[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: hey, hey, hello everybody. >> bill: hey, good morning everybody! it is tuesday, september 18. great to see you today. thank you so much for joining us here on the "full court press" on current tv. good to be back with you today as we tackle all of the big stories of the day and boy oh, boy, president obama and mitt romney now in a big argument over policy toward china with one big difference between them. mitt romney, as president of bain capital was exporting jobs

to china. now, president obama is fighting to bring back jobs from china. you know which one is better for the american people. we'll get into that plus a whole new video that's got mitt romney in trouble. lots to talk about here. we'll take your calls too, on the "full court press." first, today's current news update. it is lisa ferguson standing by in los angeles. hey, lisa, good morning. >> hey bill, good morning everyone. no doubt mitt romney will face another round of criticism this morning after calling nearly half of all voters dependent and entitled in a video leaked to mother jones. here's a look. >> 47% of the people who will vote for the president are what? supportive of tom and have been supportive of tom but obviously i would have loved to have seen a different result. >> the president won wisconsin

he goes on to say there is no use in him catering to those voters and that he, instead needs to focus on the independents in the middle who are actually thoughtful and that there is about 10% of voters like that. romney made those remarks at a private fund-raiser in may to a group of wealthy donors. he's, of course taking a lot of heat for that. the obama campaign is saying in a statement it is shocking romney would say these things behind closed doors and it is hard to serve as president when you've distinctly written off about half of the population. here is romney's response in a press conference late last night. >> of course individuals are going to take responsibility for their life and my campaign is about helping people take more responsibility in becoming employed again. >> overall romney did stand by those original claims he made at the fund-raiser in may and he said that while they were not eloquently stated, they do reflect his views that the president appeals to people who do not pay taxes.

more bill press is coming up after the break. we're live in chat. current.com/billpress. 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... so, you guys grew up together. yes, since third grade... what are you lookin' at? not looking at i anything... we're not good enough for you. must be supermodels? what do you model gloves? brad, eat a snickers. why? 'cause you get a little angry when you're hungry. better? [ male announcer ] you're not you when you're hungry™. better. [ male announcer ] snickers satisfies.

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: broadcasting >> announcer: broad broadcasting across the nation, on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: mitt romney says if you're not for him you're a freakin' no good freeloader. that's all you are. this election may be over before it starts, folks. hey, good morning everybody. great to see you today. it is tuesday. tuesday, september 18, 2012. it is the "full court press" coming to you live on your local

progressive talk radio station on sirius x.m., this one hour only. shame on them. and all three hours on current tv. so great to see you today. thank you so much for joining us. wherever you happen to be and whether you're listening or watching, it is good to have you with us because we've got lots to talk about today. you're going to love hearing about this latest mitt romney video here on the "full court press." has he stepped in it big time this time? and it is good to be back with you and get the whole team back together again. we'll tell you what's going on here in washington, d.c. congress in session for this one last week before they break to go out and campaign for 2012. we'll tell you what's going on here, around the country and around the globe. we'll give you a chance to talk about it. that's what it's all about. 1-866-55-press. our toll free number and the team back together again for the first in three or four days, peter ogborn, dan henning.

cyprian bowlding still here as always our videographer. and i'm back from a fast trip up to buffalo and a day yesterday down in miami. so here we are gathered back together again. >> here we are. >> bill: good times. crowd great. crowd up in buffalo, thank you all for coming out up in western new york. >> yep. >> bill: sold out of books at the talking leaves bookstore. everybody -- it was a lot of fun. we had a real good big town meeting there friday night in the elmwood village area it is called of buffalo. very nice residential area. with lots of good, little restaurants and one great bookstore, talking leaves bookstore. yesterday down in miami with the labors international union terry sullivan, our good friend, lieuna. we'll have a picture up here of my addressing the big crowd down there. you know what? terry o'sullivan, he was on fire yesterday in front of his --

this was the leadership conference of liuna huge crowd at the diplomat hotel in california. they were ready to rumble, man. they were ready to roll out of there. and really, really really, you know what they say fired up, ready to go? >> sure. >> bill: they were fired up! and ready to go. so everything good? >> yeah. good good. sounds like you had a good time. >> bill: i did. excellent. we had a book signing down there. sold out of books again yesterday. we're talking of course about "the obama hate machine." >> oh, that book! >> bill: if you don't already have it, get one at billpressshow.com. and i want to particularly thank john fuglesang, the soon to be newest star in the current tv line-up. for coming in and filling in yesterday here for one day. it is good to have him on board and from everything i've heard did a good job.

he always does a good job. >> we're always happy to have him in. >> not always. [ laughter ] >> don't want you taking too much time off. >> bill: how were the nats? >> they lost three straight to the braves in the n.l. east which is not the greatest thing to happen. >> bill: at this time of the season no, it's not. bring back strasburg. >> we're forging ahead hoping for the best. >> bill: are we going to be in the playoffs? >> we'll be in the playoffs. i don't think we're going to jinx anything by saying we'll be in the playoffs but if this is how we play in the playoffs then we've got major problems. >> bill: yeah. my solution is i'm going to contribute to this effort by keeping carol away. because every time she goes to a game, they lose. >> is that right? >> bill: she wasn't there at the three games this weekend. >> don't go to any playoff games, at least she can't go. >> maybe you're the bad luck charm.

>> bill: i was there with her. >> it was one of you. it could have been you. >> bill: bob woodward, his latest book, all of washington reads it, the price of politics. bob woodward will be joining us today. it is tuesday. tuesdays with judd here on the "full court press." judd legum from think progress. and we'll be talking to our good friends from politico and "buzzfeed" getting their take on the latest on the campaign and on mitt romney and politics in general. wait until we tell you about the mitt romney video. but first... >> this is the "full court press." >> on this tuesday, other headlines you absolutely need to know, we'll find out today if more of the nude kate middleton vacation photos will be published. a court in france will decide whether to block the tabloid from putting out anymore topless pictures of the duchess of cambridge which were shot by an intrusive photographer. 14 images were put out last

week. kate and prince william's attorney is in court there today seeking money for damages and to prevent those from being put out. >> bill: i think it is disgusting they took these photos but i don't know how they can stop them. >> yeah. >> i'm not sure. >> bill: i mean, you know, she was bathing -- in france. bfb. almost every woman on the beach has their top off. she was sunbathing in the nude. they got pictures of it. >> stephen colbert is getting a turn in morning television away from his late night comedy show on comedy central. he has been tapped as a fill-in for robin roberts on abc's "good morning america" while she's on medical leave. he'll sit along george stephanopoulos as well as regular abc news personalities including diane sawyer, katie couric and barbara walters. >> bill: i gotta tell you you

put stephen colbert alongside of george stephanopoulos and i think colbert steals the show. >> ya think? >> yeah. >> basketball at the white house today. president obama welcoming the minnesota lynx to 1600 pennsylvania avenue in recognition of their 2011 wnba championship win where they beat the atlanta dream after setting a franchise record last season with 27 regular season wins and they're already doing just as well this season. they have a league best 26-5 record. >> bill: whoa. okay. president obama. he loves inviting the sports teams to the white house indeed. so, you know, here's the latest on the romney campaign. maybe you've heard about it. maybe you haven't had a chance to see or hear the video yet. video is up all over youtube. you can link to it from politicoor any of the other "huffington post" or liberal web sites or mother jones. go to mother jones because that's who released this video our good friend dade corn at --

david corn at mother jones. we've been talking about the fact that romney seems out of touch. with average americans right? that he really does seem this very wealthy elitist whose father was very well off. he grew up in the life of luxury going to all of the best boarding schools, private schools and never had to work really, work hard in his life. when he did go to work, all et was put other people out of a job. at any rate, the image of romney and the obama campaign has done a good job of making sure people understand this. romney, a guy who is elitist out of touch part of the very, very very, very wealthy who only knows their lifestyle. and doesn't really care about anybody else. and we've seen little flashes of that from romney himself like when he talked about some of his best friends have owneds in nascar teams. that's how he identifies with nascar fans. some of his best friends own the

teams. he said the same thing about some of his best friends on the of in teams. that's how he identifies the people who follow nfl and football. we know how many -- the vacation homes he has and the big boat he's got. we know about the car elevator he's putting in his house in la jolla california. and of course, we know about ann romney's dressage horses. it is not just rafalca. it is two or three dressage horses. so there was this image, right, you get this picture of romney as a guy who can't identify with, doesn't even understand what average americans are going through. particularly in this economy. well, now we've got proof of that and it's proof in mitt romney's own words. so this video allegedly taken by a grandson of jimmy carter who somehow gets into a romney

fund-raiser. this happened in may. may 15 down in boca raton florida. romney is caught telling these viewers what he thinks about half of america. listen very closely. >> 47% of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. there are 47% who are with him. we believe that they're victims who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe they're entitled to healthcare, to housing you name it. it is an entitlement. the government should give it to them. they'll vote for this president no matter what. the president starts out with 28, 29 48, these are people who only -- 47% of americans paid no income tax. our message of low taxes doesn't connect. you'll be out there talking about tax cuts for the rich.

so my job is not to worry about those -- take personal responsibility. 5 to 10% that are independent. that are voting one way or the other. in some cases emotion. whether they like the guy or not. >> bill: so there it is. in romney's own words speaking very candidly to a group of very wealthy supporters down in boca raton, florida. if you think mitt romney gives a flying rat's ass about you you just learned he does not. this video just think of what he said. it is dripping with disdain. it is dripping with -- full of ignorance about who the american people are. he's saying that half of americans, 47%, half of americans just don't work, no good freeloaders who are totally feel that they're entitled to everything from the

government. aren't putting in a day ofwork. depending on government help. depending on government support. pay no taxes. consider themselves victims. and the government owes them everything. that's what mitt romney thinks about one half of americans. he is so dead wrong! on everything. these people, some of these people may not be paying income taxes. guess what? because they don't make enough money to pay income taxes. that doesn't mean they're not paying taxes. what about the payroll tax? what about the sales tax these people are paying? these are working families who are lucky you know. some of them struggling to make $40,000, $50,000 a year and mitt romney is looking down his nose on them and saying they're just no good for nothing bums. that's what he thinks. about half of america. that's his perch. those are the goggles if you will, or the prescription, the glasses through which mitt

romney views america. so last night this video carter kid got it to mother jones. mother jones released it over the weekend. mitt romney's campaigning out in costa mesa, california, yesterday. suddenly, he calls an emergency news conference. just said reporters have to come over here. he has to answer this. he tries to explain what he was trying to say. so first of all he says i must admit, i didn't put it maybe as well as i could have. >> it is not elegantly stated. i'm speaking off the cuff in response to a question and i'm sure i could state more clearly in a more effective way. >> bill: yeah, so here's what he says he really, really meant. >> i believe the point i made is the president starts out with a large number of voters, 47% 48%, 49%. these are people who are in his camp. >> bill: yeah, in other words he starts out -- anybody -- what

he's really saying is anybody who is for obama is a freeloader on welfare. that's the only reason they're for president obama. right? that's what he thinks about half of americans. and anybody who really cares about this country who is working hard, then is a potential, at least a supporter of his. it is so insulting. it is so demeaning to me. and i think this is really going to hurt mitt romney. again, he's wrong across the board. he's wrong because this half of america, the half that he can't identify with, right and actually it is more if you take his definition of the middle class. are the people who are hurting today and the very people that he wants to hurt even more by raising taxes on them in order to pay for a tax cut for the wealthiest of americans by taking away programs that do help them like pell grants, like

college education grants, like medicare like medicaid, like social security. providing any help that they can. like job opportunities or job training. opposing every jobs bill the president put down. so he's wrong about who these people are. he's also -- i think totally wrong. about americans in general. let me put it this way. i would love your take on this. 1-866-55-press. look, i pay a lot of taxes okay? i make a lot of money. i pay a lot of taxes. i'm not on welfare. i'm not a no good bum and i'm not going to vote for mitt romney because his policies are wrong for america. whether i pay taxes or not his policies are wrong for america. i don't want to get rid of the e.p.a. i don't want to get rid of college loans or college grants. i don't want to get rid of medicare or medicaid or social security.

i think that's bad for america. i think it's bad for america to give the wealthiest of americans another tax break while you're sticking it to and raising taxes on the middle class. i think mitt romney's policies are wrong for america. doesn't make any difference whether i pay taxes or not. but to lump together half of americans and say they're nothing but freeloaders i think tells you all you need to know about mitt romney. he doesn't care about you. he doesn't know who you are. and he will do anything he can to make things even worse for you. disdain, mitt romney. 1-866-55-press. hope you're as pissed off as you should be about this. >> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." (vo) always outspoken, now unleashed, joy behar. >> on my next show i talk politics and culture with two of todd akin's worst nightmares: susan sarandon and cyndi lauper.

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you'll know you're a part of something bigger. for healthy tips and more, visit lysol.com/missionforhealth. now to my point. (vo) jennifer granholm ... >>for every discouraged voter, there are ten angry ones taking action. trickle down does not work. in romney's world, cars get the elevator and the workers get the shaft. that is a whole bunch of bunk. the powerful may steal an election, but they can't steal democracy.

>> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 27 minutes after the hour. yep, mitt romney says if you're a sor supporter of president obama, you're a freeloader and you expect the government to do everything for you and hand you everything and you don't have to do nothing. how do you like that, working class americans probably working two jobs to take care of the needs of you and your family. mitt romney doesn't care much about you. t. is calling from chicago. what do you say? >> caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. >> bill: sure. >> caller: i'm an obama supporter. and to be honest with you, i could qualify to have the

government take care of me because of an illness. i suffer from kidney failure. as a matter of fact, i'm up at this god awful hour because i'm on my way to dialysis right now. >> bill: whoa. >> caller: i go to dialysis at 5:30 a.m., i go there i work full time then i leave work at 7:00 and go to school full time. i'm a married father of two. so i'm a husband and a father and i've confirmed it. i could easily be at home on social security income making probably 80% of what i make at my job but i go to work every day. i've already paid $3500 in payroll taxes every year and i'll probably end the year at about $5,000 in taxes let alone everything else i'm paying. >> bill: i'm sorry we just ran out of time there. you're doing your share and your bit. there are millions of people like you too who despite the hardships are working hard for themselves and their families. mitt romney just doesn't get it. in his mind, but you're nothing but a no good bum.

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." way, no how. i think you can compare them to the dixie-crats but i think tea party is what describes them. 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: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 33 minutes after the hour now what do you say? the "full court press" on a great big tuesday. september 18. good to see you the day. so mitt romney -- it was bad enough back in february when he was on cnn with soledad o'brien and said i'm not concerned about the very poor because government will take care of them. so i'm not concerned about the very poor.

yeah. well now it turns out he's not concerned about the middle class either. mitt romney revealing to some donors behind closed doors there was somebody there however, taking the video what he think about at least half of americans that they are freeloaders. not paying any taxes. depending on government entirely for everything and think they're entitled to it. they consider themselves victims and those are all of the obama supporters. ya know, so condescending, mitt romney he is struggling to explain, explain explain but i think this undermines his entire days for people who once supported barack obama and to vote for him. why should they? if mitt romney is calling them, you know, good for nothings? here's -- your take on this very

important, 1-866-55-press. paul calling from seattle. hey, paul, what do you say? good morning. >> caller: good morning, you there? >> bill: i'm here. >> caller: mitt romney, this try is truly a despicable snob. the first thing i thought when he talks -- who is he to talk about freeloaders who don't pay federal income taxes. he doesn't pay any! >> bill: he doesn't pay his fair share for sure. >> caller: at least that he's not willing to show us. 13% for a lot of hard working men and women isn't even a decent tip so thank you very much mitt. he talks about -- >> bill: good point. >> caller: he talks about things that -- thinks we should be entitled to like food. and healthcare. yeah you should be entitled to something. >> caller: food and something to eat and see a doctor. you think you're really entitled. this guy is too much bill. >> bill: i just came from this

labor's union. they're lucky if they're making a living wage and they're working their asses off to support their families and give their kids a good education. they don't have any money left over. they're making $50,000 $60,000 a year, they're having a good year. mitt romney sees them as total bums. >> it almost sounds like he's making a sour grapes excuse nor why he's going to lose if 47% to 49% -- it almost sounds like a sour grapes excuse already. >> bill: good to hear from you early in the morning paul on the west coast. rachel is in nashville tennessee. are you one of the freeloaders mitt romney is talking about? >> caller: well hell, no, bill. you know better than that. i am from the south but i'm not country. this reminds me so much of the video that bill maher had on from nancy pelosi's daughter where she went down to mississippi. >> bill: i'm not -- go ahead

tell me about it. >> caller: she went down to mississippi and interviewed all of these people that were going to vote republican which is, of course against their own interests. they were poor. they were unfortunately -- somewhat uneducated. and they were on subsidies, they were on food stamps and she asked them what are you doing? why are you voting against your own interests? of course they said maybe some day i won't need it. but they were going to vote for romney anyway. and this whole thing where he stands up and says it outright the 47% it is everything that we have known bill, you know this i know this. we've known this. but thank the good lord we now have it on tape and he is not denying it. >> bill: no, he can't deny it. it is his voice and his -- he's

sitting there talking to these donors. i think it really -- it is the perfect glimpse into who mitt romney really is. and again the disdain and disgust that he feels for half of americans express that way. rachel, good to hear from you. and anybody by the way, who's in that 47% who then would really consider voting for mitt romney, ought to have their head examined. karl from st. michael's maryland over on the eastern shore. what do you say? good morning. >> good morning, bill. good to talk to you. >> bill: and to you. this is right out of "saturday night live" because romney's got number wrong. this is from the tax policy institute and fox news picked it up wrong. 47% of single household taxpayers didn't pay taxes but 86% of all americans do pay taxes. for some reason, the press hasn't glommed on to this but it is easy to google. you can check it out.

>> bill: you're right. you're absolutely right. i'm glad you made that point. that number has been floating around. the other thing that's wrong about it karl, is even if it is 46% that don't pay income taxes some of them are seniors right. who don't make that much money anymore. some of them are families using the child care tax credit which republicans all supported. even if they're not paying income taxes because they're not paying enough money they're paying sales taxes state taxes social security tax. >> that's true. but the tax policy institute notes this was only in 2011 and the numbers are inflated because of the depression. the bush-caused depression. this is a phony number to begin with and mitt romney's quoting a phony number. >> bill: it is. but it really is a window into his soul, if you will, right karl, and a window into what he thinks about anybody who's not a person of privilege. like he is. he just -- he simply cannot

identify with them and doesn't care about them. he's made that -- there have been glimpses of that, glimpses of that romney in the past. now there's no doubt. there's no doubt about who he is. man, i can't wait. we had the editorial cartoonist in. political cartoonist in on friday. tom toles and tom ole fant and tom tomorrow, another great cartoonist do with this one. arnold is lexington kentucky, today. what's going on in the real world? >> caller: good luck charm. buffalo bills this weekend! >> bill: i am. >> caller: mitt romney got it all wrong man. he got it all wrong. he played that stunt with the black people at the national

convention. [ indiscernible ] >> bill: arnold, we love hearing from you man but wherever you are today your cell phone is not making it, man. lexington, kentucky, is cutting out. if you get to a better spot, give us a call back later. let's jump out to freeport, illinois. hey, marty. >> caller: hey what's up? >> bill: are you one of the freeloaders? >> caller: i guess so because i'm trying to figure out when does $250,000 become middle class. but you know, the lady from the south took my point already but i want to -- >> bill: can't say it often enough. >> caller: that silly ass rush limbaugh was saying it is unequivocal now that obama hates america. well now he gets to say today it is unequivocal it is unequivocal that mitt romney hates america. he hates working class american

people. so now he can toot that horn today. >> bill: yeah. don't hold your breath, marty. [ laughter ] good to hear from you. it is going to be interesting to see. pardon me. how the romney campaign tries to -- tries to recover from this. i gotta tell you, they've had a bad run. even before -- i think the bad run that goes back before the republican convention. i think the bad run started with putting paul ryan on the ticket because why does he put paul ryan on the ticket. then suddenly they're not talking jobs or economy anymore. they're talking medicare. and then they're talking contraception because of todd akin's remarks and paul ryan identifying with todd akin. then they go to this convention which was a real bust. and paul ryan doing nothing but telling lies and clint eastwood

talking to the empty chair. and now they come out of it and they've got this, mitt romney video. man! i gotta tell you republicans are panicked! check out my column. latest column, billpressshow.com. we'll be right back. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." building up to this. >>bill shares his views, now it's your turn. >>i know you're going to want to weigh in on these issues. >>connect with "full court press with bill press" at facebook.com/billpressshow and on twitter at bpshow. >>i believe people are hungry for it.

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(vo) cenk uygur is many things. >>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 highest amount of jobs. those are facts. >>"if you ever raise taxes on the rich, you're going to destroy our economy." not true! >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 14 minutes before the top of the hour. bob woodward, legendary bob

woodward of watergate fame of course. his new book "the price of politics" he will be here at the top of the next hour to talk about it. i memessed my latest column, republicans having a bad case of buyer's remorse. check it out at billpressshow.com. we've been talking about the latest impact event i guess to impact the romney campaign which is a release of this video by mother jones where mitt romney is saying that about half of americans are free loading, no taxpaying good for nothing bums. it sounds like. i'm putting it into my own words. what's it do to the campaign which is already reeling with internal dissent according to our good friends at politico. we asked ginger gibson. report politico reporter for politico joining us on our news line. hi ginger, how are you? >> good morning. thanks for having me. >> bill: before we get to the

latest this video politico reporting over the weekend that there's some rumbling inside of the romney campaign that maybe they need a little shake-up because they're not doing so well. what's going on? >> unhappiness in the romney campaign became evident last week. more into this week. people who were looking at the poll numbers watching romney slip behind obama in key swing states still upset about the convention speech, unhappy about advertising, started pointing fingers and of course, the minute we saw fingers reporters jumped on it. we're hearing that there are people unhappy with the way the campaign is being managed. they're putting the blame internally on stuart stevens one of the senior advisers. >> bill: is he -- what is his exact title? he wears several hats, i guess. is he like the number one guy?

the campaign manager? >> he's not the campaign manager. matt rhodes is the campaign manager. stuart stevens has that all encompassing senior strategist adviser title but he does like you said, lots of jobs. he is running their advertising shop which is being done in-house. he's acting as key speechwriter. he's acting as chief strategist making decisions about where to campaign, what message to go after, sort of the logistics of running the campaign strategywise. >> bill: any sign that there will be a shake-up? i know they brought ed gillespie in to try to help them out. i remember ronald reagan reading about ronald reagan fired his entire team or put in a new campaign manager at one time. sometimes candidates feel they have to do this. >> i would not expect any changes out of boston. >> bill: would not? >> would not. mitt romney values loyalty. that's one thing you can see in

his operation is he's the kind of guy that values the company man, the person who stuck around. people that have been with him since '08 since the beginning of the primary. a lot of these people who are really close to him in boston are those company men. those guys who have been with him. don't expect to see any changes coming out of boston between now and november in terms of personnel. >> bill: ginger gibson from politico. politico.com. now this story was written by mike alan for politico before the video was released. over the weekend. this video comes as -- would come, as i would imagine as another body blow to the romney campaign ginger. >> yesterday was not a good day for the romney campaign. in the morning they were answering concerns that there is fighting within their campaign. late last night governor romney called a last-minute press conference from a fund-raiser in california to answer questions

about this video. didn't back down from it. said that it might not have been elegantly stated but stuck with it. for those who are unfamiliar, it is a videotaped sayre tiply at a $50,000 a person fund-raiser in bake -- boca raton and said 47% of americans aren't paying taxes. >> bill: we've been talking about this hour and that the government owes them everything. which it seems kind of undercuts mitt romney's message which we heard in tampa. if you voted for romney, for obama, we understand the first time. but he's let you down and so now you ought to switch and vote for me, right? and now that he's saying that those people -- who support obama, you're good for nothing bums. >> he talks about that message later on in a video.

saying that he can't tell people obama's corrupt because the independent voters who voted for him don't want to believe there's anything wrong with him. he seems to be writing off a large section of the voting public. 47% of the population saying that they're not going to vote for me so my problem isn't to worry about that. that doesn't sound like a guy who was also telling us that he wants to help the middle class. he wants to help people get jobs. he's very concerned about their issues. so the messages need to be -- seem to be contradicting each other a little bit. >> bill: all right. meantime, i keep wondering whatever happened to the issue of jobs and the economy? which is -- everything that -- we haven't heard mitt romney talk about jobs and the economy since before the convention. >> mitt romney talks about jobs every day on the stump. if somebody listens to him i've heard his five point plan so

many times i could hear it in my sleep. but his campaign started sort of stepping into and out of other issues so a couple of weeks ago all of a sudden he was talking about keeping god on the money. and then he went on a foreign policy tangent and then -- >> bill: about libya. that really worked out well, didn't it? >> so when a candidate can talk about the speech every day if they want us to pay attention to that, they have to stick with that just that message. adding things, the press has followed him down again. that's what's got the attention for the last few weeks. >> bill: we wouldn't know what's going on without people like you who are there every step of the way. ginger, good for you to take time for us this morning. appreciate it very much. and great work as always at politico. you can follow ginger gibson on twitter at gingergibson.

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>> announcer: taking your e-mails on any topic at any show." >> announcer: taking your e-mails on any topic at any time. this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: mother jones has just released the second set of clips from that -- those remarks. second part of the video from the fund-raiser down in boca

raton, florida. mitt romney where he's talking about the middle east. we will share that with you in the next hour here of the "full court press." meanwhile, i said that mitt's bad run started with picking paul ryan. steve says no, no, no. his bad run started before the ryan pick. it started with his pre-olympic tour. it will end on november 6th. >> bill: i actually would agree with that. about romney's logic on taxes we've been talking about this morning. brad brigs says if you pay no income tax that means you don't pay any tax. payroll and other taxes somehow aren't taxes to romney. so in the years that romney pays no income tax because his dividends aren't subject to income tax does that make romney part of the 47% that pay no taxes according to his own twisted logic? i wouldn't even try to figure out his own twisted logic.

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

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: hey hello everybody. what do you say? it is tuesday april -- whoa! september 18. freight to see you today. thanks for joining us here on the "full court press" on current tv. lots to talk about this morning. lots rough's going to want to comment on, especially film the big, latest video from mitt romney. no doubt about what the video shows that if you're poor, if you're middle class, if you're struggling to make ends meet and to provide for your family,

well, mitt romney thinks you're nothing but a freeloader who wants the government to give you everything and he doesn't care about you because you're probably going to vote for barack obama anyway. that's his world view. we've got it from his own lips. we'll tell you more about it and take your calls. we'll talk to bob woodward about his latest book. but first today's current news update from lisa ferguson in los angeles. hi lisa, good morning. >> hey bill, good morning everyone. one of the big questions this morning over that newly leaked video of mitt romney is who took the video and why did they leak it? we have part of an answer for you and it is really interesting. it has to do with a member of jimmy carter's family. three weeks ago,. >>tube user with a alias first name ann last name onymous and carter's grandson found it. he put the user in touch with david corn. the source is choosing to still remain anonymous. carter is telling "new york"

magazine he searches for clips on republicans almost every day and he does it just for fun. and amidst of the response over the leaked video we have a little piece of irony to show you. in the clip, romney calls american voters entitled and dependent on the government. those 40% -- 47% of voters aren't worth going after. instead, he needs to focus on the 10% that can be swayed by emotion. that strategy is becoming apparent again this morning. he's coincidentally out with a new ad focusing completely on emotion in an attempt to win other women voters. >> your share of obama's debt is over $50,000. it grows every day. obama's policies are making it harder on women. >> the ad goes on to refer only to economic issues trying to tie that in to hard times in the job force for women. but if we look at the candidate's social policies on women, president obama takes the

lead on issues like abortion rights and birth control coverage. back with more bill after the break. how are you ever going to solve the problem if you don't look at all of the pieces? >>tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >>you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. >>sharp tongue, quick whit and above all, politically direct. >>you just think there is no low they won't go to. oh, no. if al gore's watching today...

>> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: hey if you're poor or you're middle class now we know it for sure, mitt romney doesn't care about you! he said it. we got the video! we'll play it again for you. what do you say? hello, everybody. it's tuesday. september 18. great to see you today. this is the "full court press." we're coming to you live on your local progressive talk radio station. wherever you happen to be in this great land of ours and coming to you on current tv.

so good to see you today. and to tackle the big stories of the day. here in our nation's capital where congress is twiddling their thumbs again this week before they break at the end of the week and head home for i guess the next six weeks. to campaign. got our eyes on president obama today at the white house and mitt romney out in costa mesa, california yesterday scrambling to repair the damage done by release of this videotape by mother jones. and around the world still unrest because of that video the video that sparked the violence in libya where our ambassador and three others were killed. we'll keep you up to date, bring you up to date on all and take your calls at 1-866-55-press. good to see you today. and the entire team is back together again today. thanks for john fuglesang yesterday by the way for filling in while i was down in miami with the laborer's international

union. peter ogborn, dan henning cyprian bowlding and me, bill press. >> welcome back. >> back from vacation. little fishing trip up to martha's vineyard. very relaxing and very successful. >> bill: catch and release. >> yeah. well caught some but mostly release. caught 25. released 21 of them. kept four. >> as pets. >> big phishing derby going on. they're giving away a car and a boat to the winner. talk about the competition. >> bill: peter? >> i'm here. i need to take more vacation, apparently. >> bill: no more triathlons this weekend? >> not this weekend no, sir. >> bill: maybe just as good. >> yeah. >> bill: by the way, another great time up in buffalo. and a great time with a great crowd at the talking leaves

bookstore. thanks to everybody for coming out friday night and then a big crowd, of course, with the liuna laborer's convention in miami yesterday. we'll be talking to bob woodward and his new book called the price of politics right here at the top of the show. but first... >> this is the "full court press." >> on this tuesday other headlines making news, former colonel and presidential candidate oliver north lets us know what he gives grandchildren on their 12th birthday. he has 13 grandchildren. a shotgun a bible. if their moms allowed it, he would give the grandkids their present including the gun way earlier than their 12th birthday but his daughters say no to that. he said you will never be lost. you'll never be hungry and you'll never fear anything if you have those three things. >> bill: first of all, i got so much to say about that. let me just say quickly you know what?

i give our grandkids. i'm trying to give them a college education. we formed a 529 for them. i think that's a lot more important than a gun. secondly, he only gives the gun to the kids, to the grandsons. what a sexist remark. right? why not -- give a gun give it to them all. dan, we're going to interrupt you because we've got a guest on the line that we won't have for very long with a lot to say. >> get out dan! >> bill: thank you dan. when bob woodward speaks, we listen. his latest book, he is a legend, of course from watergate days and also the one who has chronicled every administration since with the best books and the best insights into how washington works. bob woodward's latest book, the price of politics. good friend for a long time. hello, bob. good morning. >> bill, how are you? >> bill: i'm doing good. congratulations on another great

book. i'm about halfway through it. as usual i'm always mazed -- amazed at how you get people to talk and tell you so much. let me get right to it. it seems to me the core of your message is that barack obama with all of his promise once he got into the white house found there's a big difference between campaigning and governing. did i get it right? >> yes. no question about that. and as the president, it is his job to you know, do something about the financial house of the u.s. government which is in total disorder and disarray and the solutions they came up with over three and a half years and the republicans are participants in this completely but the president has to lead, not just democrats but the whole country including republicans is to postpone all of the hard spending and taxing decisions to

2013. the mess that has been debated most intensely last year and continues into this year, we're going to be back in it in the next two or three months where the congress is going to have to find some way to authorize more spending and more borrowing which is the key. because we're spending $1 trillion more each year than we actually take in as a government. >> bill: no doubt about it. one surprise for some people is obviously a lot of the book -- most of it is talking about how obama's trying to work things out with republicans unable to do so. and the one person who comes across as willing to compromise but maybe not being able to is john boehner. >> yes. he is the one who went to the president last year and said we have to sit down and try to work this out. he proposed that they add

substantial revenue through tax reform which is a difficult process. reagan did it in 1986. the president worked on it sincerely but in a sense the book is a mini series. you go to the patio off the oval office with these people. truman balcony or the oval office or up in the congress in speaker boehner's office. and you see how they're struggling with this. but they didn't get to the point where they took it over the finish line. and you have to -- it is all about the finish line. you can get to one yard from the goal and you don't get any points. >> bill: who gets the blame for the grand bargain falling apart? >> well, both. but at the same time, you know, in the white house they talk

about the peril all all of this. if the economy tanks if we don't fix it in a way to make the spending and taxing sustainable, it is going to go down in the history books that the economy went into the tank or had problems or stalled in the obama era. it's not going to be the john boehner era or the republican era. it is -- in the end, it is on the head of the president. as it should be. and it is something that -- you know, just has not been solved. and the impact on individuals you know, economy doesn't get better or we have another debt crisis, people are going to lose jobs. confidence is going to go down. you and i have talked over the years that the government and the president can lose it moral

es already. should it happen, then the economy is going to be -- we're at the cliff and it could go over unfortunately. >> bill: bob woodward is our guest, his latest book "the price of politics," "new york times" number one best-seller as most of his books are. bob, that last point, you know, there's some -- some have criticized the book as saying that by portraying president obama as not -- as strong as we thought and not being able to deliver on all of these points and reach an agreement with republicans, that the book, your book is interjected here in the middle of this campaign as sort of a pro romney message that obama's not up to the task. how do you respond to that criticism? >> first of all romney is not in the book because he had no

role in any of this but the whole goal going back to nixon and as you and i talked through the clinton years in the bush years, you can't sugar coat it or launder it and keep the facts out. and you know, i think one of the interesting lessons here is there's a value in running scared. you have to look at worst-case scenarios and make sure that you avoid them. in this situation politics triumphs. republicans and democrats. and no one is fearful enough. people need to be scared because this could be one of these things next year where the government actually causes a recession. >> bill: yeah. by not getting their act

together basically which of course they're not going to do anything between the election and probably -- not before the next congress. bob, one thing that intrigued me and as part of the white house press corps i'm constantly intrigued by this difficulty that president obama has with the business community. most of whom are doing very well right now but there's this tension and they just don't seem to like obama. through the book, it comes out that valerie jarrett is a person who president obama's liaison to the business community who ends up turning a lot of them off right? >> she does. when they had meetings with the president, the president will get a little prickly and, for instance, one of the ceos meeting with him said hey you go out and talk about fat cat bankers, the bankers don't like that and you know, the president's response was i didn't know your skin was that

thin. when you're president, you can disagree with the business community. bill clinton did. he had a relationship. he would spend time. he would listen. as we know in clinton's second term, did he a number of things that were -- that really helped the business community. >> bill: right. so we don't have much time with you before you go. i have to ask you, mitt romney in not in the book as you point out, was not part of the process. he's very much in the news today particularly because of a video where he was speaking to some donors down in boca raton florida, in may. this video released by mother jones where he says, in effect, that 47% of americans don't pay taxes. totally dependent on the government. want the government to do everything for them. and are going to vote for obama and there's nothing he can do

about them. >> he says these people are victims. >> bill: are victims. some insights and i guess who romney is and how do you think that could impact this campaign? >> it could be very significant at the idea that somebody would say that is an immense problem but the idea that they would think that way and be running for president and in that video romney writes off half the population. saying they won't vote for me. they're dependent on government and they look at themselves as victims. now, that is absurd. not factually true and again as i was saying about obama he needs to be president of all the people. romney, if he has any chance of winning, has to campaign for all the votes and to dismiss so much of the electorate in a very

nasty, demeaning way. could be something that's with him for a long time. >> bill: all right. sounds like maybe the fodder nor another book. bob woodward. "it is the price of politics" get it and read it and you'll know a lot more about how our government works or doesn't work. thanks, bob for your time this morning. >> nice talking to you. >> bill: bob woodward "the price of politics" and now there's even a second round of comments from that romney video where he dismisses any chance of any settlement or any peace process in the middle east. what does this guy believe in? anything but himself? >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." now on current tv.

>>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. gaeme inc. thank you for joining

now to my point. (vo) jennifer granholm ... >>for every discouraged voter, there are ten angry ones taking action. trickle down does not work. in romney's world, cars get the elevator and the workers get the shaft. that is a whole bunch of bunk. the powerful may steal an election, but they can't steal democracy. [ ♪ theme ♪ ]

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right. 25 minutes after the hour now. here on this tuesday. we were talking in the first hour about the mitt romney video. just talked about to bob woodward about it. the video released by mother jones. it was -- a videotape of -- secretly taken. allegedly by a grandson of jimmy carter. how the hell did he get into this event. it was a $50,000 a person fund-raiser at a home of a big donor in boca raton florida where mitt romney said 47% of americans are just victims. totally dependent on government.

don't pay taxes no good, no good bums, freeloaders and write them off and they'll all vote for obama anyway so he doesn't care about them. mitt romney also in the same video did say that you know, his father was born in mexico, was an american born in mexico. it is too bad. mitt would be a lot better off if his father had been born a mexican. >> my dad, you probably know, was the governor of michigan. was the head of a car company but he was born in mexico. and having been born of mexican parents, i would have had a better shot of winning this. [ indiscernible ] >> bill: yeah. he would be a lot better off if

he was born of mexican parents. say it jokingly. again, the guy doesn't have a clue of the real life. then he goes on and he was asked about the palestinian issue. and mitt romney basically saying the whole thing is hopeless. we shouldn't even try. here is a quick comment. >> i'm torn by two perspectives in this regard. one is the one which i've kept for some time which is that they have no interest in establishing peace and that the pathway to peace is almost impossible to accomplish. >> bill: he went on to say specifically that the two state solution to the middle east is unworkable unthinkable and that he would just drop it. i might point out and remind thought two state solution may be the policy of barack obama. it was also the policy of george

w. bush. it was the policy of condoleezza rice. it has been the policy of the republican party. and to say that the palestinian people just don't want peace is such an untruth. it is such a lie. the guy has no idea what's going on. look, peace in the middle east has been elusive true. but you've got two parties both -- there are strong disagreements about who gets what land and what land is going to be given up in response for peace. all kinds of factors that make this very, very difficult to work out. we know what they are. but to just throw your hands up and say peace is impossible in the middle east, one party doesn't even want peace at all. just again shows the guy is not qualified to be president of the united states. >> announcer: 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 highest amount of jobs. those are facts. >>"if you ever raise taxes on the rich, you're going to not true!

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 33 minutes after the hour now. here we go. the "full court press" on this tuesday morning. september 18. you know what it means. tuesdays at this time around the "full court press," it is judd time. tuesdays with judd. judd legum from think progress. judd, great to see you again. >> great to see you. >> bill: the big topic of the day you've been writing about it at think progress, not surprising you're on top of all of this breaking news, a individual yes released by mother jones. they got ahold of the video.

they breached the second part of it today. this is mitt romney at a fund-raiser down in boca raton florida, in may. may 15 i think it was. $50,000 a plate at this fund-raiser. and mitt romney kind of gives his insights into what he thinks about fully -- half of americans, he says, are free loading, no good for nothing no taxpaying bums that want government to do everything for them. that's why they're going to vote for barack obama. that's kind of what he says. it is about a minute long. let's listen, judd. we'll talk about it. >> 47% of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. 47% who are with him. who believe that they're victims. who believe the government has the responsibility to care for them. who believe they're entitled to healthcare, to food, to housing to you name it. it is entitlement.

they'll vote for this president no matter what. the president starts off with 48%, 49% a huge number. these are people who pay no income tax. 47% of americans pay no income tax. our message is no taxes doesn't connect. he will be out there. that's what they sell every four years. and so my job is not to worry about those -- i have to convince the 5% to 10% that are independent, that are thoughtful, voting one way or another depending on -- >> bill: i think we got the point, right? 47% of americans are just victims. they think the government owes them everything. that they're entitled. they're entitled to it. they don't pay any -- he goes to 48 pest, 49% of americans. they don't pay any income taxes

so what the hell, right? >> it is kind of fascinating what has happened since this video came out. >> mitt romney finds himself in a box. there are republicans who hear this. it is so contemptuous of so many people. you've got it right. this is what we've been saying for some time. finally somebody who articulated it. he's not really able to roll this back. and say you know, i was wrong. i was trying to appeal to some funders and i said the wrong thing which would be one approach. instead, he comes out last night and says you know, this is a point that i've been making publicly. >> bill: maybe i didn't say it very elegantly this time. >> but that's as far as he can go is to say it wasn't as elegant as he would like. he doesn't say he regrets it. doesn't say he really even

misspoke. doesn't say he didn't want to make that point. and i think that's really gonna create the problem moving forward is that he really can't express regret because there is a certain portion and probably a very influential portion of the republican base who really connects with this. >> bill: with this message. back to the old welfare queen thing that ronald reagan talked about. it was not reality either but he made people believe that everybody on welfare has a color tv and a mansion and a new cadillac or something. >> it is like that only dramatically worse because he's included so many people in this group. and also said -- not only included so many people but said look, these folks are irredeemable. i will never convince them to do anything. >> bill: right. >> to take responsibility for their own lives so even the sort

of welfare queen idea is that there's a defined group of people who are like this. also, we're gonna change it. we're gonna move their lives forward. circumscribed in some respect. >> bill: it seems to totally contradict what he was trying to say in tampa which was okay, i understand a lot of you voted for barack obama four years ago because of hope and change and whatever. but you know he's really let you down and so now come on and vote for us. that's what he was saying in tampa, right? don't feel you have to stay with obama. here's a better choice. right? because you've seen him now and he hasn't really delivered on some things. but now he's saying you people voted for obama you are people who want a handout. you are people who are on welfare or living on the public tit.

i don't care about you. i'm never going to try to get your vote because i know you won't vote for me. totally contradicting his message. >> the interesting thing is -- >> bill: by the way, i have to throw this in... i only paid 13% -- if i only paid 13% in income taxes the one year we know about and maybe in the other years didn't pay any income taxes or else he would release my tax returns i think i would be careful about throwing stones. why aren't they paying income taxes? it is not that they're not working. they're not making enough money to pay -- they're paying sales taxes. they're paying payroll taxes and state taxes. they're not paying federal income taxes. >> the other big group in there is the elderly. not paying taxes because they're not working. and also people who make very, very low incomes. people who are making incomes below $20,000 per year. so -- or people who are in

school. there's a variety of cases and very few of the cases are people who are just sitting around because that's what they like to do which is sort of how romney paints the whole group of people. he's kind of fallen into a right wing trop about the nature of this 47%. it kind of came up around occupy wall street. the 1% versus 99% then the response to -- the conservative response was the 47% us havous the 53%. romney bought into it. >> bill: this 47 figure that came out there a lot of these people it could be seniors who are just not -- don't have that much income, right. they could be working families who are out there struggling to make $40,000 or $50,000 and maybe take advantage of the child care tax credit which was a republican plan. but again they are paying taxes. >> the reason why a lot of these

folks aren't paying taxes is in large part by -- from republican policies which actually this part wasn't a bad idea. lowered the rates on very low income people. and once you lower the rates you combine that with deductions and credits. you end up netting out at zero income taxes. you're still paying your met care taxes your medicaid. you're still paying social security. all of your payroll taxes. so you're still in many cases paying a large percentage in federal taxes. you're just not paying income taxes. only 18% who really aren't paying income taxes. >> bill: i guess to me, the most damaging thing of all is -- i love your comments on this. join our conversation. we're talking with judd legum of course, executive editor of -- editor in chief. sorry. >> i'm not offended. >> bill: of think progress. latest romney video which is

just -- has just blown up the romney campaign this weekend. it is only going to get worse. once again romney, off message not talking jobs or the economy. on the defense. but isn't that -- doesn't this just kind of prove that romney is maybe even worse than we thought in terms of being so out of touch with average americans working class americans. he mean he really is this elitist snob who has no idea what working families are going through today. it keeps coming out. the nascar teams the nfl teams the dressage horse. now here he is saying half of americans, they're just out there with their hand out. >> in the context of a political campaign, this is the most damaging kind of problem. which is a problem that reinforces what people already think about you. especially at this stage. it's hard to get a whole new narrative.

if romney said something that made him look unintelligent at this point, no one really thinks this guy is stupid. maybe there's a few people who think that. that's a knock against him. but this is -- this is the knock against him. so he's playing into -- >> bill: he's out of touch. he's really the -- epitomizes the 1%. >> those are the things that are really, really damaging and hard to shake. and it seems like he's done a series of these kind of throughout the campaign, you know. it is sort of like this was the sketch in "saturday night live" just when you think that you know, things maybe aren't going as well for obama in this case, he was doing pretty well already. there's a new -- something new that comes out. >> bill: absolutely. so mitt romney saying fully half of americans don't give a damn. all they want is government to take care of them. are you one of those?

1-866-55-press. of course, those are all of the obama supporters. 1-866-55-press. join the conversation here with judd legum on today's "full court press." >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." todd akin's worst nightmares: susan sarandon and cyndi lauper.

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: this is the "full >> announcer: this is the "bill press show," live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: hey if you want to really understand what's going on today get the latest from a progressive point of view. and get the facts.

go to thinkprogress. we do several times a day. make it one of your favorites right there. thinkprogress.org. judd legum is the editor in chief of the team over there. and they've been writing and commenting and putting more information out to back up or to further elaborate what mitt romney was talking about on this famous video. the video of comments he made to donors. you know, behind closed doors right, speaking just to a group of donors who have given $50,000 each, it is where republicans -- candidates seem to get in trouble, right? they feel they have to say things they would never say publicly. >> yeah. i think most people are a little more candid. shocking thing is what romney decided to say when he was being candid. this is really what's there. >> bill: this is. he is every bit as emblematic of

the 1%. maybe even more so. hey, judd, a lot of people want to join our conversation here. start out with chuck in mount prospect illinois. what's this say to you? >> caller: the whole thing strikes -- two quick points to make. one is that his taxes loom a lot larger now. if it comes out he didn't pay income tax, it is going to be the biggest hypocrite in american political history. the other thing is the out of touchness. do you remember when the woman told george w. bush i'm working three jobs and he said that's fantastic. they just don't get it! >> bill: i know. and clearly romney just doesn't get it. right? he thinks if you have to struggle if you do, for example, need to apply for a college loan because your father's not the governor of michigan and i mean -- pay for whatever college you want to go

to that you're a freeloader. >> caller: absolutely. anything. if you're on medicare or medicaid, that you're a freeloader. no identification with what's going on there. excellent point. tom in chicago. >> in his speech, in his convention, he mentioned if somebody lost their job at $22 an hour, he should go out and get a job for $9 an hour, get two of them. well, that's a net loss of $32 a day. he's worked eight extra hours. and more than likely at that kind of money you would only be paying -- he would only be making about $37,000 a year and if he had a couple of kids, he wouldn't be paying taxes either so i guess he's a freeloader. but he's paying medicare. >> bill: you're darn right he is. he's paying social security, medicare his sales taxes his

state taxes or whatever. but again, there are a lot of families who are struggling to make $40,000 $50,000 $670,000 a -- $60,000 a year. they're not mitt romney's definition of middle class which is $250,000 a year. it is not that they're not working. it is not that they're not -- and they're not depending on government for everything. they're just trying to get by. >> that's the reality of it. is that in fact, these are among the hardest working americans -- for anyone. people in this category. these are the people who are working at very low-paying jobs. many hours a week. with little or no benefits. >> bill: more than one at a time. >> trying to support their families. this, in the end is the essence that the folks in this category, for really the essence of hard work to really work that hard without much of a reward, without much of the riches or the fame or the glory just to

try to scrape by and support your family. and i think the problem -- the political problem is that most people i don't think have that cynical a view that such a large percentage of people are really just kind of worthless and hopeless. i think most people when they think about their communities they think about people who are working hard. at least i would like to think that's how they think. >> bill: we have about a minute left. i want to ask you something that is related. you certainly cover very extensively a year ago. it was a year ago the occupy movement suddenly popped up on the american scene. what is the last big impact of the occupy movement? >> i think what they did at the time, it is unclear how it moves forward from here. but they did raise that issue of income and equality. if you remember about this time last year, we were deep into

debt deficits. we had come off of the debt ceiling, sort of fake crisis manufactured by the republicans and congress and they did change that discussion. because we're in a political season, i don't know if much came of that as far as policy changes but i think that they have -- you can talk about the 99% and the 1% now. people know what you're talking about. i think over time, that consciousness may have an impact on how we move forward as a country. >> bill: no doubt about it. they raise the issue of income and equality. now we're not talking about it as much anymore although mitt romney was talking about it, right? you're right. people now know the 99% and the 1%, they know what it means. they know it's real and it is interesting. we have two presidential candidates, one is fighting for the 99. the one only cares about the 1%.

he just proved it in this video. always good to you have here, judd. >> thank you. >> bill: thinkprogress.org. i'll be back to tell you what our leader is up to today. >> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show."

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for the vice president and then he will be welcoming the wnba champions, the minnesota lynx, to the white house. in the east room of the white house. again, he loves bringing the sports teams in. then he goes off to andrews air force base flies up to new york city. where he will -- three things in new york city this afternoon. he will be taping an interview with david letterman. probably air tonight, i would guess on the letterman show. at the ed sullivan theatre there. two different campaign events. first one about quarter to 8:00 at the waldorf astoria hotel. and then the president to another campaign event at the 4040 club in new york city. he will be back here at the white house latest schedule at 12:15 wednesday morning. long day for p.o.t.u.s. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: hey hello everybody. welcome to the "full court press" on tuesday september 18. great to see you today. current tv's news progressive morning show. i'm bill press. liberal and proud of it. good to have you with us. i look forward to taking your calls at 1-866-55-press. about the big stories of the day. we'll tell you what's going on. and of course, another big issue in this campaign now president obama and mitt romney in a big argument over policy toward

china. pretty clear the difference between them. mitt romney, as he's shown when he was head of bain capital he wants to just export jobs to china. president obama is fighting to bring jobs back from china. there's the difference between them. we'll talk about that and a hell of a lot more here on the "full court press" this morning. but first, the latest, today's current news update, lisa ferguson standing by in los angeles. hi lisa. good morning. >> hey bill, good morning everyone. let's talk for a little bit about that trade policy with china. most of the talk this morning is over that newly-leaked video of romney. has to do with his claim that 47% of voters feel they're entitled to government services but political is linking to another clip from the same fund-raiser of romney talking about investing in a chinese factory. and as bill mentioned that, of course is very relevant this week as the candidates are going

head to head over trade issues with china. here is romney speaking on how bain profited from investing in a chinese factory that employs about 20,000 people. giving them low wages and cramped living space. >> the number of hours they work per day. president obama is attacking romney for his chinese investments saying you can't claim you track down on china if that's where you're sending jobs. yesterday, the president introduced a new trade enforcement case against china and now he's out with a new ad selling his own tough stance with the country. >> tough on china? not mitt romney. when chinese tires threatened thousands of american jobs, it was president obama who stood up to china and protected american workers. >> romney says if he were elected, he would be the one to crack down on china but some big

businesses are worried about the trade sanctions that might impose. back with more bill. stay with us. (vo) this is joy on current tv. >>if mitt romney treats his magic underwear the same way as his tax returns, then he's been going commando for the past 10 years. >>since when do you get to say stuff like that on tv? >> listen, if you'd read your email once in a while, you'd know i have a new show. (vo) always outspoken. >> sometimes i feel like i don't even know you. >> just stay on your side of the screen, ok?

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: mitt romney says 50% of americans i don't care about them. they're nothing but freeloaders. what do you say, folks? good morning. good to see you. it is tuesday september 18. this is the "full court press." how about it. we're coming to you live on your progressive talk radio station. if you're lucky enough to have one. where you live. and wherever you live, we're on current tv. whether you're joining us by

video or by audio. join our chat room. go to current.com and join the chat room. you can chat with your fellow "full court pressers" about the issues we're talking about in studio. it is mostly news today about mitt romney stepping in it big time with a video that was released a couple of days ago. or yesterday. anyhow, over the weekend by mother jones of comments that mitt romney made secretly. fund-raiser down in boca raton florida. we'll cover that and a whole lot more. talking about politics, we're lucky to have in studio with us, chris moody is political reporter for yahoo news who has been on the trail with paul ryan on the trail with mitt romney. a victim -- no, a survivor of both conventions. both in tampa and charlotte. chris, good to see you. thanks for coming in. >> great to be here. thanks for having me on.

>> bill: he will be here for the full hour as a "friend of bill." with our regular team, peter ogborn and dan henning. cyprian bowlding. all of us back together for the first time in four days or so. i'm back from a great little jaunt up to buffalo. so good to see so many of you out friday night at the talking leaves bookstore in buffalo. thank you for coming out again. and then yesterday down in -- okay. i've been saying miami. for the record, i was in hollywood, florida. flew into miami. hollywood, florida with the laborer's international union and the great terry o'sullivan and the leadership of the laborer's union ready to rumble. ready to go and re-elect barack obama and get a democrats back in control of the house and the senate. that's their agenda. i was there glad to help out yesterday. lots going on and chris and dan and peter we know -- we have such great affection for our

colleagues at fox news. and for fox and friends. done the show several times. so gretchen carlson yesterday they had -- fox had heard about this young guy who voted for obama but now couldn't stand obama anymore. he was going to vote for romney. and things are so tough when he got out of college key get a job and had to go back and live at his parent's house. he seems like the perfect candidate for fox news, right? so they invited him on fox and friends and it turns out he was just pulling their leg. here he is with gretchen carlson who realizes halfway through this that this guy isn't serious. >> why now are you supporting mitt romney? >> it is actually a funny story. i lost a basketball game to a friend of mine. he was a huge supporter of this show. [ laughter ] >> she's thinking uh-oh. >> so it sounds like you're not being serious. >> i'm also disappointed in the

direction obama has taken this nation. i will be casting my ballot for mitt romney. >> okay. and true that you had to go back and live with your parents after you graduated from college? >> oh, yeah, after i went to college, i had to live with my parents this summer and i'm back on my own. i'm on national tv. i feel like i'm doing good. it is an honor. >> okay. well are you being serious about this interview or not? >> yes. >> yes. >> he stumped fox news. he played that thing all the way up there. they put it out. they threw the data out. fox went for it. >> she had trouble getting out of it. she didn't know what to say. >> bill: no, no. okay. >> by the end of the interview she was probably screening at the screeners and producers. why didn't you vet this guy. sometimes it is hard on television. >> they looked.

this kid wasn't even old enough to vote for barack obama in 2008. >> bill: is that right? >> they showed him giving his high school commencement address or his speech at a high school function in 2010 so it really was not this hard to find out. >> bill: you know what it was? they were so eager to get anybody on there to trash obama. >> it is not that hard to find someone like that. surprising they couldn't find one person. you have to vet. you always have to. you'll get howard stern guy on there if you don't. >> baba booey. >> you don't know how we vetted you before you got on here. and your ass out of here is you say anything wrong. [ laughter ] >> bill: so is dan's. all right. 11 minutes after the hour now. chris is here for the hour. we'll be joined by rebecca berg from "buzzfeed" later in the hour as well. put it of but first -- >> other headlines making news on this tuesday.

apple is shattering all records with its new iphone 5. two million phones were ordered on the first day that it was made available. that's more than double the day one sales of the last phone. >> bill: for the record, i only ordered one. >> you have to be careful because you ordered yours late in the day. you might not actually get it on friday. i'm dead serious. if you ordered it through the wireless people, you might not get it on friday. >> bill: i ordered it like about 11:00 or so. pretty soon, all of the people up in buffalo wanted to see my phone with the rubber band on it. i got two more weeks to go. >> apple stock price yesterday went over $700 a share. >> what did you buy at? >> awhile ago. i have owned apple stock for many years. >> you lucky dog. >> and bristol palin -- >> he also bought facebook stock. >> i didn't. someone else in this room. another person wearing a blue shirt but that was not me.

[ laughter ] >> bill: i sold it. >> bristol palin's custody battle with levi johnston over their son tripp, has been closed because of a lack of activity in the new court. >> bill: he has a new baby now. >> johnston would pursue full custody but then never followed through with it at all. the 3-year-old still belongs to bristol. levi's girlfriend gave birth to their second child last week. >> bill: his second child. >> his second child. >> that poor kid. >> the first lady has revealed that she has company in bed when the president is on the road. michelle obama told "us weekly" that she lets bo sleep on the bed when obama is not around. >> bill: is that right? >> yep. >> bill: i saw a funny joke the other day. oh, i know. in that bob woodward book. talked about when he first met barack obama was when obama made the democratic response to the gridiron dinner.

when he was still in the senate. just elected to the senate. and he said that he had just seen a study that having -- a speech to give. having sex before giving a speech really made you perform a lot better. and he told michelle about this and she said well, did the best you can. you're on your own buddy. anyhow. all right. so chris let's start off with this romney video. because you know, romney has had a -- kind of a rough ride, right? since the convention. maybe a little before the convention. maybe goes back to his pre-olympic tour or when he appointed paul ryan but then there were stories about a lot of rumbling inside the romney campaign and then you bring in ed gillespie. they're going to get back on track. they have a new series of ads and lo and behold, mother jones drops this stink bomb in the middle of the campaign which is

again, the video. romney's candid remarks to a group of donors may 15 down in boca raton florida where he, in effect, says half of the population of this country are just no gooders freeloaders, who support barack obama and who want government to give them everything. let's -- a little bit of the audio. >> 47% of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. there are 47% who are with him who believe that they're victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them. who believes they're entitled to healthcare, to food, to housing to you name it. that's entitlement. they will vote for this president no matter what. the president starts off with -- >> so there it is. half the population. they're going to vote for obama no matter what. these are bums who are onual fare and victims and feel the government owes them everything.

and pay no income taxes. >> this doesn't happen. it is not an isolated incident here. as you said, it has been a tough week for romney after polls show he's lost ground that he had gained on the economy after the campaign shake-up that we saw reported in politico. this is the third thing on what could be a line of trouble for him. i don't think this -- the videos are campaign ending. but i also don't think it is just a headache. this is a migraine. you can survive from a migraine but it is going to hurt. i think he's going to have to go through another tough week of media scrutiny here. especially as david corn promises that mother jones there will be more videos. where's the breitbart guys coming out with their obama videos they said would come. i wouldn't be surprised if they tried to snap something to match it. about a year ago he said i've got the videotapes. it is funny corn had better tapes than they've released so far. >> bill: we're still waiting for the michelle obama whitey

tape. but on the romney thing again it kind of -- kind of -- reinforces the image right very much reinforces the image i believe that we -- we're getting romney anyhow with some help from the obama campaign that this is a guy who is out of touch, doesn't relate to -- doesn't understand, doesn't care about average working class americans. here he says it in his own words. >> they feel like they're being said. one thing on the campaign trail in public. his wealthy donors are being told another thing behind closed doors. >> bill: he says i care about you. i want to work with you. i want to help the middle class. they said that in tampa. we're there to help you right? and now he's saying these guys?

>> he also is talking to donors so he's telling them there's nothing i can do to win these people over but the 47% line, it is a fishy line. you have about half of them are elderly people. my grandmother does not pay income taxes. she doesn't work. and then the economy increased that number. i believe it was 40% when obama took office. now it is 47% along the lines because people have lost income over the past three or four years. 47% it is not -- >> they're not people who are not working. these are not people all on welfare. they're working who don't make enough money. a lot of them. some of the retired but there are people who are working. not making enough money to pay income taxes but they are paying sales taxes. they're paying social security taxes. >> the payroll tax. they're paying state taxes. >> they do have -- >> bill: they're freeloaders. >> the line that keeps getting pushed through the noise is these people don't pay taxes.

that mixes into a lot of speeches. it is true they're not paying income taxes but they have skin in the game in other ways. >> bill: even before this video came out join the conversation here. chris is here for the entire hour. chris moody from yahoo news. 1-866-55-press. you know the number. so this video comes on top of -- you point out a story in politico, a lot of rumbling inside the romney campaign because they're losing to obama. the polls now show obama is pulling ahead. the campaign seems to be in somewhat of disarray. and so the only shot for romney to get back in the chance, we've seen stories on this, is in the debates. first presidential debate, he can turn this whole thing around. >> bill: if you are republican and you depend on this election for mitt romney killing barack obama in a presidential debate,

man, that's a roll of the dice. >> you can't look at that as your only hope. we've got seven weeks left. if he loses a week or two weeks here, that's a huge amount of time. two weeks, six months ago was not a big deal. two weeks now every minute counts. the debates while they will be important and they were important in the primaries just as they were then, i don't think it is going change everything. although we could be surprised. >> bill: obama would have to make some monday humiditial gaffe. >> -- some monday humiditial humiditial gaffe. >> he will fall flat on his face. romney would have to say -- to turn the polls like upside down. >> he's stepping into varsity team territory right now. he was playing jv with the primaries, he was practicing but now he really needs to kick if into high gear.

>> bill: you've been covering paul ryan a lot. you were out on the campaign trail with paul ryan. is ryan -- do we know -- yet maybe it is too early. is he an asset to romney or is he a liability? >> i think he's an absolute asset. the energy within the republican party among the economic conservatives, the social conservatives, national defense conservatives, it is with paul ryan. for example values voters summit last week. social conservative confab, paul ryan spoke and the crowd goes wild for him. when mitt romney came on screen to deliver his televised address, oh, that's not barack obama. okay. golf clap. we saw that as well in the convention where the excitementú for mitt romney was just -- this is not barack obama. so therefore let's applaud him. but out on the trail, the energy is with paul ryan. heals the one that revs up the crowd. he's the one who's gotten people excited. >> bill: question is if it is paul ryan for 2012 or 2016.

your calls welcome at 1-866-55-press. it is the "full court press." on tuesday september 18th. we'll be right back. >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv, this is the "bill press show." yeah! [ orbit trumpet ] clean it up with orbit! [ orbit glint ] fabulous! for a good clean feeling. ♪ eat, drink, chew orbit! ♪ >>oh really? >>"if you ever raise taxes on >>the rich, you're going to destroy our economy." not true! [ 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! ♪

>>i jump out of my skin at 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. >>i think that's an understatement, eliot. u>> i'm not prone tot. understatement, so explain to me why that is.

wall st., not vice versa. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: joe cirincione is our guest from the ploughshares fund on the "full court press." joe, never have enough time. >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: here we go at 26 minutes after the hour now. on our "full court press." chris moody from yahoo news in studio with us.

talking about that damaging romney video. chris, mutual friend who does the fix the blog called the fix at the "washington post," one of the best observers i think the political scene -- you would have to agree. he lays out kind of what has happened to romney since tampa right? where no bounce -- no bounce to their -- for their convention at all. stepping in it with his statement about libya. premature statement at best. then the politico story saying all kinds of rife and dissent within the campaign, struggling within the romney campaign. and now this video, chris sums up taken together, they paint an image of a campaign in disarray and a candidate not ready for prime time. >> really tough words that you don't hear from chris very often. when he goes and says something

like that, he pronounces something like that, he sees something bad on the horizon for romney here. >> bill: this is going to be a few days and maybe this entire week romney campaign. fresh start today. talking about some new issues, right. and some new ads derailed again. this is what they're going to be talking about. >> they're going to have no choice especially if there are more videos dropping every day. >> bill: the latest video by the way, if we have a chance, we'll get to it in the next half hour here with chris moody. where in the same conversation with these donors, down in boca raton, florida, mitt romney says stepping into foreign policy again where he always gets in trouble, there is no hope for peace in the middle east because the palestinians don't want the peace process and the two state solution endorsed by george bush and condoleezza rice, mitt romney says is a bad idea. >> 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.

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: all right. 33 minutes after the hour on a tuesday morning here. september 18. the "full court press" coming to you live all the way across this great land of ours on your local progressive talk radio station and, of course, on current tv. good to have you with us. we are talking politics 2012. and expanding a little bit right now to see whether anything may come out of the united states congress before the election or before the end of the year. chris moody is with yahoo news, political reporter out on the

romney and the ryan campaign covering both conventions. here for the hour as a "friend of bill." chris, welcome again. >> great to be here. >> bill: now we're joined by rebecca burg who covers capitol hill for "buzzfeed." a new member of the "buzzfeed" team, right? >> indeed, yes. >> bill: congratulations. >> thank you very much. >> bill: welcome to "buzzfeed" and welcome to the studio. excited about "buzzfeed" getting into the political business now. john stanton, the washington bureau chief has been in studio a couple of times. it is good to have you as part of the program. here's what i want to know, rebecca, why do people even bother to send reporters to capitol hill these days because we know that -- we know damn well they're not going to do anything. >> absolutely. you still need people to pester them and get you to tell them they're not going to do anything so it is still worth having us up there. you're right. at this point in time -- >> bill: they're here this week and then they're gone until november 6th. >> yes. exactly. november 7th i guess.

they'll be back for a lame duck session and not much will happen then either. >> do we get that time off too? >> bill: yeah, eat your heart out. so is there anything like even -- do they even pretend to get anything done? is there anything -- vote scheduled on anything? >> you know, there are some minor votes that they have but nothing big gets done this week. >> they're very good at that. extremely streamlined for naming post offices. >> bill: maybe they can vote to repeal obama care. 33 times. make it 34. >> what this week is really for and what last week was for is it gives the members an opportunity to grandstand and talk about the issues they're going to be campaigning on and you know, get their positions out there for their constituents to hear and to be able to say i have opposed this spending or this but then not have to take any --

>> bill: all about the c-span "60 minutes" free time? >> they give their speeches. >> bill: time afterwards. the excitement last week as i understand it, chris, i think you were there is that paul ryan came back -- >> the hero has returned. he got a standing ovation. >> he returned to the hill to much fanfare. the only problem was he appeared only behind closed doors with his fellow house colleagues. >> bill: you don't think they want to be seen in public with him, do you? >> all of these guys are running for re-election. none would have their picture taken in the hallways with him in public. it was all behind in this private meeting that they held with about 30 or 40 republicans where they slapped him on the back asked him if he's eating well and getting enough sleep. he power walked straight to the

house floor. voted, rebecca saw people looking for autographs. >> i did not see this but one of my colleagues was there and he saw paul ryan giving an autograph to michele bachmann. so he was a huge hit on the house floor and now that he's returned. >> bill: yeah, right. >> any extra campaign money. never hurts. >> it was a real circus when he showed up because people only had about 20 or 30 seconds at a time and he's walking between the house floor and the private room so all of the press wanted to get something from him and the reporters were tripping over banisters and chairs, cameramen's lens popped right off and flew in the air. it is a real wild time with paul ryan power walking through the house last week. >> bill: i saw congressman charlie wrangle at a reception last week, the evening of paul ryan's triumphant return to the house and charlie was telling me that when he walked in, all of the republicans are -- they

stand, they're applauding, they walked down to the well. they're applauding and charlie walked right down there with them and paul ryan spotted charlie wrangle and said what are you doing here and charlie says no, no, no, i want to thank you, too. i want to thank you on behalf of the democratic party because you have made medicare the issue in this campaign. you know. i remember paul ryan saying in tampa, medicare -- medicare -- we welcome this debate about medicare. and we will win this debate about medicare. not according to the latest polls i've seen. >> he's looking at winning the war over whipping the battle here. >> i think he's talking about the long-term here. he's been working on this issue for so long, i don't know if he's talking about winning it by november 6th. >> bill: that's what he ought

to be thinking about. >> paul ryan is a long-term thinker. not always someone that is in the near term. that has showed in his speeches he gives in the house and the issues he's pursued over his tenure in congress. >> bill: does he understand his agenda right now the reason he's on the ticket with mitt romney is to win november 6th not to talk about changes 30 years from now that may or may not happen. >> what other choice did he have? he couldn't shy away from the things he's been talking about. he had to buckle down and embrace them. that's part of what mitt romney got when he got the paul ryan package. >> bill: earlier today rebecca, i interviewed bob woodward his new book "price of politics" is all about the difficulties that -- the impossibility maybe of reaching a budget agreement between the white house and -- between president obama and republicans in the house. particularly since john boehner has taken over as speaker. you have boehner and mitch mcconnell both seem to say if you're for it, barack obama we're against it.

and the fact that they really put everything off until like 2013. let's assume for the purpose my question, that president obama wins re-election and republicans hold on to the house. i hope that doesn't happen. it certainly could. and we have a split congress like we have when democrats hold on to the senate. do you think things are going to change? do you think house republicans will be any more willing to compromise with president obama? >> my prediction would essentially be no but i think it depends a lot on -- i think it depends a lot on the consistency of the republican party in the house because what we've had during this congress is a lot of republicans who were elected because they were anti-establishment and because they were fringe members of the party. people are really fed up with government in general. people are fed up with institutions in general. and so we saw a lot of those types of republicans get elected

so if that makeup of the republican party in the house is maintained, then we will see a lot of what we have seen from this congress. >> bill: do you think intransigents will continue? >> rebecca makes an excellent point. john boehner has had his hands tied. the question is how tight will the knot be in 2013? >> bill: on that point woodward says something i think surprised a lot of people. not me because i got to know boehner pretty well when i was doing crossfire and he was a frequent guest at cnn. he's an old-fashioned paul. he's the kind of republican who would make a deal. >> he's a compromiser. >> bill: which is not a bad thing. that's how you get things done, you know. tom daschle bob dole, george mitchell trent lott were people who knew how to forge compromises to solve problems. john boehner is out of that

school. eric cantor is not. >> he's been between barack obama and the tea party constituency in his house. that's a very difficult place to be. real question is will he be in that same place in 2013? we'll have to see. >> bill: again assuming -- my scenario and president obama is re-elected, which i think he will be, doesn't that send a message to the republicans in the house, you may have tried this my way or the highway approach but the american people are not happy with it. they want you to get some things done. no? >> i think there is a growing understanding within both parties that people are -- voters really do want more bipartisanship on the hill. there was an article in the times by jennifer and jonathan that was all about how more republicans are campaigning this year on a platform of bipartisanship. and seeing that they have reached out to the other party and tried to cooperate and so i think we're seeing more of that this election cycle. >> bill: that gets to your point about not wanting to have

their photo taken publicly with paul ryan because they don't want to be identified with the ryan budget? is that -- >> they voted for the ryan budget. a picture is worth more words. you can just imagine the mailer with a big picture -- with your member with a smiling picture with paul ryan. it is an easy shot that the democrats will make and i think they were looking at foresight and wanting to avoid that last week. >> bill: right. mailer saying medicare, social security medicaid. here he is with the guy who wants to destroy them all. and he voted for his budget. >> bill: politics of the day. in studio with us, chris mood friday from yahoo news. rebecca berg from "buzzfeed." we'll find room for you somewhere here at the table. give us a call at 1-866-55-press. today's "full court press." >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

(vo) always outspoken, now unleashed, joy behar. >> on my next show i talk politics and culture with two of todd akin's worst nightmares: susan sarandon and cyndi lauper.

you disgust me. prove it. enough is enough. d-con baits are specially formulated to kill in one feeding. guaranteed. d-con. get out. now to my point. (vo) jennifer granholm ... >>for every discouraged voter, there are ten angry ones taking action. trickle down does not work. in romney's world, cars get the elevator and the workers get the shaft. that is a whole bunch of bunk. the powerful may steal an election, but they can't steal democracy.

>> announcer: this is the "full court press." the "bill press show" live on your raid radio and on current tv. >> bill: it is 13 minutes before the top of the hour. and this is the "full court press" on a tuesday morning. september 18. in studio with us, two sharp young reporters covering the national political scene and capitol hill here in washington d.c. that's where we are right here on capitol hill. rebecca berg covers the capital for "buzzfeed" and chris moody covers the political scene for yahoo news.

so the their at this kind of is right now that romney's had a rough couple of weeks. which he has. no doubt about it. certainly since tampa if not maybe even a little bit before, how does he turn it around? chris? >> there has to be frustration with the republicans because last week, as we all know, an ambassador was killed in libya. embassies have been stormed. republicans have got to be screaming why aren't people talking more about this? why isn't this a winning issue for us? some people are blaming romney for his response for that. not that they're looking for tragedy to turn this around but if that story picks up, that is certainly something that could in a way. also, when we get new jobs numbers, that could shift it. but that's not coming for quite awhile. >> bill: what you're saying is there's nothing romney can do. there has to be some bad news happen. is that what i hear? >> you can try to hear him ignore what's going on right now and go ton the campaign trail and stay on message.

this is going to be tough to penetrate. >> bill: how about the debates, rebecca? do you think the debates could make a difference? >> you know, i was going to say just that. i disagree with chris a little bit. it will be entirely serendipitous whether romney is able to rebound from this week and the past couple of weeks because the debates are huge. especially for swing voters. i know in this election, we've had a lot -- >> bill: the first one is the one that counts. after that, people don't pay that much attention. >> people are saying this might turn out to be a base election where it is all about getting the loyal republicans and the loyal democrats out to vote. and in part, that is true but there are still 4% or 5% of swing voters in the nine or ten battleground states that will have a part in the election. >> bill: i want to go back to this debate. so if i hear you saying then republicans -- don't worry. it doesn't matter obama is ahead in the swing polls and the swing states. it doesn't matter that obama's now ahead on every issue

including the economy. it doesn't matter that romney's having a bad fall because when we get that debate, mitt romney's going to kill and barack obama's going to fall flat on his face. >> maybe that's a little extreme. >> bill: really? >> a little bit. >> bill: obviously i'm embellishing it but putting all of their hope in a presidential debate when your candidate is mitt romney -- >> bill, you have to have something to look forward to in times like these. >> bill: keep hope alive. that is a big roll of the dice. let's bring mark into the conversation. he's calling from puff low new york. -- from buffalo, new york, where i was happy to be friday evening. hello, mark. >> caller: hi, bill. >> bill: were you at talking leaves on friday night? >> caller: i couldn't make it. >> bill: where the hell were you? >> caller: i was watching the game. >> you had some stuff competition. >> bill: all right. what's going on. >> caller: they want that tragedy. they need that tragedy.

you were talking about boehner. you said he was a compromiser. don't you remember his first interview with lesley stahl he said compromise is not in my vocabulary. >> you have to look before -- years and years ago -- >> bill: he was saying that because he knew that's what the tea party wanted him to say. >> take a step back. boehner neighbor congress for a long time. not just between 2010 and 2012. and he has a record from that and that's working with -- he's not known as a hard line conservative. >> bill: mark, i appreciate the call very much. i would have to agree with that. i've known boehner for a long time. he's always been, again of that bob michael, if you will, trent lott or bob dole school of politics which is -- which i believe in too you fight like hell during the election for your side to win and then winners and losers, then they have a job to do. the job is called governing.

have to sit down and say we have our differences. here is the problem that we've got to solve for the good of the american people. that just doesn't exist anymore rebecca, we're going to get back to that? >> you know, i think a lot depends on this election and the next election for congress about whether we will see a more moderate streak. for now no. >> bill: what if thrush's there right now and you're looking at the fact, let's be really generous. 12% approval of congress. when you talk to these members do they ever -- do you ever get any sense they understand that what they're doing right now ain't working? >> who is the 12%? do they pay taxes? [ laughter ] >> you know, i'm not -- >> bill: freeloaders. >> i'm not sure it does register with a lot of members. i'm not going to pretend i can read their minds but i think that a lot of them attribute most of the disapproval just to this general disapproval of institutions and government and not necessarily something that's

tied as directly to what they have done or have not done as members of congress. i'm sure they must realize some of that disapproval is well-founded but -- >> there is a vast gulf between this approval of congress and this approval of my own wonderful charming congressman or congresswoman. and they, i think hold on to that individual poll about themselves far more tightly than they do the institutional poll. >> bill: as they say denial. it is not just a river in egypt. >> it runs right through washington, d.c. >> bill: chris, good to have you in the studio. rebecca, nice to meet you. thank you for the good work you're doing. come back again and see us soon. i will be back. thanks guys really. i'll be back with today's parting shot. about politics in general. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

thank gaemezilinsky, thank you for joining

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