[ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> bill: hello, everybody. good morning, good to see you today. thank you for joining us and welcome to the "full court press," your new morning show here on current tv. it is thursday may 24th. good to have you with us. we'll tell you what's going on today and of course take your calls and there's more news out of florida on the george zimmerman/trayvon martin case. turns out that george zimmerman was allowed to ride along with

police officers despite having a criminal record and there's new video showing him walking around the sanford police department unescorted just three days after killing trayvon martin. what was he? the sanford police department's pet? we'll get into that and a whole lot more. we now get all of the latest today's current news update out in los angeles. here's jacki she can never. >> the president is out with a pair of new positive ads today. the first one spotlights his effort to help veterans. it highlights the military's effort in tracking down al-qaeda and killing osama bin laden and then it talks about taking care of our veterans when they get back through education and employment. the second ad focuses on the president's efforts with medicare. >> president obama is leading the most successful crackdown on healthcare fraud ever, already recovered $4 billion from healthcare scams last year alone. >> the medicare ad says this is personal for the president.

he was raised in part by his grandparents. the president is positioning himself as a champion of medicare as it stands minus the waste and fraud while mitt romney's plan for medicare to whatever extent he has a plan would actually mimic the health budget plan which would institute lots of cuts and changes. the president is going to focus on the next point on his five-point to do list today. he'll speak at a wind manufacturing plant in newton ohio. he will push for congress to extend a tax credit that would invest in clean energy development and american jobs. and "the new york times" today is spotlighting a photo that may very well become iconic, a picture of jacob philadelphia touching the president's hair to see if it feels his his. it was taken by the white house photographer three years ago this month. and jacob tells "the new york times" that when he grows up, he either wants to be president or a test pilot. the photographer tells "the new york times" he had no idea how popular the photograph would be.

it both hangs in the white house and in the philadelphia home in maryland. we'll be right back with more bill press right after the break. join us online current.com/billpress. planned parenthood. anna talked to a conservative and it got a little contentious. drama, when we return.

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pradaxa can cause serious, sometimes fatal, bleeding. don't take pradaxa if you have abnormal bleeding and seek immediate medical care for unexpected signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. pradaxa may increase your bleeding risk if you're 75 or older, have a bleeding condition like stomach ulcers, or take aspirin, nsaids, or blood thinners, or if you have kidney problems especially if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all medicines you take any planned medical or dental procedures and don't stop taking pradaxa without your doctor's approval as stopping may increase your stroke risk. other side effects include indigestion, stomach pain, upset, or burning. pradaxa is progress. having afib not caused by a heart valve problem increases your risk of stroke. ask your doctor if you can reduce your risk with pradaxa. we have a big, big hour and the 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... >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: hey more chilling news out of florida in the trayvon martin case. turns out george zimmerman was a buddy-buddy of the sanford police department. surprise, surprise, maybe that's why they didn't arrest him right away. what do you say? hello, everybody! great to see you today.

it is thursday, may 24. here we go with the "full court press" on this thursday morning. good to see you today. we are -- we're just loaded with gas here, ready to go. long ride the next three hours together to take a look at the big stories around the country and around the globe. yes in the trayvon martin case. latest video shows george zimmerman three days after he shot and killed trayvon martin walking around the sanford police department like he worked there, no escort, no nothing. what's going on? out in arizona it looks like barack obama will be on the ballot afterall. hawaii has sent all of the verification they say is needed to prove that, in fact, here we go again, president obama was born in the united states and so the arizona secretary of state is expected to declare that president obama will be on the ballot. and in pakistan, the doctor who helped us find osama bin laden

has been sent to 30 years in prison for treason. they say he betrayed pakistan by helping the c.i.a. oh, my god. maybe you ought to send the c.i.a. in to rescue the doctor get him out of prison. if we can get osama bin laden, we could get the doctor out of a pakistani prison, seems to me. so much to talk about. so much you're going to want to talk about. 1-866-55-press is our toll free number. how you join the conversation. and join our team press here. peter ogborn and dan henning and cyprian bowlding, good morning all. ready to go? >> yes sir. >> bill: we're getting close to memorial day weekend you know. >> i didn't even notice. >> bill: into the homestretch here. slowing down a bit. you can tell in the news. >> yeah. >> bill: and in the capital. people already heading out of town, you notice. >> yep. any excuse.

ya know. >> bill: as if congress needs an excuse to take a break. president obama on the road. he was at the air force academy yesterday giving their commencement address. the president usually kind of rotates among the military academies. yesterday it was colorado springs. president telling the cadets we're counting on you. >> cadets, as i look into your eyes, as you join that long, blue line, i know you will carry us even farther and even higher. and with your proud service i'm absolutely confident the united states of america will meet the test of our time. >> bill: president then went on to denver and denver, a big -- one or two big fund-raisers there in denver. and he came out with a new word for what the republicans have been trying to do to the american people on the facts. >> i don't know how they've been bamboozling folks into thinking

they're the responsible fiscally-disciplined party. they run up these wild debts and then when we take over, we gotta clean it up. >> bill: yeah! they're bamboozling us! good word. i like that. no bamboozling on this show. >> that's right. we.will not bamboozle. >> bill: we just tell the truth. right. with the help of our friends jamal simmons coming in as a "friend of bill." we'll talk to laura bassett about the continuing war on women and also laura bassett from "huffington post," of course. michael tamaski from the daily beast. to join the conversation. and guess who are the least-informed -- meaning dumbest? people in the entire country? we'll tell you. but first -- >> announcer: this is the "full court press." >> on this thursday, other

headlines making news, "american idol" crowned its season 11 champion last night. >> bill: i'm so happy. [yawning] >> 21-year-old phillip from lees bugg georgia, became the fifth guy in a row beat out jessica sanchez. the show's producers say a record 132 million votes were cast for the winner. he's now off to have kidney surgery. he had been plagued with health problems throughout the competition but fought through them. >> bill: shouldn't he be going to disney world? >> not kidney surgery. i think he got it wrong. >> bill: can you believe 132 million people voted? >> it is rigged. if you're flying on american airlines this weekend, don't expect special privileges. of the airline is doing away with its policy to allow families with small chirp to board early. cnn says it is simplifying the

process by having less boarding groups. kids will have to wait in line like everyone else except if kids are flying in first class. >> oh, good, so there is an easy solution. >> bill: because so many parents buy first class seats for their kids. >> this is such -- it makes no sense. >> bill: none. >> like it was a real hassle to say if you have children, you can board now. how is that a hassle? >> bill: i'm telling you every day, the airlines get worse and worse and worse. >> oprah's doing something to help herself. she's teaming up with "the huffington post." they're joining forces. content will help. "huffington post" gets about 37 million and her magazine gets about five million views. >> bill: she will be writing articles? >> more than that. a lot of content from oprah.com

will be featured in its own section on "huffington post" across their various platforms. up to like 60 different "huffington post" web sites now. >> bill: all right. there you go. good for queen oprah. yes, it turns out and you may not be surprised to learn that the most uninformed people in the united states of america -- you ready for this? are the people who watch fox news. it updates a study they did back in 2001 -- 2011, last year where they just looked at new jersey and they found the least-informed people in new jersey were supporters of chris christie probably. but viewers of fox news, those who watch fox news, those who get all of their news from fox news.

this year, they said i wonder if that's true around the country. they took a survey nationwide residents. what they found out is -- love your take on this because we've been telling you a long time don't trust anything you hear or see on fox news. the fact is it is just -- it is not the news. it is propaganda. they are the propaganda arm of the republican national committee. of the republican party. that's all there is to it. if you start watching fox and friends in the morning you get the news. you get their slant on the news. they'll take any item and slant it coming out of washington and slant it against president obama or against the democrats. just the headlines used, the questions they ask, the guests they have on. it starts at fox with friends and it goes all day long, all the way up through sean hannity and bill o'reilly in the evening and megan kelly in the

afternoon. and even the five, the famous five, right with bob beck over there, five people on the other side and bill in the morning following fox and friends all the way. so not surprising when they looked at this across the country. they found out the -- by the way, they asked people questions about international news and domestic news. on the average on foreign affairs, most americans could answer almost half of the questions. 1.8 out of 4. on domestic, people didn't do so well. that includes the economy, politics and all of that stuff of course, education. 1.6, the average 1.6 out of five questions those people who watched no news at all right no news at all their average

was 1.22. the people who watch fox even less than people who watch no news at all. >> wow! >> bill: now they had opinions right like president obama's a muslim. >> exactly. >> bill: they had opinions like saddam hussein flew the planes, both of them into the world trade center towers. those kinds of opinions. president obama is a muslim. president obama was not born in the united states. but they didn't know what they were talking about. with fox news, the average was 1.04. came out even less than people who watch no news at all. by the way, people watch the daily show with jon stewart up there, 1.42. here again, here again, proving that fox news is not news and proving that the people who watch fox news don't know what the hell they're talking about.

so here's what i find -- which is dangerous. that these people who watch fox news, that's all they watch. they don't get -- if they're in the car, they're listening to rush limbaugh or sean hannity or mark lavin or michael savage but it is right wing radio or right wing television. fox news. and they're just not getting the full picture. so first question is what does it say about fox? what does it say about the people who watch fox? 1-866-55-press. which -- may i remind you is, by far, sad to say the number one cable network number one i mean far, far, far outpaces msnbc or cnn or current tv or anybody else. so that's pretty troubling. 1-866-55-press.

tell me what you think about that. but then the other question is if you're not watching fox and i hope you're not, where do people go? where do you really go for the news? where do you go? you don't want slant left or slant right. you just want the truth. you just want the news. you know what's going on. where do you go? i would like to know from you. do you read a newspaper? how many people read a newspaper anymore? i don't know. do you subscribe to one at home, peter? >> i used to. i don't anymore but i get "the new york times" on my ipad. and then i use "the washington post" app which is free on the ipad. i read a newspaper on the ipad but i don't get. >> bill: you don't pick one up. >> not anymore. >> bill: i think if you read it online, that counts. >> i'm still reading "the new york times" reporting on my ipad.

>> bill: i don't think it is the same as having a newspaper and going through it and being able to see and read every article. a lot of it is the placement of the article. i have "the new york times" on my ipad, too and i get "the washington post" and i read both of those and usually go online and read the other papers. i go to the web. i go online. mostly online sites tilt left or right. you go to "huffington post," you're tilting left. you go to daily beast sort of center left maybe. daily caller, far right. >> there are web sites that we like and we use and i think a lot of news now is strictly done to generate buzz and publicity less than actual reporting. >> bill: i like politico but politico i would say is kind of tilt a little bit right, right of center. buzzfeed, maybe a little left of

center. forgetting the actual news, i have to tell you i still think -- i think the network news service is pretty straight. it is only half an hour. the problem with the network news is it tilts so old. half of the program, every broadcast whether it is brian williams or diane sawyer or scott pelley on cbs half of their program is about medication or old people. and new treatments for old people. so they know who their audience is. couple of questions about our business, the news business, right? this is a talk show but we try to bring you up to date on what's going on. where do you go for news? where do you go for news you can trust? and is there any way that you can trust anything you see or hear on fox news?

1-866-55-press. no surprise to me. the least informed people in the country are those who watch fox news. it has been proven again by another study by dickinson university. the second most uninformed group of the nation are those who listen to rush limbaugh, of course. >> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." vice president al gore joins jennifer granholm. >>we're just getting started. >>the state of the 2012 campain. brought to you by spiriva handihaler.

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>> announcer: this is the "bill press show" live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: all right. 25 minutes after the hour. here we go. the "full court press." don't forget to check out current.com/billpress. and you will find on our current tv web site. our interview yesterday with brad woodhouse communications director of the democratic committee. he's full of piss and vinegar. you'll enjoy it if you didn't catch it yesterday at current.com. we're talking about the latest finding the most uninformed people in the country, those who watch fox news. mike is calling from indiana. hey, mike, how you doing? >> caller: good morning, bill, how you doing? >> bill: mike, i want to ask you, i was curious as to what the questions asked were. i'm going to ask you one of them see how well-informed you are. you ready? >> caller: okay. >> bill: first foreign policy question.

to the best of your knowledge, were the opposition groups protesting in egypt -- had the opposition groups protesting in egypt been successful in removing hosni mubarak as president? >> caller: yes. >> bill: damn right. in fact, they're voting now to replace him. mike, you obviously are not a watcher of fox news. what do you say? >> caller: to be honest with you, bill, i am a watcher of fox news. i like to get some good entertainment which it is. i like to have a good laugh and you know, i'm all about the comedy. [ laughter ] >> bill: that's why i watch it. >> caller: i watch it so often but the comment i had, bill was you can't always go after the students for being dumb. you have to go after the teacher and i think the teachers are the fox news entertainers and those are the ones that we should be going after to let people know that they're the ones that are misinforming people. >> bill: i like that. i think it is right.

you may have a lot of laughs here but don't think you're really learning that much. kevin is calling from chicago. kevin, how are you? >> caller: hey, pretty good, bill. >> bill: i gotta ask you one of the domestic questions. which party has the most seats in the house of representatives right now. >> caller: the rebukes. [ ding ding ] >> bill: you got it. fox viewers couldn't get that right. >> caller: that doesn't surprise me at all. those of us on the left, we're the intelligent ones. you know what? they hate the facts. what we need to do is educate them on the facts of how fox news actually came into existence. roger ales part of the nixon administration proposed it to nixon as propaganda machine exposing the views of the republican party as if it was news. they could fund it. along comes rupert murdoch. who's in charge of fox news? roger ales. >> bill: kevin, you got it.

that's exactly how fox news came into existence. republican propaganda from the start. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." street. >>the leadership of high finance just doesn't get it. >>(narrator) the former governor of new york, eliot spitzer is on current tv. >>somebody somewhere can listen, record, track, gather this data. >>arrangements were made. >>(narrator) independent unflinching. >>there is a wild west quality to it that permits them to do whatever they wish. >>(narrator) and above all politically direct. >>facts are stubborn things.

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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: heard around the country and seen on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: hey, it is 33 minutes after the hour. here we are on thursday, may 24th. good to see you today. taking your calls about this latest study from fairly dickinson university reporting -- showing rather that the most uninformed people in the country more uninformed than those people who watch no

news are those people who watch fox news. i didn't say that. fairly dickinson university found that in their survey nationwide. your comments welcome at 1-866-55-press. take a little time out here from your calls to say hello to a good friend, find out what's happening down at the white house on the job early this morning, david jackson covers the white house for "usa today." hello, david. good morning. >> good morning, bill. >> bill: president obama on the road again. it looks like we have a little pattern developing here, david right? >> yes, very much so. >> bill: we'll see him more and more a couple of days out on the road. >> he had basically -- he has like an 18-hour day yesterday. he left the white house at 7:00 a.m. and didn't wrap up on the west coast until close to midnight. it is gearing up. we're basically in the campaign season right now. >> bill: and the trips i guess they try to put together like yesterday, you know, he does presidential event giving the commencement address at the air force academy and then a

fund-raiser in denver and then a fund-raiser on the west coast. today is a combination, too, isn't it? >> exactly. these are hybrid trips. today he'll start this morning in san jose with a fund-raiser. after that, he will head to iowa and stop by wynn power manufacturing plant and call on congress to pass tax credits to help develop clean energy projects. that's the official part of the project. then he will head over to des moines for a campaign rally paid by the campaign. and they must hire a full staff of accountants to keep track of this. the trip is split. >> bill: i was going to ask you about that. when it is a combination do taxpayers pay the whole freight? >> half and half. taxpayers will pay for half the trip but it is a complicated formula i've learned during the reagan administration and other presidencies have adopted it. they determine which parts of the trips are political and which are official and they divide up the expenses that way. it boils down to 50/50.

>> bill: right. the one briefing we did have you and i were both there. tuesday i guess it was right? where most of the questioning, david, was about bain capital. >> right. >> bill: cory booker statements followed by harold ford followed by ed rendell. how do you think this plays out for obama? do you think the obama campaign is going to back away from talking about bain capital? >> i think it depends on what they see in their polling. i think they're throwing it out there and about this time every morning, some people gather in a room and try to assess what the people are actually thinking about it. i think that's why they keep pressing -- obama pressed it again in all three of his fund-raisers so they'll maintain the attack for awhile. it is interesting because the one thing they play on people's concerns about the financial crisis and wall street's builds but as you mention, some democrats are leery of it and also as "the new york times" pointed thought morning, some members of the financial industry who are favorable to obama aren't happy about this

line of attack. it will be interesting to see how long and how hard they press this issue. obama himself said on monday this is going to be a major part of the campaign so he's committed to it. >> bill: don't you think at some point that they're going to shift to talking about mitt romney's record as governor of massachusetts? >> i would assume so yeah. at some point they will. >> bill: because romney doesn't talk about that much, right? >> that's tricky, too, though. you know the big thing that romney did was healthcare. they're not sure how that's going to play out because obama doesn't talk about his own healthcare plan because there is concern about how that plays out politically. it is all very risky. i compare this poll -- this whole campaign to the washington capitals hockey playoffs. they played 14 playoff games 13 were decided by one goal. i think that this campaign is going to be very tight and one thing that one candidate tries is going to have some benefits but it will also have some pit falls. they'll have to be careful about

how they approach each other. i think it will be like this for the next six months. >> bill: the president, a lot of his time recently has been spent talking about his to do list. we saw another one the other day again in the briefing room where the two people came in to talk about this tax credit for people who build wind turbines and solar panels. >> right. >> bill: how important is this to do list? it seems to me none of them are world-shaking issues. do you think it has any chance of getting past congress? >> the trips, they're calling on congress to take specific action which of course is what a president does. i think some of them actually have a chance. some of the stuff is actually being done. they just focus on the political aspects of it. there's nothing major to it. it is a way for the president to

act like the president and be presidential and call on congress to do things. i think some of the stuff may get there even though we're in full-time campaign mode, there are a few housecleaning items congress wants to deal with. obviously the white house wants some things as well. we may see a few things come out of congress. >> bill: the one that we heard about tuesday which was a tax credit for companies that manufacture wind turbines and solar panels in this country to keep those jobs here in this country and keep the companies -- many of the small businesses like the guy who was with us tuesday i don't know how you could argue against that. >> no. republicans like tax credits. i assume they'll use it to get out legislation. it wouldn't surprise me to see some of the stuff passed particularly on the tax credit/tax cuts. >> bill: even looking at it, "usa today," how do you think the president's decision on same-sex marriage plays?

colin powell came out over the weekend agreeing with the president. politically plus or minus for obama? >> again, i think there's some pluses and some minuses. i think it is a big benefit in states where he's already popular and i think it really hurts him in states he is already figured to lose anyway. the nub boils down to people like ohio and virginia, the closely-called states. i don't think anybody really knows. the campaign, i know this. the campaign is confident it is a winner for them them. you'll hear more and more about it. they rolled out another program targeting gay and lesbian voters yesterday. and doesn't even talk of obama continuing to talk about gay marriage during the campaign. so the campaign seems increasinggy comfortable that something will benefit them. romney's people don't talk about it much. >> bill: right yeah. they figure you know, it is not necessarily all good for them to be way out in front as santorum would be, opposing it.

>> i don't think the romney people think it is a good -- they still have designs on places like pennsylvania. i don't think coming out strongly against gay marriage will help them in the philadelphia and pittsburgh areas. >> bill: david, i'll leave the ranch to you today because there's no briefings. >> going to be kind of quiet around there. >> bill: david jackson, usatoday.com covering the white house for "usa today." good friend. president of the white house correspondents association last year. on fox news and the finding from fairly dickinson university, the people who watch fox the most uninformed, more uninformed than people who watch no news at all. ann is down in raleigh north carolina. >> caller: the misinformation that's promoted by fox is mind-boggling but providing what their viewers want to hear or they'll lose them. they don't want the truth.

they defend the right to lie to their viewers. i end up so damn frustrated with with my blood pressure rising and i don't want to break something through the tv. it is too costly to replace. >> bill: on the monitors here in the studio, we have all of the networks on. and so i do see -- that's how i see fox and friends, i don't hear it. but i laugh out loud sometimes at the headlines that they will give stories, how they go so far out of their way to twist anything that obama does, right. in a negative light. >> caller: oh, yeah. how we're putting the word out. the dnc does not speak up loudly.

when you see the right-wingers on there they've all got the same message that they promote day in and day out. >> bill: absolutely. now i invite you ann to take a look at brad woodhouse yesterday, our interview with him if you didn't see it on -- and it is up on current tv. current.com/billpress. brad woodhouse, i think the dnc under brad woodhouse is doing a good job. there are too many democrats who don't understand their job and their job is not to play nice nice and find ways they can say bad things about obama and good things about republicans. their job is to go out and deliver the message. we don't need anymore democrats delivering the message like cory booker. save the team. 1-866-55-press. more calls coming up. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

vice president al gore joins jennifer granholm. >>we're just getting started. >>the state of the 2012 campain. brought to you by spiriva handihaler.

>> 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. sam collender economist in studio with us at the top of the next hour to talk about facebook among -- and bain capital among other issues. right now, we're taking your calls about the latest survey by fairly dickinson university. showing that the most uninformed

people in this country according to their survey are those who watch fox news. we'll get back to that. first into the spin room we go. yesterday mitt romney not talking about jobs or economy for once. not talking about bain capital. talking about schools so what will he do as president about schools? >> i don't like the direction of american education and as president, i will do everything in my power to get education on track for the kids of this great land. [ applause ] >> bill: what did he say? nothing. what is that? in fact, if you look at some of the -- some of the particular examples he gave like vouchers, for example, everything he talked about president obama has already done. that statement is just a typical vacuous mitt romney statement. of course, all of the people applaud. they don't know what he said either.

spin, spin spin, spin. i've told you about the "the obama hate machine." my latest book of course. that's what it is all about. the lies, distortions and personal attacks on the about the who is behind them. if you don't have a copy, this is a book for this campaign. it tells you what this campaign is all based on and who's behind it, the koch brothers. the reason i want to mention again today, if you don't have a copy, want to get a signed copy, go to billpressshow.com and tell us how you want it sign and we'll send it out to you right away. it is timely because the "the obama hate machine" is not something that happened last year. it still is happening. look at these two stories today. hawaii has finally stepped up because the secretary of state in arizona said he was not going to put barack obama on the ballot because he wasn't convinced that barack obama was born in the united states of

america. jesus! we're still arguing that thing that came up during the campaign? and was really answered during the campaign when the obama campaign, campaign of 2008, the obama campaign put up online a copy of his birth certificate from hawaii. everybody said well, it is not the long form. we went through the donald trump. then president obama sent his guy to hawaii. got the long form. made copies, brought it back and handed it out to us down at the white house. reporters at the white house. this jerk in arizona still refuses to believe it. yesterday the state of hawaii verified for the state of arizona that, in fact, they showed him the birth certificate. we've got it. he was born here in hawaii. will this finally go away? >> again they had to verify? the birth certificate? >> bill: again. >> haven't we done this already? >> bill: how many times for every idiot who raised that issue. that's one element. you see, that's the heart of the

hate obama machine which is to deny his -- his legitimacy. he's not a legitimate citizen therefore not a legitimate president and mike coffman who is a congressman from colorado says he's not even a legitimate american. so here he is, a few days ago in albert county colorado, talking to a group and he was asked whether or not he believes that president was born in the united states. the sound is not great. you can hear him. >> i don't know whether barack obama was born in the united states or not. but i do know this. that he's not an american at heart. >> bill: not an american. just not an american. why can't this idiot just say look, you know i disagree with president obama on some issues but obviously, he's a patriotic

american. what's wrong with that? begin. the hate machine. they can't even accept the fact or acknowledge he's an american. yesterday a reporter catches up with mr. kauffmann who -- mr. coffman who realizes he stepped into it big time. listen to him try to weasel his way out of this question. >> i think that as i said -- >> who are you apologizing to? >> i stand by my statement. i apologize. >> we talk to you all the time. you're a very forthcoming guy. who's telling you not to talk? >> i stand by my statement that i wrote. that you have. and i misspoke and i apologize. >> was it that you thought it would go over well in albert county where folks are very conservative and you would never say something like that in the suburbs? >> is there anything i can ask you that you would answer? >> i stand by my statement that i misspoke and i apologize.

>> bill: i'm not sure i understood that correctly, peter. i think what he was saying was that he stands by his statement? >> you know, i stand by my statement that i misspoke and i apologize. >> can you tell me what time of day it is? >> bill: i got it. >> okay, got it. >> bill: what did you have for break breakfast this morning? s i tell you. how do these guys get elected in the first place? during the 2008 campaign some woman stood up and asked -- and said to john mccain you know about president obama, barack obama, he's an arab and john mccain said lady, look, he and i disagree but let's accept the fact he's a good american. he's just wrong on the issues. i mean fine, you accept that but

to say he's not even an american? come on! "the obama hate machine." it is still around. we'll be back. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

>>we have such a big show today it may, uh, actually explode. >>(narrator) tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block.

>>we're hogging all the sexy on our side. hello! >> 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: all right. may says hey, bill, love your show. it is wonderful to know there is another person who can't pass by

and leave a penny lying on the road. that's me. she wants to point out she is mad at cory booker as i am. it is now time to switch the conversation, however to romney's income tax returns and offshore bank accounts. dan martinez says booker, ford and randle are wall street whores. they'll stand behind the corruption because of the money they get in their pockets. we're talk this morning about uninformed people. sue says you are the stupid illiterate and uninformed. you're just unwilling to admit that you're so anxious to take over the white house you elected an illegal. what did i tell you? the "the obama hate machine." it is true, sue says, obama is an illegal. he's a muslim and never even became an american. to most -- the most uninformed people are the people who listen to you. you should be taken off the air and like olbermann you will be

taken out. i'm sorry, sue. i stand by my statement. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

>> bill: hello, everybody, good morning. thursday, may 24. good to see you today. welcome to the "full court press" here on current tv. your morning show where we tackle all of the big stories of the day. tell you what we think it means and take your calls at 1-866-55-press. great to see you today. thank you so much for joining us. and among other things, we want to talk about, how do you like

this for allies. remember that doctor in pakistan who helped us find osama bin laden? gave us some information directed us to that house in islamabad? well, pakistan just sentenced that doctor to prison for 30 years for treason. maybe we ought to send the c.i.a. in to free that doctor. we'll get into that and a whole lot more here on the "full court press." but first, our current tv news update out in los angeles. here's jacki schechner. good morning jacki. >> good morning, bill. good morning everyone. as you mentioned a little bit earlier, mitt romney is turning his attention to education. he will be speaking at a charter school in philadelphia this morning. yesterday at a meeting of hispanic voters, romney said that american children get a third world education and he called the failure of american schools for minorities the civil rights issue of our era. he advocated a few things. one being more charter schools. holding teachers more accountable, exposing school failures through public report

cards, all policies that are either already in place or advocated by the obama administration. where the two differ is romney's preference for a voucher program that would let public funds go to private schools. the focus on education is likely an attempt to reach out to hispanic voters who care a lot about the issue. speaking of that, you may remember the spanish language ad that mitt romney put out last week. now we have an e-mail that says he's putting out a new advertisement called dos. it if true, he would have the busiest day in office packed with things he couldn't do without congressional approval. day one, the afternoon says romney would announce deficit reductions and demand that china complies with rules and he would repeal regulations that have caused job loss. whatever those may be. there is no word yet whether we'll get a tres but timingwise, we figure that would be mitt romney's plan for dinner. what mitt romney is not talking about with hispanic voters is

immigration. there was no mention of that yesterday and no word that he'll be talking about that at any point today either. we're online at current.com/billpress. join us in chat live. we'll see you in a minute. >>(narrator) don't miss this week's the gavin newsom show with special guest guy kawasaki and dylan ratigan. >>steve jobs was many things but he was not a politician. [ kristal ] we're just taking a sample of all our different items in our festival of shrimp. the crab-stuffed shrimp are awesome! tequila lime tacos. [ man ] delicious! [ male announcer ] it's festival of shrimp! for $12.99 try any two shrimp creations like new barbeque glazed shrimp. offer ends soon. we're servers at red lobster. and we sea food differently. i have the most common type of atrial fibrillation, or afib. it's not caused by a heart valve problem. i was taking warfarin, but my doctor put me on pradaxa

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you've heard bill's views, now let's hear yours. politically direct means no b.s. just telling you what's going on in politics today. >>at the only on-line forum with a direct line to bill press. >>it's something i've been waiting for a long time. >>join the debate now. >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: hey no apologist here. we stand behind president barack obama and we stand behind his comments on bain capital. hello, everybody.

"full court press" on thursday may 24. great to see you today. you're looking good. thank you for joining us as we talk about the big issues of the day here in washington, d.c. and around the globe. it looks like arizona's finally going to have to put president obama on the ballot. have to accept the fact that he was, afterall, born in america. down in florida, some troubling news in the trayvon martin case. new video showing george zimmerman having the run of the sanford police department, walking around the police department unescorted, just like he belonged there, three days after he shot and killed trayvon martin. maybe this is why he was not arrested in the first place and was allowed to get away with murder. and as we mentioned in pakistan the pakistani government has sentenced -- convicted the doctor who helped our c.i.a., helped us find osama bin laden. he has been convicted of treason and sentenced him to 30 years in prison. oh, my gosh. so much to get into. there's continuing talk about what we're going to do about the

debt ceiling whether boehner will be successful in holding the faith and credit of the united states hostage for that on the debt ceiling, i know the topics. we're so pleased to welcome back in our studio, good friend, economist dan collender who works for the corvis communications. stan, good to see you. >> good to be here. can i start by saying i want to reconfirm i'm actually from brooklyn, new york. >> bill: i didn't think you were an american. >> being from brooklyn is not the same as being an american. but i didn't bring a birth certificate but you can tell by the accent right? >> perfect! >> bill: well maybe some people might be fooled that way. >> not i. because i watch fox news. >> bill: i know you're not a real american. >> because no one from brooklyn watches fox. but anyway -- >> bill: peter ogborn, dan henning, cyprian bowlding, our videographer. get the wave in there. it was interesting yesterday, stan, that colin powell -- i

don't know whether he has a new book out or something but he's popping up on television everywhere. on cnn yesterday on the situation room. wolf blitzer asked him being general colin powell what he thought about don't ask, don't tell and the corollary now same-sex marriage. general is right on board. >> are you with the president in supporting gay marriage? >> i've thought about gya marriage -- gay marriage that are in partnerships with loved ones. they're as stable a family as my family is. they raise children. i don't see any reason not to say that they should be able to get married. >> bill: this is inevitable, isn't it? don't you think? >> the country is clearly -- at least good parts of the country are still moving in that direction. it is a very enlightened view from someone who's been in the military for as long as he was. >> bill: absolutely. he's almost starting to redeem

himself in my eyes. almost. he still has a long way to go for what he did in terms of supporting george bush's war in iraq. and giving that speech at the u.n. >> he is certainly starting to sound like a democrat, isn't he? >> bill: more and more. indeed. sam collender will be with us. we're going to talk economics and debt ceiling. michael tam ascii from the daily beast joining us for the second half of the hour. jamal simmons in as a "friend of bill." but first -- >> this is the "full court press." >> other headlines making news on this thursday in sports, the nba eastern conference semifinal was forced to a game seven last night. philadelphia 76ers bounced back from a poor first half showing to beat the boston celtics 82-75. they play for the conference finals on saturday. the miami heat have the opportunity to advance tonight if they beat the indiana pacers, they lead the series three games to two. in the west, oklahoma city and

san antonio start their western conference finals on sunday. >> bill: i'm getting confused by this nba thing. i mean there are so many teams and it takes so long. >> it is the playoffs. >> bill: the heat and the pacers, right? >> yes. >> bill: then the celtics and the 76ers. then the winner of those play each other for the eastern champion? >> eastern conference. >> bill: it is going to be august. or september before we get there. >> then we start the next season. they have summer camp. >> the season was like 80 some odd games. >> why would you want this to end? i love basketball playoffs. >> bill: just because i'm add. >> hockey is going on at the same time. that's also -- kind of strange. [ laughter ] >> are people starting to grow tired of reality shows like "dancing with the stars" and "american idol"? >> if there is a god then yes. >> bill: a long time ago for

me. >> if this week's ratings are on indication, they're on a decline. "usa today's" reported dancing's finale had the lowest ratings ever for a finale in the seven years the program has been on the air and tuesday night's final performance show for idol also had its lowest ratings in history. although it did also win the night. no word yet on last night's finale ratings. could be lower if that's an indication. >> we should be talking about -- isn't this a reality show? >> when you boil it down. >> and this story comes around every year as americans think about taking time off for memorial day weekend, workers continue to leave vacation days on the table fearing consequences and job loss for taking days off. "usa today" reporting this morning on a new survey nearly four in ten people did not book a vacation in the last year, up from one in four in 2008. another survey finding 57% of employees will have unused vacation time still on the table

at the end of the year. >> bill: i don't get that. i really don't. i'm a firm believer take every last day you can take. i would make it mandatory. i think people are better if they take some time off and get some -- recharge their batteries. >> i'll see you in june! see ya later! >> bill: i didn't mean for this show. >> okay. >> bill: if you've got vacation days, when i was working for jerry brown mario god rest his soul, health education secretary, we were working on something, he said you know, bill i haven't taken a vacation for 15 years. like i was supposed to be impressed by that right? i said mario you idiot! what do you mean? you're not that important. take some time off. >> we have research that shows it does shorten your life. >> bill: what shortens your life? >> not taking vacation. it makes you more susceptible to disease. it does a whole bunch of things

that aren't good for you. >> bill: it makes. >> lot more boring and it is self-inflated. you think you're so important you have to stay there on the job. >> you know what's interesting dan, is it is not just washington folks or new york folks. you say it is national. >> oh, absolutely. i know people on the eastern shore of maryland, farmers, those guys who work seven days a week. and they have been working for years and years. >> bill: farmers are different. i think we're talking about people who have like a 9 couldn't. to 5:00 job. >> bill: i understand farmers. >> they have -- i'm saying any occupation has to take vacation. it doesn't matter what you do. >> at least get an extra hour of sleep once in awhile. >> bill: thank you dan. get outta here. laugh laugh. [ laughter ] >> bill: stan collender, where do we start. i want to ask you about

facebook. did you buy any? >> no. >> bill: do you regret buying it? >> no. >> bill: was it a con job? >> was there a good deal of hype? sure. it would be like selling stock in an ice-cream cone. everybody knows what it is. everybody wants it. i had one of those things it couldn't possibly live up to the hype. it was going to be like a netscape. in this case, it didn't even go up that high. and now we're finding out there may have been some serious problems here. none of which i have any information on. i don't want to discuss that. but you know, how could you possibly not think that this was going to be overhyped, it was a big demand for it and the price was going to be higher than it should be based on the fundamentals of the company. >> bill: there are some reports from morgan stanley anonymously have said that morgan stanley realized that this was -- that they could never meet expectations, let's put it that way. they whispered that word to some

institutional investors but they didn't put that out there publicly. >> and now there is a lawsuit. >> and now there is a lawsuit that will be -- there will be congressional hearings and the s.e.c. yesterday shapiro said they're going to do an investigation on facebook. so suddenly, they've got all of this -- and plus nasdaq machinery breaks down. >> they're even talking now facebook is now talking about moving from nasdaq to nyse, the new york stock exchange. my guess is as much as mark zuckerberg likes the money he got. he's the 29th richest or the 30th given that the stock price has fallen, he probably doesn't like this kind of attention and publicity. he's thinking life was simper will when we were a private company. >> bill: peter knows -- so last friday, you're looking at one here. last friday, after talking about it on the program here, i heard

from my broker and -- who happened to have some shares so i bought 200 shares, right? at $38. >> pt barnum lives. but guess what? yesterday, i dumped them. >> it would have been fine -- >> bill: i dumped them. i said take a loss get the hell out. >> sometimes you get the bear and sometimes the bear gets you. in this case you got swallowed whole. >> bill: we'll see about that. it serves me right by the way. >> i hate to minimize this but it was only 200 shares right? it is not like it was two million. >> bill: still a good chunk of change. let's talk about john boehner. you've written a powerful piece -- >> thank you. >> bill: for roll call. john boehner who once again says we thought we resolved this debt ceiling so it wouldn't come up again until 2013, would not come up in the election year but john boehner brought it back and saying right now we're never

going to raise -- unless we with get corresponding cuts, right? debt ceiling as a political football. >> all right. let me use the word that i used in the headline. this is as irresponsible behavior from a speaker of the united states house of representatives you could possibly get. first of all, you don't play around with the debt ceiling with a credit rating of the united states government. no matter who you are. that's whether it is stan collender, bill press or john boehner. >> bill: why don't you? >> you've got a responsibility here for the reputation of the country. and you don't want to do anything that would negatively affect it. that's number one. and number two he, john boehner has literally invited the rating agencies, the s&ps, the same people who downgraded the rating back in august after the last debt ceiling he's invited him to do it again. he's invited him to do it again early. let's reconsider it right now. he is third in line to be -- second in line to be the president after the vice president. this is just totally

irresponsible. third, it is playing to the tea party wing of his own party. the red meat folks, the birthers that you were talking about in the previous segment. and they are not a majority of the country number one. number two they're wrong on this. the debt ceiling -- we're the only country in the world where the debt ceiling has to be raised separately from when you decide to tax less or spend more. it should be an automatic decision, not something separate from it. the whole thing stinks. it is as irresponsible as you could possibly get. >> bill: what would the impact be if the united states did not raise -- if the congress voted we're not going to raise the debt ceiling? >> two sentences of context. the united states has never missed a payment on its debt in 250 plus years. it goes back to alexander hamilton who insisted the u.s. make good on the debt of all of the colonies. >> bill: people who had fought in the revolutionary war. >> we owed money -- all of the colonies had bor road money from the dutch and hamilton said if

anyone's going to have confidence in the new united states government, we have to -- >> bill: we have to pay our bills. >> not raising the debt ceiling would mean is we would run out of cash at some point. it is not unlike what happens when you don't -- you reach the limit on a credit card. obviously we're talking about something much different squail. but as what happened last august, the u.s. would not be able to borrow to meet its current obligations. like any business, you have a cash flow situation, taxes come in at different times of the year. and we would have to stop paying people. we would have to stop paying contractors. we would have to stop paying debt. it would be a disaster. it would almost certainly lead to and this is the thing everyone needs to understand. lead to higher interest rates for the average person. student loans, credit cards, car loans, home mortgages, exactly what you don't need in the current economic environment. >> bill: the tea partiers, what you say as scary as it sounds, as horrible as it sounds for them, that sounds great. that's good news for them. they want to shut down the

government. >> this wouldn't shut down the government but it would make us -- it would really make things crazy. quick story, last february, i think you and i have talked about this. i was the first speaker at the first meeting of the house tea party caucus. michele bachmann invited me. after i spoke about the debt ceiling, this is last february. the tea party chairs from virginia, pennsylvania and florida talked to the 25 members who had truly screamed at them and said you must not vote to increase the debt ceiling, end of statement. when i very politely pointed out that would require a $1.4 trillion immediate spending cut that's 40% of the u.s. budget and 10% of the gdp and would throw us into a depression, their response was "yeah, so what." that's nuts. >> bill: that's what we're dealing with. stan col ender in studio with us talking debt ceiling and bain capital. facebook. your calls welcome at 1-866-55-press. we always save a seat at the table for you. that's how you take it at 1-866-55-press.

it is the "full court press." thursday, may 24th. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." vice president al gore joins jennifer granholm. >>we're just getting started. >>the state of the 2012 campain. brought to you by spiriva handihaler.

>>(narrator) gavin newsom, lieutenant governor of california, and former mayor of san francisco is on 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. friday at 11 eastern/8 pacific. only on current tv. >> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 26 minutes after the hour. we're talking economics. wall street. bain capital. facebook. debt ceiling with stan collender here from corvis communications. stan where can people -- on twitter. follow him on twitter. his twitter handle is

atthebudgetguy. >> bill: before we get to calls, i have to ask you about -- so jpmorgan, blowing $2 billion on a trade. >> maybe $3 now. >> bill: it may be higher. doesn't this make the case for why we need something stronger than dodd frank? >> or certainly it makes the case that the industry's efforts to weaken some of the regulations need to be looked at very, very carefully. this is -- you got this. you've got the nasdaq situation with facebook. it is another example that wall street really hasn't yet mended it ways here. >> bill: you can't trust them to. dale is calling from new york city. hi gail. >> caller: hi, how are you? >> bill: thanks for your call. >> caller: i need to find out from stan, if we went back to the original tax code before they decide to give the rich their 33% or whatever it is and

if we did that, cut pakistan afghanistan and everything else, can we by any chance cut the deficit in half? >> well, cut it in half all right. current deficit, i'm going to give you round numbers. about a trillion dollars, you're asking if we could raise $500 billion in additional revenue. the answer is certainly. if you go back to the preronald reagan days the pre'86 tax reform, marginal rate was up around 70%. keep in mind, if that went back into place and everyone paid everything -- >> bill: how about if you went back to the bill clinton years? >> all right yeah, you would raise -- well, let's do it this way instead of talking about tax rates, if revenue were at its historical average of 18% or 19% of gdp compared to 14 to 16% now, we would raise $300 or $400 billion and we might not cut the deficit completely in half. >> bill: we would get rid of the bush tax cuts, we would be

well down the road. we're out of time. come back again soon. >> any time. >> bill: thank you, stan. good to see you. >> 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...

you're about to watch an ad message created by a current tv viewer for allstate save 11 campaign. >>i was going to pick up my little brother from school today. >>i was actually going to clean my room today. >>my dad was finally going to make it to one of my basketball games. >>i was going to apply to college. >>i was going to go to work, on time. >>my mom was going to buy me a car. >>i was going to try out that new chinese restaurant. >>i was going to audition for the school play. >>today i was going to tell my girlfriend that i loved her. >>i was going to play cards with the guys.

>>i was supposed to turn 18 today. >>join the movement to help prevent teen driving deaths at facebook.com/save11 >> announcer: on your radio, on tv the "bill press show" new on current tv. >> bill: 33 minutes after the hour now here on this thursday may 24. the "full court press" coming to you live across this great land of ours on your favorite local progressive talk radio station and on current tv. good to see you whether you're listening or watching. thanks for joining us. we were talking a little bit earlier about the latest survey

of fairleigh dickinson university that showed the least-informed people in the united states are the people who watch fox news. they are even less well-informed than people who watch no news at all. but if you want one good news site to find out what's going on, i recommend "newsweek" daily beast. joining us in the studio now special correspondent for "newsweek" daily beast, michael tomasky. good to see you. >> bill, always a pleasure. >> bill: we've been out on the campaign trail together this spring down in south carolina. very exciting debate there with the republican candidate. but let's get up to date here. by the way newt gingrich. $4.8 million he owes. how do these guys ever get out from under that debt? >> you know, i bet a lot of them don't ever get out from under it. they do a few fund-raisers and of course adelson might write

the check in this case. i think in most cases they don't ever get out from under it and whoever the vendors are try for a few years and then write it off. >> bill: the phenomenon, political phenomenon we've been dealing with for the last few days of course, mitt romney makes this the centerpiece of his campaign, the economy's broken. i can fix it because i'm a businessman. and i know how to create jobs. president obama says let's look at the record. that's not so good at bain capital. and now you've got cory booker, harold ford jr. ed rendell among other leading democrats davis, too, who became become a republican but still a democrat who say it is unfair of president obama to talk about bain capital. what's going on? >> well, you know, they all have their own motivations. rendell is the biggest mystery

to me, i guess although you know, he was a governor. he needed big campaign contributions to run in a really expensive state. probably a lot of those came from private equity. so i'm sure he has his own relationships. booker is looking to run as we know for senate. probably in 2014. >> bill: has taken a lot of money from wall street. from bain capital. >> right. just across the river. he'll need more. so i think that's what booker's motivation was. ford, we know has been a real wild card for years and years. he's the good fox democrat. he's a total fox democrat. he'll go on fox and say what fox wants a democrat to say. has for years. >> bill: he works for morgan stanley. >> right. probably more germane. >> bill: why is it unfair to talk about bain capital? >> it is not unfair at all to talk about bain capital. it makes democrats nervous not only because they get their money from there but it feels

probably to some democrats, it makes them really nervous because it is an attack on the system. it is not an attack -- when capitalism goes haywire like s & l crisis, it is okay. even republicans have to throw a few punches because something has gone wrong. but nothing really went wrong with bain. bain did what bain is supposed to do. >> bill: which is? >> which is make money for its investors. >> bill: right. which is not create jobs. >> right. but that makes some democrats nervous because this is like capitalism. this is not capitalism gone haywire. this is capitalism standard operating procedure that obama is attacking. it makes a few of these democrats a little antsy i guess. i thought, bill, that obama said it very well monday in chicago at that nato press conference. he said basically it is not that private equity is on its face, a dishonorable thing to do. the question is that whether

being a private equity guy is the right qualification for being president of the united states. now, we know. we've heard from the people in america who think being a community organizer is not the right qualification for being president of the united states. now we're being asked the question and it is the right question to be asked is private equity, is that line of work the right qualification for being president? i think most people actually say no. >> bill: the president pointed out that the ceo of a private equity firm is to help the investors gain as much wealth as possible. the job of the president is to make sure that everybody in america gets a fair shake. there is a big difference. >> they're diametrical opposites, the president has to look out for exactly those people that private equity leaves behind sometimes. >> bill: right. it is interesting to me, too this is not the first time that mitt romney has run into bain capital. as an issue. first of all we have -- peter

we didn't talk about this. if you could -- remember the new priorities u.s.a. ad we played a little bit of yesterday? if we got it. again, priorities u.s.a., the super pac supporting president obama. it is a collection of comments from the republican primary that you and i covered on the road and what were rick perry and newt gingrich and santorum talking about? bain capital. here it is. >> mitt romney has been under attack especially by gingrich and santorum over his years at bain capital. >> i'm for capitalism. i'm for people who go in to save a company. i'm for people who take real risk. but if somebody comes in, takes all of the money out of your company and then leaves you bankrupt while they go off with millions -- >> they si