lo." "what are you doing on my phone?!", i said. he said, "i told you i wasn't gonna hang up this phone!". so, i--"were you on this phone for--". (imitating deeper voice) "yes, i was." and, i look and said--no, this jackass was not on this phone all this--and i said "no! i need to make a telephone--", (deeper voice) "not until you say you sorry, and say you love me." "you know--". "but, you have to say it." "okay, christopher, i love you." "isn't that easy? you let me sit here, fall asleep, wake up, and you--all you had to do was tell me you love me, and this would not have happened." "okay christopher, get off the phone." that's when he got off the phone. from, like, 12:30 to about 3:30. he was on that phone. i could not be--i could not believe it. he said, "i told you. i told you i was not going to get off this phone until you do." so, that's the relationship we have. that the beautiful relationship we have.

>> ♪ goin' out to all the young niggaz who died in the struggle ♪ ♪ sh** is real in the field ♪ ♪you know ♪ ♪ sparkin' blunts for all you niggaz ♪ ♪ word up ♪ [ ♪ theme ♪ ]

>> bill: good morning everybody. what do you say? it is the "full court press" here on current tv this morning. good to see you this tuesday morning. february 26th. welcome to the program. thank you so much for joining us as we bring you up to date on all of the latest from our nation's capital from around the dunn and around the globe. on the sequester now it is a matter of national security. janet napolitano telling us in the white house briefing room yesterday, there is no way that they can keep this country as safe and secure as it is today if the sequester cuts go in. getting serious folks. getting serious. an assault weapons ban hearing on the dianne feinstein's legislation, the assault weapons ban tomorrow in the senate judiciary committee. washington gearing up for that.

and a new diet says you can eat all the olive oil fruits, vegetables and fish you want and live forever. but don't you dare touch the horse meat. so far we haven't found any horse meat in ikea's meatballs in the united states. all of that and more coming up today on current tv. billy zane stars in barabbas. coming in march to reelz. to find reelz in your area, go to reelz.com

alright, in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. you know who is coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians

laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>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? (vo) this afternoon, current tv is the place for compelling true stories. >> jack, how old are you? >> nine. >> this is what 27 tons of marijuana looks like. (vo) with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines, way inside. (vo) from the underworld, to the world of privilege. >> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current.

nounce broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: the sequester now becomes a matter of national security. want to keep this country safe or not? that is the question. what do you say? good morning everybody. good tuesday morning. tuesday, february 26th. so good to see you today. this is the "full court press." we are coming to you live on your local progressive talk radio station. on current tv and on sirius x.m. this hour only. happy tuesday morning. good to see you. we've got lots and lots to talk about today. everything from diets to homeland security. governors in town. actually they've left town now.

they made a big stink before they left town yesterday. we'll bring you up to date on it. kucinich getting geared up for the assault weapons ban. we'll cover everything happening here, not only in our nation's capital, around the country and around the globe. and, of course, here's what we love about this show and you love about it, too you get a chance to join in. sound off let us know what it means to you. you can do so by giving us a call at 1-866-55-press. by joining us on twitter at bpshow. and joining us -- or joining us on facebook, i should say. facebook.com/billpressshow. as long as there is a current tv, this is the current chat room. if you go to current.com click on the chat room. you're in to talk about the issues with your fellow "full court pressers" across the land. make a lot of friends there. again, get your comments out. we have the whole team here this

morning as always. peter ogborn and dan henning what do you say guys? >> hey, hey. >> bill: good morning. with phil backert on the phones and acceptrian bolding as always on the video cam. so nice little reception for senator heidi heitkamp. new senator from north dakota and you know, north dakota, it is really a very interesting situation out there. because it is a red state right. and yet north dakota has given us byron dorgan, kent conrad and now heidi heitkamp. three real progressives. >> yeah. >> bill: in the senate. heidi heitkamp won last time in november. president obama lost north dakota by 23 points. so it is just that there's this

home-grown progressive tradition in north dakota and if you grow up there and you're known there you could can be a preggive. they like you you get elected. the way to get elected in north dakota is pretty clear. i learned last night. byron dorgan was the tax commissioner elected statewide for north dakota. he was succeeded by kent conrad, the tax commissioner from north dakota. kent conrad was succeeded as tax commissioner from north dakota by heidi heitkamp. >> all right. >> bill: kent worked as an assistant to byron and heidi worked as an assistant to kent. so we all wanted to know who is the next tax commissioner? she's great. she's great. we're going to get her in the studio here one of these days before long. also, what was interesting last night is former vice president walter mondale was at this

party. i haven't seen him in a long time. >> he doesn't do a lot of stuff apparently. >> bill: tweeted out a photo with me and heidi heitkamp and me and the vice president. a sad passing last night. a man who really made a mark. every surgeon general from now on will be rated as to how he or she stacks up with everett koop, the man who put the ban on -- not ban but put out the word about cigarettes, yes indeed, they do cause cancer. and we should have warnings on the pack of cigarettes. took on all of the tobacco companies. passed away yesterday at the age of 96. just a few years ago, he actually sat down with an interview with ally g and they were talking about the inevitable. >> let's talk about a big thing... death. the end. i'm talking about the thing that happens to you you know, a few

weeks after you were alive. that's bad isn't it? >> you don't spell it that way though. it is d-e-a-t-h. >> bill: it happens to you a few weeks after you're alive. i like that. what are the chances here that this is going to happen to me? >> so what are the chances that me will eventually die? >> that you will die? 100%. i can guarantee you that 100%. you will die. >> a bit of a pessimist there. >> i'm being an absolute realist. >> i would like another opinion on that. >> there is nobody i know who has a mind and brain who doesn't know that everybody will die. >> expert analysis. >> bill: oh, god. >> you haven't seen one of the old alley g. interviews, newt gingrich does one. sam donaldson did one.

he convinces pat buchanan and sam donaldson to rap with him. and it is great. it is an old hbo show. >> bill: so funny. all right. so yesterday the sequester took on a new turn with a big warning at the white house from janet napolitano. i was there. i'll tell you all about it. but first... >> announcer: this is the "full court press." >> other headlines making news on this tuesday. load up on the olive oil, wine fruits and veggies if you want to reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke. a new spanish study spanished in the "new england journal of medicine" found that people eating a mediterranean-based diet with moderate amounts of red meat lowered their risk of stroke and heart attack to 46%. it followed 7700 people over five years telling them not to count calories but pay attention to the types of foods they were eating and the results of this study were so stunning, that

they ended it early. because of what they found so quickly. >> bill: you don't really lose weight but you live longer. >> right. not losing weight. >> bill: diets are so all over the place. but this one makes a lot of sense to me. first of all i think mediterranean food is the best foods. most attractive. most tasty. >> seth macfarlane in this year's popular movie brought in -- >> olive oil and wine, i can live with that. >> seth macfarlane in this year's popular movies brought in the viewers for the oscars. sunday night's broadcast on abc hits highest viewership since 2010, over 40 million tuned in, 3% higher than last year. a far cry from the all-time record in 1998 when "titanic" won best picture. 56 million people watched it that year. >> bill: i think the good movies brought people in.

i don't think seth macfarlane brought people in. i don't want to believe it at any rate. >> nelson mandela's name will be associated with something different besides being the former president of south africa and the struggle with apartheid. wine. his daughter and granddaughter have launched a company called house of mandela wine saying they've enjoyed experimenting with wines over the years and bringing them to the market and their grandfather is proud of them. it will cost from $8 to $50 a bottle. nelson mandela wine. >> bill: paul newman salad dressing. nelson mandela wine. exploit the name. sure. 14 minutes after the hour. yes, indeed. down at the white house yesterday, a lot of talk about sequester. the nation's governors were meeting -- met with the president yesterday morning. and he asks their help in putting pressure on congress to do something, get together,

particularly on republicans in congress to compromise and to accept some new revenue in addition to new spending cuts as a way of heading off the sequester. after their meeting with the president, several of the governors came out. again, i tweeted photos of the governors there in front of the white house yesterday. i have to tell you, they were an impressive bunch. and bipartisan bunch saying the sequester is bad for the country. with one exception. governor jack markell governor of my home state of delaware started out by -- he is ahead of the national governor's association. he started out by saying he had a good meeting with the president. everybody had their points of view. the president told us what he thought. and then we told him from our perspective what it all means for us if the sequester goes in. the cuts we'll have to face in our states. he said -- i thought he was very good when he said look, we're republicans. we're democrats. we don't all agree on how they

should fix it. some say it should be all spending cuts. some say it should be a combination of revenue and spending cuts but all of us agree congress has to fix it. congress can't let the sequester kick in. it would be bad for this country. and then the governor of oklahoma republican, mary fallon stepped up and basically agreed with that and said i'm a conservative. i'm a republican but this is bad for oklahoma. she talked about 8,000 teachers that would lose their jobs in -- i'm sorry. 8,000 military personnel and bases, civilian employees of the military and bases in oklahoma that would lose their jobs. that would not be good for oklahoma. then the ripple effect of the economy. then the gore governor of connecticut, governor dan malloy stepped up. again, said to congress, look, in effect, we don't care how you fix it. just don't let this happen. he said that's your job. your job is to do what's best

for this country. and you're not doing your job. he was talking to republicans and democrats alike. and then you know, like the turd in the punch bowl, bobby jindal steps up. you know, i've hated him from a distance like i hate him close up. first of all he's just -- i don't want to get into physical appearance okay. >> go ahead. you can. >> bill: makes you want to throw up. but anyhow, he was total -- it was total discord. he steps up. he's running for president in 2016. he goes on the attack for all of the others now republicans and democrats were saying we may differ on how to do this. no, no instead jindal attacks president obama. >> now is the time to cut spending. it can be done without jeopardizing the economy and critical services. the president needs to stop campaigning, stop trying to scare the american people, stop

trying to scare skate. >> bill: he said the president has to show some leadership. i was holding myself back. what do you mean? show leadership? he called john boehner. he called mitch mcconnell. he's made deals with mcconnell and boehner. the put has put out a plan on how to avoid the sequester. congress for the last two weeks wasn't even in town. the president has to show some leadership? what a total horse's ass. bobby jindal. i feel sorry for the people in louisiana. then we went in the briefing room. as if that wasn't enough and janet napolitano came out. we talked about what ray lahood told us about disruptions in air travel on friday. yesterday, janet napolitano scared the bejesus out of us talking about the impacts on national security and that's our baby homeland security. here's what she said -- here's what the sequester means for keeping us safe. >> put simply, the automatic

budget reduction mandated by sequestration would be disruptive and destructive to our nation's security and economy. >> bill: several people asked the question, are you saying that there would be a greater risk of a terrorist attack, greater risk of something happeninging to the united states if the sequester goes through? damn right, she said. >> i don't think we can maintain the same level of security at all places around the country with sequester as without sequester. >> bill: this is serious folks. this is serious. we won't have as many inspectors at the ports. we won't have as many guards at the border. there's no way we can keep this country safe. here's what it gets down to. okay. you can say who cares if teachers lose their jobs. who cares if headstart goes, who cares if the civilian employees of the military have to take a

20% pay cut. now the republicans are saying who cares if all the progress we've made since september 11th, who cares if all of that suddenly disappears? not all of it. but a good deal of it. who cares if we're not as safe from a terrorist attack today as we were yesterday. we would rather -- here's what republicans are saying, i want you to understand this. this is for real. republicans are saying we would rather risk our national security than close tax loopholes for the big oil companies and for the owners of corporate jets. that's it. that's right on the bottom line. can you imagine how irresponsible the republican party is to take that stand? that's where they are. i hope the american people understand. it is as clear as day. 1-866-55-press. let's talk about it. how far are they willing to go? to protect their multi-millionaires in the oil companies? they're willing to put all of us

at risk. >> announcer: radio meets television the "bill press show." now on current tv. date, staying in touch with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. in reality it's not like they actually care. this is purely about political grandstanding.

alright, in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look

out for us. >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: homeland security secretary janet napolitano says we just can't keep this country as safe if the sequester goes through and republicans say eh, who cares about national security.

peter ogborn? >> couple of comments from twitter where we're tweeting at bpshow on c everett koop who passed away. remember he served for ronald reagan. ed hull says dr. koop was a good guy who care about a lot of people. sequestration, shelly brown says can we just get congress to pass a one-line bill to repeal the damn sequester? >> bill: that's all it would take by the way then they could go back to work on long-term debt reduction. >> on bonny jindal, he's the head of a state who needs more federal funds for poverty and destruction from weather events. he just wants to keep the oil companies happy. find us on twitter at bpshow. >> bill: the question before we get to your calls just imagine this. i made this point yesterday. i have to make it again today. what if there was a republican in the white house and we got to this point where the sequestration and national security is on the line and the head of the homeland security secretary, whoever it happened

to be, some republican, came out, at the white house the way janet napolitano did yesterday and said our national security is at stake. we're putting our safety and our security in jeopardy. if these cuts -- if this sequester happens. and imagine how democrats who oppose it, if democrats oppose it, would be treated. in the media and by the republicans. there would be ads out there linking these democrats to osama bin laden as enemies of the united states of america. that's exactly the way the republicans would treat them. i think we out to treat it the same way. they're the enemies of america those people who refuse to compromise on the sequest err. and avoid it. jim is calling from albuquerque new mexico. hey, jim. >> caller: good morning, bill. i'm a federal worker from local afge out here in albuquerque. i wanted to make a comment. you know, right now the republicans will not cut the

subsidies to the oil companies. >> bill: right. >> caller: we're at their whim right now. have you seen the price of gas? do the republicans have to pump their own gas? i don't understand that. why can't we cut that but yet the oil companies by this summer will be charging me $5 a gallon for a gallon of gas. >> bill: the problem is the republicans are owned by the oil companies, you know that. that's why -- just taking away the tax breaks that they have enjoyed for decades when they're making the biggest profits ever in the history of the oil industry. and republicans still won't do that. jim, good to hear from you. afge, great union and my union brother. thanks for checking in. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians

laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>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: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: 33 minutes after the hour now here. it is tuesday tuesday tuesday. 26th of february. we always like tuesdays because igor volsky from think progress comes in to join us to bring us up to date on all that they're working on. which is like everything happening. this is the "full court press," of course, coming to you live from our nation's capital and our studio on capitol hill and brought to you today by afscme, the largest public employee and healthcare worker's union in the entire country under president lee saunders, good men and women of afscme making america happen. you can find out for yourself, go to the web site, afscme.org. that's afscme.org.

igor good to see you as always. >> good morning, guys. happy to be here. >> bill: i know that think progress is on top of everything because that's where we get everything we talk about. but even the oscars? >> oh yes. you know, we have with alyssa rosenberger, our culture critic, have your complete oscar coverage. we were live blogging the oscars. >> bill: they live blog the state of the union the inauguration. >> it is a full-service newspaper. you learn about everything. >> what's a newspaper? >> what? i don't know. it is online or something now. this thing online called a newspaper. >> bill: from the the mighty think progress, your take on the oscars? >> seth macfarlane, i think a lot of people said what happened there? this is a guy who had a chance to kind of poke fun at hollywood, poke fun at the fact that it is kind of a bunch of older white guys and instead

picked on the 9-year-old girl who was nominated for best actress, made sex jokes about her and george clooney. it was a little awkward. i think that came through to a lot of people. >> bill: well, and yeah. he was as bad as the anion. >> i think that every year they try to find a way to make this old, established awards show -- >> bill: hip. >> hip. and cutting edge and it's just not a hip cutty edge kind of show. as much as i like edgy humor i just don't think it works very well in that environment. what i said yesterday seth macfarlane was a terrible host but he would have been a lot of fun to watch the academy awards with. >> bill: and have a few beers with. >> exactly. >> maybe be on think progress. not that we would want that. >> bill: speaking of hip performers then there's senator grassley from iowa.

>> speaking of hip. >> bill: crotchety old farmer from iowa who surprised people yesterday. he has always been mr. nra. but you know, not from an assault weapons point but from a culture and a farmer where they use a lot of go united states to shoot varmints, probably around their barns or something like that. and in a town meeting yesterday he made a surprising statement about a couple of days ago about background checks. >> there is this growing consensus now that if anything can be done on gun regulation it is expanding background checks so the 40% of purchases that are private purchases we know who these people are. he said at a town hall in iowa, reporter scott kice was there. look, i voted against background checks in the past. there's this growing bipartisan effort. they're trying to work on a deal with coburn and some other folks and it is something i would look at. i voted against it in the past. now things have changed. >> bill: that's pretty

significant for grassley to take that stand. >> it is a big deal. you look at the polls. 90% of americans 89 pest. do we all agree on as a nation? apparently background checks. the apple pie industry had this great graphic saying that background checks are as american as appear am pie because the same number of people love apple pie as support background checks. >> bill: is that right? >> yes, they do. >> bill: i sawgrassly said he would vote for it as long as it didn't mean if a father has a gun and gives it to his son that they would have to have a background check. a family heirloom or shotgun or whatever. the governors in town. i saw a good hassle of them yesterday when they were leaving the meeting with the president. the whole conversation was about -- the president and with us, the media the sequester and what impact it would have in

their home state and you've been reporting on that, too. >> the white house has been out-front on this, releasing the state by state numbers. what will this mean for americans across the country if the cuts go into effect march 1st. we put together kind of a run-down of what would it mean for the home states of the g.o.p. leadership in the house. it would mean fewer teachers, fewer education funds less money for headstart for child care for health services. you go down the line. it is really kind of a gamble on boehner's part, on the republicans part. they think -- these cuts go into effect and americans don't really feel the pain then they cut across the divide. and that's going to be that cuts go into effect and nothing really bad happens and so you -- americans are used to these cuts. it is not a big deal and they can continue pushing their

agenda of cuts, cuts, cuts. this is going to be key, i think, how it plays out if americans feel pain, it will be a political problem for them. but if nothing really happens they've kind of won this argument that cuts are okay. democrats and progressives are saying is that if you cut these vital services, it is going to cause pain. so the question is it going to cause pain? how are americans across the nation going to feel about it and how are they going to react? >> bill: when does the pain kick in? everybody says it won't be march. it will get -- it will get worse as the year goes on. but doesn't -- isn't the key question not just cuts, okay. cuts but across-the-board cuts. >> indiscriminate cuts. >> bill: that's the problem. >> that's really -- you kind of see now this fairly smart tactic by the republicans saying well yes, these cuts are across the board. they're roomic. they're nondiscriminant but we should give the president more

flexibility so he can decide -- he can only target the waste fraud and abuse. >> bill: sequester doesn't have that flexibility. >> right. they want to pass legislation to give them extra flexibility. that's like stabbing somebody and then giving him the knife and say we're passing on all of the responsibility to you. because from these reports and from economist and government folks you talk to, there's not enough waste, fraud and abuse to go after with just the sequester cuts. it will be real programs that are going to impact people. the republicans now are hoping to pass that responsibility over to the president. so he's holding that knife not them. >> bill: right. now, yesterday, i was at the briefing yesterday. we talked about this at the top of the hour. secretary of homeland security, janet napolitano came in. she said flat out if you talk about the ports the border, if you talk about airports, if you talk about the coast guard and patrolling those coasts, we will not be able to keep this country as safe after the sequester if it kicks in.

as it is today. all of this progress we made since september 11th is going to be rolled back to a certain extent. i'm not getting rid of all of the protection. that ups the ante here, doesn't it, on the sequester? like big-time? >> it is amazing though. this isn't the republican party after 9-11. a lot of these folks aren't in power anymore who -- the hawks of the party who were there for the beginning of iraq and afghanistan and homeland security and establishing that department, would have never let something like this happen. now that the house has kind of dominated by these spending hawks, the tea party guys, that's -- it is kind of a reflection of what that caucus looks like. a lot of the folks who came in, who were there for whom 9-11 changed a lot and changed their views on security, those guys are gone.

you have a republican party that's not shaped so much by the challenges of security but is shaped by 2009 and 2010 and spending cuts and a response to obama and the stimulus. and you really see what it means and what it means is that key security programs are in danger now. >> bill: i hope -- there was some bonehead reporter in the briefing yesterday, i don't know who he is, that said well, look, so there are going to be longer lines at the border and longer waits in the ports. so like so what. he didn't say so what but he said isn't this just something that americans will accept as part of the price for having good deficit reduction and a balanced budget? napolitano just looked at him and said i don't think you understand what i'm talking about. she said if you're a business and you depend on getting your goods, your trucks, right into this country so you can sell your products across the line

and you're like three-day delay instead of being able to drive in or you've got stuff on a ship that you've gotta get in and get in the supply line and they're stuck in some port because they don't have enough customs inspectors, she says there is a huge economic impact to these lines. it is not just -- it is bad enough for somebody going off to see grandma take the kids to see grandma and they may have an hour wait at tsa. we're talking about a lot more than that. we're talking about american businesses that depend on the flow of goods that are really going to be handicapped in their ability to deliver. >> it is our conventional wisdom in this town that you know, for real good deficit reduction and real good policy, a lot of middle class folks have to feel some pain whether it comes from medicare or medicaid or the other cuts. they have to deal with it because we have to reduce the deficit. >> bill: i don't know. i'm more and more pessimistic particularly when you hear

boehner's rhetoric. we'll get to your calls. igor volsky from think progress here on the tuesday edition of the "full court press." >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv, this is the "bill press show." (vo) from the underworld, to the world of privilege. >> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current. all across america people are using lysol in hundreds of unexpected ways to help keep their homes healthy.

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this show is about being up to date, staying in touch with everything that is going on

politically and putting my own nuance on it. in reality it's not like they actually care. this is purely about political grandstanding. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right. 13 minutes before the top of the hour. the "full court press" with igor volsky from think progress. thinkprogress.org. in studio with us. we're talking about a lot of stuff including of course, warnings yesterday by secretary -- homeland security

secretary janet napolitano that the security of this country is not safe if the sequester jumps in -- pops in as it is scheduled to do so on friday. back to your calls on that at 1-866-55-press. well you think if you're talking about identity theft some of the people you could trust you wouldn't have to worry about members of your family. a woman charged with identity theft after police discovered she had used a relative's name, date of birth and social security number to open a credit card for herself online. she was caught. but you -- just a reminder how you have to make sure you're protected against identity theft. i am with what's called lifelock ultimate. the most comprehensive i.d. theft protection ever made. encourage you to look into it because, of course, lifelock can't protect you or your bank account if you're not a member.

if you call now mention press60, you'll get 60 risk-free days of lifelock ultimate identity theft protection. if you're not happy, call lifelock and cancel within another 60 days. see lifelock.com for details and give them a call at 1-800-356-5967 for lifelock ultimate. peter, what's happening on the social media front? >> twitter at bpshow, jenna says the only good thing about having insomnia is bill press. so she gets to stay up and watch you. as we've said many times you never know -- there are a lot of ladies out there with nothing on but the "full court press." >> bill: but bill press. >> sure. on sequestration ripa says sequestration -- >> bill: west coast err. >> military cuts don't make us less safe. drones killing innocent women and children does. honey bear kelly reminds us even

after the sequestration mess is over, whichever way it goes, there's another debt ceiling mess coming up. >> bill: that's the end of the month. we go from crisis to crisis. >> that's how we roll these days >> bill: wait around. >> by doing this, not only are they trying to push their agendas but they get to roadblock his second term agenda. the longer he spends on this, the less time he has for anything else. >> bill: get this done once and for all and get on to climate control and immigration reform and gun safety. don, igor, let's say hello to don from nashua, new hampshire. >> caller: how is it going? >> bill: pretty good. thanks for checking in. what's your point? >> caller: it is getting pretty sickening with boehner and his band of idiots what they're doing to this country. it seems like they won't be happy until they have a war on us. >> bill: boehner, in terms of

digging in his heels and totally refusing to compromise so president obama is going down to newport news virginia, today to talk about the impact on our ship building, shipping and on the military. and boehner says he's just campaigning. right? >> you know, i don't get this strategy of if you accuse him of campaigning, the american people will turn against him and will support -- i don't understand. he has sky-high approval ratings. he's talking to the american people and they think that's a bad thing. >> bill: don, thanks for the call. remember the white house put out -- if you go to white house.gov, they put out a paper that you can just click on your state. i've looked at several states. they'll document exactly what's going to happen in your state across the board in education in military, in law enforcement. whatever field. it will show you just exactly

the impact in state by state by state. out in the state of oregon, hello, don. good morning. >> caller: good morning, bill. how are you doing? >> bill: good. >> caller: from having to listen to the other sides talk shows the republicans honestly believe sequester is their ticket back in 2014 and 2016 although i we both know it will blow up in their faces. >> bill: i think it could be their ticket out of existence. if -- and i totally believe if this thing goes through and if the cuts are -- and the impact and the pain is as severe as ray lahood and janet napolitano and the president and the others are saying, they're not exaggerating. they're not crying wolf. they're telling you here's what's going to happen. janet napolitano asked that question yesterday. are you trying to scare people? no. we're going to have to cut the

number of agents at the border. they're going to have to cut them. it is so idiotic. >> it is amazing to me the idea that they believe that cuts have no consequences. that spending reduction has no consequences. you have to live in a world where you think that government is just overflowing with waste that you can cut billions and billions and billions and not hit programs that help actual people. i mean for you to believe that, your view of what government does and what government is has to be so skewed, it is a different world you're living in really. >> bill: well -- >> which they are apparently. >> bill: it is fueled by tea partiers who hate government, period. they come up with a plan, programs that work and programs that don't work and here are the ones we can cut out and here are the ones we can preserve. >> sensible governing. >> bill: all for it. this approach, bad news. we are joined by igor.

we always take a good stab at it. thanks for coming in this morning. >> thanks, guys. >> bill: thinkprogress.org. check it out. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." try mach3 sensitive, with three high-definition blades. a closer shave in a single stroke for less irritation, even on sensitive skin. ♪ ♪ get closer to the one you love. ♪ ♪ gillette mach3 sensitive. gillette. the best a man can get.

i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look

out for us. >> announcer: taking your e-mails on any topic at any time. this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: all right. here we go. in the next hour, we're going to hear from the "national journal" correspondent jill lawrence about the real story behind

"argo" and carrie eleveld will join us to talk about big news this morning. a group of leading republicans has come out and said the republican party should be supporting same-sex marriage. on the sequester richard maxwell says bill, when are we ever going to learn? consensus in error doesn't make a wrong right. vietnam and iraq should have taught us that. wayne b. says the sequester is closer and so is social unrest. elaine adds in -- enough! stop complaining. if you don't have enough money to pay your expenses, blame yourself. i'm not sure whom that is aimed at. i'll take it aimed at john boehner. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

[ ♪ theme ♪ ]

>> bill: hello everybody. what do you say? good morning too -- this tuesday morning february 26th. this is the "full court press." welcome to the program coming to you live all the way across this great land of ours. on current tv. we're going to bring you up to date on the news of the day and give you a chance to express your comments about it. give you a chance to tell us what it means to you at 1-866-55-press. that is our toll free number. now the sequester is really getting serious. we're closer and closer to it. and we now know it is a matter of national security. homeland security secretary janet napolitano coming in the white house briefing room and telling us reporters she said flat out if the sequester goes

through, it will be impossible to keep this country as safe as it is today. so do we really -- do we really want to risk our national security to give the oil companies another tax break? that's the question. which we'll explore and a whole lot more here. first, we get the latest, today's current news update, lisa ferguson joining us from los angeles. hi lisa. good morning. >> hey bill. good morning everyone. the president is headed to newport news, virginia, today to talk about how the sequester will impact jobs. while he's in virginia, obama will visit newport ship building. that's a division of huntington ingalls which designs and builds ships for the navy and the coast guard. virginia stands to lose 90,000 department of defense jobs if the sequester hits this friday. the president is urging republicans to come to the table and find a compromise. congressman bobby scott and scott rigell will travel with the president today as will u.s. secretary of the navy ray mavis. house speaker boehner is not budging on negotiations.

congress is back on the hill today after nine days of break and boehner says a deal is not up to him. it is up to the senate. last session the house passed legislation offering up alternate savings not tax increases though, toward the sequester but the proposals died in the senate. boehner is saying the house has already done its part. it will not vote on another measure until the senate passes its own proposal. most democrats are agreeing a deal must include new revenue in addition to savings but boehner says the president got his tax increase and he's not willing to give in on another. this means yet again congress is down to the 11th hour. lawmakers have just three days to reach a compromise or else $85 billion in cuts will go into effect on friday. more bill up next. stay with us.

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>> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: hey it's getting serious, folks. janet napolitano says our national security is at risk if the sequester kicks in. do republicans care about our national security? that's the question. hello, hello hello! welcome to the "full court press" here on current tv this tuesday morning february 26th. great to see you today. appreciate your being part of the program. and look forward to hearing from you. on all of the issues of the day. we'll tell you what's going on. you tell us what it means to you. 1-866-55-press. that's our toll free number. army of operators as we say standing by to take your calls. his name is phil backert. and then we've got -- you can

join us by -- on twitter too at bpshow, our twitter handle at bpshow or on facebook. facebook.com/billpressshow. on this tuesday morning, lots going on. we've got the whole team here in place. peter ogborn and dan henning. >> yes sir. >> good morning. >> bill: together with phil backert on phones and cyprian bowlding on the video cam our videographer extraordinaire. and on our web site, billpressshow.com. check out my latest column that republicans -- the headline, g.o.p. can't escape the blame for the sequester. the g.o.p. republicans can't really get away with blaming president obama for it. we are waiting -- looking forward to, anticipating rather tomorrow in the senate judiciary committee, the first hearing on senator feinstein's assault weapons ban.

that's going to be pretty powerful hearing tomorrow. and the campaigning about it has already started. the progressive change campaign committee which does a really good job supporting progressive and liberals at every level around the country led by adam green who is in studio us with a couple of weeks ago they have launched a campaign against mitch mcconnell who was up for re-election next year in the state of kentucky. on this very issue of the assault weapons ban. pretty effective ad, i think. it started running yesterday. here it is. >> i'm a vietnam vet and a hunter. i only shot my rifle one time this last season. [ gunfire ] one shot, one deer. i would be a pretty bad hunter if i needed an assault rifle to shoot that buck. i support the plan to ban assault weapons and keep them out of the wrong hands because i know these guns. i know what they can do. the nra and the gun manufacturers have given a ton of money to senator mitch

mcconnell and now he's blocking reform. senator, whose side are you on? >> bill: i like that. one shot, one deer. >> that's great. >> bill: you know. that's all you need. >> yeah. that's the argument of hunters during this whole debate, this whole time. why would you want to go hunting with an automatic weapon? >> bill: nothing left to eat. >> exactly. >> bill: shred it. >> if you're hunting presumably you're hunting to eat some of the animal that you're shooting. so there's no point in tearing it up. >> bill: very powerful spot. we're kicking off this hour with jill lawrence from "national journal" about the real story. you saw "argo" but what about the other guys that didn't make it to the canadian embassy. congressman adam schiff from new jersey joins us in the next hour. evan morris santoro with talking points memo will be here as a "friend of bill." but first -- >> this is the "full court

press." >> other headlines making news, it is not off than the onion apologizes for satire. but the comedy web site did yesterday for a tweet during the oscars that called 9-year-old best actress nominee quvenzhané wallis an offensive slur. they said the tweet was crude and inconsistent with the site's commitment to parody and satire. they're reviewing their twitter policy so something like that does not happen again. >> bill: they should have had some control -- there should be some quality control check before something goes out over the air right? >> i have no problem with the tweet. either get offended by everything or be offended by nothing. >> bill: even for the onion i think there are some lines. >> i'll say this. the same people that quote-unquote offend you today will be the same people that will make you die laughing tomorrow. so you might want to be careful about censoring. >> bill: i'll die laughing tomorrow. >> an iranian newspaper reporting on the oscars used the

picture of michelle obama presenting the award for "argo" except they photo shopped the first lady's dress to make it more modest. the first lady was wearing a thin strapped metallic dress which according to "buzzfeed" added sleeves to and raised her neckline to completely cover her chest. >> bill: why didn't they put her in a burka? >> hey she's got better, more defined arms than a lot of guys i know. >> bill: absolutely am -- >> foodies are upset with the bear foot contessa. ina garten who has a huge following on the food network has entered the frozen dinners business, something she stayed away from until now. you can find barefoot contessa saute dinners for two in walmart. the big departure for the tv chef who many thought was a cut above the rest are not doing

something as commercialized as that. >> it should be said, by the way, that she -- the reason she became a chef is because she was making take-home dinners. so this is not that much of a departure. she had a store where she prepared food and people went and bought -- >> but that was one store right? >> yeah. >> fresh versus frozen. >> it is the same point. she's not always said you have to make your own stuff. maybe she upped the game in this. >> bill: i'm a huge ina garten fan. i have her new book. i forget the name of it. the latest cookbook. and i've been cooking -- i'm doing the julia child thing -- julie and julia thing. i'm cooking my way through ina garten's latest book. every one of the recipes is fantastic. well laid out. very easy to prepare. >> add some preservatives and

freeze it, too. >> i think she's great. i won't buy her frozen dinners. i'm not trying to say i support the idea. but it is not like this is a departure. >> bill: contessa and me. >> you should write a book about that. >> maybe get a movie. get meryl streep to play you. worked out before. >> bill: yes. "argo" certainly raised our -- brought back, let's say to us in a very dramatic way the whole story of the hostage crisis in iran. i didn't even remember if i ever had known about those six people that were lucky enough to get out the back door and get into the canadian embassy. but what happened to the rest of those who got stuck? where are they today? jill lawrence, one of washington's most respected reporters, has been writing on that for the "national journal." she joins us on our news line this morning. how are you? >> i'm good. thank you for having me.

>> glad that you're there. there were six who got out right? >> right. >> bill: 52 stuck there. for how long? >> there were several dozen that were there for various amounts of time. 52 of them were there for 444 days, the longest period. and you know, people don't really remember much about this because they came home. there was a big ticker-tape parade. nobody wanted to talk about the details. and there have been so many incidents of terrorism since then. that was really the first or one of the first. so they've spent literally decades, you know, not talking that much about what happened. some of them haven't talked at all about what happened. >> bill: were they tortured or abused while they were there? >> they were definitely abused. i don't know what -- what definition of torture might fit what happened to them. but as one of them kept saying to me, they raped us of our freedom. they also did beat them and you

know they stripped them and put them in freezers. they did all of the kinds of things that you would associate with torture. >> bill: so what has happened to them since? they came back to this country? did they keep -- were they state department employees? i gather, right? >> there were state department c.i.a. and military. and they all -- you know, most of them kept their jobs or decided -- some of the state department people were not career, you know, spies or military or anything like that. they were just functionaries basically and some of them left the state department but some stayed. the circumstances of their release were very unusual. it was something called the algiers -- algier court. they would not sue iran for damages. that was barred. so consequently thor three

decades, they've been the only group of people that's been -- you know, abducted or victimized by terrorism and haven't been able to get any kind of damages or any kind of judgment against the country that was involved. >> bill: how could they sue -- wonder why he would sign that. but to get them out obviously is a quick answer. how could they sue iran anyhow? they would have to do it in an iranian court wouldn't they? >> they would do it in an american court and that was specifically what was precluded. and this is not unusual actually. lots of victims have sued in american courts. what they do is they've gotten damages from frozen iranian assets held in institutions in this country. >> bill: i see. which we have frozen their assets so they would tap those. and now has that accord dropped? so i guess what you've written and what you've reported on is that these people are still active, trying to get justice right and trying to get some way to get some compensation, is

that what's going on? >> for a long time, they mostly cared, it seemed about holding iran accountable. so they kept trying to sue and congress kept trying to help them sue so they could get a judgment against the country on -- and at this point they've been cut off largely from that avenue and they're aging and of some them have already died. they're trying to a different strategy this year which they're about to launch in the spring. whether it is going -- they're going to try to get a surcharge put on the fines and penalties that companies paid for breaking the sanctions against iran when they do business with iran and get some money out of that and some accountability, as much as possible out of that. so it could work. it is just kind of unbelievable that, in all these years terry anderson got money and a judgment. the people that were killed in lebanon in 1983 got a judgment last year. the 9-11 victims got a judgment. so they're the only ones.

they're just still out there. >> bill: i read in your piece that one of their attorneys says, in terms of what they're looking for $18 million per hostage? >> well, that was -- >> bill: a little excessive? >> that was actually one of the former hostages, their calculation based on what other victims of terrorism have been getting. he said he doesn't expect that much and nobody expects that much but bruce braley, the congressman who is the lead sponsor of the bill in the house, there could be about $420 million in this fund that these surcharges would go into and that people who were held for the 444 days would get a substantial settlement. >> bill: it would be nice to -- somebody maybe did a documentary or -- i mean you've reported on it. but like -- the companion movie to the six in the canadian embassy. the people who were inside for 444 days.

>> it's true. i would like to see that. maybe once they get their triumph. if they get it this year. somebody will come up with that idea. >> bill: so they're going to introduce new legislation then for the surcharge this year. is that the plan? >> they actually had a house bill last year and they ran out of time on it. they're going to reintroduce it and they have some senate supporters ready to get on board. and the state department and secretary kerry have shown some interest in trying to close the book on this somehow. >> bill: i guess the only silver lining of the whole thing is that we got "nightline" out of it, didn't we? >> maybe that's a silver lining at this point. [ laughter ] during the time that it was happening with this show every night, it was kind of rubbing america's nose in the fact iran had brought it to its knees. >> bill: that is how "nightline" started with ted koppel. they were going to cover the story every night until they were released.

>> america held hostage. it was just awful. >> bill: i know. once it was over, they said hey this is getting such good ratings, let's call it "nightline" and keep it going. >> exactly. >> bill: jill, this is great. nobody is writing about this. nobody reports on it. i didn't see it anywhere else. we were intrigued, wanted to talk to you about it. good work. thank you. >> thanks for having me. >> bill: jill lawrence, the "national journal." nationaljournal.com. you can follow all of her good work and other good friends at "national journal." >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv, this is the "bill press show." of mouth-watering lobster entrees. like our delicious lobster lover's dream, featuring two kinds of succulent lobster tails. or our savory, new grilled maine lobster for true stories. with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines. real, gripping, current.

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john fugelsang: if you believe in states rights but still support the drug war you must be high. cenk uygur: i think the number one thing viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. i think the audience gets that i actually mean it. michael shure: this show is about being up to date so a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. joy behar: you can say anything here. jerry springer: i spent a couple of hours with a hooker joy behar: your mistake was writing a check jerry springer: she never cashed it (vo) the day's events. four very unique points of view. tonight starting at 6 eastern.

>> announcer: this is the "full court press." the "bill press show." live on your radio and on current tv. >> bill: all right. 25 minutes after the hour. carrie eleveld joins us in the next segment to talk about growing support among republicans, if you please, for same-sex marriage. meanwhile, here on the "full court press" this tuesday morning, i just finished my gobani peach yogurt today. talking about food, peter, you had a story. >> i'm sure a lot of people that are watching and listening to the show have been to ikea and if you have, you know -- >> bill: furniture store. >> but they are well-known for their meatballs. you can -- >> bill: i didn't know that until this morning. >> have you ever been to an

ikea? >> no. >> you can get them hot. they have a little cafeteria. you can buy them frozen and take them home. turns out, they're the latest group to be hit with the horse meat scandal. they have found horse meat in ikea meatballs not in america! not in america! food inspectors from the czech republic found traces of horse meat in a batch of ikea meatballs so they're pulling them off the shelves in several countries. they're looking to see if any of them are in america's meatballs. stay tuned. >> bill: so dare i ask what's wrong with horse meat? in meatballs? >> this is the thing i find so interesting. apparently so many people have been eating horse meat. >> bill: how many people got sick? how many people complained? how many people died, have complained about the taste? none zero. >> none. >> bill: just eat your horse and shut up. >> i'm with you.

>> bill: okay. now, here's a segue. from greek yogurt to horse meat to this news. i find this fascinating. first of all in terms of fair, in terms of -- in terms of fare, in terms of menu, i love mediterranean food. tomatoes, olive oil olives, fish whatever, fruits, veggies. now, new report out today in the "new england journal of medicine," the most press -- prestigious journal mediterranean diet shown 30% less chance of stroke or heart attack. and here's what they're talking about. the mediterranean diet, okay. the mainstay of the diet consists of three servings a day of fruits, at least two servings of vegetables, fish at least three times a week and legumes

which include beans peas and lentils at least three times a week, white meat, not red and if you like wine, you can have at least seven glasses of wine a week. one with every meal. >> yeah. >> bill: now that's a diet, man. >> i like that. >> bill: that's a diet i can live on and live longer on. what do you think? >> i'm going to drink my seven glasses of wine this morning and call it a week. >> bill: get it in all at one time. but you know -- >> it makes a lot of sense. it really does. >> bill: it looks healthier, it tastes healthier. now we know it is healthier. you may not lose as much weight but you'll live longer and happier. gotta love it. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." criticizing, and holding policy to the fire. are you encouraged by what you heard the president say the other night? is this personal or is it

political? a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. staying in tough with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. not only does senator rubio just care about rich people but somehow he thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. but we do care about them, right? vo: the war room tonight at 6 eastern

>> bill: 33 minutes after the hour on a tuesday morning february 26th. thank you for joining us here for the "full court press." we're coming to you live from our studio on capitol hill in washington, d.c. our nation's capital. a lot of attention on the congress, of course and attention across the street also in the supreme court which has some major, major cases in front of it this year. none more important or has gotten more attention than -- it is a dual case on same-sex marriage, whether or not to overturn the defense of marriage act and to uphold california's proposition 8. some big news on that front in

the last couple of days which is why we're so glad that carrie eleveld, freelance writer and used to cover the white house for the advocate joins us again in studio. you're looking sharp this morning. >> i do my best. i'm trying to class it up over here. i live up to your standards bill. >> bill: i don't wear a tie. you've got one on. peter has one on. >> they coordinated. >> think we have the same glasses on kerry. >> pretty close. >> bill: first of all let's -- >> talk about these republicans? >> bill: yeah, the big news today, i want to talk about the obama administration. but the republicans yesterday dozens of republicans signed an amicus brief to the supreme court, saying that proposition 8 in california is invalid or wrong and unconstitutional.

and that same-sex couples in california should be able to get married and the group -- the people include jon huntsman. no big surprise there. when he was running for president, of course, he took a different stand. meg whitman for ran for governor of california. david stockman, president reagan's big budget adviser. congresswoman ileana ros-lehtinen and others. it was a big group. so what does this tell you about the turning of the tide here on this issue maybe? >> well, this is among this big civil war that's happening within the republican party right? on many different things. this just sort of falls under the same category. there are people that recognize that the -- the young demographic, the 18 to 29-year-olds support same-sex marriage for -- full marital

rights for same-sex couples at a rate of 65% and growing and people are saying -- the republicans -- some sort of like cooler heads are prevailing in the republican party saying if we don't get on board this train and if we don't start turning this around, we're going to lose -- we're going to not appeal to a whole generation of voters. there was a "new york times" article on a study that was done in minnesota a few weeks ago. and several of the people -- it was all young voters. they were talking about a bigger context of young voters and what they were looking for. one of them was bigger government right. actually government helping to solve problems. but within the context of that article, there were young people saying you know, if mitt romney had been pro same-sex marriage i would have considered voting for him. others who voted for him saying it was hard for me to vote for him. the economy was in such a shambles. i voted for him but it would have been way easier decision if he had been pro same-sex marriage.

people are realizing -- they're actually losing -- this is now not just about gay issues. it is a test of modernity. are you sort of and an at the quited person or you up to speed and this is a litmus test for it now for young people. >> bill: first of all i must say, it is great that this is happening on this issue. it is sad that this is not happening on more issues. there are other issues where you need republicans like this to stand up and say, for example on global warming hey, wait a minute. this party is just -- looks terrible on this issue. >> right. >> bill: some of them are starting to say that on immigration reform. >> they have to say that on immigration reform. >> bill: but at any rate, let's stick to this issue. when you have -- again christine todd whitman former governor of new jersey, ileana ros-lehtinen is one of the most conservative members of congress. on cuba, for example she is to the right of atilla the hun.

>> what's interesting, if you look at her district, she has a lot of gays in her district in florida, number one. but number two she just happens to be on -- you know, one of the more sort of pro gay members of the republican congress. and she is one of the first people to sign on to pro gay piece of legislation on the republican side. >> bill: good for her. >> so on this issue she's conservative on other issues but on this issue she's moving forward. >> bill: we've got -- in front of the supreme court doma and -- they've combined them i guess but they're going to rule separately on them because they're two different cases. >> yes. >> bill: on prop 8 sticking with that, these republicans now have filed an amicus brief in support of overturning proposition 8. >> right. >> bill: where is the obama administration? >> well, the obama administration is still silent. unless, did we get anything in the last -- last week, right

they filed their brief on doma. question of doma, right? >> bill: i want to stick to prop 8. >> on prop 8 they haven't filed an automatic an amicus brief. i think he was asked about it on kgo. he said we're not a party to that. so we haven't weighed in. you don't have to be a party to a case to file an amicus brief. these people aren't a party to the case. they just filed an amicus brief. it is a friend of court brief. it says this is how we feel about this thing even though we're not a party to it. so you know, they have until thursday, i think, is when to do it. and the doma briefs that the government filed last week was so sweeping in nature and in its argument and it actually said -- used proposition 8 as one of the reasons, one of the demonstrations of the discrimination that gays and lesbians face, same-sex couples face as a reason to talk about

you know this is why this is a discriminated against group right. but they still haven't -- so some people thought that particular brief was so sweeping, it gave them hope that the government would also weigh in and do an amicus brief on proposition 8. i keep waking up and thinking i hope i haven't missed anything. i haven't seen anything on it yet. they've only got until thursday. if it is going to happen, it has to happen soon. >> bill: can they do one and not do the other? >> sure. they can. what people have been hoping, of course is that the government would weigh in. because you know, the republicans that you're talking about here have made an argument saying that gays have a right to same-sex marriage rights, right? i'm pretty sure they argued there is a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. sometimes they're splitting hairs there. there is a constitutional right. >> bill: you're absolutely right. signed a legal brief arguing

that gay people have a constitutional right to marriage. >> right. >> bill: by the way a direct challenge, of course to the current leadership of the republican party. >> absolutely. >> bill: john boehner and mitch mcconnell who argue just the opposite. >> who also argued in their doma brief, paul clement arguing on behalf of the house of representatives and john boehner, argued that gays actually are discriminated against so why do they need protections? why do they need heightened scrutiny? i mean their argument in that brief was that we're such a powerful -- we're such a powerful group of people politically that we don't need -- gays and lesbians are one of the most influential best-connected best-fund and best organized interest groups in modern politics and have attained more legislative victories. >> bill: not to mention the best looking! >> why, thank you. anyway, but you know, this is what -- not the government.

not the u.s. government. this is what paul clement is arguing. >> bill: what john boehner argues. you don't need any special rights. you don't need any help or you don't need any particular support. >> listen, i've been called special since i was a small child. i'm not going to tell you what that meant. but i'll take the special rights. [ laughter ] >> bill: i love your comments on this, 1-866-55-press. you know, on public policy issues, we've learned it always takes a long time, you know, to get to the right place. but i must -- it has taken a long time on same-sex marriage. but in the last 12 months, maybe, right it has moved so fast. i think it just has my head spinning. in the right direction. i think it is great. for the president of the united states last year to come out in

support of same-sex marriage. now for this big group of republicans to do so. and it was only ten years ago or less that republicans were using this as a -- against every liberal, every democrat in the country. >> absolutely. if you need any evidence of discrimination right, it was those -- it is now -- i think 38 39 states have bans against same-sex marriage, right? >> bill: right. now we have seven states, is it? >> there are nine states it is legal. >> bill: plus the district of columbia. >> yes. >> bill: in the last couple of years. >> remember this. in 2008, so there's politically what's possible, too right. and so you know, not just in terms of the courts but what's politically palatable. in 2008, when president obama was running against hillary clinton and john edwards was part of that mix too the democratic primary, even lgbt activists were more or less content to say you know what? we can't push the democrats to be pro marriage.

it will be a disaster for them. and then less than four years later, it was basically a political necessity like i said for barack obama to feel -- to not feel like he was becoming an antiquited candidate. with young folks. a large part of the base. very dramatic movie with a group of leading republicans. some of the most well-known republicans in the country signing this brief in the supreme court saying yes on same-sex marriage. 1-866-55-press. your comments around the country, let's get into it. want to come back here again with kerry eleveld here on the "full court press." >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us.

(vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. (vo) she's joy behar. >>current will let me say anything.

>> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: it is 12 minutes before the top of the hour here on the "full court press." this tuesday. february 26th. congressman adam schiff from california, southern california, joins us here in studio in the next hour. by the way i just have to mention this for those of you who had joined us earlier. i could not remember the name of ina garten's latest cookbook which i'm cooking my way through recipe by recipe by recipe. great stuff! i gotta tell you. foolproof is the name of it. >> perfect cookbook for you. >> bill: that's why i like it. it is foolproof. >> why i haven't been over to your place for dinner yet. >> where is the invite? >> bill: the first time through is just for me to make sure i know how to make them

all. it is second time through -- >> once you perfect it. >> i've never been to your house. i've never eaten anything you've cooked. he says he's not much of a cook. >> i can attest i have been at chateau press several times for meals. >> bill: wait a minute. several times? >> my feelings are hurt. >> during our snowmageddon broadcasts and you know, when we're stuck down here. i have been served many a fine meal. >> bill: all i wanted to do -- foolproof out. the name of it in case you're look for it. great cookbook, even an idiot can follow it. [ laughter ] >> living proof. >> bill: so what do you think the court is going to do before we go to the calls. >> you're going to ask me to make a prediction? >> call your shot. >> bill: i think it will be hard for this court talk about modernity, talk about legacy, john roberts knows it. i think the court has to go the same -- >> here's what i will say.

i think whatever they do, it is going to be surprising. this court has had the capacity to surprise on many different rulings from the healthcare to sb1070. people thought they were going a certain way and then they went another way. so we're going to hear the arguments and everybody's going to say based on the arguments of it clear that blah, blah, blah. guess what. the prognosticators have been wrong over and over and over again. so that's what i will say. >> bill: sometime in march that they've got the arguments will be heard. >> 26, 27 i think? 27th 28th is when we'll hear doma. they hear doma on one day and then the proposition 8 one on the next day. >> bill: robert is calling from the great city of asheville, north carolina. hey, robert. >> caller: good morning, everyone. bill my question is once the court makes their ruling or the

rulings, what does that mean? does that mean that marriage equality would be the law of the land across the whole united states? >> bill: that's a good question because as kerry mentions 30 some states have a constitutional provision against it. so kerry i'll ask you. what would that mean? those states -- >> so this is the big question, right. this is the number one question. you've got these two different cases. doma just strikes down section three of the defense of marriage act. if they struck it down, right. if they struck down that section, what that would mean is the federal government is no longer prohibited from recognizing legal marriages in states that do it. so if you strike that down, the nine states that perform legal marriages, the federal government would then be able to recognize the marriages performed in those states, right? >> bill: right. >> but the proposition 8 case could be decided in sort of three different fashions.

there's any number of fashions but basically the court could either go really big and say there is a constitutional right. a u.s. constitutional right for same-sex marriage -- >> bill: in which case, the state constitutions would be invalidated. >> would be invalidate and more or less overturned, i don't know if that's the technical term or whatever but basically, that would grant same-sex marriage rights nationwide. they could also do a very narrow ruling. they could say -- on that proposition 8 case and say well, this still just applies -- we're going to uphold what they found in the ninth circuit and this just applies in california. and so it's more narrow or they could actually -- they could actually overturn that ruling, too. and then say you know, proposition 8 was actually a legal -- >> bill: and the people of california have a right to -- >> take away rights. i have a hard time -- i'm no lawyer but i have a hard time believing they would find that. but a lot of people think that they might try to thread this needle where they -- you know,

go sort of narrow on proposition 8. it leaves -- california marriages are legal. but they -- then on -- in the realm of doma, they overturn doma. look ten different federal courts, at least ten i think at this point have found doma to be unconstitutional. so -- and you know, a lot of people think that's a reasonable thing for the court to do. >> bill: i'm going to go out on a limb. even the conservatives on this court are strict constructionists. i really don't believe that anybody can look at the constitution and defend -- part me discrimination in any form. it is not in the constitution. >> this is of course, more or less -- this is more or less what ted olson argues is that i can go in there and get all nine of the justices because i'm arguing a conservative case. not getting into people's personal lives. >> bill: i'm going to predict

8-1 or orb odd man out. or 7-2 losing scalia. >> i don't think we can get scalia. but maybe roberts. >> bill: i'll take 8-1. kerry eleveld great seeing you. thanks for coming in. >> thank you for having me. >> bill: getting all dressed up for us. >> nothing but the best. >> bill: i'll be back and tell what you the president is up to today. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

(vo) current tv gets the converstion started next. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right. president obama on the road today talking about sequester. after he and the vice president get the daily briefing at 10:00

this morning, the president goes out to andrews air force base for a quick jump down to newport news, virginia where he will be delivering remarks at 1:00 this afternoon on the devastating impact the sequester will have on jobs and middle-class families if congressional republicans fail to compromise to avert the sequester by march 1. he will be making those remarks at the newport news ship building. then he comes back up here to -- back to the white house at 3:00 p.m. this afternoon. that newport news base has -- it is -- it has a supplier base in all 50 states. across the country the impacts will be felt.

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: good morning friends and neighbors and welcome to the "full court press" here on current tv this tuesday morning february 26th. great to see you this morning. thank you for joining us. we've got lots and lots to talk about. we will bring you up to date on what's happening in the world today and then take your calls at 1-866-55-press. well it's really getting serious talking about sequester. now we're talking about national security on the line. janet napolitano coming into the briefing room yesterday and telling us reporters that there is no way she can -- and her many departments and agencies can keep this country as safe after the sequester as they've been able to keep it without the sequester. so now our national security is

on the line. the question really is what do republicans want to keep the country safe or to give the oil companies another tax break? that's their choice. we'll dissect that and a whole lot more here. let's get the latest from lisa ferguson out in los angeles. hi lisa. take if away. >> thanks, bill. good morning everyone. lawmakers are back on capitol hill today and the senate is gearing up for its first hearing tomorrow on a renewed assault weapons ban. now, the only caveat is this bill has almost no chance of becoming law this year. the new ban would outlaw 157 different kinds of military-style assault weapons. but it is already facing oppositions from most republicans and even some democrats, meaning it has little chance in the senate and even less in the house. a parent whose son was murdered during the newtown connecticut shooting is set to testify in front of the senator. senator dianne feinstein will

preside over the hearing. senator feinstein has proposed this bill and has been pushing an assault weapons ban for years. she also opposed big filibuster reform meaning she's helped pave the way for republicans to block her own bill. even background checks could be doomed even though that doesn't have some -- does have some bipartisan support. democrat senators schumer and manchin did manage to come to an agreement with republicans tom coburn and mark kirk. but now they're at a breaking point because so far the measure does nothing to address the records of private sales. without tracking those receipts, background checks will function on little more than just the honor system. and so far republicans are not willing to negotiate on allowing the government to keep records on private sales. more bill press is coming up after the break. stay with us. (vo) this afternoon, current tv is the place for compelling true stories. >> jack, how old are you? >> nine. >> this is what 27 tons of

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>> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: janet napolitano says we'll simply not be as safe if the sequester goes through as we are today without the sequester. republicans don't care. they would rather coddle the oil companies and the millionaires. good morning everybody. what do you say? happy tuesday. tuesday, february 26th. good to see you today. and welcome to the "full court press" here on current tv and on your local progressive talk radio station all across this great land of ours. we'll let you know what's happening today as you wake up or get in the car on your way to work. tell you what's happening and give you a chance to sound off about it. you can do so by giving us a call of course, that's the

old-fashioned way at 1-866-55-press. or on the social media on twitter at bpshow at bpshow. that's our handle and on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. on the hill, at the white house a lot of activity, house and the senate back in town this week. which is certainly generating a lot more activity. evan mcmorris santoro covers all of that both ends of pennsylvania avenue for talking points memo. joining us this morning. in studio. as a "friend of bill." the whole hour. oh my god. >> i'm excited. >> bill: good morning. can we stand it? nice to see you this morning. >> also dressed up. >> i did. >> bill: everybody's coming in with a tie this morning and making me feel somewhat guilty. anyhow hell, it is my show. >> your name is on the door. you can wear what you want. >> bill: who am i wearing? i'm wearing brooks brothers today. >> very nice. >> i'm wearing joseph a. bank.

>> i'm wearing lane bryant. [ laughter ] >> it is very comfortable. >> it fits me. >> bill: his wife's sweater. peter ogborn and dan henning. >> bill: phil backert on the phones and cyprian bowlding who we never see -- >> we see him. we don't hear him. >> bill: okay. and yesterday, before we get into all of the news of the day a sad note, he had a great life, made a great contribution to this country. i'm talking about former surgeon general c. everett koop passed away yesterday at the age of 96. he is a man we can thank for raising the warnings about cigarettes and getting in the face of the tobacco companies and saying you are lying when saying they don't cause lung cancer. they do. c. everett koop, in the last few years of his life, maybe five years ago or so, he sat down

with ali g. he actually agreed to an interview. ali g. raises the most important -- well, the final issue we all have to face. here is a little bit of that. >> let's talk about a big thing. death. i'm talking about the thing that happens to you you know, a few weeks after you was alive. that's bad isn't it? >> you don't spell it that way. it is d-e-a-t-h. >> bill: no sense of humor. >> no. >> bill: that's a bad thing. it happens to you a couple of weeks after you're alive. so what are the chances i can escape this, he wants to know. >> so what are the chances that me will eventually die? >> that you will die? 100%. i can guarantee that 100%. you will die. >> you're being a bit of a pessimist there. >> i'm being a realist.

>> i would like to get a second opinion on that. >> there's nobody that i know who has a mind and a brain who doesn't know that everybody will die. [ laughter ] >> bill: like to get a second opinion. >> i will say -- >> bill: he's the straight man, ali g. i don't know if he knew what he was getting into or not. >> he should go on to youtube and play the clips of ali g. and pat buchanan, newt gingrich sam donaldson some great stuff. >> ron paul. >> bill: you always wonder how he sucked people into that. >> the famous ron paul -- >> same guy. >> okay. >> bill: mcmorris santoro here for the entire hour as a "friend of bill." adam schiff, senator from california joining us at the half hour to talk about sequester. we've got lots more to talk about. but first, big headlines here.

>> another sign that actress ashley judd may be running for senate against mitch mcconnell in kentucky, congressman john yarmuth telling abc he would not be surprised if she runs saying it is clear it is something she wants to do and she's taking the time to get the fund-raising process rolling. also, ashley judd is giving a speech on women's reproductive health at george washington university this friday. >> bill: well, she's in washington and she's serious about running for the united states senate, i'll tell you where she better show up... right here. that seat right where you are. >> mantei te'o has some work to do if he wants to get a shot at a good nfl team. he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.82 seconds at the nfl combine yesterday where scouts are really only looking for players who can run it in 4.80 or better. espn reports the hoaxed

notre dame player was 20th out of the 26 linebackers who ran yesterday. >> bill: he was thinking about his girlfriend. >> the guy has a lot on his mind. >> whenever you travel overseas, you may seek out a copy of the international herald tribune. that publication owned by "the new york times" is changing its name to better reflect a brand that will now be called the international "new york times." the paper says it has become one of the world's leading news providers thanks to "the new york times" brand and it wants to reflect that by having the same name. >> bill: have you ever bought that paper overseas? >> i read it back -- >> bill: it is a damn good paper. >> it was very cool. wish we could have gotten it here. >> bill: it is not that thick. maybe ten pages or so but it is really good. it has the best columnists. you can follow everything that's happening. shorter articles perhaps. it is really a good paper. i always buy it when i'm overseas. >> the new name is -- the

international "new york times" of america. it is a lot of names, a lot of places in one name. >> also, what's a newspaper? oh, that's right. >> bill: there is that question. [ laughter ] >> sorry. >> bill: you know what? your sons are going to be asking you that question for sure. absolutely. evan, we haven't talked about this yet today but the senate is gearing up for a big hearing tomorrow. the first hearing the senate judiciary committee on senator feinstein's ban on assault weapons. most people feel that we may get some things done on gun safety this year but no way no how assault weapons ban. are you as equally as pessimistic? >> i think it is a tough road for the assault weapons ban. even if you ask senator fine -- feinstein, she said it is an uphill climb. before people who are interested in gun control start calling that a huge loss, the reality we talked to the gun control leadership people, people who

run bloomberg's group, for example and other groups like that. >> bill: the brady campaign. >> they've been focused this time since newtown mostly on background checks. assault weapons ban, i think it is something the president wants and a lot of the groups support it. but the background checks which appears to have a bit more of a bipartisan backing behind it is really what the main goal has been. from all of the reporting i've done on this whole topic they only talk about background checks and then sort of ban stuff later on. so i think that the priorities as i understand, background checks. magazine capacity and then if you can get assault weapons ban you'll get it. that will be great. so i don't think that, in this republican-controlled house there's much of a chance of an assault weapons ban. in the senate, it is a tougher sell too. a lot of these guys, these conservative democrats who have come around to talking about background checks and other issues after newtown sort of hold the line on assault weapons ban. actually taking certain guns off

the market. they don't think that's a good idea. >> bill: as a sign of the support for the background checks, senator chuck grassley from iowa who has always been 100% nra person, always pro gun in the past has voted against universal background check. told a town meeting in iowa a couple of days ago that he's now open to supporting it. because he sees the importance of it. it looks like there's a growing bipartisan feel that this is the way to do something about gun safety which is politically viable to and they could do this because the nra even once supported it as recently as 2009, supported it. >> the think is tom coburn from oklahoma, another conservative guy, he's talking about background checks as well. he's in the process of helping to work out a bill. it is unclear as to how close they are to a deal on that bill. some democrats and some republicans working together on it. you know, the most interesting thing i think for me is to see that we're going to have an

hearing on an assault weapons ban. that's a whole new type of discussion. so you have a hearing about it now. you know, maybe in five years or two years three years whatever, you do something about that. if you want that. it is not clear if it's the best way to go. even joe biden who is out there selling the president's plan has spoken more about background checks than about an assault weapons ban. >> bill: by the way don't undercut senator dianne feinstein. she's a very powerful and a very effective legislator. and you know, she's been working to shape this bill to answer possible objections to it, right? so she'll tailor this bill. i believe that it is still possible for her to get a piece of legislation. she learned a lot from the last time where the way they wrote the bill, there were too many loopholes in it. on that issue of gun safety, we are either at or approaching the one-year anniversary of the killing of trayvon martin.

>> yes. >> bill: will that have -- the stand your ground laws and the availabilities? >> i think -- i think that's led to a certain -- a larger discussion about crime and about -- you know, protections how people handle their guns. i'm not sure things like stand your ground laws are really up for much debate these days. i think that the trayvon martin case has resulted a lot in discussing this idea sort of vigilante justice and how people are -- how people are dealing with situations like that. the neighborhood watch kind of thing. the case is hot to unfold. we don't know what happened down there. there will be a trial. i think that in terms of the gun debate itself, you know, newtown and talking about background checks and stuff like that is much more to focus. i think the trayvon case is a

bit of a piece of all of that. i think for the people who talk a lot about that case, they view it as a call to action. i know i heard trayvon martin's mother, i guess on npr speaking about how she thought that her son's death should be a call to talk about gun violence. >> bill: we're talking with evan mcmorris santoro political reporter for talking points memo. talking points memo.com. are we allowed to mention -- >> yeah? >> bill: where you're going? >> all right. >> bill: soon to be white house reporter for "buzzfeed." buzzfeed.com. we're big "buzzfeed" fans here. we're part of the "buzzfeed" community. >> yeah. >> bill: or they're part of the "full court press" community. congratulations! >> thank you very much. i couldn't be any more excited. i've had a great time at tpn. i was there since they opened that bureau in 2009. >> bill: really? >> going from there to the white

house is just -- it is a great testament to those guys. >> bill: i got a deal for you. at the white house. i got a deal for you. if you got $500,000, i can get you a meeting with the president. >> i've heard of that. what about this? are we selling access to the obama white house? >> this is one of those situations that if you saw that, "buzzfeed" actually, my new colleagues at "buzzfeed," this clip of jay carney trying to answer a question about that. of course, we're talking about the new ofa the organizing for action remnants of the obama campaign now being used to sell the president's policies and they said if you give a certain amount of money $500,000 in this case, you'll get to go to these quarterly meetings with the president. quarterly updates with the president. and if you saw jay carney yesterday trying to answer the question about whether or not this was access to the president, play -- pay for play

access, it was like he didn't know how to get an answer to the question. this is one of the things, if you're going -- my view is if you're going to make that kind of policy, you really should have all the kind of spin i guess or whatever you have -- already ready to go. it seems like people aren't completely on the same page with this thing. i don't think it looks great if you're obama. >> carney's big defense is that, you know, organizing for america, sort of a separate thing. but it's kind of not. they do run the barack obama twitter account. which obama does tweet from still. so there is a relationship there for sure. >> bill: the truth of it is every white house every president gives special favors to major donors. they get investorships. they get invited to state dinners. they get invited to white house

receptions. but there's a way of handling it that works and a way of not handling it that works. this is not the lincoln bedroom right? they're not getting to spend the night -- >> let's make it a two for one deal. >> bill: that's a $600,000 one. we'll be right back. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. in reality it's not like they actually care. this is purely about political grandstanding. date, staying in touch with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. in reality it's not like they actually care. this is purely about political grandstanding.

alright, in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden

agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show," live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: here we are. 25 minutes after the hour now on the "full court press" on this tuesday, february 26th. congressman adam schiff from

southern california will be here in studio with us. with us meaning me and evan mcmorris santoro from talking points memo, soon to be with "buzzfeed" at the white house. peter, before we get back to some of the issues of the day you have another one. >> bill, we've talked about who's going to be speaking at cpac. >> bill: yes. >> which is coming up. we know that sarah palin is speaking. we know that mitt romney is speaking. we know that rick perry is going to be speaking. >> bill: marco rubio. >> we found out who won't be speaking. chris christie was not invited to cpac. >> bill: he's a republican. >> but he's not a republican that will be speaking at cpac. >> bill: because he did such a good job with hurricane sandy? >> i doubt that's why. >> bill: do you think it was because he was hanging out with president obama? >> that's probably why. i mean this could either be a good thing or bad thing for chris christie. if people really realize that cpac is sort of the wacko way of the republican party.

>> bill: actually, we're going to be talking sequester with congressman adam schiff in the next half hour. but evan, you've been reporting about chris christie. a lot of people think he's got what? 74% approval rating. you can't beat him. but emily's list thinks that they can. right? >> they do. i think that -- it has been an uphill climb but they think that there's room to go after him. i think that -- >> bill: on what grounds? >> they're talking about his record -- some of the things actually -- funny we're talking about him not going to cpac. he was the keynote speaker at the republican national convention last year and was known as sort of a really good, conservative that -- conservatives really liked. it is those kind of issues that emily's list is using now to recast him if you want to say it that way or take us back to how people viewed him i think before sandy which is back in those days before sandy came around,

democrats really didn't like him very much. republicans liked him quite a bit. and now a lot of -- republicans don't like him at all. they think they kind of turned on their man romney. and you know, democrats like him a bit because they think he's still with the president whatever. emily's list is talking about stuff like that. they're talking about women's issues. chris christie is anti-abortion. they're talking about same-sex marriage. chris christie vetoed the same-sex marriage bill. >> bill: it is not going to be an unchallenged re-election. not for chris christie i guess is the bottom line. congressman adam schiff on the sequester joining us in studio in the next segment. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." you know who is coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians

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>> announcer: chatting with you live at current.com/billpress. this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: all right. it is 33 minutes now after the hour. this tuesday morning. february 26th. this is the "full court press." and we're booming out to you from our nation's capital on your local progressive talk radio station. and on current tv. this tuesday morning. we're joined in studio by congressman adam schiff, democrat from southern california. district 28 which includes west hollywood where carol and i enjoyed many good years there. great part of town. nice to see you congressman. >> good to see you. >> bill: welcome back to town. nice to know -- not that you make these decisions, that there is enough going on that you have to come back. >> there is a little something

happening at the end of the week apparently. >> bill: evan mcmorris santoro is in studio with us as a "friend of bill" this hour. still with talking points memo and joining "buzzfeed" as "buzzfeed"'s white house reporter just a few days from now. so, i want to start out by yesterday i was at the white house. the president of course, his message has been we don't have to have the sequester. we can compromise and i'm willing to compromise and i'm right here, ready to go. i saw several of the governors yesterday starting with the chairman of the national governor's conference, jack markell from delaware and mary fallin the republican governor of oklahoma, both came out and said we think that congress has to compromise on this. we're not telling them how to do it but the sequester doesn't have to happen. republicans and democrats are really going to hurt our states. so we're calling on congress to work this out with the

president. then we heard this yesterday from speaker john boehner. >> the president proposed this sequester, yet he's far more interested in holding campaign rallies than he is in urging his senate democrats actually pass the plan. >> bill: doesn't sound like he's much interested in compromise congressman. >> unfortunately, i don't think he is. he has decided that to manage his own members in the house he really needs the sequester to go into effect. maybe not for good but he needs to show the tea party wing of his caucus, he's serious he's with them. he will inflict this pain on the country. and it is interesting, after saying earlier, he had gotten 98% of what he wanted, that now it is somebody else's idea. neither party thought this would go into effect because they thought more rational minds would prevail that we would come up with some mixture of new revenues and spending cuts that would avert the sequester.

little did we know that the politics in the house at least among the g.o.p. would be such that that would be an attractive option for them to pull the sequester trigger but that seems to be where they are. >> bill: if this had been instead of $1.2 trillion -- so the idea was, we're going to have something so ugly, so painful that nobody in their right mind could agree to it. $1.2 trillion in cuts, half of it in the pentagon. across-the-board cuts, right? indiscriminate cuts. >> absolutely. >> bill: if it had been $10 trillion, half in the pentagon and half in the programs, the tea parties would have still said bring it on. right? that's their attitude. >> it is entirely possible. this is a group like many throughout the history of congress campaigned against government. ran against the congress. but unlike most in history never found that they had to make the transformation into governing. at some point, you have to be for something. you have to govern. even if you're for decreasing

the size of government, you have to find a responsible way to do it. this is not responsible in any way. it cuts the good with the bad the efficient with the inefficient. it is going to cost us more money. when we breach the contracts in defense. so it is not the least bit rational. those that are saying that well, this is not a big deal, it is a small amount. it is a big amount and when you compound the fact that it's taking place now not over full year but over much less than a full year, it is going to really have teeth. >> bill: even this year, evan, one more question for the congressman. i was at the briefing yesterday after we talked to the governors, went into the briefing and homeland security secretary janet napolitano came out. she said flat out she talked about the furloughs and the cuts they would have to make at the border, in our ports in sea patrols with the coast guard across the board. she said there's no way that they can keep the country as secure as it is today if the sequester goes through. so now we're talking about

national security. and not even the threat of -- weakening our national security is enough to get the republicans to budge. right? >> no, that's right. we've seen, i think a real evolution within the g.o.p. which used to be about -- you know, sort of the central glue was what was good for big business was good for america. and particularly what was good for defense was good for america. but that has now been superseded at least in terms of the majority in the house and maybe not in the senate but in the house, with the cut the government under any circumstance. tear the government down. and that is the governing philosophy, the overriding majority of house members and until that changes reaching any kind of responsible compromise will be very tough. >> my question is what's the long-term impact of all of these kinds of crises? if you look every week, we're having another crisis. do you feel like it's impeding your ability to govern beyond

things like fiscal issues? we're talking about other stuff in this congress, right? immigration reform and gun control, things like that. >> hopefully. >> i feel like the public seems to be -- as reporters, it is hard to get them really engaged on this sequester issue. i know that democrats are trying to get to engage on it too partially because of how much crisis mentality there is. do you think that's had an impact on what you're able to do? >> absolutely. in several ways. probably the most damaging consequence is that those that -- are ready to invest and ready to make new hires in our economy can't do so with the periodic crises. i think our economic -- economy would recovery but we keep getting in the way with the manufactured crises but it shreds confidence in the federal government's ability to get anything done. i think some of the g.o.p. have built this plank that they've walked out on now where they

have so much dislike of the president. that anything he's for they have to be against. even things they were for. if he's now for they have to be against. i remember talking to one of the republican members of the gang of six. and complimenting him on his work and having him tell me, you know what killed us was when the president said something nice about what we were doing that just killed us. you can see it happening in the immigration rebate now. anything -- leaked from the white house about what they would like to see in the immigration reform, even if is what they were proceeding it, -- with it has to be terrible. it has issues on anything the president is for, these folks have painted themselves in such a dislike corner that they can't embrace anything even though things they wanted before. >> bill: when ray lahood, transportation secretary, came to the briefing room friday and said this is going to cause major disruptionses in air travel and inconvenience

millions of americans when janet napolitano says this is going to have a real impact and weaken our national security, do you think they're exaggerating? >> no, i don't. this is a crash set of cuts. and unfortunately, the way it was designed because, of course, it was designed to be punitive and not go into effect is it cuts everything across the board. it gives very little flexibility in terms of how these agencies can cope. so they can't move money around wholesale to protect the highest priorities and defer things that maybe time will cure if a sequester goes away. so it is a real problem. i don't think they're exaggerating. they have to counter this idea that some of the g.o.p. are putting out there that well, the sequester really won't be so bad. and you know, i think they're laying out the facts, taking a lot of heat for it. but i would rather have them lay out the facts now than have people rudely surprised by just how punitive this is.

>> bill: if i can indulge your patience here for another sound byte. we heard this message at the white house yesterday from -- it was interesting to me. most of the governors republican and democrat, just said look, we may not agree on how to fix it but that's not up to us. it is congress's job. all we're saying is please fix it. please get together and talk and work this out by the end of the week. one exception. bobby jindal from louisiana. who gave a campaign speech. >> now's the time to cut spending. it can be done without jeopardizing the economy and jeopardizing critical services. president needs to stop campaigning. stop trying to scare the american people. stop trying to scare states. >> bill: there it is. the president has to show some leadership on this issue. but he didn't say -- it is no big deal. we can cut the spending. no big deal. >> my first impression, that was probably true of many in america, oh, my god, the presidential campaign has begun. we finished the last one. you can separate the new candidates four years from now by those who are already going

on the attack. i'm not surprised most of the other republicans didn't want to say how. you know, it is much better for them frankly politically if they don't say how although i would love a few of them to step up to the plate. you know, look, they're going to have to be new revenues and new cuts. let's do this in a balanced way. this is a responsible thing to do. it is a bit of a cop-out in my view to say we won't make any prognostications about how. when you know, the only way to put pressure on the g.o.p. to come to the table is to say look, they need a compromise. >> bill: congressman adam schiff with us in studio as well as evan mcmorris santoro from talking points memo. you can join us in studio, at least electronically. give us a call at 1-866-55-press. or your comments welcome on twitter at bpshow. we'll be right back. continue our conversation here on today's "full court press." >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv, this is the "bill press show." iq will go way up. (vo) current tv gets the converstion started weekdays at

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>> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: so, three, four days, depends on how you're counting from the sequester. looks like there's no way to stop it from happening. well, there is a way. whether or not people take advantage of that opportunity still remains the question. that we're exploring with congressman adam schiff from the 20th district of california and with evan mcmorris santoro, still from talking points memo until he puts on his "buzzfeed" outfit. >> that's right. >> bill: special "buzzfeed" hat. >> several running lists. >> bill: congressman here's my question. let's say there were a republican president in the white house and we had the major

cuts looming and the homeland security secretary came in and said just want you to know, we're going to have to cut here and here and here and the country won't be as safe from terrorist attacks as we are today. and democrats said eh, we don't believe her. we're still going to vote against it. how do you think the democrats would be maligned or treated or what they would be called? >> absolutely. they would get their head handed to them on a platter. but it wouldn't come about with the g.o.p. president because the g.o.p. president would exercise a moderating influence on that tea party wing in the house saying look, if you're determined to jump off this plank, i'm not jumping with you. you could see even president george w. bush saying to the republicans, you guys, we're a train wreck about to happen here. >> bill: yeah. you know there would have been

ads with some of the democrats with osama bin laden. they're on osama bin laden's team. >> max cleland. >> bill: you know we would see those all over the place right now. >> beg the question, do you think that we have to see some of the pain of this sequester actually see things shut down before the public really gets engaged on it? i just feel like -- i know i said this during the last question, maybe it is a broken record but it does feel like the public is not as on the edge of their seats as they were with the debt ceiling and some of the other crises we've gone through. do we need to see pictures of headstart to shut down before we start to see what's going on here? >> we may have to. there's been this sequence of crises that have averted so the public is watching this thinking they're doing it again. it won't be averted at the last minute. the other part of it, too is you can see in terms of the

speaker's management of his own members, needing his members to start hearing from people in order to give him the leverage he needs to actually get to yes. i think he's probably waiting for that to happen, too. >> bill: i was thinking yesterday, if you could fill that mall with americans who are saying you can't do this to us, they might hear. right now i'm afraid i'm with you, i don't think people are that engaged maybe because there has been fiscal crisis after fiscal crisis, they're getting deaf to it. let's invite mary to join our conversation. mary is from congressman acworth, georgia. hi mary. >> caller: hi. my question is that i've been hearing a lot of comments that this is going to backfire on the g.o.p. and i'm wondering what the congressman's take is on that. >> bill: yeah. let's say it does happen. who gets the blame? thanks, mary for the call. >> i think the blame is more heavily visited on the g.o.p.

frankly, i think people will blame congress. i think the president will be all right but people are just going to say that's a completely dysfunctional congress. they won't discriminate completely between democrats and republicans but the g.o.p. will get hit harder. frankly though, that's a little solace when you consider that the country is really going to get hit. again, economy back to the fact that i think our economy is really poised to finally recover from this lingering end of recession but it is not being allowed to. and so the fact -- even if the g.o.p. gets the lion's share of the blame for this, which frankly, they deserve if the american people are going to suffer my constituents are going to suffer, that's really no solace to me. >> bill: the congressional budget office said we would go from recovery to recession. they used that word in their analysis of the impact of the sequester. you would think that would get people's attention. i thought janet napolitano would get people's attention. >> it is remarkable.

the other facet and this is a bit into the weeds but i think it gets to the problem that the speaker has and mobilizing his people to deal with this is that a lot of his members come from seriously gerrymandered districts where they're not really accountable to what the country thinks as a whole. they're only account to be what a majority of their constituents think or how they interpret that and right now they're interpreting their constituents as wanting basically to shut down the government to make massive cuts and that's the only priority and until enough of the mainstream republicans tell their leadership, you're killing us, it may not come out of the height of the ultraright-wing republican districts but it is going to -- you're going to lose the moderate g.o.p.ars and you're going to lose the majority. >> bill: if the sequester does kick in, by the way, congress doesn't have to vote. the sequester will happen unless congress acts to stop it, correct? >> exactly. >> bill: by legislation, i guess? >> yes.

>> bill: then the president would have to sign it. >> well, the sequester was set up during that budget control act of 2011 so the timetable the extent of the cuts, the across-the-board nature of those cuts, that's all the status quo. so unless something is passed to avert it and signed by the president, it's going to happen. >> bill: have you been told you're going to stay here through the weekend? >> no. and you know, the fact that we -- >> going to pay to deep the doors open and the lights on. sequester the lights. >> the fact that we were sent to our districts last week, told me that the leadership wasn't serious, at least in the house about getting this done. and unless there's a deal that's very close they won't keep us here through the weekend to work on it. there's no sign there is a deal anywhere. >> bill: that is grim. that is disappointing. congressman, thanks so much for coming in. >> wish i had better news. >> bill: thanks for fighting the good fight. i'm glad you're there on the

front line. congressman schiff from california. evan mcmorris santoro next time we'll see you with your "buzzfeed" hat on. >> that's right. >> bill: i'll be back with a quick parting shot. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." and lobster tacos. it's back, but not for long. [ woman ] our guests go crazy for lobsterfest. my favorite entree is the lobster lover's dream. what's yours? come celebrate lobsterfest and sea food differently.

(vo) current tv gets the converstion started next. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. the sweatshirt is nice and all

but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv. >> announcer: the parting shot with bill press. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: friday was secretary of transportation ray lahood telling us about the inconveniences to air travelers if the sequester kicks in. yesterday, it was homeland security secretary janet napolitano warning us about the dangers to our national security. this is serious friends. she cited, a