[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> john: good morning. this is the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill live from our nation's capital. we thank you for joining us this morning on your radio on your computer or on current tv. it is a very big day. we'll be taking your calls all morning at 1-866-55-press. tonight, of course is the second presidential debate. we want to know what you think barack obama can do to turn this thing around. also, there's some controversy

about candy crawley moderating. the american family association thinks that discouraging homophobia is unchristian. hillary clinton shocks republicans by taking responsibility for something -- something no republican did after 9-11. to make sense of all of this right now, we head over to the deep underground bunker and lisa ferguson in the current news center. good morning. >> hey john, good morning everyone. it is round two of the presidential debates tonight and president obama is under a lot of pressure. if the polls mean anything which is debatable in itself but if they do, the president has lost some significant ground after his performance in denver two weeks ago. the president did have a steady lead in many swing states including new hampshire but it seems that's pretty much wiped out. a suffolk university news poll has the two candidates tied there at 47%. and a really shocking poll coming out of gallup and "usa today," the president has consistently been well ahead with women voters but now seems he's tied up there too.

the poll surveyed voters in 12 swing states and found an even split among likely women voters with each candidate taking 48%. that is pushing romney into the lead overall coming in at 50 to 46 against the president. but obama pollster joel beninson says there are some deep flaws in the polling, especially in the way gallup identifies likely voters. no matter what the poll numbers are though, we can expect a lively debate tonight. not only is the president trying to make up for his unenthusiast ic perform lance time. we're dealing with a town hall forum which makes for a more interesting debate. gallup has chosen 80 uncommitted voters to ask the candidates questions at hofstra university in long island. the candidates will each get a two-minute answer followed by another two minutes to debate the issue back and forth. it is a very different set-up than when you have just a moderator but don't think candy crowley is sitting this one out.

she plans on taking an active role during tonight's debate even though it technically is not up to her to ask any of the questions. more john coming up on the "full court press" after the break. stay with us. decide the election. current tv presents coverage of the presidential debate. with unrivaled analysis and commentary. is this going to change the dynamic? (vo) the only network with real-time reaction straight from the campaigns and from viewers like you. >>now that's politically direct.

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bruising, bleeding, or paleness. [ phil ] get back to the things that matter most. ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you. [ doctor ] enbrel, the number one biologic medicine prescribed by rheumatologists. [ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: broadcasting >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> john: this is the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill all morning. we're taking your calls at 1-866-55-press. and my god gentlemen there's so much to go over this morning from debate and the debate prep, of course. barack obama is working in an intense debate camp at a virginia golf resort. you know what that means my republican friends, he's spending more time on a golf

course. have you ever seen republicans get angry at a politician for being on a golf course too much in their entire lives? did we ever hear this about bush or eisenhower or any caucasian politician? we'll be talking about hillary clinton taking responsibility for benghazi. this has enraged republicans because it points to the fact after 9-11, the greatest security failure in our country's history, how many republicans took responsibility? zero. the security adviser got a prom oasmghts hillary clinton showing what leadership is. i think she just became president in 2016. we'll be talking about paul ryan washing clean pans in an empty soup kitchen for the benefit of photographers to show that compassionate conservatism is not dead. some great guests this morning rebecca barry of "buzzfeed" will be here talking about todd akin trying to rise from the dead in missouri and how no one's really asking mitt romney or paul ryan to re-- reputiate for todd akin.

they're having prayer meetings because one can hope that god hates women as much as todd does. judd legum will be talking about benghazi. we'll talk about voting rights and roll call's mayor smith of dith sha -- meredith shriner will be here to talk with us. we'll see how everyone will hate romney by february 1st. i think i need to get a dose of "full court press." you that is the "full court press." >> you gonna hook me up? >> you mentioned todd akin. >> john: what a guy. >> a new celebrity endorsement. he talked about abortion and legitimate rape will be joined on the campaign trail by michelle and jim bob dugger, the stars of the reality show 19 kids. >> would these be the same duggers who endorsed rick santorum earlier in the campaign

season for president? good to know. >> the couple who have 19 kids aging in range from 24 down to 2 will be at a missouri women standing with akin event today. >> john: women standing with akin. women who know their bodies can shut down -- it has been flogged to death but yet it is still not enough to talk about how deeply hateful of women and science this guy is. to say if you're raped you should be obliged to carry your rapist's child to term which essentially allows a rape is to pick out the mother of his child if he wants? >> yeah. if you're using that logic yes. >> john: and that a woman's body can shut it down if it is in the case of legitimate rape because we know how much women fake rape accusations all the time. this is a guy boasting of his christianity. >> there are nice -- it is nice

there are women standing up with akin because i don't think there is a woman alive who will lie down with akin. >> a huge night for peyton manning and the denver broncos on monday night football. the san diego chargers were up 24-0 at half time. bron cost came back after the break and scored 35 unanswered points to win 35-24. manning throwing for over 300 yards, did not get sacked once. >> john: which presidential candidate will make a grotesque metaphor at tonight's debate? >> good point. >> john: it is a great story. we have wonderful audio we'll be playing later on in the show. >> the mist riff the giant eyeball found on a florida beach has been solved. [ laughter ] >> the softball sized eye found last week at pompano beach is that of a swordfish according to the florida fish and wildlife folks. swordfish grow to ten feet in size and scientists believe an offshore fisherman caught the fish, cut the eye out and tossed

it overboard. >> john: i'm so glad we got that solved. wow. i have no way of following a giant swordfish eyeball. >> what do you do? softball sized eyeball on the beach? >> softball sized eyeball lying there in the sand. >> you know what i do if i see that? i walk on. i tig. >> you would ignore a giant eyeball? >> he picked it up. >> picture up the eyeball. he took it to the authorities. they put it on ice. they're still doing dna testing to absolutely confirm it is from a sword phish. it might be from a squid. >> this happened to me once when i was on acid by the way. a giant softball eye on my forehead. >> john: if you're watching on a week in the morning and you pick up a giant eyeball, you're one of the 60-year-old guys by himself with a metal-detector wearing sandals and black socks. i guarantee it. i want to see pictures of the guy when he found the eyeball. i will bet money. i'll do a mitt romney sized bet.

>> i'll bet his name was herb. >> john: i do feel bad for the swordfish. >> you got it. >> john: thank you so much, dan. good god almighty. good we have some serious news here. all right. so let's get started. tonight is the debate. obviously barack obama is preparing in williamsburg, virginia. on a golf resort. now, this is interesting for a number of reasons. of course, i've never in my life seen a president criticized as ferociously as this president for golfing. you recall that president bush did not stop golfing until 3,000 soldiers were killed in iraq. he kept on playing and playing and finally it wasn't until the 2008 campaign season was upon us that he said oh, it looks bad for me to keep on playing golf while our soldiers are being slaughtered in a war we didn't have to fight. no critiques about bush playing golf back then but we get them for the president. he's now prepping and of course,

i see a parallel. i want to know your thoughts on this at 1-866-55-press. a parallel between how conservatives reacted to paul ryan's debate performance and how progressives reacted to the president's debate performance a week earlier. if conservatives had come out last week and said joe biden may have had a flashier debate performance. he might have won on style. our guy won on substance and facts, it wouldn't have been true but it would have sounded good and they would have been able to make a fair case. instead, was it our conservative -- what did our conservative brothers and sisters do? they flipped out and blamed martha radatz for being bias. it showed their guy didn't win. david shuster was there for current tv. as soon as the debates were over, there were republicans fuming about martha radatz. let's look back to a week earlier. if, after the first debate, if democrats had gotten some organizational skills and come together and said mitt romney clearly was the more polished debater. he's had 7,000 primary debates

up against the likes of perry and gingrich, he's more battle tested, more comfortable but the president won it on substance and facts and the tricky numbers, they would have had a fair case. instead, democrats and republicans flipped out. they said our guy lost. so the media follows that narrative. the media likes to follow the narratives of the right wing generally and we saw that in benghazi but when -- which we'll get to -- when it came to the debate, i think that whoever seems to be having the most fun and back me up on this if you agree. whoever seems to be having the most fun in the debate is considered the winner at the end. >> that's a really good way of putting it actually. i don't think anybody put it that way. >> john: whoever is enjoying themselves the most, conveys the most relaxation and greater sense of being in control of the dynamic. this is what we saw with senator obama and senator mccain in 2008. now, back then, obama wasn't a great debater. he was very good. he came off as a boring moderate.

in 2008, that's all we needed. my theory is that going into the first debate, they thought they were going up against right wing mitt. you'll recall, mitt romney has been lying to conservatives pretending to be a lot more right wing than he really is. when eric fehrnstrom made the etch-a-sketch comment on cnn of course, that signaled he was going to have to stay conservative for that much longer. after he pretty much came out and said yeah, we don't mean it and when the general election comes along everyone flipped out. the pressure was on mitt romney to prove he wasn't a fake conservative so he stayed a fake conservative through the entire convention and came out and sold himself as this right wing sort of compassionate conservative, compassionate in his personal life clearly. deeply the opposite when it came to policy. so i think that barack obama went into the first debate expecting he was going to be facing the right wing mitt and instead, the etch-a-sketch ification took place the night before the debate and suddenly the

massachusetts moderate was back. that fake conservative mitt that all the ron paul people hate so much was back in full force. i don't think the president was prepped to compete against that guy. it caught him off-guard and it caught all of us off-guard. one can presume the president is planning on going up against the current incarnation of mitt romney tonight. the mitt romney who no longer means that 47% of americans are moochers. now -- or victims rather. moochers is what ayn rand would say. ayn rand is who paul ryan admired before he lied and said he didn't follow her. i love republicans who call in and talk about this by the way. it is 1-866-55-press. here's our question of the day. what advice, friends of bill, would you give the president if you're in that room, if you can just shove axelrod and plough aside, type up more e-mails that no one is going to read, what would you say to the president to land a knockout punch.

i want to know because i think the president is in a very good position if he can relax enjoy himself and have fun. i would do what joe biden did and bring up the 47%. it is never too late to ask mitt romney a few questions. such as were you lying to that roomful of advisers when you said that 47% of americans see themselves as victims. that 47% of americans want free stuff and don't want to pay taxes. were you lying then? and if that's the case, do you apologize to the roomful of donors that you lied to? were you lying the next day to the fox news audience when you doubled down and supported the comments? remember, he did that. he went on fox and tried to own up to the statements before flip-flopping. so does he want to apologize to the rich guys? does he want to apologize to the fox news audience who he told he really did believe that. does he want to apologize to the conservatives who defended him. there is a mean subset of the republican party that's into this. i'm the 53%. i pay my taxes and you lazy

waste rolls don't. those creeps defended mitt romney. likewise, does he want to apologize to those folks he called victims for lying about them and saying that they were all automatically in the tank for obama when the reality is most of them are concentrated in red states. and if you want to apologize to the american people for holding two different views on this because in the 47% narrative he managed to insult your grandma all seniors all working poor, rich guys like himself who have gained the system to pay less in federal taxes and veterans and he also managed to insult active duty combat troops because they are exempt from paying federal taxes. mitt offended all of those people and then he tried to double down on it and he tried to flip-flop on it and as the democratic party held its feet to the fire on this, they really haven't. it was nice of biden to bring it up. i wanted to know what did mitt mean and when did he mean it. that would be an area that barack obama could go into. we want to know what you think. call us at 1-866-55-press.

we'll be taking your calls all morning. got a great line-up of guests. it will be a riot. we'll talk about benghazi as well. we'll be right back. this is the "bill press show." >> announcer: this is the "full court press," the "bill press show" live on your radio and on current tv. >>only on current tv. then how'd i get this... [ voice of dennis ] ...allstate safe driving bonus check? dose of politics from a fresh perspective. >>i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. >>only on current tv.

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>>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking? >> 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." >> john: this is the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill all morning.

we thank you so much for joining us. you can call the show at 1-866-55-press. coming up, rebecca bird from "buzzfeed." first, a brief quote. here's someone you should google. the nam's name is de vries. he worked for george romney throughout the 1960s. writes that mitt romney is a far cry from the kind of campaign and conduct i saw during the seven years i worked in george romney's campaigns and served with him as governor. george would never have been seen with the likes of sheldon adelson or donald trump. this was said in a telephone interview. he wrote a 700 word essay he distributed to the media. mr. de vries said he was annoyed by mr. romney's repeated reference to his father as an inspiration is. it on issues? no. is it on the campaign? no. while it seems mitt would do anything to close a deal, george romney's strength as a politician and officeholder was his determination to develop and

hold consistent policy positions over his life. that is walter devry. you will be hearing more about him i hope. bruce is calling us from columbus ohio. good morning. you're on the "bill press show." >> caller: good morning, john. how are you? >> john: nice to meet you. >> caller: i think the president should call mitt romney out on as many topics, detrimental things about his character as possible. the 47% the refusal to show more than two years of taxes. i mean there is a number of things that he could call him out on but i think he should just hammer those things and remind people of the character of the person who he's running against. >> john: were you, if you were advising the president, have him call out governor romney on his positions on abortion? >> yes. >> john: do you think illegal immigration would come up? it wasn't mentioned once in the v.p. debate. >> caller: that, too because i know latinos -- i'm not sure -- mitt will flip-flop as many times but at least get him on

record and the president should double down so you mean what you say. throw his own quote back at him because that will hold his feet to the fire for anything he says after that. >> john: i agree with you. thank you for the call, bruce. i appreciate it. he's really right bruce from columbus. i would actually call him out on the dream act and make him say do you support it or not? where do you stand on this? when they want to say barack obama hasn't shown leadership on the illegal immigration issue this is the friend who moved national guard troops to the border, who fought for the dream act, who had this executive order legalizing the dream act. this is a president who has a record number of deportations and under his administration, we have seen a net zero loss in illegal immigration. you can blame that on the poor economy and in that case, george bush gets credit for illegal immigration slowing down. mark in denver, colorado. good morning. you're on the "bill press show." >> caller: good morning. okay. well i guess i would say i don't know if mitt's character issues

are the way he wants to go. i think that he needs to do a lot of the flip-flopping. he needs to call out -- well, on such and such a date, this is what you said and now you want to say this. and try to stay away from professor obama and the dry numbers and all of that that, you know, yes we saw as important in the first debate but really in the end it just made him come off as professor obama spouting numbers while the other guy is spouting all of these great red meat slogans. >> john: i couldn't agree more. i said before the debate two weeks ago if the obama comes out as academic and professorial, it is over. it worked well against mccain. it won't work against the mitt bot 2012. >> caller: correct. >> john: what areas of flip-flopping would you want to highlight? >> caller: one of the ones i think would be very important and the reason why it would be important is to try to actually go after his base is, in fact,

obama care and how he had -- oh, first day we're repealing obama care. and then of course, recently on "60 minutes," no, of course we're not going to do that. we want to have these provisions and you know, have it pointed out that hey those provisions from obama care or from -- that you want to put in place are already there in obama care. >> john: right on. mark, thank you for the call. he makes a really good point. i would call him out not only on flip-flopping but how do you plan on repealing obama care on day one without a 60-vote majority? you incredible lying hump. the president may choose a different lexicon. we'll be taking more of your calls when we return at 1-866-55-press. i'm john fuglesang. this is the "bill press show."

(vo) what is said here could decide the election. current tv presents coverage of the 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. >>now that's politically direct.

[ ♪ theme music ♪ ] on your radio and on current tv, this is the bill press >> announcer: radio meets television. the bill press somehow. know on current tv. >> john: i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill press. we're taking your calls at 1-866-55-press. want to know what advice you would give president obama going into the second presidential debate tonight. being moderated by cnn's candy crowley on the great isle of long in new york state where i'm from. it is great to be here. i would love to get some republicans to call in, to comment on the fact that you're

about to vote for a guy who says he's going to be the man who can stand up to iran and who can stand up to china and can stand up to syria and can stand up to putin but he can't face the ladies on "the view" or david letterman. what a guy! sharp tongue women those "view" hosts. that's what he said when he was speaking to those rich tea bags that he was lying to about the 47% and called them sharp-tongued women. i guess he doesn't really have the equipment to handle that kind of female. we're taking your calls. james is calling us from newark. good morning james. you're on the "bill press show." >> caller: thank you. >> john: i'm terrific. i'm better now that you've called. what's up? >> caller: just a point of this whole political thing is like a waste of time. you got people on tv lying lying, lying every day all year. america that i used to know has gone down the drain.

there's no jobs. there is low pay. and then you get the same people coming back and telling me the same thing over and over again. it is going to get better. it's going to get better but they keep wanting you to give more and more and more until you don't have no more. >> john: i agree with you. are we going to be cynical and defeatist and miserable about it or fight to make america a better society? >> caller: you have to get out there and fight because obama said something on one of his last -- i was watching tv, he said that he tried to change -- he said he tried to change the white house from the inside but we have to help him change it from the outside. >> john: yeah. >> caller: everybody got that message. that means we don't stand up and fight for every single thing that america stands for, then we're going to accept anything that the republicans will give us. >> john: i think you're right. the politicians don't actually lead. it is people who lead. the politicians follow. thank you very much for the call. and you can't get discouraged.

it is really easy to. but you know what? that's what he want you to do. the g.o.p. and the aristocracy and the people who own your society want you to stay home, fat, drinking beer, watching kardashians and to check out of the process. this is democracy friends use as directed. von is up at an ungodly hour. >> caller: i'm on the clock. this gets me through the night. you know, obama needs to hammer the 47%. some of those people -- all of those people that was waiting on him in that private meeting that fund-raiser are the 47%. and obama needs to ask him are you concerned with the people that were serving you when you was with these high donors that they were the 47% while you was calling them victims? and i haven't seen on foreign policy -- >> john: before we get there

tell me about the 47% because what we were saying before on the show, i think when mitt romney doubled down on the 47% statement on fox news, you know, that was when he made a monkey out of himself and all of his supporters because either he was lying to the people in the room, the rich donors, he was lying to the fox news audience. or he was lying to all of us when he flip-flopped and said he never meant what he said when he said it. >> that's a good question. it is posed like that to him in the debate, he's got him either way. i would hope that somebody in the obama camp is listening to your show. >> john: four words von. what did you mean? that's what the president has to have him with. what did you mean when you said this? >> caller: exactly! you know. romney has five boys. romney evaded vietnam. he was pro vietnam but he didn't want to fight. he went to france. he has five boys. romney and ryan advocating war. they get in, we're going to war. >> john: well, i don't know --

i don't know if we're going to send troops to war. i know they'll be bombing iran but that could happen if barack obama is re-elected anyway. >> caller: that's true. the question needs to be asked all of these young men going to war, you have five boys, would you want to send one of your boys to war? >> john: no. they asked him that in 2008 and he said his boys were serving his country by trying to get him elected president. that was their national service. von, you're mistaken about one thing. it is a very important point. he didn't just dodge vietnam. he didn't just support vietnam and not go. lots of republicans did that. george bush supported the war and avoided going. rush limbaugh got deferments for anal cysts. pat buchanan, they all supported the war. newt gingrich avoided going but the most damming thing about mitt romney, what makes him worse than the right wing chicken hawks, mitt romney supported the draft. he took part in a protest at

stanford university in favor of the draft! not just the war. but supporting the concept of a draft which is what, for poor kids to go be canon fodder. he was never going to be subject to it. when he was doing his missionary work, he was living in a castle in bordeaux, france. his service to his country was trying to get french people to quit drinking wine and join the mormon church. that's what he did. so it is not just enough to say he dodged it. he supported the war and the draft. his father was against the war and by the time mitt got back and was safe he came out against the war as well. as i call it, a boy's first flip-flop. please remember that detail. it is really important. it is why he's the west of all of the right wing hypocrites on vietnam. next time your right wing friends want to spit on jane fonda, remind them who the real bad guys and cowards are. jon is calling us from los angeles, california. good morning jon. >> caller: good morning. >> john: hi. >> caller: you know, i think the topic tonight -- the advice for

president obama is a good topic. he needs advice for the way he got whipped in the last debate. if you want to talk about flip-flopping, let's talk about obama and gay marriage. >> john: let's talk about it. >> caller: in 2008 he said marriage is between a man and a woman. now he knows he needs the gay vote. >> john: i'm glad you called, jon. >> caller: what's he doing now? bill press is cleaning al gore's house now. >> john: jon is it going to be you ranting about barry obama? do you want to talk like men jon or are you going to sit there and rant? >> oh, sorry john. >> john: i hope you're still listening to hear me call you a cowardly little bee-otch. no dialogue there at all. you know, man jon i wish you would call back because if you do, i'll treat you with more respect than you treated me or this president or this audience.

i'll give you the courtesy of a dialogue because there's nothing you say i'm afraid of talking about. this is what we're going to hear. homophobes accusing the president of having been annex homophobe. barack obama was never against gay marriage. he played it safe. he try angulated. bill clinton signed the anti-gay defensive marriage act. he was running against bob dale for re-- bob dole for re-election. if bill clinton had vetoed the defensive marriage act which was never to defend marriage. it was a ploy by republicans to make bill clinton look bad in a re-election year. he had to sign it because if he hadn't, bob dole could have become president and taking advantage of the massive homophobia in our country and it would have been worse for gay americans if clinton hadn't done it. barack obama was following the same script. of course he wasn't against gay marriage and it is not technically a flip-flop. the president has no power over this policy. he can't sign an executive order mandating -- allowing gay marriage in the states. he very wisely said it was a

states issue. it is a false equiv len is i and if you're a homophobe you're not allowed to be fake outraged over the president having been opposed to marriage equality. you incredible coward silly person. rick is calling from scottsdale, arizona. >> caller: i think the president needs to call romney out on every lie and the biggest clue is if that man's mouth is moving, he's lying. >> john: okay. let's get more specific. which lies do you think the president needs to call him out on? because there's a lot of them. >> caller: well, there's no way he can keep the bush tax cuts and not take it out on the middle class. >> john: exactly. >> caller: middle class has taken cuts from the beginning of bush on. we're the ones who paid for all of these overpriced contracts the blackwater and halliburton. it is not the rich. >> john: you're right. >> caller: they pay, as a percentage of their income,

compared to what middle class -- they pay nothing. >> john: we don't have a deficit problem. we have a revenue problem. >> caller: romney is so out of touch with reality, he would tell you credence clearwater was better when you were with him. >> john: i almost get the credence clearwater joke. i think you're right about the tax cuts. how can this guy claim he wants to cut taxes 20% across the board and still balance a budget with a fiscal cliff looming. if you're mitt romney and you decide i want to buy another yacht and you buy a yacht and then you decide i like my yacht so much, i want to have all of my free time so i'm going to quit my job at bain bain capital and live on my yacht, you have to pay for the damn thing. if you have the money going out to pay for the yacht but no income coming in you can't afford your yacht. mitt romney wants you to buy a yacht and quit your job. it is not responsible and it's not sane and there is nothing

about mitt romney's fiscal policy that is conservative. taking your calls at 1-866-55-press. when we come back. i'm john fuglesang. this is the "bill press show." >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv, 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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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: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> john: this is the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang. we've taken your calls all morning at 1-866-55-press. want to know what your advice would be for the president in the second debate tonight. i don't need to have -- i'll be

covering the debate tonight for current tv along with governor spitzer and governor granholm. after the last time, it was way too many depressed democrats. i don't need to be around that. i'm not a democrat but i like them. i don't like seeing them miserable and hung over. president obama, do something for your base. we got a great letter from lynn redding. romney's base does not care if he lies. they do not care if he and ryan are liars. a, they think the democrats are lying, too. b, the whole idea is to get the black man out of the white house and it doesn't matter to them how. i live in texas and talking to these people is like talking to a table. they do not understand empirical evidence and objective data. not even my so-called intelligent friends. i thank you for the e-mail, lynn. i agree with you except for one point. i don't know if the whole idea is to get the black man out of the white house. i'm very, very loath to automatically presume racism on everybody who is against obama for the simple reason that number one they want us to call

them racists. it is a badge of honor now. and number two it doesn't matter. he could be whiter than an albino mime and they would depies him just as much. let's not forget how they treated president clinton. as much as they hate him he's been allowed to compromise. they have never worked with him. they worked with bill clinton. but bill clinton was accused of murder. bill clinton's wife was accused of being gay. bill clinton was impeached for his personal life. none of these things have happened to this president yet. so keep in mind they would hate him no matter what his color. and i think that we have to use the racism line judiciously. for example, there was the -- oh dear, whose son said this the other day? do you know who it was son's yesterday in a fund-raiser said that president obama needs to go back -- we need to send him back to kenya. that's racism. the birther stuff that's racism. donald trump talking about how the president wasn't really born here. that's racism. mitt romney not refuting donald

trump, that's racism. automatically wanting someone -- automatically calling someone a racist because they hate obama and want him out of there so the rich can get a decent tax cut we gotta be careful about that. joe -- >> it was the son of tommy thompson who said that from wisconsin. >> john: you think tommy thompson, the guy of that eminence would have a son who's not a damn fool. >> weirdly enough, tommy thompson's name isn't named timmy t. >> john: timmy t. thompson. that's racism. birth errism is racism. and i'll tell you why it is simply. these people accusing the president of not being a citizen. the birthers, the hopeless remonthics. they're the "star wars" fans who defend -- but these people have never in their lives ever once demanded a caucasian politician show their birth certificate. they've never even politely asked a caucasian politician to

show their birth certificate. this president has shown two birth certificates. they believe he owns a time machine which he used to place a false birth announcement in a hawaii newspaper in 1961. that's institutionalized bigotry. you don't have to have late red enough -- hatred in your heart it is when you hear something racist, you don't even question it. timmy thompson, he's a racist. joe, you're calling us from seattle, washington. good morning you're on the "bill press show." >> caller: good morning. i approve this ad. i gree with the caller before. for me, it is not a topic-specific lie that bothers me. it was the quantity. i believe within the first debate every time there was a lie said, he would have said before i get started with the rely, i want to -- with the reply, i want to make sure the correct figures are there. we would all feel differently about that debate. >> john: i agree. i think you're right. >> caller: i don't think you can

use the word marlarkey but i think that like tonight watching your show, like when you kind of correctly labeled that idiot that hung up the phone, right. >> john: cowardly bee-otch. >> caller: that's what i'm going to remember at 2:00 in the afternoon. the rest of the stuff i won't but i will remember that because that was the truth. >> john: i would love to see the president call romney a double talking turkey bee-otch. i think that would be beneath the office. people want to have a gotcha moment in the debates. i'm more afraid of gotcha elections than gotcha moments. the president tried a zinger that fell pretty flat. but i think that as long as he just keeps on mitt romney about what mitt romney really believes and most importantly, the most important thing he needs to do is to drive a wedge between mitt romney and middle class voters. if he can succeed in that, it is his, would you agree jo?

>> caller: i don't know because i don't think the average voter is going to be smart enough to recognize a wedge. like you said about texas, it is like teaching dead sheep to dance. and i think the message needs to be short and i mean really, wouldn't we feel differently if we could say well, he stopped at 27 times and put the right number in there. none of us would have forgot that. >> john: i thank you for the call jo. you can't teach a dead sheep to dance but you can teach a dead horse how to do the electric slide. you get a 77,000 deduction on your dancing horse? that's the kind of wedge i'm talkin' about. we want to know what you think at 1-866-55-press. it is the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang. thanks for joining us on this beautiful tuesday morning. >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." now on current tv.

(vo) always outspoken, now unleashed. joy behar. >> on my next show i'll talk to acting great kathleen turner who is using her trademark sexy voice to speak out in the war against women.

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> john: this is the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang. filling in for bill all morning and taking your calls at 1-866-55-press. rebecca berg of "buzzfeed" will be joining us in just a minute. i do want to talk about benghazi briefly and for the rest of the hour. this is mrs. clinton speaking yesterday. >> i take responsibility. i'm in charge of the state department. 60,000 plus people all over the world. 275 posts. the president and the vice president certainly wouldn't be knowledgeable about specific decisions that are made by security professionals. they're the ones who weigh all of the threats and the risks and the needs and make a considered

decision. >> john: we're going to invite you to call up and give us your thoughts on benghazi and mrs. clinton's statement for the rest of the broadcast in addition to tips on how you would coach president obama for the debate tonight against the rom bot. here's something to think about which i touched on briefly. if the president -- if the administration, if the state department was somehow involved in a cover-up or lying to the american people, then they have to have a light shown on them and take the scrutiny and democrats have to lead the fight. democrats have to prove that they're morally superior to republicans and will hold the feet of their own politicians to the fire in the name of honesty. however, when 9-11 happened, which republican in the administration took responsibility? the greatest failure of national security in our nation's history, what happened to the national security advisor? she got promoted to secretary of state. republicans are furious about hillary clinton because they can't stand seeing an adult take responsibility for anything. we'll be taking your calls when we come back. this is the "bill press show."

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are you in good hands? [ ♪ theme ♪ ] joan this is the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill all morning. we're taking your calls at 1-866-55-press or you can tweet me at john fuglesang on the twitter. getting your thoughts on benghazi on hillary clinton taking responsibility like an adult should. or on president obama's debate tonight and what you think he should do to come back and fight mitt romney. right now, it is time to go make since of all of this crazy

who-ha at the current underground center. >> good morning, everyone. tonight's debate will be a looser and more relaxed format with a town hall set-up but behind the scenes, everything is still very strict. the debate does not start until 9:00 tonight but this morning all 80 participants will already start arriving at hofstra university where they'll rehearse with moderator candy crowley. the goyle is to keep everything -- the goal is to keep everything as secret as possible so everyone is using dummy questions during rehearsal this morning saving the real ones for tonight. crowley will see the questions beforehand and have the chance to cut and reorder them but neither the candidates nor their campaigns are getting any access. there were also strict time limits and rules tonight. all part of the effort to stop any surprises. but it is the debate so there's almost always surprises like in 1992 when george bush checked

his watch. that's when he was up against bill clinton who did a remarkable job during that debate. politicians on both sides of the aisle are calling his performance the gold standard of the town hall format. that means both of tonight's candidates will likely try to channel that same clinton energy. although so far, neither of them has been as strong during that town hall style of debate. moderator candy crowley is also up against some big challenges tonight. for one women's issues have been all but invisible during the debates this year. so have other social issues like gay rights and immigration reform. for another jim lehrer set the standard of the moderator playing a more hands off role. both of these things could be seen as really going against the grain of what crowley is all about. now, she does plan on getting specific and asking some tough follow-up questions but she is of course limited by the topics of the audience's questions.

more john coming up on the "full court press" after the break. you can join us in our chat room current.com/billpress. (vo) what is said here could decide the election. current tv presents coverage of the presidential debate. with unrivaled analysis and commentary. >> was this the game-changer? is this going to change the (vo) the only network with real-time reaction straight from the campaigns and from viewers like you. >>now that's politically direct.

>> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv. this is the "bill press show." >> john: this is the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill all morning taking your calls at 1-866-55-press. taking your comments on the twitter at john fuglesang. again, with benghazi, if the democrats were somehow dishonest with the american people, they have to have a light shown on them but let's go back to 9-11. can you imagine any democrat

using the loss of american life, an attack on our own soil by terrorists against the president in the weeks following 9-11? can you imagine what would have happened to any democrat or independent who dared exploit those murdered by terrorists for political gain? that's what we're seeing right now. perry's death was exploited by the right wing in the so-called fast and furious scandal which wound up actually just not being the scandal they told us it was. we're seeing the same thing right now with the very g.o.p. congressman who voted to cut security for our embassies are now exploiting the tragic loss of life purely as a cheap political chip. i want to see the president actually bring that up tonight and i want to actually see the president go on the offensive about it because this did not happen after 9-11. that was a time when we all came together as a country after a terrorist attack and this is proof that mitt romney and the entire g.o.p. are the dividers, not the uniters. let us know what you think on benghazi and hillary clinton taking responsibility, again something no republican did

after 9-11. wendy walker also writes, here is a great point. barack obama should ask mitt romney if it is ethical that ceos have threatened to fire workers who don't give money to g.o.p. or vote for barack obama. great point. talking to you kochs. lot to go through right now. my brain is overflowing with all of the information going on today. i think i need to have me a real solid i.v. drip of the "full court press." >> i can dumb things down for you. i'm very good at that. headlines making news on this tuesday. good morning, everyone. move over, ricky gervais the golden globes have new hosts. nbc announcing that tina fey and amy poehler will cohost the awards ceremony in january. the two star in the show's "30 rock" and "parks and recreation" and previously worked together on "saturday night live." >> john: smart move for nbc and amy and tina, both lovely people. it will be very good.

the only way rickyer have jase is if he burned an effigy of john travolta. there's no way he can go edgier. he tried to deedge last year and it was boring. >> pizza hut backed off a challenge it issued to audience members at tonight's president's debate. the pizza chain dared anyone at the town hall style debate to ask obama and romney what their favorite pizza was and whoever did it with www.a pizza -- would win a pizza a week for the next 30 years. after receiving backlash in a place where serious issues need to be discussed they moved the contest online. if someone asks the question tonight, they'll honor their offer. >> john: doesn't this make pizza hut the loser? like you just want to -- pizza hut. you get a plug-in for your product? >> who doesn't want a lifetime of boiled pizza? >> john: who doesn't want a lifetime of unfrozen pizza? i can see michelle obama waking

up in a cold sweat. >> former president george w. bush has a new hobby to keep him busy. he's become a painter. "new york" magazine tell us the 43rd president has taken art lessons and in his free time between trips to africa and his work at southern methodist university, he sits at his texas ranch painting both landscapes and portraits of his -- >> john: they sold the set. the ranch was a set. the ranch was purchased when he ran for president. it was never his home. he had never lived there. that's why he was clearing brush. he was clearing brush because he was afraid of horses. there's no animals in on the ranch. he now lives in a dallas suburb. so that was one inaccuracy. i'm glad he's found a hobby since no one has asked him in the campaign this year. only those two? >> that was three. >> john: i want more. i want more "full court press." >> we'll do it next hour. >> do you really want a lot of that? drag it out.

>> john: dab is a great -- dan is a great broadcaster. i would have you here the whole hour if it was my show. >> dan, get out! >> get the hell out. >> john: we'll be taking more of your calls on the debate and bib ghazi. i'm pleased to welcome to the show someone i've admired for awhile, from puz feed, please welcome -- from "buzzfeed," rebecca bird. thank you and welcome to the "bill press show." >> thank you for having me. >> john: what a pleasure to have you and thanks for being had. i understand you've been spend quite a bit of time focusing on the increasingly troublesome missouri race. >> i'm actually in missouri this week going around to a number of akin events. it is as interesting as ever. >> john: i'm curious as to what you've noticed. all we hear, you know, in the rest of the country is that akin inexplicably is still in the race despite the fact most of the g.o.p. has shunned him and

he's really stayed competitive with claire mccaskill in one of the most depressing turn of events in history. >> he is still in the race. it is incredible. he is rated as a tossup. within few points of mccaskill. he has no money to speak of. and yet people hear in miss -- here in missouri are so disenchanted with claire mccaskill and the democrats in general, they would be willing to vote against her and by default vote for todd akin. >> john: this is confounding on many levels. first off i do want to say there have been many national republicans who have come to the aid of todd akin. america's sweetheart, newt gingrich campaigned for him. let's not forget he's got santorum behind him. so please tell me what exactly is it that claire mccaskill has done that has caused the

voters of missouri to -- >> i've been asking akin supporters about this as i went around to supporters this week. the issues that come up time and again are really just issues. some of the issues including abortion and gay marriage are ones that people are really passionately pro akin because of -- and then you talk about issues like the affordable care act or another one is the deficit. these are the issues that people have soured on claire mccaskill. >> john: i can understand the abortion issue although how you could still support todd akin after his comments on abortion is beyond me. is claire mccaskill a supporter of gay marriage? >> i think that people simply associate her with those social issues because of the democratic party platform in general and

they see todd akin as such a defender of christian values when it comes to those issues. for the people that really see those issues as among the most important in this election, he seems like the logical choice. between social issues and the others. >> john: in your excellent piece for "buzzfeed" titled akin and supporters pray for victory. again, they're taking the christian football on this and running with it despite the fact not to get too technical jesus never mentioned abortion or gay marriage and the affordable care act is based on a republican plan put forth by the heritage foundation and the deficit was caused by republicans and the president has made the deficit lower each year he's been in office. are we talking about profoundly ignore act people here, rebecca? are they believing what they want to believe and the facts don't have much of a sway or is the abortion issue that strong for single issue voters? >> you know. i'm not sure.

i think it is hard to generalize to say that these voters are ignorant because some are very high information voters. who just happen to be very religious and that takes priority for them. some are lower information voters and you know, a lot of the people are from very rural areas in missouri and you know, these are just their primary interests. but yeah so i think it is a mix. it is hard to generalize. >> john: it is easy for me to generalize because i'm boarish and rude. >> what has been interesting for me going around these events is seeing just how many of akin supporters are truly the most religious within the republican party. his events take on the feel of a church service most of the time. even at one of his fund-raisers that i attended, they would pass around wicker baskets asking for donations instead of asking

people to pay for their -- they pray at every single event. it is very interesting to watch. >> john: so they're actually -- the southern strategy works of getting social conservatives to pay a lot of money for a guy who wants to cut taxes for millionaires. pardon me for my lack of objectivity on the matter. i'm frankly disgusted and shocked. claire mccaskill pretty much handpicked this guy to be her opponent. is that a fair thing to say? they were able to sway the nominating process for the g.o.p. that guaranteed she would be facing todd akin? >> oh, absolutely. she has known todd akin for many years. known of him for many years and everyone within the political class knew that todd akin would say something like he did just because been saying things like this for years. no one has ever really taken notice until he became a candidate for u.s. senate. mccaskill knew what she was doing in this case. what is most interesting is that in talking to some people here,

i've discovered people actually did vote for akin in some cases based on those ads that mccaskill paid for because the people didn't realize she was trying to handpick him because he would be the weakest opponent. these were average voters. if clair claire mccaskill doesn't like todd aconditioned a is too conservative he must be the right candidate for me. >> john: to blows my mind how people opposed to abortion rights can still support the g.o.p. after they controlled the white house and the senate and never did a darn thing to block abortion in any way on the federal level. >> right. i've asked some people about that too. whether they thought that todd akin, if he was elected would be able to make changes on the social issues, especially, you know with he said he wouldn't make any of the social issues a priority if he was elected

president. that sort of thing. you know, among the very religious of his supporters, they just think that's god's chosen candidate. and that god will find a way. to enable him. to make his voice heard on this issue. >> john: god must really hate women as much as the book of genesis tells us. in your travels, rebecca, in your conversations with these voters does anyone express any concern about the comments about legitimate rape and about this scientifically farcical, insulting comment that in cases of legitimate rape, the female body knows how to shut the body down. does anyone feel like their intelligence was insulted? >> i'm sure some do and i've heard of some that were insulted but among the people still supporting akin, they're very quick to defend him on this issue. they say that he misspoke. they say that what he meant is that some people say that they have been raped when they have not and they understand exactly

what they were saying and -- exactly what he was saying. >> john: do they offer any explanation for -- misspoke means i lied and got caught in politics. can you elaborate? does anyone offer an explanation how he misspoke when he said that a woman's body can shut down a rape pregnancy? >> that's been the interesting part of this for me to ask people about. what some people have said, they think he meant in that case was that sometimes rapes can be very brutal. that women are brutalized in these cases and because of the violence against them, their body is not able to conceive. obviously there's no -- there's no medical evidence to back that up. but some people genuinely believe it here. >> john: wow lucky rape victims. >> especially among his supporters. at the core of what he said, he has many defenders among his

camp which is very interesting. >> john: on a personal note, are any of the people that you meet against the death penalty seeing as jesus never mentioned abortion but was specific about not killing sinners. does their pro-life belief extend that far to what christ said in the bible they claim to follow or are they focused on women's reproductive rights being taken away? >> they're focused on that. i haven't asked about the death penalty. it hasn't come up. that's an issue people aren't talking about. >> john: let me ask you a question rebecca, do you think there is a chance if todd akin is elected and it seems like it could happen could it ever work for the democratic party in their favor? could he be seen as such a toxic figure, he would be a liability in a drag -- and a drag on the g.o.p. in a national level? >> it is tough to predict. when he was in congress and he's been in congress for 12 years no one has really heard anything about him. he was someone who had -- didn't really have any effect.

it is quite possible that should he be elected to the senate, very similar thing would happen. you would never hear much about him. he would make somewhat ridiculous statements on the floor. he wouldn't actually be able to get anything substantive done. that's possible. but now that he's such a national figure, i think the democrats could certainly take advantage of that and use that to their advantage. to, you know, to get people. >> john: rebecca you met congressman akin did you not? >> did i. i've met him in the past, too. only briefly. >> john: what's your impression? is he a nice fellow? >> he is a very, very nice fellow. and you know it is easy to demonize someone because they have such out of the mainstream beliefs but he is very religious. because you know, he is a very nice person.

he really does like other people. i think his heart is in the right place even if perhaps his beliefs aren't quite what most people would consider to be correct. >> john: right on. >> he's a very nice person. >> john: i respect anybody whose views are outside the mainstream as somebody whose views are outside the mainstream. for me, it is possible to be a very nice person and support some policies. i thank you for your reporting. i'll continue to follow everything you write about this campaign on "buzzfeed." rebecca g berg on the twitter. >> that's it. please follow along. >> john: thank you for the call. if you get to talk to todd akin, talk to him about killing the sinners. thank you, rebecca berg. we'll be right back, taking your calls at 1-866-55-press. >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." now on current tv.

(vo) always outspoken, now unleashed. joy behar. >> on my next show i'll talk to acting great kathleen turner who is using her trademark sexy voice to speak out in the war against women. ♪ ♪

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[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> john: it is horrible having you. >> it can be downtrodden and sad. >> john: this is the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill along with meredith shiner of roll call for our final minutes. i do want to say quick thing about racism. of course, racism is a factor in this election. the point we were making earlier in the show is if barack obama were whiter than an albino

vampire mime, the g.o.p. would still be hating him. think about how much they hated bill clinton and he was almost as white as me. any predictions for tonight's debate? >> i think that both candidates are going to be really well prepared. the president spent a lot of time in williamsburg, virginia, this weekend trying to re-up debating style so i think both candidates will come out pretty strong. it is a matter of how they interact with the people the in the audience. that's the key thing with town hall debates. can you empathize with the people asking questions. that's not a strong suit for either. >> john: i agree. follow meredith at meredith shiner on twitter. i will be covering the debate tonight live on tv with governor eliot spitzer and governor jennifer granholm. remember one thing my friends mitt romney is telling you he's the man who can stand up to putin and assad and the ayatollah. he's just afraid of the ladies on "the view." have a great tuesday. thanks for watching.