to go backpacking with her brother through europe. a second said he wanted to pay for his daughter's college education and buy his sister a house. and the third is interested in touring italy's wine country. >> you know what? god bless them. god bless them. i love to see just good average americans, working-class americans win that kind of money. he e /* yvonne bring us up to date. >> thank you. >> three miamied winners. boy. and they are back to work. >> maryland. >> i was impressed with angela corey. i think she knows what she is doing. she said she didn't bow to public pressure. it wasn't public pressure. it wasn't the national media

attention. she looked at the facts and the facts convinced her she had a case to charge george zimmerman with second-degree murder. jim is calling from nashville, tens. did she do the right thing, jim? >> absolutely. angela corey, she is tough-- she is my girl. if i was george zimmerman, i would not want to have to face this woman. >> i couldn't agree more. >> can i say one more thing? >> sure. >> it is so great i can sit here in my chair and watch you and not have to listen to joe scarborough and talk over the guests every morning. >> jim, that's why we are there for you. thank you for being there with all of us. and it's great fun. sure, everybody needs an alternative. you need an option. and now you got it in the morning.

tell your friends. >> in north carolina, what do you say. >> i got home and i was able to see the bill press show. >> how about it? >> wait a minute, you are not in your truck? you are not in your truck now? >> no. i would like to have some kind of satellite to see you on t.v. in my truck. >> i don't want you to turn your t.v. on your truck. it may be dangerous. >> only thing comes to my mind right now is what they say in the avatar movie: i see you. >> we talked about this case earlier. this is a good step hum? >> i mean this is the greatest thing to happen since the 45 days since that kid has been shot down, murdered in the streets of florida. what happened is that the lady angela. >> angela corey? >> she did a tremendous job. her whole speech i was sitting on the edge of my couch watching that thing and i said, thank you, lord, when she said

"second-degree murder." i said law is being performed in this country right here. it's no longer out of control. it wasn't for the fact that people is outraged nationwide white, black, yellow, everybody was outraged and this lady comes to the front. >> you know, you have to understand, i guess there will be a jury in this case. i mean the jury could find, you know, that the state didn't present a strong enough case. this guy could still get off. but at least it's not a case where the police just looked the other way and don't even charge him. all right? all we wanted in this caves for him to be charged and brought to time and let a judge or a jury decide. >> i liked what trayvon's mother said yesterday, thank god. thank jesus. justice is moving. you have a great day in this. >> thank you, arnold thank you for joining us from your couch in north carolina. more calls about the trayvon

martin case. angela corey, she is going to be the lead prosecutor. she says she has enough evidence. minimum, to 5 years. max: life in prison for george zimmerman. 866-55-press. more of your calls coming up. >> this is the bill press show. ♪ >> 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.

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i think it's brilliant. me and stephanie miller in the morning what a way to start the day. ♪ >> drink the latest from the world of politics. this is bill press show. >> president obama, thirteen minutes before the top of the hour, thursday april 12th, president obama talked about the

buffett rule yesterday down at the whitehouse and he had about 25 patriotic millionaires, millionaires who say, we are ready and we believe we should pay a higher rate in taxes. he had them with him in the south court auditorium, executive building. one of those, charlie fink will be here in studio with us at the top of the next hour to talk about buffett rule. now, we will continue to take your calls on the trayvon martin case and the charges yesterday filed by special prosecutor angela corey second-degree murder. i will get balk to your calls. first, if you are in the market and looking around for blinds drapes, shudders or shades and looking around your house and say, hey, it's time we upgraded and do something about a window treatment and all of the entire house or at least one room of the house, you have heard me talk about blinds.com, the place to go. peter okaygburn got new shudders.

>> new blinds. >> new blinds for their house. carol and i have been getting drapes for our home here on capitol hill. here is someone else who was very pleased with what she discovered. her name is terri e-mails: i first heard about blinds.com on the radio and thought, why not check them out myself online. from the best prices to the next-day delivery and quality of the product, it was all great. in these days of declining customer service, high prices and low expectations blinds.com was a refreshing experience. it was for terri. it was for peter. it was for me. encourage you to do the same. check them out at blinds.com. best recess and the best selection you can find anywhere. >> that's blinds.com blinds.com. >> there should be a hearing today in seminole county florida where george zimmerman is expected to plead not guilty and

at some point in a few weeks, perhaps there will be what they call an arthur hearing in florida where and he can ask -- his attorney will ask the judge to allow him to post a bond and get out of jail action pending a trial. that hearing, the arthur hearing, is expected to be the first time that we really see what evidence the state of florida has that we haven't heard yet, what evidence that they will present to the judge showing that this was indeed second-degree murder and why the man, george zimmerman, should not be allowed to walk free again pending a trial. but right now, he's in jail. he's charged with second-degree murder. trayvon martin's parents are saying, we got what we wanted which was an arrest in this case. here is paul out in colorado. hey, paul, what do you say? >> hey. i just wanted to clarify for the masses: i am a service member and -- >> yeah. >> i have been on the ground in both iraq and afghanistan, and i

am a ground pounder myself, just to clarify some of the issues and how it relates to the stand-your-ground law. if for any reasoning without a reasonable doubt we feel that we are in danger we can engage. it has to be an imminent threat and en engagement afterwards is investigated. >> i have heard, paul -- i have heard that you have to fire in the air first just to kind of warn them that, you know, you mean business. >> in a lot of situations as of recent -- you can't even fire into the air because bullets do drop eventually. so they don't want just someone to get hurt or killed as a result of what they call a warning shot. it's not a free ticket to kill, but if i do feel threatened for any situation, i can engation. >> do you know -- go ahead. >> it's completely different. i mean i know down in florida there is a big difference,

especially -- i want to say nationwide, the difference between a service member and an average sits is that we are trade to deal with threats. the government could in fact self-threaten. he could have engaged and the other flip side, he might have freaked out because of adrenaline adrenaline. >> the other think, paul, is neighborhood watch people are not supposed to have weapons and they are told not to carry a weapon because it's not their job. he did. and tests also told not to get out of the car. and he did. by the way, we are going to have john stults in the studio as soon as we can and we will have him give a lot more information about what rules apply to the military even in iraq and afghanistan and what rules apply on the stand-your-ground law. harriet is calling from the eye of the storm jacksonville, florida. >> hi, bill. how are you doing? >> good. >> thank you for bringing this show to t.v. so we don't have to

watch joe scarborough. >> okay. morning bill instead of morning joe. >> that's it. >> good to have you with us. you are right down there. you saw angela corey yesterday. what do you think? >> i sure did. i was so impressed and so proud. i think florida has been the laughing stock of the current tree for a long time for more than one reason. >> yeah. >> i think finally, the nation has seen not all of us are crazy and stupid and rednecks. we do have some intelligent, sensible people that may do the right thing. we may be looking at our next governor. >> you know what? >> so funny. i thought about that when i was watching her. i don't know her politics. she's probably a republican being from law enforcement. yes even know that. but when i watched her i just thought she handled herself very well. i thought she was very, very fair. i trusted her, and she was not

showboating. she said this is what the law is. we follow the facts, not public opinion. harry, i think you are right. this sort of restored the reputation of florida, at least for a while. thanks for the call, harriet. >> on your radio, on t.v. the bill press show. now, on current tv. ♪

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. ♪ >> taking your e-mails on any topic at any time. this is the bill press show, live on your radio and current tv. >> one of the patriotic

millionaires intude yes at the top of the next hour. this interesting e-mail i find from sue cook that says i heard the representative from the people for america on your show talking about alec, and she said i jotted down the web address for people for the american way and it turned out that they are a right-wing tea party organization. she says, please don't do this to us. sue, you are dead wrong. i don't know what you jotted down, but the website i gave is pf aw dorg, people for the american way.org. started by norman lear. they have been around maybe 10 or 15 years, people for the american way pfaw.org. i don't know how you got into some tea party organization. let me tell you, you can trust bill press never to give you a tea party group. >> this is the bill press show.

a ♪ >> thursday, april 12th. good morning, everybody. good to see you today. welcome to the full-court press, your new morning show on current tv. so good to be with you. i am bill press, liberal and proud of you, bringing you the big stories of the day and certainly, the number one story of the day we'll be focusing on is second-degree murder charges filed in florida against george zimmerman who spent last night in jail. and get this: zimmerman now has a new lawyer who told us yesterday that we ought to fill sorry for george zimmerman gauze the poor guy can't even walk

into a 7-eleven without being recognized these days. oh, yeah. who is he kidding? how about you could walk into a 7-11 without being shot? or how about a kid who will never walk into a 7-11 ever, ever, ever again because he is dead? i mean maybe george zimmerman ought to get a new lawyer or his lawyer should just shut up. let's talk about that and a lot more. but first, out to los angeles and get the latest with this current tv news update from jacki schechner. >> good morning, bill. good morning, everyone. former rick >> lauren sanders: andsan -- now rick santorum and foster frees, he wondered allowed on fox business news if president obama's tell prompteders are bullet proof, now that they, romney and santorum have trained their bar elides on president obama, i think his tell prompters are bullet proof. he said he regretted the statement immediately after making it. however, you may remember, he is the same guy who thinks good

birth control for women is putting an aspirin between they their in these. mitt romney is down 19 points but now he is trying to turn women against president obama payment claiming they have lost 92% of jobs under the current professional. po lit i politifacts says it's too soon for any of obamaoosoos policies to have taken place. the reason women did was that men lost most of the jobs and women were following suit. connecticut will abolish the death penalty. the state house has done the same. the governor says he will sign the bill. it will be four states that have done away with capital punishment in the last five years. we are in chat current.com/bill

press. join us.

as i understand it in radio they can't see you, 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. ♪ >> broadcasting across the nation, on your radio, and on current tv. this is the bill press show. >> what do you say on this thursday, april 12th? good morning, everybody. good to see you today. welcome. welcome to this thursday edition of the full-court press, the bill press show coming to you live from our nation's capitol where we cover the big stories of the day here in washington def d.c., around the country and around the globe. there is a lot going on. charges against george zimmerman filed yesterday by the special prosecutor in florida, second degree murder. he is expected to be in court

today and plead "not guilty." we are waiting for the launch of that rocket which north korea insists is just a weather satellite and, also, here in washington, d.c., president obama making the case again yesterday for the buffett rule. we'll cover all of those issues and a whole lot more. issues you will want to weigh in on, ask questions about, give your comments about and you can do so at 866-55-press, in our round-table discussion of the issues we always save a seat for you at the table. 866-55-press. we welcome proudly a good friend of the program, back in the studio. one of the patriotic millionaires, so-called, who was there with president obama yesterday at the whitehouse charlie fink from virginia. thank you for having me again. can't wait to hear about yesterday's event and what the message was and what the next -- what the next steps are.

you guys had a good day yesterday with the president? >> i got to meet the president. that was as we were discussing a very exciting moment for me. he is, you know, whatever you feel about current events president obama is, you know, a great man and a transformative figure, you know, and, you know, a giant of our time. >> yeah. now, absolutely. at good guy, you know. >> yeah. i mean he is super friendly. >> so is our team here, super friendly. >> 0, shut up. >> how is that for friendly. >> chipper at 7:00 a.m. >> the super-friendly peter ogburn, dan henning and cyprian boulding. good to see you guys this morning. we will get right into the buffett rule with charlie fink katherine cryer, former t.v. host on cnbc, good friend going to join us next hour to give her legal opinion on the trayvon martin case. jamal simmons, we will look at it with him, from a democratic

strategist from a political and public relations point of view as well. but first, the big stories of the day, headlines making news on this thursday married with children is coming back to television. >> oh, my favorite show. >> i miss it. >> but only for one night. >> oh, know. >> fox celebrating the 25th anniversary on april would 2 march 2nd, along with airing an anniversary special with all of its shows, the network will air in its entirety the pilot episode of "married with children" 7:00 o'clock saturday evening, the one that aired odd april 5th, 1987. >> what date is that? >> april 22nd. >> what date? >> april 22nd. >> you know, i believe it's a saturday night. they are doing a big anniversary special which starts at 8:00

o'clock. at 7:00 o'clock, they are going to array full half hour episode. >> that's not the white house correspondent dinner. >> the next week. >> so you won't miss the "married with children". >> good thing because i would stay home and watch "married with children" rather than go to the white house correspondents' dinner. >> they will be part of the special after. >> got it. >> the soup nazi the famous seen where jason alexander's character gets kicked out for not following the rules. now he is allowed back in the actor signing a deal a new spokesperson for the man who inspired that and he is proud to say, "soup for you" instead of "no soup for you". >> all comes around. >> the crews ship that is

retracing the titanic's exact voyage. >> hope not too authentic. >> has not had the smoothestly journey so far. no icebergs but the trip has been delayed twice. once a few days ago because of high winds and yesterday, u.s.a. today reports it had to turn back after leaving ire land because of a sick passenger. the boat is planning to cross the atlantic at the exact point where the titanic hit the iceberg and will hopefully end up in new york city. >> tempting fate. >> it seems like this is an ill-fated voyage. the signs are bad. i read in "the new york times" yesterday, the three most written about topics in history: jesus christ the civil war, and the titanic. >> wow. >> amazing. >> people just can't let go of

the titanic. whatever. >> that's interesting. >> thank you dan. >> unsinkable. >> right. charlie, yesterday, at the white houses, president obama gathering with you and some of your fellow patriotic millionaires, what was the message? >> the president was talking about the upcoming cloture vote in the senate to allow the quote/unquote buffett rule which puts a, you know, floor on encloses for individuals making over a million dollars. so it's an amt. if you are making a million dollars, you have to pay 30%, no matter where the million dollar came from. >> is that fair? 30%? >> well 30% as opposed to, for example, mitt romney paying 14% yeah. i think that's more fair. >> uh-huh. >> what are people paying today? >> well, if an individual or family gets most of it's income through dividend income and capital gains, they would be paying 15%. >> so how did you -- so what you are saying as i understand it,

is, yeah, we are in that category. we are in that 1%, and we think we ought to pay more and are we are willing to pay more. >> we want to pay our fair share. i think most americans would agree and i think the focus of the president's speech was fairness. i think that will be the defining issue of the upcoming campaign. >> and he had with him on stage four of you were on stage. >> there are actually eight of them with their assistants, their secretaries. >> yeah. and they are like -- are they like warren buffett? >> the secretaries get regular income and the millionaires get capital gains, therefore, pay a much lower rate. >> i saw, i forgot his name last night, one of them on abc news i think it was with his assistant. and she said she was shocked when she discovered she was paying like 28 or 30 and he is paying paying, like 14. >> even though he is paying $140,000 because he makes a million bucks. so the number is greater. but, of course, he makes 10 times more money.

so, you know to those to whom much has been given, much is expected. and i think one of the things that, you know, we are going to have to fight for and debate in this upcoming election is the whole no, sir of progressitivt which liberals have viewed as settled for almost 100 years. i guess we will rediscuss it. he have did he have progressive progressiveprogressive. >> you mentioned this is cloture vote. >> yeah. >> so we may not get a vote on the measure. we may get a vote on whether or not to vote on it. >> right. >> that's what cloture is all about. >> the patriotic letters have written a letter to mitch mcconnell? >> begging him to bring this measure to the floor and let the american people how their representatives vote, up or down. >> right. now, republicans are saying calling this -- this is just a gimmick. this is a political gimmick to he embar as them and put them on

the spot. >> well, they should be embarrassed. cutting taxes during a time of war is treasonous and that's flat out wrong for not only our veterans but all of the working people in the united states to sacrifice more so that we can sacrifice less. it's just wrong. >> and you say they should be embarrassed. >> right. >> because they don't want to have to be on the record. >> of course. right. because they really -- i mean the wealthy in this country she had be stepping forward. you know, it's our patriotic duty to see that our country stays on its -- you know, on the correct path and offer opportunity and fairness and justice. we were talking about george zimmerman a little while ago and the issue here is fairness and justice. the guy may be innocent and let him have his day in court and let the buffett rule have its day on the senate floor. >> there is an analogy there. charlie fink one of our

patriotic millionaires an organization of wealthy men and women who call themselves the patriotic millionaires meeting with president obama yesterday and supporting the buffett rule. interest ping, charlie that the president also said that he pointed out -- i guess the other republican argument is no, no. this is the equivalent of raising taxes and republicans never, never, never raise taxes in the spirit of ronald reagan. now, here is the clip that think progress discovered from 1985, president reagan at the whitehouse: >> just a moment ago, a few moments ago, i told some people inside the building here of a letter that i just received day before yesterday. it's a letter from a man out here in the country, an executive who is earning in six figures, well above $100,000 a year. he wrote me in support of the tax plan because he said

illegally able to take advantage of the prevent tax code. nothing dishonest. doing what the law prescribes and wind up paying a smaller salary than my secretary gets -- i mean paying a small -- sorry. paying a smaller tax than my secretary pays. and he wrote me the letter to tell me he would like to come to washington and testify before congress as to how that's possible for him to do and why it is wrong. >> charlie, it sounds to me like he was the first patriotic millionaire? >> he is a wild-eyed radical who president obama put it, could not have a chance at the republican primary today. >> yeah. ronald reagan. right. >> the notorious tax razor. >> what offended him -- one other time he talked about it, president reagan, there was a

bus driver in birmingham or montgomery when he was down there who was paying a lesser rate than like the guy who owned the bus company or a higher rate and the president, this isn't right, it comes back to what offended president reagan was the unfairness of it. >> goes bag, progressivity in taxes is meant to take more from those who have a lot to pay for infrastructure, the education, and the wellbeing the people who work foerp that. >> joining the discussion at any time time. >> 866-55-press. >> i was with aol. i started my career with disney. i moved to washington, d.c. and worked for aol starting in 1995. i was with them for four years and since then, i have been in technology startups.

866-55-press. among those who are fortunate enough and have done very well using their talents and are in that millionaire category what percentage do you think see things the same way you do? >> you know, this has come up a lot. it's a very good question. my sense is that we are as evenly divided as the country is. so i don't think there is one kind of millionaire or affluent person. they are affluent progressives conservatives. we come at these things with the values of our families and where we are born. so, you know, for example, i was born in a middle class family and those are the values that i have and, you know, having gotten very lucky in the internet stock lottery, you know, i am here to tell you that, you know, those are capital gains. those are not the same. my fortunate was not earned the same way that, let's say, you mentioned a bus driver or a teacher or a doctor or a lawyer.

who gets paid when they do honest work. >> do you think that unearned money, which i would call from -- >> passive. >> okay. should be taxed at a lower rate than actively earned? >> it's weird. you would think it would be taxed at a higher rate because less was done to create it. >> exactly. i would think it would just be the opposite. >> that would be fair and that would reflect common sense. >> why would a guy a construction worker go out there, you know, and beating his brains out every day -- and my $100 is sitting in the stockmarket appreciating. why should it be taxed less? >> you sit home clipping coupons and you may bess than he does? >> it's on the face of it is unfair. what we are seeing in this country is there is so much unfairness and so much legal and institutionalized and people are taking to the street. >> seems to me that this is a time to make that, to change it,

to turn it around, at least in the case of the -- for the buffett rule, the 30%. >> you know, it's a first little tiny step. you would think we could agree on that. >> 866-55-press. charlie fink in studio with us. your calls coming up on the full court press. stay with us. ♪ passespass passespass radio meets television. the bill press show now on break the ice with breath-freshening cooling crystals. ice breakers.

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groove back? >>fearless, independent and above all, politically direct. current tv. ♪ >> this is the full court press, the bill press show live on your radio and on current tv. >> it's 25 minutes after the hour. katie paris from media matters

in the next segment to talk about why some members of the media, especially fox, have to go out of their way to defend george zimmerman. now, we are on to the president's number 1 issue. he said charlie fink is intude studio with us patriotic millionaires. charlie, the president has said that this buffett rule gets to the issue of income inequality in this country. she said this is the defining issue of our time. >> if you look at what's happened in the past 20 years, you know, in particular what's happened since 2000, since 1992 the income of the top 1% has gone up 235%. so average americans has gone down. you don't have to look hard to find supporting evidence for the fundamentals fairness and what's happened to our economy in the past 25 years where income has been redistributed up. >> yeah.

exactly. dan calling from vancouver washington out on the west coast. hello, dan. >> good morning. >> good morning the top tax rate in '65. >> in '63, it was 22%. >> now down to 30. nobody talks about the pay raise they have gotten. >> that's a 30% tax cut. sure, we are making two bucks an hour more but i can't pay my rent on a week's salary like i did in '65. >> and tough to fill up your car with gas. >> every time the cost goes up. >> the idea it was 92%. 92%. >> kennedy lowered that. closed some of the loopholes. they need to do what reagan did and double the cap -- double the ceiling on social security. thing you could lower the social security age, create millions of jobs the government would have to do because social security

pays the retirees. >> dan, appreciate the call. tammy calling from ohio. hi, tammy. >> hi, bill. >> yeah. what's your question? >> well, i wanted to make a comment. i wanted to thank mr. fink. >> thank you. >> for coming forward and realizing that, you know fairness is so important because i, myself, am may dire straits right now and it's so refreshing for him to come forward and wanted to share and do their part. >> thank you, tammy. >> i don't feel great having money while you are struggling. >> you know what? we need more people like you. tammy makes it -- what i appreciate so much about what you are doing, you and the patriotic millionaires is you are speaking up. you see it and you are willing to talk about and willing to make your own sacrifice. god bless america. >> thank you. >> this is the bill press show. ♪

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♪ >> welcome to the bill court press show. >> here we go with 33 minutes after the hour. it is the full court press, your new morning show on current tv and on your progressive radio station where you happen to be in this great land for ours. your radio listeners, brought to you by the sheet metal workers association. the good men and women under president joseph nigrove, a fair day's work for a fair day's pay. you bet. find out more on their website

www.smwia.org. we talk a lot about the trayvon martin case, the fact the special prosecutor angela corey hazard mr. zimmerman and filed second degree murder charges against him. one of the things i think is so weird is from the beginning, the right-wing media, particularly fox news has gone out of its way to say, hey, wait a minute. this george zimmerman is not such a bad guy of the there is a stand your ground law and maybe we are being unfair to him. the poor guy. he even had to change his phone number because he was getting so many calls. so what's up with the right-wing media in this case? nobody knows better than media matters for america. katie paris, 7 arior -- get the title right, senior vice president. >> nailed it. >> i got it. >> media matters in studio with us. >> it's grateat to be here. >> we are proud you are going to be here with for media matters every week with us on the full-court press? >> media matters is glad to be with you.

>> all right. it's mediamatters.org. what is it like? sean hannity says we have to -- we have to hear this guy give him a chance to tell his side of the story. we. >> that will certainly happen now. right? with these charges being brought. certainly he's been talking a lot about the news the second-degree murder charge, which is exactly why there has been such a public uproar about this whole case. what's interesting to us is that up to this point, you know whether it's on the right-wing blogosphere or fox news, central to their rallying around zimmerman and central to saying why are liberals so upset about this trayvon martin case has been ignoring basically that at a time charges have been brought, that charges have not been brought. excuse me. >> yeah. >> that's why, look, there are unfortunately in this country tragic shootings, killings violence every day. the trayvon martin case was

unique. this was an unarmed teenager shot in his own neighborhood and no charges were brought. the local authorities were doing nothing. and so of course across america, people said, something is wrong here. why are no charges being brought? this is a tragic shooting. and starting to ask questions about. what time are these so-called stand your ground laws which i call kill-at-will laws actually. when our laws are allowing paranoid strangers to shoot our family, you, a loved one, at will, and walk free? i mean there is something wrong in america. and they don't want to talk about these kill-at-will laws. they don't want to talk about the fact that zimmerman had no charges have, in fact, was been brought. now, of course that there has been, they are going to be playing them down because they don't want to talk about these laws. >> i think you touched on it, which is i mean, you nailed it, which is what's really behind

the right-wing media's love affair with george zimmerman is they are afraid attention to this case will weaken, maybe lead to reform or repeal the stand-your-ground law, which was forced through, signed by jeb bush over the objections of law enforcement. >> let's not -- >> in florida. it was the nra who was for it and the police officers who were against it. >> let's not forget not just florida. more than two dozen states. >> that many. >> model legislation that has been pushed through with the backing of the nra, working with alec. >> alec. >> that you have talked a lot about, funded by corporate special interests. >> like the koch brothers. >> i think you talk about that. it's good you are bringing attention to it. we have this corporate special interest-backed nra gun-lobby backed campaign to spread these laws all across the country, laws that are making all of us less safe, laws that put us all

in the line of fire. i mean i don't have kids yet. but the idea that here in america where, of course we have the second amendment right to bear arms but i don't see anywhere in the constitution that it says, you know somebody can just walk in to a church, a business, anywhere they please shoot at will and potentially walk free like saying, well i felt threatened. >> i don't think you are ever qualified for membership in the nra, neither will i nor would i want to be. back to this role, the one that seems to be leading the charge i can't understand it. >> that's what courts are for. right? and let the court decide. and, you know, george zimmerman may be found by a judge or jury not guilty. >> that's our system of justice. but again, sean hannity particularly leading the pack, you know, that we have to feel sorry for george zimmerman. here he is hannity, who talked to zimmerman the day before so

zimmerman calls him, obviously, he knows he has a friend in fox. >> probably not a surprise that it was sean hannity who was supposed to call. he didn't tell his lawyers, the lawyers who, you know, said they would no longer be representing him. >> right? >> you know, aboutbut these lawyers, it turns out they didn't know he called sean hannity. that happens. >> he knows he has a friend in sean hannity, calls him talks to him. with all of the reporting last night on the fact that charges had been filed, here is a point that hannity feels compelled to make again. >> look, your heart goes outed to the mother in this case. she lost her 17-year-old son. now, here we are at this point. they did the investigation. a lot of attorneys that i have spoken to say they overcharged. >> overcharged of all things to bring up. right? >>. % >> exactly angela corey went too far. >> you know how it is on fox, you know, they decide. right? they have this whole slogan they report, let you decide. no. they decide. and this is a good but

unfortunate example of that. fox is not a news organization. it's a political operation, and in this case they are operating to protect these kill-at-will laws that the nra and corporate special interests are pushing across the country. sean hannity is goingdoing his job aswin of the chief proponeevents of this political operation that is fox news. >> propagandist i would call it. 866-55-press. katie paris is the senior vice president looking at the role of the media in this trayvon martin case. some people would say that -- and angela corey spoke to us a little bit yesterday, that the media may have created an unfair playing field for george zimmerman by all of the attention on this case. you know in one sense, another attempt to blame the media for

anything. >> right. >> you don't like. but how is the media, from mediamatters point of view. >> sure. >> you watch all the coverage all day long so the rest of us don't have to? >> that's what the media matters staff does. they work hard god bless them. >> how do you think the coverage has been? has it been for the most part fair? would you say? >> look, i do think that it has been fair and right to bring significant attention to this tragedy in florida. i mean like we were saying before, there are tragic kill killings, you know, almost every day in this country. but sometimes, sometimes there are instances that rise to new a new level. they are symbolic. they signal that something is very wrong in our country, that this is happening in our communities and potentially, in bringing in these laws that are potentially going to allow something like this to happen and have people walk free. >> that's such an issue for our democracy to take up. >> yeah.

>> what i would add, though, is that it is the right-wing playbook to blame the media. right? i mean to play victim. >> that's exactly what we are going to continue to see now that charges have been brought. they will say, you know, george zimmerman is the victim here they will say that the right is the victim here, that they are, you know, just trying to bring these laws and enforcement across the country. it's important that the media continue to do its job and make sure we hear all sides as this case moves forward. >> i thought it was significant yesterday in making her announcement, special prosecutor angela corey said it was not political pressure. it was not the media. >> that's not why we acted. we acted based only on the facts. they looked into this. they determined the facts in the case, and they, she concluded with her team that they had sufficient evidence to charge him with second-degree murder,

and they were confident, she said, they would not file those charges unless they felt that the evidence would allow them to get a conviction of second-degree murder. >> absolutely. she seems extremely competent. she is doing her job. i also do think that civil rights groups and other groups who did speak out, in this case they did their job. i mean, let's keep in mind these civil rights groups, these folks who have been speaking out, this is what they are doing every day. every once in a while, there actually is some media attention on it. and in this case, that was a good thing, and it looks like this will move forward. >> if they hadn't brought the attention to it, who knows? the sanford police department might still have been able to look the other way, not do its job. if they hadn't done their job, the florida governor who is no screaming liberal, might not have appointed a special prosecutor and we wouldn't have what happened in this case. again, a particular question for you at home and for katie is: today, the role of -- why, why? the come pulse of the right-wing

media to feel that they have to go out and defend george zimmerman. 866-55-press. katie paris in the studio with us. how can my car go faster? maybe your child will figure it out. find out more at connectamillionminds.com >> room meets television. the bill press show, now on current tv a race car. polymers, hydo-carbons, thermal plastics, math and science? you bet it is. many kids don't understand how important these subjects can be that's why time warner cable developed connect a million minds. to introduce kids in our communities to the opportunities that inspire them to develop these important skills. how can my car go faster? maybe your child will figure it out. find out more at connectamillionminds.com

it's completely inappropriate

for television. ♪ ♪ >> this is the bill press show, live on your radio and current tv. . >> all right. thirteen minutes before the top

of the hour. we are talking trayvon martin case. george zimmerman charged with second-degree murder, particularly looking at the media coverage and the media angle with fox news going out of its way to try to say wait a minute. this george zimmerman may not be such a bad guy here maybe we are only hearing one side of the story. and, of course in studio with us, hello again, katie paris is the senior vice president. >> sean hannity has been beating this drum. for the the only one on fox but leading the charge. yesterday, george zimmerman gets a new lawyer, mark o'mara. you might think he is working for fox. he picks up the same tune and he says, we have to feel -- we should feel sorry for george zimmerman, how tough it is on him these days. let's let mark o'mara speak. >> it must be frightening to not go into a 7 eleven or into a

store and to be, in effect, a prisoner wherever he was. so that would trouble all of us. i am sure he is wearing some of the fallout from that. >> isn't it -- it's just -- it must really be tough on george zimmerman that he can't walk into a 7-11 without being recognized. don't you feel sorry for him? >> to me what's striking actually about what he said is that that's exactly the reason why these kill-at-will laws are so problematic. it means that you or i or any one of our family members could walk into a place like a 7-eleven, you know, a church anywhere, anywhere we might please and there could be someone there who could shoot and kill us and potentially walk free by saying well, you know, i felt threatened. maybe we were wearing a hoodie. >> not to mention how tough it is on trayvon martin who will never walk into a 7-eleven ever, ever e ever again. >> ever again. >> now, we are supposed to feel

sorry for george zimmerman. this guy is out of his blooming mind. let's say hello to joe calling from up in new york city. >> yes. >> i just wanted to make a comment about ms. paris's observation about fox news and their agenda. >> you can talk to her. she is here. >> i am listening. >> go ahead. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> i agree generally with what you say, but i think that all media outlets have an agenda of some kind including nbc, cbs, abc because of the way that corporations control the media in this country. so fox has their agenda and they have a right-wing spin on everything. i tend to agree left-wings have their agenda too. in this case, it becomes quite clear because i watch all

outlets when i have the chance because i like to get a general are a consensus. i am not one of these people that watches fox and believes that they are fair and balances. i believe they have an agenda. >> you raise a point, joe. and i want to jump in here in the interest of time and appreciate the call. so katie, you hear this a lot. it's all controlled by corporations and so, it's all the same. >> i appreciate his skepticism. i think it's important to thing about what interests are behind powerful influential forces in this country and certainly media does have a lot of power in this country. fox is different than the other sources of news that we do have in this country. media matters documents day-to-day, week to week and has been showing for years now that when it comes to who is represented, who is represented in the news, you know, any time you look at coverage of any major news stories, they are going to have many times-fold

more republicans than democrats, more conservatives, more right-wing figures than anyone from the left or, frankly anyone just from a neutral perspective. on fox news, there is a -- not just a penchant for misinformation. there is a missinformation campaign that has targets in this case. sometimes, it is to protect people, like in this case of george zimmerman. at other times it is to commit basically character assassination. they have tremendous pour in our media. and they use it to attack the president, to attack anyone who would challenge a conservative idea or put forth a progressive one. >> i have to tell you first of all, this is documented and you have, as i said for years. just look at the coverage about president obama. you will see on any other network some positive coverage about the president and a lot of

negative coverage about the president on the same network, you know, depending upon what issue it is and what he is doing. on fox, it is slam slam slam slam 24/7, all the time and any bogus ruler or criticism about president obama gets full coverage. >> right. exactly. >> yeah. >> it's one manufactured, you know, conspiracy theory after the next, and they -- it's become news because they talk about it enough. their goal is something we call "the fox effect" at media matters and sometimes fox will take something that really isn't news at all, but it is consistent with the agenda that they want to promote. so they will talk about it and talk about it and attack you and attack you. then they will be upset because no one else is covering it. they will say this is news. why isn't someone else covering it. hopefully -- we work hard to keep that kind of misinformation and those smears quarantined to

fox. sometimes it gets on others. >> we didn't have a media watchdog on the left until media matters. mediamatters.org. katie paris leading the fight. >> thanks so much. pleasure to be here. >> thank you for coming in. >> this is the bill press show.

>>this is outrageous! we've have no choice, we've lost our democracy here. ♪ ♪ >> this is the bill press show. >> it's the top of the next hour, jamal simmons will be in studio with us. we will also be talking to katherine cryer and peter king,

a reporter for cbs radio about the trayvon martin case. taking your calls. the president today will be continuing his campaign on behalf of the buffett rule to try to get the senators to allow a vote on that, up or down next week week. he will do so giving interviews to four regional television shows, talking to anchors from columbus, ohio cedar rapids, iowa, st. louis, missouri and reno nevada, making the case for the buffett rule and then he will meet with his senior advisors late this afternoon in the oval. jay carney has his daily briefing in the white house briefing room at 12:30 p.m. and again, your representative, i will be there for all of you. we will come back with catherin crier. >> this is the bill press show.

♪ >> it is thursday, april 12th. hello, everybody. good morning. wedge. welcome to the full-court press the your new morning show on current tv. good to be with you today as every day. i am bill press. liberal and proud of it. we are talking the big stores of the day here in our nation's capitol, around the country and around the globe and clearly, the number 1 story today george zimmerman arrested and charged with second-degree murder. he spent last night in jail, justice looks like will finally, be done in this case. >> that's good news. just what we've been waiting for but remember, that's only step 1.

now, we have to move on to step 2, very, very important, step 2 to reform or repeal the stand your ground law in florida and all of those other states where they have such a kill at will law. we will dive right into that and a lot of other issues, but first, let's get all of the latest. this current tv news update from jackie schechner. good morning to you. >> a big good morning to you, too, bill. good morning, everyone. the obama re-election campaign is saying happy birthday to romneycare and they brought a gift, another web video. today is the 6th anniversary of then governor romney's massachusetts health care plan and the web video features foot footage back from between and features john gruber and john mcdunna how they helped craft health care plans for romney and obama. >> i helped craft and pass massachusetts health reform in 2006 and the affordable care act

in 2010. mitt romney had this belief that this was going to be his ticket to national fame and glory. >> thank you. >> romney says if elected he will repeal national health care reform. ann romney is taking to twitter to take part in a dust-up on line this morning. she is taking on democratic strategist hillary rozen who said on cnn that ann romney is probably not the best person for mitt romney to turn to over women's economic issues since romney, quote, never worked a day in her life. those are rozen's words. that led ann romney to defend herself saying raising five boys is indeed hard work. rozen fights back on twitter and the huffington post that she wasn't demeaning romney as a stay-at-home mom but most women don't have the economic luxury of doing so. join us online.

current.com/bill current.com/billpress. ♪

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.

♪ >> broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the bill press show. >> arrested and charged with second-degree murder, george zimmerman, spent last night in jail and is expected in court today to plead not guilty. hello, everybody. it is thursday april 12th. great to see you today. this is the bill press show the full court press coming to you live coast to coast on your favorite local progressive radio station and on current tv now and good to be with you on radio, on t.v. to tackle the big stories of the day. not story bigger of course,

than finally, an arrest and charges filed in the george zimmerman case. it's what people have been asking for particularly the parents of trayvon martin, ever since february 26th. here we are and now we move into the next step which is to pursue justice in this case and to question the stand your ground-your-ground law under which george zimmerman insists he had a right to defend himself. lots going on today. >> that's why it's so good to have you with us. we always save a seat for you around the table. just join us by giving us a call at 866-55-press. 866-557737. >> and to walk through all of the questions and the consequences of this big move yesterday by special prosecutor angela corey. we welcome in the studio our good friend, democratic strategist jamal simmons. welcome back? >> it's good to be here. >> a somber day. a lot to talk about. >> yeah.

>> our team of of course,ably assisted by peter ogburn and dan henning and cyprian boulding. hello all. >> ably is an awful strong word to describe this crew. >> i feel in a generous mood. >> jamal, a touch of politics. the president picked up a significant and unexpected endorsement on the colbert show. here it is. >> have you endorsed him yet? are you prepared to do that? >> i am prepared. i am endorsing my husband, barracks obama. i think he will be a phenomenal president. he has done a phenomenal job. he is my man. >> there it is. >> in every sense of the word. he is my man. >> jamal, i know you are on your way to wetted bliss. i am you are not married yet, but let me just say this: it's not a given that every wife will. okay?

i don't think you to think this is just how it happens. okay? >> you have to earn it. >> oh, yeah. >> you have to earn it. >> he is my man. this is bigger than oprah. >> you know, she is the most popular political figure in the country. the last poll i saw at the beginning. year had her at 66%. here is the thing that's interesting. what does she do? she cares about veterans families and making sure they are taken care of while their spouses are in the war and keeping our kids from getting fat, work out, eat well. people are mad at her. who are these 30% of the people? who are the 34% of the people who development like michelle obama. >> fatties. i don't know. what i love about this, too, there was such a chance to demonize her. all of the rumors about i hate whitey. and then she has risen above it. she is a rock star. >> there is no one else in the

administration who is having fun. michelle obama seems like she is having the time of her life. she figured out the sweet spot. take care of the kids, have a public policy agenda and go work out with -- what was the i know this she did the other day. >> biggest loser. >> showing off her guns. >> exactly. >> colbert. it's get stuff. >> i want to be on her campaign schedule. >> jamal with us this entire hour, we will be joined by catheri n /* ne cryer. first, this is the full court press. >> well, bill, more names coming out of people attending the white house correspondent's dinner. one of name being on four legs and having fur. >> that's uggy the jack russell tear year that started in the best winning picture. beau will not go there. >> maybe a best friend kind of thing. >> a dog. >> perfect. >> the dog will not be sitting

at the table. they are worried about him eating the food. he will be there though. >> i can't wait to see. >> for all of the reporters out there that are not able to go to the dinner guess what. a dog is going. you don't get to go. >> there are reporters who every day in the white house press room who will not be at the dinner because they can't get a ticket. >> yeah. >> alec baldwin is not happy with nbc. the act who stars in "30 rock" lashed out against the today show for parking a camera crew outside his apartment. they were trying to catch his stalker. he said he had not heard from the network until he saw the camera crew stationed at his apartment. he tweeted, i am leaving nbc just in time. it looks like he might be quitting and on his way out. >> t.v. crews have a right to

set up on the sidewalk. news to you, alec. >> one of t.v.'s biggest kept secrets has been revealed, where the town of springfield where the simpsons live. the creator of the series that has been on the air for 23 years with over 500 episodes tells smith sewn annul mallingzine it's a town outside of u jebbing. he chose that because he watched father knows best growing up as a child and he loved the town and it's near his hometown of portland. >> springfield, mass, springfield, missouri is out. >> he is exposing these facts unlike the creators of the sopranos who went off of the air and no one knows. simpsons are finding out everyone. >> the crater of the sopranos might say tony got whacked at the end. everybody knows that. >> dan, thank you. jamal, you were yesterday at the -- some of the events here with the reverend al sharpton.

the parents of trayvon martin happened to be in town when the special prosecutor made her announcement yesterday. i mean we have talked about this here in the studio before. in the words of joe biden, this is a bfd, these charges being filed. >> this is a really big deal. it's a really big deal. second degree murder charge, which is the highest charge the prosecutor could file without going to a grand jury, we saw the parents yesterday who seemed to be, you know, everybody else in this whole world around this has opinions, a lot of talking to do. when you see that mother stand up in front of the camera every time. >> every time. >> every single time. she never has more than 60 seconds worth of something to say. it's about her baby, and it's about justice and it's about doing the right thing. it just centers everything back where it's supposed to be which is around this young man who lost his life. >> her and her former husband the father.

i mean the dignity that they have conducted themselves with i think is just -- has carried the day. >> absolutely. >> all they ever asked for, right, was that the charges be filed and the trial be held. that's all. >> that's all. they didn't say, burn him, you know, whatever. >> all of the other stuff that's going on outside of this and the people who are abusing the situation for their own personal gain, you know, kids and stores and all of these videos that are popping up all over the place about people not acting right. you see these parents on television and you know this is about the right thing. i think everybody who is a parent can identify with this. >> why did this case gather such international attention? >> you know, i think -- i work with some folks who focus on the gun laws a lot and look in alec and we talked about the american legislative exchange council and they have pushed these laws in states all across the can't tree. there are all sorts of examples of shoot-first laws that have

occurred in the current tree. but we haven't seen one where the victim was sympathetic as trayvon martin. then what you had is you had lawyers who were very aggressive and they did a good job of getting out. you had talk radio which was being on it. you had twitter. i mean this thick i remember seeing things pop up on twitter weeks before it really blew up in the national television media. >> yeah. >> people were talking about this. there was this culmination of all of the forces where people were fed up about the laws and the valuing of young black life in america came together. >> as people learned the facts, at least on the surface it seemed such a one-sided case where this kid, you know, goes into a 7-eleven, buys a bag of skittles and a can of ice tea and another guy in a car with a gun con front him and the idea that he could -- he, zimmerman,

have been threatened or in trouble, in danger is just hard to believe. >> absolutely. i think we have -- >> impossible. >> i don't know very many black men over the age of 13 or 14 who have not had an experience where they felt threatened by somebody who, you know, came after them in some kind of gun situation. very often having to do with police. when i was 17, going to college in atlanta, georgia, we were driving down i-75 coming back from thanks give ing holiday. pulled over at a rest stop, in a gas station to check our oil and do all of that stuff when you are on a long road trip. we had two police officers, three policemen pull up, circle our vehicles unlash their hol sisters, put hands on guns and try to ask us where we were going, college tea shirts and sweat shirts. we had clearly our moms had put bags groceries in the car.

launched re. we looked like college kids come can ing back from a weekend. we spent 40 minutes out there with the cops totally terrified. >> the color of your skin said you are not just college kids. >> i don't know anybody of my age who hasn't experienced something like that. that resonated with a lot of people, i think including the president of the united states. >> do you believe that the focus will be not just on justice in this case in terms of george zimmerman but that there will be an attempt? michael bloomberg spoke yesterday about the stand-your-ground law. peter, do we have the clip with the mayor of new york talking about the need to focus not just on zimmerman but on the under underlying law? >> reform or repeal these laws where they have been passed or defeat them in states where they have been introduced.

>> all right. one of my colleagues who i work with helped organize this event. state senator chris smith was here from florida. he is an upcoming senate minority leader democrat. they have ledge legislatelation. he spoke yesterday. they have legislation to try too repeal this law they are working through down in florida. the encouragement of the entire event was to get state ledge latetors the opportunity to come back and say, you know what? this has gone too far. let's get some of these shoot-first laws off of the books or fix them so they don't have this kind of loss of life as a result. >> we mentioned in the program, i think it's important to stress the, again this law this bill signed into law by jeb bush was sponsored, written by alec with the money from the koch brothers and then pushed through the ledge slated temperature against the objections over the objections and the opposition of law enforcement in florida by the nra and the nra handing

money out and getting the florida legislature to vote for it. >> right. the power, they feel like they can't file charges against people who claim this law as their defense. even though they may know that something about this is a little bit fish. >> and angela corey acknowledged as did george zimmerman's new defense attorney that this stand your ground law will be part of his defense maybe, may had been the focus. jamal simons is in the studio with us, talking about second-degree murder charges filed against george zimmerman yesterday by special prosecutor angela corey. did she do the right thing? did she go too far? 866-55-press. your calls welcome. join the conversation. >> this is the bill press show. ♪

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♪ ting shot with bill press. this is the bill press show. >> how about it on this thursday, april 12th, my parting shot for today yes, the wheels of justice turn slowly but sometimes they finally, turn in the right direction, as they did yesterday in the trayvon martin case when special prosecutor angela corey announced george zimmerman had been arrested and charged with second-degree murder as we have been talking about all morning. now, look. we don't know what the final outcome of this case will be. zimmerman's lawyer may be able to convince a jury that he acted in self defense in kimming the unarmed 17-year-old teenager and if that's their decision we will have to live with it. but at least we now know and much more important, the parents of trayvon martin know that having heard the facts in the casetion the jury may also

decide, as seems obvious to most of us, that zimmerman needlessly provoked a confrontation and killed their son in cold-blooded murder. we can take comfort in the fact that there will be a trial, that law enforcement has finally acted and that justice will finally, be done in this case. so now it's important to move on to the next step and join together in efforts to repeal the stand-your-ground law before any more innocent victims are killed under the bogus excuse of self-defense, as it looks like in this case. hey, that's my parting shot for today, folks. tomorrow, we are going to be joined by sheldon whitehouse senator from rhode island. the author of "the buff edit rule." we will hear about it from him. join us tomorrow. >> this is the bill press show. ♪ lucky for me your friends showed up with this awesome bone. hey!

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