[♪ theme music ♪] >> bill: good morning, everybody. what do you say? it is wednesday october 10th, good to see you today, and welcome to the "full court press" here on current tv. for the next three hours we'll be tackling the big stories of the day, and giving you a chance to sound off about them at 866-55-press. and get this mitt romney now

says he will do nothing to limit, restrict access to abortion to women in this country. and one month ago he said he was going to appoint justices like clarence thomas to the supreme court to overreturn rowee v wade. good morning, i will is good morning. >> good morning, everyone. mitt romney is spending the day in ohio. he is hitting the wroed chris christie, first in mount vernon and then later in delaware ohio, and his son josh joins him for a rally in sidney. both he and the president

campaigned in ohio yesterday. according to the latest cnn poll, obama does have the lead in the state. he is up 51 to 47% which is a bit of a smaller lead than he had going into the debates. cnn is giving gender gap the credit for that lead. we are seeing a lot of controversy over voter laws this season. and in ohio it's early voting that is causing a stir. last year the last three days of early voting were canceled for everyone except the military. the obama administration sued and it was agreed everyone must be allowed to vote the last

three days before the election. now they are taking it to the supreme court, republicans once again pushing this through, coming from ohio secretary of state, john houston. more bill coming up after the break. stay with us. matter. education is the key. it is the vehicle. it's the way in which we evolve. every journey is different every possibility is unique. but the beginning, the beginning is my craft. i'm an ordinary person striving to achieve extraordinary things. it started with a dream and i'm on my way there.

♪ >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation, on your radio, and on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 27 days to go now, and mitt romney pulling ahead or even in the national polls. president obama fighting back. good morning, everybody. here we go. it is wednesday, wednesday october 10th. great to see you today. start off the day with a lot to

talk about on the political front here and also a big hearing on the hill today on libya, and whether the state department had ignored some warnings that there could be some violence and some terrorism directed against the american embassy in benghazi. lots to talk about today, and jerry sandusky getting 30 to 60 years in prison yesterday, a punishment justly deserved. we'll give you a chance to talk about it here on the "full court press." that's what it is all about. our townhall for all of the issues of the day. give us at call at 866-55-press 866-557-7377. the whole team is here peter ogburn. >> hey. >> dan henning, fighting for the nationals. >> i am ready to go.

>> bill: ready to bring the nation tools a 2-1 lead. >> that's the plan. >> bill: monty cansler filling in for siprion bowling. there is no greater gift than this, dan has given me his ticket to the nationals game. >> they was very sweet. >> bill: he said you know boss -- >> in your dreams pal friend. >> you deserve it more than i do. >> i don't think anybody has ever been more excited about going to a game than dan is. he greets everybody i'm going to

the game this wednesday. >> i told a guy on the street this morning. i have never been to a playoff game before. >> bill: neither have i. >> they introduced this one guy who saw it the last time and he is 99 years old. >> i don't want to wait that long, dan. >> my understanding is the energy at these games are like nothing else. >> bill: i went online yesterday, 10:00 in the morning, just i bought tickets on line. we all probably got the same email. they start selling tickets at 10:00. i was on for an hour and could not buy a ticket. first of all i was in the waiting room for so long and i finally got in and tried every section of the park. even where you cannot -- you

would have to have a telescope to see -- i mean -- >> yeah. >> bill: whether that is way out -- i forget what they call it -- the scorecard -- >> the scoreboard walk. >> bill: right. $100 for the tickets. >> yeah. i actually got through yesterday to buy tickets, because i was thinking how great this would be i'll take my kid, but you can't buy tickets with seats next to each other. so i would buy tickets but we wouldn't be sitting next to year each other. >> bill: yeah i got out of the waiting room to buy, and i couldn't get through. >> you can try stubhub too. >> bill: what is that? >> stubhub.

>> they resell tickets, and mark them up just a touch. >> i'm going to the game today, did i tell you that? >> bill: oh, good. >> yeah. >> bill: we talk sports and politics and religions too this morning, hands down we know now who is the better spanish speaker. how about -- let's try barack obama a little bit. >> obama: [ speaking spanish ] >> bill: not only has he got the words right, he has the accent and the validity and the role. let's try george w. bush. >> hi, my name is mario garson. >> hola. >> exactly. [ speaking spanish ]

>> bill: yeah, hands down -- >> president obama even has the rolling rs. >> bill: he has really got it. >> that's really good spanish. >> bill: avery friedman is going to be along to talk about the sandusky sentencing yesterday. eliot spitzer, and david shuster will be along as a friend of bill a little bit later. but first -- >> announcer: this is the "full court press." >> headlines making us in back on baseball. no sweeping brooms in the playoffs last night. both teams that were up 2-0 failed to clench their division wins. the giants beat the reds 2-0 thanks to an error in extra innings to stay alive. and the oakland athletics forced a game 4 against the tigers.

today the washington nationals play host to the cardinals. and in the alds that sereries is also tied. >> bill: do they play today? >> yeah. >> bill: in new york. >> uh-huh. >> i would like to see one of those bay area teams come out of there. >> bill: i would do. >> there is a new video blasting the war on women, and making a call for a bill of reproductive rights. several celebrities are in the video, they make it painfully obvious what the message is that president obama and the birth control mandate need be supported. >> bill: cool. >> yeah, a lot of big names. and nasa scientists got really excited yesterday, when the mars

rover sound a shiny object -- >> bill: a penny! [ laughter ] >> bill would go through a lot to pick up a penny off of the grown. >> bill: on the rover maybe they have one of those things you use on the beaches -- >> metal detector. >> it seems the tiny glint may be a piece of plastic that fell off of the rover itself. but they have stopped everything until they are make complete analysis of what this is. >> i misplaced my watch. >> bill: i'm telling you, it's lincoln penny. >> wouldn't that be great. >> bill: all right. so we talked sports so far this morning, a little bit. and this usually when we talk the latest politics, but i'm also fascinated -- more fascinated this morning by a story that has to do with

religion. love to get your take on this. okay? there is a new survey out by the pew center on religion and public life. two important findings in it. one, it -- by the way, what ties these together for me is when i was growing up in delaware city delaware, and my father with a small -- had a small business. he had a gas station, which he owned and operated. press's esso service center the two things that we never talked about in hour house were politics and religion even though we went to church every sunday, and my father ended up being the mayor of our small town. and here i am making a living talking politics and religion.

back to this pew survey two important findings. number one is the number of protestants in this country has really gone down. for the first time there is not run protestant on the supreme court. not one. couple of jews the rest are catholics. number two there is not a protestant on the presidential ticket. third pew finds that 48% now of americans say that they are of one protestant religion or the other. that's the lowest it has ever been. that's the first finding in this. what does that mean about the protestant faith? 866-55-press. well it means there are more catholics, more muslims, but

also more people who profess no organized religion. there are now more and more americans who say i don't belong to any established religion. i'm not into religion, and i don't go to church. i may feel there's a god. doesn't say they are atheist all, but they do not asubscribe to any organized religion. what i find more interesting than the 20% is flip it over that means that 80%, 80% of americans do say yes, we belong to some organized religion. now compare to that -- you know, like in western europe in every country in western europe, it is less than 50% of people who asubscribe to an organized religion. usually it's in the 40, 45% range across the board. and for those who attend church

regularly, it is way way down. 16% in france, 10% in the uk go to church regularly. and here in this country 80% say they belong to a church and attend regularly. and when you think about that here is the real question i have got for you. what does that say about us as a people? if 80% of americans are such godly people if we as a nation are one nation under god, why are we still practicing the death penalty? hum? why are we still building nuclear weapons? for massive kills of innocent people around the world. why are we so gung ho on war? we're the most war like people, i think on the planet when you look at the wars that we started

in this country. why do we still have discrimination against people of color, gays and lesbians women muslims, arabs, all of which we tolerate, and a lot of it which goes on in the name of god. remember pastor charles wardly saying here is what we ought to do with days by and lesbians. >> build a great big large fence, 50 or 100 mile long put all of the lesbians in there. fly over and drop some food. do the same thing with the queers and the homosexuals. and have that fence electrified until they can't get out. >> bill: have that fee-nse.

and this guy still preaching, pastor willie wilson. >> can i talk to you for a minute. i ain't homophobic because everybody in here got something wrong with them. but when you get down to this thing, women falling down on another woman, strapping yourself up with something. it ain't real! that thing ain't got to feeling in it! [ laughter ] >> it ain't natural! any time somebody got to slap some grease on your behind to stick something in you! there's something wrong with that! your butt ain't made for that! >> bill: this in the name of god they are preaching hatred and discrimination. we may be 80% godly, but we're

ungodly in many ways. maybe we need less organized religion, and more genuine spirituality; don't you think. tell me what you think at 866-55-press. in the name of god, we'll continue. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪

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is this going to change the dynamic? (vo) the only network with real-time reaction straight from the campaigns and from viewers like you. >> so keep on tweeting and maybe you'll have your voice be part of this democracy and see your tweets up on our screen. >>now that's politically direct. ♪ >> announcer: radio meets television, the "bill press show." now on current tv. >> bill: 25 minutes after the

hour. avery friedman joining us a little bit later to talk about the sandusky prison term announced yesterday. right now we're talking about the latest in this pew survey about religion in this country, showing for the first time we are not a majority protestant nation, yet 80% of americans say they are a member of some church, have religious affiliation. 20% say they are not, which is the highest, but 80% still are. so why aren't we a more -- why do we -- why don't we reflect more christian values in the policies we espouse as americans. that's my question. hey, jim what do you say? >> caller: good morning, i think in the school now it is almost

illegal now to even mention the word "religion," and on o'reilly last night, he is saying obama will be wearing a dew rag? the house with. is that true? >> bill: of course it is. what an idiot. fran calling from springfield, missouri. >> caller: hi, the evangelicals spread fair in their churches about anyone who does not believe exactly the way they do. >> bill: totally, yeah. >> caller: you wouldn't belief the things they come up with. and because i was a student of [ inaudible ] and everything out there, i was told i was going to hell. >> bill: it was surprise me how

much hate is preached in the name of god and how hateful these evangelicals can be to people who don't -- as you say asubscribe to all of their views. >> caller: will are some true chrissance who don't pass judgment on people but they are few and far between. >> bill: and i'm not sure they are the christians who are in church every sunday quite frankly. paul, in seattle >> caller: good morning, bill. i would say the [ inaudible ] to world peace is not religious extremism because there's no middle ground. there's no negotiation, because in their view god does not negotiate, and so neither do they. and that's the problem here. the evangelical christian in

this country has bullied pretty much the rest of them. >> bill: that's a very good point. religious extremism is a big thing to worry about. 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 "bill press show." >> bill: 33 minutes after the hour here now, wednesday october 10th. join us in our chat room as well. whether you are listening on your local progressive talk radio station, on sirius xm or watching on current tv. you can go to our chat room at current.com, and click on the ink to the chat room and join

the conversation. you get to debate the issues that we're discussing here on the air. it is again, wednesday october 10th. we're talk about the latest survey by the pew center showing that while 20% of americans say they are not part of any organized religion, that still means 80% still are. higher numbers than anywhere in the world, but are we a better people because of that? and how do we show it? here is a little helpful advice if you are running short at the end of the month and looking how to make that up, something you ought to check out, incomeathome.com. doing business in over 80 countries today, so they know what they are doing, and making an offer you can take advantage of, no matter your age,

experience, or education, this is something you can do. you can literally earn money from your own kitchen table. if your dream is to earn extra money from home part-time or full-time, incomeathome.com. they are even giving away a thousand dollars to somebody just for checking them out. that somebody could be you. go to incomeathome.com. here we go back to the calls from st. louis hello carol, good morning. >> caller: good morning. i'm excited to talk with you. >> bill: thank you. i hope the cardinals are going to go easy on our nationals here tonight, carol. >> caller: i like the nationals too, i worked in d.c. for 35 years. >> bill: all right. good for you. you won't take it too hard if they lose? >> caller: no, won't. >> bill: what do you think about

this religion survey? >> caller: i like the survey that you talked about, because i think there is a difference between religion and spirituality. >> bill: yes, thank you. >> caller: and we have a lot of religious people who can tolerate the hate that is going on, that doesn't have the commendment that jesus christ had to give love. people need to realize he died and paid the price for everyone. it's not that we were this great people and all of a sudden and we are living holier than thou. and i think that's taken for granted too much. it's almost like america needs a spiritual awakening. we need a spiritual awakening, and, you know, try to follow some of the advice that jesus gave us, and i think we would

all be better off. >> bill: i sometimes wonder if these so-called christians have ever read the gospels. i think all they hear is the hatred that spews from the pulpit on sunday morning. >> caller: yeah, the ministers, i praise god for them but for a lot of them people have made them their high power. so they have made themselves a slave to a man that can't do anything for them. >> caller: excellent point. thank you for your call. sheila is in philadelphia. good morning. >> caller: good morning, bill. i'm 64 now, and when i was a little girl, everybody got up and went to church. but somehow -- i -- i don't

know. i think what happens is people become religious without the spiritual conviction. >> bill: i think they leave the spiritual conviction behind. >> caller: exactly. >> bill: they forget what religion is all about, which is it's not the exterior shell, right of being a member of a church it's really how you conduct yourself toward other -- look, it's the golden rule right? >> caller: and not just another human being, it is about -- i tell my kid -- my son listens to the republicans and feels like he is a loser, and i said you define yourself by how other people see you, but you have to define yourself by what god would think of you. >> bill: good point. >> caller: and these republicans they all say they are christians, but where are they christ like? >> bill: that's the question i

have been raising. you put it differently, but very, very well. if we are a christian nation why aren't we more christ like i guess is the question. kirkland in atlanta. how are you doing? >> caller: good morning, bill. how are you doing? >> bill: all right. what do you think about this. >> caller: first of all, god sent a word down to guide us. the problem of religion is they are trying to follow a law fulfilled fulfilled moses. but if we can follow faith, faithfully, we could fulfill our -- our destiny, but until we get religion out of the way, as far as being faithful we're

always going to have this problem. >> bill: so do you think it's -- even important for people to be part of an organized religion and go to church? >> caller: it is important to be taught the word of god. >> bill: yeah, but in order to get that word in order to get the truth, i think not is the answer. kirkland good to hear from you. let's go over to the eastern shore, salsberry, maryland. >> caller: good morning, bill i'm not a religious person, i was brought up to be fair to everybody. and i have had bad experiences with religion in the past and that's why i'm not part of an

organized religion. i had a discussion with a coworker last week and she is still under the impression that obama is a muslim and she knows he doesn't pray every day. and i said what does that have to do with anything? and i just feel like people who are not religious are pressured into performing. >> bill: how does she know that he doesn't pray every day? >> caller: well, she just knows it. >> bill: i know. that's just absurd and the idea that he is not a christian. i mean what does he have to do to prove he is a christian? i don't know. april, yeah, you point out there is a lot of ignorance out there, and hatred, again, to repeat in the name of god. we'll wrap up here with jay. jay calling from raleigh, north carolina. >> caller: good morning, as a

long man i grew up in the inner cities of chicago. i come from a line of fire and brimstone pentecostal preachers, and i'm a christian, but i'm not religious, most of the things i was taught growing up i no longer asubscribe too because it's nonsense but when somebody like they say, governor romney was a bishop in his religious faith, and he is comfortable lying like that. i have always questioned -- okay. iing don't know any more mons. and if you can lie straight faced like that and it wasn't bother you and you can talk about your sons lying like that and you do this comfortably? and they say for the most part

republicans are the religious party and this is okay with them? and nobody cringes? what kind of soul -- i would say soul beaker do you have? to listen to the lies and run with the lies, and then get on tv and tell a lie? what does that say about you and your compass inside. >> bill: yeah, absolutely, jay. and what does it say about the value of -- and the reality of belonging to an organized religion. i'll go back to where i started i think we need less organized religion in this country and more spirituality. we'll come back avery friedman that does legal analysis for cnn on the weekend and for the "full court press," he is going to tell us whether jerry sandusky got what he deserved or was it

overkill? stay with us on the "full court press" this wednesday morning. >> announcer: today you meets television, the "bill press show" now on current tv. ♪ grandmother. hello, paging dr. freud.

(vo) what is said here could decide the election. current tv presents coverage of the vice presidential debate. with unrivaled analysis and commentary. >> was this the game changer? is this going to change the dynamic? (vo) the only network with real-time reaction straight from the campaigns and from viewers like you. >> so keep on tweeting and maybe you'll have your voice be part of this democracy and see your tweets up on our screen. >>now that's politically direct.

bloc ♪ ♪ >> announcer: heard around the country, and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: it is wednesday october 10, '13th, '13 minutes now before the top of the hour good to have you with us on this wednesday morning. yesterday he stood in front of his accusers, stood in front of the judge, and heard the words,

jerry sandusky 30 to 60 years in prison. joining us is cnn legal advisor on the weekends avery friedman. good to talk to you. >> good to speak to you, bill. >> bill: it has been a long time. i understand you are headed to washington. >> yeah. >> bill: we look forward to welcoming you to our studio on the hill. >> yeah. >> bill: did they throw the book at him? >> the reactions have has thermo nuclear. but most of them are only 30 to 60? he has been stuck in this little cell getting ready for what he was going to say during

sentencing. don't you think he could have come back with something a little bit better say than saying i have been bit by the dog -- >> bill: it was pathetic yeah. and don't you think he could have come up with something better than i did not do those disgusting acts. >> well, he is appealing based on certain error, so he has to be careful with that. but there's nothing wrong in expressing compassion for those people who have suffered whether or not you agree with it. he knew he was -- he was looking at i think 442 years. >> bill: yeah. >> so the presiding judge had to come up with something that didn't make the criminal justice

system look silly, and actually i think what he tailored was sensible. it wasn't an over kill. a lot of people screaming for blood, but there's civil case out there. that will be taken care of. >> bill: yeah, what this really means is jerry sandusky will send the rest of his life in jail. >> he'll die in prison. and the wise guy comments we're reading, like make sure you don't drop the soap, that's not funny. yeah, he is going to have a problem in the criminal justice system while he is in jail. >> bill: yes, because he is a very well-known figure and his crimes are well-known. and not the kind of thing that fellow prisoners will say, yeah you got a bum deal. >> right.

>> bill: there is a certain honor among thieves. like robbing a bank -- >> yeah, you are okay. >> bill: right, but if it's sexual abuse particularly of minors, he can expect to get the worst possible treatment. >> i think that's right. but again we look at the tragedy of it, we say the sentence put this guy away for life and that's a good thing. >> bill: you can follow avery friedman online at averyfriedman.com, all one word avery is this the end of the road for penn state? does this mean we'll move on and forget about this scandal? >> remember the loui freeh report. >> bill: that's why i ask.

>> i think that reverberate. and they have engaged a special master to deal with the overload of civil actions that will be pending, and some of the insurance companies are even trying to get out of it now but it is not the end, it is only the beginning. what has hand yesterday is we removed clearly a really bad guy out of society, that's what should have hand. >> bill: yeah. >> and now the university has to deal with those victims who showed confound courage think about it bill. confronting this guy in that courtroom. give these kids credit. they stood up and said what they had to say. extraordinary. >> bill: and talk about what impact it had on them. >> well, they are altered for life. >> bill: so you still have the fact that this institution, penn

state, tolerated this there were other people who had been warned and did nothing. >> and also remember this too, bill, we had a couple of high-level officials down the road a piece, who are facing charges, essentially of a cover up and lying to law enforcement over this thing. >> bill: just quickly, he -- his -- his attorney said yesterday that they will appeal. were they just blowing smoke? >> no, i think there were some errors. it is reversible? i doubt it. >> bill: avery, great to catch up with you this morning. thanks so much for being with us. avery friedman, and avery averyfriedman.com. >> thank you, bill. >> bill: we'll come back and

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