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>> bill: you got it. 25 minutes after the hour. is people have put this plan together for joe ricketts out in chicago say our plan is to do exactly what john mccain would not let us do. show the world how barack obama's opinions of america and the world were formed and why the influence of that misguided mentor and our president's formative years among left wing intellectuals has brought our country to its knees. yep. they're going to bring him back. reverend jeremiah wright. how desperate can they get? joey. some people are going to fall for that. we had the guy yesterday that state senator from south carolina. you didn't think people are going to believe this crap? this is one guy who will. >> crying out. daddy wears a turban.

mother wears a rubber on her head and she's a sheik and trying to be a methodist. gets to greenville around the bob jones university people, they're not going to like that. with pat robertson sending out that e-mail today people need to look at that. we've got a raghead in washington and we don't need a raghead in the state house. >> bill: this campaign -- jeremiah wright's directed right at yahoos like this. >> caller: i didn't know archie bunker was on the radio anymore. hey, i got news for the ricketts family his brother tom ricketts is a gay man. why would a gay man who owns the chicago cubs be fighting against barack obama after what -- how he likes the gay people and he's for -- i can't believe i heard this today! go white sox!

>> bill: yeah. this is right in your home base there. again, i never heard of this guy joe ricketts. i'm sure the people of chicago will be surprised when they find out what the owner of the cubs is up to. bob is in palatine, illinois. what do you say? >> todd ricketts is his son, not his brother but he's -- he appointed -- but this isn't new for rick. in the last election cycle he formed the pac and he put $600 million in it and he gave it all to sharon engel running against terry reed then a month later tom ricketts asked the taxpayers of illinois to cough up $150 million to fix wrigley field. >> bill: oh, really? after he put all of that money into sharon engel. thank you, bob. we're -- and joey. we're finding out more and more about the ricketts family in chicago. joe ricketts is the guy who is

behind this. he's the money behind it. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." it's go time. >>every weeknight cenk uygur calls out the mainstream media. >>the guys in the middle class the guys in the lower end got screwed again. >>i think you know which one we're talking about. the overwhelming majority of the country says"tax the rich, don't go to war." >>just wanted to clarify that.

>> announcer: heard around the country, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 33 minutes after the hour on a thursday, may 17. we're talking about -- reported in "the new york times" this morning, front page about yet another g.o.p. super pac. this one is funded by joe ricketts, the founder of td ameritrade and of course, the father of the family that owns

the chicago cubs. his son, tom is the chairman of the cubs but it is joe ricketts who, according to the "new york times" is putting up all of the money, $10 million for a campaign set to launch the week of the democratic convention tying barack obama again back to the reverend jeremiah wright and this plan says if only john mccain had been willing to run his entire campaign on jeremiah wright, obama would never have been elected president. they're going to go back to that this year. meanwhile, out on the campaign trail, big endorsement for mitt romney yesterday. and his search for the perfect running mate continues. we want to check in with somebody who's been on the campaign trail for probably the last year for yahoo!.com, chris moody joining us on our news line this morning. chris, how are you? >> good morning. it is great to be here. >> bill: good to have you with

us. so mitt romney got the endorsement of herman cain yesterday, chris. i guess that means it is all over. >> it is all over. barack obama may as well just start packing things up in the white house. the funny thing is this is herman cain's second time endorsing mitt romney. he endorsed him far more enthusiastically in 2008 and it is kind of funny to compare the two statements -- the first time he gave -- he wrote an entire article about why mitt romney was great and yesterday all he said was well, if you didn't like him you better start liking him now or get over it. >> bill: he said his position has evolved which it has. i was there in charleston, south carolina, when he made his first endorsement which was he endorsed the american people for president. you remember that. >> that's right. this is i guess four endorsements we can count. >> bill: he endorsed newt gingrich after that, of course. >> right. he endorsed herman cain.

>> bill: this is number four. just about what it's worth. now you've written yesterday about there were two people it seems to me who are falling all over themselves on trying to be vice president, at least on the running, on the ticket with mitt romney. the two being marco rubio and chris christie. could chris christie ever fill the role of number two? >> well, folks in new jersey are at least a slight majority of them don't think he could handle being number two. there is a poll that came out yesterday. 52% said this guy can't play second fiddle to anybody. but the good news for chris christie in that poll, he's popular in new jersey. they like him. he could possibly win another term. but you know, the question is could he do it? i think he could also evolve as well. >> bill: you know, he is --

there's something even though i disagree with his policies and what he tried to do, there is something -- i find attractive about him in that he's just like an unguided missile. he speaks his mind. he doesn't seem to give a damn what people think. and i like that about him. i like that about bob kerrey when he was in the u.s. senate. i think that's what makes him popular in sort of a soprano-type figure in new jersey. >> that could be what the republicans need. during the primaries ann colter told conservatives if you don't have chris christie running for president, barack obama's going to win a second term. maybe if they could throw him there as vice president he could be dispatched around the country. he's popular among conservatives and republicans all over. he's not going to carry new jersey for romney if he's on the ticket. polls show pretty much obama's got that state pretty locked down. that's not what he would be used for. he has national appeal not just state appeal. >> bill: i have to say -- i

know him just a little bit. met him a few times and watched them certainly in action. the idea that he would be number two to anybody i think is real problematic. certainly number two to a guy like mitt romney, right? who is no -- doesn't necessarily set a crowd on fire. hardly. >> that could just be the their at this he likes -- he's the boss. he runs things. and we have a guy in the vice-presidency right now that makes some noise every once in awhile, joe biden. he probably didn't think he could be number two as well. he's doing a fairly good job despite a few gaps here and there that might change the entire news cycle for two weeks or a month. >> bill: what about marco rubio? clearly, the republican party knows it is in trouble with the latino community. marco rubio, god he really wants it. he's got a book out now. all of these tv appearances. he's done everything but beg for

the job it seems to me. is he the guy? >> rubio has been getting in quite a few speeches in washington, d.c. and back down in florida. but definitely increased in the past couple of weeks. the thing about rubio though is he's so young. it would be a shame for him to have you know, a loss this early in his career. he would go back to the senate then he would be damaged goods. this is a guy that i think they want in the farm team to mature and to, you know, to build up over the next few years so they can use him later on -- not use him but he can contribute later on. so i don't know if he's necessarily going to be the pick but to win florida would be huge for mitt romney. so, you know, i think it is still in the cards. >> bill: chris moody is political reporter for yahoo! news. i want to make sure you can find it online. news.yahoo!..com. finally, we've been talking about this "new york times"

police. i know you haven't had a chance to get into it yet. my question is -- this super pac by the ricketts family in chicago, their plan is to unleash this series of full page newspaper ads and tv ads tying barack obama to jeremiah wright and do this during the week of the democratic convention. i guess my question to you is from your coverage and your experience, do you think that going way back to jeremiah wright is the best line of attack for -- against barack obama and do you think that's one that mitt romney wants to pursue? >> i don't think it is one that romney wants to pursue because the american people really have it time to -- have had time to digest this. there is no doubt i would say specifically fox news, the reel clips of his news sermon from 2008. but do the ricketts have anything new is the question. are they going to be dropping some kind of bombshell. do they have another tape or are we going to be rehashing what we saw in 2008?

if it is the latter, people will see that and kind of shrug. it's been in the back of their mind even if they haven't been thinking about it for a good three and a half years. they might glance at it and just walk on right by. >> bill: no matter how much mitt romney wants to talk about the economy there will always be some of the misfits in the republican party who say no, no, no, we want to talk about birth control or we want to talk about jeremiah wright. of course that's mitt romney's problem, not ours. chris, good to have you with us this morning. thanks for getting up early for us and thanks for your good job on the campaign trail. >> great to be here. thanks for having me. >> bill: talk to you again soon. let's go back to our calls. if you want to join the conversation about this latest line of attack the "the obama hate machine," this isn't the koch brothers, this is joe ricketts from chicago saying let's make an issue of jeremiah wright and roll back the old sermons again. robert out in chicago. >> caller: good morning. i want to start off by saying go

white sox and i'm just glad our team is not affiliated with those super pacs. he is entitled to whatever he wants to believe in but i think the distortion and the ignorant -- just false statements coming from the right is getting ridiculous. >> bill: robert, here's the thing. think about this. if you and i were bless and lucky enough to have just so much money that we could do whatever we wanted with $10 million, right, wouldn't even miss it, can you think of all of the good things you can do with $10 million and he's using it for -- >> how about just investing in his own company and taking care of its employees? or taking care of the community let alone blowing it. >> bill: yeah. maybe using it for some improvements on wrigley field rather than have the taxpayers pay for it. so many things. putting a computer -- giving every school kid in america a

laptop or as many as you could. feeding the hungry. feeding the poor. public housing. so much you could do with $10 million or more that he's got. he's using it for attack ads on jeremiah wright attack -- on barack obama. >> caller: good morning. i think we can hit mr. ricketts where it hurts. i'm an avid cubs fan but i think we can boycott him. >> bill: that's one way we could do it. we've had so many callers say go white sox. >> caller: i'm going to stop watching the cubs as soon as the articles start coming out. >> bill: you get ready for it. after this bad publicity maybe he'll change his mind. if he doesn't, you tell your friends, no more cubbies. we'll take more calls. this is just outrageous. the "the obama hate machine" lives. it is just getting worse and worse. this is going to be the ugliest

nastiest campaign we have ever seen. it is all going to be directed against barack obama. and now jeremiah wright. not talking about obama's record again. talking about the guy that used to be his pastor ten years ago. 1-866-55-press. five years ago. >> announcer: on your radio on tv the "bill press show." new on current tv. 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.

(vo) don't miss your chance to catch the premiere of the gavin newsom show. with special guests: >> i'm lance armstrong. if somebody put my back into a corner, i'm coming out swinging. >> announcer: listen and watch the "bill press show" on your favorite radio station and now on current tv.

this is the "bill press show." welcome to the spin room. >> bill: 13 minutes before the top of the hour. back to your calls about jeremiah wright. is this the way to beat barack obama? can you believe how low the republicans will stoop and here we go again with citizens united, enabling these wealthy individuals, the latest joe ricketts to go out and launch a hate campaign, put millions and millions, no limit to the amount of money they can put into these super pacs to create their own super pacs. 1-866-55-press. first jumping into the spin room, john boehner yesterday of course saying we've got to do something about this budget deficit and the fact that we haven't -- so he says, we're going to shut -- we're willing to shut down the government unless we can have trillions of dollars more in domestic spending cuts. nothing on the pentagon. of course.

and john boehner says we're only doing the country a favor by doing this. >> there's debt -- this debt crisis is standing in the way of a lot of employers hiring new people. the fact that no one knows what the tax rates will be in january. causes businesspeople and investors to sit on their hands because the picture is uncertain. >> bill: there's so much wrong with that spin. first of all they have killed -- they said they were going to do something about jobs. they said give us control of the house two years ago. we're going to make jobs our number one priority. they've done nothing about jobs. they've killed every jobs bill that democrats or president obama put forward. and he doesn't talk about the fact that so much of this debt is due to the fact that george bush gave us an unfunded war in iraq, an unfunded war in afghanistan. unfunded bush tax cuts and an unfunded medicare part d all inherited from george w. bush thank you very much. and of course talk about uncertainty.

what about the uncertainty that the republicans say we're not -- we are going to refuse to let the bush tax cuts expire, right? and so they're the ones that have put uncertainty on how much more debt is going to be incurred $3.5 trillion if the bush tax cuts are indeed extended. john boehner, the most hapless the most incompetent, the most ineffective house speaker i think in the history of the house of representatives. all the way back to the beginning of the republic. back to -- no. the other -- the other thing i wanted to tell you about before we get back to your calls. joe biden was out on the campaign trail yesterday. he was rip-roaring red hot about this idea that mitt romney knows better than a guy like joe biden what the middle class is all about. >> one thing i do resent, i resent when they talk about families like mine that i grew

up in. i resent the fact that they think we're talking about -- we're envy. it is job envy, it is wealth envy. that we don't dream. my mother believed that if i wanted to be president of the united states, i could be. if my brother and sister wanted to be a millionaire, they could be a millionaire. my mother and father dreamed as much as any rich guy dreams. [ applause ] they don't get us! they don't get who we are. >> bill: don't let mitt romney say i can speak for the american middle class. don't let ann romney pretend to do that either. al is calling up from wells, maine. hello, al, good morning. >> caller: good morning, bill. >> bill: yes sir. >> caller: first-time caller. i've been enjoying your show since you've been on current.

>> bill: yea. good for you. >> caller: i never heard you on the radio. >> bill: there you go. we've got current on top of the radio. it is all good. >> caller: anyways, i was just saying that you know my thoughts are anyways that when biden was talking yesterday really, kind of reminded me of my father, you know what i mean. my father was a world war ii vet. his kids were going to do better than he did and you know, i mean god rest his soul he's gone. but i swear he would be rolling in his grave if he ever heard the way this guy mitt romney talks and the way the rest of them talk. i think sometimes -- do you see that? >> bill: oh, yeah. by the way, i'm a huge joe biden fan. unleash joe biden. look, he grew up in scranton, pennsylvania right. and just a good working class family. >> caller: sure. >> bill: his roots are right

there. he knows what it is all about. >> caller: i'm just a middle class person. i worked for 30 years for the same outfit. i worked in massachusetts in the transportation industry there. and you know, we had teddy kennedy, you know what i mean. >> bill: oh, yeah. >> caller: he was always full of fire. >> bill: al, the thing about the kennedy family, teddy in particular, teddy could really identify with the middle class. he had all of the money in the world but still the kennedy family, they understood how tough it was for people who were out there going paycheck to paycheck working for a living trying to get their kids through college and not having everything handed them with a silver spoon. but romney doesn't. i mean look, he grew up in wealth. he's consistent. isn't that what brian said? >> he's good with his money. >> bill: he grew up in wealth and he's still rolling in wealth so what does he know about average americans?

nothing! >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

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>> announcer: taking your e-mails on any topic at any time, this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: ever take a look at your e-mails now. joe cirincione is in studio with us along with congressman chris van hollen. our e-mails brought to you by wrigley orbit gum. clean up the dirty mouth feeling with orbit. eat, drink clue.

orbit gum. we talk about virgin atlantic allowing cell phones on overseas flights. elaine says hey, such an easy solution to the cell phone conversation on flights problem just allow texting. duh! good idea. rich mazio says hey keep up the good work bill press. you make our morning bearable. we love your show and are so glad we no longer have to watch morning joe. all right. now you got morning bill. and on catholic bishops the american catholic bishops are the reason why american catholics are so cynical about the church. they are an embarrassment to catholics. and finally frank wants to know are you as ignorant as you seem to be, bill press? or is it just an act to appeal to all of your brain dead listeners? no, in fact, i am as ignorant as i appear to be, frank.

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>> bill: hey, good morning everybody. happy thursday. it is thursday may 17. good morning and welcome to the "full court press." your new morning show on current tv. so good to be with you today. and thank you for joining us as we tackle the big issues of the day here in our nation's capital. around the country and around the globe. and take your calls get you involved. give you a chance to get involved in the conversation at 1-866-55-press. here we go, just what we need, one more giant republican super

pac. this one funded by joe ricketts out of chicago owner of the chicago cubs who plans a $10 million ad campaign against president obama for his connection to the reverend jeremiah wright. yes, the "the obama hate machine" lives and goes on. we'll talk about that and a whole lot more here on this morning's "full court press." but first, we get all of the latest here in los angeles jacki schechner with today's current tv news update. good morning jacki. >> good morning, bill. good morning everyone. the "national journal" is calling it the talk they're not seeing but should be. jim tankersley writes about nick happen ower who gave a march 1st speech at a conference. if you're not familiar, ted stands for technology, education and design and the best speeches in performances get posted online for free. now we go back to nick, the multi-millionaire whose talk address the issue of our winding

income disparity gap. and proclaims rich people like him don't create jobs. middle class consumers do. these are the slides you'll see here from his presentation. "national journal" has a full speech and slides online. hanower advocates taxing the rich. he said it was too partisan to post and they won't be posting the speech. if you take a look at the speech itself, the words republican and democrat only come up once. in wisconsin a secret investigation has led to charges against five of governor scott walker's former aides from his time as a county executive. the milwaukee county d.a.'s charges against the age range from campaigning on county time to embezzling money from a veterans trust fund. walker says he's not a target of the investigation but democrats are questioning why it is he felt a need to create his own criminal defense fund. and wisconsin democrats are frustrated with the dnc for not putting money into the race against governor scott walker. the governor has a significant

financial advantage. state democrats are asking for about a half a million dollars. dnc says it will fund raise with barrett later in the month but the recall election is really soon, june 5th. we'll be right back. and hurtle us all into space. which would render retirement planning unnecessary. but say the sun rises on december 22nd and you still need to retire. td ameritrade's investment consultants can help you build a plan that fits your life. we'll even throw in up to $600 when you open a new account or roll over an old 401(k). so who's in control now, mayans?

jennifer granholm is politically direct on current tv. >>the dominoes are starting to fall. (vo) granholm is live in the war room. >> what should women be doing? >> electing women to office. (vo) she's a political >>republicans of course didn't let facts get in the way of

spin. >>do it, for america. >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: john boehner said hey it worked last year so let's do it again. let's shut down the government! yeah, that will make the republicans popular in this election year. good morning, everybody. what do you say? it is thursday. thursday, may 17. and here we go. with another good hour of the "full court press" here on current tv and your local progressive talk radio station wherever you happen to be in this great land of ours.

thank you for joining us. lots to talk about today. and we -- we couldn't get into the stories of the day without our good friend joe cirincione. >> good morning, bill. great to be with you. >> bill: i need to know because everybody at home is looking and saying oh, my god! who punched joe in the eye? you should see the other guy. >> i wish it were something exciting but i was ironing -- >> make up a story. make up a great story. >> i pulled the cord, dropped the iron from the closet. hit me in the eye. >> it wasn't a hot iron. >> no. >> we have to work on that story. >> we have to work on that story. >> i was talk to the chairman of the house armed services committee. [ laughter ] >> a fire at an orphanage broke out. so, here's what i did. >> bill: i like that better. good to see you. good to have you in studio with us. joining our entire team here, peter ogborn and dan henning

both skeptics as am i. off the air, joe, you can tell us. cyprian bowlding our videographer doing a great job there, too. good to have you with us. joe, do you ever go to one of these all-you can eat places? >> no, not for a very long time. i'm at the opposite end of the spectrum. >> bill: they're still there. they're still out there. there is one out in -- here we go. themesville, wisconsin. and here this poor guy, his name is bill whiset is how you pronounce it. he went in. he is 6'6". he weighs 350 pounds. >> big boy. >> bill: when you see him come in and you're running an all you can eat place, you know you're in trouble right? he got in trouble when he ate 12 pieces of fish and they said that's all you get. and he raised hell. >> that's not what it says. >> bill: exactly.

here is a little report from a local anchor throughout. >> false advertising. >> reporter: bill has a beef with the all you can eat fish fry at chuck's place. he was there friday when the restaurant cut him off after he ate a dozen pieces. >> he asked for more fish and they refused to give us anymore fish. >> the restaurant says it was running out of fish and patience. arguing bill has been a problem customer before. they sent him on his way with another eight pieces but that still wasn't enough. he was still fired up. he called the police. >> reporter: why do you think you need toed to call the police about it? >> because i think that people have to stand up for consumers. >> bill: he calls the cops. says they only gave me 20 pieces of fish. >> what a ripoff! >> i love that they think they can say here's eight more pieces of fish, that's plenty. he goes no, it's not enough. >> bill: now shut up!

but he did say -- i want you to know this guy is not all negative toward this place. i think he would like to come back because he leaves with one final compliment to all you can eat. >> they do have like some of the best pizza in town. if you like deep dish pizza. >> he'll be back. >> bill: he'll be back for 20 pizzas. >> you go the ta change the slogan. >> you guys take some of the fried fish and put it on the pizza because i'm really hungry. >> bill: they're going to change it to almost all you can eat. >> within reason. >> bill: yeah, all you can eat [within reason] >> we have more serious things to talk about. chris van hollen, good member of the democratic leadership of the house of representatives will be here in studio with us on the second half of this hour and senator jeanne shaheen from new hampshire. how about that. she'll be with us in the next

hour but first -- >> actor michael caine had a rough night earlier this week. known for playing alfred in the batman dark knight series, the 79-year-old is in a new movie called now you see me. no one saw him when he went into the dressing room of an attic an old theatre for a nap. the director had the building locked up for the night. he was left without a cell phone. his cell phone was out in his dressing trailer. he was in the attic which had no electricity. it was pitch-black. he yelled but no one heard him. ended up falling asleep. a carpenter found him the next morning. very hungry. >> bill: i love michael caine. >> if you say the phrase "my cocaine" it sounds like you're saying michael caine's name the way he would say it. >> bill: thank you for that. >> there you go. >> the biography written by walter isaakson about steve jobs

is heading to the big screen. sony pictures green lighting the project with erin sorkin writing the script. this comes off the heels of him winning the adapted screenplay award in 2010 for the social network and is a nomination for writing "money ball" last year. still in hollywood jennifer lopez named "forbes" magazine's latest celebrity 100 list. she's up at number one with $52 million in earnings over the past year. the "american idol" judge unseating lady gaga who topped the list last year. she earned $90 million last year. only $52 million this year. the list is not only based on money but also fame and the star's presence on social media is considered. oprah winfrey still number two on the list. justin bieber and rihanna round out the top five. >> bill: i read that j. lo is being bounced from "american idol." >> there are rumors she is leaving "american idol" because she is "too busy." we'll see.

>> making money. >> she wants to spend more time with her family. >> bill: joe cirincione head of the fund here in studio. i'm glad you were able to come in. this story caught my eye. in "the new york times" yesterday. "huffington post" this morning that a blue ribbon commission headed by former vice chair of the joint chiefs, james cartwright saying that we have to -- it is about time we end our cold war thinking this this country and slash our nuclear arsenal down to 900 nuclear weapons. is this the right way to go? >> it definitely is. it is a dramatic recommendation. by some very serious people, richard burt ronald reagan's former strategic negotiator. chuck hagel is also on that panel. former republican senator from nebraska. they're saying look, we now have almost 5,000 nuclear weapons for what? what would we use five for?

let's have a realistic arsenal that can serve our deterrent needs but at a reasonable cost. by cutting it down to 900 weapons, half of which would be deployed. deploy about 450 keep the rest in reserve, you could save right away about $100 billion over the next ten years. it is effective, it is safe. it makes sense. i hope the president listens to him. we expect the president to be making a decision on cutting the nuclear force sometime in the next few weeks. my guess is sometime in june he's going to announce his decision based on a study that's been on-going for the last year. we'll see if he listens to this panel. >> bill: is there any deadline for him? >> he wants to start a new round of negotiations with the russians. you want them to reduce theirs. there's cost involved. it costs us about $54 billion a

year for the nuclear weapons and related programs that we build. i estimate that we're going to spend about $700 billion on these weapons over the next ten years. so the longer you keep them around, the more it costs you. so the president has a chance to save significant taxpayer money by cutting down the nuclear arsenal, getting rid of these 20th century weapons and reconfiguring the force to what we really need in this century. >> bill: when i read this article, i think cartwright is recommending the 900 we have left, you said half would be deployed. but would they have -- would they be armed, right? would they have nuclear weapons? i think he was recommending they might even be armed. >> another key recommendation, remember, general cartwright is the former vice-chairman of the joint chiefs. he's the former commander of the strategic command. he had his fingers on the button. he knows the systems well. he says there's no reason to keep them on this high alert

status we currently have them. we have about 1,200 weapons ready to go in 30 minutes notice. just like that. so why? why do we need that many. bring them all down. that also saves money. so you can still use them but it might take you hours or days to keep them up to speed. you can keep a few on high alert status. >> bill: what happens to this recommendation now? >> it is a public panel. it is not a government panel. it is a power of persuasion. people like you talk about it. does it make its way into "the new york times" which it has. does it get into "the associated press" which it has. do people in this country start calling up their representatives and saying save me some money. we could use fewer nukes and still be safe. >> bill: does the president maybe pick it up and say this is what we should do. >> general cartwright has been a close confidante of the president. when he says this, it carries some weight. as is chuck hagel the head of the foreign intelligence board.

they're making a serious recommendation. >> bill: what is the size and shape and status of the russian arsenal then? >> they have fewer deployed long-range weapons right now. their arsenal is aging. as they retire, they're not replacing them as fast as they're pulling them out. they actually have fewer about 1500 long-range nuclear weapons deployed. right now, we have about 1800 nuclear weapons. they have another tactical weapons, short-range weapons than we have. we're roughly equal. between us, the u.s. and russia have 90% of the weapons in the world. >> bill: they have about 5,000, too? >> yes, in what they call the active stockpile. some are deployed ready to use. some are held in the closet. little reserved. be careful where you take those out. >> bill: this is big news. >> this is big news. this is the most serious recommendation to come up from an independent panel in years. it should be taken seriously.

>> bill: hasn't been talked about a lot. it should get talked about a lot. be glad to take your calls on this, too at 1-866-55-press. this would be huge at the united states would move and russia together in this direction. it would be a huge coup for president obama as something you've been pushing for a long time. there's something else that came up which i wanted to ask you about. this is a headline from "the hill" newspaper last week. wednesday, may 9. i couldn't believe this. g.o.p. plans east coast missile defense shield. so republicans in the house are saying they want to build a "star wars" missile defense thing up and down the east coast of the united states. why? >> these guys are moving full speed in reverse. they want to go back to the past as fast as they can and it is such a joke that alcaymans column in the washing upon toast makes -- in "the washington post" makes fun of it.

you're in deep trouble. they're serious about it. here's the story. president george w. bush was so afraid of the knot korean missiles that don't work that he ordered that we put 30 ?ir -- interceptors into alaska. spent $30 billion to put intercepters on the west coast to defend against nonexistent missiles. >> bill: there are no missiles that take off and fizzle. >> explode. seconds after launch, they blow up. they don't work. no chance they're going to work any time in the next decade or so. so the services committee says it is not fair that we're defending seattle and hollywood. we have to defend new jersey and georgia from the nonexistent iranian missile. iran doesn't have missiles that can reach us. they can't reach italy. they say we want to spend money on this. >> bill: the idea that iran would have a missile that could hit the east coast of the united states. >> iran does have short-range missiles that threaten turkey and isen it ball but that's it.

there is nowhere near having a missile that can hit us. the heads of the military say don't do it. the g.o.p. and the house is completely out of sync with the u.s. military. the u.s. military says we don't need this. we can't afford it. the committee is forging ahead with it. the president of the united states says you put this in the bill. i'm going to veto it. we're heading to a showdown on the house floor maybe this week. >> bill: would never get past the senate, would it? >> very unlikely to get past the senate. this is one of a number of nuclear turkeys that they stuffed in this house bill. they also want to build a new plutonium bomb plant in los alamos that's gone from $600 million to $6 billion. again lab directors, the militaries say we don't need it. in their wisdom, the house republicans are saying yes, you do. we're stuffing this thing in the bill. >> bill: they always say you have to listen to the generals, right? then they don't listen to the

generals. the generals tell them we need -- we not only can but should have some cuts in the military. no, we have to put more money in the pentagon. >> putting $8 billion more in this bill than the budget cap allows. they're busting the law they passed this year to stuff more nuclear pork into this bill. >> bill: we're talking nuclear weapons, cutting our arsenal drastically as general cartwright has recommended and his blue ribbon -- global zero? >> put out by the group global zero, 350 leaders chapters in over 300 campus around the country. global zero is for real. >> bill: cut from 5,000 to 900 nuclear weapons. republicans in the house saying we need a missile defense plan on the east coast of the united states. joe cirincione is in studio with us. 1-866-55-press. join the conversation. your calls, your questions, your comments welcome. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

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>> announcer: on your radio, on tv, the "bill press show," new on current tv. >> bill: congressman chris van hollen, democratic leadership in the house of representatives in studio with us coming up in the next segment. we're right now visiting with joe cirincione of the ploughshares fund. joe, always good to have you with us. tim is calling in from pittsburgh, pennsylvania. hi tim. >> caller: good morning, gentlemen.

i have a tremendous amount of respect for what you're both doing in the liberal arena. i appreciate it. >> bill: thank you. >> caller: in regard to the call for a decrease in nuclear arsenal, i would -- i would express support for that and if it was up to me, i would take that money and direct it right into climate security which i think is going to be going forward as much a concern as the possible effect of a nuclear war for humanity. joe would you speak to that, please and i would like to know your opinion on whether or not the warnings we're getting out of the community would be considered equal to that. >> bill: thanks, tim. >> thank you, tim, i'm happy to. in fact, i just did an interview for foreigns that they ran last week. forbes.com on this. and they asked me what -- of all of the threats you face, what

are the two that are most serious. i talk about the twin threats quite often which is climate change, some might call it catastrophic climate and nuclear weapons. so of all the threats we face, these are the only two that threaten destruction on a planetary scale, that are caused by machines that we've made. but are both reversible, preventable but in order to do so, you have to have new ways of thinking and new leadership to do it. in the climate change, there is no question the scientific evidence is overwhelming that the climate is changing because of the increase in carbon in the atmosphere and that carbon is coming from our machines. from the industrial output. unless we do something about it, we'll see sea levels raise and more violent climate like we've seen over the past few years. time to make urgent action is now. >> bill: idiots in congress refuse to accept the scientific evidence. we never have enough time.

come back again, soon. >> my pleasure. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." it's go time. >>every weeknight cenk uygur calls out the mainstream media. >>the guys in the middle class the guys in the lower end got screwed again. >>i think you know which one we're talking about. the overwhelming majority of the country says"tax the rich, don't go to war." >>just wanted to clarify that.

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? >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 33 minutes after the hour now here on the "full court press." this thursday, may 17. coming in, chris van hollen will be joining us shortly. while we're waiting for him i wanted to bring you up to date on a big breaking political story you're going to hear a lot about this today. we talked about it last hour.

it is on the front page of "the new york times." here's just what we need, friends and neighbors another super pac, another republican super pac aimed at defeating and destroying president obama. this one is funded again by one individual. this is still part of the obama hate machine. remember told you about my book, "the obama hate machine." it lives right? we have the koch brothers. that's what i wrote about in this book. we had sheldon adelson who poured all of his money to help newt gingrich and foster friess who put all of his money in to help rick santorum. now the latest is a guy named joe ricketts. the ricketts family owns the chicago cubs. he's the granddaddy or the papa of the ricketts family. his son tom is the chairman of the cubs. joe ricketts, according to "the new york times" is pouring in $10 million in an ugly ad campaign to hit the week of the democratic convention. he's creating his own super pac

to do this. it is all focused on nothing to do with what president obama has done in the last four years. nothing to do with the economy. nothing to do with the auto industry. nothing to do with the stimulus. nothing to do with immigration or healthcare or -- you name the issue. nothing to do with anything. nothing to do with the war in iraq or afghanistan libya getting osama bin laden, no. he's putting up $10 million to attack president obama because of his ties with the reverend jeremiah wright. yeah, he's going back to 2008, bringing back jeremiah wright. saying that obama doesn't deserve to be in the white house because he once attended the church of jeremiah wright and joe ricketts is saying yeah, they're going to say we're racist. but the way we're going to answer that is we're going to hire some articulate, smart

conservative black man to be our spokesperson and they're talking to larry elders talk show host out in los angeles. here we go again. it is more obama hate machine. it is more citizens united. it is another super pac. it is another ugly, ugly ad campaign. if he had only tied his entire campaign to jeremiah wright obama would never have been elected president. we're going to go back to jeremiah wright. we're going to make him the issue in this campaign. under citizens united, these guys can do this. they can put up all of the money they want. create their own super pac run their own ads. they don't have to give money -- won't give money to the romney campaign or let the romney campaign decide what goes on the air. uh-huh. they can do their own thing.

they can get as ugly and nasty as they want. they're saying we'll do what john mccain wouldn't let us do the last time. it is disgusting, it is despicable, it is sick. it is on its way. and "the new york times" has a copy of the whole document outlining this campaign. the headline on it is the defeat of barack hussein obama the ricketts plan to end his spending for good. so folks fastin your seat belts, we're in for the ugliest campaign we've ever seen. we'll come back and talk to congressman chris van hollen about the latest on the hill. this is the "full court press" on thursday, may 17. good to have you here.

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.

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show" live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: here we go. 19 minutes before the top of the hour on this thursday edition of the "full court press." good to have you with us on current tv and on your local progressive talk radio station. i'm very pleased to welcome a

good friend of the program and his first visit here on current tv in our new tv studio, congressman chris van hollen not only represents the state of maryland in the house of representatives, he's the ranking democrat, ranking member of the budget committee. congressman, good to see you this morning. >> bill, it is great to be with you. now we only have to sound good. we have to look good because you've got current tv. >> bill: you always look good. >> you're putting bill to shame today. >> tie and everything. >> bill: all of these people come in here with suits and ties, i'm starting to get a little -- i'll take care of that. congressman, let's start with the violence against women act. house of representatives passed it last night 222-205. and yet most democrats voted against it. why would democrats vote against the violence against women act? >> that's a very good question. it is really unfortunate that what has always been a partisan piece of legislation the violence against women act

became political in this republican house of representatives. we wanted the republican house to simply take up the bipartisan bill that passed the senate. instead, they chose to bring up something else. it did not provide the same level of protections for women and for others as did the senate bill. and we don't think we should be taking a step back from the senate bill or a step back from current law. we believe it is important that we press ahead and that's why we're going to continue to insist that we take up what was the bipartisan senate bill. it is just another sad indication of what's happened in the house of representatives. so many bills that have passed the senate on a bipartisan basis, republicans don't -- won't support that approach in the house. >> bill: so the house republicans said we'll take the senate bill except we won't extend protection to native-american women to lesbian

transgender women or to undocumented -- women who are here illegally. they're fair game? >> exactly. why wouldn't we want to extend the basic protections to these other women? and these other people who were put at risk? the violence is the same. the protection should be the same. and that's why it is so unfortunate and the senate was able to again deal with the -- on a bipartisan basis, the tea party crew essentially running the show. just doesn't understand the idea of bipartisanship. >> bill: right. it is unusual for the senate to be able to come to some bipartisan consensus on this. the fact that they could. what happens now congressman? would the president ever sign this, do you believe? >> well, you've got -- i doubt it. you've got virtually every organization out there that advocates for measures to

prevent violence against women opposing the republican house plan. because they don't think it is adequate. it is not sufficient. and when you've got virtually all of the advocates the people who spend their time and their energy trying to prevent violence against women saying that the house republican bill doesn't do the job then i think that we're going to have to continue to press forward. >> bill: is it hopeless now? is it done? or can this be resolved in conference? >> i think it can. but it requires something very simple. which is, you know, house republicans agreeing to take a bipartisan approach, the same kind of approach they took in the senate. >> bill: the house republicans who are pointed to the conference committee would have to accept that, correct? >> that's right. otherwise it expires the authorization for it expires and the resources that are expended for this purpose to prevent violence against women would fall short and so that's why it is essential that we get this

done. we have to get this re-authorized, repassed, it could have been a very simple bipartisan process but nothing is simple in the republican house of representatives. not even common sense things. >> bill: which reminds me of another issue which always used to be bipartisan and always used to be roomic. and -- automatic and that's the highway transportation bill. >> this falls in the same -- same category of house republicans refusing to take a bipartisan approach. it is exactly the same thing in that sense because again there is a perfectly good bipartisan bill that passed the senate. once again, house republicans threw a monkey wrench into the process and, as a result, there's a danger that you don't get the re-authorization of the highway bill. now i believe at the end of the day, we'll get it done because look, we have --

>> bill: for four months or something. >> exactly. we need to do this for at least a year and a half. senate bill. what they propose would make sure that we have the resources necessary to at least maintain our existing infrastructure system. let me be clear. it still falls far short of what we need. the president submitted his jobs plan last september. a major piece of that was not just maintaining the status quo with respect to infrastructure but making some of the major infrastructure improvements that we need around the country whether it is roads or bridges or transit systems or water and sewer systems that are aging and breaking apart. and infrastructure of the future. broadband. and yet the republicans have totally sat on that. i mean despite the fact that we have 16% plus unemployment in the construction industry. i mean this is a win-win. you put people back to work doing a job that needs to be done.

but again -- i would point out on that score the republican budget that passed would actually cut transportation funding by almost 50% next year compared to this year. that is -- would be a huge drag on the economy. >> bill: this is the ryan -- >> this is the ryan, the house plan that romney has fully endorsed. he's called it "wonderful." that cut to transportation just one of many bad things that is done in that budget. >> bill: i recall he said he hoped that would be on his desk the first day if he was in the oval office. god forbid. >> he wants to end the medicare guarantee his first day in office. >> bill: congressman chris van hollen our guest in studio. ranking member of the house budget committee. in that perch, congressman yesterday or the day before now i guess speaker john boehner says you know, we like the debt ceiling fight so much last year, we're going to go into it again and we're going to refuse to

raise the debt ceiling unless we get a guarantee for more spending cuts, dollar for dollar and extending the bush tax cuts. here we go again? >> here we go again. and you would think that speaker would not want to rerun this movie because we know it had a bad ending. it hurt the economy. it is one -- it was one of those moments where the american people said whoa! i'm not sure about these tea party guys that we elected to the house. they're willing to risk the full faith and credit of the united states meaning the united states of america will not pay the bills as they come due. it would be like us saying oh, we're not going to pay our mortgage. we're not going to pay our credit card bills but this is the united states of america. it would send a shock wave through the economy and the very fact that the speaker is talking about this again is going to create uncertainty and will hurt the economy. and so here you have the speaker of the house of representatives making a statement that will, in fact, hurt the economy when he

was invited down to the white house to talk about ways to improve the economy, the president wanted to give them the to do list. there are many things that we should be doing in congress today that could help spur rate our job growth including taking up major pieceless of the president's jobs plan from last september and yet the day before that, the speaker of the house makes the statement which will, unfortunately, slow down the economy and create even greater uncertainty. >> bill: the speaker says -- here's what i don't understand. didn't the compromise for raising the debt ceiling when they -- you finally reached it, the debt ceiling is not up again until 2013, right? >> that's right. >> bill: so how can he bring it up again this year? >> well, what he's talking about is actually the very end of this year, we may hit the debt ceiling at the very end of this year. probably after the election. in fact it looks like it would be after the election. now the secretary of treasury,

geithner, has said you could actually manage the situation for a period of time so it doesn't come to a hard stop at the end of this year. but what the speaker is saying is looking forward to the end of this year, early next year, that he's going to again threaten the full faith and credit of the united states. unless he gets things the way he wants. now there are two things with that. first of all the house republican budget, the ryan budget would require us to raise the debt ceiling by $5.2 trillion over ten years. their own budget the budget the speaker speaks so glowingly about -- >> bill: they all voted for it. >> violates the very principle the very rule the speaker has laid out which just shows what nonsense and what politics this is. it is game playing but it is a very dangerous game. it is not a game without very serious negative consequences.

but it is important to show the hypocrisy of this principle because their own budget violates that rule. and it should be really clear that you know, there's no disagreement that we need to reduce our long-term deficits. the argument is over how we do it. and republicans refuse to take a balanced approach. they refuse to include one penny of additional revenue by closing loopholes for special interests by asking people who make a million dollars a year to pay more. they refuse to do that. and because they refuse to do that, their budget hits everybody else. that's kind of basic math. if you say millionaires don't have to contribute one penny everyone else gets whacked. >> bill: the other thing is -- when the joint committee fails and the sequester pops in which is 50% defense 50% domestic,

that was the deal. now they want to break that deal, too. correct? >> that's right. so there are two issues here. they want to break the deal in two ways. first, they want to increase the amount that we spend on defense beyond what the joint chiefs of staff say we need to protect the united states of america. second, they want to go back on the sequester deal. now i want to be really clear. democrats agree that the sequester approach is the wrong way to reduce -- across the board, irresponsible way to do it which is why last week the democrats in the house actually proposed a different way to prevent the sequester from going into effect. the republicans did it by cutting deeply into food and nutrition programs. in fact, the nonpartisan congressional budget office says if you do it their way 20

million plus kids would see their food nutrition programs support reduced. 300,000 kids would be knocked off the school lunch program. 300,000 kids would be knocked off the children's health insurance program. these are congressional budget office projections. so we said that's not the way we want to do it. we ended some of the direct payments, big subsidies to ag interests. we said let's get rid of subsidies to the oil and gas industry. and what the republicans did when faced with the question do you want to protect special interest tax breaks more than protect defense spending, no issue. they protected the special interest tax breaks. >> bill: surprise, surprise. congressman, i don't know how you keep your sanity dealing with these guys. i'm glad you're there. >> thank you. >> bill: glad -- >> good to be with you. >> bill: you're welcome any time. i know you're just starting a busy day. your second interview of the

day. >> i'm glad the report came out that said coffee is actually good for you. >> bill: it is. >> we'll see. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

>>the dominoes are starting to fall. (vo) former two term governor, jennifer granholm, is politically direct on current tv

>> what should women be doing? >> electing women to office. wonder what that means. wonder what the hell he's going to be up to. we'll find out. we'll tell you all about it. senator jeanne shaheen from new hampshire joins us in our next hour together here on the "full court press." joe williams from politico will be here in studio as a friend of bill and all of you friends of bill welcome back.

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

>> bill: good morning. good morning! it is thursday may 17. good to see you today. welcome to the "full court press." here on current tv. your new morning show. the only progressive morning show anywhere on cable television, in the country. good to have you with us today as we take a little roundup and look at the big stories of the day. what's happening here in our nation's capital. the congress or the white house around the country around the

globe. we'll tell you what's going on and take your calls at 1-866-55-press. in the house of representatives last night, some good news and bad news. good news is the house of representatives did pass the violence against women act. 222 to 205. the bad news is they made an exception for native-american women, lesbian, transgender women and also for undocumented workers. in other words, john boehner says if you want to beat up a lesbian, be my guest. who says there's no war against women? we'll talk about that and a whole lot more here on our last hour together this morning but first, let's go out to los angeles and say good morning to jacki schechner for the latest in this current tv news update. jacki? it is all yours. >> thank you, bill. good morning everyone. we've got new fund-raising numbers out this morning. the mitt romney campaign saying it raised $40.1 million last month. that's nearly matching president obama's total of $43.6 million. romney's campaign is expected to release an announcement this

morning saying they've got $61.4 million cash on and that 95% of the donations last month were coming in at $250 or less. the huge jump in fund-raising this month comes from donors finally coalescing around romney as the presumptive g.o.p. nominee. he raised only $12.6 million in comparison in march. democrats are concerned however that super pacs will eventually put mitt romney in the lead and tip the money scales in his favor. his advisors say he could raise as much as $800 million. the obama campaign has anticipated they will come in at about $750 million. politico is reporting that republicans are quietly drawing up contingency plans should healthcare reform be struck down. they'll introduce bills that will keep some of the popular provisions of reform like requiring coverage for pre-existing conditions while getting some of the lesser popular ones like employer and individual mandates. while politico fails to report

is that you can't strip apart parts of healthcare reform. it is all interconnected and some of the things that are less popular for political reasons are necessary for policy ones. we'll be right back after the break. newsom show. with special guests: >> i'm lance armstrong. if somebody put my back into a corner, i'm coming out swinging. -dad, why are you getting that? -that's my cereal. is there a prize in there? oh, there's a prize, all right. is it a robot? no. is it a jet plane? nope. is it a dinosaur? [ laughs ] [ male announcer ] inside every box of heart healthy cheerios are those great tasting little o's made from carefully selected oats that can help lower cholesterol. stickers? uh-uh. a superhero? ♪ ♪ kinda. [ male announcer ] and we think that's the best prize of all. ♪ ♪

weeknights on current tv. >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: hey hello there. and welcome to the "full court press." here we go. thursday, may 17th. it is good to have you with us. we're of course coming to you live all across this great land of ours as we do every day from our tv studio, radio studio, book factory here on capitol hill in washington, d.c. i'm taking your calls at

1-866-55-press. good to see you today. and we couldn't get through the last hour without some help from a friend, a good friend, joe williams covers the white house for politico. politico.com. taking time out to join us this morning. joe, nice to see you again. >> good to be here. >> bill: our whole team here. peter ogborn and dan henning. >> we're here. >> bill: with cyprian bowlding. hello, cyprian. we get the wave. you know, this is the moment that mitt romney was waiting for yesterday, joe. he might have gotten the endorsement of president george w. bush earlier in the week. that's nothing compared to the big endorsement he got yesterday. here it is. >> i want to formally endorse governor mitt romney for president of the united states of america. as we say in some parts of the

south aw, we're going to have some fun. [ laughter ] >> bill: there he is. >> i could hear that every day for the rest of my life and still be entertained. >> can i get that in a ring tone maybe? so fun to go aw shucky ducky whenever the boss calls. >> some parts of the south aw shucky ducky now! >> that never gets old. >> bill: it is almost as good as becky becky becky. we were counting up this morning a little earlier joe this is maybe the fourth endorsement that he's made in this race because the first of course he endorsed himself. and then peter and i were there in charleston, south carolina when he endorsed the american people. >> absolutely. at that big rally. it was not a big rally. it was a rally. [ laughter ] >> bill: and then later, he endorsed newt gingrich. now he's passionately --

>> i'm firmly 100% lined mitt romney for the president of the united states. given the fact that herman cain's a serial endorser, this is iron tick is the most enthusiastic endorsement i've heard for mitt romney a long time. can you imagine jeb bush saying aw shucky ducky i'm behind mitt romney all the way. romney is on board. >> did you hear what jeb bush said yesterday? >> aw shucky ducky now! we're going to have some fun! >> bill: i'll tell you one thing. it was more enthusiastic than rick santorum's endorsement of romney, right? >> yes tweet. >> bill: tweeted it out or e-mail at midnight right? no joint appearance, no news conference. no rally. >> i was actually surprised it wasn't like 2:00 a.m. on a saturday night. tweeting out i support mitt romney. what, wait? did you guys hear something? >> this is the new 3:00 a.m. phone call. rick santorum calling to endorse

mitt romney. >> bill: joe williams here this entire hour as a friend of bill. he and i will welcome senator jeanne shaheen to the studio in about 20 minutes from now. but first -- >> this is the "full court press." >> bill: headlines of the day. >> president obama popped up at a local sub shop here in washington yesterday for a small business roundtable before buying several subs to take back to a meeting at the white house. he be went to tailor gourmet a local small chain ordering a 12 inch spruce street hoagie with chopped provolone and red peppers. he took them back to the big meeting at the white house about $60 worth of subs. >> bill: what kind of sub did you want? >> who had the coleslaw? >> i applaud dan for calling it a sub shop. >> it is a sub a hoagie or a grinder. >> i have no preference.

the baltimore in me says it is a hoagie. >> what? >> i can deal with that. >> bill: baltimore? here in washington, it is a sub. >> it is a regional thing. philly, it is a hoagie. they're halfway between. >> bill: i grew up south of wilmington, delaware, it was a sub. >> in baltimore, it is not a hoagie. it is a hoagie. >> nba playoff action last night, the boston celtics came back in their series with the philadelphia 76 worse a 107-91 victory to go up two games to one and the oklahoma thunder managed to beat the l.a. lakers 77-75 in a nail-biter now two games to nothing in that series. >> bill: this is another blowout on the part of the celtics. >> they blew out the 76ers. >> lakers do not look good. >> and if you're thinking about what to grill this weekend meat experts have introduce at new cut of steak to the market. it is a much more muscular cut

called a vegas strip. specialists at oklahoma state university say it tastes a lot like a new york strip but it is much cheaper. comes from the part of the cow's carcass ordinarily ground up for ground beef or pink slime. >> you're making this really appetizing dan. >> it is beginning to show up as a 14-ounce strip in restaurants. >> bill: pink slime in restaurants. the whole thing about pink slime i think was overdone. i didn't mean it like overcooked. >> you like it a little more medium rare. >> bill: they did this one taste where they took -- and they gave people -- 12 people burgers with and 12 people burgers without and the burgers with -- with slime tasted better. i don't know. >> sometimes you just don't want to know. >> exactly. >> bill: that's it. right! especially don't want to know what they call it.

>> bill: joe, i want to ask you about this explosive story in "the new york times" about the latest hate campaign against president obama. but you have been writing a lot about the president's decision last week whether prompted by joe biden or not is really beside the point. he is the first president to come out solidly in support of same-sex marriage. first of all, how is it playing politically and how is it playing in the black churches? >> politically, it is playing out about like you would expect. most of the social liberals are giving a huge thumbs up. a lot of people are saying this was long overdue. and that matters of equality certainly should be quite important to any administration. this president in particular, it is really kind of resonating. so i think politically you have a good foundation there. i mean the alternatives i guess are the people who say socially not a good winner for the president. it could drive down turnout in some areas. >> bill: some key states. >> african-american community, it has been a hotly-debated issue. largely, people are standing

behind the president even though there's some discomfort there. >> bill: i've seen some black pastors have said no, citing the bible and everything else, this is wrong wrong wrong. book of leviticus romans i, all of that kind of stuff. >> very good. i'm nowhere near that educated on the bible. simply, the point that you're making is it is very accurate. there are people who say this is just a sin against man. case closed. but the problem is there are a lot of things in the bible that are described as sin that we should not do. we're mixed fiber clothing. certain restrictions about what we should or should not eat. >> bill: eat shellfish. >> there are a lot of things in the bible that modern life does not accommodate. that doesn't mean you're anymore or any less christian. you have a different more modern interpretation of what the scripture calls for. >> bill: so, in the end even these pastors who disagree with president obama thinks he erred against god in making this

decision. does that mean they're going to rally behind mitt romney? >> no. i mean in the community, it has been a very closely-divided issue inside the church. people know that the alternative of mitt romney is basically a nonstarter. where it does kind of get tricky is number one in questions of enthusiasm, are we going to mobilize and turn out and get people marching lock step to the polls to vote for this president. are we going to have some stragglers who have some qualms about this issue. number two, it also presents another more technically difficult challenge for the white house which is okay, the gay and lesbian community put pressure on the president to get what they want. we have community unemployment reaching toward 15%, 20% in some areas. we have poor outcomes in health and education. how come we don't put more pressure on this president to get those things addressed in such a direct way? >> bill: it is interesting that for the most part, i think the response of the romney -- of

romney and the romney campaign has been kind of muted. yeah, he goes to liberty university. yeah, he mentions same-sex marriage but only once. rick santorum would have thundered with both feet. that would have been his whole message. this is the issue we're going to run on. romney is not comfortable in that. he must know, right, that this is not necessarily an issue that he wants to be talking about. >> it is not an issue he wants to be talking about now. if it had been january perhaps december, maybe. he probably would have jumped on it a little bit more firmly than a primary. now it is a chance for him to recalibrate the etch-a-sketch that everybody so famously talks about. shake it upside down and try to get the social issues put more on the back burner number one to escape talking about it and focus more on the economy. but also to deflect questions against his own past. he comes from a state where gay marriage, marriage equality is legal. he comes from a state where

universal healthcare system has been put in place and he was -- by him -- and it opens up all of those questions that makes him uncomfortable. socialists in general don't really do romney any favors. this is one he clearly sees. >> bill: so he wants to talk about economy which gets us to the second item i wanted to ask you about. that is he may not have his way because as "the new york times" reports this morning there is a new -- just what we need right? a new g.o.p. -- >> right on cue. >> bill: a super pac coming up. it is all part of what i call the "the obama hate machine" in my latest book. this one is not the koch brothers now. this is not sheldon adelson. this is not foster friess, santorum's guy. this is this rich fat cat from chicago, joe ricketts, founded td ameritrade. his family owns the chicago cubs. he joe is "the new york times" reporting, is looking at a big

action d campaign by -- big ad campaign launching an ad campaign against president the week of the democratic convention, the defeat of barack hussein obama and the whole thrust of it is going to be jeremiah wright. oh, my god. remember him. bringing him back and saying obama, this is why he doesn't deserve to be president because of his association with jeremiah wright who said these nasty things. is this really going to work? after four years in the white house? that jeremiah wright is or should be the issue? what do you think? >> well to me when i first read the story this morning, it was a complete head scratcher. number one, reaction number one was huh, really, seriously they're going to do that? jeremiah wright has been a dead issue for three and a half, four years now. >> bill: excuse me. i haven't even heard anything that he he's said or done since the last appearance at the washington press club which is when obama said enough's enough.

>> number one, it seems like it is revival of a dead issue that people really have gotten past in the last four years. secondly, it is a reminder, strategically, it operates on one level to remind people number one that this president is not like the others so to speak but number two that the republicans still can't get past that as their central issue. that that's really the main reason why they're so crazy about trying to defeat this president. >> bill: could this backfire in the sense that this will be seen as a blatant racist attack? >> absolutely! that was my fourth reaction to this story is that as a clearly racist -- we've had a lot of sort of nibbling around the edges, remember the michael dukakis ad remember the famous jesse helms job, you wanted that job but they gave it to a minority. this is right out in the open. a blunder bust shot that i don't

think the american people would necessarily accept and embrace. >> bill: 1-866-55-press is our toll free number to join the conversation here with joe williams. and of course, they say that while they know they may be accused of being racist. what they're going to do is they're going to recruit and this is their words "an extremely literate conservative african-american who can front this campaign for them." and they're talking to larry elder, talk show host out in los angeles. >> no surprise there. larry elder has been a constant voice on the right debunking just about everything that the liberal african-american community stands for. and it's -- to me, the big picture on that one is that this is the height of cynicism. if there is a word beyond cynicism, i would use it. i don't think there really is. it is quite cynical. it is quite deplorable on a number of levels. i don't think it will stand the test of scrutiny, especially in the light of day on the front page of the times. >> bill: you're welcome to

join the conversation. take your seat at the table. 1-866-55-press. you can follow joe always on twitter at jdub321. we'll be right back. >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv, this is the "bill press show." california, and former mayor of san francisco is coming to current tv. >>every night on cable news networks everyone's focusing on what's wrong. i want this show to move past that. i love creative people, and with all the vexing problems we have we need creative thinking. >>(narrator) with interviews with notables from silicon valley, hollywood, and beyond. >>at the end of the day this show's simple. it's about ideas. ideas are the best politics. ideas can bring us together. >>(narrator) the gavin newsom show. premiers friday at 11 eastern/ 8 pacific. only on current tv.

(vo) every week night, cenk uygur calls out the mainstream media. >> overwhelming majority of the country says tax the rich, don't go to war. >> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: it is 25 minutes now after the hour. senator jeanne shaheen from new hampshire coming in studio in the next segment. right now, we're visiting with

joe williams, white house correspondent for politico. politico.com. and you can follow joe again on his twitter handle at jdub321. w. someone else we know. >> no relation. >> bill: we're looking at this latest campaign, planned campaign against president obama to hit the week of the democratic convention, joe. and to highlight race-related sermons by jeremiah wright. what they're saying if john mccain had done this, no problem. obama would have never been elected, right? >> i don't think so. no. there was a reason why -- in the times story, they talk about how the consultants for john mccain were complaining he wouldn't let them go there because we think it is too incendiary, it is not good for the country.

he's an old fuddy fuddy-duddy they said. there is a reason why mccain said no to this kind of a campaign because not only is it divisive, it also reminds fair-minded people, people who are independent and who don't necessarily lean one way or the other, the fact that the republican party has a real issue with the fact that this candidate is an african-american and one of the things that i've consistently thought about is my years of covering politics there's been a lot of campaigns that are kind of cynical. we mentioned a couple in the last segment. but certainly people don't want to be known to vote for -- they'll vote for a covert racist candidate or a candidate -- but they don't want to vote for someone who has this ugly stain on their record. it is something i don't think stands true. >> bill: here's beverly from st. david, illinois. hi beverly. good morning. >> caller: good morning. this is my third time to talk to you. >> bill: i'm so excited. >> caller: so am i. joe williams, i happen to love you, especially when you're on

martin bashir, you're pretty good. >> thank you. >> caller: hey, are the republicans this pathetic that they have to bring up somebody's church and their former preacher? good grief! i mean they can't get him on foreign policy. we know that. they can't get him there. they can't get him on his economic policies. they fought him in the congress for how long since he's gotten in office. >> bill: all right beverly. god love you. we're just about out of time here. that's the point, joe. they're not talking about his record for the last four years. >> exactly. it is a weak spot for them and also it points to something you mentioned which is unregulated money in campaigns. >> bill: yeah. that they can spend all of the money they want independently put their own message out there and no way to stop them, right? no way to stop them.

thank you john roberts. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." i.q. will go way up. how are you ever going to solve the problem if you don't look at all of the pieces? >>tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >>you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. >>sharp tongue, quick whit and above all, politically direct. >>you just think there is no low they won't go to. oh, no. if al gore's watching today...

>> bill: good to have you with us. coming to you live from our nation's capital, brought to you by the united steel workers and their great international president leo girard. the usw, north america's largest industrial union representing over 1.2 million active and retired members.

you can find out more about their good work at usw.org. we're so pleased to welcome into the studio here for the last couple of segments here on thursday morning senator jeanne shaheen representing the state of new hampshire and really working hard for all americans in the united states senate. good to see you, senator. >> great to be here. >> bill: we have with us as a friend of bill this hour from politico, covering the white house and the congress, joe williams. joe, nice to have you still around. >> always. >> bill: so senator, let's start with the house of representatives last night voting 222-205 for the violence against women act. they didn't quite do what the senate did on the violence against women act. >> sadly, they did not extend coverage to a number of women who it's been clear over recent years needed to be included so gay and lesbian women and couples were not included.

immigrant women were not included and that was a request of law enforcement that they should have visas so they could go through and prosecute cases when they're victims of domestic violence. tribal women were not included and that's a big oversight because so many women on -- indian reservations actually are with white men and so it is important to make sure that they're covered. and then there were some provisions in the senate bill that i think are very important around college students, requiring and reporting and colleges and universities to take action when students are victims of violence. so i think it is disappointing and it was clear that there was bipartisan opposition to what the house did. just as there were bipartisan support for what the senate did. we saw the defection of a number of republicans in the house on that bill. >> bill: i was impressed with the senate that is very often sadly divided along party lines

that in this case, republicans and democrats were able to come together pretty overwhelmingly and pass the expanded version of the violence against women act. >> we had a number of republican supporters and sponsors of the bill. all of the women in the senate voted for the bill. so i think it shows that people believe this expanded coverage for certain populations who weren't being helped was important and it is not extreme. it is not radical. it is mainstream and we should support it. >> what was the rationale for excluding those in the house? i mean what possibly could they come up with to say this is not something we should be including in the bill? >> i don't understand it, you know. there were people who said it affects our immigration policy.

>> bill: violence is violence. >> that's right. lose the victims that were there to testify. usually in new hampshire when i was governor and now when law enforcement makes a request they say it is important to address an issue like this. we usually listen. you know, i was at a domestic violence program in new hampshire not too long ago. we had there the advocates the courts, legal assistants, the police are all working together. and so i asked the police chief there in rochester i said when somebody calls and there is a domestic violence situation, do you ask if they're gay if they're lesbian? do you ask if they're an immigrant. he said of course not. when somebody calls, we respond.

if we really want to address domestic violence, we've got to make sure we're not only responding to law enforcement but that they can then help people by sending them to the advocates and the support services that are necessary to actually break the cycle of violence and that's what this re-authorization of the violence against women act that the senate passed does. >> bill: on another issue joe and i were talking about this a little earlier senator. president obama making history last week, agree or disagree, certainly making history by becoming the first president to support same-sex marriage. you dealt with this as governor and now new hampshire has taken the stand so how is it working out in new hampshire? i guess all kinds of people are getting divorces and everything, marriages are falling apart because same-sex marriage is now -- >> it has imploded. >> i wasn't actually the governor when same-sex marriage passed in the legislature. that was governor winch.

i applaud the legislature for doing that. >> bill: it wasn't a ballot measure. >> no, we don't have ballot measures. actually, there was an effort this year to repeal the same-sex marriage law and we have now an overwhelmingly republican legislature which we didn't when we passed it. and they actually refused to repeal the law which i felt was a very good sign. and shows that people really believe this is about equal rights and opportunity for all americans. >> bill: which is interesting coming from new hampshire because new hampshire has the reputation of being maybe because of the manchester union a pretty conservative state. >> i think a lot of people misread new hampshire's conservatism. fiscally, we are very conservative. we believe in balanced budgets and only spending what you have. but socially, we're libertarian. we think that couples should be able to do what they want in their own homes and in their own

bedrooms and the government should stay out of it. >> do you also think that the fact that they weren't able to -- the repeal movement didn't gain much steam, the fact that they had a chance -- people have had a chance to live with it. it wasn't quite as radical or explosive or destructive as they thought it might be? >> i think so. everybody predicted that the repeal was going to pass. so it was a real surprise when it was defeated so overwhelmingly. i think, as you say people now know people who they see they're gay couples they've seen people get married. that's right. the next generation, which everybody has pointed out has been so responsible for changing the views in our culture about this issue i think have really made their voices heard. my daughters, i have three daughters and you know they don't -- they grew up in high school with friends who were gay who were acknowledged gay and so

it is not an issue for them. >> an interaction i had with my daughter who is 13. we were talking about dating and boys and that sort of thing. i can't remember how we got on the subject but she said -- i said do you know any kids in your middle school who are -- she said no, not really but dad i should let you know i do support same sex rights. >> good for her. >> 13, huh? >> bill: i read this week in the new yorker "new yorker" magazine among 18 to 35, 70% support same sex rights so it is inevitable. soon years from now we'll be looking back saying what were we arguing about? >> it is interesting because it is true regardless of party affiliation. >> bill: right. senator, another issue on which the senate -- i want to talk about one particularly where you were not able to come together. where both sides were able to come together, the highway transportation funding bill

where you were on one side and barbara boxer and jim inhoff who came together on this issue. because it is important to this economy. >> it is important to the economy. the senate passed a transportation bill 74 -- with 74 votes overwhelmingly bipartisan and if barbara boxer who is about as far left in the senate as you can get and jim inhoff who is about as far right as you can get, if they can come together then there's no excuse for the house not coming together. and not supporting this senate bill. it is critical because we know that for every billion dollars we spend on transportation, it creates something like 29,000 jobs. so this is a place where we know we can create jobs and where we've got states like mine and new hampshire where we have very important projects to the state that are on hold because this bill hasn't passed. >> again, why in your estimation do you think there's such resistance in the house?

>> >> you know, i think some people are more interested in grandstanding than in legislating. and you know, it is unfortunate that we have a small number of people with extreme views who don't understand that when you're trying to get legislation passed, that the legislative process is about compromising. it is about working together, recognizing that we're not all going to agree on everything. but if we work together, we can get things done. i think the example that barbara boxer and jim inhoff have said is a real indication that we can come together and get things done. >> bill: these are important projects. >> absolutely. >> bill: save lives, save money and i mean, it is just maintaining our infrastructure is one thing. but you noy, in order to compete -- but you know, in order to compete globally, we have to do more than that. >> that's right. because we're spending much less than much of the rest of the developed world. china and india who are

countries whose economies are growing very fast. they're spending about 9% of their gdp on infrastructure investment. in europe, they're spending 4%. in america we're spending about 2%. so we've gotta step up if we're going to continue to compete. >> bill: senator jeanne shaheen our guest in studio here on the "full court press" with joe williams from politico. and your calls, don't forget, you always have a seat at the table. we'll find room for you somewhere. give us a call at 1-866-55-press. we can just kind of move over, squeeze you in. good to hear from you. we'll continue our conversation with the good senator from new hampshire when we come back here on thursday, may 17. "full court press." >> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, 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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current tv, it's been all 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.

>> announcer: on your radio, on tv, the "bill press show" new on current tv. >> bill: all right now 12 minutes before the hour. senator jeanne shaheen in studio with us. and joe williams from politico. senator, watching the kind of buzz because -- in chicago certainly full of buzz now because the -- before that, the g8 summit. not too far from here. they kind of come through washington on their way. the president will be up there and go with them to chicago saturday, joe, i guess? >> i think friday, sunday. you're talking about g8. yes. >> bill: g8 here. >> then in chicago. >> bill: what is at stake here in the nato summit? is there a big deal? big meeting? >> it is a very important

meeting. for one thing, it is the first time that nato has met in the united states since 1999. >> bill: really? >> it is the first nato meeting outside of washington so i think it is important that it is going to be in chicago. and it is an opportunity to talk again and reflect on the important role of nato. it is one of the institutions that is very important globally in influencing what goes on and there's a big agenda for discussion in chicago. so it will be focused on afghanistan. the transition, what happens as we're transitioning between now and 2014. turning over security for the country to the afghans. but it is also going to address what happens after 2014 and the international role that as president obama indicated when he signed the agreement with

karzai, will continue in some form after 2014 so those discussions will be on-going. there will also be an opportunity to talk about nato in the context of contributions from all of the member countries. as we know. europe is facing real fiscal challenges here in the united states, we're talking about reducing our defense spending and so we're going to be talking -- they're going to be talking in chicago about how we're going to continue to fund nato and something that people are calling strong defense. so trying to do a better job of sharing responsibilities and examples are like the policing mission over the baltics that now nato is sharing among the european countries. >> still on-going. >> it is still on-going. >> a lot of people don't realize -- >> that continues. >> you know, libya i think iten is -- i think is an example of

better sharing of responsibilities and equipment and -- among the nato countries. and you know, the mission in libya was a real success but it also revealed some shortcomings and so i think those need to be talked about and addressed in the context of nato. and finally one of the things that i've been watching very closely is what they're going to have to say about future enlargement. there has been some suggestion that nato should not continue to keep its doors open for those countries who might like to look at membership. it has been one of the most dynamic and important changes in nato opening up to other countries. >> talking about in terms of opening countries like i think the most recent example was poland chile, a couple of other mideastern south asian countries looking to get into nato? >> there are four actually that are on the list for membership

that are going to be talked about i think. georgia, bosnia, herzegovina montenegro and macedonia are all looking to a path for nato membership. they've all been important partner countries in the mission in afghanistan. georgia in particular has really sent proportionate to its size, sent a number of troops in and has incurred some casualties. so i think it is important for us to indicate that there will be an opportunity for those countries, a clear path for membership because it's important is they're looking at their own internal reforms. >> bill: i hear you talk about the agenda. i didn't realize all of those things in the agenda. so president obama is really going to be looking for i guess some solid commitments from nato members to particularly afghanistan. and a lot hinges on that. >> well, that's right. because as we know, the cost of

maintaining the afghan national security force is going to be significant and once the mission draws down, the question is how will they continue to fund that? and so hopefully we'll see some commitments from the nato members in chicago hopefully we'll see some discussion about troop levels and more specifics about what happens after 2014. >> bill: senator, this is unfair i know. we're just about out of time. if we had -- if you had 30 seconds, are we going to see any filibuster reform or not? do you think in the senate? >> boy, i hope so. you know, it is hard for my constituents in new hampshire to understand why we can't get anything done. and one reason is because almost every vote requires 60 members to support it and one person can still hold things up in the senate. that's -- i don't think that's good democracy.

because we shouldn't allow one person to keep things from happening. >> bill: amen. amen. i think you've got the support of 80% of the american people. 95% if you can get -- reform the filibuster. >> we don't have to get rid of it completely but we do need to reform it. >> bill: thank you so much senator for coming in this morning. you have a busy day. nice of you to start it out with us. joe williams, fun having you here. friend of bill. come back any time. >> i appreciate it. >> bill: i'll be back with a quick parting shot to round up the day. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

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you see how they intertwine? yes. savings equals love, honey. yes. (vo) don't miss your chance to catch the premiere of the gavin newsom show. with special guests: >> i'm lance armstrong. if somebody put my back into a corner, i'm coming out swinging. >> announcer: the parting shot with bill press. this is the "bill press show."

>> bill: on this thursday, may 17, my parting shot for today one thing we know about texas governors, they love killing people and they have no regrets. remember george w. bush resided over the execution of 131 people in texas and assisted every one -- insisted every one of them was guilty. rick perry bypassed his record. 234 people so far. he also insists they were all guilty but now we find out both of them were liars. "the huffington post" reporting that the state of texas has executed at least two innocent people. remember illinois last year got rid of the death penalty because they found 20 people on death row who were not guilty of the crimes for which they were charged. so the only question today about the death penalty is are we a civilized society or not? if the answer is we are then we've gotta get rid of the death penalty forever. my parting shot for today. two members of congress, barbara lee and peter welsh with us

tomorrow.