[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: good morning, everybody. happy wednesday. it is wednesday september 19th. great to see you today. this is the "full court press" on current tv and welcome to the program. yeah, sure there is a lot of big news about mitt romney, but don't miss the biggest news of all, jesus was married. well at least according to a

manuscript recently discovered. jesus talk to his disciples about "my wife." so maybe all of this stuff about being sellbait doesn't matter at all. we'll get into that but first lisa ferguson. >> hey, bill. good morning, everyone. mitt romney is campaigning in florida and georgia said. and he is still dealing with the fallout from his 47% remarks that leaked to "mother jones." his campaign is on damage-control overload. last night on fox news romney fully embraced his secretly

reported statement that americans feel entitled to government services saying it solidifies his position that president obama stands for big government, while he himself does not. >> we were talking about a campaign and how he is going to get half of the vote and i'm going to get half the vote and i want 51% or more. >> 46% of people do not pay federal income tax is what he was referring to. but most of those families are retired or families with young children, and they do pay payroll taxes. now conservatives say focusing on that group is a mistake. scott brown released a statement saying that is not the way he views the world and as someone

who grew up in tough circumstances, he knows no one wants to have to rely on public assistance. even paul ryan is criticizing romney calling the remark obviously inarticulate. we're back with more. stay with us.

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dose of politics from a fresh perspective. >>i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. & >>only on current tv. [ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio, and on current tv. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 48 days to go and mitt romney wants to get it over with. and he is doing his best to get it over with. hello, everybody, great to see you today. happy wednesday. here we are middle of the week on the "full court press," coming to you live on your local progressive talk radio station

if you are lucky enough to have one, on sirius xm and all three hours on current tv. thanks for climbing on board to find out what is going on today and talk about it. our daily townhall here for the next three hours. congress coming back today for -- oh -- maybe half a day's work before they take off to campaign through november 6th. they don't be back until the 7th or 8th of november. we'll take your calls at 866-55-press. big storm went through here yesterday our nation's capitol, even tornado warnings in our nation's capitol. most of the attention on the

political front focused on mitt romney, and his clumsy attempts to recover from the damage done of writing off 47% of americans as no-good moochers and freeloaders. speaking of moochers and freeloaders hey, look at who is here. peter ogburn. yeah we haven't seen -- our videographer refuses to release his tax returns. >> that's why we never let him on the mic. >> bill: exactly. president obama had a couple of campaign events and stopped by -- his second time as president that he stopped by david letterman's show.

and david gave him a big welcome. >> you look great. >> obama: i feel good. >> how much do you weigh? >> obama: you know . . . [ laughter ] >> obama: about 180. >> 180 looks good on you. that's what i am and i don't look so good. >> obama: you look sharp. >> you haven't seen me naked. >> obama: we're going to keep it that way. >> bill: obama doesn't look like 180 to me. >> he is probably 180 wet. >> obama: he is lean. >> he's a lean sky. skinny guy with the big ears and the funny name. david letterman asked him about the big news around the white house -- the white house which we have talked about, the white house beer. >> it is true you are making

beer in the white house? >> obama: it is true. >> now is that legal? >> obama: i don't know. [ laughter ] >> look into that. >> obama: we started making it and then somebody said do we need a license for this and -- >> and in what kind of quantity are you making it? >> obama: we just had a big project today a whole infrastructure under the white house. that's top secret. >> bill: so now we know what that big dig has been at the white house. >> it's the brewery. >> bill: i guess whether it is legal or not, depends on how much you make and if you are going to sell it. >> absolutely. if you sell it you need an alcoholic beverage license. >> you can make it. it's matter of selling it. that's the thing. and he is not selling it obviously so -- >> bill: i don't know. >> yet. >> bill: exactly. what a lineup we have for you

today, governor eliot spitzer will be joining us here, and we'll have one of the editors of "mother jones" who unearthed that video causing all kinds of problems for mitt romney. rich masters our good friend and democratic strategy will be along in studio as well. but first . . . >> announcer: this is the "full court press." >> good morning on this wednesday. overhead lines making views. another battle royal between jon stewart and bill o'reilly. they will take their banter to george washington university on october 6th you'll be able to watch online for $5. it's called riley versus stewart 2012 the rumble in the air

conditioned auditorium. >> bill: i love jon stewart but i think this is a little unmatched to me because bill o'reilly is clearly an anti obama flaming conservative, and jon stewart is not necessarily a totally pro obama liberal. he is more critical of both parties. >> that's a good point. >> bill: i ought to be debating bill o'reilly. >> one player for the atlanta falcons celebrated a bit too much after the win over the denver broncos. running back michael turner who scored a touchdown and set a franchise record went drinking and got charged with a dui early tuesday morning. ironically the announcer

nicknamed him road rage after the touchdown. >> bill: huh oh. >> the baltimore orioles are tide again in first place with the yankees this morning. the texas rangers and chicago white sox continue to lead the al division and the washington nationals maintain a lead in the east. the playoffs start october 5th. >> wow. >> national playoff tickets go on sale this weekend. >> bill: is that right? >> uh-huh. >> get excited. >> bill: so they are going to go into november. >> that's when the season ends is november. >> they will be selling the

national parkas for the world series. >> bill: i think so. all right. hey, dan, thank you very, very much. some breaking new on the political front, and that is the latest nbc "wall street journal" poll -- i have always felt is the poll that is the most reliable. the nbc "wall street journal," you put those two together you don't have a political bias. their poll showing president obama now up 5% in the national polls over mitt romney and he is up in every swing state, and 42% of americans now say they feel good about the economy, the economy is getting better and improving. only 18% say the economy is going to get worse. so mitt romney efforts to paint this as a gloom and boom bad

economic news cycle -- not that he talks about jobs anymore -- isn't really working. most of what mitt romney's talking about these days, again all day yesterday was trying to explain and defend his comments unearthed in that video -- released by mother jones where he said that 47% of americans -- we played it several times yesterday -- 47% of americans are moochers freeloaders, dependant on the government, want nothing but a handout, and therefore he is sure that 47% of them will vote for barack obama and he is not even going to try to get their vote. dipping discontain and ignorance about working-class families in

america. and proving that there is class war fair in this country, and the class warfare is on the part of people like him the ultra, ultra rich who look down their noses to anybody who doesn't have three or four dressage horses like he did. he said this is what i believe. >> romney: it's a very different vision of america than the one i have. his is a government-centered america. >> bill: in fact -- facts always get in the way of mitt romney. the government is the smallest it has been since dwight eisenhower. but why dispute the facts. romney of course always had a home on fox news when he gets in trouble to try to dig himself

out of a hole. >> romney: we were of course talking about a campaign and how he is going to get close to half the vote i'm going to get half the vote, approximately, i hope, i want 51% or more and frankly we have two very different views about america. the president's view is one of a larger government. the president said he likes redistribution. i disagree. >> bill: that was something obama said when he was a state senator 20-some years ago. this is mitt romney -- he just can't help himself. he can't dig out of this hole. this is mitt romney in may 2012 saying this, that he was dismissing half of the electorate as a bunch of no-good bums. the response to romney was just overwhelming yesterday. we'll tell you about the

republican response. but first president obama was asked about this video by david letterman last night. i thought the president really -- very firmly, gently but firmly shall we say put romney in a box. >> obama: when i won in 2008, 47% of the people voted for john mccain, and what i said on election night was even though you didn't vote for me i hear your voices and i'm going to work as hard as i can to be your president, and one of the things i have learned as president is you represent the entire country, and when i meet republicans as i'm traveling around the country they are hard-working, family people who care deeply about this country, and my expectation is that if you want to be president, you

have got to work for everybody. >> bill: of course you have to work for all of the american people and if you want to be candidate and win the presidency, you have to reach out to all of the american people. response among republicans was very telling yesterday. bill crystal head of the very conservative weekly standard called mitt romney's comments stupid and arrogant. scott brown desperately trying to get reelected in massachusetts, said he doesn't agree with mitt romney's vision. linda mcman said mitt romney doesn't speak for her. susan collins senator from maine said mitt romney doesn't understand working class families. it is totally insane and wrong on the facts. what do you think about this? 866-55-press? but what i want to point out

before we take a break is how wrong mitt romney is on the facts. who these 47% of the people are. again, he has no idea about anybody who is not as rich as he is. first of all -- as we mentioned yesterday, most of these people, the 47% are not paying federal income taxes, are paying taxes -- payroll tax, sales taxes, state taxes, local taxes. 60% of them are working. this is according to the tax policy institute which put out that 46%. 60% are working. 53% of them don't pay taxes because they make less than $16,800 a year. 82% of them don't pay taxes because they make less than $33,500 a year. 25% of those people are elderly. so we're talking about elderly people on fixed incomes.

we're talking about military families, the working poor. tax policy institute pointing out, for example. that if you are a couple with two children earning less than $26,400 that you won't pay any income taxes because you have an $11,600 standard exemption. the real problem, you see, is not the people who don't make enough to pay taxes, it's the people who make so much money who can afford to pay their taxes but don't pay their taxes. people like mitt romney who either pay zero taxes -- people like mitt romney who either pay zero taxes or pay less than

their fair share by going around and bragging because of a swiss bank account and tax havens in the cayman islands and bermuda he gets away with only paying 13%. it is class warfare, it is the ultra, ultra wealthy versus 99% of americans. that's what this campaign is all about. and we know what mitt romney represents. 866-55-press. let's get into it here. >> announcer: this the "bill press show." ♪

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♪ >> announcer: radio meets television.

the "bill press show." now on current tv. >> bill: yeah, marine dowd points out in the new york times this morning. she says it is literally rich. willard born on third base an acting self-made whining to the rich about what a great deal in life the poor people have. yeah man. patricia from willington north carolina. good morning. >> caller: good morning. i just read the transcript of mitt romney's remarks. >> bill: right. >> caller: he refers to the hard work of his ancestors coming over here from whales and mexico, and one of the things he has forgotten when he talks about distances himself from the 47%, he is talking about his own

family. >> bill: yeah, but i think -- you are right, but i don't think he realizes that right? i think he is so in this cocoon of wealth and privilege that he has always lived in that he does haven't any idea not only about how people are struggling today but how his own family at one time had to struggle. it is stunning how out of touch he is. ron in illinois. good morning. >> caller: good morning, bill i'm mooching here taking my social security check every month. >> bill: you freeloader. >> caller: it just seems to me that this is the one shot of the foot that anybody who is going to vote for mitt romney has to rethink that. >> bill: it could turn out to be that.

but the thing about it is this is a self inflicted wound. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪

♪ >> announcer: on your radio, and on current tv. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: hey, you got it. 33 minutes after the hour now, wednesday september 18th -- 19. good to see you today. it is the "full court press" coming to you live from your nation's capitol brought to you by the american federation of teachers. yes, indeed, the great men and women of the aft under president

randy winegarten making a difference every day. and happy to see the teachers winning a big battle in chicago and voting to approve the compromise reached with the mayor, and kids are back to school in chicago today. before we get back to your calls about mitt romney declaring class war fair and writing off 50% of the american people peggy noonan has said that this proves the romney campaign is incompetent. how much longer do you think before republicans are going to start saying i'm not voting for mitt romney. i don't want anything to do with that guy? man, they are running away from them. something very, very important a new feature on our website, this is extremely important folks, and that is, if you are not registered to vote we're going

to help make it easy for you to do so. you have a civic duty as an american citizen to register and get out and vote. if you go to our website, there's a little box on it from rock the vote, and just click on that, you write in your state, you can register either right-on line in most states -- just do it right from our website, or they will give you the form to fill out for your particular state and send it to that state. so it's automatic, state by state, but here -- here is the deal. you got to do it soon because registration closes not on the same day in every state, it just depends. we checked yesterday. in california you are register up until october 22nd. in delaware you can only register for example up until october 31st. so i don't know what it is in all 50 states.

but figure october 1st or october 6th, a month before the election. get it done before then. don't take a chance go to our website, billpressshow.com. rock the vote click on it make yourself part of this important american electorate. mitt romney again saying man, you don't pay federal income tax you don't exist as far as he is concerned. seniors, military families, working poor, middle class -- you don't exist in romney's world. bob up in brooklyn new york. hey bob what do you say? >> caller: i have two points. romney has been campaigning he wants lower taxes -- >> bill: lower taxes on the very wealthy. >> caller: yeah, it's at least a year now that paul ryan and other republicans have been telling the american people they want to raise the taxes on most of us.

i hope it starts to sink in with the people. and if you go to counterpunch.com, and slate.com there is an article in there recently that in 2009 internal revenue offered tax amnesty for people who are illegally evading their taxes by hiding in switzerland. did mitt romney benefit from that tax amnesty. >> bill: yeah, did mitt romney apply? mitt romney can very well be part of the 47%. i'm convinced he paid zero taxes in some of those years which is why he won't release his tax return. certainly part of that 47% are people who are very very very wealthy and have good sharp accountants and tax lawyers and

enough deductions and loopholes that they are able to avoid any taxes. and of course, like mitt romney bury their money in a swiss bank account or the cayman islands. ike in charleston south carolina. hi, ike. >> caller: hey billy boy. calling you from the fourth most disgusting state in the country, as the poll said that was just released last week 22 years of republican control and we're number 4 on the worst living conditions, the worst roads, worst everything. so-so much for republican utopia. >> bill: i love south carolina, but you are right. the people there just have their head up their you know what when it comes to politics. >> and it's amazing how many of these red staters are getting food stamps and everything else and sit there and run their

mouths. but when it comes to mitt romney and the rest of the 1 percenters, they get the lobbyists, they push all of the money, get the tax laws they want and do this and that they can buy companies, leverage money, bust them up, throw everybody out of their jobs you can't have a union, no pension, they make it to where hey two days after you are dead we might give you social security. this is what they set up and obviously what they wanted. so now the question becomes, what are you whining about? you want us to be poor, and do your slave work for you, and now you want to victimize us because we're poor. you have to figure out what you are doing? >> bill: yeah, they whine about the fact that people who have paid social security all their lives are wanting a handout.

they paid for it. >> caller: by god we not only pay for that, and medicare medicaid and everything else, but on top we fought and died for worker's right to have a weekend and decent pay and everything else, and they just want to take it all back from us. you want a bunch of poor people you got a bunch of poor people. but don't blame us because we're working hard. >> bill: you got it. romney wants to take us back to the days where the robber barrens ruled. jack in illinois. good morning. >> caller: hey, bill one of the things i find was the most interesting for me in that whole comment was food is an actual entitlement. i would like to ask him when did food become an entitlement. >> bill: yeah right. all of those damn poor people

right? they think they need food right? >> caller: right. and not only that but it's like could you differentiate between the 47% of like you said earlier -- all of these major corporations that are actually getting the tax breaks to where they pay no taxeses and get get huge government assistance -- >> bill: right. jack that's an excellent point. just to elaborate just a little bit. what mitt romney is saying in his doubling down and refusing to back away from these comments he said no no no. i stand by what i said. because it shows there are two different positions of america. president obama's vision which is focused on government give-a ways, and my vision which is focused on personal responsibility. mitt romney's plan is focused on huge taxes, which are what?

government giveaways to the very, very wealthiest of americans, but he would extend and add to augment those government giveaways, government giving even more tax breaks and more money to the wealthiest of americans, and also giving away continued tax subsidies to oil and gas companies and right down the line. so, you know, the difference between mitt romney is he thinks a government give away to sheldon adelson and donald trump and mitt romney is justified, but a government give away to a military family that may need food stamps or medicaid or a government give away in terms of giving people who have earned it and paid into it their social security in their retirement years, he thinks those things

are wrong and out of place, and end up creating nothing but a whole generation of moochers if you will. he is wrong on his facts. he is wrong on his priorities. i think he's wrong on his morality, mitt romney. we'll talk to eliot spitzer next and get his take on all of this. >> announcer: this is the "full court press." the "bill press show." live on your radio, and on current tv. ♪ 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 at facebook.com/billpressshow and on twitter at bpshow. >>i believe people are hungry for it.

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and disaster relief efforts. when you use lysol at home, you'll know you're a part of something bigger. for healthy tips and more, visit lysol.com/missionforhealth. gaeme inc. thank gaemezilinsky, thank you for joining >>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. i think the mob learned from wall st., not vice versa. ♪ >> announcer: heard around the country, and seen on current tv.

this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 14 minutes now before the top of the hour. here on this wednesday morning. hey at the top of the hour, we're going to get away from politics a little bit to talk about this little piece of manuscript where aledgedly jesus talks about having a wife. woe! does that upset this applecart a little bit now. but right now it's mitt romney who upset the applecart. we're going to talk this bookends wednesday, because eliot spitzer tops it off with "viewpoint" at 8:00 pm eastern, joining us as he does every wednesday morning. good morning eliot. >> good morning, i'm proud to be a bookend. >> bill: what a team here, right? >> there you go. >> bill: have you ever seen anything quite like this mitt

romney video. >> i'm beginning to like mitt romney because he is making life fun. >> bill: and you were all over this last night by the way. good job. >> it's hard not to be. this is a unique moment in politics where mitt romney -- it's as though somebody gave him truth serum and said we're putting you in front of your millionaire friends. tell us what you really think about it. wow, now we know. >> bill: it basically said almost half of the electorate there's no way i am going to get them or even try. right? >> horrendous politics but it is so much deeper. he is saying i don't like the 47%. they think they are dependant. and he is so wrong. these are folks working hard and struggling hard and are

makingens meet because they get a hand up the government has, and then succeed and pay their fair. everybody now knows that 47% don't pay income tax but they pay every other kind of tax. people pay tax directly proportion at it to the share of income they get. that's really important about the equities of our society and mitt is the one who is the moocher if anybody. i'm paying 35 or 40%. i'm not complaining. it's what you pay for a civilized society. >> bill: i think mitt romney can be part of the 47%, by paying zero federal tax. >> exactly. i mean, mitt -- you -- he just speaks to every worst stereo

type of the wealthy, unthoughtful, uncaring individual. i don't think that's who he is. i think he does care about people in the individual context, but not in the abstract. >> bill: what do you do if you are mitt romney, and the republicans are starting to panic a little bit. >> yeah. >> bill: he didn't back down. i guess you have to give him maybe credit for that stance. he stands by and says this is the difference between me and obama. >> at a political level he can't back down because he would lose all credibility. so he has to double down on the ethos of what he is trying to say. >> bill: yeah. >> i think the interesting moment be -- and my guess is the margin in the swing states will continue to broaden. right now the president is up by 5 to 7 points in the states that really matter. and will continue to broaden

probably after the debates. senate senateorial candidates will begin to run away from mitt romney. >> bill: eliot spitzer, of course "viewpoint" a must watch at 8:00 pm eastern every night. even scott brown said that's not my vision of society. >> even linda mcman said this is my vision of america. even she doesn't like him anymore. >> bill: this gets back eliot, doesn't it to the central, i guess question of who is the proper role of government right? and who government should be helping. we have had that discussion and battle since the founding of the

country, right? >> a lot of electoral politics is conducted at the superficial level. but underneath it we have two distinctly different visions. the one that president obama is articulating is really a very centrist vision in the heart and tradition of what this nation is all about, mitt romney is really on the fringe but it's a good debate to have. >> bill: it is. i was reading some letters of the "new york times." one woman said i got in my car and drove on a public road to take my kid to a public school and i called my parents who are on social security, so the idea that anybody who is getting anything from the government is a moocher or freeloader -- >> it's ridiculous. that's why i said last night, mitt are you really talking about the veterans who come home

who go to the va hospital? are they moochers because they are getting the benefit from the government? elizabeth warren said it so artfully whenever she first used the words captured in the video, the president said it in a way that could be taken out of context, in you didn't build that line. but it's appreciate what the government does. >> bill: exactly. i thought the nail in the coffin was paul ryan saying yesterday, mitt romney was really inarticulate. when your running mate says -- >> yeah. and it's not as though this isn't a guy who hasn't been schooled in the finest institutions. yeah, i think this video really is a turning point. also for the republican party.

>> bill: absolutely. i'm sure you will be back all over this again tonight. eliot we look forward to that. thanks so much for your time this morning. >> always a joy. >> bill: mr. bookend. eliot spitzer, host of "viewpoint," 8:00 pm eastern. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪

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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: heard around the country, and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 25 minutes after the hour. amanda terkel the senior political reporter for "huffington post" in studio with us on this important and busy wednesday morning, september 19th. so amanda, we were looking during the break here and i mentioned this to rich masters, the ten states where most of the people live, who pay no income taxes, the ones that mitt romney was talking about happen to be mississippi, arkansas, georgia, alabama, south carolina

new mexico, florida, idaho, louisiana, and texas. barack obama won two of those states in 2008. right? and one of them was kind of considered a swing state today. so basically mitt romney is talking about his base. >> yes. >> bill: he is talk about red states. and they all are moochers, freeloader freeloaders, and he doesn't even care about them because he knows they'll vote for obama. does he understand the electorate? >> i don't think he does. i think does he understand the electorate, his base or his philosophy. >> bill: hey, mark from newton

north carolina. >> caller: i worked two jobs 30 years, one in the military. i spent 38 years 11 months, and 7 days in the military i put above and i don't know the call of duty, and for someone to say i don't count, he is not going to represent me that's a shame. this is a chance for us and people right now are hurting. they don't need to hear more depressing things that happened to him in life. you earn these things in life. being leader -- they say leaders are born and some are made. but him with his attitude -- i seen the downsizing new words come into play in the last 20 years, downsizing reorganization, outsourcing,

these words before you can work at a job for 30 years and make a living and retire you know? i thank god that all of my children have graduated college. i have four children. and all of them are doing very well. but my grandchildren -- >> bill: they are the ones at risk with a mitt romney presidency. hey, mark well said, and thank you for your service to the country. but amanda that's the kind of person mitt romney is talking about, right? >> yeah, and i think mitt romney he likes to joke he is unemployed, but he likes to talk to more unemployed folks who really want to get back on their feet. people don't want to be on government assistance. >> bill: yeah, that's not who we are. strange politics that mitt romney is playing. if you don't have a dressage

horse, you don't count in his universe. it's always fun having you in the studio amanda. thanks for coming to see us. >> great. thank you. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪

it starts at $59 for the entire year for back up. put in code stephanie for your subscription. 18 minutes after the hour.

♪ >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio, and current tv. >> bill: 33 minutes after the hour. it is the "full court press" here on current tv and good to have you with us today. before getting into the hot topic of the day. i want to remind you again, if you are not yet registered to vote you have got to do it. most, most important. it's your civic responsibility

whether you are registering as a democrat, or republican, god forbid or independent go to our website there is a tab called rock the vote you can register immediately from our website or in some states you get a form that you email to your state. voter registration doesn't go on forever. some states cut off as early as early october, so do it as soon as you can. yes, the big story of the day is mitt romney's comments about 47% of the american people being dependant, wanting a government handout. they are going to vote for obama anyway so romney says he is not even going to try to get their vote. that video was released by "mother jones" magazine, and david corn the bureau chief,

good friend of ours here in washington, d.c. adam is a reporter who joins us this morning. congratulations on this journalistic coup. >> thank you it's exciting to be a part of it. >> bill: you did not have a reporter at the function? >> no, we did not. >> bill: someone at the function videotaped it? >> yeah, and david managed to facilitate production of the video for "mother jones," and we spent a couple of weeks cutting it into bite-sized chunks. >> bill: i was going to ask you how long you had the video in house, what you can tell us.

>> we have had it for weeks. i have known about it for a couple of weeks. it has been very difficult. >> bill: was there any discussion about the timing of the release -- did you hold it until the worst-possible moment for mitt romney or just until when you were ready? >> no, not at all. actually this has been reported -- we were going to public it this week no matter what, but we had to speed up the time line, because the "huffington post" also acquired part of the video and they -- they realized that we also had it, so they were rushing the publication, and we just started pushing things out. we have been preparing to release it for sometime and it was the week after the convention bounce, after mitt romney made a fool of himself pouncing on the tragedy in libya. >> bill: so the -- we talked mainly about -- and i guess the

real meat of the video is mitt's comments about the 47%, right? and it was just incalculatable to the romney campaign? and you realized this was the nugget? >> right. republicans complain half of americans don't pay taxes all the time, even though it is misleading. mitt romney characterized 47% of the country as people who don't want to take care of themselves or their lives. that's shocking to see somebody who wants to be president dismiss half of the country as freeloaders. >> bill: we want to think they care about everyone. reaching out and fighting for

every american. which is the point president obama made last night on the david letterman show. and certainly it seems if you are campaigning for president you would expect them to reach out to everybody. >> right. that's what is so shocking about it. and why mitt romney isn't out on the campaign trail saying half of the country sucks, which he said in this closed doors fund raiser. and this is the kind of thing that people should here before they vote for president. >> bill: the entire video has been released now. mitt romney said -- it was taken out of context, release the whole video. so you did. >> yeah we thought that was funny. we always planned to release the whole video, but we wanted to make sure we were getting the important parts out first. we had this story, and we wanted to explain what was happening

before we put the whole thing on line. >> bill: tell us about the other parts of the video. he also had comments about the middle east. >> right. romney's remarks about the middle east are shocking because it's a pre-abdocation -- george bush is very proud of the two state solution for israelians and palestinians. and obama started out trying to do something, and then gave up. but you have this big issue that really has a big impact on american interests in the middle east, and mitt romney is saying i'm going to kick the can down the road and see what happens.

>> bill: right. he says the two-state solution is unworkable. >> right. and most israelis and palestinians for now support it. >> bill: right. and he says we'll never work this out, so he almost said -- >> kick the ball down the field, which is very strange. >> bill: right. and then some day hope that they will work it out. >> you always say that republicans mock obama for the hoping. and here is mitt romney's strategy for one of the biggest geopolitical issues in the world is hope. >> bill: yeah, so there it is. and in addition romney talked about his roots, right? >> right. in addition to sort of expressing a whole lot of resentment for half of the country which are moochers and people who don't work for a

living, which is obviously not true, he said i would be having a much easier time if i was born of mexican parents. and he said he was kidding. and then he said of course if he had been born of mexican parents, his dad might not be a wealthy politician. so mitt doesn't realize how much of his childhood was sheltered and pampers, but also what other people go through. and you see that born out by the 47% marks. people who are working and paying payroll taxes and people who have worked all of their lives and are now elderly, and don't have incomes anymore. >> bill: right. the idea that he would have had a better time as an immigrant -- >> right. >> bill: born in mexico right? to the life of luxury that he

has -- >> right. >> bill: is mind boggling. >> it's sort of like mitt saying i wish i had my life as easy as the people i'm trying to self deport from the country. it's really extraordinary. >> bill: it's breathtakingly -- the response from democrats obviously may be expected but what i found more interesting, adam is the republican response. >> uh-huh. >> bill: scott brown saying oh that's not my vision of america. you know, don't associate me with mitt romney. linda mcman in connecticut saying that's not -- he just doesn't understand people. susan collins in maine saying he doesn't understand working families. bill chris toll "weekly standard" calling his remarks stupid and arrogant. >> you have seen a lot of blue state republicans come out and say we don't think like this.

and that's understandable. i think what is very interesting is you are seeing a split between the republican base and republicans wonks and intellectuals, where the base is saying makers and takers half of the country doesn't do anything. so if he wants to pump up the base he has to stick with us. >> bill: but the contradiction is the so-called makers are also takers. in fact they are the biggest takers of all. look at mitt romney he paid 13% at most -- >> >> bill: -- we should be part of the 47%, but he is taking with all of these tax loopholes and hiding his money in the swiss bank accounts he is taking big time and then turning around and attacking somebody who is on

social security because they work for 50 years and paid into social security for 50 years. >> that is extraordinary there is a fraction of this 47% who are millionaires who pay no taxes. >> bill: that's right. all right. let's break right there for a second. lots more to talk about, "mother jones." we can thank them for this romney video. we thank romney first of all. but "mother jones" got it to us. 866-55-press. you want to go right to the source. here he is 866-55-press 866-557-7377. >> announcer: on your radio, and on current tv. this is the "bill press show." ♪

>>it's something i've been waiting for a long time. >>join the debate now.

now to my point. (vo) jennifer granholm ... >>for every discouraged voter, 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 radio and on current tv. >> bill: 12 minutes before the top of the hour. the latest nbc "wall street journal" poll out today has president obama up 5 points over mitt romney in the national poll. if you look at the swing states he is up -- obama over romney 8 points in virginia and his approval rating at 50% now. the highest it has been in quite a while. and this was before "mother

jones" published the video of mitt romney's comments in front of that fund raiser on may 17th i think in boca raton. adam is the reporter for "mother jones" who released the video. jenny is in la port indiana. hi, jenny. >> caller: yes, i am. i would like to make a fairly quick comment. i just heard obama is up 5 points. my concern is it is not moving fast enough. and i'm shocked at the arrogance and the contempt that mitt romney has shown for -- for the public -- for americans, and his -- he is really only concerned with the millionaires, and i can't understand for the life of me how senior citizens in florida and people -- how they -- how they can vote for him, i -- i just can't understand it. aside from that, aside from all

of this, i think it's pretty scary, and very frightening to think that there is a -- a horrible possibility that he could get elected. >> bill: all right. jenny. i appreciate the call. thanks so much. on her point about the seniors, it's hard me to understand too. the seniors -- if they only knew what mitt romney thought about them. >> that's the interesting part right. the 47% a big portion of them are elderly. but this is one of the paradoxes -- >> bill: some of americans will vote for him -- >> absolutely. he leads unquestionably with voters over the age of 65. and this is one of the great paradoxes of american politics. they really relate to this idea of -- you know, when people start talking about moochers and

leaches who don't work and they expect you to do everything for them, they relate to that idea even if they are getting government assistance. so it is a paradox. >> bill: it is. it is the classic line i don't care what you do just keep the government out of my medicare. hello? some people just don't understand. and they don't -- they don't consider themselves moochers or dependent -- >> and i don't think they should. >> bill: exactly. >> they work hard and deserve to be taken care of in their old age. >> bill: and these military families deserve every one of the tax credits, most of them have made available to them. they should take advantage of those tax credits, but what is interesting here is what mitt romney thinks about people who do so. if he takes advantage of all of the loopholes he can, that is just being smart.

>> right. >> bill: but a guy who has worked his entire life at the local utility or something and retires and has nothing but social security to live on and accepts that social security then he is a bum. that's his view of the universe. there is no better way it seems to me he could reinforce -- not just the image right, or the perception but the reality that he is way, way up here and has no idea about what is happening with the rest of this country. >> i think what is interesting is i think that that idea of mitt romney is so at odds with who mitt romney was as governor. why did you work very hard to extend health insurance coverage to everybody in massachusetts, but he certainly thought that this group of wealthy donors -- this is what they wanted to hear. and whether or not this is the

real mitt romney it is impossible to know. it is -- his signature as governor with health care is now saying this. >> bill: that's a good point. we really don't know at this point, with seven weeks to go, who the real mitt romney is. but if this video -- was the real mitt romney the not so terrible governor in massachusetts or this guy in boca raton, florida. yesterday he didn't back away from it. so i think we have to take him at his word. adam, we could go on and on but congratulations. and thanks to the entire team at "mother jones," and thanks for what you are doing. i'll be back with today's parting shot. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪

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♪ >> announcer: the parting shot with bill press. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: on this wednesday september 19th, my parting shot for today there is nothing more fun in politicians than watching a politician self destruct. and mitt romney is doing a damn good job of it. first of all, there was his disastrous trip to europe where he managed to insult the population of every country he visited and then his nomination of paul ryan a real loser then

his ham-handed comments about libya, where we blamed president obama for being on the side of the terrorists, and now mitt romney has insulted half of the american people and all obama supporters calling them no good freeloaders who don't pay taxes and will vote for president obama for sure mitt romney says, because they want a government handout. it is discontain dripping out of every poor. could there be any stronger proof that he doesn't know about or care about any who is not as rich as he is. you wonder how he got this far then you remember all he had to do was beat michelle balk hahn

rick santorum, and herman cain. we'll see you back here tomorrow. have a good one.