[ ♪ theme music ♪ ]ú >> good tuesday morning. it is the "full court press," the "bill press show" here on current tv. i'm peter ogborn sitting in for bill today. we'll have lots of fun and lots of good stuff coming up today including cannibalism, where else? in florida. we'll have that story. plus radioactive tuna makes its way to the united states. we'll talk about that and the food safety concerns as we continue dealing with the fallout of the nuclear breakdown in japan. plus mitt romney still courting

donald trump. says he doesn't believe what -- care what you believe in, as long as you support him. he needs 15.1%. it is the "full court press." peter ogborn sitting in for bill along with roll call's julia steiner plus we'll be talking songs of the summer. but first with the current tv news update in los angeles here's jacki schechner. good morning jacki. >> good morning, peter. good morning, everyone. it is texas primary day which means today is the day that mitt romney will likely clinch the g.o.p. nomination for real. he will get to the 1144 mark by picking up the 58 delegates he needs to cross the threshold. there are a total of 152 up for grabs. mitt romney will spend the day in colorado and then las vegas where donald trump is holding a fund-raiser for him at the trump international hotel at 6:00 p.m. tonight. this is a day after romney was asked to weigh in on trump's assertion that president obama was not born in the united states.

yesterday, romney's declined to say he was born in kenya saying he needs whatever help he can get. >> i don't agree with all of the people who support me and they don't agree with everything i believe in but i need to get 50.1% or more and i'm appreciative to have the help of a lot of good people. >> back in texas the g.o.p. primary for senate candidate is one to watch. lieutenant-governor david dewhurst is expected to come in first. that doesn't mean he will win the nomination. he has to get more than 50% of the vote. running in second to him is former texas solicitor general. if the two end up in a runoff, that would be july 31st. cruz is a national conservative favorite. he's got the backing of sarah palin, jim demint and rand paul. dewhurst can boast the support of rick perry and mike huckabee. whoever eventually wins the nomination is expected to win senator kay bailey hutchinson's seat in november. she is retiring.

peter is sitting in for bill. we're back with more after the break. join us current.com/bill press. >> we're not through just yet, mr. vice president. >> they're swimming against the tides. (vo) brought to you by pradaxa. 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 instead to reduce my risk of stroke. in a clinical trial, pradaxa® (dabigatran etexilate mesylate) reduced stroke risk 35% better than warfarin. and unlike warfarin, with pradaxa, there's no need for regular blood tests. that's really important to me. 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

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>>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: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> this is the "bill press show." i'm not bill press. clearly. i'm peter ogborn. i'm sitting in for bill press today on the "full court press." thank you so much for being here on this tuesday, may 29, the day after memorial day. or labor day as men of world peace -- as metta world peace would tell you. he tweeted out happy labor day everyone. >> i'm joined by meredith

shriner. >> i'm pretty sure that metta world peace has laws he wants to forget. so let's forget that part. >> thank you so much for coming in. >> thanks for having me. >> you got the memo, the blue shirt and jeans memo. >> we had like espn or something. >> i was wearing my blue shirt. you walked in. we look up. jacki schechner is wearing her blue shirt. we're all inmates at an asylum. >> it is only awkward if you think it's awkward. navy is a flattering color for all. >> let's be clear. between you, me and jacki, i'm wearing it better. >> i'm not going to dispute that. >> wow! >> running the board on the ones and twos today is dan henning. >> good morning. >> not wearing a blue shirt. >> we're voting you off the island. >> the outcast. >> screen your calls if you call 1-866-55-press. it is stevie webb. good morning to you. >> looking fine. >> i was thinking of you this weekend as i was watching all of the commercials for the london

olympics coming up. >> oh, yes. >> are you going to be going back home for that? >> [ laughter ] >> that's why i emigrated in the first place. >> really? >> didn't want to be near the public transport system when it completely melts down. >> this is like so i'm from chicago and my parents didn't want to get anywhere near the city during nato. when you're a native person, you don't want to be near it. last inauguration, all of my friends wanted to be gone. they didn't want to deal with the tourist. >> you couldn't pay me to get involved in something like that. it seems so chaotic. mr. henning, you have a good memorial day? >> i did. i painted a fence over the weekend. i ate crabs. i ate flank steak and drank beer and went boating. >> that's america right there. >> good work. >> we had people over, friends of mine from richmond. they brought their kids and my kids plus his kids. we went and picked strawberries over the weekend. and then we put the kids to

work. they picked all of the strawberries then i brought them home and made mixed drinks with them. child labor, man. >> that's awesome. >> and then we grilled. i got -- i got this great idea to make a cake batter and then stuff it into a sausage casing and grill it. >> wait, this sounds disgusting. >> it was awful. it was genuinely -- >> you're a foody. was it something you wanted to -- >> it might have been the oon shine may that i was drinking. we watched lots of basketball. last night, the miami heat who i think everybody hates. you have to hate the miami heat to watch basketball. they took on the celtics. how did that end up mr. henning? >> jones will just hold on to it. as the clock runs down. so miami draws first blood here in the eastern conference finals. they take game one of the best of seven. the final score, miami, 93.

boston 79. >> my hatred for the miami heat at this point is so rich and thick, you could pour it over french toast. i hate them. >> you could make it into cake batter and stuff it into sausage casing. it is awful. watching this team, for a year, two years now, it is like they only have two and a half players, half being chris bosh when he shows up to play. but you can't watch them win because they're horrible. everything about them is horrible. i'm so bitter as a bulls fan. there's no reason why the philadelphia 76ers should have advanced to the playoffs. i can barely watch this now. >> the fact of the 76ers beat the bulls, fine. okay. they didn't have derek rose but the fact that they went to seven games with the celtics shows you how bad they are. >> they're so old. let's talk about old for a second because i feel like all of the players who are on the san antonio spurs who are the presumptive title winners, all

of these guys have been playing since i was 8 years old. it is unbelievable. there was this really great piece in "sports illustrated" about tim duncan how he's one of -- history's most underrated player. he's been the anchor of a treatment forever and just hasn't really gotten that sort of attention because there's always been a flashier more acclaimed player. maybe it is because we undervalue the big guys now because you're so infatuated with shooting guards who are quick and burn people up on the floor but he's someone who has been like solidly consistent and hopefully will lead a team to a title. no one wants to see the miami heat win. >> exactly. i love the spurs. one of my favorite teams for a long time. used to work for the spurs. back when they win the championship, last year i worked with them before i came here to this fine show. >> look at you, just on a winning streak. >> that's right. all i do is win. all i do is win. but you know, tim duncan is a boring player.

i love him. he's fundamentally sound. boring as they come in terms of how the nba is. i'm so pulling for him and the spurs. it is 12 minutes past the hour. we're going to talk about donald trump. i mean he and mitt romney are in so in bed together right now. >> it is just a different kind of sport. >> it is. >> let's be real here. >> we'll jump into that in a few moments bullet first -- on this tuesday, other headlines making news. queen latifah ended years of speculation about her sex wait over the weekend. the singer and actress came out at the san francisco gay pride parade. allvoices.com said she took to the stage to say she was proud to be among her peeps and thanked the crowd for their support and performed several songs. >> that's one of the worst-kept secrets in all of music and all of entertainment. good for her for coming out. don't get me wrong. >> i don't really follow pop culture all that well when it

comes to the specifics but i'm with my peeps? really? that was going to be your big declaration to the world? i hope that they put that in the history books. >> justin bieber is wanted for questioning by police after a pap paparazzi photographer filed a complaint. tmz reporting the l.a. county sheriff's department is looking for his and his girlfriend selena gomez's side of the story. they're looking for witness accounts. the photographer made a brief trip to the hospital after allegedly getting hit but no exact details of the incident are yet available. >> my brother has a huge crush on selena gomez. he's 21. i'm pretty sure he would the same thing. >> let me explain something to you. if you have a problem with justin bieber being too tough on you, you should maybe keep that to yourself. >> yeah, actually, that seems like a pretty good policy but i just saw a video of him box mike tyson. mike tyson posted it to twitter.

he's using a punching bag so maybe he's really intense. it is 100% there. it is on the interweb. >> go haywire on him. >> that would be sad. it wouldn't be a fair fight. >> just one little stunt. >> maybe justin bieber should get the face tattoo. >> dario franchitti won his third indy 500. he drank the traditional bottle of milk wiring white sunglasses as a tribute to dan wheldon who late last fall. he won after the yellow caution flag. he takes home a $2.5 million paycheck after holding off a charge. >> how much did he make? >> $2.5 million. >> but in order to get that, he had to chug milk which i think is one of the most gross traditions. >> on a nice, hot summer day. >> there was once this "saturday night live" skit where they had cookie dough flavored gatorade

and people were chugging about it. that's what i think about it. >> how do you get $2.5. >> it is the indy 500 one of the biggest races of the year. >> seems like a lot of money. >> you're in the wrong profession. >> seriously. 15 minutes past the hour. thank you so much for being here, the "full court press." peter ogborn and meredith shiner sitting in for bill press on current tv. i want to take your calls at 1-866-55-press. because when bill was here last on friday, we were talking an awful lot about the donald trump situation. you've got donald trump who floated his own name out as a possible vice presidential candidate with mitt romney. like nobody else was calling for that. but donald trump had to go there. >> here's the thing. we're totally cullable this. we're sitting here on a tuesday morning after a nice holiday

weekend. there's all of this stuff in the news. we're talking about donald trump. we're giving him what he wants. it is just -- it is amazing how much play he's been able to get because throughout this process he's put himself somehow in the mix. it is unbelievable because you know what? he is the best thing that donald trump does and perhaps the only thing he really does professionally is promote himself. he's been great at it, right? by putting trump everywhere, his main skill is being donald trump and letting everyone know what donald trump is. he's shifted that from real estate and branding and television to politics. and so it's not surprising he's made the shift. it is a little bit surprising that he continues to get the kind of attention he does. but all that being said, i don't think it is invalid to talk about mitt romney's relationship. >> here's why i bring it up. we talked about on friday. we said that he floated his name as a vice presidential candidate. we know he's doing this fund-raiser.

dinner with donald. and you can -- if you contributed to the romney campaign, you could have dinner with donald trump. what a prize. >> i'm sorry, the democrats have been doing the same thing. >> but that's with george clooney. >> and sara jess ta parker. >> i'm not saying that -- >> they have a bigger pool to choose from. who are you going to have? dinner with john voight? it is a very small pool. >> i'm sure dinner with ted nugent. >> chuck norris. >> it is a very small pool. i see what you're saying. >> here's the latest. so a. >> reporter: over the weekend gets to mitt romney and asked him about donald trump's history as a birther. he was the lead birther about a year ago. >> absolutely. >> and he said mitt romney saying he's not going to repudiate him. he says "you know, i don't agree with all of the people who support me and my guess is they don't all agree with everything i believe in.

but i need to get to 50.1% or more and i'm appreciative to have the help of a lot of good people." >> two comments here. i think this would make a big bumper sticker. he could get to 50.1% and still lose. it is more about the electoral college. beyond that technicality, this is one of the quintessential lawmaker remarks and it happened a lot on the republican side. it sometimes happens on the democratic side. i'll take him at his word or the whole like nondenial. i know this isn't true but i don't want to weigh in. i'll let it happen because i would like the conversation to continue. i remember this is maybe a year ago. minority leader, senate minority leader mitch mcconnell was on "meet the press" and was asked about the president's christianity. he said if the president says he's christian, i take him at his word which is a little bit different than i believe the president is a christian so this whole verbal ambiguity is a game

politicians like to play to let people continue to talk about things they think might be good to talk about but they don't, themselves, want to talk about. >> i think this takes it to another level because he's saying basically, he can believe in whatever he wants to believe in as long as he votes for me. so you can say i was willing to take the support of -- where do you draw the line? i'm not saying the birther stuff is so offensive. i think it is stupid. i think you out yourself as a moron if you think the president wasn't born in this country. but when mitt romney says -- i'm not embellishing his words. i don't have to agree with all of the people who support me but i need to get to 50.1% or more. so will he take the vote of a kneeee nazi? neo-nazi? i'm being dead serious. >> i'm not going to touch that. >> as long as you vote for me, i don't care what you believe in. why would he do this with donald trump and what kind of

politician is he, what kind of leader is he to not say guys, look, the birther stuff is insane. and the other thing is does he really need donald trump? >> i don't know. we were talking about this earlier, you're seeing the shift in the general election. if mitt romney wins texas tuesday, he won't be the presumptive nominee. he will be the nominee. and so they're going to have to consider which tax they want to take in order to compete with this president. and the polling is super close. they're in this game, right. they can win this white house. they have to figure out the best strategy. i don't know. i think that this birther narrative has been part of the republican narrative for awhile. i think that it's one of the ways maybe he thinks that he can discredit a president who's personally kind of likable even if people don't agree on his policies. i don't know why people continue to play ball with donald trump. it is really hard to tell, i think, how much people still play ball with him and how much

he makes it seem like people are playing ball with him. if donald trump is going to all of these different meetings, i'm doing this, i'm so involved, i don't know what that means. i don't know how involved he actually is. in the grand scheme of things, that comment, i mean he's a politician. at the end of the day, politicians need votes. i think that barack obama still wants votes also. >> 1-866-55-press is our phone number. it is the "full court press." peter ogborn and meredith shiner sitting in for bill press today. let us know how you feel about this. is romney a bad leader? can he stand up to donald trump? and would you take a vote from a guy that runs around saying that the president's not born here? 1-866-55-press. "full court press." the "bill press show" on current tv and on your radio. >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv, this is the "bill press show." four course seafood feast, just

$14.99. start with soup, salad and unlimited cheddar bay biscuits 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.

>>(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: this is the "bill press show." >> peter: the "full court press" here on tuesday, the day after memorial day. thank you so much for being here. peter ogborn and meredith shiner sitting in for bill today. got just a few minutes here. we're taking your calls on the mitt romney/donald trump, i'm going to call it a fiasco. i believe we've reached peas aco. >> why don't we call it tangoing? >> peter: mitt romney saying he would take donald trump's vote. he needs 50.1%. he doesn't care what you believe in as long as you vote for him. 1-866-55-press is our phone number. arnold calling from elizabeth city north carolina. arnold, welcome to the "bill press show." >> caller: hey, how you doin'? >> peter: how you doin'?

>> caller: i'm doing great, man. i wanted to say last week, somebody called bill press a cracker. how come -- off my phone. you little pinhead. >> peter: we should have used that. i was more surprised no one had ever called bill a cracker before. >> we accept all listeners as long as they listen. >> caller: i was shocked. i was speechless. >> doesn't matter what you believe. as long as you're tuning in, man >> caller: donald trump -- i'm a friend of the blacks. he might have my vote. i doubt it very seriously. he's the only guy i know to stick with the birth issue. it seems like it saves him -- people think it is unpopular to say that. he cranks it right on out. >> peter: it is so silly at this point. even republicans are sort of

beating up on donald trump now. we don't have time to play the audio but yesterday on "this week," george will called him a bloviating ignorer in amus. of course that's what he would call donald trump. >> there was no other way for him to take about doing this. can we take a 20-second time-out? do you remember when the white house actually had to release barack obama's long form birth certificate because donald trump made this enough of an issue where it was something and they had to respond? >> peter: yeah. >> he's someone who has enough political capital that people are listening to him whether or not theshed, that's not for me to judge but the president of the united states had to respond. like he obliterated the ant that day but think about that. feat is terrifying. 1-866-55-press. we're going to be talking to stacy lam from buzzfeed here in the next segment. stay tuned. this is the "full court press."

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> 46 minutes after the hour, right back on the "stephanie miller show."

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: on your radio, on tv the "bill press show," new on current tv. >> peter: it is the "full court press." peter ogborn sitting in for bill press today. let me just say i'm not totally sure where bill is. i did see him with a large jug with two xs on it yesterday. >> he's wearing a navy shirt somewhere. >> peter: i'm sure of it. i'm sure he's sobering up. he will be back here tomorrow. for now, you're stuck with me. and meredith shiner from roll call magazine. thank you so much for being here. >> of course, my pleasure. >> peter: we're joined by stacy from buzzfeed.

we talk to them every tuesday at this time. stacy, good morning. how you doing? >> good morning. how are you guys? >> buzzfeed doing great work. they do know your work from your previous web site. >> yes, i previously created a web site you might have heard of called text from hillary. >> it was kind of a big deal. >> i think it got some attention. at least around d.c. i know some reporters there liked it. >> peter: what i like most about the web site is it came on strong, burned bright then you guys took it away. >> that was the best part. it was more out of the fact that my cocreator and i, we had day jobs. we couldn't really maintain a viral meaning at this level and feel like we could execute it well. so when hillary clinton submitted a post to us, we

thought this is the best time to get out. hopefully people appreciated we tried to go out on top. >> i have a question about that. i think that this was part of a few weeks where hillary clinton really got all of this attention for being cool hillary. whether it was reaching out to you guys and finding the picture. so if you're not familiar with it, it is a picture of hillary clinton on a military plane just looking at her blackberry like it is no big thing with sunglasses on. and so when you guys made this post with her signing one of the pictures and captioning it, people thought it was a hoax. people didn't believe it was her. no one believed she could have this sense of humor where she could see something like this and participate. that was in line with a few weeks later, there were pictures of her drinking beer and dancing in cartagena. did you really interact with her? did you get a sense she's more comfortable in her skin now that she can engage that way with regular people like you guys, i didn't mean that in a derogatory way but people like us. >> yeah, totally.

listen, we're two kids essentially off the street who created the web site about this very famous politician and there's no reason for her to even engage with us. the fact that she did means she totally gets it. she understands this was all meant to be a fun situation a send-off to her. hillary clinton is very savvy. she gets social media. she gets what's happening with all of these different things for the past couple of weeks. i think she loves it. she's having fun with it. it is clear she's having the best time of her life right now with her career. so i think she can do no wrong at the moment. >> peter: i want to shift gears a little bit and talk more online business. we're talking facebook. it seems to be something everybody's talking about these days. >> those crazy kids and their facebook. >> peter: what's going on with facebook? why is there stock price just sinking?

>> you know, i don't know if there is going to be a definitive answer to that one. you had all of this hype and build-up. any time facebook does anything, there is going to be so much attention around that. unfortunately, i think it is one of those situations that the other -- people are kind of holding their breath but you can only do that for so long. i don't think anybody's going to lose millions or hundreds of millions here. i think it is a situation that people just need to let the calm -- let everything settle. let everybody get used to the idea that facebook has an ipo. >> peter: hmm. let me ask you this question because i was having this conversation over the holiday with some friends that were in town and i was saying you know, everybody keeps saying about facebook, it is so big. you have hundreds of millions of people that are involved with facebook and have their information on facebook. there has to be a way to make money on it. but that's sort of the perpetual question. how do you do that?

and i floated the idea. i said if they started charging to make you use it? let's say $1 a month. >> honestly, i think they would lose most of their base. no one really wants to pay especially for a social networking site like that. there's tons of copies and other social networks out there that are free so if you're going to start charging even $1 a month i think people will run away from it. >> here's what i would say though. i'm dying to hear what our viewers and listeners think at 1-866-55-press. you know, some of these people who check facebook hourly, right and they have done it for five, six, seven years and they use it almost as like an online back-up. kind of like a catalog. they keep pictures and videos up there. do you really think that people will invest all of that time again into something else?

>> probably not. i think facebook had the unique opportunity of kind of being somewhat original and engaging an audience and expanding upon that audience, making sure they feel like they couldn't go anywhere else after many years. i've been on it since 2003. if i had to rebuild my entire media presence, i probably wouldn't do it elsewhere. i think facebook should really try to quantify with the time spent online. if people realize how many hours they spend and compare that to $1 a month they might be willing to pay it. i'm not sure people can appreciate that value. >> i think with fuzzfeed, the brilliance of the model of buzzfeed, they get more traffic than anyone but most comes through social networking. it is not through actually coming through the home page. you guys have built this whole empire on people sharing links whether it is twitter or facebook or whatever it is that people do. it is this novel way to distribute information. it is not just the people who depend on it.

i think a lot of news operations information, disseminating operations buzzfeed particularly has cornered the market on this. use it as a way to distribute content to people. >> oh, totally. that's why we consider ourselves a social news organization. we're trying to change up the dynamic where you don't just get your news in the newspaper or even via e-mail anymore. it is more about getting the latest tweet getting the update through tumbler, i think facebook is definitely a huge driver for us. because you know, when everything goes on time line that's all of the news and information you need right then and there. >> peter: speaking of facebook, what is going on with mark zuckerberg? he got married and then he took off on his honeymoon right? >> yeah. so it seems that despite everything going on with the ipo, he has managed to get p.r. for himself by having a little coup marriage and inviting them to a party where they didn't realize it was for the wedding

and traipsing around rome this weekend. i guess he's been spotted everywhere at all of the major sites and having romantic dinners with priscilla. it seems like they're having a nice weekend. >> peter: there is some analogy while rome burns. >> i think you're basing some of this, too, on what the ipo was. you have stockholders who are now suing because they believe the ipo was overvalue and they didn't share information before the stock was sold. i don't know if it is entirely fair to view it as facebook is crashing because the ipo might have been overblown anyway and so it maybe is just adjusting to where it normal place should have been before they went public with it. so i don't know that it is totally catastrophic and that they can't make money. i think they're adjusting to being a privately-held company to a publicly-held company and potentially like you had negotiations with the bank to try to estimate an ipo and they overvalued it. that's what happens.

>> i think that's totally accurate. i might add this is kind of like the first blockbuster movie ipo. we've gotten into this addiction where everything must perform right away, like if it doesn't make however many billion in the first weekend, it tanked. it lost. i think we need to move away from that and actually let's see what happens in six months. let's see what happens in a year then i think we'll realize this wasn't a bad investment. >> erin sorkin was sitting back waiting for a script, smelling a second oscar. it will all work out in the end. >> peter: the social network two die harder. 42 minutes past the hour. buzzfeed editor, stacy lambe thank you so much for being here. >> take care. >> peter: i do want to take your calls on this by the way at 1-866-55-press. would you pay for facebook? let's say $1 a month. $1 a month. would you pay for facebook?

meredith, i'm going to ask you that question after the break. >> okay. >> peter: because i think you have a unique perspective. >> i do. >> peter: peter ogborn and meredith shiner sitting in for bill press. this is the brill press show. >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." now on current tv. >>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.

>> we're not through just yet, mr. vice president. >> they're swimming against the tides. >> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> peter: this is the "full court press," the "bill press show."

peter ogborn and meredith shiner sitting in for bill press today. tuesday may 29th. hope you all had a great memorial day. we're taking your calls on facebook. would you pay for facebook? we had this -- we raised this discussion yesterday at a cookout and -- and i immediately said absolutely not. i would not pay for facebook. then i said, you know what? maybe i would if they charged like $1 a month. >> you're so firmly against it. >> peter: i started thinking about it. let's say i evolved. >> you and the president on his positions on gay marriage. everyone has an opportunity to change. >> peter: you know, my take on it was this. so many people have used it. like stacy who we just talked to has been using it for nine years. imagine all of the pictures he has up there from all of this time and so let's say they say -- facebook says you're going to have to pay $1.

would you really say i'm not going to pay $12 a year. i'm going to go somewhere free but i'm going to have to reupload all of those same pictures and the same way. i would pay $12 a year to not have that hassle. >> as the viewers of most -- i have a specific perspective on this. interestingly enough like stacy, when i got accepted into college, this was like right when facebook was starting so it was still a select number of colleges. i was a senior at -- oh please, don't make a face at me. i was a senior in high school in 2005 and facebook had just started. you got your school e-mail address. it was this huge deal. you can get a facebook. i was thinking what is this? fast forward a lot of years later, i deactivated my facebook account almost two years ago now. i haven't really missed it. we were talking on the commercial break, it is just -- people become so lazy. facebook is just an excuse to be

lazy. oh, i'll stalk this person. this is my friend. or i'm sorry. for millennia people organically fell out of people's lives. why should i know about that random kid who hated me in high school who sat behind me in class who may or may not be married and having children now. why do i need to know that? also it takes the beauty out of high school reunions. if i ever get my act together and decide -- >> peter: why would i ever go to a high school reunion? >> you would never have to. i think it might be a terrifying experience but it takes all of the fun out of things. if just -- i don't know. i thought about what it gave to my life. what kind of value am i getting from it? i think particularly for younger kids who were in high school or college or just finishing college, you see people projecting an image they want of themselves. you're a freshman in college everyone is having the time of their life. that's not how people really feel. it is this very artificial inflated view of what your

relationships are. i didn't feel like there was a val you on a -- value added for me. most of my friends don't live in washington. i want them to know i'm thinking about them. even if it is a text message, i have to proactively send that to them and them alone and they know that oh, hey, she was thinking about me. instead it is like oh, i like your picture. >> peter: i like what you have to say. all right. point taken. >> okay. >> peter: let's go to the calls. >> people are going to disagree with me and that's cool. >> peter: let's go to steve in ocala, florida. >> i agree with her 100%. i'm 57 years old and believe it or not, i got a computer and an ipad. somebody sent it to me. >> i'm apparently basically a 57-year-old. >> i sell computers and ipads to people your age. >> everything i go to, it tries to get you on facebook,

facebook. i could care less about it. i wouldn't pay 10 cents a month for it. that's number one. but i'll tell you one thing, i would pay like $5 a month for google bullet i don't want google to get any ideas. >> peter: stop talking now steve. >> shh. >> caller: facebook is not a product. it is not something you need. google gives you information on anything you want and so forth and so on. what does facebook do for you? absolutely nothing at all. >> peter: that's a very unique take. google provides a valuable service but i will say i don't know that you have things stockpiled on google the way that you do on facebook. i don't know that you would pay for that convenience. that's my whole point. >> i think there is a value to a large set of people on facebook. it is a way to quickly disseminate information about you. it is a way to connect with people you might have lost touch with. the people who i talk to who are

older on facebook, the people who have kids of their own, one, i would never facebook friend my parents. sorry, mom and dad. >> peter: girl please. i have had a friend request sitting in my inbox from my mother for months now. i'm not taking it. >> you know one day it is going to be a call at dinner, peter, why haven't you accepted my request? >> peter: i have boundaries! you can't come in. >> people who are older who have decided to get into it, other than they want to keep tabs on their children, they have this really nice idea about connecting with people who they might have lost touch with who like 25, 30 years ago, they knew and they don't know and can look up on facebook and see they're alive and they have families, too. they have these lives. there is a really interesting element to that. it revolutionized the way we had relationships. it fundamentally changed my college experience. i don't know if it was better or worse but it has changed the way

people interact in a lot of ways. some people really enjoy that. and you can't hold it against them. >> dan, how many times have you asked me to be your friend on facebook? >> too many times to count. >> i won't take your friendship. i won't do it. >> i'm glad i'm sitting in between you guys and there's glass there. >> i'm selective. >> are you saying dan is not cool enough to be your friend? >> i wouldn't want to be friends with him either. >> is that because this weekend he put cake batter into sausage casing? >> now because i'm learning more about facebook and how i'm interacting with the service, i don't want to be facebook friends with people i work with. >> peter: that's right. that's my point. >> this was another thing too. i remember my first job, i was sitting in our bureau and my editor was like why aren't we facebook friends yet and i was like i don't know what to do with that. you put me on the spot. i like in real life keeping my work life and personal life

separate. that's really hard to to do when you're available because everyone is going to friend you. what do you do? do you accept those things or not. i would rather not have to deal with those. >> peter: i will not be friends with any of you people on facebook. >> good. >> peter: however you can follow me on twitter. and meredith shiner on twitter. >> dan where are you? >> dc radio dan. >> peter: of course, you can follow the show at bpshow all on twitter. see you there. it is the "full court press." be right back. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪ ♪ spearmint that tingles as you chew. 5 gum. stimulate your senses.

pweingarten, aft dorg.org. we will be right back.

>> announcer: taking your e-mails on any topic at any time, this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> peter: it is the "bill press show." i'm peter ogborn. we're taking your e-mails on any topic at any time at billpressshow.com. jack writes in a plague on our country. jack wrote in p-l-g-u-e -- you democrats and fem nazis are blank heads. you cannot admit to facing the fact you wanted to win the 2000 election you voted in al-qaeda terrorist for president. we all know that obama's not a legal american citizen. let me just say if you're looking who to support? mitt romney would like to have you as part of his 50.1%. there you go jack. >> announcer: this is the "bill

press show."

[ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> peter: good tuesday morning. it is the "full court press." peter ogborn sitting in for bill press today along with roll call's meredith shiner. lots to cover in this next hour of the program. barack obama was a high school pothead. we're going to talk about it. i can't imagine that he would have the same support for high school barack obama as he does now. it is sort of like he's gone back and forth on the pot issue. we'll talk about his hypocrisy coming up. we'll talk about a kill list from the white house.

"new york times" front page today talking about how the obama administration continues to try to paint themselves as tough on terror. it is the "full court press." peter ogborn and meredith shiner sitting in today. first in los angeles, jacki schechner is here with a current news update. good morning jacki. >> good morning, peter and meredith. president obama will honor big names today at the white house. novelist tony morrison, former secretary of state madeleine albright musician bob dylan among the 13 honorees to receive the med alve freedom, it is considered the highest civilian honor and the white house says it is presented to people who have made especially meritorious contributions to security or national interest, world peace or culture. politico has a nice gallery and summary up of the 13 people who will be honored. as the jury heads into its 7th day of deliberations in the john edwards trial that's still going on, the daily beast is putting to edwards twitter feed to help shed light on a

possible decision. the jury has to determine whether edwards used campaign money to keep his affair with rielle hunter a secret from his wife. but to know that, they would have to know at what point elizabeth edwards became aware of the affair or possibly became aware of the affair. during the trial, we learn that edwards and rielle hunter conceived their child sometime between may 25th and may 28th 2007. now the daily beast is pointing this this tweet on may 25th with edwards saying he was thrilled to be with his wife and kids in iowa. the daily beast says this makes it unlikely mrs. edwards had any clue the affair was going on right under her nose right when edwards was making a baby with another woman. that would indicate edwards wouldn't have solicited any money to hide the affair because she had no indication it was going on. a question who spent the money and andrew young edwards former aide has been on trial -- has been in the trial rather talking about his use of those possible funds. it is unclear why this time line

never came up in court either. more with the "bill press show" with peter ogborn after the break.

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." >> peter: yes it is the "bill press show." the "full court press," peter ogborn and meredith shiner from roll call sitting in for bill this tuesday morning. thank you so much for being here. meredith, how are you? >> i'm fine. how are you? you're looking great today. >> peter: you look great as well. the navy button up is the new black. i'm going to be honest with you. i freaked out over what i was going to wear today. i never freak out over what i'm going to wear. >> because you have the --

>> peter: i'm behind the glass there. >> navy is a good, solid choice. >> peter: the navy button up. and then in you stroll with your navy button up and then we look on tv and there's jacki schechner in her navy button up. >> it is -- we've got our navy button up swag. >> peter: judd legum from think progress. julie mason coming in next hour. >> she's hilarious for those of who you don't listen to her radio show. she's a trip. >> peter: we love her. if any come in wearing a navy shirt, they're leaving the building. >> we're working to confirm what they're wearing. >> peter: trying to find that out. >> if they're not wearing a navy shirt, they won't fit in with the club and we should vote them off the island. we have opposite perspectives on this. >> peter: the weirdest episode of glee. we're all wearing the same clothes. >> which song are you choosing for the musical? >> peter: stay tuned. >> okay.

>> peter: i don't think i'm going to give anything away. i've been working on harbor lights by bruce hornsby. >> look at that deep cut. >> peter: that's right. on the ones and twos is mr. dan henning. good morning. >> i'm great. thanks for asking. >> peter: not wearing a navy blue short. >> i have my navy blue shorts. >> peter: don't show the shorts off. >> this is why he will never be facebook friends with you. >> peter: if any of you want to know how a third grader dresses, take a look at dan. honestly. my first grader wouldn't wear shorts like that. >> why are the back pockets stick, out? >> they're flaps. >> but they're not even ironed down. >> i didn't iron my shorts at 3:00 a.m. >> now someone is getting testy. it is because you guys aren't facebook friends. >> peter: i know -- i'm no fashion plate. don't look at me for fashion

tips but i have a first grade child that would look at those shorts and say i ain't wearing those. >> i'm not judging. i'm going to let you play the bad cop except for the behind flaps that aren't ironed. >> peter: dan is engaged to be wed. the last time i checked with him. are you still getting married? >> still getting married. >> maybe not after flashing the shorts on national television. >> actually, she asks me to wear more than not. i'm thinking about buying a jacket. >> no, you're not. >> true love. there is someone out there for everyone. >> peter: dan told me he was dating somebody and we all knew and i never met the woman. and so when she came in to the studio one day, i met her. lovely! lovely! and i honestly, the only words that came out of my mouth my first impression i said when dan said he had a girlfriend, i

assumed you had a wooden leg or like an eye patch or something. and look at you. she's beautiful. and seems normal. >> this is the beauty of washington, d.c. men of the world. everyone dates up here. not saying that you're not a catch, dan. >> oh, thank you. >> it is the d.c. condition. >> i'm trading up. absolutely. no question. i fully admit that. but she's happy with my style. although -- >> peter: or your lack of style. let's be clear. >> i wanted to get married in a seersucker suit. >> good for her. my brother and my dad have this on-going bet, my brother sam really wants a seersucker suit. i don't know where this came from. we're from the north. i don't know what his deal is. but he really, really wants a seersucker suit. he has this on-going bet with my dad if he gets straight as, he can get a seersucker suit. >> peter: for me, if i get straight as, you'll help me

buy a car and now we're talking seersucker suit. >> these are the terms. >> peter: reevaluate your priorities young shiner. >> one year left at the university of illinois. one year left to get the seersucker suit. we wanted to -- he said i'm going to try on a seersucker suit. i said okay. it looked fine on him. he's got better complexion than me. he's darker, tan, i could put on anything and rock it. >> peter: he was cool. >> i'm sorry. i didn't mean to ruin that. but i'm glad the seersucker for your wedding has been vetoed. >> it will be a tan suit instead. >> where is the wedding? >> eastern shore, maryland, laid back. tan suit. is that what the official dress code. instead of black-tie laid back tan suit. >> yep, exactly. maybe a pink or blue tie. i don't know. >> the world is your oyster. >> peter: if you wear a tan suit with a pink tie, you will

look back on that and will go what was i thinking? >> your future kids will laugh. look at that beautiful transition i gave you. >> peter: i'm married with two kids. i'm try far gone. this is nothing to me but so charles schumer senator chuck schumer from new york -- >> we know chuck. we don't need to give him the formality. >> peter: he came out over the weekend with a couple of things i absolutely love. first of all, he spoke out on -- all of these airlines now they're looking for all of these different ways that they can pry money from you. checking, bag -- checking bags, checking overhead bags, picking your seat. one of the things that i always do when i travel with my kids is i go on, i find out where we can have four seats together or two seats together so that i think one of the kids -- i take one of the kids, my kid takes the other. no kid flies unattended.

there are airlines who are saying if you want to pick your seat, any seat, you have to pay money for it or else you get thrown into the luck of the draw. if you have a kid like a 7-year-old like i have or a 4-year-old, that's it. they just sit wherever. unless you pay the extra money to get them a seat. >> you should disclose that you're in favor of this. >> i love this idea! chuck schumer speaking about it over the weekend. >> in this latest attempt to, in effect, charge you to sit your family members isn't simply a nuisance, it is a safety issue. >> peter: let me tell you something, i could not disagree with him more. having flown with my two kids, if they -- if an airline says sorry, you can't sit with your kids unless you pay money, i'll say fine! >> somebody else can take them. >> peter: you take them. they're your responsibility now because i don't want to sit with my kids on a flight. that's the last thick i want to do. >> as someone who does not have children but i love baby-sitting, i don't want to

baby-sit your kids on a flight. >> peter: you can. you can. >> i would charge a stranger for that. if i'm going to take care of your children, there should be some soft monetary compensation for me. since we listened to the chuck schum err audio i imagine him wearing a bedtime story. he has that particular approach. i love it. >> peter: this next story chuck schumer came out over the weekend and said there have been two medical cases where grill brushes have attacked. >> metal grill brushes. >> peter: you all have them in you grill. the wiry bristles. >> you scrape the char -- >> peter: off your grill. this is what chuck schumer says. nearly a dozen people across the country have reported accidents -- >> over three years. >> peter: in the last three years where the metal brushes broke off into their food and then were unintentionally eaten.

chuck schumer says "-- >> i'm sorry. i didn't mean to throw you off your game. >> peter: "metal bristles are one topping no one wants on their burger this holiday season." >> i'm a plain ketchup girl myself. i -- it is sacrilege. i put ketchup on my hot dogs too. >> i'm with you, girl. >> why don't i buy a pair of those shorts. it is so terrible. it is so anti-chicago upbringing. totally against my roots. let's go back to the schumer thing. 12 people. nearly 12 people. so like -- like 11 and a half. how do we count a half person. three years. so basically like you have a better chance of being struck by lightning than getting hurt by a metal grill brush.

>> peter: what i don't understand is how do you take the brush -- how does it get in your food? does it get stuck? are you like somehow brushing your food with the grill? >> it gets stuck to the grill grate. to the grate. >> peter: i look at my grill grate to make sure it is clean. >> clearly you're not one of the 11 and a half people over the last three years who have suffered this -- from this horrible, horrible infliction. >> those bristles are less than -- some of them -- they're like a quarter inch long. they're hard to spot if the grill is black, if it is charred and it is stuck to a piece of food on the grill, you're probably not going to see it. >> what's the actual like ailment that you get if you swallow one of these? what's the worst thing? >> it will scratch up your trachea. >> maybe. it depends -- it is going to get stuck in your esophagus. i don't --

>> peter: i don't think this is a real problem that anybody is worrying about. so, we're going to blow on "full court press." front page of "the new york times" this morning, a kill list from the obama administration. what is going on? how is that -- how is that something we've come to? >> so this is the really interesting piece. it is really long. it was reported so the point of it was looking at from the second day of the obama administration and the president sat in with his top advisors, they have a list. if you kill number 20, what happens to number 21? so i talked to a lot of former administration officials whether it was the first director of national intelligence or the former chief of staff bill daley and they interviewed them about this process that the president going through this list of people and deciding like who should live. and that's a really profound thing to talk about. and like there were certain standards, how old are they? that was one of the lead

anecdotes. how old are these people we're talking about. you have to make these in line with the obama administration tough choices. so i think when you see these sorts of stories starting to surface, particularly as we're transitioning to the general election, it is very indicative of the obama administration almost taking a bush administration approach that in a real election, someone who has had to defend the national security of this country like is more -- is more qualified to do that. so they're trying to flash his bona fide -- >> peter: right. it is an easy target to sort of say oh, the democrats are weak on the war on terror. but if you look at the war on terror, air quotes for those of you who aren't watching tv, if you look at how we've done against terrorism and terrorists, the obama administration has a pretty good record. he's the guy that got bin laden. >> yeah. he is. >> they would like to tell you that over and over again.

>> peter: i'm fine with that. because i think it matters. you're going to have a guy -- it was not that along ago that mitt romney tried to make the issue out of national security that we're facing terrorist attacks and the world is not safer we're not safer. how can you make the argument we're not safer? >> i think you can make a worst argument that we're equally as safe right? i think it is -- it is interesting because you'll see a lot of talking about the economy this election. obviously that will be the main sticking point. at the end of the day although terrorism is a threat and our international relations are really important people vote with pocket books. this it is what you learn when you're 12 in political science. people vote these ways. this important for he re-election. they do believe they have a strong record on it. but come october i think -- think about this. we're supposed to withdraw all

of our search troops at the end of september. okay. so that's like 30,000 troops approximately that are supposed to leave afghanistan at the end of september which is a month before the election and somehow like this administration is confident enough that that whole process really won't affect the election that's supposed to happen a month later. people forget that that's actually happening. so on one hand, you have them touting end of the war of iraq, the wind down of the war in afghanistan but they have to show even thor we're taking troops out of all of these places, the problems aren't really corrected. there are things we're doing to be proactive to keep the country safer. i think the story is really a testament to their thinking about that. they want to project that. >> peter: 1-866-55-press is our phone number. i'm curious to hear what you all think about this in terms of the bigger picture, the war on terror. you look at how the obama administration is doing it. are you comfortable with a kill

list? a bush-style kill list? 1-866-55-press. i'm peter ogborn. she is meredith shiner. it is "full court press" on current tv and on your radio. we'll take a quick break. we'll be right back. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." pweingarten, aft dorg.org. we will be right back. [ train whistle blows ] [ ball hitting paddle ] [ orbit girl ] don't let food hang around. yeah! [ orbit trumpet ] clean it up with orbit! [ orbit glint ] fabulous! for a good clean feeling. ♪ eat, drink, chew orbit! ♪ as a culinary manager i make sure our guests have an over the top experience. being hands on is key!

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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: this is the "bill press show." >> peter: yes it is the "bill press show." i'm peter ogborn sitting in for bill press along with roll call's meredith shiner from will call. from the department of redundancy department. thank you if for being here. >> that's okay. >> peter: "full court press"

on current tv and on your radio. i saw this story at the end of last week. it is part of the -- this book that's coming out. this david book, barack obama the story. we've already heard about some of the obama girlfriends. >> which i'm so uninterested in. >> i'd wildly uninterested in. >> one day when someone writes a book with me they won't be able to ask them how crazy i was when i was in college. >> peter: part of the stuff that's in this book, they're going to write about barack obama and all of his pot smoking when he was younger. congratulations to barack obama because -- kudos to barack obama because he owned it early on. he put in his book, he smoked pot. he did cocaine. he owned all of that. it wasn't some secret that's coming out now. but it turns out he was smoking a lot of pot back in the day. a lot of pot. in fact, he and his friends were known as the shume gang. >> i'm going to assume it has

something to do with pot smoking. >> peter: you're going to learn a lot. they popularized roof hits. all of the windows had to be rolled up and went to waste. they would breathe in all of the pot smoke that was in the car. they tilted their heads back and sucked in the last pit of smoke from the ceiling. that's a roof hit. >> you're talking to the girl who when i was in college, i had to ask my brother why 420 day was a thing. younger brother by four years. this is not my area of expertise. people are fascinated in the previous lives of presidents and what they were like when they were growing up. it is interesting in terms of trying to gauge the character of a person but not really like the character but where they've come from in their experiences. character is a strong word. and -- but it doesn't really matter i think in terms of what they are now. like i just -- it doesn't interest me. >> peter: we've talked so much about the evolution of barack obama's views.

you know, this is a guy who clearly made something of himself on his own. you know, he smoked a lot of pot when he was younger and now he's the president of the united states. imagine if there was a young man in a similar situation smoking pot, barack obama has very strong anti-marijuana, anti-drug laws and he has the power to do something about that. they continue to go after this futile war on pot. i think that it's a little hypocritical. >> i just think that that there are bigger issues facing the country than marijuana. >> peter: there are metal grill brushes that people are eating. >> let's not go there again peter. >> peter: barack obama could make a difference here. he knows that smoking pot is sort of a right of passage. and to throw kids in jail is silly. we'll be talking to judd legum from think progress in just a moment. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

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right? [ laughter ] >> 46 minutes after the hour, right back on the "stephanie miller show."

>> peter: this is the "full court press" on tuesday, may 29th. peter ogborn sitting in for bill press today. by the way june 9th if you're listening in the chicago area the frugal muse bookstore, bill is going to be doing a book steining there of his latest book, the "the obama hate machine." get yourself a copy. that's june 9th in chicago. darien, illinois. you're from the chicago area. meredith shiner from roll call. >> north of the city. >> peter: i hope you're there. >> well, i live here now

unfortunately. >> peter: definitely going back for. >> it definitely is a much better trip than just driving to the capital and hanging out with you guys here. it will be nice to see a familiar face. i could bring the whole schieber family. it should be -- the whole shiner family. >> peter: go meet bill press and meredith shiner in darien chicago. joining us in studio, judd leg leg -- legum. even when bill is out, we have you here. we like to bring in the big brains. >> someone has to have a consistent work ethic. >> peter: exactly. the only thing i saw on twitter was bill -- someone had a picture of bill with a large jug with two xs on it at a backyard party. who knows what happened from there. >> there was probably a grill brush incident. >> peter: judd, thank you so much for coming in. we started the show talking about the donald trump/mitt romney relationship. what a complicated relationship that is. i'm going to play this clip for those of you who haven't heard

it yet. mitt romney was asked about donald trump's birther views and whether or not he agreed with him. whether he wanted to repudiate them. mitt romney didn't really put himself away from it at all. >> i don't agree with all of the people who support me. my guess is they don't agree with everything i believe in but i think you can get 50.1 -- i need to get 50.1% or more and i'm appreciative to have the help of good people. >> peter: you can believe in whatever you want to believe in, just vote for me. >> it will be interesting if he can sustain this. he's made a political judgment here that donald trump is bringing enough to the table for him that he doesn't mind taking on the baggage. the question is does he view this as a liability the birther thing or does he actually view it as something that helps motivate his base? he's always had trouble connecting with the grassroots. does he view this as a way of subtly trying to position himself as a more aggressive

posture for the people who weren't excited about him. >> peter: i just don't see much payoff here for tying yourself to donald trump. the romney campaign -- say what you will about romney. he's clearly out of touch. i don't think he would be a very good president. but he's not stupid. i mean clearly, he has to see that donald trump is at best, a liability. >> well, he's raising the money. they're having a big fund-raiser in las vegas. it wasn't so long ago last year, around this time that donald trump was tops in the republican polls at the time he was trashing mitt romney but we've forgotten about. that but anyway, he is -- there is a section of the republican base that still very much is connected with the conspiracy theories, has a much harrerrer view of obama where he sort of

says obama is not really a nice guy or is really a nice guy but he doesn't understand how to work the economy. and maybe his association with trump helps him connect with us. i'm just trying to figure out what's going on here. i admit that it doesn't necessarily make sense on the surface but i do think that you know, this isn't an accident that clearly there's some calculation here that this is going to be a benefit. >> i think if you look at what the quote is, i don't think he thinks he's a liability or a huge plus. i think he thinks he's sort of there, right? to not repudiate him is to not reject him. he's not really praising him either. he's letting him do his thing which is, by the way, i don't know if romney's campaign views donald trump as a surrogate for them. i think we've come to overuse the term surrogate. but at the same time like it is not -- i don't know that it hurts him or helps him.

>> have you seen the poster they put out last week where they had a big picture of donald trump where it says i want you to dine with donald trump. and mitch -- >> i think democrats asking me if i want to eat with sarah jessica parker. >> here's the thing. gentlemen, the democrats have fund-raisers with george clooney and sarah jessica parker but they're not as --'s might make bad movies but they're not insane. donald trump i think has spread a lot of really nasty garbage right. it is not like i'm offended by the whole birther thing. i'm sort of like what are you -- you're an idiot. you don't have the mental condition or you just -- >> i can't see how when we get closer to the election, he's still this prevailing force. >> peter: the romney campaign is trying to make it looks like he speaks for somebody. >> who does donald trump speak for? >> donald trump. >> that's all donald trump

really speaks for. so i think it will be -- i wonder what they'll do. i honestly wonder what they'll do as it gets closer to the general whether they try to keep him at bay. or if you can keep him at bay or even if you don't what that means. because to me, he seems like such an insignificant -- he should be such an insignificant part. hes into political history. he's made a space for himself in this campaign consistently. it is hard to completely disdisavow what he's bringing to the table because he's gotten attention for it because people are listening. >> i think you've hit on something which is that i think that the idea is they'll use it now. they'll raise some money. they'll get whatever they get out of him and then by the time people vote, this will be all in the past. and he won't be the central figure or even the prominent figure that he is today to the extent that he is. i think that might be part of what's going on. >> he'll etch-a-sketch.

>> peter: the other part of the story i think is so interesting when he says some people agree with me some people don't. i don't really care. i'll quote him. i don't agree with all of the people who support me but i need to get 50.1% or more. i mean -- look, i know it is an unwritten rule of politics. you have to tow the line a little bit here. you're blatantly showing your hand and saying i'll take a vote from anybody. >> well, let's contrast this to last cycle. last cycle, there were people who really wanted to go after barack obama because of this birther thing, where because of his race and john mccain wouldn't stand for that. john mccain didn't want to engage that way. there are advisors to this day who still harbor resentment because he didn't but john mccain didn't want to engage on that their at this. you're seeing a difference between the two campaigns. i think you've seen politicians reject this in the past. not all politicians but certainly some.

>> we had a similar situation where a woman asked a question of romney, i think it was a couple of weeks ago where she accused obama of treason and romney just sort of brushed over it and answered the question and it contrasted mccain had the exact same situation happen to him and he made an issue of it and said obama was a patriot or something along those lines. so i think there clearly is a lessons learned that they're not going to play nice this time. mitt romney i don't think is a particularly hard hitter himself. but the campaign is not going to be as cautious on these issues as the mccain campaign and the question is does it help him motivate his base or does it backfire and start to turn off kind of the the independents and the moderates. we'll have to see how it plays out. >> john mccain was always going to have to work with

barack obama whether or not he won the president or barack obama won the presidency because he was -- one of the two was to be in the senate. there was still going to be some sort of interaction. i don't think mitt romney has any sort of skin in the game because he's not part of the government right now. so sure, they might have to shake hands or call each over to congratulate after the race is over. when you have mccain and obama both running, it is similar to what happened with obama and hillary. they knew -- they had this acknowledgement they were going to have to work together again so there was more incentive to make sure it was not so vitriolic and it would completely poison the future. >> peter: 1-866-55-press taking your calls on this mitt romney/donald trump bizarre relationship. we're joined in studio by think progress editor john legum and roll call's meredith shiner. we're going to take a quick break. give us a call at 1-866-55-press. we're dying to hear what you have to say.

it is the "bill press show". judd legum meredith shiner, all here for bill. >> announcer: radio meets television. now on current tv. the "bill press show." spin. >>do it, for america.

>>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: on your radio, on tv, the "bill press show," new on current tv. >> peter: it is the "full court press," the "bill press show." peter ogborn sitting in for bill today. he will be back tomorrow. don't worry. helping me fill the shoes of bill press is roll call's meredith shiner. that youthank you for being here. >> thanks for having me.

>> and think progress's judd legum. >> thank you. >> peter: we're going to talk to some calls at 1-866-55-press. we're talking about mitt romney using donald trump and how he's using donald trump to help him raise money and whether or not it is right for him to say i don't care what he believes in as long as you vote for me. as long as i get to the 50.1%. that's all i care about. let's go to brad in san francisco. welcome to the "bill press show." >> caller: how you doing? anybody who can fill in for bill press is doing a few things right. >> peter: aren't you sweet. what's your take on this story? >> caller: it's i gree with both of the guests. obama will take any vote, too but you don't necessarily talk or brag about it, okay. in 1964, the john birch society was smart enough to ask barry goldwater, do you want our direct endorsement. barry goldwater was smart enough to say basically hey i want your vote, not your endorsement.

that's all. do i think it is right? hell, no, i don't think it is right. >> peter: let me put it this way. what if we had a -- like george clooney, barack obama is using as part of the fund-raising effort. if george clooney came out and said i happen to know that mitt romney had multiple wives the man is a mormon. he had multiple wives. we need to see his marriage certificate, we need to see that he's never been married before. would barack obama just come out and say you know, i can't speak for him. it is just george being george. i don't think obama would do that. >> i think it is difficult to say. your caller makes an interesting point because this whole do you want my direct assistance or not is what you're seeing among the

republicans and the democrat side, too. joe biden gave a speech to the house democrats. if you want me to be on the trail with you, i'm lay low. if you want me to not get involved at all, i can do that also. he'll say if you want me to be involved in this race, i'll be there for you. if you want me to step back, i will do that too. i think it is separate from what we're talking about here. >> peter: judd, you have this story on think progress that is fascinating. everybody is talking about voter i.d. laws these days. what's going on in florida? >> well, the governor out there, rick scott has just in the few months right before the election started with a massive voter purge. he's trying -- he's saying we need to clean up the noncitizens who are on the voting rolls. they initially identified a list about 180,000 people. they culled that down to about 3,000 people to start with. and we contacted the miami-dade board of elections and we've gotten information from them

that of the list of 1600 people they had, there are over 350 people who they've already figured out are actually citizens. so these are people who have gotten letters from the state of florida saying we have information that you are not a citizen and are ineligible to vote and these, in fact, are citizens. in fact, today at 11:00 a.m., down in florida there's going to be a press conference with some of the local congresspeople down there with a 91-year-old world war ii veteran one of -- won a bronze star. he was born in brooklyn. we have information that you are not a u.s. citizen so as you know, these elections can be close. >> peter: yeah. >> as you might recall. this is something that's a big issue and there are people who are going to receive these letters who aren't necessarily

going to respond back with their information. you only have 30 days to do so. if you don't get the letter -- if you don't get the information back to them within 30 days, you're taken off the rolls. >> peter: my first question on this is -- because i have a couple -- first question is how do you screw -- what's their defense in terms of how they screw it up? because it is clear it is some sort of way to keep them from voting. what's their defense? do they have one? >> they can't get accurate data. the former secretary of state down there who is a republican tried to get accurate citizenship data and he couldn't. in fact, he was so upset with the accuracy of the list or at least it appears this was the reason, he resigned in february. and then the governor has just pushed ahead with -- >> peter: without fixing it. >> without fixing it. they're using the motor vehicle data. you could get your license in 2005 and you get your license and at the time, you aren't a citizen. maybe you're just here visiting

or whatever. and then two years later, you get your citizenship. nobody tells the department of motor vehicles. you have your license. they don't need to know you're a citizen so you cross-check this with the motor vehicle data. and it turns out you're not a citizen. we found there is another woman who i talked to, maureen who has been living in florida for 40 years. she's always been a citizen and she was put on the list, too so there are clearly errors even beyond that issue so we've got a really flawed list down there in florida and it is being used to kick people off the rolls. i think the concern is could this, in a very close election especially if they start to ramp up and start to pick out some more of the 180,000 names corks this tip the balance in florida. >> you guys are doing great work by highlighting this but let's be clear, not all of these people will realize that they have been wrong and will fix this problem. so i think that some damage has been done. what happens next?

because it seems to me like that might be a reason to at least look into it on a legal level. >> there's people who have contacted the department of justice, there are people who have filed lawsuits against it. a lot of people have said look, let's put this on hold while the lawsuits are pending but thus far, the state of florida has kind of just barreled ahead and they're just going to continue to do it. regardless of what's happening. talking to some of the election officials down there and i talked to this -- a woman in broward county who was the spokesperson for the supervisor of elections there, you can tell, reading between the lines they're not thrilled about this. the supervisor of elections they're interested in informing people where their place is to vote, making sure people get registered. now the tables have been turned on them and they're really in a position of kicking people off who probably shouldn't be off in some cases.

>> peter: wow, that's crazy. good work at think progress. thinkprogress.org as you know, you can check out all of the latest there. you also follow judd on twitter at juddlegum at think progress is also the twitter handle to follow. get both of those. follow him. judd, thanks so much for being here. we'll talk to you next week. >> great. >> peter: it is the "full court press." peter ogborn and meredith shiner sitting in for bill press today. we'll be right back. >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show" now on current tv. [ orbit glint ] fabulous! for a good clean feeling. ♪ eat, drink, chew orbit! ♪

pweingarten, aft dorg.org. we will be right back.

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> peter: yes it is the "full court press," the "bill press show." peter ogborn sitting in for bill press this morning. tuesday, may 29th, the day after memorial day. thank you so much for being here. taking a look at the president's schedule. what he has on tap today. 10:30 this morning. he's going to get his presidential daily briefing in the oval office and immediately after that meeting with his senior advisors. nothing on the schedule until 2:45 when he meets with hillary clinton and at 3:00 3:25 this afternoon, the president and first lady are the -- honor the recipients of the medal of freedom. a lot of cool people there. that's the president's schedule. it is the "full court press." the "bill press show." peter ogborn and meredith shiner sitting in for bill press. the songs of the summer coming up next hour. we'll run them down for you.

[ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> peter: good tuesday morning. may 29, the day after memorial day. it is the "full court press." normally hosted by bill press. today it is not bill press. it is peter ogborn and meredith shiner from "roll call" magazine. talking about everything you need to know for this tuesday including donald trump's relationship with mitt romney. mitt romney saying he has no problem with donald trump's birther views and all he needs is 50.1% of the vote no matter how he gets it.

we're going to talk more about that plus coming up next, we'll be talking about the songs of the summer. now that memorial day has passed. it is the unofficial start of summer. what tunes should you be listening to. we'll be talking to "the washington post" about that. all of that good stuff coming up but first in los angeles, your current news update from jacki schechner. jacki, good morning. >> good morning, peter. good morning everyone. celebrity apprentice wrapped up about ten days ago so it is no surprise now is about the time that donald trump decides to thrust himself back into the spotlight. as peter and the rest of the blue shirt brigade has been talking about, mitt romney is going to appear at a fund-raiser tonight hosted by donald trump in las vegas. now the obama re-election campaign has a new web video where they're wondering why it is mitt romney is aligning himself with a man who continues to question the president's birthplace. they're using the president's 2008 opponent to make a point. >> i have read about him. he's an arab. >> no, ma'am. he's a decent, family man citizen that i just happen to

have disagreements with. >> the video goes on to show the great extent to which donald trump still embraces the birther stance insisting that president obama was born in kenya. romney's explanation as peter mentioned a little bit earlier is he and his supporters don't agree on everything but he needs all of the help he can get to win the 50.1%. >> "the new york times" takes an in-depth look today at the president's close oversight of the al-qaeda kill list as it is called. personally determining and approving every top suspect that will be targeted. the times has interviewed three dozen current and former advisors to put together a lengthy profile of president obama and the top secret process behind the administration's counterterrorism policies and procedures. and just this hour, there's news out that the u.s.-led coalition troops have killed al-qaeda's second in command in afghanistan. nato says the air strike that killed him happened sunday in a volatile afghan province along

the pakistan border. we're back with more show after the break. stick with us. >>connect with "full court press with bill press" at facebook.com/billpressshow and on twitter at bpshow. >>i believe people are hungry for it. as a culinary manager i make sure our guests have an over the top experience. being hands on is key! i make sure every plate looks just right. [ male announcer ] don't miss red lobster's four course seafood feast, just $14.99. start with soup, salad and unlimited cheddar bay biscuits followed by your choice of one of 7 entrees. like new coconut and pineapple shrimp or shrimp and scallops alfredo. then finish with something sweet. all four courses just $14.99. [ reza ] it's so much food for such a good value. i'm reza, culinary manager. and i sea food differently.

>> we're not through just yet, mr. vice president. >> they're swimming against the

tides. >> announcer: broadcasting on tv, this is the "bill press show." >> peter: the "bill press show." the "full court press." i'm peter ogborn sitting in for bill today along with roll call's meredith shiner. thank you for being here. >> well, hello, thank you. it is hour three. >> peter: hour three. we've made it. we're joined in studio by "the washington post" pop music critic kris richards. how you doing? >> i'm doing great. thanks for having me. >> peter: we're talking the songs of summer coming up in a moment. i'm going to tell everybody right now, i am a total music snob. a royal music snob.

so when we talk about typical songs of summer, usually poppy, catchy stuff, i'm going to judge. i just want all of you to know. >> i have the musical taste of a very middle-aged man. i love james taylor. i'm not going to disown that. >> peter: so there's no bruce hornsby on the list. >> there's not. >> that's the second bruce hornsby reference on the show. >> peter: i don't know any bruce hornsby songs. >> go for the hot chick. >> peter: seven minutes past the hour. on the ones and twos is mr. dan henning. how are you? >> i'm great. how are you? >> peter: nice to have you join us. we were talking about dan's wardrobe choice in the last hour. no need to show everyone again. he's wearing -- okay, you can show them again. >> his madra shorts. i said i have a first grader that wouldn't wear the shorts. >> but now dan has fans.

>> we have a dan fan. nancy writes in hi, guys, dan's rockin' the madra shorts! ironing -- meredith said that dan's pockets were up. >> they were sticking out. >> peter: they were a little wampas. nancy said ironing them would be akin to seinfeld pressing his blue jeans. it changes one's appearance from casual, man-about-town to captain nerd. i think you got captain nerd locked up. >> no, i'm casual. >> nancy should call into the show. we're looking for a president of dan's fans. this is the nominating process. i'm nominating right here right now. >> when i see the shorts, i don't think casual man-about-town however meredith can be forgiven since she's overwhelm withed with great men this morning. >> wow. >> i'm so lucky. >> peter: look how i snuck that in? the rose among the thorns here on the "bill press show," the "full court press." speaking of dan in the room with him, screening your calls is

stevie lee webb. good morning to you, sir. >> didn't realize it was an issue of cosmopolitan today. >> peter: what's on your hat? what is that hat? >> this is my john sena hat. >> who is he? >> he's a wrestler. >> peter: greco roman or professional? >> greco roman. >> right up there with jean-claude van damme. >> we have a professional wrestling hat? >> we have a laid day in the studio. -- we have a lady in the studio. i thought i had better dress up. >> peter: he wore professional wrestling dress up hat. >> i've got the moderate shorts. it is a parade of goodness right now. >> i don't even like john sena. my wife bought it for me as a joke. because i'm a good husband, i feel indebted to wear it on television. >> i feel like you're promoting that is this good, nice thing but you're like hey, you want to

buy me this joke hat, i'm going to wear it on tv. >> i didn't ask for the hat. >> i didn't want it but now i'll make the best of the hat. >> thank you very much. you look -- >> you look like death warmed over. >> so patronizing. >> peter: we've got a lot of stuff coming up today tchght is the unofficial start of summer. we'll talk about all of the summer songs you need to have but first, dan what is going on? >> announcer: this is the "full court press." >> quick check of weather headlines making news. we'll start in sports on this tuesday. the conference finals got started over the weekend in the nba. in the west, san antonio spurs came back to beat the oklahoma city thunder 101-98 in game one in the east. the 1-2 punch of lebron james and dwyane wade proved to be too much for the boston celtics. miami heat winning 93-79. >> peter: go spurs! i'm all about the spurs. fundamentally sound, baby.

>> mark zuckerberg was happy to get out of the country last week after a rough several days following facebook's ipo. buzzfeed reports the ceo's was spotted in rome with his new wife, priscilla chan in the sistine chapel where zuckerberg was wearing a t-shirt and jeans but no hoody. it was probably too warm. >> i don't understand why this hoody thing is a thing. i don't think we can talk about it -- >> peter: the hoody. let's move on. >> it took the men in black to stop the avengers. mib3 starring will smith and tommy lee jones earning $74 million. averges was number one for three weeks straight. still made almost $48 million. tolt gross $523.6 million. it passed the $500 million mark faster than any other film. did so in 23 days. it ranks as the fourth highest grossing movie of all-time

behind the dark knight titanic and avatar. >> i was going to ask why there was a men in black three but apparently this is not a pertinent question. i remember the song from the first movie. >> i don't. >> peter: i do. that's a good segue to the music -- >> i was tossing that to you. >> peter: kris richards is with us. "washington post" pop music critic. it is the unofficial start of summer and so the post has now given us a handy helpful list of songs of the summer. define for us i guess the stereotypical definition of the song of the summer. >> it is the song that you hear all over the place, you know. at the barbecue, at the boardwalk, at the stadium, in your head as you try to go to sleep at night. you can't seem to get the melody out of your cranium. and what characterizes it? i think a lot of times a great summer pop song sort of has a simplestity to it. it seems like it is about

something very shallow or skin-deep but the more time you spend with it, it is tapping into a deeper, human emotion. so i'll try to prove that with the songs -- >> peter: we're going to listen. >> by the time fall comes you're like i can't believe i spent four months listening to that song, singing that song all the time. >> peter: what are some previous songs of the summer. i'm trying to think of big songs from last year the year before. >> how about let's go way back to 2000. you could not go to a stadium without hearing who let the dogs out. that was a song -- and then you regretted it. that's a typical. >> peter: listen to that song today in the car. >> wow. >> peter: what are some other ones? >> 2003, beyonce had crazy in love which seemed like it was everywhere and defined the hot months. it had this intense heat in thisself. that's one that jumps out in my mind. >> i never ever, ever, ever put

my radio on a pop music station right and yet i knew that song. i still know that song. how does that happen? how do we just hear it i guess in the store and -- >> something i think we've become attuned to. we're an earbud culture. everyone has an ipod. you're plugging your music into your head. i think it makes us observant of what we're hearing at the starbucks, at the mall. out at the baseball stadium between the innings. that's where songs of the summer can be shared. car windows get rolled down. >> you can't hide from them, peter. you can be old and say get off my musical lawn but you can run but you can't hide. >> peter: my wife listens to a lot of pop music. she's a fitness instructor. we have this music in my house. i'm sad to protect. >> you're just secretly running around the house listening to

justin bieber. >> i don't have any lmfao on my person. >> you get two points for coming up with the acronym. i'm pretty sure i wouldn't and probably would move around the letters. >> peter: i got it. my wife is just like old people be hating me. like my favorite album is this new dr. john album. this is a great album. she's like this is old man music. let's talk about what's out there. what we have to choose from. this summer. >> the men you have cotton candy music. >> peter: a sugary menu for your breakfast. the front-runner is carly rae jepsen call me maybe. i've never heard of this performer. >> really? >> did you not watch canadian idol? >> peter: i've never heard of this. >> really? >> peter: i'm dead serious. >> the song or the chick? >> peter: i've seen the song

call me maybe referenced. can we see this -- ♪ this is crazy ♪ >> peter: this is awful. i can't. >> that was three seconds. >> peter: let it play, dan. ♪ hey, i just met you ♪ ♪ and this is crazy ♪ ♪ but here's my number ♪ ♪ so call me maybe ♪ ♪ it's hard to look like ♪ >> you're going to be singing this all day. >> peter: i'll bet you $100 i won't. ♪ call me maybe ♪ ♪ hey, i just met you ♪ ♪ this is crazy ♪ ♪ so here's my number ♪ >> it depends on your definition of great first and foremost. we should probably throw that out there. >> peter: here's what i will say right. i'm going to get a little professorial here. it does -- it does have the dna of a summer song. i don't like it. i would rather listen to a lot of other music before i listen to that. >> chris, correct me if i'm

wrong, she's justin bieber's protege. >> peter: wait a minute. he's got a protege? >> he found this girl. >> he's going to have a heart attack. you're going to kill him on live national television. >> he found this girl and made her what she is. >> justin bieber heard her on the radio in canada called his manager scooter brawn who obviously made justin bieber and said you should sign this artist and so it goes. >> the interesting thing about this song, if there is an interesting thing about this song is it has become viral on the internet in ways other songs have. there are all of these parities like the harvard baseball team did it. all of these sporting teams started playing around to the music. there was a spoof with all of the girls famous friends like justin bieber was involved. i don't know. it has this weird life of its own. >> it is because it is such a catchy song. here's the other thing. so much pop music is hypersexualized. a lot of young female singers

are out there putting themselves out there in an intense way. this is a coy, cute song. >> can we talk about the twist at the end of the music video. should i spoil it for your viewers? there is a twist. so in this music video she's like really crushing on her neighbor and the whole time like he's washing his car and then she finally gives him her number and then he gives his number to the male drummer in her band. so it is totally socially open and progressive. >> peter: weird. how old is karly rae jepsen? >> 26 years old. >> peter: it sounds a little syrupy. >> it is kind of sweet. tapping into those adolescent butterflies. >> taylor swift has never done that before. >> peter: she sounds to me like this is a young sort of disney teen type music. >> i think that's what they're trying. >> peter: i do hear the music dna there.

you said another song the party girl rita aura, how we do parentheses party. >> we don't have music for this one. >> we do not. it has choice words in it. >> we don't want that on the air. >> no radio edit currently available. >> she's a british singer, signed with jay-z's rock nation label. so if justin bieber is to credit jepsen as jay-z is too rita aura. >> we're going to get 2400 on the s.a.t. >> catchy tune. it is about partying. one of those really simple tunes about something that seems very easy to understand at face value. it is a lot more bizarre and complex. of course, she's singing from the perspective of having a hangover. she's seeing this dude passed out on the floor and wondering if she could be in love. what a strange subject for a pop song but it is incredibly catchy

and upbeat. >> we were talking about glee earlier today. when you break out in song. when i imagine any moment where i would be breaking out in song that moment would not be it. >> no, no. unless it -- now we know why the salty language is in this song because i would probably have a few choice words. all right. we're going to take a quick break because we have more music to listen to. frankly, i need to go sort of wash my ears out with purell after listening to both of those songs. we'll take a quick break. kris richards from "the washington post," the pop music critic. we're going to about more possible songs of the summer and a few other things. peter ogborn and meredith shiner from roll call sitting in for bill press today. the "full court press." we'll be right back.

with the "name your price" tool you tell us what you want to pay, and we give you a range of coverages to choose from. who is she? that's flobot. she's this new robot we're trying out mostly for, like small stuff. wow! look at her go! she's pretty good. she's pretty good. hey, flobot, great job. oops. [ powers down ] uh-oh, flobot is broken. the "name your price" tool only from progressive. call or click today.

pweingarten, aft dorg.org. we will be right back.

♪ who, who, who, who ♪ ♪ who, who, who, who, who who ♪ >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> peter: why would you do this to me? >> because i don't like you. >> peter: why would you do this to me? >> i like this song and i like meredith. >> peter: what an awful thing to do to me. 25 minutes past the hour. i'm peter ogborn sitting in for bill press today on the "full court press." thank you so much for being here. we're talking songs of the summer with "washington post" -- >> you love saying summer that way. >> peter: sum-ma! >> it is the navy shirt that's putting me in the summer state of mind. >> peter: kris richards is with us. you're on twitter at

chris richards. >> confusingly, there's two underscores. >> peter: we'll have to make sure we follow you, chris two underscore richards on twitter to get all of the latest on pop music. let's talk more about possible contenders for songs of the summer. the long shot here is icona pop i love it. >> the song is -- >> who's on first? >> they're wonderful, wonderful duo from sweden currently living in london out of suitcases where the deejay gigs are plentiful. i talked to them on the phone about this amazing song they've written about the freak out moment you have after a break-up where you just decide you don't care anymore and you want to party. there is also some choice language this one as well. >> peter: that's why we don't have the music. check out i love it by icona pop. >> peter: now you had to do

this. boy bands are back apparently? >> they are. >> peter: how did i miss this? because this is like the worst thing ever. >> oh, please, like you didn't love the backstreet boys. >> peter: i hated the backstreet boys, i hated 'n sync, the boy bands that act like they play instruments and play packaged pop music. but how are they back and who is it? >> there are two leading the pack so to speak. both are from the u.k. they're half british, half irish. >> peter: they can keep them for all i care. >> one is called one direction. they're the bigger, court more adorable one. % they just played here in d.c. on thursday night. >> they bring the you don't know you're beautiful song. what makes you beautiful collection. >> if you were 12 years old and you live in the washington, d.c. area, you were at this concert. it was incredibly earsplittingly loud. the screams were out of this world. >> peter: what you're saying is you were there. >> i was there. i was like the one adult man.

i was reviewing the concert for the post. so i make sure i have a notepad out and i'm here on official business. >> but you're bobbing your head. >> of course, it was great. they were quite enjoyable. >> peter: the other band is the wanted. ♪ aren't you glad you came ♪ ♪ sun goes down ♪ >> peter: turn off. that's enough. >> i love the first pumping behind the glass. >> peter: that's jersey shore. >> i can see his first like this. >> peter: i don't want to. if you had to pick your favorite song, you would have to pick the song of the summer, it is going to be -- >> the icona pop song. all five are catchy and i think they embody something a little more emotionally resonant than your pop tune. >> peter: thanks for coming by. "full court press," peter ogborn and meredith shiner sitting in for bill. quick break. we'll be right back. >> 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...

>> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show" now on current tv. >> peter: peter ogborn sitting in for bill press today joined by meredith shiner. we're joined by julie mason. >> well, peter, guest hosting indeed sir. >> peter: here's what happened. i got the call i have to host. i was like i have to get somebody who knows what they're talking about. not unlike the way that a doughnut, the hole in a doughnut fills its empty vacuous space with wonderful goodness. that's what i've done today.

>> aww! [ laughter ] >> peter: i brought in people who know what they're talking about. >> how long were you working on that analogy? >> all weekend. >> you just brought in chicks. you're like i'm hosting bring in chicks. >> you missed like a half hour where we were a bunch of dudes talking about poor fashion choices. >> peter: i bring in ladies. so ladies night. what's happening? >> nothing wrong with that. >> peter: as if i wasn't awkward enough talking to girls now i'm on national tv having to talk to girls. if nothing else, you should tune in. >> junior high school peter. >> am i blushing? >> no. absolutely not. >> peter: thank you both for coming in. let's talk about the campaign. high favorite story of the day is this weird relationship that mitt romney has forged with donald trump. he is -- i guess really the only loud celebrity that is fully behind mitt romney. >> ted nugent. >> peter: sweaty teddy.

>> not to gang say you. the nug. [ laughter ] >> peter: if you're looking at how they're using trump they're putting him up on a clooney type pedestal the way that obama did with clooney. they're using him to raise money. they're doing appearances together. how smart is this? >> not very. here's the thing. donald trump is absolutely nothing else and yes nothing else. he brings a certain cheesy star power to the romney campaign that romney doesn't have. obama's got all of the star power, all of the celebrity juice. he's got glamor, the sarong, this new book coming out. >> what's the sarong? >> in the ed klein book coming out, apparently president obama, when he was in his 20s would often effect a sarong on a sunday to do the crossword puzzle. it is re-energizing the base. [ laughter ] >> you gotta find a way. >> every revelation about

president obama intercepting joints at parties. my democratic friends are like i couldn't love him more. what does romney have? he doesn't have anything. >> love letters were a bit pretentious. if some dude wrote that to me in college -- >> if you're writing from our 20s resurfaced, we would be embarrassed. >> i would like to say the love letters that i wrote to people when i was in my 20s might have been a little more r rated. i'll put it that way. i'm just saying he is kind of nerdy. >> they made your eyes water. they were so bad. but again, i wouldn't want my like post adolescent scribblings to surface. i have a number of people on the payroll to keep the things -- george will was right. he's an ignore amous. he brings a hollywoodesque appeal. >> i love bringing this term

back, george will. ignoramus. >> only person that could say that line better is newt gingrich. >> i think he probably did use that one. >> or someone said it about him. >> peter: i'm surprised george will didn't say this was pius baloney. >> his finest hour. >> totally. >> he'll never top that. >> peter: donald trump put himself on this political stage by pushing the birther idea. and we thought this was over and done with but a reporter asked mitt romney about it and said do you repudiate these comments by donald trump about the birther stuff and here's how romney handled it. >> you know what? i don't a agree with all of the people who support me but i need to get 50.1% or more and i'm appreciative to have the help of a lot of good people. >> peter: okay. >> whatever it takes.

>> peter: you covered politics for awhile. the understanded sort of message, everybody knows of course you have to get over the 50.1%. you have to get the majority but to be that weird and just say i'll take anybody's vote as long as i'm getting over 50.1% who cares what they believe in. >> it is so ciaen. it really is. >> peter: it is weird! >> a gaffe is when a politician tells the truth. he was telling the truth there. let's not judge him too harshly for it. >> peter: you're right. what i said is let's say, for example, tomorrow george clooney gives an interview and says i think that mitt romney has multiple weis. he's a mormon. and we don't know that he hasn't had multiple wives. we don't know. >> i don't know. i'm curious. >> peter: he's equally as ludicrous as saying that barack obama wasn't born in this country and yet i think if george clooney did that, i think barack obama would have to say i don't need your support anymore.

thank you very much. i think he would back down. he wouldn't say we don't agree. i would still like his vote. i don't think he would say that. >> i feel like we touched on this the last hour. i think this notion of what a surrogate is for a campaign has changed, right because it used to be the campaign had certain designated people and they went on tv. you knew they were speaking on behalf of the campaign. now so many people can get on tv, who is actually speaking for the campaign? this was the thing with the hilary rosen and the ann romney comments and cory booker. cory booker is the mayor of newark new jersey. i know he's great on twitter and he's awesome on tv but he's still the mayor of newark new jersey. and the whole story line was well, obama surrogate. then harold ford weighed in as an obama surrogate. i don't know that harold ford is speaking for barack obama. who are these people in terms of like their relationship to the campaign. and if their relationship isn't strong enough to the campaign to merit campaign involvement then how much does the campaign have

to react. it is a little bit different with donald trump because he's hugged donald trump a little bit and that donald trump had a campaign to be president himself. but at the end of the day, there has to be -- if i'm in chicago or i'm in boston, i can't respond every time someone says something idiotic because at the end of the day then i'm losing my message. i think you have to be focused. if your message is on the economy or if it is on national security, you can't get distracted because there's too much white noise out there. >> we get distracted and the media takes off with a story. cory booker thing. we love it. and what's the campaign going to do? let the nondesignated surrogates message overtake the campaign. >> and i think that this is a learning process because it has become so much easier the last few cycles to weigh in whether it is on facebook or twitter or on any litany of television channels. i think that campaigns are still sort of getting their sea legs. the cory booker example, i think

that the campaign could have responded but because they so overresponded, they continue to give the story legs because you had everybody weighing in. >> same with hillary. >> it is the sort of thing where you can say cory booker is the mayor of newark new jersey and has particular interest in this field. we humbly disagree this is not an issue. >> i take it you don't find the mayor of newark to be an impressive credential. >> maybe i'm biased against new jersey. [ laughter ] >> new jersey is awesome. [ laughter ] >> cory booker came to speak when i was in college and i heard him speak and i think he's someone people look at who has a lot of potential. he has this really interesting accessibility and like bizarre earnestness you don't see in a lot of politicians even if it is manufactured. it might be part of his schick but at least he's trying to be that way which has made him this approachable and prominent figure but that doesn't mean he speaks for the president of the united states.

i think the whole debacle, because the administration so overreacted, because you get 82 million rapid response e-mails it drowns out everything else. you don't know what you're supposed to pay attention to. >> let me bring it back to the funny politics. tonight it is the newt beginning rich/mitt romney/donald trump burlesque show in las vegas. they're all going to be on stage together. you talk about surrogates and embracing the weirdness. it is not like he's having to say -- it is not like a cory booker situation. mitt romney, you do whatever you want. then he just disavows him. he will be on stage with him tonight. romney has a real surrogate problem. >> that's the weirdest showing of cirque du soleil ever! >> peter: i want to see newt with little tassels from the burlesque show. >> i have that mental picture. >> peter: we'll take a quick break. we have lots to talk about including more about the campaign in general.

how barack obama plans on beating mitt romney in november. we'll talk about that plus much more. 43 minutes past the hour. peter ogborn meredith shiner, julie mason all in studio on the "full court press." we'll be right back. >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv, this is the "bill press show." hear until it grabs you and won't let go. we push, we prod until the truth reveals itself. we are fearless, independent trendsetters, problem solvers, and above all, we are politically direct. the young turks with cenk uygur at 7, viewpoint with eliot spitzer at 8, the war room with jennifer granholm at 9, the gavin newsom show fridays at 11. and there's only one place you'll find us: weeknights on current tv.

>> we're not through just yet, mr. vice president. >> they're swimming against the tides. >> announcer: on your radio, on tv, the "bill press show." new on current tv. >> bill: it is the "full court press." >> peter: peter ogborn sitting in for bill today. 46 minute past the hour. may 29, tuesday, the day after memorial day. as ron artest says, labor day.

he tweeted out yesterday happy labor day everybody. >> a little premature. he meant well. >> there are so maybe great athletes gaffes on twitter. we haven't got ton jose canseco want withing to run for public office. >> peter: we haven't got ton jose canseco running for public office. that's the voice of meredith shiner in studio with us as well. here's julie mason. you can hear her on channel 124 noon weekdays. you tweet as well at juliemason. >> that's the one. >> peter: you're an meredithshiner. i'm at peter ogborn. >> look at us with our clever twitter handles. >> you can follow dan at sweaty and ready. >> no, no, no! >> pcradio dan. pelt bill's not here. he will be back tomorrow but if you're in the chicago area on june 9th, he's signing copies of his latest book, "the obama

hate machine" in darien, chicago at the frugal muse bookstore. i've said frugal muse four times without screwing that up. i'm feeling pretty good about myself. >> you're owning the show today. you're getting carried away. >> peter: a bit of a wordsmith. let's turn to 2012, the general campaign. barack obama versus mitt romney. [ laughter ] >> oh, man. >> it is early julie. >> peter: here's the thing. here's what we're looking at. if you look at how they're going to fight and how they think that they're going to win. let's look at barack obama's side first. a lot of bain capital. robert gibbs was on one of the sunday shows yesterday where he talked about bain capital. >> they were very good at that. making money for themselves and for the investors but what bain capital never did was focus on job creation. >> peter: that was on face the nation yesterday. he's setting up that they're

working on bain capital. now. but where are they going to go in the future? is it going to go to november? >> they must have some polling or consultant information that shows them this is a winning issue or they would not be hitting it so hard, so much, so often. it doesn't do it for me. it is not persuasive. >> peter: here's the thing. i think it is a good argument. i don't think it is a great argument. i think it is easy -- when mitt romney goes around and says i know how to create jobs. i know how to create jobs. that's what he's running on. he really doesn't have that track record. if you look at what he did and this gets to the next thing after he finished beating up on bain capital, after they get all of the candy out of that pinata, they're going to move to his term as governor. where he didn't do a great job -- a great job creating jobs. he just didn't. >> i think that this approach is actually very reflective and responsive to how mitt romney ran his primary.

i think that he was so afraid of his own shadow in terms of running as governor in the primary, he focused on bain and the history and made that the narrative of his primary campaign. i think for them to attack this now, they're trying to take it away from him. if they want to later attack his record as governor, i think you'll see that. like as mitt romney continues as the general nominee, the candidate for the republican party, you'll see him bring up his record as governor more because he'll have an awkward time defending it because he was so uncomfortable with it before he wasn't talking about it. i think they're talking about it because he's talking about it. >> peter: that's a good point. i think if there is a ray of light here in terms of this attack method, it is romney is so awkward talking about it. it is just -- he has a really, really hard time talking about his bain capital stuff. if nothing else, they might be letting him -- giving him just enough rope on it to where he hangs himself on it. >> it is interesting that --

having served as governor of any state, even massachusetts, my home state is such a great credential when you're running for president. it is so much better than having been a house member. a member of the senate. you are a stand-alone executive. you actually have some power. you're singular. >> over your dough -- domain. your city of newark. [ laughter ] for being a governor, that's a grand -- >> there's no way to prep for being president. there's no learning experience there. but being governor is a good start. we hear nothing about it from mitt romney. politico had a great story by glenn thrush. referring to his lost years. romney's lost years as governor and -- >> peter: as governor. >> anyone else would be screaming it from the rooftops. he's only incidentally referred to as governor. >> he's been uncomfortable with who he is. it shows in small anecdotes. i have a friend who runs a nascar team. he made the same gaffes over and over because he sort of is

uncomfortable in his wealth. we've had -- politicians are rich. they are rich. >> a lot of them -- they soft own it. it is what it is. he seems genuinely to feel some sort of tension about it. so they haven't really been able to consolidate around a message i don't think because there's nothing he really feels truly comfortable promoting but if he felt comfortable prom october his credentials as governor, i think he would. the next question is how receptive is the base to that in the primary, you saw a lot of conservatives meeting to vote in favor of mitt romney and maybe the reasonable and logical explanation of well, i was the governor of the state where there happened to be a lot of democrats and independents and i did certain things because it gave me political capital to do others. i'm a fiscal conservative who wanted to cut the budget and save money but yeah so we had to do some other things because i was representing the people. >> way too sophisticated. >> maybe. >> peter: right. >> but you're right.

you're right. if you stop and listen to that it makes sense. instead, he's content to be judged a flip-flopper and inconsistent rather than say i was a political pragmatist and i governed this way in massachusetts. >> it is good his former massachusetts guy screwed it up. >> peter: let's talk about how mitt romney plans on beating barack obama. what is he really going to hit him on? >> i don't know. i'm not seeing a coherent message emerge. it is a little bit all over the place. they're not quite sure what works against him. foreign policy doesn't work. jobs is okay but the polls show people think it is all right. >> peter: it is coming back. the polls and the data. >> people like him personally. what are you going to get him on? >> in the midterm in 2010, you saw lot on healthcare. you saw a lot on wall street reform and those narratives, while i think they still possibly exist, people are starting to get comfortable with those things. people like their kids can stay

on their healthcare until they're 26. the automaker bailout. >> they're acclimated to what they had. it is a good question. >> peter: we have one more short segment. i hope you both stick around. it is "full court press." peter ogborn, meredith shiner, julie mason all in for bill press. we'll be right 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: this is the "bill press show." >> it is the "full court press." the "bill press show." peter ogborn and meredith shiner and julie mason sitting in for bill. bill is coming back tomorrow. we have the president of the nea, dennis van roekel will be

in studio along with major garrett and felicia saunders all talking politics and the state of education. we've got a lot of good stuff tomorrow when bill is back! >> bill is going to come back to a smoking ruin. you burned this thing down. this is awesome. >> what are you doing to my show? >> peter: this show looks like the book of revelations. women gnashing teeth, men wailing. >> shorts ripped and hung on the microphone. seriously, thank you both so very much for coming in. meredith shiner on twitter at meredith shiner for roll call. julie mason for sirius x.m. podis. i'm peter ogborn sitting in for bill press today. it was fun. bill will be back tomorrow. hope to see you then.