(woman) of course i don't think it is right that people are getting hurt. it's not my fault. (man) we weren't educated properly about the drugs. (woman) we are get told that it's bad for you and you don't hear anything else. (man)and yesterday we got into trouble because of (woman) there's no alternative like fair trade, or ethically friendly cocaine yet so we don't have a choice. >>yes, western societies have to take responsibility for the high level of demand in their er, amongst their citizens. if you're a cocaine user, you can either, confront the fact, and acknowledge that the commodity you buy comes from a dirty trade and has real ramifications down the line, or you can say well, to your governments, give me a legitimate way to buy this substance. people will always take drugs. we just need to manage that phenomenon in a way that is the best for society.

[ music ] >> bill: hey, good morning, friends and neighbors. and a happy wednesday. wednesday, march 20th. great to have you with us here on the "full-court press" on current tv. wedge to the program. welcome to your program where you get to not only find out what's going on around the world here in our nation's capitol around the world, but you get to sound off on the issues of the day.

you can do so by giving us a call, following us on twitter@bp show or facebook.com/bill press show. president obama will soon be arriving in israel for the first day of his four-day visit to the middle east. before he left he filled out his bracket for both men and women. and on the men's side, he picked as his final four, indiana and louisville and ohio state and florida. we will find out a little bit later this morning on espn who he picked to be the top winner. meanwhile, back here at home harry reid has said, well, we are going to have -- try to get a gun control bill to the floor, it will include no assault weapons ban. get that? not that they bring it up and vote it down. harry reid will not even let an assault weapons ban come to the floor for a vote even though the

american people support it by about 55% and despite all of the great work that dianne feinstein has done on that bill. harry reid proving to be a weenie. that and more, here on current tv. [ music ] 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 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. [ music ] >> across the nation on your radio and on current tv this is "the bill press show." >> bill: president obama on his way to israel. joe biden on his way back from rome. oh, my god. john boehner is in charge. oh, god, are we in trouble. good morning, everybody. what do you say? it is wednesday.

wednesday, march 20th. good to see you today. this is the full court press here on current tv on your local progressive talk radio station and on serious xm this hour only on a beautiful wednesday morning. we have our eye on what's happening around the country around the globe, here in our nation's capitol. not a lot happening in our nation's capitol. maybe it's a good thing that not much ever happens here in our capitol. particularly these days with mitch mcconnell and john boehner in charge. we will tell you more about it and more importantly give you a chance to sound off about it. you have strong feelings as i do. we want to hear from you on our phone line at 866-55-press. an army of operators standing by to take your calls. his name is phil backert. we will take your comments on twitter gladly. twitter is already pretty lively. you sort of anticipate what we are going to be talking about

this morning @bpshow. >> that's our handle. on facebook, same facebook.com/bill press show. join the fun and sound off again about the issues of the day. and i hope you're all working on your brackets. we are filling out our brackets. i have mine about half filled. president obama did his before he left for the middle east. and we will tell you more about that a little bit later in the program. i think peter ogburn was the first one to complete your bracket. >> my bracket is done although i did make a few amendments. >> bill: you are not allowed to do that. >> peter: of course you can make amendments to your bracket. >> bill: once you submit it, it's done. >> peter: my bracket has been amended. i am ready to rock and roll. >> bill: who do we submit it to. >> peter: we have done it on paper. we will keep them here. we will keep track of them. >> bill: but at some point, it's got to be done. some point we have to agree,

this is it. right in the. >> late tomorrow morning before the actual game starts. >> peter: i wanted to have it done before yesterday but if you didn't have it done before that. >> bill: peter ogburn dan henning. so, the rule: everybody has to have their brackets in by tomorrow morning. once you submit them to whom? who will be the keeper? >> peter: i will keep the brackets. >> bill: i don't trust you with them. you amended yours. >> bill: i want sipcyprian to be the keeper of the brackets by tomorrow morning. he has those copies of empty brackets on his desk. >> bill: before he left for the middle east, the president did as we expected yesterday, got together, as he has done almost every year with espn, and he

told us where he is coming down -- no. i'm sorry. he did the brackets. we will talk about it. he celebrated saint patrick's day for the teshack of ireland and talked about the irishmen. >> our new cia director my new head speech writer is a keenan and joe biden has very kindly greed to stay on as irishman in chief. >> bill: the president left them with an irish saying that i had never heard before. >> there is an old irish saying to leave the table hungry leave the bed sleepy. leave the bar thirsty. we will see if that works tonight. happy saint patrick's day, everybody. >> bill: i am for two out of

three of those. >> bill: we have a lot coming up, a lot of good people to help us do it including all of you. first, senator tom harkin in studio with us congressman jan shano shanowsky and lynn sweet. harry reid caved on assault weapons. but first. >> this is the full court press. >> on this ends with, other head headlines making news as you finalize your tournament bracket today, a reminder that you have a very, very low chance of actually mailing a perfect bracket, u.s.a. today crunched the numbers. with this year's teams your chance of winning every single -- picking every single game correctly is 1 in 9.the 2 quin 'til qui. n. illion >> bill: your chances of winning the lot reare higher. >> a better chance of winning the lottery. the president has picked

louisville, ohio state and florida and indiana and will reach the final 4 in his bracket later on this morning he will be revealing on espn who he thinks will win it all. >> bill: i am ready. i am going to wait until i see his. >> just copy it? >> bill: right. >> cnn's new management team continues to make changes at that network. the latest is that rowand martin is out. he the new boss wants his own seat but he is not getting kicked out immediately. his last day is in the first week of april. >> guess what, you probably won't see him before that last day in april. >> the other thing is, all of this talk about a bic shake-up. i like rowand martin. he is a friend. i think he is good, but i have been fired from cnn. so, you know s happens. right in the the thing they think this is going to save cnn

by getting rid of rowand martin? they have some prime time people they have to get rid of. i don't want to mention names. aaron burnett for starters but removing rowand martin is not going to do it. whatever. the edges. >> peter: >> male city workers in the small town of windsor missouri were feeling the effects of a tight budget this weekend in a bathroom. the city administratetor claimed the 10 male maintenance workers were using more than their fair share of toilet paper so they needed to bring in their own. p rolls. the washington post reports no one told the mayor about this budget cut. when he heard about it he immediately made sure that they found money to purchase more toilet paper. it was actually a female employee looking out for her male co-workers that brought it to the mayor's attention and

said why is this being cut? >> bill: they should have a sign you know, it one square only. bills big disappointment on the gun safety front yesterday. i would love to get your take on this, too. i am really burned up about it. i mean so, look we have known we've got to do something about these guns for a long time particularly about the assault weapon systems and the high-capacity magazines. a lot of us, including myself have faulted this administration and this president for not doing more about -- not even trying to do anything about gun safety during the first four years of the obama administration. but at least, after newtown, after newtown, the president i mean, he went after tucson after gabby giffords, gave a great speech. did nothing. after newtown, he went up there,

that had -- that shook up the entire nation and the president got his resolve and he came out and he said, you know we've got a lot of things we ought to do in this area of gun safety to protect our children, which is our number 1 responsibility. we have to talk about closing those loopholes and background checks and making sure that every gun purchase is accompanied by criminal background checks. we have to do something about these straw purchases and make that a more serious crime and eliminate them if we can. we have to do something about these high-capacity magazines. we have got to do something about these assault weapons. i mean, so it's not just one measure. it's a panoply, if you will a whole group of measures that should be taken up the president said, by the congress individually and then voted up or down. let's at least have a vote on every one of them and we thought that's where we were going. certainly, the american people want that. the latest poll we saw this morning, we know that the

assault weapons ban is the tunnest piece of the package. background checks are supported by by, like 75, 80% of the american people. you cannot make an argument -- unless you are head of the nra, wayne lapierre. you cannot make an argument against background checks being universal every single gun purchase, in fact, as recently as 2009, the nra supported universal background checks. even they know it's a good idea. so they gets like 75, 80%. the latest poll that we have seen on gun safety measures. 57% of the american people support the assault weapons ban. again, which is the toughest one? we knew that. dianne feinstein did that when she crafted this legislation. very skillfully crafted this legislation to eliminate some 150 something weapons so the people know what's covered and what's not covered. of course, the gun manufacturers don't like the bill.

because the gun manufacturers don't, the nra doesn't. but there is a chance we can get it through the senate. we found out yesterday, not only will we not get it through the senate. we won't even have a vote on it. harry reid yesterday saying, oh no, no, no. i am not even going to allow them this come to the floor because i know -- i mean, talk about a defeatist attitude. i know ahead of time it won't even have the votes. here is harry reid making his announcement yesterday. >> i have said time and time again, i want people to have the ability to vote on assault weapons, mental health safety in schools federal trafficking, clips, everything. but i cannot do that until i get a bill on the floor. >> bill: harry reid the senate leader saying i need -- hey, this is the reality. i need 60 votes. >> my job is to find one of those that i can bring to the

floor or two of them but at least that have been through the committee and that ilk get 60 votes to proceed to that. we cannot have votes on everything unless i get something on the floor. it's a legislative impossibility. >> bill: first of all, stop right there. he doesn't need 60 votes. he needs 51 votes the only reason he needs 60 votes is if he agrees to the freakin filibuster. he had a chance to reform the filibuster. he did not do. now, he is endorsing, in effect, the filibuster. no, don't take it for granted that the republicans filibuster everything, which harry reid has done for the last four years. make them filibuster. make them get up there like rand paul did. it will be a difference if they really had to do it. so if you accept the filibuster then, of course, you accept defeat. you know, from the very, very beginning. and as far as the assault weapons ban, harry reid again, ahead of time, says, oh you know, it's a loser. >> dianne has worked so hard on

this going back to the day she found the mayor dead in his office, had been killed. how strongly she feels about that. i know that. but right now, her amendment using the most optimistic numbers has less than 40 votes. >> that's not 60. >> bill: damn it, here is what really burns me about this. okay? first of all, notice, it's not the assault weapons ban that's brought up for a vote and loses. we can expect that maybe. we can expect that. it's not that the republicans shoot it down. we certainly would expect that. and we wouldn't like it. but we would know how it happened. what harry reid is saying, we are not even going to allow a vote. we are not even going to bring it up for a vote. but, you know, to mean, that's what it's all about. make these senators stand up and show the american people where they stand on this issue. make them vote. put their votes on record on

the assault weapons ban yes or no. do you stand with the killer at newtown, or do you stand with the kids who got mowed down? make them vote on that issue. he is letting them off of the hook. he's doing the work of the nra by not allowing a vote on this issue. i think this is horrible, horrible lack of leadership on the party of harry reid. it is cowardice, nothing short of that. 866-55-press. let them vote. make them vote on this issue. then if we lose it fair and square, fine. but to give up before you even go so into the fight, that's not what it's all about. 866-55-press. why are democrats such weenies? you tell me. >> this is "the bill press show."

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.

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?

[ music ] >> this is "the full court press: the bill press show," live on your radio and on current tv. >> bill: forty-five minutes after the hour. senators diane feinstein says i worked hard on it but my leader -- get this. it's not that the nra supporters. it's not that the republicans killed the bill. dianne feinstein says my leader won't even let it come to a vote. he called her ahead of time and said, hey, you know, nice try, dianne but you are not going to make it. before we get to the phones peter, what's the social media world saying?

>> peter: lots of comments. wham a coward. i bet feinstein will have a few choice words for him. blue ghosts says we can thank harry for not fixing the filibuster and removing the executes for not removing the ban. the party has crap ideas. democrats have solutions and are weenies >> bill: and no spine. so republicans have the spine. >> that's a good point. no ideas. democrats have the ideas but no spine. again, you can't -- you will never win. right? unless you take it to a vote unless you force it to a vote. it's just like a team not going out on the field before the game. at least you've got to play the damn game. >> you can't win if you don't play >> bill: jack, help us out. >> i don't think i can, bill. i

am so incensed. i think if dianne wants to prove a point, the first time the senate gets ready to act she ought to invoke a real filibuster like rand paul did and start talking. >> bill: that's a good idea. you can do a filibuster to oppose something. i wonder if you can do a filibuster to force a vote on something. >> caller: why couldn't you. >> bill: i don't think it's ever been used that way. not that i know of if she really believes what she is up for, get up there and start talking about it like rand paul did. >> bill: sure and get up there and be pushing for a vote on something again, not the way the filibuster has always been used in the past since the days of strom thurman to oppose something. jack, you know what? i know this senator.

i might give her a call and suggest that. josh calling from memphis, tennessee. >> caller: thank you for having me on. first of all, i would like to point out i am an upber liberal person even though this won't sound like it. >> bill: go for it. >> caller: i don't think the assault rival ban getting shot down is such a horrible thing even though the most liberal forces agree this wasn't going to fix the problem. i am not a gun guy. i couldn't possibly care less if they took everybody's guns but if you wanted to fix the problem, wouldn't you focus on like, trying to fix the war on drugs where 80% of gun deaths come from or the background checks are an amazing thing? it was a lot of work an fight i don't want to say any benefit but smaller benefit. >> bill: let me put it this way. it's no one of these, pardon the phrase, but no one of these measures is a silver bullet but

this is an important piece much it. these deadly weapons are war are important. not to have a vote is a big mistake. >> this is "the bill press show." 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.

>> chatting with you live at current.com/billpress, this is "the bill press show" live on your radio and current tv. bill thirty-three minutes after the hour. president obama has landed in tel aviv. he is now participating in the welcoming ceremony with prime minister benjamin netanyahu and shimon peres in tel aviv. we will follow the president's

schedule throughout the morning with you 33 minutes after the hour now here on the full court press this wednesday morning. coming to you live from our nation's capitol brought to you today by the utility workers' union of north america. the good men and women of the utility workers union under president michael languagenord. find out about their good work at wua.net. turn the lights on and thank a utility worker for it. talking about harry reid making theun latthe unilateral decision he wasn't going to allow it to come to a vote on the floor. one man, dictatorial executive decision, thwarting the will of at least 57% of the american people. no wonder people don't like washington. you know seriously, i mean it's

so apparent that we've got to do something about this gun safety measure, these gun safety measures and this whole issue of protecting our kids. it's so apparent that the nra speaks only for the gun manufacturers and not for the american people. who does harry reid speak for? >> peter: still getting loads of comments. yeah, loads of comments on twitter where we are tweeting tweeting @bpshow. honesty broker puts it quite bluntly, either harry reid is stupid or the nra is filling his pockets. big money lost the election but continues to win policy. also on twitter fred wilder says when did senator reid become the most powerful republican in the united states. i want a real democrat as a majority leader. teamster said sadly, this is true, senator feinstein was against filibuster reform so she is now reaping what she was sown >> bill: she was not there with tom harkin and others.

and geoff merkley for oregon who wanted to get rid of that filibuster, but she was on the other side. well, sadly for her. maybe she regrets it now. ron is out in elgin, illinois. hey, ron what do you say? >> normally, i would say good morning, bill. but it's not a good morning. the leaders have failed us again. this issue just irritates me right to the core of my bones. >> bill: yeah. >> caller: we have lost our soul as a nation if 203rd graders gunned down in less doesn't turn this nation to do something about the assault weapon ban, i don't know what will. >> bill: go back to the example of we talked about it, australia australia. right? when they had the brutal massive killing back there in the '90s. australia just right away, they just stepped up as a nation and banned these weapons of war and one mass killing since. right?

it's pretty obvious what we've got to do. but at least ron, bring it to a vote. this is what bothers me. the idea that you raise the white flag before you even have a vote. and i mean, so make it part of the bill or make it part of the package and if it loses, then you withdraw it and fight another time. but here we are not even -- not even engaging in the battle. >> caller: not even knowing how to govern any longer. >> bill: again, i want to know for these republicans and these democrats, i want to hold their feet to the fire. i want them to have to vote on this. i want them to have to stand up on the floor of the senate before the american people and vote no and explain why they are voting voting no, for all time, for history to record. and that's what harry reid is doing. he is letting them off of the hook. he is protecting the cowards

here and displaying a lot of cowardice cowardice, himself >> caller: good morning guys. >> hey, larry. what do you say? >> i already e-mailed harry reid by the way. >> bill: very good >> caller: i think all of your viewers should do the same. they are denying the american people. you took the words out of my mouth. 57% favoring the assault weapons ban. now, this is the reason why this congress has a 10% approval rating. you know, we have had enough. harry reid is part of the obstruction of what's happened the last four years. and this has to stop. >> bill: yeah. i mean in this area, it's the second below from harry reid. right -- second blow, one is denying filibuster reform and denying a vote on that actually. and now, right? using the filibuster and the threat of the filibuster to deny people a vote, the chants to

vote on the assault weapons ban. it just doesn't make -- it certainly is no sign of leadership. hey, larry i appreciate hearing from you and i am glad that you e-mailed. >> that's a good point. you know, those e-mails work. let harry reid hear from the american people. no. we want a vote on this issue. and, by the way, that's all president obama has said. he knows it's tough. but we deserve a vote. you know what you? the 20 little kids from newtown deserve a vote. sandy hook elementary school. julie anne club gambia morning. >> good morning, bill. i think one of the things that we have to do at this point is take it back to the states. i mean, you know over here in maryland, we have a wonderful governor, governor o'malley who decided to do that with, you know, taking it with the death penalty. he changed that. gay marriage, he changed that up in new york. they went ahead and changed the laws on the guns.

in colorado, they did it. they changed the gun laws. and so at this point, if we can't get the federal government to do it i mean, you know with the gerrymandering, we are not going to get anything until 2014 when we might be able to get some of these people out of the government, out of the federal government. hopefully rally the democrats to come back to the poles and actually --ls and actually -- i don't know what we can do about that. so at this point, you know, until 2014, you know, we are not going to be able to get these people out of the government to change these laws. >> bill: you make a lot of since, julie anne. first of all, it's clear. we do need a federal statute because not all the 50 states are ever going to ban the sale of these weapons. as long as they can be bought and sold in one state, then they will filter out and be able to get out into every other state.

it's just the way gun trafficking works. in the meantime, the chances of getting something done at the state level are better certainly and particularly when you have a leader like governor o'malley. i think he is terrific. what he has done in the last couple of weeks is amazing, you know. but that doesn't excuse harry reid. i can't let harry reid off of the hook. this is the best chance that we have had in the last 10 years to get an assault -- to get the assault weapons ban which, remember, was in place for 10 years, julie anne? >> we can't get them out of government until 2014 >> bill: but harry reid could do it today. at least have a vote on it and make these people vote. >> that's what we are talking about here. i maybeean maybe it doesn't get through the house. get it through the senate. at least bring it up to a vote on the floor of the senate. >> that's -- that's the issue. the issue is: itthere will not even be a vote because of harry reid. what kind of leadership is that?

none. zero. zero. chris, one final point, chris, i will get right to you. but, you know, the people who want to vote no, they are -- they love harry reid. right? those spineless senators love harry reid because now, they won't have to vote. >> that's the point. they won't have to explain to their constituents why they voted against the kids at new town. >> that's a big point. >> that's why this matters. >> bill: they love it. making me vote on that? no. i don't want to have to take a stand. damn, you were elected to take a stand. chris calling from mon. rose, colorado. >> caller: good morning. i would like to respond to the comments you made about as far as the bill goes, either taking side of the shooter or the kids that were killed. i really actually find that as

an insensitive comment because i am actually a law-abiding citizen. i believe in the universal background check. i do not however, believed in the assault weapons ban. >> bill: why? >> caller: as far as the last caller who spoke? >> bill: why don't you believe in the assault weapons ban? >> because of the fact that it doesn't solve the problem. if you look at the -- if you look at the -- >> bill: why is having assault weapons -- why is the ability to by assault weapons a good idea? why should anybody be able to walk into a store and for whatever reason and walk out with an ar-15? >> caller: because of the fact that when you go to a gun store, you submit to a background check. if you pass that background check. >> bill: why do you need an ar-15, chris? you are not answering the question. >> caller: why? my answer to that is simple: i use an ar-15 to hunt. >> what are you hunting with an

ar-15? >> bill: what do you hunt with an ar-15? and what's left of it after you shoot it? >> caller: coyotes for one. the ar-15 shoots a very small caliber round by comparison to a lot of hunting rivals. >> bill: chris, lose her, get off of the -- looseser, get off of the phone. he is out there blindly killing animals like coyotes who can't defend themselves. it's not going to eat coyote meat. >> right >> bill: killchris is the reason we need an assault weapons ban. >> get off my phone you little pinhead >> bill: he is part of the 43% who are wrong but my plea is have a vote on it peter. >> peter: barack obama has landed in israel. the first thing he said when he

got off of the plane in israel was: it's good to get away from congress. >> bill: he is damn right about that. >> this is "the bill press show." converstion started weekdays at 9am eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. (vo) tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >> you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. just be grateful current tv does not come in smellivision. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv.

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real immigration reform? >> with a distinctly satirical point of view. if you believe in state's rights but still believe in the drug war you must be high. >> only on current tv. [ music ] >> radio meets television, "the bill press show," now on current tv. >> bill: twelve minutes before the top of the hour now here on this wednesday morning, march 20th. congress woman january showksy, joining us at the top of the hour.

nobody knows illinois politics better than the chick sun times our good friend, lyn sweet. >> good morning. >> bill: you are an early riser. we know that. hey, there is so much going on this morning. but first of all, let me just start that the president has arrived now in tel aviv for the first of his visits. very significant. very important. >> absolutely. the first foreign visit of the second term. it's a much-watched visit because of the enormous interest in the mid east and he just planned it a short time ago. >> bill: and it comes at a time when there is ail of this talk that relations between pompom and -- president obama and benjamin netanyahu are a tad on the frosty side. do you think part of this is to go out of the way to say we are good friends. we have the same interests in

mind? >> i think it's to show that they have a lot of -- i think the way obama said it to israeli t.v. is they have a good professional relationship. both men have new second terms. the difference is that obama won a decisive 51%. and netanyahu had trouble putting together a governing coalition over the weekend. but in any event, the primary, you know, there are a few reasons for going now. some symbolic. some substance, but what is remarkable about the trip is that there is no agenda of accomplishment. there is no treaty that's being sigh signed. >> bill: right. >> there is no initiative to relaunch israeli peace talks. actually, the latest thing that is happening that was unfolding yesterday that might have some impact is the discussion over

whether or not syria has and is using chemical weapons. >> bill: the white house has been careful to damp down any expectations of any significant ta come accomplishment will come out of this trip other than the trip, itself. lynn, you have been writing this morning and we have been talking about the fact that harry reid sort of stunned dianne feinstein by giving her a call and saying that will assault weapons ban, we are not going to let it come to a vote on the senate floor. this is a major piece of the president's agenda as well. >> bill: >> here is my analysis. i am wondering about yours. right now, there are really four major measures that are part of the gun initiatives out there. well, if you included the assault weapons ban which is the one that just doesn't have the votes votes, the 60 votes in the senate to pass, you probably endanger everything by jettison jettisoning it as hard as it was

and giving a very impassioned speech. right on it. it was emotional. he clearly was not a faux -- he wasn't antagonistic. he said i don't want to the cause something to fail. i think the way it worked senator feinstein described it adds that she will get to bring it up as an amendment. in 1994, when the original assault weapons ban passed, it passed as an amendment. >> bill: my take on it is you never win unless you fight the battle. i think harry reid raised a white flag before he we want into battle. you know so at this clearly, you are right. the tough event of all of the meds user. right? >> yes. >> so if you put it up there and you lose with that, then you take it out and you go back and fight another day. but i hate to see them throw in the towel before they even challenge the vote. also, he is accepting the

filibuster as a fact. i mean, to me, this underscores why he failed in the first place by not reforming the filibuster this year when he had a chance to do so. >> do you think he double-crossed senator feinstein? >> bill: yes. >> what is the consequence of that? >> bill: the consequence is, we won't get an assault weapons ban, i think is the consequence, and i would imagine -- i mean, dianne feinstein is a team player. i have pointed out earlier today, she did not support filibuster reform. both of them are sleeping in the bed that they made or didn't make. i think it's sad there won't be a vote on this issue. here is what i don't like about it, is that the senators who vote no won't have to vote no. they won't have to stand up in front of the american people. >> that's a great point. there is not a roll call who stands -- who stands for an assault weapons ban and who doesn't. >> bill: let them defend it. >> bill: >> so, in a sense, reed invoked

the hastert bill. >> bill: exactly. exactly. i think that's an excellent point. lynn, you and i are soulmate did here harry reid is acting like john boehner on this thing, i am not going to allow it to come up for a vote. with that, darn wish we had more time. lynn, great to talk to you. good to see you the other day at the briefing. thanks for joining us. >> take care >> bill: lynn sweet, the washington bureau chief for the "chicago sun times"." "this is "the bill press show."

current tv, it's been all building up to this. >>bill shares his views, now it's your turn. >>i know you're going to want to weigh in on these issues. >>connect with "full court press with bill press" at facebook.com/billpressshow and on twitter at bpshow. >>i believe people are hungry for it. >> bill: [ music ]

>> taking your e-mails on any topic at any time, this is the bill press show, live on your radio and current tv. >> here we go in the next hour congress woman jan shakowsky and talking about a the impact of the sequester. now, if you have any painting questions, ask sherwin williams. wayne b. says harry reid has proven he is a corporatist and a traitor. cathy as, hate to say it but maybe harry is protecting democrats who don't want to go on record voting against the ban gu are fearful of the nra in their next election. that could be the case. still the wrong thing to do. robert while it may be a fact that more people are killed with handguns than automatic or semi automatic weapons, banning them will thwart one man having the killing power of dozens. that's i can't we need a vote on

that measure. congressman jan shakowsky coming up next.

>> my fellow americans good morning, good morning. good to see you this morning, wednesday, march 20th. welcome to the "full-court press" right here on current tv. president obama has arrived in tel aviv. met by prime minister netanyahu t beginning first day of his 4

day visit. before he left, the president did fill out his bracket did for both men and women. thank you, on the men's side he has picked as his final 4, louisville, ohio state, florida and indiana. i did that on espn before he got on air force one to go to the middle east. we will find out later who he picked at his big winner. back home today, harry reid says don't expect to win. i think you have so few votes, i am not going to -- as the majority leader, i am not going to let that measure come to the floor. republicans won't have to kill it. harry reid has killed it before they even brought it up for a vote. >> that's a big win for the nra. it's a big defeat for the american people. 57% of whom support a ban on

assault weapons. of course it's a big lots for those all of that and more coming up next. 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 dude, i need your help fast. well, clearasil's fast. yeah, but is it this fast? faster! how about this fast? clearasil's faster! this fast?? faster!! woh! that is fast! fix breakouts fast with clearasil ultra. it starts working instantly, sending the max amount of medicine allowed deep into your pores

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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. [ music ] >> broadcasting across the nation on your radio >> president obama has landed in tel aviv met in ben gurion airport and by shimon perez. we are back here at home in

washington d.c. it's not a one-way conversation. look forward to you as to what the issues of the day mean to your family. give us a call at 866-55-press. talk to us on twitter and bp show and on facebook.com/bill show. we are pleased to welcome back in the studio to help us sort out the issues of the day a good friend of the program working hard for the people of illinois congress woman january schakowsky schakowsky. >> i saw two of your colleagues on air force one? >> it's a good ride and a fab lutz trip >> bill: it is. >> how wonderful. historic. >> i hope they could get rest on the way over there. i saw last week, you were on air force one with the president? >> from d.c. to chicago i

hitched a ride. uh-huh. it was great. the president came back. we were able to chat. it was great. >> bill: did you get some m & ms? >> i did. i did. i did. i took a few packs. >> peter: walking off of air force one, my pockets would be so full of m & m did? >> people were laughing because i came down the stairs with this envelope full of stuff. >> swag bag on air force one. >> that's pretty big swag. >> bill: everybody does it. they know? >> it's a little embarrassing to put nap kins in your pocket but still. if m & ms get stale mine are by now. good to see you today. we are here with our entire team, peter ogburn and dan henning. phil back we can has the phone and cyprian on the videocam. before he left yesterday, the president not only had a delayed

saint patrick's day celebration. >> he did. >> but he filled out his brackets and we have been working on. >> whatever nate silver says i am with him. >> over barack obama. >> i'm sorry. i think even barack obama listens to nate silver. >> he did announce his final four. gonzaga, indiana louisville and florida. so there you go. >> >>. >> i think louisville has the horses to go far. >> ohio state ends upbeating wisconsin? >> yeah. even though i love wisconsin i

had a chance to meet those really nice guys. i think kraft's defense is unbelievable. >> he knows his stuff. >> he does. >> so louisville and ohio state and then the other two? >> michigan in florida. this will be in dallas. >> i am with florida. i don't want people thinking i am only big 10 all the time. >> you know shane larkin kenny kogy. >> a great game but i think indiana is going to pull it out. it will be close. >> florida, indiana, hoy state and louisville -- ohio state and louisville. >> we will find out later today >> bill: congressman before you leave, we will give you a copy of the bracket like this. i am working on mine. >> okay.

thank you. >> bill: we have our little pool here? >> a lot of money on this. >> guess who knows the least. >> would that be you bill? >> me. >> that's how it works. we will start off with congresswoman jan schakowsky here a small businessman from chicago is going to join us a little bit later and tell us what the sequester means to small business leaders. he is not happy with the sequester. we will he will tell us why. top of the next hour senator tom harkin, a big day here at the "full-court press." congresswoman, before we get to some of the budget issues i wanted to talk to you about, leader harry reid yesterday announced that they are going to bring a gun safety bill to the floor of the senate but the assault weapons ban will not even be included among it because there is not enough support.

don't you think we should at least have a vote? >> as the president said during the state of the union, give them a vote. and the "them" were people like carolyn murray who is my constituent who is -- who was almost the irony of this she was a gun safety advocate and then her own son was shot and killed in evanston illinois, you know, in a pretty safe community, we like to think. she was up in the gallery holding a picture of her son. it was actually on the front page of "the new york times." and she was among, maybe, 150 families that came because their children were killed by gun violence anyway, yes, i would like to see a vote. you know the add vo cats

mayors against illegal guns and brady campaign believe universal background checks may be the single most effective piece because it's not just assault weapons. it's handguns and rivals. all sorts of weapons but i think that the mass killings that we have seen are made possible by these military-style weapons. >> and the high capacity magazines. >> the high capacity magazines. i believe those are in one bill. i think we should get a vote on that and let americans see who is really for ordinary people. >> that's the most important point, by not allowing a vote or allowing it to come up for a

vote, it let's too many people off of the hook. right? senators off of the hootk, democrats and republicans who will never have to stand up and tell the american people how they feel about it. >> the good news was the word was hook. it never was a hook in the whole time i have been in congress. i am in my 15th year. the nra had free reign, and the only calculation when people were voting on gun legislation, that's different now. >> it is even carol limb mccarthy whose husband was killed on the long island railroad almost two decades ago she will say it is different. somehow sandy hook has really grabbed the hearts and minds of the american people. and now, we have new players on the block. >> sure, mayors against illegal guns played a huge role in the second district election in

illinois. they said we had let people know a couple of the candidates have an a rating and one candidate, robin kelley an f rating and her time in the state legislature. she won overwhelmingly in a 15 person area and she is going to be elected on the issue. >> on the gun issue. >> things have changed. i think it's i think it's deplorable we have talked about the impact of the sequester. now we are into it. how do we get out of it? >> let me tell you how we get out of it and then we will talk about the impact. >> the state of indiana is figuring out which kids should be thrown out of the headstart

program. nationwide, about 70,000 children will no longer have the opportunity to have a quality early childhood education. >> when people complain about the white housetors they are not talking about the impact. there are painful cuts here a lottery, kids who are the victim of that. >> sorry johnny no more pre-school for you. that can affect johnny for life. all of the data shows that a quality pre-school education, early childhood education carries on through your entire life in terms of your ability to function well in our society. it's craziness.

we could end the sequester today by adopting cuts but in the tax codes, the tax breaks, the tax credits that are loaded up in the tax code that go mostly to the wealthiest americans. you are talking about getting rid of the tax benefits or loophole? >> that's exactly right. >> give me an example of this. is there enough money there? >> absolutely enough money to over $1.2 trillion over 10 years. we could get it, for example, from the corporate deferral on-shore profit did companies that make their profit did overseas, did he ever their payments, sometimes never pay

them, and >> bill: that just encourages people to move their money or jobs offshore? >> it's an incentive. >> why should we be rewarding them for exporting jobs basically? >> what these corporate interests and wealthy americans do is hide spending in give them a check? we would is a no way. in the tax code, nobody is really examining that. >> bill: exact. >> special tax -- well, mortgage interest deductions for second homes. not just a first home. i will tell you, a big one is the fossil fuel subsidy. i am talking about oil and gas. $41,000,000,000 over 10 years,

we get -- don't we pay enough of a premium at the pump? they are making record profits and we still aren't giving them -- we still are giving them money through our taxes. >> bill: yeah. so what's so difficult about this? i could make a lot of money, too, if the federal government were giving me $41 medical yon dollars. right? it helps with the bottom line. when you start with that. >> it does. >> handing them that. >> they don't need that money. >> no. for the bottom line. they are making record profits. >> they probably needed it -- i guess the idea is they might have needed it at one time to really spur some new kind of exploration. >> maybe half a century ago perhaps. my favorite is the carried interest which means nothing to americans. >> yeah. >> hedge fund managers, people who are using other people's

money to make investments pay a low tax rate and it's worth about $13,500,000,000 in tax breaks over 10 years. >> what is the rational? i have heard about carried interest. what is the rational for giving hedge fund managers a break in their taxes? >> there is no -- >> a gazillion there? >> in fact i saw in the "wall street journal," nine such managers got a billion dollars each in a bonus. in a bonus. >> bill: i know one hedge funneled manager. >> you do >> bill: in a little town up in rhode island and has a beautiful little house on the beach, and he walked up to the owner of it one day, true story and said i have always loved the house. he said it's a beautiful piece of property. i will give you 9 and a half million dollar for it. cash. the guy said sold.

>> that's the world these guys live in. money is nothing to them. >> that's exactly right. >> he gets a tax break carried interest? >> pays 15% taxes on that money that they make. you know, if we just, you have to pay the rig rate 35% we would be able to have $135,000,000,000 over 10 years. imagine if they -- we tried to get in the regular probangs, people who identifya themselves as hedge fund managers, we will give them $135,000,000,000. that would never happen. we can add that up to over $1.2 trillion. and the sequester. >> unlocking the secrets of the

tax code raising enough revenue to get rid of the sequester. dan s -- jan schakowsky. 866-55-press. we will be right back on the "full-court press." >> this is "the bill press show" live on your radio and current tv. >> you are. >> the troops love me. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv.

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. [ music ] >> heard around the country and seen on current tv this is "the bill press show." >> bill: 26 minutes after the hour now here on this wednesday, march 20th, the full court press. don't forget to join the conversation anytime at

866-55-press. in studio with us congress woman jan schakowsky who sheets got the solution, if only the republicans would listen. the way they can get rid of sequester without raising taxes. i mean, do you think grover norquist would go along with any of these changes? >> they call any change any elimination of at tax break or credit a tax ibncrease. >> that's why they want to put it in the tax code. it's a spending cut if it's in the budget. it's a tax increase if it's in the code tax code. >> bill: yeah. this really is an abuse of the english language. >> it is >> bill: if you are raising taxes, you are raising taxes. don't vote against those but cleaning up some of these special privileges in the tax code. >> spending in the tax code. >> spending in the tax code, everybody should be for it. what can people do about it? >> we are asking the american people to choose among the

different things that we have, we can do in order to get our fiscal house in order and launching today and on hash tag you choose to get their suggestions. here is the first question. we are going to do a series of questions. it says, the republican budget being voted on this week maintains $1.2 trillion on across-the-board cuts known as the sequester, in domesting i can spending and the non-partson cbo says that could cost 750 jobs. so you choose. keep the current cuts in place, or get the same amount of deficit reduction by eliminating or reducing provisions in the tax code that benefits specific corporations or wealth year taxpayers. you choose. >> bill: we will give you more choices to make when we come

back here with congresswoman jan schakowsky. you choose. >> this is "the bill press show." [ music ] guys that do reverse mortgage commercials? those types are 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?

>> chatting with you life on current.com/billpress. this is "the bill press show" live on your radio and current tv. >> >> bill: how about it 43 minutes after the hour? we are coming to you live from our nation's capitol, brought to you today by the national education association. yes, the good men and women of the nea under president dennis van roekel making a difference in america's classrooms every day and creating great public schools for every student in the

country. you can find out more about all, work they are doing at nea.org. nea.org. that's their website. in studio with us congress woman jan schakowsky who wants you to choose we are asking you to choose in terms of whether you want to continue wasteful spending in your opinion the tax code. we want more on how people can tune in. >> you mentioned the hash tag, youchoose on twitter. people are already chiming in to weigh in on that that have heard about this on the show. a couple of comments on tax loopholes hash tag, you choose. benefit only the wealthy and multi-national corporations.

a comment from sam on twitter where we are tweeting @bp show. the wealthy like the koch brothers should look at history when you exploit the workers, you do so at your own peril. >> warning. >> absolutely. 750 jobs lost because of the sequester is the estimation of the imagine what that does to the economy. manufacture something picking up. the housing market is picking up. now, it's a deliberate wedged repeal that. >> 750,000 families without a paycheck. they are not spending money, creating any demand, putting money into the economy. >> it will actually reduce

growth about six %. >> the which you choose on twitter, the hash tag is youchoose. >> that's right. >> or go to your website schakowsky.house.gov. >> all right. we will roll them out over time should we have 2100 fewer food inspections or give.

they can't get their arms around because of grover norquist. >> on the gun issue, talking about mental health services 373,000 seriously ill, mentally ill children and adults will lose treatment. should we do that or give special tax breaks to hedge fund managers? i mean these are the kinds of choices that we are literally making right now in this country. >> one of the tax breaks is owners of corporate jets. i don't know how much money that is >> absolutely. jets and luxury products and yachts and that kind of thing. really? really? should we give them tax breaks? >> bill: how about agricultural subsidies. >> let me give you a couple of examples of the ag suggestbsidies that we have. capital gains treatment of certain timber income

$430 million over 5 years. >> this is what lobe christs do. they -- lobbyists get these in the tax code. you got that. >> that's why behind every one of those tax loop holes is a whole crowd of lobbyists. now, behind headstart? not so much. the lobbyists, bug paid lobbyists. >> not so much. so that's what makes it so hard. >> capitol grill bellying up to the bar. >> exactly. you know or the people who are defending the unemployed who are going to see about 11% cut in their check. i got a letter from one of my constituents saying i don't know what i am going to do, she said. >> bill: yeah.

>> when my check is -- >> bill: are there any of these tax privileges or tax loopholes that benefit average working class, middle class americans? >> there certainly are. >> the home mortgage deduction on the first home. right? >> on the first home. and, also, on health insurance that's provided by your employer. you get a tax break. it's not included as income. you get a break on that. state and local taxes. >> bill: okay. >> you get a break on that. >> bill: i support all of those. >> middle class and those are big ones. >> bill: yeah. >> but it's all of these individual tax breaks, as you said that lobbyists come in droves and teams and get just squeezed right in there and add up to $1.2 trillion plus over 10 years. >> bill: to put it in context when the president talks, has been talking about a balanced

approach, moving toward deficit reduction, on the revenue side so he says, we need more spending cuts and he will make those spending cuts, some that you and i would not want him to make. it's willing to make. on the revenue, new reforms from the tax code. he is not saying i am going to raise everybody's taxes. this is the kind of stuff he is talking about. >> that's right. >> right? >> he is talking about spending on both sides, including in the tax codes. >> that's fair. 50/50 because already, we have reduced the deficit 60% of that is from the conventional tax spending cuts that have been made, painful spending cuts that

have been made and only 600 billion has come from raising taxes. >> now, you are working this week and debating the ryan budget. all right? so, look at -- on the ryan side how many of these tax benefits did you identify in getting rid of those and getting rid of that spending are in the ryan budget? >> not one thin dime. paul ryan changes medicare into a voucher program, cuts -- slashes medicaid funding, $800,000,000,000 over -- over time. >> that's children. there are cuts in the wic program literally taking food out of the mouths of babies. it's not incredible. not one thin dime out of the tax breaks for the wealthiest americans. and corporations. >> he is not dumb.

he has to know that this incredible source of revenue is there. he is the chairman of the budget. he knows these loopholes exist. right? >> they have done polling, it was a republican poll, and found that, saying that we are going to have from revenue and spending cuts. they have learned in their poll that americans want a balanced budget, never mind where that comes from even slashing programs that help on the other hand peopleordinary people. we are going to balance the budget. wait until people feel that. his budget is going absolutely

nowhere. their budget opens up the tax loophole, the -- what do you call it? for prescription drugs, for seniors, the donenut hole. he opens the donu. hole. they will have to spend more for their prescription drugs. it's a pretty vicious budget. >> bill: you have paved the way here, and the -- you can -- you can all choose and help congress woman jan schakowsky with her fellow members of congress by going to twitter hash tag youchoose or schakowsky.house.gov. you choose. you choose. >> a link on twitter if you are following united states on twitter@bp show. >> bill: when we come back, we get a little different take on the sequester from a small business leader from your state,

elliott richardson. >> my pleasure. thanks bill. >> doing a great job. thank you. >> this is "the bill press show." 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. (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.

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>> "viewpoint" digs deep into the issues of the day. >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> with a distinctly satirical point of view. if you believe in state's rights but still believe in the

drug war you must be high. >> only on current tv. [ music ] >> on your radio and on current tv this is "the bill press show." before the top of the hour on the "full-court press," it's illinois day, i am telling you around the full court press, lynn sweet from the chicago sun times" was in a little earlier this morning. joining us now from the great city of chicago, the head of the

small business addvocacy council elliott richardson? >> thank you for having me. >> no it is having an adverse impact on many aspects of our economy. you have seen that with small businesses. correct? >> absolutely. it was not just the sec quest her. it was the sort of from creases to sequester. certainly going to hurt small businesses. >> how? $900 million less they say in loans to small businesses the mere finances are going to hurt small businesses but on top of

that the uncertainty it creates. people use the word spart spaint often and it's probably used. when you are living paycheck to paycheck and you are employing 15 to 20 people, it matters when you think the economy may fall off of a cliff. that's really impacting small businesses right now. >> i would imagine there is another impact, too. right? which is you depend upon customers walking in the door. >> absolutely. >> to buy your product. >> yeah. >> now phil if i -- i hope i am not talking out of school. but phil's brother works for the government. he was telling us this morning, his brother was told yesterday starting in a couple of weeks, you are going to have every friday off. >> yeah. >> you are going to have every friday off with no money. >> that's a 20% paycut. how many hundreds of thousands of government employees who get that message? >> the economy will stall because of the cuts and because

of the uncertainty. if you look at consumer spending during the merry christmas season, it was down, i believe two percent. you look at that why would you go out and spend money when you are afraid you are going to fall off of a cliff? for a small business owner, you will stop and look up. you are not going to move forward. it will affect our small businesses, restaurants, those that sell products. in the serviced industry. the growth is not going to be there when told if they don't solve the problem, that government's going to stall. the economy is going to stall and then, you know small bids owners don't see the government solving the problem. >> now you are able to get this message out in illinois. >> yes. >> with your small business advisory counsel. their online at small business addvocacy advocacy. >> s va cil.org. >> sbacil.org.

>> it's all over the place. we have built up a coalition of thousands and thousands of businesses through different groups in illinois. we are all experiencing the same thing. astronaut. >> let me ask you a political question? >> yeah. >> people generally think broad brut brush. they are a business person. they have to be republican. i don't know what party you belong to. what is your message top republicans and democrats at this time? >> our message is everybody needs to stop the nonsense. our group is non-partson, probably 50% republican, 50% democrat out of the 700 businesses in the group. >> 700 businesses in your group, in illinois? >> about two and a half years.

about 40 join every month because of the message. forget about democrat/cran right now. they are okay for big business. small businesses are hurting. let's cut through those party lines and create policies that are laser-focused on helping small businesses getting health insurance for small businesses reasonable health insurance for small businesses. when your rates go up 30% every year, that hurts your bottom line. it hurts your business. >> on the issue of healthcare. is obamacare good or bad? >> nobody knows but i am going to explain why it's not been good. it's no the because of obamacare. it's not because of the law. our rates were going up 30% long before obamacare. in moo i humble opinion, for rates to go up 30% because they

are supposedly worried about what obamacare is going to look like. i don't think anybody really knows right now. >> bill: you can pool your resources. >> our organization pushed to allow cooperatives which would allow small businesses to form a self-in insured insurance co-op to compete with the 4 large companies who unilaterally rise rates. we got funded through obamacare which was great. how the exchanges are going to work, we need again both parties in government to come together and figure out what those will look like. right now, all people see are rates going up. >> sbac.

>> sbac? >> il.org. >> sbacil.org. there it is. in this climate, the great big businesses and big corporations get a lot of say and a lot of power and we don't hear enough of the voices for small business and elliott richardson you are out there. i am glad that you are. >> thank you. >> thank you for coming in. >> critical mass. >> that's what i am trying to do. thank you, bill, so. >> thank you, elliott. >> this is "the bill press show."

[ music ] >> this is the bill press show. >> president obama in israel.

he arrived about noon israeli time at the ben gurion airport where he inspected an iron dome battery. later, 4:00 o'clock israeli time to the home of he will sign the guest book. they hold a restricted bilateral meeting. the two of them hold a news conference and tonight, the pom meet for a working dinner. busy first day for the president's middle east. when we come back in the next hour we will be talking with our good friend, the senator tom harkin from iowa about a lot that's going on or not going on the united states senate. we will also talk about the

millennium generation. are they the future? are they already here? >> this is "the bill press show."

[ music ] >> bill: what do you say? good morning, everybody. it is wednesday, march 20th. good to see you this morning. welcome, welcome to the "full-court press" here on current tv where we bring you up to date on the news of the day. here in our tion's capitol, around the country around the globe and, of course give you a chance to join the conversation. you can do so by giving us a call at 866-55-press. >> that's our toll-free number. join us on twitter @bpshow or on

facebook at facebook.com/billpress show. a lot is going on you are going to want to know about. president obama has arrived in israel for the first day of his four-day visit to the middle east. he will be meeting with president shimon peres this afternoon and a news conference and a meeting they will not be -- there will not be a vote on the assault weapons ban. majority leader harry reid announcing yesterday he didn't believe dianne feinstein had enough votes to get it off of the floor so he is not going to include at a time assault weapons ban in that legislation. republicans won't have to kill it. they won't even have to vote on it. harry reid has made that decision. president obama filled out his brackets for men and women,

thank you. in the final 4, he has louisville, ohio state florida and indiana. no word yet on who he thinks will be the big winner. all of that and more coming up right here on current tv. 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

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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. [ music ] >> broadcasting across the nation, on your radio, and on current tv this is "the bill press show." >> well, good morning, everybody. what do you say? president obama has landed in israel. he has gun his four-day visit to the middle east meeting with prime minister benjamin netanyahu and this afternoon with shimon peres. we have our eye on the home front, coming to you live from our nation's capitol and ourtude

yes right here on capitol hill. we are coming to you live on your local progressive talk radio station. and on current tv. good to have you with us. you can join the conversation any time at 866-55-press, our toll-free number. follow us and talk to us on twitter@bp show and on facebook at facebook.com/bill press show. we are progressive talk radio and there is no greater progressive in the united states senate than our guest this morning, senator tom harkin from iowa and a good friend and very generous of your time to come in to the studio with us this morning, senator. >> good to see you. >> it's good to see you. thank you for having plea back. >> our entire team here, peter, dan, and bill and cyprian over there. grandfather the president flew off >> it was a two-day.

you are celebrating. >> yeah. i started early. i quit late. >> saint patricks week. the recipe for a long life is to leave the table hungry, leave the bed sleepy leave the bar thirsty. we will see if that works tonight. happy saint patrick's day. >> i was there for that last night. >> where were you? >> it was a great gathering. i took a distant relative of mine, a woman by the name of mayorian harkin from slygel in ireland. she is a member of the european parliament. >> cousin mary. >> mirrian. >> i bet that was a fun party? >> it's always fun. >> the president, of course does have some irish roots.

>> that's right. he does. >> a lot going on this morning i wanted to talk to you about. one issue, this sort of combines two issues i want to start with, gun safety and with the filibuster. yesterday, i was disappointed that the majority leader harry reid announced that when the gun safety bill comes to the floor of the senate, it will not include an assault weapons ban because he said that he doesn't have the senator feinstein doesn't have enough votes to get over the filibuster that he needs 60 votes. sort of a double whammy to me. >> suffering under this heavy weight of this filibuster which is archaic, ancient, not in the constitution of the united states. the public -- thwarts the public

will and has been used for the last one 50 years to stop progressive legislation more than anything else but that's the rules. i did see there may be a reason for harry reid doing it that way to get the bill up. i just see it in the times this morning, said that we would allow that as an amendment. >> right. >> which is fine. fine. we can have an amendment on it. let's see if the republicans want to say no and you have to have military type weapons in their neighbors. there is no reason for it. >> at some point, would you agree it's important to have a vote on that? the police department asked for it. so they will know who is with them and who is against them? >> absolutely, bill. pom it's

important we have a vote on it or at least bring it up. let's see if the republicans filibuster that. do you see what i am saying? >> uh-huh. >> see if they fill buster that amendment. that will be telling, also. >> can you filibuster an amendment on the floor? >> sure, you can. filibuster anything on the floor now, bill. >> that's what we've got to get rid of that stupid filibuster? >> what's it going to take for enough senators to realize this is not the way to run a railroad? >> last august, i influence out in a plane with president obama. i said, you know, after this election, i said, i hope you get re-elected obviously. if you do if we don't change the filibuster rule, you might as well take a 4-year vacation. i told him that when he was in iowa the night before the

election. he made that big appearance in known. i said, rememberdes moines. i said, remember,. we never did anything about it. it is gotion to frustrate us in the future. >> last time we talked we talked about the may inmum wage after the state of the union. you were disappointed. the president said, i want to raise the minimum wage to 9 bucks. not enough. is it? >> not enough. but we have worked it out. >> which should it be? >> well, what it really should be is if we kept pace with inflation, the minimum wage would be $10 and 56 sentence an hour. it's now 7.25. >> that's how far off we are. to the raise it to $10 and $0.10 by 2016 and index it after that. we also, bill, for the first time in 20 years raised the

minimum wage for tipped workers. they haven't had an increase in 20 years. so they are not at 725? >> $2 and something like that. minimum wage for tipped workers >> bill: because they assume they are going to get the tips that will make up for it? >> that's exactly right. it's just a shame. so what we do is we raise it to 75% of the minimum wage. so if we are 1010 then they will be at around $7 and something cents for tipped employees. but it's just a shame. now, obama said $9 an hour but he wanted to end his at 2015. until 2015, our bill, as we stage it over three years, would be at $9 and $0.15 an hour. pretty close to what obama said but one more year. get it to 1010 and index it and

the administration is on board with that. >> good. does that mean we won't have the ongoing battle. >> it loses it, and then we have to bump it back up again. small businesses said they would like it because they would know what they had to plan for, two 1/2 %, they can handle that. >> what about we hear every time this issue comes up, it's going to cost jobs. there will be fewer people being able to work because employers will have to fire people, blah, blah, blah, blah blah. >> i heard john boehner talking about that. show me the proof.

don't give me that verbiage, that rhetoric. there is absolutely no empirical data to show that. in fact, just the opposite. a long-time study was done actually in oregon. they took a county in oregon that boarded a county in washington state a county that boarded one in idaho and that bordered california. they and they looked over the years what happened when oregon raised minimum wage and other states didn't. was there a fleeing of jobs back and forth? no. absolutely none whatsoever. most of the data says there is an increase in employment. you might say how does that happen? look. when you increase the minimum wage, then people at the bottom they have more spending money. they are spending local on their local shops and stuff like that. it does increase the economic activity in local areas >> bill: going to the wal-mart or the 711 and spending main

money, creating more demand. >> exactly. >> so your legislation is moving or -- >> well, i am going to move it. it's going to be in my committee. i will report it out sometime soon. we will have it out there and looking for having it on the floor of the senate and attach it to something as we go through. i am committed before i leave here next year to getting this increase in the minimum wage and getting it indexed for once and for all. >> bill: that will be a nice legacy to leave. many other great things. we saw in the month of february a pretty good numbers for job creation. 235,000. some good news is manufacturing sectors starting to show improvement. >> that's an area i know you have been working a lot on. >> yeah. i have a bill in already on

rebuilding the manufacturing sector. >> we have lost the manufacturing base in this country. >> my gosh, it's been awful. i just saw a figure the other day that during the great depression, we lost 31 million manufacturing jobs but then we rebuilt it back after that. >> yeah. >> during the last decade, we have lost 33 million just in the last decade. >> wow. >> prior to the last decade we had 20 million manufacturing jobs. we are now down to less than 12 million. more than 20% of our jobs were manufacturing, non-farm jobs. now, it's down to about 11%. i can tell you, in my state of iowa just in the last decade we have lost 48,000 manufacturing jobs in the state of iowa. we got to get this back up again, bill. you know there is a big rippel effect for every manufacturing job, you get maybe two to three supporting kind of jobs. we've got to get back to making things in america and rebuilding this manufacturing sector. that's what my bill does.

sit the president every two years has to submit to congress what sect orders what technologies we can take advantage of. how does that compare with other companies up and down what they are doing and recommending actions that is we should take and to review all of the different things. review tax policies review regulations, aggie. what can we do to help get manufacturing back up in america? >> is it particularly -- i don't know. i was trying to think while you were speaking about what we make still in this country. we still make cars and damn good cars and better cars by the way because of the bail-out of the automatic 0 industry and some of the restrictions that were put on that money. >> that's right. >> but, you know we don't make iphones. i guess we are starting -- >> some apple products laptops. or imacs. we will start making some here. >> i phone? no. the iphone no televisions.

no in the vcrs if they still make them, no. >> i met william some people from new balance the shoes. they are all made here in america. >> is that right? >> new balance is made in america. and they employ people in america. they pay them well and they have retirement policies. so things can be made here as long as you have conscientious people running these businesses willing to share the profits with the workers. >> absolutely. this is a new work force. >> senator tom harkin don't often get a chance to throw a

question or a comment to a united states senator. this is your opportunity. 866-55-press is the toll-free number. we will be right back here. >> this is "the bill press show" live on your radio and current tv. [ music ] 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.

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? >> this is "the bill press show," rely on your radio and current tv. >> 24 minutes after the hour. the millennial generation our next segment of the "full-court press." we are passing the torch. on your comments about

manufacturingor or the assault weapons ban. >> tweeting@bp show in the spirit of the saint patrick's celebration irish boy writes in lost manufacturing jobs because of global trade. labor is cheaper overseas and corporations love cheap labor. our friend as. azia says, you don't have to be from iowa. to love senator margin. some love on twitter @bp show. >> if it were the two of those on the filibuster. >> yeah. >> senator before we get back to some of the issues of the day and our callers, saint it ain't so. this is, you have announced you are going to hang it up there. yeah? >> i did, bill. i aannounced i will not seek re-election to a 6th term. i have had 40 years here folks.

i love my job but it's time to step aside and let the new generation come. i am encouraged. >> a good slate of people? we need somebody who can come as close to tom harkin as we can to step in there? >> i don't want to same i am cloning myself. there is a young congressman by the name of bruce braley who is a great progressive. >> heard good things about him? >> he is a good guy, out there putting everything together. he hasn't formally announced. there is a lot of excitement about him. keep your eye on him. >> we will have to get him in and give him some help, too. >> yeah. a good progressive. >> let's say hello to dawn call from chicago. hey, dawn. good morning. >> good morning. >> i wanted to ask the senator what is it that i can help to do

to get manufacturing back in the u.s.? >> what can i do? what can i tell my friends to do? >> got your bill in there, senator. >> go on my website, harkin.senate.gov. you can look up the bill. it's a simple straight forward bill. we need a manufacturing strategy in this country. we don't have one. if we can get something like this legislation through, then we can start to lay down sort of comparative how are we comparing to other countries? what are our tax laws? what kind of keeps manufacturing from growing close one tax loophole that gives tax breaks to companies to ship jobs overseas. close that down. >> go to harkin.senate.gov.

you are out there on so many issues it's hard to keep track of all you are doing but i want to ask you about social security because, i mean, it's under attack. let's just say, the other side would love to get rid of it. can we protect it and save the benefit? >> bill, you know, they have been after social security since we brought it in, in the '30s. the right-wing has been after it. they want to privatize it, george bush, partially privatize it everything. they can't get over the fact it's the most successful anti--poverty program beneficial to the elderly that we have ever had and it's working well. anytime you he somebody say, well, we got to cut entitlements, got to cut social security to save it. don't believe it. there are other ways of saving social security. >> we will have to leave it right at that senator. on manufacturing on the assault weapons, on the minimum wage thank you, tom harkin?

>> thanks, bill. >> thank for coming in. >> this is "the bill press show." iq will go way up. (vo) current tv gets the converstion started weekdays at 9am eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. (vo) tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >> you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. just be grateful current tv does not come in smellivision. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv.

[ music ] chadding with you live at currently.com/bill press. live on your radio and current tv. >> well, there was the 33 minutes after the hour now here on a wednesday morning march 20th, the full court press coming to you live on your local progressive talk radio station all across this great land of ours. of course, nationwide on current tv. there was the greatest

generation, and now the millennial generation. should we let them take over? david burnstein says yes, he is the author of "fast future: how the millennial generation is shaping our world" representing the millennial generation generation congratulations. who the hell are the millennial generation? >> the largest in history. 80 million people in this generation in the united states 2.5 billion. >> how many in the united states? >> 80 million, it's the largest generation in history, one of the most educated in history, one of the most diverse in history. only 43% identify themselves as white it's a generation that came of age around the time of 911, that came of age straddling the line between the best of my

knowledge al digit al world and they are acting the way we are living. >> you had nothing to do with that, of course? your parents just happened to give birth to you then to qualify as part of the millennial generation, you have to have been born after -- >> it's people born in about the mid 1980s to the mid 1990s. you know, you can maybe put it a little bit earlier. and it's really, you know categorized by people who came of age in some way around the time of the millennium so they are 4 or 3 a little bit too young to understand that experience. if they are on the other side of that, they are too old. >> coming of age would be 15, 20? >> 15 or turning 10 or 9 or, you know, sort of having their formative experience in the early 2000s. >> bill: i am curious of our team here, are you the

millennial generation? >> i am. i am going to run the world. >> how old are you? >> i am not going to give up my age on air. >> i think you are all too old? >> i am 1983. i will be 30. >> i am squarely in the mill en y'all generation which is good. i have written a book on it. >> '83. dan, you are out of it. >> am i out of it? >> bill: mid '80s. >> we can put you in at '83. >> all right. i am a millennial. i will take over the world. >> phil makes it. >> phil is in. i know cyprian is not. >> cyprian is like 50. >> ooh. >> i think this is a piece of it, you know, that it's not necessarily has the hard of hard in and hard out. it's defined by the commonality of experiences. i think there is a big difference where, you know, in terms of the people who came

who got -- who came of age, you know in the early 2000s. we have the advantage of not having had all of the wonders of smart phones and digit al technology. we did our first research projects in lineraries. we had these formative experiences without this incredibly powerful technology which i think actually allows us to be more effective in the world of technology because we understand how the old works. >> i haven't had a chance to read the entire book. i read the first chapter and the introduction. but isn't it true that every generation thinks they are the best generation that's ever been born? >> every generation thinks that they are special. this is, you know, history. >> they re-invented the wheel. or invented the wheel. >> the title of the book is fast future.

the reason i called it that is the time that we are living in right now is the amount of change that they have gone through in the past decade is really unprecedented in human history. we have had, you know, the pace and speed at which our world is moving and changing and the way our political system our economic system, has had to move and adapt is really quite striking, and, as other people are trying to figure out how do we adapt? how do we move? how do we navigate this? how do we pivot? this generation understands that intufftically because for us this is the new normal. i guess not to shoot down your thesis is every generation has felt that. the difference from not having a -- okay. there were dial phones. right? now, there are almost exclusively cell phones. in your short lifetime. right? going from horse and buggy to the model t?

right? or there are people going from horse and buggy to jet air craft. >> that's a huge leap, too. going from living in a world where there was just europe to now suddenly t europe and the new world, that was a huge leap. so every generation has had fast futures. no? ideal is this millennial generation different. >> technology drives change. what's happened over past hundred years is the powerfulness of that technology has made the change more increasingly more impactful on the rest of our world. and this generation in this case we are the creators this technology, which is i think what's really unique. whether you look at a platform like twitter or facebook, these businesses are changing the way that everyone is having to live their lives in our world and they are created by people in this generation. so they are all i am bued --

imbued. >> you look. if you go into cooling or microsoft offices, average age is probably in the 20s. >> not just that but the people who founded them, the people at the top of those companies are in this generation. and if you look at the arab spring, that's an example of why this matters. people in the middle east had been disaffected for a long time but young people saw a particular opportunity and understood we col understand it. >> what about the criticism you people in the millennial generation, you have a good life and you like to talk a lot, a lot of meetings. you don't do a damn thing. you are not out in the streets like we were. i mean, i march in the berkeley people's park march. i hope looked at americans pointing gernsbacher's at us.

we stopped a war. what have you done? >> thank you for that. seriously. there is a lot of appreciation for the tremendous things our parents did. >> are you being to put yourself on the line? why aren't you protesting the assault weapons ban? >> i would argue in the civil rights movement and the vit vietnam war when you had this level of mass protest, it was relatively unprecedented in the history of that. no, ma'am one had ever seen a million people on the mall in washington before. this was a new -- this was a really new thing. >> yeah. >> i would argue in the time since, we have had a million people marching on washington for just about everything you could -- you could imagine, and the power of mass protest in this age in a practicingmented age to move things and the challenge to respond is

impactful. you are seeing young people starting more businesses than ever before, trying to address things like that, they say we will start alternative energy companies. you are seeing people go at and try to create direct solutions to challenges as opposed to, you know, kind of rallying it. >> don't you think there is a difference between trying to do something on facebook or trying to do something on twitter and actually out there getting your hands dirty? >> sure. but i think there is also, you know, the same number of people who are out there doing, you know incredible activism. that number is the same. what's different today is that there are more people at a younger age who will have direct exposure to the social issues and social problems than ever before. there is a tendency to criticize, oh, well, it's only on facebook to so that shouldn't matter. the fact is, more people have awareness because of that. more people are connected to these issues.

everything we know about how people develop and form their habits and grow over time suggested people are introduced to these con cests before they turn 30, they are going to become part of their life and lifestyle. >> that's a more sustainable form of activism to work into people's lives. people wanting to wear and shop and vote with their dollar and be more responsible with what they do >> bill: 866-55-press. >> speaking of twitter we are getting a lot of comments about this online. >> i imagine you are. >> mzody says i work with mil ennials as a group. i think they are lazy and feel entitled. >> that's one person's. i am on the border line of the millennials so i disagree with that. most millennials have poor critical thinking skills because of problems affording college, people who came up through an education system that may have had some problems.

throw that out there. find us on twitter. >> bill: husband is we find out what people think about millennials? >> tell us how you feel. >> we are getting comments. >> bill: okay. we are going to have to -- >> peter: one quick comment there is a major generational difference, mr. john john writes in and says millennials get information faster. they can react quicker. i think that it's all there. they grew up knowing more >> bill: i want to continues our conversation because if all of this is true and you have all of these advantages you know where i am going. 866-55-press is the toll-free number the full court press on millennials. take it from me. >> radio meets television "the bill press show," now, on current tv.

>> this is "the bill press show" >> bill: twelve minutes before the top of the hour, on the "full-court press," talking the millennial generation how the millennial generation is shaping our world. your calls in just a second. you have heard me talk about identity theft. this story caught my attention out of nevada. a woman discovered that her a

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>> peter: today is the first day of spring. if you haven't been able to -- >> no. >> it's spring. spring has sprung even though it's crappy weather where we are. carol mcken in a says you're smartphone will let you know more but when your battery dies you are stuck. that might just sort of be an example of the millennials in general. you are only as smart as your phone. >> bill: who would you say represents the -- who is a role model, if you will for the millennial generation? or if we want to think the millennial generation and what they have to contribute and offer this world, it doesn't have to be just one person. maybe even two or three, who would you say. >> a lot of people might point to some of the people we know best like mark zuckerberg entrepreneurs like that but i would direct to a great story i tell, these two guys from women

minton, ohio. these two guys, mark stucker, they came back to their hometown, saw what was happening, there was a dhl plant closed that lost 8,000 jobs and they decided to stay home and, as they describe it, start a revolution. they brought young people back to wilming. on to train booksellers and florists and created a program to buy local products and got certified as azine enterprise zone and helped transform the residents as agents. >> nobody ever heard of them. who do you think of? the millennial? justin beiber? >> this is the challenge. >> bill: seriously mark zubeldiaingckerberg. >> he is part of the generation. in terms of his entrepreneurial spirit, i think he is a good example of this generation. >> bill: okay.

people. >> more people are creating businesses. 15%, up 300% of where it was 20 years ago. >> let's say hello from richard. calling from chicago the great wcp. >> good morning. >> i think millennials are great. i am 51 and work with a lot of the millennials. i agree with you bill, like any generation, they have affected change. they are not the greatest generation any more than our parents were or a next generation will be because every next generation layers on the previous. i think it's great that they feel that way. but every generation like you said, bill will have bullet-point evidence to back it up that their generation had more on the world than the rest of the generation. look at the development of airplanes. i mean no millennial is building

airplanes. they are doing great things but they are not building airplanes, building buildings. >> uh-huh. good point, richard. so i guess we will close on that, david, a little comment. you are standing on the shoulders of some great generations that have gone before you. with all of those advantages people expect more of you. you have got to deliver to them. >> i think, i mean every generation stands on the shoulders of the people who came before them. you look at what this generation has done. i would argue there are impressive results. young people were responsible for toppling dictators all over the middle east. young people were responsible in a large part for the election and reelection of a president here in america in barack obama and young people have created some of the biggest businesses that are, you know changing and affecting our -- the entire way our world works. so i think that, you know as a group of people who haven't turned 30 yet, our results are there. >> you have a secret handshake?

>> i can't tell you the secret >> bill: "fast future: how the millennial generation is affecting our world." i will be back with a quick parting shot. >> this is "the bill press show." but we assure you - it is. bites. little greatness. a closer shave in a single stroke for less irritation, even on sensitive skin. ♪ ♪ gillette mach3 sensitive. gillette. the best a man can get. they think this world isn't big enough for the both of them. but we assure you - it is. bites. little greatness.

(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. [ music ] >> the parting shot with bill press, this is "the bill press show." >> bill: finally, here is something