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>>just refreshing to hear. no other television show does that. we're keeping it real.

♪ >> taking your e-mails on any topic at any time. this is the bill press show live on your radio and current tv. >> john nichols, washington correspondent for the nation in studio as a friend of bill next hour. and then joe williams who covers the white house for politico will be joining us as well. this little love letter from constance mccoyd.

bill caught you on your first day on television, so happy since i love your radio station and now love your t.v. show. i remember you with a little craphead with a bow tie. you used to have a program with. >> oh, i think she is talking about tucker carlson in the spin room, the little craphead with a bow tie. wait until i tell tucker that. not everybody is a fan you know. >> you know why the air waves have more conservatives, billy -- nobody calls me billy. >> it's because that's what the public wants. it's not what you want. unlike your dumbass, they actually make sense. >> at least he didn't call you craphead with a bow tie. >> right. i am take dumbas. i think maybe tommy has been smoking pot on this 4-20 day. so happy 4-20 day. we have two more hours coming up. john nichols and joe williams in the next hour and all of you and

your calls. so stick around. lots more fun coming up. >> this is the bill press show. ♪

show >> it is april 20th. you know what that means? it is marijuana legalization today. and we are making progress as we just learned, 14 states have already decriminalized marijuana, and 16 states now

have medical mayorrijuana laws. the district of columbia is going to join them. we are making progress. soon, marijuana will be legal, and it should be. >> that's the goal. just one of the things we will talk about here in the next couple of hours together on the full-court press, but first, let's get the latest, this current tv news update out in los angeles, here she is jacki schechner. good morning, jacki. >> good morning, bill. good morning, everyone. president obama is going to welcome the wounded warrior project soldier ride to the white house this afternoon. it's the 6th year for the 4-day cycling event. it uses cycling to help injured physically emotionally injured issues unmodified road bike els and adaptives bibles free of charge. financial reports are due to the s.e.c. today at american crossroads, the carl-rove-funded

or founded super p.a.c. it's going to show it has raised $100 million so far. >> that's going to break down the $51 million for all of 2011 and $49 million for just the first quarter of 2012, which goes through march 31st. a crossroads spokesperson says they see the goal of the super p.a.c. to fill the gap for the romney campaign between the primary and general election as it works to fight the president obama fundraising effort there. abc's matthew jafy has a fun article about the art of potential vice president nominees saying no. he recalled a day in august of 2008 when joe biden was asked if he was going to be the guy and he said, no. that was right before he just became the guy a couple of days before that. in 2000, dick cheney said he didn't want the job. we certainly know now that he took the job. this time around ohio senator rob portman, south carolina governor nikki haley, marco

rubio saying no. when it comes around to it, nobody is really planning to say no. we will be right back after the break. if you have copd like i do you know how hard it can be to breathe and what that feels like. copd includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. spiriva helps control my copd symptoms by keeping my airways open a full 24 hours. plus, it reduces copd flare-ups. spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled

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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. >> hey, how about it? happy friday april 20th. what do you say? good to see you today. welcome. welcome to the full-court press. we are live here in our nation's capitol, right in the heart of the action on capitol hill washington, d.c. six blocks from the white house. no. i'm sorry. six blocks from the capitol building and six metro stops

from the white house bringing you up to date on the big stories here from our nation's capitol, around the country and around the globe and, of course, taking your calls at 866-55-press. good to see you today. thank you for joining us both on your local radio station, your local progressive radio talk station and on current tv, the new morning show on current tv. so happy to be here. happy to welcome bag a good friend, a frequent guest on our show but it's great when he is in studio, the washington correspondent for "the nation" magazine. john nichols. >> hello. i am usually talking from my kids' school yard. >> is that where we get you. >> quite often when i am walking her to school in the morning. >> great to see you. another plug in: i cannot remember how many years i have been a subscriber of "the nation" magazine gate for liberals, progressives one place to get all of the latest on what's happening, all of the big issues we care about. it's excellent.

>> we appreciate it. >> john has some good nuggets in there. welcome. welcome to our team here, peter ogburn and dan henning. >> good morning. >> hey there. >> a lot of news breaking on many fronts this morning. we now have you heard the names of some of the secret service agents who got in trouble for the first time. several have left, either resigned or been fired and apparently there will be more losing their jobs. and we also have seen the bomb shell. this is donia, i think is her name. >> uh-huh. >> but she says -- i love this. do we have a picture? >> yeah. >> had it up all morning here. >> yeah. you're researching. >> doing my research. right. the secret service agents -- i love this. their defense is we didn't know they were prostitutes. and her defense is she said she is not a prostitute.

she is an escort. >> that's somebody you can take to dinner. >> all class. >> you can dress up. you can go to dinner. it's a very -- you know, i think america is learning a lot here secret service get this whole scandal. this is a group that's supposed to be secret, not supposed to be in public. they get this scandal plus they are questioning ted nugent. >> put it all together. >> a guy who goes by the name motto city madman. >> i liked the next name sweaty teddy. >> i want to know. what is mitt romney's favorite nugent stranglehold cat scratch fever. >> wango-tango. >> all we know is he had to kiss nugent's you know what in order to get his endorsement.

he would do nothing at all. >> nugent said it was a heart-felt lengthy conversation. what did these two guys find to talk about. >> john nichols in studio with us as a friend of bill. joe williams covers the white house for politico. john just a little bit later and vicki soto from the university of texas in the next hour. you and i have a lot to talk about but first. >> readheadlines. >> most important matt damon says he would kiss george w. bush right on the mouth, what he told the atlantic about his chief causes bringing clean water to third-world countries and fighting aids. the actor saying for what the former president did for aids relief worldwide, he would kiss him on the mouth for three seconds, no tongue. >> glad to know details. >> one thing everybody can agree on that george bush did really really well.

>> he shows a lot of leadership in that area. but that doesn't mean we have to kiss him on the mouth. >> a cheek peck. >> chris christie trying to spin his way out of falling asleep at the recent bruce springsteen concert. during rocky ground, he closed his eyes because it's a spiritual sound and he wanted to 15 the tune. he asked why there were no pictures of him singing out in the street. >> you know what? only in new jersey do you have to have a press conference and address whether or not you fell asleep during a springsteen concert. >> would he have been a better man if he had listened through some of the tracks from the new album, economic justice, we take care of our own. if there was anybody at that con concert that needed to be wide awake and listening, it needed to be chris christie.

>> a snagging in kim car dashian's plan. >> every day do we have to hear about this. >> this is the third day in a row we talked about her being a politician. >> on her plan to run for mayor, the glendale news press says it is not elected. honorary. five civil council members appoint somebody. >> it's not even rotating. it is predominantly a strong armenian population so they usually honor a local business person by making them honorary mayor. >> john, do you know everything? >> if you want to talk politics. >> you know kim car dashian politics. >> i didn't realize the mayor was honorary. >> did he. >> that's why they should .her. it might have an impact. >> i think i would rather live in fresno.

jock nichols we have talked a lot about the koch brothers. >> yes. >> if i may, i wrote a book about them called "the obama hate machine." ? >> a fine holiday gift. >> happy 4-20. >> after the holiday. but one of the organizations that the koch brothers started helped fund get started is alec which knobby mention them here because they have been under the radar until lately. >> this is a story of the left press, the progressive press, progressive median in this country tug going out and doing some investigative reporting and having it have a profound impact. the best way to put it is this. about a year and a half ago, when the wisconsin,shire struggles were blowing up some people started to notice a pattern of the anti-labor bills and started collectnnecting them to

alec. they didn't know much about alec. in ohio, a legislator gave his or her codes to a protester. said here is how you get into the alec materials and find out what's going on. this protester, a student treated it very, very seriously, red about it found two institutions that had been dogging alec, the"the nation magazine magazine." i had written some about it and the scepter for media and democracy in madison which is a think tank that really looks at it and activists that look at the rights infrastructure public relations, corporate power. so here we had this information. the information contained all of alec's model bills all of their model resolutions and lists of their chairmens and task forces so some people had high marks for months of research nation we did a cover story. we did all of this. very little happened. right? you know, a little bit. but this is why, you know,

investigative reporting doesn't always happen at the moment. sometimes it puts something out there when you need it. when trayvon martin was killed. i did a piece about this, that the law in florida that stood in the way of prosecution, the stand your ground law became a model alec law that was spread all the over the country. >> 24 states. >> absolutely. 26 if you do the castle doctorine, shoot on your porch. >> yeah. >> inc. credible things come of that. corporations that have quit alec, big corporations, folks on pizza hut, pepsi, coke gates foundation and now we are seeing legislators quit and say i don't want to be associated with this. >> that's big stuff. >> plus alec has said and with the koch brothers, the original attempt was the model legislation that would protect in state after state, they are

like a little factory. >> yeah. >> prints out bills. >> yeah. a bill mil. good phrase for it. they send these model bills around and have conferences where they eninvite -- >> a scholarship. >> they hand them these bills, legislators take the bills back introduce them. but originally, they started with bills protecting their oil and gas interests. right? anti-pollution stuff. right? then they got into voter suppression, immigration and gun control. >> lack of it. here is the way to understand it. >> that's where they got in trouble. >> they did get in trouble for the social, let's consider the social and the election side. people need to understand, people need to understand two things. first off, they didn't get into these things casually. their people make a lot of money selling guns. >> right. >> people who make a lot of money selling guns were there. this wasn't just we discovered gun issues. >> that's number 1. on the election stuff, the voter id and they are the prime movers on voter id which related to

their anti-immigrant stuff. they used it to say we don't want quote/unquote illegal immigrants voting. that was strategy to make sure that the electorate was small and easily controlled that it erred more to the right. all of these things enter inter-relate. they have shut down a koch brothers' institution, their public safety and e elections task force, the one that ran voter id and gun stuff. >> what does this tell you? ific thinking about this, about the power. social media? >> everything. this is just unbelievable. >> this was not -- there was no legislation to get alec to change? right? congress never did anything? the white house never did anything. this was pure social media? wasn't it? >> it was. it's in this despairat 50 states. their jeaniusgenius was to never go

federal. go to the states. nobody covers it. fewer and fewer reporters. a couple of groups pick this up and get incredibly high marks, color of change rashad robinson, some folks over there. incredible work. big marks for bringing a lot of other folks in. urban league naacp picked um very well. common cause, people for the american way, seeing this good government side of it. you really saw a lot of the folks, progressive folks. >> a lot of these groups came together and, you know the collective power of them all, each using their social media. >> exactly. color change a group on that. a younger group. something very amazing is happening. they have shut down this key task force. what we need to remember, corporations quitting, legislators quitting their main task force on voting and gun

issues, things like that, being shut down, wow, would you the core of alec the core of alec is the structuring of state laws to favor multi-national corporations and until we address that, we actually, the truth of the matter is a stand your ground law, a castle doctorine law, guns shoot at will laws do ultimately far less harm than our communities than a law that lists pollution regulations, a law that structures taxes in the wrong way, the interventions these folks are making in public education to move public money other the for profit schools, things of that nature. we have to keep on this group. >> they are still there and they are no longer able, thanks to color of change, no longer able to operate below the radar. >> that's right. >> john nichols for "the nation" magazine. follow him at thenation.com. you ought to subscribe.

john was in studio talking with us when it came out about a month ago. >> a couple of months now amazingly enough. time flies. >> uprising how wisconsin renewed the politics from madison to wall street. on this special friday april 20th edition of the full court press. good to have you with us. hang around. on t.v., the bill press show. now, on current tv. building up to this. >>bill shares his views, now it's your turn. >>i know you're going to want to weigh in on these issues. >>connect with "full court press with bill press" at facebook.com/billpressshow and on twitter at bpshow. >>i believe people are hungry for it.

i think its brilliant. >>current tv welcomes two new

hosts. news and analysis with a washington perspective from an emmy winning insider. >>i know this stuff and i love it and i try to bring that to the show. >>and humor and politics with a west coast edge. >>politically direct means no bs, cutting through the clutter. >>bill press and stephanie news block. weekdays six to noon. >> ♪ >> this is the bill press show live on your radio and current

tv. >> on a friday morning here, april 20th, it is the full court press and in studio with us john nichols from the nation magazine, we will be back and talk about some of the big issues of the day, find out what's going on wisconsin. but first, you know, this was tax week and there were big stories about all of the identity theft that the irs warned us about for people who file electronically. >> that's the fastest growing crime report in the united states today. people whose identity was stolen and identity thieves applying for tax resigned. on those electronic forms, as the irs informed us there is all of the information thieves need need, the name of your employer, on and on and on. it's great that they warn us. it's up to us to do something about it. >> that's what i have done.

i have life lock ultimate protection edgen encourage you to get the same. lifelock and i are on a mission but they can't protect you unless you are a member. call now and mention press 60 for 60 risk-free days for life lock ultimate identity theft protection. if you are not happy cancel within 60 days and get a full refund. see lifelock for details and give them a call. 1-8005967. lifelock.com at 1-800-356-5967. john nichols, we know all about scott walker. now, the recall is underway. first we've got to get through the primary and a general election, so let's start with the primary. we talked last week i think. >> yeah. four democrats and two leading democratic candidates? >> this is important to understand. there are four solid candidates.

>> that's quite a striking thing. wisconsin has an open primary tradition. it's not like the bill presses. >> party bosses. >> california tended to do it, too. you would have real primaries this is a real primary. four candidates, all credible kathleen bine helt who blocked walker's agenda. doug leaf follow lefollet who blocked walkeras's law. >> a proud name. >> a cousin. >> okay. at a time two arguably frontrunners, kathleen falk, a dane county strong budgeter a good reputation. >> strong labor support. >> very strong labor support. unions have thrown in strong with her. and then tom barrett, the mayor of milwaukee the 2010 candidate

for governor who lost relatively narrowly to walker in a very bad year and barrett has done -- it's been a strong week for barrett. we have to be quite blunt about this. he started out with a poll that showed him about 14 points ahead of falk. >> wow. >> and then also polls showing him running better against can walker. >> is there a lot of corporate money coming in on walker's side? >> there is so much money coming in on walker's side you can't add it up. he has burned through about 12 million bucks already. he is -- he leaves the state once or twice a week and why are you leaving the state? to go do money all over the country. >> bringing money back. >> the last report 61% of the money raised came from out of state. >> as you point out in your book, the protest in madison really energized this entire country. >> created a movement. >> we have to keep it going and bring it to a successful

conclusion by recalling scott walker. joe williams joins us next on full-court press. >> this is the bill press show. ♪ vaccinations save lives. >>we are very committed to the safety of our products. >>but are mandatory shots doing more harm than good? >>i see children injured every >>the controversy has gone viral. >>how many are being sacrificed? >>see "the greater good" on current tv sunday at 4/3c. >>and while you watch, join the live chat at current.com/greatergood. >>our system is not working. >>there are always some risks. >>i don't think it's that back and white. the science is not there. >>only on current tv.

with jennifer granholm. >>i am jenniffer granholm and you are in the war room. it's a beautiful thing. >>jennifer granholm on current tv. >>i'm a political junkie. this show is my fix. >>in politics, she was a gutsy leader. in cable news, she's a game changer. >>be afraid, be very afraid. now, the two term governor from michigan is reshaping the debate with a unique perspective and a forward-thinking approach. >>our goal is to bring you behind the scenes with access to stories that you've never seen before. >>she's a trailblazer determined to find solutions. >>one of the key components of a war room is doing a bit of opposition research. >>driven to find the thruth. >>i'm obsessed with the role of govenment. >>fearless, idependent and above all, politically direct.

>>part of the mission here in our own war room is to help these candidates stay on track. make your voice heard. >> this is the full court press. the bill press show live on your radio and on current tv. >> you know, you listen to the music this morning you would know it was april 20th without even looking at the calendar. thank you, peter ogburn for the pothead music. >> see, mom, all of that pot smoking i did in high school finally, paid off. >> thirty-three minutes after the hour, welcome back to the full court press here, coming to

you live all the way across this great country to current tv and on your local progressive radio station, we are in our nation's capitol. the show brought to you by the american federation of teachers great men and women of the aft under president randy winegarten, making a difference every day. you bet. check check out their good work at aft.org. john nichols from the nation magazine still in studio with us as a friend of bill. we are joined by the one and only joe williams who covers the white house for politico. he and i hang out down there at the briefing room trying to get some answers out of jay carney. joe, nice to see you. >> good to be here. >> it's been kind of a rocky week for the white house. the president wants to talk about the economy and you have got the secret service scandal an the gsa thing. does any of that -- you can't blame the president for those things, but does that kind of stuff get in his way? >> it's bureaucrats behavioring badly. the big part about that that

distracts the white house feeds into this narrative that washington is out of control that washington doesn't know how to restrict spending, that these bycrats are running around spending taxpayer money doing all kind of stuff that people don't approve of. so while it's not directly connected to the president, certainly with the columbia trip, you have got him talking about, you've got jay carney talking about, you've got the nation talking about these guys who fooled around and, a knucklehead kind of thing for them to do and you don't have anybody talking about the very real trade agreements, the conflicts that were going down around in latin america or any of the trade policies that are going to have an impact on the election. and as far as it is concerned, it feeds to the republican narrative that spending has run amok and can't be controlled and the president has no control over it. >> there is no escaping it. right? >> it happened on his watch. >> yeah. >> sometimes, that's all? >> on your watch is a big deal.

and i just don't -- you have the tv screens in the studio and fox, you know, their take was: will scandals bring down obama? you are thinking, who man. >> they live for this stuff. >> you are right. i will say with all due respect, it's probably just as fine out in the midwest in states like ohio and in factory towns that the columbia trade thing not be talked about. >> you know what i mean. >> with all due respect, that might be the secret service may have done him a favor there because columbia free trade is not a popular thing with a lot of working phones out in america. that said, i agree with you, i think, you know, it's the amount of time between the elect -- now and the election is not that long. when you lose week after week talking about off topic stuff, that's damaging. >> this is a white house that really prides itself on discipline. >> no drama, message control everything that they want to

talk about they try everything they can to talk about, and even in the context, you are absolutely right, the factory towns don't like nafta. neither do the unions. it still was an opportunity for obama to talk about what he is doing aboutjobs. >> absolutely. >> promoting trade, overseas. this is how americans get to sell their products to other countries. that just got completely obliterated. you know, it might be for the better actually. >> so if obama haul kind of a bumpy week not because of anything he did or he said -- and this is on top of the hillary rosen week too, everywhere, i think hillae did nothing personally. she did nothing but tell the truth as far as i am concerned but we will get into that maybe a little bit later. romney didn't have such a good week either. he has a hard time it seems, connecting. shall we say? so the latest, we were just talking about did during the break, he is in pittsburgh, pennsylvania, in rick santorum's district, thang to john nichols and he is meeting with six

average working families to show that he can really connect. >> regular folk. >> regular for example and the table is spread in the backyard and there is food on the table including some cookies and his first comment, here he is. >> they don't look like you made them. did you make those cookies. >> yes. >> no. no. they came from the local -- >> bakery. >> 7-eleven. you can hear the woman trying to help him out. >> these are the local bakee. >> these are cable selected republicans at that table were romney allies and he is dropping the bucket. >> what does it tell you again? like a little window into romney. >> well, we've had so many of these over the course the two clack moments, trees are the right height moments. early on, i don't know if you guys recall but like a year ago, the obama campaign, there was a semi leak where they talked about how they were going to free romney -- frame romney as

weird. do you remember that one where they said, you may want to talk about how this guy is not a natural kind of regular person. they don't need to do anything like that. i mean it was a presumptive leak but romney is doing a lot of the work for them. the big problem here, and again, this is something we talked about during the break is that he is not a guy who hung out in bars in his youth or who even in his early adulthood. he doesn't connect because he doesn't have that experience. he's most comfortable talking with other people who are like him, and that's where his less guarded nature falls. other than that, this is where his advisors tear their hair out because they want him to try to be natural. they want him to be in a setting where he can make off-scripted remarks but it goes disastrously because he lacks that gene that experience that allows him to have the right thing to say to people and show empathy. >> now his response so peter, the quote from fox and friends yesterday morning, if we can too, so the president made a

comment yesterday, you know, i wasn't born with a silver spoon, unlike -- >> not that i am referring to anyone. >> he doesn't have -- he didn't have to say it. right? okay. but then, so here is romney's response to fox and friends yesterday. >> i am not going to apologize for my dad's success, but i know the president likes to attack fellow americans. it's looking for a scapegoat, those who have been successful like my dad. >> he misses the point. it's not he has to apologize for it. to me, it's like stop throwing it in our face as you pointed out, the cadillacs. >> again, it's something that romney is instinctive about. he is very defensive. this is president obama and the obama campaign's attempt to get under his skin and boy did it work. certainly you have romney having a remark that is a little tone-deaf, you know, not that a little tone-deaf is not something that romney is not used to. but certainly it doesn't correspond to the remark that

president obama made and it wasn't kind of a natural remark or witty kind of jujitsu thing. >> here is what gets me. this is not the first wealthy man to run for politics. >> no. >> the kennedys were as -- wealthy people learn how to not come across as the guy from prep school that you never met or didn't like. you know. >> bobby kennedy. >> franklin roosevelt, you know, teddy roosevelt. >> they identified. >> there is something. there is something here. when obama gets under his skin romney doesn't respond like, i am proud of what i have done. >> that's what a wealthy man says. he says, i don't know why they are picking on my dad. i inherited all of this money. yes do anything, you know. i was born with a silver spoon. why are you picking on my dad? the problem with that is i hope we do during the course of this campaign spend some time. if he wants us to look at his dad, i am proud of that. i would consider voting for his

father against barack obama, his father marched in the civil rights movement. his father signed michigan's public employee protections. his father was a critic of the vietnam war. his father did the biggest expansion of housing, public housing in american history under in connectionon. >> that's the thing that sealed the deal with me with george romney and not mitt romney was a picture of him with the supreme i saw. that was like wow. this is a republican that i could actually vote for. he seemed natural up there with diana ross. >> absolutely. >> i was like, where did the apple -- a refewtation of the notion that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. >> yeah. that's interesting. it's the kind of republican george romney that we don't have any more. >> right. >> we always save a seat at the table for our viewers and listeners around the country. can we invite sheila to join us?

she is a -- is in new cumberland pennsylvania. is that near the bakery. >> no. we are in the sus qua hanna valley, in the middle of pennsylvania. >> what do you think about this romney cookie comment? >> my thinkg about that is if romney were invited to one of those team owners' homes that he talks about and he was in the backyard at a picnic table, he seems some cookies he doesn't particularly like the look of would he have said they were 7-eleven cookies? we teach our children that if don't particularly like a food, you say, "no thank you. " "you don't do the ooh stuff. you say here is an educated man. he should know that. it also seems to me that, you know, that, you know he felt it was okay to say that to those working people in pennsylvania.

>> good comment, sheila. good comment. you almost imagine him like in that setting, he would clap his hands, jeez. get rid of these cookies. >> a little uncomfortable well these cookies being in my sight. >> if you are invited to a friend's house, you know again talking about this in the last hour, it's one of those little things. this is not going to decide but one of those little things that does tell you a lot about the person. >> it's not that little, though. because, as you have pointed out, it comes in a pattern. and there's a point where the pattern starts to click into people's heads. it's not one incident. it's incidents after something. it's always the caller is smart earn panel. she hit on something. >> and the host. >> i have been on a couple of talk radio shows talking about this and callers get it better than we do, i think. they are like, he was treating working people different than he would treat a bunch of ceos. >> right.

>> that came through? >> this is the full court press. on pot legalization day, april 20th. how about it? >> 4-20. let's celebrate. wake and bake. we will be right back. >> this is the bill press show. just refreshing to hear. no other television show does that. we're keeping it real.

eliot spitzer joins the new news network. >>we don't stop until we get answers that are truthful, serious and not based on simplistic answers. ♪ >> on your radio. on t.v. the bill press show new on current tv. >> here we go, 12 minutes now before the top of the hour. vicky soto victor i can't

defrancescto. from the university of texas in the next hour. talk about whether or not marco renew rubio really is the leading spokesperson for latinos in this country today. she is of a different opinion. we will find out. now in stud yo with us joe williams covers the white house for politico and john nichols covers washington for "the nation" magazine. gentlemen, great to see you. i want to come back to, whether -- we could talk about romney forever. but not to beat the hilary rosen flack again. the violence foragainst women is up for reauthorization. one would think that it would -- >> no-brainer almost. >> not that big a constituency for violence against women. >> 1994, joe biden writes this.

it passes overwhelmingly been reauthorized twice with overwhelming bi-partisan support. this year, republicans are trying to block it because they say democrats played a dirty trick. they extended protection to native american women, extended protection to women who are in same-sex marriage relationships and extended to undocumented women as long as they say they will cooperate with the ins. can republicans take this stand and survive politically? >> they are sure going to try. this is something nobody should be against in a logical world, but in base world, this is something they say we have to take a stand. what about other things than would help native americans? we don't want any of that stuff.

our base doesn't like that. it's un-american. we don't stand for it even if it means looking like we stand for violence against women >> lesbian s, native americans and immigrants. unfortunately when you are talking about the republican party politics -- and this gets out of the national level down into the states. native americans in some interior west states are -- they play the role that other minority groups do in other states. they are a target. >> that's right. >> too often in politics. immigrants, we know often be a target in politics. lesbian s and gays. so what it is, you are right about this base thing. you are absolutely right about it. but i want to emphasize, you go around the country, there is also a base of people who have been energized over the last 20 years since joe biden was actually quite visionary along with donna edwards, the primary outside advocate for it. now she is a member of congress.

kind of pull the cover away and focus on this issue. now, there are a lot of people, women and men across this country who treat this issue very seriously. i think a lot of them are republicans. my sense is that you are going to, in the coming week, see some republican members of the senate step up very loudly and say their party is wrong on this. >> there are, to be fair there are four republican senators who are co-responsos of this. it's just that the leadership and chuck grassley and all eight republicans on the senate judiciary committee voted against it. >> what's interesting to me is that they don't fear a political price to be paid for this. >> in the party. >> not within the party. they feel like this is a safe position to takeing this this is something we can do because our constituency supports it and we won't lose at the polls because of it. >> we have time from a quick comment from dan in chan 'til ly

ly. >> i think the left is missing something. this whole thing is they have been trying to draw people from amongst democrats. you look at that stage, ron paul is on that stage. newt gingrich, you know, clinton, you know, clinton era, santorum reagan democrats, they are picking off democrats and here is the thing. >> in the interest of time so romney appealing to go reagan democrats? >> i don't see it. >> he wants to. he would like to because he cannot be president of the united states if he doesn't. >> yeah. i mean i don't see it either joe. >> no. my thoughts are he has gone so far to the right and he's trying to capture the conservatives, tacking back to the center and try to get the reagan democrats is going to be a far stretch. >> we come back to he can connect with average people. reagan democrats are blue-clar, working class democrats. right?

>> that's why he went to the nra. they pulled ted nugent stuff. he desperately want to reach out to beyond his base. it's just then he goes and can't handle the cookies. >> he can't handle the cookies. >> a bumper sticker. >> he can't handle the cookies. >> you can't handle the cookies. >> all right. hey, guys, great fun. joe, thank you so. >> my pleasure. >> come back often. >> love to. >> john nichols, if you are not here by phone. we will tell you what the president is up to today. >> this is the bill press show.

it's completely inappropriate for television. ♪ this is the bill press show.

>> riebach coming up at the top. next hour here on the full-court press and president obama at the whitehouse today a little light schedule. he will get his daily briefing this morning at about 10:15 followed by a meeting with senior advisors and then at 4:45 this afternoon, out on the south lawn where the president there was yesterday with the crimson tide. he will he will be welcoming the wounded warrior project sold ride to the white house. this is the 6th annual wounded warriors ride and the 6th year in a row they have come to the white house. it's a moving ceremony there. and then, at 12:30, jay carney will be giving his regular white house briefing and i'll be there representing all of you. vicky soto from the university of texas talking being latinos

for obama will also be up in the next hour. lots coming up. headache hang around. >> this is the bill press show.

♪ >> april 20th. good morning. welcome to the bill press show your new morning show on current tv live from our's capitol capitol -- our nation's capitol. we take your calls and give you a chance to get involved in the conversation. here is one of the things that has me worked up this morning, a catholic bishop in peoria

illinois compared president obama to hitler because he wants to make birth control accessible through to all american women through their basic insurance policy. what about the fact that 98% of catholic women say they have used birth control? what does that make them? little nazis? get out of here. first the latest with current tv news update here is jacki schechner in los angeles. good morning, jacki. >> good morning, bill. good morning, everyone. cnn reporting this morning that the republican national committee is putting more resources into its social media outreach this election section. the rnc is launching a facebook tool that will let users share updates with friends called the gop social victory center. they love that word victory. it's been in development for a year now they say they plan to do the traditional campaign office outreach online and will

send news directly to people's profiles. it's also going to be used for the rnc to get personal information. do you want to have dinner with president obama? what if i sweeten the deal with george clooney. clooney is hosting a $6 million dollar on may 10th. if i am late for work on the 11th, you will know why. the president's re-election is using the high-dollar ent to lure small donors. you and a guest can be entered to win a chance to attend the 150 person star-studded event. they will pay $40,000 a ticket. and as george zimmerman heads to court this morning, the officials in florida are one step closer to taking a look at the stand your ground law. a task force has been put together. 17 people are picked to hear testimony about the controversial legislation that let's people use deadly force if

they, themselves, feel threatened. we are in chat. currents.com/bill currents.com/billpress. we will be right back if you have copd like i do you know how hard it can be to breathe and what that feels like. copd includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. spiriva helps control my copd symptoms by keeping my airways open a full 24 hours. plus, it reduces copd flare-ups. spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled

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vaccinations save lives. >>we are very committed to the safety of our products. >>but are mandatory shots doing more harm than good? >>i see children injured every day. >>the controversy has gone viral. >>how many are being sacrificed? >>see "the greater good" on current tv sunday at 4/3c.

>>and while you watch, join the live chat at current.com/greatergood. >>our system is not working. >>there are always some risks. >>i don't think it's that back and white. the science is not there. >>only on current tv. ♪ >> broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the bill press show. >> how about it? friday april 20th, so good to see you today. yeah 4-20, the magic day for potheads of america. everybody celebrates and gets reenergized to fight for at

least the decriminalization if not the legalization of marijuana. it's a magic day for many reasons and good to have you with us as we cover the big issues of the day here from our nations's capitol washington, d.c. in ourmentings t.v. studio/radio studio and book factory right on capitol hill just down the street from the united states capitol building. great to see you today. thank you for joining us. you know you can join the conversation at any time. love to here from you at 866-55-press. >> that's our toll-free number. 866-55-77377. thank you again for joining us. a big good morning to you and to our team press peter ogburn. team press peter okay burn and dan henning and cyprian and celebrate a milestone of sorts. this is the end of our fourth week on current tv. >> yeah.

>> and so far as i know, we still have a job. hey. >> back on monday. >> miracles never cease. right? >> we haven't screwed up too bad, i don't think. i don't think. >> i don't think. >> no news is good news. >> right. >> we will take it. >> all right. we will take it indeed. it's great fun to be with you because we have a lot to core. yesterday, we marked the passing of the world's oldest teenager dick clark another great entertainer past yesterday lavonne helm from the band. >> which band? >> the band. >> right. this is one of the greatest songs. yes realize it. >> this is him singing ♪ take a load off. ♪ take a load off. ♪ take a load. >> yeah. >> one of the drummers he was one of the guys that could

really sing and play drums at the same time. >> the other members of that band. >> yeah, robby robertson, present with banco. they were a really really great band. >> and the backing band for bob dylan. >> is that right? >> yeah. there is a great -- >> talk about a pothead. >> you could go out. you could get any of the band's albums and they are good. music from the big pink is fantastic but to watch the last waltz, the concert movie they did. >> i will have to get it. >> awesome. >> lots coming up today. we are going to be talking with the mayor of minneapolis, vice chair of the democratic committee and one of the most out spoken surrogates for the obama campaign filed out what's up with the obama campaign. didn't hear too much about campaign. hear a lot about what's happening at the whitehouse. dr. de francisco-soto from the university of texas to talk

about what's happening with latinos and whether marco rubio is going to automatically get the -- all of the latino vote for mitt romney. but first. >> this is the full court press. >> a check of other headlines on this friday, ncaa basket ball coach got big news as she was getting ready to talk to the media, the university of tennessee women's team president obama announcing he will award her the presidential medal of freedom, highest civilian honor. she took her team to eight national championships, 1,098 wins more than any other college basketball coach. >> i definitely want to go to that ceremony at the whitehouse. >> no more bugs in your drink at starbucks. bloomberg reporting they have responded to a campaign asking them to stop using an extract made from dried insects which was used to color some of their

frappe frappuccinos. they will use a lycopene. they were not kosher vegan and they were bugs. no more bugs in the drinks. >> wait a minute. they were using insect extract in the drinks at starbucks. >> they call it a frappuccino. >> the pink slime frappuccino. >> what insects, pray tell. >> stink bugs. >> stink bugs. >> and in sports new york yankees curtis granderson made history, the first player to hit three home runs in the yankee stadium. he hit them consecutively in his first three at bats. each was a home run, the 12 major league plan of care to hit three homeruns. he ended up 5 for 5. >> this guy had a good night. 1, 2, 3, three home runs >> a good weekend.

>> dan thank you very much. yes, indeed, in many ways campaign is underway. we have seen lots of activity through the primary on the part of the santorum campaign the caism n campaign and the romney campaign. what's happening with the obama campaign? has it started yet? here is a man who knows. he is the vice chair of the democratic national committee as well as a surrogate for the obama campaign and has a full-time job as mayor of minnesota, minnesota, mayor r.t.rieback. good to have you with us. >> i can't believe you set me up by talking about my minnesota twins getting humiliated by curtis granderson last night. >> we didn't do that deliberately. that was impressive. >> very cool and 2 out of 2 in yankee's stadium will take it. good to be with you this morning. >> there you go. so again, i go to the white house, cover the briefings,

everything, and they are always talking about: is this issue or that issue. very little about campaign. so what is going on at the campaign based in chicago? is it up and underway? >> actually, there is one incredibly well-organized campaign in this country that has been consistent for four years. the obama effort never stopped. we build a grassroots organization. we kept up with organizing for america. part of what i have been doing and many others is going around the country, opening up offices while the republicans have just been moving from one state to the other. so here is an example. i go into new hampshire a couple of days before the primary opened, i think the 8th office there and there is a for-rent sign on romney's. we go into, you know we have more offices in iowaeye than any of the campaigns even when the republicans have the caucuses there. that story is repeated across the country. when -- let's see.

two days ago i was in scranton at our office there and we had a group of labor leaders meeting a couple of days ago. we have had a group of young people meeting in minnesota and the good news is, we have a great message of all of these republican debates, we will never get back. we haven't heard a darn thing about them about going back to the bad old days of the george w. bush. the president is doing great things for the middle class. today, we will focus a lot on his efforts to keep trying to lower student debt. this whole idea he has taken the middleman out of debt but trying to extend the reduction in the debt floor for our young people. there is a pretty clear thing going on. >> i was going to say, so you have been under the radar kind of building or campaign has, you are part of it, building

structure, building organization in every one of the 50 states. >> yeah. >> where they have been flying around. >> theink about this as an all-star term. four years ago, we had two phenomenal can dazed barack obama and hillary clinton. they both have great organizations and they were competing with each other. now, they are all together. and what we have been doing is laying out all of this work and, you know, policyresident obama did not win the last election. he would be the first to tell you that. it was this network of people who called each other and said we have to get somebody who is going to stands up for us and not the interests that bush and romney stood up for. >> that's how we won. >> that's how we are doing it again. the good news is, you know it's really showing. the country has gotten a look at mitt romney. they realize inside he wants to turn the clock back on women turn the clock back on the economy and get us back into the old mess and we are just carrying our message. >> i saw somewhere this morning,

i am not sure what site it was on, vice president joe biden saying, we are going to play in arizona and it may be even win arizona. i mean we all think of arizona as this hopeless red state. do you see some states that might really be in play for president obama this year that we could never have picked up before? >> absolutely. i mean the map this year is going to be very different. in presidential campaigns, you have to pick places where he will win the electoral votes. usually, it's kind of a thin margin, ohio or florida or something like that. this year, our map is much broughter for a few reasons. and one thing that's really happened is that when you look at the polling especially among women and latinos, those two groups, there has been a huge move among independents for the president. women especially have really gotten a look at this idea that they are actually serious on the republican side about eliminating contraception support and really hurting, you

know, the 98% of women who use them. the subject who rules from some congressman in washington, that scares the heck out people. when you look at latinos. they have seen mitt romney. he has done the most extreme anti-immigrant campaign of any presidential major party nominee that we can think of. and so arizona suddenly is in play. women, latinos in arizona. they think hey i may have been on the fence but i have got to get away from this romney thing. that's helped. frankly, you know, the president's work on the economy has helped a lot. he came in. he is losing 750,000 jobs a month now moving in the right direction. >> the other thing it seems to me mr. mayor, rt rybeck mayor of minnesota, minneapolis minnesota. we hear a lot of romney. we have seen a lot of romney.

people don't know what romney stands for. he keeps a lot -- he doesn't say a lot about what he might do. he says, you know i know about jobs. but he hasn't told us what he would do about jobs. he hasn't told us what the government agencies -- he told us -- he is a secret man, i guess, is what i am saying. >> one of the things about the president is that people very long had a chance to look at this guy for five years. they have seen him in massive crisis when he had to make a call on bin laden and they say the economy will collapse. the auto industry is about to collapse. >> right. >> one by one, you get a chance to look at this guy and he is somebody who has a core and who can make a decision and who has his heart in the right place. i think that's where generally the country sees him. romney is didn't. we know from weather vanes. this guy has put it at a whole new level. i have followed him around the

country. we all have. he has said different things in different places. you know, there are 50 states but there is only one youtube. it's all out there. saying different things. you go back a few years and you see he has taken totally different positions. i think at the end of the day, issues come and go and they matter a lot. but what you really want is somebody whose gut you can trust in a whitecrisis. we don't know what mitt romney stands for. i don't know that he is convinced that he knows what he stands for other than the fact that he thinks he is smarter than everyone else and that hasn't always been the case because he had a terrible record at job creation in massachusetts. he was in the private sector and he did make a lot of money for a very now, very very wealthy people. i credit him for success but i also think he is being held accountable for the thousands and thousands of people whose jobs were eliminated so that a few people at the top could make a lot of profit. interestingly, the only

consistent thing in his political life mirrors that in his private life or business life that he thinks all you do is you give big, big tax cuts to those very very top earners and somehow, that's going to help you and i get a job. i'm sorry. it hasn't worked under bush didn't work for mitt romney in the private sector and americans don't want to go back to that crap. >> finally,s, mr. mayor, the big question i hear about the obama campaign is: will the president be able to rally all of those forces you mentioned that are responsible for getting him elected in 2008 who may be a little disaffected now or tired. it's four years later. are we going to be able to generate that kind of enthusiasm from the liberal base? >> well, you know, i worried about that a lot before i got out on the road but, you know, let me take you to a small headquarters in sioux city iowa. here we are. it's during the republican caucus, you know, paying no attention to democrats.

you walk into the headquarters and 20 people main making phone calls. isn't that great sioux city iowa has dedicated volunteers. one place after the other after the other. the place in, you know scranton yesterday and open up the headquarters in bethelehem yesterday or two days ago, i'm sorry. i was there. i can go through all of these places, florida we opened the 14th office and people are out on the street. we can't fit them into the headquarters. it's happening out there. it won't be the same. okay? there was -- and i was the first mayor to endorse the president. i was on the ground floor on that. four years ago there were real deeply, deeply passionate folks and there are a lot of those but it will be different. it will be broader. >> uh-huh. >> it will be much more organized but people have seen the president who turned the country around, who saved an auto industry. i can go on and on. and they changed what the

republicans voir dire offered. and romney is not somebody who is generating any enthusiasm and the president is out there. >> absolutely. mr. mayor, thanks so much for joining us this morning. thank you for your leadership. we will talk to you. hope to talk to you several times between now and november. mayor rt rybak. mayor of minneapolis. this. >> this is the bill press show. ♪ and there's only one place you'll find us.

i know this stuff and i love it and i try to bring that to the show. >> ♪♪ >> heard around the country and seen on current tv, this is the bill press show. >> twenty-six minutes after the hour. it's friday. ♪

>> every friday, we like to take you back quickly and look at our favorite five sound bytes at the week and work our way to the top. starting with village fox, republican from north carolina don't complain to her about your student debt. >> number 5. >> you know i have very little tolerance for people who tell me that they graduate with $200,000 of debt or even $80,000 of debt because there is no reason torefor that. >> no, you lazy bums. what are you doing with debt. >> ted nugent at the nra got out of control. >> number 4. >> the if the coyote is pissing on your couch, it's not his fault. it's your fault for not shooting him. >> don't invite mitt romney over for cookies. >> did you make these? no. no. they came from the local -- >> baker. >> 7-eleven. she wanted to him out.

>> how about it? shamus on the rooftop for 12 hours, but ann said, he loved it. >> number 2. >> certainly with the attention its received. >> you said it was the most wounding thing of the campaign so far. >> the dog loved it. >> but the dog got sick. right? u.n. >> once, we traveled all the time and he ate the turkey on the counter. heed the runs. >> bob decker will have a break on the sean hannity. doesn't know the camera is on. >>nu 1. >> started you don't know what the (bleep) you are talking about. >> (bleep). >> what are you doing? >> failure. >> i can't stand right-wingers. >> sean hannity had to apologize for bob beck he will dropping the f bomb and i don't mean fox. on fox news of all places. hey, so marco rubio, people are saying he is a leading latino spokesperson in the entire

country to all latinos and latinos agree? talk about that next. >> this is the bill press show ♪ is on the new news network. >>welcome to the war room. >>jennifer granholm joins current tv. a former two-term governor. >>make your voice heard. >>detremined to find solutions. >>that partnership in order to invest in our country is critical. >>driven to find the truth. >>how did romney get his groove back? >>fearless, independent and above all, politically direct.

her unique mix of comedy and politics to current tv. >> it's like a reality show, they're just turning cameras on and we just do our thing. >>politically direct to me means no b.s., the real thing, cutting through the clutter. i'm energized to start my show everyday because it's fun, because i care about what's going on in this country, rather than some sort of tired banter it is actual water cooler talk it's the way people really talk about these issues. we've always considered ourselves a comedy show. let me just say i am not ready for my close up. i think it's important to laugh. i think it will be exciting, because you can't script three hours of radio. what is going on? i can't tell you how many times right wingers call the show and say, "i don't agree with anything you say, but your show

is funny as hell." the only thing that can save america now, current tv. can i say that? ♪ >> this is the full court press, the bill press show, live on your radio and on current tv. >> today, it is the bill press show, the full court press, 33 minutes after the hour now on this friday, weed, friday april 20th. all you potheads can celebrate. coming to you live from our nation's capitol brought to you today by the communication workers of america, the good men and women of the communication union under larry koen building

the union for the information age. you can find out more about their good work by going to the website, cwa-union.org. we have been talking earlier today about two of the important mayors, rybak from minneapolis, about two of the important constituencies constituencies. women and latinos. here representing both from the university of texas, dr. victor i can't de francesca-soto. >> my pleasure. >> thank you for coming into the studio. i want to start with mark 0 rubio. a lot of talk about his being nominated for vice president along with mitt romney on the ticket with mitt romney and yesterday, he was again in denial mode. here he is. >> if asked, will you say no? >> yeah. i don't want to be the vice president right now. >> if mitt romney asks, you will say no? >> no. >> well we just put out this

book. i think he is run for vice president. i guess my real question to you is: is he the person now that latinos, latinos around the country look up to at your leader? >> absolutely not, bill. marco rubio is a very regional face with a regional name. let's not forget he is of cuban american dissent. they are less than 5% of the latino population. so he may be the face of cuban americans, republican cuban americans, florida latinos but not the rest of them. >> and where is he on immigration issues? >> he has tried to walk both lines but figured out he couldn't. so he is pretty much in lockstep with the republican view. he supported the arizona law. >> did he. >> he did. he believes it has to go through an enforcebl online approach.

it's not a top concern for them. they are not anti-immigration but it's not that pressing concern that it would be for, say mexican americans. >> they have one concern, castro. >> absolutely. >> getting their houses back. >> it does not the die. >> he hangs in there. he really does. >> if mark yes, we don't know where he stands, he is all over the place, do we know where mitt romney is on the immigration issue? there is a store in "the new york times" he got the endorsement of a guy named chris culback who is one of the tough asses, if you will on immigration, nothing resembling

amnesty. pat buchanan, send them back. chris copeck. romney loved his endorsement. now, in the general election will romney shift back. >> he is going to try to run back to the middle but he has taken himself so far to the right on many issues in the immigration issue in particular that he won't be able to. he came out strongly and said i would veto the dream act. >> right. >> he came back and said but i think i would make an exception for military service. you start to see him trying to soften soften. first of all, because the republican base won't let him. it's too little too late. >> it's going to be an issue in the campaign do you believe? >> i don't, bill. i think at

this point, they have alienated the bulk of the latino population which tends to be democratic and of mexican american dissentence. in looking forward, romney's strategy of the latino pokes, first of all, hold the line with the can you beans being republican. keep that support going. latino democrats. don't waste your time on them. they are not going to cross over. you are not booked. thirdly, those who cross over out of florida who may support them but at the same time feel funny about his relationship with colback it's woo them back make them feel soft and fuzzy. >> that's the only way he is going to make any latino strategy. >> at the same time, a lot of them that i have spoken to admit they are not that happy with president obama on this issue either because he hasn't really shown much initiative, hasn't

pushed legislation, doesn't seem to have made it a prior to. fair criticism? >> fair enough. during the 2008 election, well, then candidate obama sat down with jorge ramos. in my first year in office i will pass immigration reform. nothing happened so there is that hurt feeling. however, he is the letter of two evils. the obama campaign is really highlighting, okay, we did not come through on immigration but look, we have done a lot on education, student loans, the health care reform. >> jobs. >> jobs just earlier this week, bill, the obama reelection campaign came out with the latinos for obama push highlighting all of these things and being very quiet on the issue of immigration. >> i saved that article knowing you were coming in today. obama campaign launches all out blitz for the latino vote.

so despite the fact that there is maybe this big hole right? they are still going to say we are still the best. >> the latino support stays in the mid to high 60s for the president. so, you know they may not be thrilled but they understand that the other option isn't by reviewable for the economic interests at hand. >> how important to the obama campaign or into the romney campaign? >> it is very important because of their location. as a whole, the latino population is 60% half of that but that those on some of the states colorado nevada mexico and florida, and even in states like wisconsin while latinos may be only about 4% of the population, in a tight race, that can make the difference. >> that's why you see so much

focus on the latino population. >> and arizona, you didn't mention arizona. >> i am an arizona native. >> there you have it. >> we were just talking to the may at the top of the hour mayor rybak and i saw joe biden said we are going to carry arizona. i think of arizona, write it off. john mccain, red state. right? >> it's wishful thinking. maybe and in a couple of years but right now arizona is red. the latino population because of sb 1070 has been mobilized. i think this is coming out of what happened in california with pete wilson and prop 187 where appear prop 187 came about, the latino population said we will to mobilize it. >> i was the democratic state chair in california at that time. and art torres who succeeded me followed me as state chair of

california and we learned a lot in the community, east la. i ran voter registration there trying to get people to register to vote and those people just couldn't care less until prop 187. >> yes. >> when pete wilson basically declared war, they dot up and said whoa. a real pour in california a lot of elected officials and people running for office and democratic because of that and so every 4 years i notice launching latinos for obama for campaign, that ed gillespie i think from the republican national committee said we are going to make a big drive to get the latino votes. every four years they say that, but in between, you know, they are not doing anything.

>> with the exception, remember during the bush administration, there was a much more outreach to latinos. bush in his years as texas governor had a very good relationship with latinos in texas. >> in the beginning. in the beginning. he tried for immigration reform and his own party shot it down. >> vicky desoto in studio with us from the university of texas. latinos for mark 0 rubio. join the conversation any time at 86655 press. we will be right back. that people have freedom. >>driven to find the truth... >>what's really going on? t.v., this is the bill press show.

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

>> ♪ >> heard around the country and seen on current tv, this is the bill press show. >> 14 minutes before the top of the hour a fellow at the university of texas, lbj school dr. de francesco-soto. talking about the latin 0 vote among other topics and take your calls at 8 since 6-55-press. first, a quick note to you, those of you who may have been thinking for a long time we have to do something about this house. i have to do something about some new blinds shades shutters or drapes. as far as i am concerned there is only one place to go, not your big local hardware store or discount store or even your local buoutique for window treatments. go to blinds.com. >> that's what i have done. got new drapes for our house here on capitol hill peter and

lucinda did as well getting new blinds for their home. here is a word from terri one of our listeners who said i first heard about blinds.com on the radio show and thought why not check them out myself. boy am i glad i did from the best pricing to the next day delivery and the quality of the product. it was all great. >> that's my experience, too. everything is risk-free. they will tell you how to make the measurements how to install the blinds. we have free color samples free shipping, no sales tax in most states and prices that absolutely crush home improvement store prices. so check them out at blinds.com blinds.com for blinds, shades, shutters or drapes blinds.com. vicky let's say hello to tony from chicago. what do you say? >> second generation mexican american from chicago area and i don't know mark yes rubio from anybody else on the street so to say he represents this homognus

latino group is ridiculous at best best. how do we motivate a group that registers to vote and votes in numbers. what i hear is there is nothing in it for us. how do we get the demographic motivated to get out there ren sister and vote in november? >> that's a key question. >> that is such an important question, tony. you know, we are at a double disadvantage with the latin 0 community because we have the lowest resources and and the youngest position. those are two things that generally repress voter turn out. >> scs, income they are just at the lowest of the ranking. and what this means is we need to focus on mobilization to make up for those resources. and one very interesting initiative that is being put into place and that i am very excited about and that i think is going to address this issue

of how do you get latinos mobilized is focusing on the latino, not that i am biased, but, you know, i think the latino in our culture is really at the center of the family universe. and if the latino says, you know, honey, take out the trash, you are going to take out the trash. if we -- we found in focus groups if you get the latino the mother, the wife to get the family to mobilize, to register to turn out and vote, the family will follow the mother's lead. so really focusing strategcle on a key player within the community, the latino and having that radiate out. this is an initiative that is started. >> lalo? >> the national association of latino-elected officials. >> and this war on women, which we have really seen which is a column in the hill newspaper this morning is real and it's ongoing directly impacts that

latino women. >> yeah. >> this is just another factor that helps mobilize that demgrative. women are being mobilized, you know, just as a gift from god for the administration that all of these issues are coming up. and then in particular with latinos and there is this conventional wisdom that latinos and latinos are a lot more conservative than the general population. but that's not really true. if you look at the data in terms of gay marriage latinos actually support gay marriage at slightly higher rates than the general position. in terms of abortion latinos, the demographic of 18 to about 30 are almost at the same rates of being pro-choice as non-latinos. it's this myth that carries o sure, there are some very conservative socially conservative elements of the latino position but it's not the whole population. >> let's say hello to john down in florida with a big latino

population. hi, john. >> how are you doing? >> all right. good. what do you say? >> well i have been listening to your lady commentator. she is 100% right. rubio doesn't respect the mexican americans, south americans, doesn't represent anybody, but the small percentage of cubans in florida who have been voting republican ever since they hit the beach. they have their own little -- they hit the beach. they are citizens. >> yeah. >> that's how that goes. the cookie issue i wish you would check out the cookie jar from a corporate raider's point of view. it's the biggest asset a company has and usually bankrupt the company and take it and put it in the pocket. >> yeah. >> i see the analogy there where you are going on the cookies. i want to go back to rubio but for some reason, people see him as the golden boy, you know, right now, rubio, mark yes

rubio. >> he is so handsome. he is very well spoken, he is very smooth. he is good with people. he has been strategic in positioning himself within the republican leadership. >> yes. >> yeah. i am not surprised that he is the golden boy. i would be surprised if he wasn't, having done everything that he has done. >> but he is not going to be the pied piper of the latino community. >> en if et cetera on the ballot? >> i would love nothing more than to see rubio on the ballot from the perspective of having something fun to talk about but it's not going to happen . >> all right. hey, vicky, great to see you in studio. thank you so much for coming in. thank you for your good work on so many issues down at the university of texas and the lbj school. love to wistvisit with you there sometime. >> absolutely. >>. >> next time you are in washington, come back. i will wrap things up on weed with my parting shot. >> radio meets television. the bill press show. now, on current tv.

rr it's completely inappropriate for television.

♪ >> the parting shot with bill press. this is the bill press show. >> and on this friday april 20th, my parting shot for today and today's parting shot brought to you by sherwin-williams. make the most of your color with the very best paint. ask sherwin-williams. we have been telling you today, this is april 20th, a national holiday for million dollars of americans because, as many of you know, it's 4-20. 4-20, the day to celebrate the legalization of marijuana.

festivities that i am more than happy to recognize and join. i am not ashamed to admit i smoked more than my share of marijuana. anybody my age who did not try pot in college is either hopelessly out of touch or a big, fat liar. i strongly believe pot should not only be decriminalized. it should be made legal. it is a recreational drug no more dangerous than alcohol and less than cigarettes. it is not addictive. despite the scare tactics, it is not a gateway to more serious drugs. many states like california marijuana is also a major cash crop, but it's all part of the underground economy. so the only answer, i believe, is to legalize pot regulate it, tax it, make money off of it, let people enjoy it and freeflers up to spend more time on more serious crimes. for pot heads everywhere, that's my parting shot for today.

hey, folks, have a great, great weekend and come back come back and see us right here on this. >> this is the bill press show.