[ ♪ theme ♪ ] [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] . >> good morning. great to see you today. hope you had a great weekend ready to go. talking the issues of the day. >> that's what we do right here. welcome to the full-court press on current tv. we will bring you the stories of the day, the issues of the day and then take your calls at 866-55-press. our morning town hall here for the next three hours, and you know the big topic of the day of course, friday can't believe it. i begged, as you know. you were watching.

i begged mitt romney to pick paul ryan as his vice presidential running mate. i never thought he would be dumb enough to take my advice. now, it's official. mitt romney and paul ryan, the team that's going to get rid of social security, get rid of medicare and get rid of medicaid. what a great platform to run on. man. can't wait. so we will get into that from every angle today. but first, we get the latest, today's current news update from lisa ferguson joining us early this monday morning out in los angeles. hi lisa. hi, bill. good morning. happy monday. good morning, everyone. well well, as bill mentioned, obviously the big news of the day, romney has chosen paul ryan as his running mate. here is a quick look at what happened over the weekend. >> we know the principles that built this country and we are going to reapply those principles and leave our kids a better future. >> no doubt, we will hear plenty of analysis on ryan's policies over the days and weeks to am could. ryan is of course lodgely popular in his home state of

wisconsin where so far the largest part of romney's campaign welcomed the pair home. he has represented the first congressional district since '99, meaning he has beat out a slew of democratic challengers. we know he is chair of the house budget committee and built his reputation around a budget that would cult government spending by $5 trillion more than president obama's plan but romney made one thing clear on sunday in an interview with 60 minutes, that he is running on his own policies, not his running mate's. >>well, i had my budget plan, as you know, that i put out, and that's the budget plan that we are going to run on. >> the obama campaign is striking back just in case saying ryan's plan does not have the deficit-cutting power he claims. ryan also voted for several republican-backed bills during the bush administration that added trill ions to the national debt. we can likely expect a bit of a showdown today as both the president and ryan will be in

iowa. back with more bill after the break, and we are live in chat current.com/billpress. people when i'm upset. do you share the sense of outrage that they're doing this, this corruption based on corruption based on corruption. understatement, eliot. u>> i'm not prone tot. understatement, so explain to me why that is. i think the mob learned from wall st., not vice versa.

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> broadcasting across the nation, on your radio, and on current tv this is "the bill press show". >> mitt romney picked paul ryan. bring it on. hey, hello everybody. what do you say? welcome. welcome, welcome. good to see you today. happy monday. it is monday august 13th, and here we go with a special romney-ryan edition of "the full court press" coming to you from our nation's capitol, all the way across this great land of ours on your local progressive talk radio station on sirius xm

this hour only. why? don't ask me. ask them. and, all three hours on current tv. so great to see you today. welcome to the program. and boy, we got lots to talk about we are going to cover this paul ryan pick from every angle. i have got to tell you right up front, i love it. i am pleased with. i think romney picked the best possible person to destroy his chances of ever winning the white house in 2012. this is great news. not to get over confident. pardon me, but this is great news for democrats. and if you don't understand that, hopefully, you will understand it better in the next couple of minutes. anyway great to have you with us today. thank you so much for joining us. and peter ogburn still one more day off today. he will be back in tomorrow with dan henning, still on the job here. >> good morning. >> good morning, dan. with the assistance once again, of co-pilot of stevie lee webb.

>> hello. >> how are you? >> congratuations. we thank you for doing such a good job with the olympics. >> i don't have my headphones on. i can't hear you? >> i just realized that. >> here there we go. >> i was saying probably there has never been an uglier face on current tv? >> that's sweet but don't denigrate yourself like that. it's not fear. >> cyprian bouwlding. i was congratulating you stevie webb with or without headphones on the olympic games. the u.s. we had another big weekend racking up dan do you remember what the total number -- >> i will have the medal count in mere moments. >> okay. thank you. >> as part of the full-court press. >> uh-huh. >> and the men's basketball team? >> yes indeed. they came through. even though there was some scary moments. >> barely. >> yeah, but they did. who a.

will you guys get it togethera a. will you guys get it together. >> men's basketball game. >> he hits it. 3. anthony. the rebound. and there will be no change in london. team u.s.a. has won back to back gold medals. >> and sort of in one final slap at mitt romney remember who came to london and said i don't know. it's pretty scary. i don't think these brits are going to be able to pull it off. david cameron missed it then. it's easy to organize the olympics in the middle of nowhere yesterday. one more slap at mitt romney. >> i think you only need two words to sum up these games: britain delivered. yes, and indeed britain did deliver. >> absolutely. >> bravo. >> that men's basketball game they were only head by one point at the end of the third quarter. yeah, then only won by 7.

107 to 100. no dream term. let me tell you what. this was a challenge for them. but they came through. >> that's all that matters in the ends. >> all right. so we are going to be talking paul ryan every way you can think this hour including -- not this hour. in the next three hours. and this hour. but chris valuevan hollen, the ranging democrat on paul ryan's budget committee will be here to rip into the paul ryan budget. democratic strategist jimmal simmons will be here to assess what the ryan thing means for democrats running for the house, for thenate senate and for the white house and juan summers who has been traveling with the romney campaign and was there in norfolk when romney made his big announcement saturday morning. he will join us as well from the rode with mitt romney. so got lots to get into. we will get right to it and take your calls again at 866-55-press. but, first:

>> this is the full court press. >> all right. on this monday, other headlines making news, team u.s.a. dominated the olympics once again, taking home more medals than any other country for the 5th straight summer games with commanding perform applications in swimming, track and field, women's soccer basketball and beach volleyball. the u.s. totalled 104 medals to china's 87, to britain's 65. they came home with 46 golds over china's 38. >> but russia was in third place, wasn't it? >> no. great britain was in third place. >> really? >> absolutely. they did very well. that super saturday last weekend where they won like four golds inside a couple of hours was very impressive. >> a most successful olympics in over 100 years. >> is that right. >> that's absolutely right. >> home field advantage. beyonce stole the show assembly show in new york friday. the pop star sang the song i

was there in honor of humanitarian aide workers. cbs report she won incredible praise from world leaders all over for her performance. where muammar gadaffi rumbled on and nakita pounded his shoe. >> good for her. >> and bill, get your lottery tickets. five people won $1 million in the powerball drawing but nobody struck the jackpot. this wednesday's jackpot rather large, $305 million. >> oh, my god. oh, my god. >> no one has won. >> remind me. remind me. the market is closed today. i will have to get them tomorrow. >> no one has won the jackpot since mid june. a couple won in connecticut. they won $60 million. >> i had been purposely letting it build up. >> absolutely. making note. >> make a note to remind me of that tomorrow. we will do full-court press

tomorrow. >> yes indeed. you remember friday, in my parting shot i said that the best thing that could happen for democrats would be for mitt romney to pick paul ryan as his running mate, and i suggested that we all get down on our knees and say a prayer that mitt romney would do just that. well, guess what. he did it. i can't believe that he did it. but saturday morning he introduced his vice presidential partner to the world down in norfolk, virginia. >> today we take another step forward in helping restore the promise of america as we move forward in this campaign and on to help lead the nation to better days. it's an honor to announce my running mate and the next vice president of the united states paul ryan. >> and mitt romney said paul ryan. listen carefully here this is why i picked him. >> paul ryan has become an

intellectual leader for the republican party. he understands the fiscal challenges exploding deficits and crushing debt and the fiscal catastrophfee that awaits us if we don't change course. the real question is that paul ryan the intellectual leader or ideological leader? i think it's the latter because he represents the most extreme elements of the republican party. he is the guy with grover norquist who wants to shrink government down to the size you could drown it in the bath tun. paul ryan takes the stage and immediately slams president obama. >> whatever the explanations whatever the excuses, this is a record of failure. >> yes, but president obama for his part was very gracious. he said he welcomed his -- speaking of paul ryan, said he was a good man. he is a family man. he has a lot of ideas.

just bad ideas. >> congressman ryan is a decent man. he is a family man. he is an articulate spokesman for governor romney's vision but it's a vision that i fundamentally disagree with. >> so listen like you i was really surprised that mitt romney picked paul ryan. i tell you what it says. it says a lot. and i can't -- i have been so frustrated that this happened on a friday and -- a saturday morning and you and i don't get to talk about it until today. but i have been holding back. i can't wait to hear your comments on paul ryan. 866-55-press. what it shows is that mitt romney knew eaves losing. he knew it wasn't working. so he decided to throw the long pass the hail mary pass like john mccain. bold not somebody safe like tim

pawlenty who is about as bland as he is but take somebody who has really got some, you might call them, bold -- i think they are craze -- ideas. but the problem is with that is that now rather than what usually -- the way it usually works. right? the vice presidential candidate sort of tags along on the term. now, the vice presidential candidate takes over the team because paul ryan's budget is so detailed in so many ways. romney hasn't put forth a plan. it's bold and risky and i think dangerous. i think it's a horrible choice for mitt romney and for the american people. number 1, what did dick cheney say just a couple of weeks' about sarah palin? he said she was a big mistake. why? he said she is a nice person. i like her. she is a good candidate but, he

said, the first test for a vice presidential candidate is you have to be. people have to believe that you are ready to take over the presidency at a moment's notice. really? paul ryan? he has zero executive experience, 42 years old. he has been in congress 13 years. zero executive experience. he's got maybe two years working for his daddy's firm like john boehner sweeping his daddy's bar, his father's construction firm in the case of paul ryan. so very, very limited private private-sector experience and romney says we need people with a business background to kind of run things? and did anybody look at his record in congress? in 13 years in congress, paul ryan has authored two bills, two bills. one to rename a post office. and the other to provide some tax relief for archers. he does archery.

i mean that's his sport. so he wanted to provide tax relief forair arrows. hardly a legislative fireball at all in the congress. the other thing about paul ryan is he has sponsored -- didn't just support. he sponsored the beatle personhood in the amendment. this would make a fertilized eg a person. this would say a fertilized eg gets all of the rights of any person like just you and me. this is so extreme it would even outlaw many forms of contraception. >> that's not just abortion but contraception. this is so extreme, the people of mississippi rejected it. can't get more extreme than that. this is something paul ryan sponsored. then, of course, he is best known for the ryan budget. it's passed the house twice. it is out there. there are no questions about what the ryan budget does.

the ryan budget does replace medicare with a voucher system, a limited voucher system like 2500 bucks. >> that's all you get. all of those millions and millions of americans who look forward to medicare. it ain't going to be there for you. medicaid, gets rid of. it says states, no need to do it. we will give you the money, you can do whatever you want to do. gets rid of medicaid. so it eliminates medicare as we know it. it gets rid of medicaid gives the wealthiest of americans another tax break going from 35%, which it is now under the bush tax cuts down to 25% raises taxes on the middle class, doesn't balance the budget at all for at least 30 years until 2040, and the first in the first version of his budget paul riney limnated social security and replaced it with a privatization scheme that george budge rejected.

paul ryan calling social security a ponzi scheme. you could not have a more extreme republican than paul ryan. you could not have a clearer choice than we have now between obama-biden and romney-ryan. and remember mitt romney called the paul ryan budget "mavelous." it's his budget now. 866-55-press. i have to tell you, this is great. and the way i see it john mccain blew his chances in 2008 by naming sarah palin. mitt romney just blew his chances in 2012 by naming paul ryan. bring it on. bring your calls on, too 866--55 press. >> this is "the bill press show." 866-55 press. >> this is "the bill press show." in the billionaires' purchase of our nation. >> and you think it doesn't affect you? think again.

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?ñ?ñ you've heard bill's views, now let's hear yours. politically direct means no b.s. just telling you what's going on in politics today. >>at the only on-line forum with a direct line to bill press. >>it's something i've been >>join the debate now. ' [ ♪ theme music ♪ ]

>> heard around the country and seen on current tv this is "the bill press show." "twenty-five minutes after the hour, taking your calls on paul ryan. i thought my wife carol came up with the best line about this new ticket two wealthy white guys or romney and ryan, it's the rr things of rolesls royce. paul ryan, not as wealthy at mitt mitt romney. who is? romney saying worth 250 million but politico is reporting paul ryan is not doing too bad. his net worth is somewhere around $3.2 million. he has assets in differently firms. we are not sure how much it is.

you saw that mansion he was living in over the weekend. he is doing pretty well, too. >> that's who it is. they are going to help people like themselves and screw everybody else. it's the romney-ryan plan. brett calling from chicago. hi, brett. >> hey, bill. how is it going? >> what do you think? what do you think? >> i saw a little bit on i think it was 60 minutes yesterday. they were asked about their tax plan and they basically, romney jumped in and basically said he wanted to raise the taxes on the rich and he wasn't going to raise the taxes on the middle. >> but he didn't say -- he did not say he was going to raise the taxes on the rich. he was going to cut the taxes on the rich romney. >> i thought -- well i must have miss -- >> oh, yeah. yeah. no. he is he has it cleared, brett, said -- clearly said he will give the wealthiest a part of the tax cut. >> that's part of the romney

plan. he says it will not impact the middle class but he won't tell us how. he insists it's going to be revenue-neutral. so, yeah. now, romney is also saying, well, my plan is the one that i am going to follow, not paul ryan's plan. baloney. romney doesn't have a plan. everybody has pointed out. there are no details in his plan. he just asserts. i am going to cut taxes for the wealthiest, give them another tax break, but it's not -- it's going to be revenue-neutral. it doesn't give plans. the paul ryan is the most detailed plan ever. and again, romney embraces it as "mavelous." kenneth calling from california early in the morning on the west coast. good morning. >> hey, bill. >> hi. >> this isi was calling to give dan henning a little correction and to make a little comment. >> go ahead. >> russia actually won 85 medals. >> did come in third? hum? >> yes. >> i am glad you straightened that out. i had my own doubts about that? >> i stand corrected. apologies. >> britain won goals so they

still come third. >> not in total mellings. >> talking about totals. >> yes we were. i was going to say the icing of the bob schieffer, they are trying to change paul ryan's plan. they are trying to rewrite it saying they are going to lower tax for the middle class when we all know that's not true. what exactly do they consider middle class? >> no. they can't change paul ryan's plan. >> that's a very important point. they are trying. they are trying to say, no, no no. i embrace paul ryan but i didn't embrace his plan. mitt romney embraced the plan calling it, again, marvelous. right? the plan is out there. for budget hawks it would not create a surplus for every 30 years. so why are they praising this guy? i am telling you this is a huge mistake. take more calls about paul ryan coming up. >> this is "the bill press show." system collapses and then they

will have achieved their end of basically shutting down 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...

[ music ] >> on your radio, on t.v. the bill press show, new on current tv. >> how about it? thirty-three minutes after the hour, we got the pick now: mitt romney is paul ryan's. this is the full court press. we are examining what it means from every angle. thes on the "full-court press" coming to you live from our studio in our nation's capitol brought to you today by uilico, incorporated. good men and women proudly serving the union workplace for more than 80 years under president ed smith providing

investment products and services. find out more about their services to america's great jununs by visiting the website at www.ulico, ulico.com. pom president obama today in iowa, wednesday, he will not have the state all by himself. because paul ryan split off from mitt romney after being on the bus tour and paul ryan is in iowa today. he will campaign w him will be juana summers, national politico reporter who joins us by phone from des moines. an early good morning, juana. >> good morning, very early morning. >> you have been traveling with mitt romney. did you see the paul ryan pick coming? >> i admit. i was wrong on this. i thought he was going to go tim pawlenty. i think a lot of people were surprised he was willing to take a gamble a little bit although a

gamble. i think romney offered options. >> how did they manage to keep it a secret? >> it's fascinating. mitt romney always told reporters who asked that only he and bess myers would know who the pick was. he was secretive. no one believed that. but it seems they kept it around a small group of very trusted people. they had good control on information. they managed on almost entirely stop blacks their selection process which is almost unfathomable in this age of 24/7 media. i give them a little bit of credit for that. >> do we know how many years of tax returns paul ryan had to make available for the vetting process? >> it is not clear. during an interview, paul ryan said he put forward several years. >> more than two, i bet. >> it sounds like more than two, but they didn't really drill down. there was a cbs interview with both governor romney and

congressman ryan. didn't drill down but he has indicated he will only be putting forth two years' of tax returns similar to what romney had done. >> as you point out, most people figured it would be pawlenty or maybe portman. ryan, the outside choice. what does it say about the romney campaign that he decided to go with ryan? >> what i feel is most striking about the choice of paul ryan is that he is a guy. he has big bold ideas. so far, this has been a campaign where i would argue that no one on either side really has been talking about these great ideas, but a particularly small campaign, some of the negative advertising, back and forth on both sides. i find that striking as well as the romney campaigns see a little bit of an opportunities in wisconsin where they campaigned last night with the choice of paul ryan. that will be interesting going forward as to how they deposit

ties them to give them new openings with voters they might not have had a chance with beforehand. >> clearly one could use the adjective bold. most people do. at the same time, what we are talking about is getting rid of mid care as we know it. right? totally changing that system, getting rid of medicaid. paul ryan actually at one time embraced privatization of social security and talked george bush into adopting it. so these may be bold ideas but are they winnable ideas? >> bill, that's a great point. one of the important thing we will watch over the next weeks is how far romney embraces paul ryan's ideas. >> he embraced budget. he is saying i want paul ryan but it's going to be my plan. he called paul ryan's plan marvelous. right? >> that's true. but what you say and how much the ideology make it into your

policy making are very different things. the question is how much does it matter? calling something morphs lus when you arearvel lus when you are. right but don't you think it gives democrats an incredible opportunity now to run against the ryan budget? >> i think it democrats -- i don't think it's any secret it gives democrats a graduate opportunity, the ones i have talked to so far, even before this pick was made said mall ryan would be who they favored. he is their pick. he thought it gives them a great opportunity to paint the election in terms of choice and that's the pick of paul ryan says more about the direction mitt romney wants to take this country in. democrats are elated about this choice. >> what is the romney campaign saying? it seems to me. you followed so closely. i'm so glad we could talk to you this morning that this really

does change the direction of the romney campaign. the romney campaign has been we need an outsider, somebody with business experience, not somebody from washington you know. total come out and change things up and focus on the economy and jobs. now, they pick, you know, an insider with his own bucket plan talking about, again, social programs and budgetary issues. this does change the nature of the campaign. doesn't it? >> i think this is a mitt romney's campaign when he talked about who he wanted his vice presidential pick, the number 1 quality he kept going back to was someone who is ready to serve on day 1. i think paul ryan said he fits that model this is a different pick. tim pawlenty two guys who have never been to washington working to take it over from the outside in.

>> two governors. >> this is a different pick. i think it changes the race. we are no longer focused on johns and the economy. it will change the race a little bit. >> i have heard ryan is a good campaigner. we will find out today when he takes to the road on his own for the first time and juana summers will be there. so we will talk to you again soon juana. >> absolutely. we are headed to the iowa state fair. >> thank you for getting up early. juana summers, national political reporter for politico you see her in studio often. on the road now with paul ryan. i think this changes the nature of the campaign because romney thought he could get away with saying the economy is not coming back fast enough. i know how to do it. give me a chance without getting specific about anything. that wasn't working. romney saw it wasn't working. so he decided he had to go in a different direction. he ticks thepicks the guy who the

extremist republicans love for a lot of reasons. is he somebody who can win some of those? jonathan in new york city what do you say? >> good morning. first of all, i was watching cnn over the weekend and i saw an interview with paul ryan from thursday. he was completely denying the fact that he was evening going to run for vice president. just the look in his face it was this robotic, vacant stare. he couldn't help but feel that he was the perfect, you know, pick. it was awful. >> i didn't see that interview. he was sworn to secrecy so he was probably squared he might give it away. what do you think he brings to the ticket, jonathan? >> gosh.

i think really isdrate for the democrats first of all. i think the biggest thing that he is the 1 that's behind the plan, i feel like. he is going to be the head in this relationship, the brains i guess. he is the one. he has no ideas of his own. >> i think this is a reverse ticket. it's the ryan-romney ticket when you think about it. the guy with the ideas, even romney calling him the intellectual leader of the party. romney has embraced his ideas. the ideas could not be more clear. if you believe social security is a ponzi scheme, if you think that medicare is a fraud and we ought to get rid of it and give people a voucher and let them go out and buy their own insurance as if they could get much for 2500 bucks and you believe that medicare is a scam and we ought to get rid of med -- medicaid.

i'm sorry. getting rid of social security medicare, medicaid for starters paul ryan is your man. >> don, what do you think. >> picking paul ryan is bad news for the democrats because paul ryan is going to wipe the floor with joe biden at the vice presidential debate because joe biden is a human gaffe machine. >> you know what? i think you are selling joe biden short in many ways. look. you put joe biden's record in congress, for examples up against paul ryan. joe biden didn't get where he is by being any dummy. joe biden is i think, first of all, a great vice president. he is very, very smart. you know what? he is one hell of a debater. you are dead wrong about that. paul ryan is glib but that doesn't mean he is a good debater. paul ryan, this is imports, folks. this is it. we now know the choice between

people and between platforms and between policies. this is the choice we have got for november 2, 2012, that could not be a more important choice or a starker choice. your calls at 866-55-press. >> this is "the bill press show." >>oh really? >>"if you ever raise taxes on >>the rich, you're going to destroy our economy." not true!

barack was having to work out the fact that people react to him based on his racial make-up. (vo) as barack obama seeks a second term, we go back to see the poeple and events that shaped the life of a man who would become president. becoming barack, followed by: is america ready for a mormon president? >>between him and obama, i wouldn't vote. >>mormonism is a cult.

(vo) current tv explores the world's fastest growing religion. [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> radio meets television the bill press show now on current tv. >> hey, it's monday morning, august 13th. we have a vice presidential running mate for paul ryan. yeah. that's it. mitt romney's the vice

presidential mating for paul ryan. and we are taking your calls at 866-55-press. i think the best thing that happened to democrats in a long time. get back to your calls in just a second. first, here is a story that caught my attention from the minneapolis store tribune out in the twin cities. thousands of unsuspecting minnesotans falling victim to increasingly sophisticated identity theft operations that cost banks and retail stores millions and test the technical savvy of law enforcement. there again, identity theft in the news. you hear those stories and it reminds you, you should be doing something about it. i have. got the protection of life-lock ultimate. you need it and you ought to look into it. the most comprehensive id theft production ever made. life lock can't protect you or your bank account if you are not a mer. call now, mention press 60 for

60 risk-free days of the life lock ultimate protection. try it out. if you don't like it, call within another 60 days and cancel. they will give you a full refund. see lifelock.com for details and give them a call at 1800-356-5967. 1-800-356-5967. the thing that i find most delicious, and i didn't know this about paul ryan until yesterday. he says, now, here is -- he said yesterday, in one of his interviews, here is what i will bring to the ticket. here is what i offer: >> i believe that my record of getting things done in congress. >> uh-huh. >> will be very helpful compliment to governor romney's executive private sector experience outside of washington. >> right. in thirteen years, getting thins done in congress. two bills. two bills have his name on them. one renames a post office and

the other changes the tax breaks for arrows used in archery. i did not that i can make this up, kids. this is what we've got. they say he is ready to take over as president of the united states? give me a break. stevie lee webb is more ready than paul ryan. tom is calling from madison. no. not madison wisconsin. mod son, alabama. hi, tom. >> hello sir. i believe that the fact mitt romney made his choice for his running made has just completely made it 100% easier on anybody, any voter to decide who to vote for. i mean he is -- ryan is completely ignorant as to how -- to be president in general. has no experience has zero experience in any private sector or very little and i think if mitt romney is elected he will

cut out the middle class entirely. he has sewn in the deal on who to vote for. it's clearly obama. >> all right. james is in concord, north carolina. hello, james. key state there. hi, james. >> yes it is. unfortunately. this is james from concord, north carolina. >> yes, sir. >> i was going to talk to you about the voucher system you keep calling it. i wish you would call it what it is, a coupon system. and what happens whenever you go to a store and you have clipped the coupon in the sunday newspaper? you wind up in a grocery store or whatever type of a line it is and you can't use that coupon because you don't have the money to pay for the difference. >> you know what? >> a good point. i take your point, too. >> that's exactly the way it would work. right? it's a limited coupon. right?

so it's got a ceiling on it like name it 1200 bucks or 2500 bucks. and you get that. right? instead of getting medicare and you've got to go out in the private market and find as if you could, find a complete insurance plan to cover you and your family. ain't going to work, james. right? >> not going to work. it's going to work for somebody that happens to have a decent income. maybe they have a pension from the military or the government and social security to boot. >> right. i mean here is what gets me. i don't understand. i appreciate the call, james, very much. i don't understand. there are millions and millions of people, americans today. medicare is a damn good system. it's like about the best insurance you can get. millions of americans depend on it today. >> that's all they've got for health care. and those who don't, right, expect to have it energy 1 and also those who don't, they've got a mother who does, a father

who does. paul ryan's mother is on medicare. they've got brothers or sisters or aunts or uncles or whatever. where does romney and ryan think -- who do they think they are appealing to when they said we are going to end medicare as we know it today, take it away and instead, just give you a little, as james call it, a little coupon and you can go out in the marketplace and buy your own health insurance. it's not going to work. leave it alone. make it better. >> that's what president obama wants to do. but don't get rid of it, and don't get rid of social security and don't go ahead rid of medicaid. paul ryan and mitt romney would get rid of all three. >> that's their program. >> on your radio. on t.v. the bill press show. new on current tv. this corruption based on corruption based on corruption. >>that's an understatement, eliot. >>i jump out of my skin at people when i'm upset.

they're doing this this corruption based on corruption based on corruption. >>that's an understatement, eliot. back to school time means back to school germs. that's why lysol partners

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[ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> taking your e-mails on any topic at any time, this is "the bill press show," live on your radio, and current tv. >> okay. at the top of the next hour john nichols, washington correspondent for "the nation magazine magazine" and joined by laura bassett from huffington post on the romney-ryan pick, frank says, bill, when i saw romney and ryan yesterday, thigh first thoughts was, is thurston how will and eddie muenster. got to love the '60s sitcoms. >> congratulations to the addition of paul ryan's addition

to the tick. the orgasmic intensity as the next president of the united states. tom skoal wants to know: why not name the companies romney closed, though profitable. how many people lost their jobs? how many jobs were shipped overseas, et cetera and then ask: is this leadership? is this patriotism? is this presidential? actually, several of the obama campaign spots have asked that very question. bill faulk says, bill, i admire you even more now. anybody who has a cat and a d is a good and admirable person. well, bill, i don't have both now. but we have had both cats and dogs, and i love them both. so thank you. >> this is "the bill press show." sununu, you're wrong. mitt romney, you're wrong. we need more teachers, not fewer

teachers and more cops and more firefighters that support our

[ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> good morning, everybody. what do you say? happy monday august 13th. good to see you today. welcome to the "full-court press" here on current tv your new progressive morning show. good to have you with us because we have a lot to talk about. paul ryan. paul ryan. paul ryan. indeed, in 2008, john mccain destroyed his chances by picking sarah palin. in 2012, mitt romney just destroyed his chances by picking paul ryan. think about it. why would you pick as your running mate somebody who is out there in public with a budget

and wants to get rid of social securititiously medicare and medicaid. yeah. a great platform to run on. bring it on. we'll cover the ryan pick by -- from every angle that we can with good guests here this morning but first, let's take a little time out to get the latest. today's current news update from lisa ferguson out in los angeles. hi, lisa. good morning. >> hi, bill. good morning. good morning, everyone. weng expect a bit of a show doyne in iowa today where vp pick, paul ryan and the president will both be campaigning. president obama is kicking off a three-day tour of the state where we will likely see him highlight the fundamental differences between his vision for the country and that of the romney-ryan ticket. the president voiced a similar sentiment over the weekend. it was just slightly over shadowed by romney's big announcement. but the president did hold his first-ever fundraiser at his private home in chicago. 1,000 people attended the event which started young are voters.

tickets of tickets started at 51 but otherspaid. he is a decent man and an articulate spoektz person. the president disagrees with ryan's political ideals. the obama campaign is out with a website and a new video claiming ryan's budget proposal. >> it gives a $4.3 trillion tax cut to the wealthiest in this country. >> mitt romney became president of the united states, you are convinced he would follow through with reductions that you made? >> yes. >> romney is saying he would run the country on his own budget plan but he has supported ryan's in the past. the video also points out ryan's budget proposal would hurt seniors by turning medicare into a voucher system. it would cut pel grants for students by $170,000,000,000 and cut aid to immigrant children and the disabled. back with more bill and live in chat current.com/billpress.

>>it's the place where democracy is supposed to be the great equalizer, where your vote is worth just as much as donald trump's. we must save the country. it starts with you.

[ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> reason broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is "the bill press show". >> sarah palin will not be invited to speak to the republican national convention. well, at least the republicans did one thing smart over the weekend. hello, everybody. happy monday, monday august 13th. great to see you today. thank you for joining us as we rush to tackle the big stories of the day. there is really only one big story of the day. well two. very successful conclusion to the summer olympics and of course, the one that we are mostly occupied with

preoccupied with this morning, mitt romney's pick of paul ryan as his vice presidential running mate. how frustrating that he did that saturday morning and we had to wait until this morning. we had to wait 48 hours to talk about it. but here we are. we are lots of opportunities. so western carolina to the "full-court press." welcome to the paul ryan special edition of the "full-court press" here on this monday morning. you know, you are going to want to -- i know you are going to want to talk about this. we will take as many calls as we can at 866-55-press. it happened saturday morning. i was over at the beach out for a swim. came back from a swim and heard from my niece's husband that romney had made his pick. boy, was i surprised because i had suggested. i had begged mitt romney to do this on friday. i wasn't expecting him to take my advice so quickly. >> he did. the video of you begging is up at current.com/bill

presscurrent.com/billpress. it is. >> all right. >> it's a bag. >> mitt romney keeps taking my advice. you are sure to lose. dan henning in for peter ogburn one more day. peter will be back tomorrow. >> to co-captain or co-pilot or whatever. >> stevie lee webb this morning. nice to have you back. >> air host. >> that's it. >> that's what i am referred to now. >> thank you and congratulations on the great olympics. >> thank youly. >> you guys pulled it off. you did. >> absolutely. i can take my union jack on. >> not here, though. >> cyprian bowlding thank you cyprian for a good job. there was one little slip-up with mitt romney got carried away with enthusiasm introducing his running mate. >> join me in welcoming the next president of the united states, paul ryan. >> what?

what? next president of the united states well we can't make too much fun of romney doing that because back in springfield illinois, back in 2008, barack obama introducing his running mate: >> let me introduce to you the next president the next vice president of the united states of america, joe biden. >> so we are not sure what it is about the candidates getting it mixed up always. romney later came back onstage and corrected himself as well. this hour, john any more of nichols from the washington magazine, washington correspond en from the nation, good friend of the program, congressman chris value hollen the number 1 democrat knows that ryan bucket in and out. he will be along with us later and jamal simmons, democratic strategist here as a friend of bill to tell us what the ryan pick means for democrats running across the board in this 2012 election.

but first: >> this is the full court press. >> other headlines making news on this monday as much bragging as there was early on, the gold medal was not a lot for the team u.s.a. men's basketball team. quite the match-up against spain yesterday. lebron james and the gang only led by a point at the end of three jars. spain kept up through the final minutes. the u.s. did win the goad medal 107 to 100. the coach reiterated he is retiring as the u.s. coach after this gold. >> they had several close calls in this olympics. they finally, ended up with a big prize. >> the dream team, they are not. >> wasn't easy getting there. right. >> the state department is partnering with a rock band to help get electricity to people in the world who have no access to it. politico reports the band, a band from iraq? >> no. no. no. an american rock band. >> a rock band. >> a rock band lincoln park the band lincoln part met with the state department energy officials on friday.

they have long supported the u.s.'s sustainable initiative for all and now, the power the world inirtive at its conference today, 1.3 billion people in the world still have no access to electricity. >> would you. >> great new project. >> can you spare a dime? a rare dime auctioned off at the america neumanismatic convention over the weekend. >> i could have said that, too. the winning bid, $1.6 million. >> for a dime? >> for a dime, yeah. it was minted in carson city nevada. that minute closed 20 years after this coin was minted. >> all right. dan, some people just have too much money. anybody who would pay over a million dollars for a dime has too much money. yes, indeed he made it

official. paul ryan is mitt romney's running mate. it's an interesting choice because it excited both republicans and democrats. both are saying it is a great pick. he has already written on this point for "nation magazine." john nichols joining us from mad join son, wisconsin. how are you. >> great, bill. i have to tell you that now that i know that lincoln park, a band i have seen at manifest values -- >> yeah? >> is going to be playing for the u.s. government i am thinking that, you know frankly, paul ryan being the vice presidential candidate doesn't seem all that weird. >> here is mitt romney telling basically why he choice paul ryan, from saturday morning down in norfolk. >> paul ryan has become an intellectual leader of the republican party. he understands the fiscal

challenges facing america, our exploding deficits and crushing debt and the fiscal catastrophe that awaits us if we don't change course. >> john, if he is the intellectual leader is this the romney-ryan ticket or the ryan-romney ticket? >> we have to begin with saying in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. so to be the intellectual leader of the current republican party is perhaps not as big a deal as some folks might suggest. but yes. you are absolutely right. ryan has pretty much put his i am prepped on the republican party over the. this is a guy who two years ago could not get two dozen co sponsors for his budget bill. most republicans wouldn't touch

it because it was too crazy. >> yeah. >> john boehner wouldn't endorse it, no. >> it was overwhelmingly. anybody up for election didn't go near it. right? >> right. >> now, they have to run on it. and they have to run on it not because of what paul ryan did but because mitt romney determined after framering a horrible last couple of weeks where it was clear he was evening beginning to lose the base. people like ann coulter asking what's the point? some were furious at him for his transition team. he was at a point where he had to make a bold gesture not to win the presidency, but to unite his own base which you know full well, bill, doing that in august of an election year -- >> yeah. >> is not exactly a great moment for a campaign. >> when he says that he is a man of the ideas now i mean romney -- so the last 24 hours,

romney has said no. no. no. no. no. no. it will be my budget plan, not paul ryan's budget plan and i have embraced paul ryan but i haven't really embraced his plan. he can't have it both ways on that issue? can you? >> i think you are flat wrong, bill. i think we should add a fourth debate? right? we can have a do debate between obama and romney and vice presidential between ryan and joe biden and a debate between romney and ryan. >> all right. yeah. >> because the fact of the matter is, two things: number 1, ryan will win. no. 2, romney, you know, the fact of the matter is that romney chose ryan for some core reasons. he doesn't have coherent policies. he is running on, i am not barack obama. you mean romney does not have a co harped policy. >> yes. >> absolutely right. >> ryan has them. >> yes. >> the problem is, ryan's aren't

attractive. >> yes. right. yeah. but romney's now stuck with them. how how can the republican party den that their platform now is right? to end medicare as we know it, eliminate medicaid, give the wealthiest another tax break, raise the taxes on the middle class and do nothing about the deficit until 2040, 2045? >> yeah. really what we are talking about here is that mitt romney with his choice, it's interesting. he picked a very nice guy. paul ryan is a very nice guy with some very very bad ideas. and ryan's problem is that he pretends that the last 25 or 30 years didn't happen. in fact, pretty much that the 20th century didn't happen. so he believes in an economic vision that says, well, you know, we live on sort of an island so if we make our

wealthiest very, very wealthy, give them dramatic tax breaks, that's the core of the plan. it's dramatic tax breaks that they will reinvest on our little island and that everybody will rise with it. now, it is possible in 19th century england under william gladstone that that might have worked. but i have news for you. the world went global. if you give massive tax breaks to the already unbelievably rich and the multi-national courses as paul ryan suggests, you are going to make a handful of americans very wealthy but they won't create jobs in the u.s. they won't reinvest. we know that but ryan persists in the fantasy. this is a very dangerous -- i don't go for the hyperbole. this is a dangerous set of policies for the united states in the 21st century.

>> john initial oils is the washington correspondent for "the nation magazine." follow him on twitter at nicholsuprising. or follow him in the nation.com. now, john, some people are saying this is a smart move for romney for this reason that it locks in wisconsin. ryan will deliver wisconsin. you know wisconsin plugs better than anybody i know. is ryan that popular in his home state? >> he has not known in his home state. >> really? >> there is a poll, market university poll. one i don't like the results of. it's not some pure progressive poll or something like that. there was a marquette poll that showed more than 40% had no idea who the guy was. only 36%, only 36% liked him. he is a very likeable guy.

ryan existed in a strange district. happens to be my hometown where i grew up. no district, there is no television station located within the district. the daily newspapers are small city dales not big ones. so he has kind of flown under the radar for a long time in wisconsin yet he has lived and worked in washington since 1992. he is not, you know, he is very popular with the republican base, with deep conservatives but not overly well known in the state. the striking thing about it is when he did his homecoming event yesterday, he didn't do it in his hometown. his hometown is zanesville wisconsin, hard hit by the industrization that votes democratic. he didn't take romney there. he took romney to the most republican county in the state,

walk waukashaw county. paul ryan does not deliver wisconsin. it's going to be a fight. wisconsin is almost always a fight, but the fantasy paul ryan is going to shift huge portions of wisconsinites into mitt romney's column is unrealistic and, i think, emblem at ilk of the reality of this choice. this choice is not about shifting states. this was about exciting debate. this does do that. >> a minute left john. what do you think this does for democrats? democrats, whether they are running for house or senate or for president or vice president? >> the thing to watch for, bill is the first moment, the first day at which a republican u.s. senate or congressional candidate let's it be known that even though paul ryan is coming to their state, they won't be able to appear with him. >> that's what it does for democrats. it creates the possibility up

and down the ticket that we have an issue-driven vent. not about personalities but about real concerns with regard to the budget paul ryan would support. that gives democrats opportunities in con congressional and senate seats where they have until now been written off. it's a big deal. democratic strategists are very excited. i agree with you because every republican is going to have to run on the ryan budget or run from it and then democrats have that as an issue, too. john, i haven't talked to you in a while. it's great to have you back. i look forward to teeing you in the studio? >> i look forward to that. >> john nichols with the wantt nation the great magazine k "the nation." paul ryan, what it means for you. >> this is "the bill press show." [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] 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...

current tv, it's been all building up to this. >>bill shares his views, now it's your turn. >>i know you're going to want to weigh in on these issues. >>connect with "full court press with bill press" at facebook.com/billpressshow >>i believe people are hungry for it. [ ♪ theme music ♪ ]

>> heard around country and seen on current tv, this is "the bill press show". >> 26 minutes after the hour here it is, the full court press on this monday august 13th, talking about paul ryan mitt romney's pick, one little bit of -- one set of bad news about this pick is under wisconsin law, paul ryan is allowed to run for his house seat as well as run for vice president. so when he loses as vice president, he could still be in the house of representatives. >> that's too bad. some statement don't allow you to run for two offices at the same time. wisconsin does.

rose is calling from legonaire, indiana. what do you say? >> ryan is a catholic. >> yes. >> the catholic church nuns on the bus came out against his budget plan. >> that's what it was all about, the nuns on the bus. right? >> yeah. >> that's what brought them out. republicans are into these women's issues. well once the kid is born, it's like they are throwing them under the bus. >> literally. >> yeah, literally. >> even some catholic bishops have said it would help every program helping the poor and that's what the nuns were saying. >> yeah. it would devastate particularly in a bad economy, about him being the food stamp president. the reason more is because george push put the economy in the toit.

from port saint lucy in florida. what do you think? >> good morning to you. i am striking out this pick. i think it gives us a lot of fuel to the fire. i mean already in our paper down here in florida, they are talking about romney and now pushing his bucket off to the side. that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. he should be embracing it if i am mott mistaken. >> the fact is he did embrace it. now he realizes what a hot issue it is and what a maybe suicidal issue it is. so romney embraces ryan but tries to put some distance between himself and ryan's bucket. he cannot do that. cannot do it. you get ryan and the budget. you get rid of social security. >> this is "the bill press show."

>>oh really? >>tax cuts don't create jobs. the golden years as the conservatives call them, we had the highest tax rates, and the highest amount of growth, and the hight amount of jobs. those are facts. >>"if you ever raise taxes on the rich, you're going to destroy our economy." not true!

[ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> this is "the bill press show." >> i must admit when i begged mitt romney to pick paul ryan as his running mate i didn't expect him to take my advice. he did. august 13th. 33 minutes after the hour. we are brought to you today by the utility workers' union of america. the good men and women of the utility workers' union under president michael langford delivering a brighter future for all of us. yes was indeed. you can find out more about their good work by going to their website, uwua.net.

utility workers union of america. on paul ryan president obama took the high road yesterday and said his supporters some of the people there at his campaign event boo the when he first mentioned his name. the president said no. no. no. he is a good guy. he is just wrong about the issues. >> congressman ryan is a decent man. he is a family man. he is an articulate spokesman for governor romney's vision, but it's a vision i fundamentally disagree with. >> the president said we know what they would do and we tried it and it didn't work. >> congressman ryan and their allies in congress all believe that if we just get rid of more regulations on big corporations and we give more tax breaks to the wealthiest americans, it will lead to jobs and prosperity for everybody else.

>> we tried it. it didn't. it doesn't work. you know what's interesting to me is that remember dick cheney a couple of weeks ago in an interview with jonathan carl from abc news? he talked about sara palin and said he thought sarah palin's pick was a big by john mccain. why? not because she is not a likeable person. she is. not because she is not a good candidate. but because she didn't pass the first test, the first test is somebody who is ready, ready to take over at a moment's notice. i mean, can anybody seriously argue that paul ryan, who has no executive experience, very very limited, worked for his daddy for a year or so very limited private-sector experience and a dismal record in congress having only passed two bills in 13 years? can anybody really suggest that paul ryan is ready to be president of the united states? it doesn't -- it doesn't pass

the laugh test. here is christina calling from the state of missouri. hi, christina. >> hi. i agree with your last -- not your last caller. one of your last callers. >> uh-huh. >> i used to live right by janeville. in the first thing i saw when i -- thought when i heard about paul ryan's was -- >> a good reason? >> first, i thought of rocks ford and i used to live in that area and then i thought that rock 40 or madison would be much better. but i am an ex-tea partyer. reformed. i am a republican. i am kind of a republican turned democrat now. >> welcome. what drove you to abandoned the tea party? >> well, i have a neighbor -- i had a neighborhood tea party

group, but i accidentally got on a mailing list. i didn't want to get on anyone's mailing list or get involved too much. and i left the party eventually but i had a lot of robo calls from mike huckabee and mitt romney, probably 10 of them in the last week. they were trying to get me to give donations, and i said no. i didn't want to. and i didn't want them to call back. but then they sent me -- they said i could get a free please don't tread on me black banner. >> that's kind of why i left the group because i would fight with my republicans friends because i wanted to have my own ideas. they said, no. take these cue cards and talking points. >> well, christine a, i am glad that you saw the light an especially now that you you know what mitt romney and paul ryan want to do to this country. john is in franklin mass. good morning. >> good morning. >> i would like to talk about the ryan budget and these massive cuts to the va.

>> yeah. >> disabled veterans action i hear, on the voelker system, too, and they kicked them off of that because of doing away with affordable health care. they don't have any access toss to health care. they want somebody to fight for them. >> those cuts in the budget, the cuts to the va haven't been talked about nearly enough, john. i am glad you raised that point. again, that's part of the ryan budget, which is now the romney budget. right? >> his plan. >> that's what he is bringing to the american people. >> compensation four people go, they want to go into iran. right? they want to take care of these people if they get hurt. you are on your own. >> yeah. absolutely right. iraq and afghanistan are not enough. they want a third war in iran. and i think it's important that we not let romney get away with trying to con the american people into saying no. no. no. i love paul ryan. but i am not necessarily embracing his bucket. yes, you are. in fact, we can remind mitt romney who called the ryan budget "mavelous" his word which

tells me something else about mitt romney. he has embraced the budget. now he has embraced the man as well. this is the ryan-romney ticket. ryan is the one now who is leading the show and romney got to defend his budget and he can't. i love it. i think he can -- democrats, no matter what they are running for, the issue in every campaign, are you going to support the ryan budget or not? so the house members ought to run on that. senate members and president obama and vice president joe biden. here is our friend joey from chicago. what do you think, joey? >> hey, good morning, bill. let's get scientific about this. you don't poop where you eat. you don't spit in the wind and you don't buy a used car or vote for a man with two first names. what are you people crazy? pass that on bill. >> joey ought to have you do the bumper stickers. >> that's for sure. good. thanks to, joey. out in west seattle washington

bouncing around the country this morning, stewart, you are up. what so youdo you say. >> i believe paul was put in by the wall street bankers that used their money to choose the republican and democratic candidates to scare progressive america into rallying around their bush in sheep's clothing good cop president obama. >> i think you are right. who is behind it are the same people behind mitt romney. i don't know what to think. i don't know why they think this is a program that's going to sell or appeal to middle america. look. romney has the base. there is no doubt. no doubt that paul ryan excited the republican basement i mean "the wall street journal" editors, you know, had an orgy over this. right? so did bill crystal over at the weekly standard. so did the editors of the national review. so do all of the tea party people. i am heursure the koch brothers are dancing in their under a shorts last night or saturday morning,

friday night, whenever they learned it. what about the rest of the country? i mean do you really want somebody as extreme as paul ryan? usually, candidates go extreme in the primary and go back to the middle to win an election. romney's decided he is going to win by going as far right as he can. it's not going to work. we will be back with laura bassett. laura bassett from the huffington post. >> this is "the bill press show." [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >>i jump out of my skin at people when i'm upset. they're doing this this corruption based on corruption based on corruption. >>that's an understatement, eliot.

hershey's chocolate syrup. stir up a smile. 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 >>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... [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] floourp >> on your radio and on current tv, this is "the bill press show" sixteen minutes before the top of the hour here on the "full-court press" this monday

morning, august 13th. first chance we had to talk about the paul ryan pick by mitt romney, and we have been talking a lot about this morning focusing mainly on his budget proposal which would certainly impact medicare-medicaid and if he had his way, social security. we haven't had a chance to talk about paul ryan's position on some of the social issues. to do that, welcome back into the studio a good friend of the program for huffington post political reporter laura bassett. good to see you. >> good to be here. >> so on the social issues, paul ryan's been out there. no doubt about where he stands. what's it mean for women? >> paul ryan is far out of the mainstream on women's issues, particularly women's health issues. he sponsored a fetal personhood bill which would give full legal rights to a fertilized egg. it was rejected by voters in mississippi, the most socially conservative state. >> the impact which would be not only to make abortion illegal

but many forms of contraception? >> contraception, in vitro fitterlization. it's got legal complications beyond what we could imagine right now. >> he sponsored that in congress? >> sponsored it. yes. was the primary sponsor. furthermore, he supported a bill that would allow hospitals to refuse to give abortion care to a woman who is -- who would die without it. so emergency, life-saving abortion care, there would be there for hospitals. the list goes on of the kinds of bills he supported. defunding planned parenthood not only planned parenthood but title 10, the national family planning program, he is opposed to it. there is that. of course, his bucket dismantles social security, medicare, medicaid, which, if you think about who is in nursing homes? women. who is employed by nursing homes? women. these disproportionately employ

and aid women. paul ryan is not going to be the favorite of women, needless to say. >> it's interesting to me that president obama was in colorado thursday and friday. he did not know mitt romney was going to pick paul ryan. the president was focusing on women's issues incomed in fact sandra fluke introduced him at one event. it was almost as if the president thought i am going to get out ahead of romney on these issues? >> that's what's been going on for the past couple of months. both have been going for the women's votes. he employed sandra fluke and talks about what he has done with the affordable care act providing birth control room coverage to most people as long as you don't work for a church or religious organization. and, you know, of course other well-woman visits, upped the

affordable care act, says insurance companies can'ts charge men more. romney says i know women and what women care about is the economy. and i am going to fix the economy. >> that's what's going to help you. he has kind of been discounting of social issues like birth control and health care and abortion, which i don't think that they should necessarily be discounted. i think people care about those things. >> i guess the question is: can he continue to -- you are right about the way romney was conducting campaign. he said i want to talk about the economy and jobs. i am a businessman this is what i focus on now. he wasn't very specific about his plans there either. but he never got into these other issues. right? the kind of issues that your social conservatives like paul ryan, fiscally conservative as well but social conservatives focus on. with paul ryan, they are going to have to talk about that. right? >> that's right. >> democrats are going to make them talk about it. >> that's true. he chose someone to the right of

him on those issues. he has avoided talking about birth control. he -- most social issues that come up, he says i think that the states should be able to handle those issues. >> that's usually his kind of throwing it under the rug. let the states handle t paul ryan does not feel that way. he has gotten in there. i mean he has 100% anti-abortion voting record, support of the blunt amendment type legislation which would let employers den i'm coverage for birth control for any reason. robert pair in "the new york times" talks about an interview ryan gave to "the weekly standard." it's a as conservative a magazine as you can find where they discuss the possibility of a truce on social issues, which for some republicans say, let's just agree we are where we are. you are for it. you are for it. you are against it.

we are not going to continue this abortion debate. ryan's response to that possibility was: i am as pro-life as a person gets. you are not going to have a truce. judges are going to come up. issues are going to come up. they are unavoidable. i am not never going to bend on this issue. so i mean he is out there. just as strong as anybody is. >> right. that couldn't be more different from mitt romney who was pro-choice a decade ago. >> yeah. >> and funding planned parenthood fundraisers. >> how important is the women vote in this election? women vote more than men? >> women vote more than men and make up more of the population than men and, you know, women basically gave obama the election in 2008. it was the gender gap that propelled him to victory. i think they are going to be the deciders this year as well. if you look at the polls, it's in the states where obama's barely ahead of romney, it's

because of the massive gender gap that he is. in states in colorado where he is about 5% behind romney is because the women aren't showing up for him in colorado. so i think he is really going to make a push for women in the next couple of months. >> ryan would say that i am where i am on these issues social conservative issues con contraception because i am a catholic and i will loyal to my catholic faith. some people say ryan will deliver the catholic vote for mitt romney. necessarily so? >> no. certainly not. i think catholics have been drawn into this race as if they are a sort of monolithic volting block. >> that's not the case. i am catholic. there are tons of catholics in this country. you know most of them use birth control. 98% of them. in fact, i have a percentage of that use birth control and didn't appreciate the catholic church coming out so hard

against, you know, the insurance coverage of birth control. i think it's going to be, you know i don't think people are going to vote based upon their religious unless they are evangelical or hard-core something or other. >> as proof of that, i think you are right, by the way, the nuns on the bus tour, the whole thrust of the tour was the ryan budget. they were out there campaigning against the ryan budget because of its impact on programs of helping the poor and there were several catholic bishops that actually joined the funds on the bus againstnuns on the bus against criticizing the budget and the kalthoff cath /* the catholic group opposed the ryan budget. >> the republicans got cozz with regard to social securititiously medicare, medicaid the bishops

and nuns don't want to see that gone. >> that's a vast majority of the social programs they do as catholics. >> for the women's vote, i hate to leave you go but we are running out of time. family planning, title 10, abortion, contraception, paul ryan is on the wrong side of those issues. health care. >> i need to make a big correction. he wasn't the primary response of fetal personhood. he was a co-sponsor. >> a co-sponsor. it isn't as if he just voted. he believed this stuff. >> yes. >> absolutely. on that issue, it's going to make it more difficult for, i would think, for mitt romney to get the -- at least the intend women's vote. >> right.

>> laura bassett, good to see you today. thank you for coming in. good. great work as always. appreciate it? >> thank you. >> i will tell you what the president is up to today.

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than this. >>occupy! >>the award winning series "vanguard" only on current tv. [ ♪ theme ♪ ] [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> this is "the bill press show." >> democratic strategist jamal simons, a friend of bill for the next hour. we will be joined by congressman chris van hollen the ranking democrat on the house budget committee under chairman paul ryan. can't wasn't to get his take on the ryan budget.

overnight in chicago, president obama is having a fundraiser. he takes off for omaha, nebraska, stopping so he can go across the border into iowa where he will be on a bus tour through the state of iowa just like in the primary days for the next three days. in council bluffs iowa time. this afternoon after, i am sure, a lunch stop somewhere. he will be speaking atacam pain event in boone, iowa and heading on to des moines and spending the night in des moines iowa. jay carney will gaggle with reporters on air force one so no white house briefing today. the paul ryan pick good for democrats. we will discuss it with jamal simons coming up next. >> this is "the bill press show." i was afraid you'd have some cut-rate policy. [ kyle ] nope, i've got... [ voice of dennis ] ...the allstate value plan. it's their most affordable car insurance --

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[ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> hey, what do you say, everybody? hello. hello. hello. happy monday and welcome to the "full-court press" on this monday, august 13th. great to see you today. thank you for being part of the program here where we tackle the issues of the day here in our nations's capitol, around the country, and around the globe, and give you at that chance to weigh in at 866-55-press. of course, one big story dominating today, and that is yeah, well, friday i bellgged mitt romney to pick paul ryan as his running mate. i never thought he would be dumb enough to take my advice. but he did. so now it's official.

mitt romney and his running mate, paul ryan their platform eliminate social security. he lim nature medicare. he lim nature medicaid. do they think they can win with thattibility? we will discuss that with jamal simmons and chris van hollen and you but first we take time out to get the latest to the's current news update from aour friend, lisa ferguson. >> good morning, everyone. both campaigns are working quickly to define new vice presidential pick, paul ryan. president obama's team is attacking the candidate as a threat to the economy and the social safetinet. of course, paul ryan's budget plan includes tax brakes, federal spending caps and a new medicare voucher system. he has proposed privatizing social security. democrats say these measures would largely hurt senior citizens and much of the middle class but the romney camp is jumping on the defensive. ryan says his mom is a 7 in florida and that his medicare plan would not affect people

currently on the program just future generations. according to the congressional budget office, there are some big problems with that plan. namely, the fact that the voucheraments do not increase with rising medical costs. that means that starting in 2022, seniors would have to pay more than $12,000 each out of pocket. the budget proposal is good news for romney, though, who would pay just .82% in taxes under ryan's plan. as for ryan's taxes we can expect him to release just two years, but he supposedly released quote several to romney's campaign. in an interesting note on chris christie who was reportedly at the top of romney's vp list, a romney insider is telling the new york post they could not pick christie because he refused to step down as governor in order to run. christie does not seem too upset and he could be announced as the rnc's keynote speaker as early as tomorrow. more bill press coming up and we are live in chat.

see you there. 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. if al gore's watching today... there she is ! hey, i got a leak ! yoo hoo ! wait a minute, come back ! um, miss ? up here! right. like 85% of us you have hard water stains and that cleaner's not gonna cut it.ccm01222

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>> the parting shot with bill press, this is "the bill press show." >> on this monday august 13th, my parting shot for today, well on friday, you may remember i begged mitt romney to choose paul ryan as his running mate but i never thought romney would be dumb enough to take my advice. i am so glad he did. barack obama, himself, could not have picked a better veep candidate. can anybody seriously contend ryan with zero executive or foreign policy experiences -- experience passes what dick cheney says is the ultimate test for a vice presidential candidate? ready to take over at a moment's notice? really? second, did anybody look at

ryan's record in congress before they picked him? in 13 years, he passed a total of two pieces of legislation, one of which was nailming a post office. third, does mitt romney realize that the entire focus of the campaign has changed with ryan's appointment? the central issue now is no longer jobs. it is the ryan budget. we have been talking about it this morning, which ends medicare as we know it. it eliminates medicaid gives a big tax break, an additional tax break to the wealthiest of americans. this is the budget mitt romney called marvelous. no doubt about it. john mccain destroyed his chances in 2008 with sarah palin. mitt romney destroyed his chances with paul ryan. think about that. come back with me and judd legham tomorrow. see you right here. >> this is "the bill press show."