[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: hey what do you say? hello, friends and neighbors and welcome to the "full court press" this thursday morning on current tv. all across this great land of ours, wherever you happen to be, we're glad to be there with you and thank you for joining us here for the "full court press" this thursday morning march 28. boy, we not only will tell you what's going on this morning we will let you sound off and tell us what you think about the issues of the day particularly

the number one issue of marriage equality which is dominating the news in washington these last couple of days. we'll bring you the news from washington, from around the country, around the globe. we invite you to give us a call at 1-866-55-press. our toll free number. you can join us on twitter at bpshow or on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. it looks like it is good-bye to doma. on the second day of arguments on the issue of same-sex marriage, most of the justices raised serious questions about the constitutionality of the defense of marriage act signed by president bill clinton back in 1996 which requires states to deny to gay couples over 1,000 advantages enjoyed by heterosexual couples under federal law. only john boehner could defend that. the supreme court cannot. in other news, ashley judd has wimped out. she's not going to run for senate from kentucky.

she want to spend more time with her family and megan mccain gets her own talk show. coming up on current tv. high. cenk uygur: i think the number one thing viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. i think the audience gets that i actually mean it. michael shure: this show is about being up to date so a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. joy behar: you can say anything here. jerry springer: i spent a couple of hours with a hooker joy behar: your mistake was writing a check jerry springer: she never cashed it (vo) the day's events. four very unique points of view. tonight starting at 6 eastern.

>> if you believe in state's rights but still support the drug war you must be high. >> "viewpoint" digs deep into the issues of the day. >> do you think that there is any chance we'll see this president even say the words "carbon tax"? >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> ...and a distinctly satirical point of view. >> but you mentioned "great leadership" so i want to talk about donald rumsfeld. >> (laughter). >> watch the show. >> only on current tv. 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? >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: supreme court wrapping up day two on its arguments on marriage equality and on the defense of marriage act. they were clearly one-sided. negative. hey, what do you say? hello, everybody! great to see you today. here we go. it is thursday. a big thursday, march 28. here in our nation's capital

we're happy to be with you today. thank you for joining us for our roundup of the big stories of the day. bringing it to you live from our nation's capital and of course giving. >> chance to participate. that's what it's all about. it is a two-way street here. big town hall meeting every morning for the next three hours. and you know, it's only a town hall if we hear from you at 1-866-55-press. our toll free number or on twitter at bpshow. or on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. the supreme court dominating the news, there's really only one thing happening in our nation's capital these days. that's the supreme court and its historic hearings on marriage equality. i was down at the court yesterday. not inside but outside. just watching the crowds, almost all of everybody there was on the side of same-sex marriage. the westboro baptist church,

those looney tunes were out there, just a hand handful of them on the corner with their ugly signs. otherwise, it was like a celebration in front of the supreme court. we'll be talking a lot about that this morning and again taking your calls. and as we begin the show this morning, we promise you we'll do our best to keep the lights on throughout the entire broadcast so that we don't end up in the dark again as we did unbelievably yesterday, all of a sudden where everything went out. the power went out in this entire neighborhood. we were off the air for the last hour. and i blame team press here. for not being on top of this. peter ogborn and dan henning. >> good morning. >> bill: why weren't you guys doing your job? >> i thought that the power bill would have paid itself. >> bill: you hadn't written that check. that's what it was. >> bill: stevie lee webb joins

us on phones and cyprian bowlding on the video cam. it was pretty shocking. >> i've never had anything like that happen. >> bill: in all of my years of broadcasting, i've never had the lights go out. >> we were halfway through the second hour, karl frisch was in studio with us. elizabeth was on her way in. she almost got stuck in the elevator on the way up. then in the middle of the segment, just boom! >> this is what happens when you let's gos get married the power goes out. >> bill: good thing we had our iphones. i had my iphone because with my flashlight app on the iphone, there it is, right? i was able to keep on the air. that's all we had. unbelievable. >> cyprian had a little battery-operated light. we made it through with what we had. >> bill: they kept the lights on at the white house. no problem down there yesterday.

in the oval office. president, historic occasion. he was presided over a little ceremony where the vice president of the united states gave the oath of office to julia pierson who became the first female director of the great secret service agency. the president saying she's ready for this job. >> obama: break the mold in terms of directors of the agencies and i think that people are all extraordinarily proud of her and we have the greatest confidence and wonderful task that lies ahead. very confident she will do a great job. >> bill: president said she earned it. she worked her way up, through the ranks did every job just about secret service has to offer. >> obama: julia's reputation within the service is extraordinary. she's come up through the ranks. she's done just about every job there is to do. >> bill: good friend of mine,

member of the secret service told me she has a great reputation. she's very fair and more than qualified to take over. one way of dealing with that scandal of about a year ago kind of getting the secret service back, kind of on the right track and restoring its reputation. so good for her. look forward to great things from her today. again, we'll be covering, talking a lot about the supreme court, now that it's completed it is two days of hearing on the issue of marriage equality. evan wolfson the founder of freedom to marry will be along in studio with us. david cicilline the congressman from -- one of the congressmen from rhode island, former mayor of providence, rhode island, will be here as well. we'll talk pot. not just same-sex marriage but pot, new relaxation of the rules and the law on pot in the state

of rhode island. but first -- >> this is the "full court press." >> other headlines making news on this thursday. 27 games is where it will end for the miami heat. the nba's team -- the nba team's bid to reach the lakers win record of 33 straight game was cut short by the chicago bulls last night who won 101-97 thanks to 28 points from dang and 21 from carlos boozer. lebron james put up 22. he said there was no shame in winning 27 in a row. the streak started february 23rd. that was super bowl sunday. the heat do have the best record in the league. the san antonio spurs who they face this weekend are right behind them at 54-17. >> bill: 27's not bad. peter is disappointed because he wanted the spurs to beat them. >> i wanted the spurs to end it but this proves what i was

saying, the chicago bulls are a real basketball team. >> bill: yeah, and some of the others they played were -- >> pushovers. >> bill: it also proves that what goes up -- >> megan mccain is getting a new job. she will host a new talk show. >> bill: give me a break. >> she will host a new talk show on a new cable network starting this summer. the daughter of the senator from arizona, john mccain is joining the new pivot television network. >> anybody can host a talk show, right, bill? >> bill: right. >> the new show is called "raising mccain" starting in august. new network targets 18 to 34 years olds. with a combination of entertainment and social action programs. mccain describes her show as a cross between "meet the press" and mtv's "jackass." >> bill: 10% "meet the press" and 90% "jackass." don't compare yourself to "meet the press," megan mccain. she wouldn't be anywhere except

because of who her daddy is. what a -- what a disgrace. what an embarrassment for anybody working in the media. >> the fact that megan mccain is doing a show she just compared to "meet the press" is -- >> bill: have you heard my granddaughter is going to have her own talk show next week. she's only 4 but you know, she's got that press name. that's all knee she -- she needs. >> many people blame cable television network for political partisanship. marcus pryor at princeton university is out with a new paper stating other cable networks like espn and hbo are actually the ones to blame for partisanship because they're luring young voters, especially moderates, away from the political process. professor pryor calls them distractions that are keeping people who would otherwise be highly informed away from the political conversation. >> bill: sex is another distraction, too. so you know, so is eating.

>> bill: all right. here we go. 14 minutes after the hour. it was a circus in front of the supreme court yesterday. huge, long line of people. doubled around the sidewalk trying to get into the court. other people who were just there i tweeted out pictures -- i don't know if you saw them, some protestors there -- supporters i should say of marriage equality in front of the court. it was kind of -- people were outdoing themselves with the signs. some were very clever. inside the court, it was day two and this was focused again on the defense of marriage act. very, very important hearing and from all of the comments, it looked like the defense of marriage act is going down. defense of marriage act, of course, doma, signed by bill clinton, we still can't figure out why. he doesn't even know why he signed it. now he says it was a big

mistake. signed in 1996 which says that -- according to federal law, you only get the advantages that married couples enjoy under federal law and by the way there are over 1,000 of them. including the right to social security benefits for survivors for example. all kinds of tax advantages. all kinds of recognition for hospital care and nursing home care and all of that kind of stuff. under federal law. over 1,000 advantages that heterosexual couples enjoy. but doma says gay couples no matter in what state 1999 states that -- even in states that have legalized same-sex marriage under federal law the gay couples cannot take advantage of the benefits under federal law. that's what doma says. overturning doma is a big deal.

and it looks like it is going to happen because justices yesterday expressed a lot of skepticism about treating married couples differently. married couples differently perhaps ruth bader ginsburg said it best. >> really diminishing what the state has said is marriage. you're saying no, state says two kinds of marriages. full marriage and then this sort of skim milk marriage. >> bill: you got the full -- you got the whole milk -- >> the whole full fat milk. >> bill: and then you got the skim milk marriage. states should not be able to discriminate. sonia sotomayor says by the way who gives the federal government this right? >> what gives the federal government the right to be

concerned that all -- at all at what the definition of marriage is? >> bill: even conservatives like justice kennedy and chief justice roberts came on to that point that this is -- defining what marriage is and who can get married is really up to the states, not to the federal government. and states should not be able to be allowed to discriminate. of course is implied in that. the justice kagan pointed out as did chief justice roberts that when the congress adopted this law in 1996, they actually admitted that they were not just making laws, they were trying to be like religious leaders in this and forcing their brand of morality on americans. >> i'm going to quote from the house report here is that congress decided to reflect an honor of collective moral judgment and to express moral disapproval of homosexuality.

is that what happened in 1996? >> bill: yeah. moral disapproval of homosexuality. that's not congress's job. so, for all kinds of reasons, it is pretty clear doma is going down. this is a big deal. the best example of what this means for gay couples is edie windsor, she brought this case. she's 83 years old. she and her partner were married for 40 years. her partner died. left her the full estate and edie windsor because she was a lesbian and not a man had to pay $363,000 in estate taxes. she would not have to have paid them if her partner had been a man. here is edie windsor outside the court yesterday. >> i realize that the federal government was treating us as strangers and i paid this humongous estate tax. it meant selling a lot of stuff to do it. it wasn't easy.

>> bill: $363,000. it looks like defense of marriage act will be history soon. 1-866-55-press. meanwhile, the other question i have for you is it's great to see so many senators now coming on board. kay hagan became the latest one yesterday. so now in the last few days, you've had kay hagan and mark warner and mark begich and claire mccaskill and jay rockefeller and jon tester, right? and one republican, rob portman. but where are the others? where's joe donnelly. where's bill nelson? >> "huffington post" had a list of the ten democratic senators who still say no. you mentioned joe donnelly, mark pryor, tim johnson from south dakota. tom carper, mary landrieu, heidi heitkamp. >> bill: come on, heidi. >> joe manchin. bob casey from pennsylvania. they also had kay hagan on the list. since they wrote it, she's come

out in support of gay american. >> bill: what's wrong with the other senators? come on, get on board. even republican senators ought to get on board here if for no other reason, they ought to leave it up to states. but the real reason they ought to get on board is because the 14th amendment of the constitution says you can't deny any american equal protection under the laws and that includes the right to get married. i don't get it. where are -- we need to found the nine democrats and then start working on the republicans. your take on the big day yesterday in the supreme court. 1-866-55-press. marriage equality. defense of marriage act. california's proposition 8. and those lame senators who won't get on board. >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show."

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

>> if you believe in state's rights but still support the drug war you must be high. >> "viewpoint" digs deep into the issues of the day. >> do you think that there is any chance we'll see this president even say the words "carbon tax"? >> with an open mind... >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> ...and a distinctly satirical point of view. >> but you mentioned "great leadership" so i want to talk about donald rumsfeld. >> (laughter). >> watch the show. >> only on current tv.

nounce on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right. 26 minutes after the hour. happy thursday. it is the "full court press." and we're talking about the supreme court wrapping up its two days of arguments on the issue of american equality yesterday. with pretty clear indication that they're both from the right and from the left. they're not too happy with the defense of marriage act. neither is president obama. neither is former president bill clinton. neither is rand paul, for example, who says it interferes with state's rights. and there was some 80 some republicans and a list of probably 100 major corporations, american corporations, all of whom filed amicus briefs with

the supreme court yesterday saying overturn the defense of marriage act. the only person paying to defend the defense of marriage act in front of the court is john boehner and the house republican caucus go figure. peter? >> a couple of things i wanted to mention where we're tweeting at bpshow on twitter. at bpshow. ruth says when you talk about how it looks like the supreme court is ready to strike down doma, they need to be just as courageous with marriage equality point. >> bill: yes. >> ncnomad said bill clinton did nothing liberal in office. did you forget don't ask don't tell, defense of marriage act. >> bill: i haven't forgotten that and i haven't forgotten nafta, either. >> fred asks any predictions on what the most homophobic thing scalia will say or write on the two gay rights cases. you know scalia will have something to say. >> bill: mike out in fort

morgan colorado. hey, mike, good morning. >> caller: how are you today? >> bill: what's up? >> caller: i wanted to offer a christian viewpoint on the whole issue. i understand there is a perception of christians and i apologize -- i want to apologize for any hate speak that comes from people who say they're christians because god in my opinion is uncapable of hate. he does not hate. what he hates is sin. he does not hate the sinner. >> bill: do you think homosexuality is a sin? >> in my opinion i'm not going to change what the bible says but i'm going to say the most important -- >> bill: but the bible doesn't say homosexuality is a sin. i think your christianity is skewed. i don't think you understand. read "god believes in love" and he's not going to shut down love just because it's two gay

people. mike is wrong. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." 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?

>> announcer: chatting with you live at current.com/billpress. this is the "bill press show" live on your radio and on current tv. >> bill: this is thursday, march 28. the "full court press" coming to you live from our studio on capitol hill in washington, d.c. just seven blocks from the united states capitol. seven blocks from the supreme court. the last two days, historic hearing of arguments for and against marriage equality, the "full court press" brought to

you today by ullico, incorporated, the good men and women of ullico proudly serving the union workplace for more than 86 years now providing specialty insurance risk solutions, investment products and services to find out more about their good work for the unions of this country, go to their web site, ullico.com. u-l-l-i-c-o.com. solutions for the union workplace. before we get back to the phones peter. >> quick political story to get in. this is a big deal. later on today up in boston, mayor thomas menino is going to announce he is not going to run -- >> bill: no! >> for sixth term as mayor of boston. >> bill: how can boston survive without mumbles? >> longest serving mayor boston has ever had. he's 70 years old. time to step aside. he won't run again. very interesting. >> bill: next to james marco curly, my favorite mayor of

boston. thomas menino. he hasn't been in office as long as your mayor in charleston. >> gentleman joe riley. i think he's been in office for 40 years. >> bill: he's done a good job. >> he's done a hell of a job. >> bill: the supreme court pretty clear yesterday that they're going to -- it looks like this will be a solomonesque outcome for the supreme court which is not entirely satisfying. they will take -- my take is they will overturn the defense of marriage act. i think they have to. there's no way they can defend it and they made it pretty clear yesterday that they see that both from the right and from the left. on proposition 8, i think it will be a disappointment. they're going to take the easy way out. reject proposition 8. reject the case which sends it back to california. meaning the lower court ruling stands. meaning same-sex marriages will be legal again in california

which is good news as far as it goes but the justices, i believe, really should take this occasion to take prop 8 and apply it nationwide. same thing they do with brown versus board of education. outlawing segregation in public schools nationwide. they have the opportunity to hear outlaw discrimination in marriage nationwide. but it looks like they won't go that far. david out in chicago. hey, david what do you say? >> caller: hey, my issue is with my generation, this is their version of the civil rights. what really bothers me is why there are so many senators and representatives who sit on one side of the fence on this and yet our supreme court is doing the exact same thing even though they don't have to worry about elections. they don't have to worry about

trying to fight for another term. so why is there lack of compassion for our countrymen? on this issue? >> bill: you know, it is an excellent point. david, while we're talking turn your radio or tv down in the background. so no, i made that argument yesterday, too. they don't have to -- first of all, good for them. eight or ten or six or eight whatever senators in the last couple of days alone who have come out in support of marriage equality. i don't understand why all of the rest of the democrats don't do it either. but you're right. they do have to run for re-election so some of them may have a consideration. these justices don't. they're there forever, right? so there's no reason for them -- the reason we give them lifetime appointments is so they can do the right thing without having to worry about getting knocked out at the next election. you know what it is? it is a lack of backbone, i

guess, david. >> yeah. that's how i feel about it. i find that to be very sad. this is what's going to hallmark my generation on this. >> bill: i know, i know. david, i appreciate the call so much. samuel alito made this point. when he said oh, oh, why do we have to rule on this? i mean come on. you're asking us to rule on something. he says gay marriage is newer -- it is newer than cell phones. it is newer than the internet. we don't know enough about it yet. come on! come on, bozos. you know about the constitution, don't you? what don't you understand about the 14th amendment which says no state shall deprive any citizen under its jurisdiction of equal protection under the laws. hello. pretty clear to me. i don't care how recent it is. by the way samuel alito there have been gays around a lot

longer than cell phones. [ laughter ] how did this idiot get on the court? >> maybe cell phones turn people gay. maybe that's it. >> bill: i guess that's it. or the internet. maury is calling from emmett, idaho. >> caller: up with the chickens. good morning. >> bill: up with the chickens. i'm glad to hear from you. >> caller: i have a quick rebuttal to your christian from colorado. not only does he not know his bible, he obviously doesn't watch the nature programs because in all of nature, which is all of god's creations homosexuality is a variation not a deviation. it exists everywhere. and secondly, marriage is a contract. between two consenting parties. no government has a right to interfere. if we let them interfere in a marriage contract, what's going to be next? it is the state's right to determine contractual laws.

>> bill: well said! well said! absolutely. i thought maury, it was interesting, with all of this hoopla and they finally these opponents, for example proposition 8, they finally get this case in front of the supreme court you know what? they didn't have any good arguments on their side at all. it was laughable the stuff they came up with. like the argument that well, we can't allow gays to get married because they can't have babies and everybody knows the number one purpose of marriage is to have little babies. >> caller: that's why proposition 8 was funded in majority by the lds mormon organization. >> bill: yes. and the roman catholic church. i remember being -- it was hammered in my head when i was in catholic high school, right that people get married major is all about having babies and the only time you can have sex is if you were married and the only time you can have sex if you were married is to make a baby. >> caller: talking to the

only -- among 386 papes a for 13 years. so i know that. i could never understand why the woman was required to jiffy pop her womb every other year for a couple of decades for what? [ laughter ] >> we need more calls from idaho. >> bill: i've never heard that phrase again. maury, you're right on. i love ya. thank you so much for the call. we need more calls from idaho. but here's, again i think what maury -- the point -- just the fact of her call makes a point. the american people are so far ahead of the politicians on this issue. the american people are so far ahead of the supreme court on this issue. the justices on the issue. they don't have to be afraid of their shadow on this one. as david said, from chicago they don't have to run for re-election. their job is to lead. that's why we give them a lifetime appointment to the

supreme court. all right. let's go down to tampa florida. hey, gerald, how are you? >> caller: hey, bill, nice talking to you. >> bill: thank you. >> caller: i'm a gay man married to my husband. we've been married about seven years, been together about 35. >> bill: you didn't get married in florida. >> caller: no. we got married in vancouver. we're from iowa. our marriage is -- you know, we're married in all of the states with marriage equality. >> bill: yes. >> caller: but the interesting thing is, you know, i'm married in iowa. i'm living in florida. i could marry a woman here. i go back to iowa, now i'm a bigamist. contract from one state have always run through on another state. you can't buy a car here and say i move to iowa, now i don't owe for the car. this is absolutely absurd. american is a legal contract. and contracts by the full faith

clause of the constitution run in all states. >> bill: that's why for the court, you know, to just deal with prop 8 on a california level and not apply it statewide, they're really not doing their job right? they're allowing a patchwork of discrimination to exist and allowing most states to continue to discriminate against lgbt couples. >> as far as our retirement, my husband has always made more money. he's socked it away for us. and suddenly, i'm realizing if he dies, i may wind up having to pay the vast majority of it in inheritance tax and i will be destitute when i retire. >> bill: hey, talk to edie windsor. that's exactly what happened to herr. by the way you might also put in a call to your united states senator, bill nelson and tell him to get off his ass and get on the right side of this issue. look no excuse for anybody not

to support marriage equality as far as i'm concerned. i understand it more from some republicans because they have a political problem. but you know, there's no reason why any democrat should be opposed to marriage equality. bill nelson from florida jesus you don't think they have a lot of gays in florida? get on with it, man. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." 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 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

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>> bill: 13 minutes before the top of the hour. gay couples should not have to settle for skim milk says justice ruth bader ginsburg yesterday at the supreme court in its second day of hearings on marriage equality. arguments of marriage equality. and yesterday focused on doma. i was outside the court yesterday morning for a little while. ryan riley from huntington post was inside the court. he's there, justice department and supreme court reporter for huff poe. hey, ryan, what do you say? >> hey how is it going? >> what was it like inside the court it seemed to be one-sided anti-doma. >> it seemed to be. yeah, it was a packed courtroom.

a lot of interested and obviously in the press section packed with as many chairs as possible in there. if they get to the merits of the issue and they get past the standing concerns perhaps and whether or not they're representing house republican republicans -- to defend doma, i think it is clear where they're going to come down on the merits of it and actually find section three of doma unconstitutional. but there is that possibility that they're either going to get there which would still you know, still sort of be good for i think -- for opponents of doma even if they don't get there. it would be a positive outcome. obviously -- >> bill: let me just

understand what you're saying. procedural issue is whether or not house republicans have standing in front of the court. if they say they don't. if they say the case was improperly brought then is that -- is that, in effect, overturning doma? >> well, actually, it kicks it down to the lower court decision >> bill: which said it was unconstitutional, right? >> correct. yeah. it is sort of a strange position that everyone is in here. i think the justices pointed that out because the obama administration's evolving views on this position. changing it over time and deciding to no longer defend the law and that ultimately -- arguing it should be -- it is unconstitutional. it be should be overturned. completely switch their legal position on it. so it is sort of a strange vision.

especially on the conservative side, the justices were critical of the administration for how they handle this and how they -- and for backing off of it, for backing off of their defense to begin with. especially scalia was pushing that pretty harshly saying that you know, when he was in the office of legal counsel from the justice department, there is an opinion out. but they would only not defend laws when there is no reasonable argument that could be made. i think the administration probably says there isn't a reasonable argument that could be made on behalf of doma. it is tough to come up with a reasonable argument. >> bill: let me interrupt you there. frankly, die give a damn what scalia says about anything. i know where he's going to come down on the issue so he can rant all he wants. i think it was more instructive when chief justice john roberts questioned how congress in 1996

could have adopted this law and said they were doing so and kagan read the text because they were making a moral judgment on homosexuality in this country. that's not congress' job right? >> right. no. it was sort of surprising that scalia or i'm sorry. roberts was so -- sort of -- couldn't accept the idea or was -- i think more trying to trap in some way, the government say that are you saying that all of these people who voted for doma, obviously including democrats, are they all bigots? essentially the line of questioning that he was going with. and you know, obviously they didn't want to go there. times have changed since 2006. obviously -- was it motivated by

by -- the gay community certainly. i think it is a fair point to say. but it was -- times were different at that point. and you know it wasn't -- the gay rights movement isn't where it is at today. times have certainly changed. but they obviously, you know, especially when you have -- i mean president clinton signed doma into law. it is not a situation where the administration wants to be in a position of saying that yes everyone who signed this -- yeah. >> bill: i don't think -- how you could read it otherwise. it looked like doma is doomed. hey, ryan, good for you for getting inside yesterday. it was a colorful outside. even more colorful inside. thanks for joining us this morning. >> sure. thanks for having me. >> bill: ryan reilly covers the supreme court for the "the

huffington post." >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." now on current tv. clearasil, the science of clear skin.

(vo) current tv gets the converstion started next. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv. >> announcer: taking your e-mails on any topic at any time, this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: okay. at the top of the next hour, evan wolfson is a real leader in the marriage equality issue. he is the founder of freedom to marry. he will be joining us in studio. elizabeth will be back from the

constitution accountability center. >> you can e-mail us at billpressshow.com and tweet us at bpshow. tweet from ripa says bill should have told that call they're the constitution gives him the right and freedom to believe that god hates shrimp too, because of what the bible says about shellfish. e-mails from billpressshow.com -- >> bill: homosexuality should be send to to death. >> robert writes in on doma says i remember a couple of years ago a preacher, famous for rail against gays until he was caught molesting young boys. then it was boo won't it must be -- boo-hoo it must be in my gays. he wasn't gay but he was having gay relationships. nowhere in the bible does it prohibit homosexuality. >> bill: exactly. again, economy back to read gene robinson's book or maybe read

the bible. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: good morning friends and neighbors. welcome to the "full court press" on current tv this thursday morning. march 28. good to see you today. hey, you're looking good. and we invite you to join us as we do a whirlwind tour of review of all of the big stories of the day. happening here in our nation's capital, around the country and around the globe. you not only will find out what's going on, you get to talk about it by phone at

1-866-55-press. the old-fashioned way. or if you want to join us on twitter, we invite your comments at bpshow on facebook, at facebook.com/billpressshow. you can join the current tv chat room by going to current.com clicking on the chat room and you are in. there's only one story here in our nation's capital, that is the supreme court. with its second day of arguments yesterday on the question of marriage equality and it looks like doma is doomed. yes, it looks like for sure, the defense of marriage act will go down be overturned. most justices raising serious questions about that act signed by bill clinton in 1996. which requires states to deny to gay couples the same advantages and the tax code and social security benefits, for example that straight couples enjoy under federal law. nobody could defend that except john boehner. in other news, ashley judd said she's not going to run for senate after all. she's going to spend more time

with her family. megan mccain, believe it or not getting her own talk show. we'll tell you all about it right here on current tv. billy zane stars in barabbas. coming in march to reelz. to find reelz in your area, go to reelz.com [ male announcer ] it's red lobster's lobsterfest our largest selection of lobster entrees like lobster lover's dream or new grilled lobster and lobster tacos. come in now and sea food differently. now, buy one lobsterfest entree and get one 1/2 off with a coupon at redlobster.com.

(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. life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current. we have a big big hour and the 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. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: day number two on the issue of marriage equality and it looks like the defense of marriage act is going down. they made that pretty clear. good morning everybody. great to see you. it is thursday, march 28. this is the "full court press." we're coming to you live on current tv all across this great land of ours. we're coming to you live on your local, progressive talk radio station and nationwide.

you're lucky if you've got one. we're coming to you -- no, that was last hour. sirius x.m. only. sorry, sirius x.m., can't hear us this hour. complain to them, not to me. whether you're listen organize watching, good to have you with us. to tackle the big stories of the day. and to talk about what's going on. that's what is unique about the "full court press." you not only get to hear what's going on. tell us what it means to you and to your family. give us a call at 1-866-55-press. our toll free number. join us on twitter at bpshow. or go on facebook and become our friend at facebook.com/billpressshow. good to you have with us and to join us with -- you know, monday, you remember, perhaps we had, in studio with us, bishops gene robinson from new hampshire. he's an openly gay man, an openly gay bishop.

book out "god believes in love." i've read it. it is a great book. in the first few pages of the book bishop robinson says this issue would not have come as far as it has if there wasn't one man who kept -- who lit the torch and carried the torch all of these many years all the way to the supreme court. he is evan wolfson the creator and founder of an organization called freedom to marry. he's in studio with us. it is great to see you. >> it is great to be with you. >> bill: i kept saying who is this guy? >> high praise indeed from somebody like gene robinson. >> bill: indeed. you were in court for the last two days. >> yes. >> bill: congratulations. >> thank you. >> bill: on reaching this point. and in advance for what the court is going to do. we'll talk more about that. you've met our team, peter ogborn and dan henning. >> thank you. >> bill: stevie lee webb has the phones and cyprian bowlding

keeps us looking good on the video cam. quick sports story. we've been telling you and updating you on the miami heat. they were at 26 and then there were 27. and last night, they were going to make it 28 in a row. the bulls had another idea. >> inbounds to james. and that is it. 27 games they win in a row. it is all over and it happened in the windy city. as the bulls come off of an offensive display and they outgun the heat 101-97. >> bill: had to end some time, peter. >> yeah, it did. we talked several weeks ago when this whole thing started to our friend cindy boren in "the washington post" who said it is nice to have this win streak at this point in the season. it is not when it really matters though. it matters when you're in the playoffs and that's when they had to keep winning.

>> bill: president obama is happy. the bulls beat the heat. >> good point. >> bill: all right. so we'll get into what we heard from the court in the last two days with evan wolfson. evan first dan's got a couple of the headlines. >> headlines making news on this thursday. in sports, march madness resumes tonight. the sweet 16 getting underway in the ncaa men's basketball tournament. tonight's match-ups are number one indiana facing number four syracuse. number two miami facing number three marquette. number two ohio state versus number three arizona. and the cinderellas, number nine wichita state against number 13, la salle. >> i don't care aboutive in of those games. i want to see florida gulf coast university. >> that's tomorrow night. >> all i care about. >> bill: could be number one. >> could anderson cooper replace matt lauer as cohost of "the today show"? deadline.com reported that nbc executives approached the cnn

host about taking over for lauer at the end of this year. and "the new york times" confirmed that a conversation actually took place about it. but nbc was quick to release a statement yesterday saying they have no interest in replacing matt lauer and that they want him in the anchor chair for many years to come. >> bill: this is what's happened evan. gays are taking over. >> try and stop us. >> bill: right. >> and daily caller cofounder tucker carlson is heading back to tv on a regular basis. the former cnn and msnbc host who is regularly seen on fox news is joining that network to cohost the fox and friends weekend program. deadline.com reports he will sit alongside allison and clayton morris starting next month. >> bill: for the record, i just want you to know that i did cohost crossfire with tucker carlson. i was a cohost of the spin room with tucker carlson. i will not be the cohost of fox

and friends. >> whew! we were worried. >> bill: the fox vires are the ones who were really worried about that. so you've been at this for 30 years, evan. did you ever think you would get this far. it is a long time but still the last few years this issue has really moved faster than any other i've ever seen. >> you're right. social justice movement, we've succeeded and progressed in an historical eye blink and yet it is quite a large chunk out of your social life. and when i wrote my paper in law school on the freedom to marry kind of the manifesto for what's followed i preach then and i've southeasternly preached for many years, decades now that it doesn't happen overnight. we have to do the work. it requires engaging and persuasion. when you're younger your idea of longer is shorter. so here we are 30 years. but i always believed and believe we're going to get

there. we are going to get there. we're getting there. that's the really big news out of this week. >> bill: doma is going down. would you agree? >> you know, we always say we shouldn't read the arguments. i do want to say that. there were both days, lots of things going back and forth. lots of dynamics still to be sorted out. the justices will do what they're going to do. i do think it was pretty clear that questions were raised from enough justices to strike down this discriminatory law. >> from the right and from the left. >> at least from the center right and center left. >> bill: takes away state's rights. absolute outright discrimination. >> i'm sure you may have talked about this. the most powerful moment in the courtroom yesterday was when the attorney defending the so-called defense of marriage act was going on and on in a very smooth kind of way about oh, this was just because congress wanted to enact uniformity and have some kind of procedural clarity and comfort and hit a pause button,

take their time and justice kagan pulled out the report from congress in 1996 and read from it -- >> bill: let's hear it. >> great. >> bill: how congress, overstepping its role. here she is, reading. >> i'm going to quote from the house report here. is that congress decided to reflect an honor of collective, moral judgment and to express moral disapproval of homosexuality. is that what happened in 1996? >> yeah, that is what happened. >> what i'm not sure people could hear on the clip is there was a gasp in the courtroom because he had been trying to pretend -- this was just a careful procedure. no big deal. move along. she pulls out the report and reads these absolutely damming words that made clear that what this law was motivated by was of course, a discriminatory desire to fence out for the first time in our nation's history, one group of married people just because they're gay.

>> bill: so on defense of marriage act again we can't take anything for granted but it looks like we know where they're going. on proposition 8, i was disappointed. been fighting on this issue for a long time. i think it was pretty clear. what happened with prop 8 is wrong. but this is an opportunity for the justices to say it is wrong in every state. are we going to get that from them? >> we're going to find out. the reality is they're clearically wrestling with it. most of the punditry and analysis that's flowed from people who are guessing but really don't know anything is that they may go narrow. they may try to avoid it. they may actually find some of the genuine procedural problems in the case, enough to push the case back out. and we don't know what's going to happen. but what we do know is the best way we can maximize our chances of getting them there is to continue doing what we're doing. continue the momentum that says when america is ready, they should be looking to their

legacy, the court's leg is is i to -- legacy to do the right thing. best way is to keep winning over more states and hearts and minds. whether the justices get there in june or go back in one more round with more states, more public opinion and new justices, we're going to find out. >> bill: what do you say to samuel alito who says come on, how can we decide this, gay marriage is newer than cell phones. >> this is part of the reason for many, many years, people have heard me saying stop satisfying gay marriage. we're not fighting for gay marriage. it is same freedom to marry anybody in america has. gay or nongay. what we're saying is what reason does the government have for denying that freedom to marry, loving and committed gay couples. >> bill: that is the issue. that is the issue that the court -- i think, should be focusing on rather than was this properly brought before us. this is an opportunity to make history. >> certainly their opportunity. in truth, there are genuine

procedural standing questions. standing is this question of whether, in this case, the anti-gay forces have actually an injury to themselves that justifies their being able to appeal the prop 8 victory that we had when the state of california itself, through the governor, its attorney general its elected representatives is in court saying we agree with the lower court. prop 8 should be struck down. what business do the other people have just because they're pursuing an anti-gay agenda. that's a real question that the court is grappling with. >> bill: there are still -- we had a few callers this morning. there are still people out there who sincerely believe that marriage equality is wrong. or that allowing gay couples to marry is wrong. i thought that charles cooper, frankly, would come up with some better arguments than he did. pretty weak case, i thought. one of them, i would like you to respond briefly for the sake of

our listeners and viewers who may be waffling or wrestling with this issue themselves. or may need to persuade others. >> bill: marriage has always been between one man and one woman. this is the institution. >> of course, marriage has not always been between one man and one woman. marriage has been between one man and many women and those women were regarded as property and subordinated to women and there are office race restrictions. marriage has changed. the history of marriage, one of the most enduring institutions we have across every society is a history of change. and in this country alone we've made major changes in marriage. we've ended race restrictions on who to marry whom. we've ended the subordination of women. we've ended the government's interference in the personal decision about whether to stay locked into a failed or abusive marriage through divorce. we've ended the government's intrusion into the bedrooms to police for the tell tail signs of contraception. it is altogether fitting and proper that gay people today are

standing on this human rights battleground that marriage has always been in the law. and the reality though is that this is not a big change. it is not as the right wing likes to say redefining marriage. marriage is not defined by who's denied it. gay couples should be able to share in the very same commitment and when they do, they don't use up the marriage licenses and they don't change your marriage. it is more couples being married. >> bill: but charles cooper who say i see you have a wedding ring. >> i do. >> bill: you're married. >> i do. >> bill: you and your partner can't have kids. you can't get married. biologically you're incapable of having children. >> the anti-gay opponent did try that argument. mostly pushed into it by justice scalia who ironically, ten years ago in the lawrence case, the case about ending criminal laws that said they could arrest you in your own bedroom for having sex, let alone being married and

scalia, in that case, when the court struck down those invasive laws said in his thundering dissent, this leaves the bar on marriage on very shaky grounds. because we know that the procreation argument scalia said, doesn't work. because we issue marriage licenses all the time to infertile couples older couples and so on. it is not a procreation license. it is a marriage license. >> bill: as it was pointed out, justice breyer, i guess there are a lot of straight couples who get married and don't have kids. >> justice kagan had an exchange back and forth about a couple over 55. it showed how ridiculous and inned adequate that argument was. that was one of the most important moments two days ago and then also yesterday because the striking thing was that both attorneys defending the anti-gay side ran away from any argument that was overtly about gay

people or anti-gay. they tried to come up with more neutral-sounding things because they basically knew that that doesn't fly anymore. it wouldn't cut it. >> bill: and then there is something called the 14th amendment. we'll get into that with evan wolfson when we come back. to join our conversation, now is the time at 1-866-55-press. on twitter at bpshow. we'll be right back. >> announcer: this is the "full court press." the "bill press show," live on your radio and on current tv. 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.

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? >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 25 minutes after the hour. this is about the time yesterday

when the lights went out. we had our fingers crossed. and elizabeth from the constitutional accountability center wrote a great piece rebutting justice scalia on his 14th amendment argument. she will be joining us right after the half hour. she was here in the dark yesterday so we invited her back so we could see what she looks like. wanted to see. evan wolfson is here now. the founder of freedom to marry. before that, he was with lambda legal foundation. >> lambda legal defense and education. they go by lambda legal, too. >> bill: so, evan, you mentioned earlier that you're not going to wait for the judges to rule. we're not going to know really until june. so, in the meantime, you're working on other states? which state es. i'm curious. >> the justices will do what they're going to do. we shouldn't waste our time on what we can't control. we need to do what we can

control. what we can control to maximize the climate that will help them get there is to win more states and continue winning over more hearts and minds. there are as many as four states where freedom to marry legislation is now being debated and they could pass the freedom to marry by june. so as the court is now deliberating so those four states are -- >> bill: moving so fast. it is great. it is exciting. what are the four states? >> illinois, rhode island, delaware and minnesota. minnesota, you may remember, is one of the four states in which we had ballot measures. minnesota became the first state in the country where we defeated one of these anti-gay constitutional amendment attempts, took back the legislature and now have the opportunity to complete the conversation by securing the freedom to marry if the legislature moves forward. >> bill: first thing you did we were involved in it, too, is beating back that one. now, let's do the positive thing. >> the double play. >> bill: i love it. illinois certainly should come

along. >> it is looking very promising. the legislative momentum is there. all of the leading officials the governor, mayor emmanuel of chicago and the legislative leaders have all spoken out in support. but you know, it is never done until it's done. you have to visit your lawmakers. you have to support the campaign groups that are leading the fight. it takes work. >> bill: and we have david cicilline, the congressman from rhode island on later on the program. we'll ask him about that. >> sure. >> bill: as a native of delaware, i hope delaware does the right thing too. the first state should -- it won't be the first one but it's gotta join one of the first. >> the constitution is, they should live up to it. >> bill: absolutely. evan, thank you for your leadership on this issue for so long. congratulations. and thank you for getting us as far as you have. we're with you until it's the law in all 50 states. we have it within reach.

let's keep reaching. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." 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

>> announcer: chatting with you live at current.com/billpress. this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: 33 minutes after the hour now on thursday morning. thursday march 28. great to see you this morning. thank you for joining us on the "full court press" coming to you live from our nation's capital. bringing you up to date on the big stories of the day. only one big story of the day. it is supreme court. and their second day of arguments on the issue of marriage equality.

we'll get back to that. your calls and your comments. but first, you know, you never know who you're dealing with, whether your identity is safe when you're dealing with some of the institutions. even the credit reporting agencieses. saw this story that the three biggest credit reporting agencies in the country each of them have acknowledged there have been intrusions into their system where people have been able to steal the personal data of celebrities from their system. it should make you think about getting identity theft protection. lifelock ultimate covers your bank accounts but of course lifelock can't protect you or your bank account if you're not a member. call now and mention press 60 and you can get 60 risk-free days of lifelock ultimate identity theft protection. if you're not happy with what you get call lifelock and

cancel within 60 days, you get a full refund. give them a call at% 1-800-356-5967 for lifelock ultimate. >> quick story to throw in, bill. in blairsville pennsylvania, a man decided to go deer hunting which is not so unusual. a lot of people do it. but he decided to go deer hunting -- >> bill: usually, when i go to deer hunting, i go to blairsville. >> the best deer are there. >> he decided to go deer hunting in a walmart parking lot -- [ laughter ] >> with a handgun. the man's name is arch angelo bianco jr. he shot a deer in the parking lot in blairsville pennsylvania. the buck made it to the other

side of the road where it died and he bagged it and took it home. it turns out you can't do that. >> bill: in the city limits. >> you cannot do that. he has been charged, the pennsylvania game commission reported on it. he's been charged with reckless endangerment for shooting a handgun in a walmart parking lot to shoot a deer. i thought people shoot handguns in walmart parking lots all the time. apparently that's a crime. >> bill: i don't know why he didn't use an ar-15. >> he could have bought one right inside walmart. >> bill: gone inside walmart hold on. don't move. i'm going to run in the store. get my ar-15 and a 100 round clip. >> then just spray it down. >> bill: what a bozo. another story on the political front, i just wanted everybody to know. this is sad news, of course. democrats in kentucky, they were determined that they were going to turn kentucky from red to purple if not red to blue.

and they were counting on ashley judd to do it. ashley judd yesterday announcing that she was not going to run for senate after all against senator mitch mcconnell. and for the best of excuses. she said she figures now she has to spend more time with her family. i mean come on. okay. if you're not going to run. you're not going to run right? but don't try to make us believe she's not going to run because she wants to spend more time with her family, right? >> that's the oldest line in the book. >> bill: mitch mcconnell is a happy man this morning. >> sounds that way. >> bill: have to find some other democrat to run against him. we've been spending most of our time this morning talking about the big issue of the day. which is the supreme court wrapping up its arguments on the issue of marriage equality. the first day they focused on

proposition 8. california's proposition 8. yesterday it was all about the defense of marriage act. and for those of who you were with us yesterday as we were discussing this issue, we had a wonderful guest in studio when suddenly, the lights went out. elizabeth widera is a chief counsel for the constitutional accountability center. we did a half hour in the dark yesterday. we invited her back today so we could see what she looks like. >> i know! [ laughter ] >> you heard her. now you can see her. >> i broke the show. >> bill: great to see you. >> great to see you, bill! >> bill: all i had -- as i said earlier i just had my -- my iphone with the flashlight app on it. so we made it so far. >> we made it.

>> bill: elizabeth good to see you again. so yesterday, in the court again, we always say you cannot read too much but we're going to. they looked skeptical about the defense of marriage act. >> definitely. i think that there was -- you have to count to five. i don't see how you had five votes to uphold doma yesterday. the justices, even more than in the prop 8 case, seemed to think that there was just no legitimate rationale for excluding gay and lesbian couples from the institution of marriage at the federal level. >> bill: so they came at it from both sides but on what grounds? all of the same grounds or different grounds? >> so that's the really interesting point. so justice kennedy who everyone is watching because he is widely viewed, in general as the swing vote and perhaps the deciding vote in this case, was really

concerned about the federalism aspects of -- >> bill: state's rights. >> exactly. you know, he has a point, in a way, that you know, it doesn't respect the states to say states who have voted to allow marriage equality that they're legally valid marriage -- that their legally valid marriages won't be recognized. >> bill: those nine states and the district of columbia, i have a cousin who is a lesbian and in a long-term relationship with her partner. lives in maryland. i said hey maryland just recognized same-sex marriage. are you guys going to get married? she said it depends on what happens with doma because she said, you know, what the state did is one thing but there are so many advantages under federal law, social security benefits, estate taxes as with edie windsor.

so it is discriminatory against states, not to allow them to extend the full advantages of the law to same-sex couples. but so that's kennedy coming from center right. the other arguments -- >> the other arguments against it are the arguments against bans on marriage for same-sex couples in general. which is that it violates the equal protection rights of loving committed married same-sex couples and the states that allow same-sex marriage, that it violates their equal protection rights for the federal government to say no, your major doesn't count under federal law. that your relationships are second class. and the constitution doesn't allow that. >> bill: dan, can we pull up the justice ginsburg there? very aptly summed up the differences states are required to recognize. >> really diminishing what the state has said is marriage. you're saying no, state says two

kinds of marriages. the full marriage and then this sort of skim milk marriage. >> bill: the full marriage and the skim milk version of marriage. it is true. outright difference is discrimination. >> leave it to justice ginsburg to really capture it completely. >> bill: that everybody could understand. >> exactly. i was in the lawyers lounge yesterday which is the special area for the supreme court bar members. there's no bar there lounge ban. you get to hear the audio. the live audio of the arguments. in the lawyer's lounge where justice ginsburg said the skim milk, everybody erupted in laughter and bits of applause because it really captures the problem really well which is, you know, you have these families who are legally married. i mean this is even arguably more egregious than in the case

yesterday. they're legally married. the federal government says no, we aren't going to treat you like other married couples. we'll treat you differently. that just goes against american values. it goes against the plain text of the constitution. >> bill: right. so if you had to take a stab at what the court does on doma, you think -- >> i think doma is going down. it couldn't happen to a better -- >> bill: exactly. and on prop 8? >> prop 8 is more difficult. the justices were really hmming and hawing about how to avoid the case. >> bill: i know. >> you kind of wonder why did you grant review in the first place. >> bill: exactly. i feel like once you take the case, you should apply the constitution and vindicate the rights of the couple that came before you. >> bill: they don't have to worry about running for re-election, right?

>> yeah. they're on the bench for life. their job is to apply the constitution. and while -- you know, i can sort of understand their hesitancy to get involved in what they deem public debate, they're really not. unfortunately, a lot of the argument in the prop 8 case was about social science evidence, about the impact of, you know, marriage with same-sex couples on children or you know, all of the other different kind of policy sort of judgments. that's not the role of the supreme court. the role of the supreme court is to look at the law look at their precedence and their precedence including opinions written by justice kennedy support the right to marriage equality. and equal treatment of gay and lesbians and look at the constitution? and even for people like justice scalia who are originalists. the original meaning of the protection clause passed after the civil war supports marriage

equality. it doesn't matter whether or not the folks who ratified it in 1868 were thinking of marriage equality. that's not how the legal analysis works. you look at the text. you look at what equal meant. you look at what any person meant. we know what those things mean. and the original intended application of that, that doesn't come into play. >> bill: all right. as you rebutted, justice scalia very powerfully i thought on that argument. elizabeth wydra is the chief counsel for the constitutional accountability center. we'll be right back here on the "full court press." invite you to join the conversation and your reflections on what you heard and saw from the supreme court the last couple of days. 1-866-55-press. toll free number at bpshow is where you can find us on twitter. >> announcer: 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,

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>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 11 minutes before the top of the hour on a thursday. in the next hour, david cicilline, congressman from rhode island will be joining us. rhode island is in line to become one -- maybe the tenth state to recognize the legality of same-sex marriage and we'll also then be talking about maryland easing up the restriction on pot with alan st. pierre from normal. elizabeth wydra is in studio with us. the lights are still on. she's with the constitutionality accountability center. and peter you've got a quick story. >> we've been following the saga

of "the daily caller" and they're reporting on bob menendez. >> bill: yes. >> and how they said that he made trips and visited prostitutes. it turns out just about every other credible organization says the story was b.s. >> bill: including the police of the dominican dominican republic who say the women were paid by someone. >> wonder who that could have been. some good news if you're robert menendez. his job approval rating is up. in february, he had an approval rating of 36% approval. 41% disapproval. it is now up to 40% approval and 37% disapproval. it is still down. he had been at a 51% but it is climbing back up. now that people are starting to realize the story is -- >> bill: 40% is nothing to write home about. >> it's not great but he's coming back. >> bill: tiger woods is back.

>> winning fixes everything, right? isn't that what tiger said? >> bill: elizabeth since we talked yesterday in the dark, another united states senator has come out in support of marriage equality. kay hagan. joining mark begich, mark warner, jay rockefeller, jon tester. i forget who the other democratic senators are. and rob portman one republican. so it is almost like, you know, you're not with it today unless you're for it. that's changed overnight right? >> yeah, you know, i wouldn't say overnight exactly. >> bill: now the question is -- which senators are not? >> right. >> bill: which few support marriage equality? but which senators don't and why? >> i mean honestly, in following these cases in the supreme court, in all of the political debate that goes along with it, i have yet to hear anyone give a good reason for being against

marriage equality. >> bill: other than they're afraid that they'll lose their seat in the next election. >> well, i suppose yes. but you should have the courage of your convictions i think on an issue of this importance. but i'm not running for congress so what do i know? >> bill: i would agree. there are just too many who are chicken, right? and they're afraid, in the case of republicans that they'll get a tea party opponent, right? or in the case of democrats they'll win the primary but they'll lose the general election because of the public not being ready for it. >> the tea party to the extent they claim sort of these libertarian roots, you know, rand paul and his libertarianism libertarian position on marriage should be in favor of marriage equality. my organization, constitutional accountability center filed a brief with the cato institute

the primeau libertarian institution and cato is on board with marriage equality because it is about liberty. it is about individual human dignity and you know, i don't see any reason why the tea party, shouldn't get on board with that. >> bill: so finally in justice scalia did ask when did it become unconstitutional to exclude homosexual couples from marriage? the answer -- >> 1868. that's when the american people rote into the constitution -- wrote into the constitution, the ideals of the declaration of independence, that all are created equal. they added the equal protection clause to the constitution which guarantees equal protection of the laws for any person. and just because it wasn't recognized in 1868, that this was unconstitutional, doesn't mean that those words in the constitution don't make such discrimination impermissible. >> bill: they're not complicated words.

very clear what the 14th amendment means. equal protection under the law for every american, gay or straight. elizabeth, thank you for coming in. two days in a row. >> thank you for keeping the lights on for me. >> we do what we can. >> bill: you can follow the great work of the constitutional accountability center at theusconstitution.org. we should all revere and respect. theusconstitution.org. thank you, elizabeth. >> thank you bill. >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show" now on current tv.

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

press show." >> bill: all right. president obama, boy a mixed schedule today. he and the vice president get the briefing this morning at 10:00. and then at 11:40 in the east room the president will be speaking about gun violence with families of some children, parents of some children who were killed by gun violence. and then this afternoon he's going to be welcoming -- what a group here. the president of sierra leone the president of malawi and the prime minister of cape verde all at one time. to the white house. that was sort of like bringing in the hockey team and the soccer teams from los angeles on the same day. these are not big countries so you got all four of them in at one time. this afternoon, he will be meeting with secretary of state john kerry and treasury secretary jack lew. josh ernest has a press briefing today at 12:30.

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[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: hey, good morning everybody. happy thursday. it is thursday, march 28. can you believe it? here we are on the "full court press." welcome to the "full court press" on current tv. where we bring you up to date on the big stories of the day. and give you a chance to sound off about it. you can give us a call at 1-866-55-press. you can tweet us on twitter at bpshow at bpshow.

follow us on facebook. befriend us on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. again on the "full court press," here in our nation's capital, there is only one big story of the day. it has been happening down at the u.s. supreme court. winding up the second day of hearings yesterday. a second day of oral arguments really on the issue of marriage equality. the first day was california's prop 8. yesterday, of course was the defense of marriage act signed by bill clinton in 1996. which requires states to treat gay couples differently and to deny them the many benefits that heterosexual couples can receive under the federal law. even bill clinton now says that that law was a mistake. and it looked like from the comments yesterday the justices agree and by june, will vote to overturn it. in other news, ashley judd has decided she is not going to run for senate after all from

kentucky. too bad. and megan mccain ends up getting her own talk show. oh, my god. more of that coming up on current tv. >> if you believe in state's rights but still support the drug war you must be high. >> "viewpoint" digs deep into the issues of the day. >> do you think that there is any chance we'll see this president even say the words "carbon tax"? >> with an open mind... >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> ...and a distinctly satirical point of view. >> but you mentioned "great leadership" so i want to talk about donald rumsfeld. >> (laughter). >> watch the show. >> only on current tv. [ male announcer ] it's red lobster's

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this show is about analyzing 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 vo: the war room tonight at 6 eastern 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? >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: doma. the supreme court wraps up two days of arguments hearing arguments for and against the defense of marriage act. pretty clear. they think it is unconstitutional. good morning, everybody. what do you say? it is thursday, march 28th. great to see you today. here we go. another big day here on the "full court press." covering the big stories of the

day. in our nation's capital around the country around the globe. we'll tell you what's going on but more importantly give you a chance to tell us what you think about it. 1-866-55-press is how you do it. some people accuse me of giving the phone number too fast. you can join us on twitter. i would love to hear from you on facebook. be our friend on facebook. facebook.com/billpressshow. we are here with the entire team this morning. peter ogborn, dan henning. >> hey hey hey. >> stevie lee webb on the phones. cyprian bowlding has the video cam -- >> cyprian has his lights off. >> bill: oh, no! >> okay. they're back. >> bill: well, that is great.

glad that he -- he's of course referring to the fact that yesterday we had a blackout. the lights went out. we were off the hair for the last hour but so far so good this morning. >> me knocking on wood. >> bill: exactly. a lot coming up this morning. congressman david cicilline from rhode island will be joining us at the top of the hour. alan st. pierre from normal about the restriction of pot legislation in the state of maryland. but first -- >> this is the "full court press." >> bill: dan has the big stories of the day. >> other headlines making news on this thursday, president obama was asked yesterday about his march madness bracket as the sweet 16 gets underway today. even though on paper he's doing fine, the hill reports he said his bracket was busted because he did not pick florida gulf coast, la salle and wichita state, all of those upsets -- >> who did! >> that being said, seven of the

president's eight elite eight teams are still alive. his entire final four is still intact. louisville florida ohio state and his predicted champion, indiana. vice president biden was there with him when they were talking about this. he was quick to chime in about his own women's bracket where the university of delaware scored a big upset over unc this week. so the vice president in good spirits. >> bill: all right. look, the president's not going to win because he picked indiana. >> for him to be running around saying his bracket is busted, i mean overly dramatic. far from busted. >> a texas republican tried to pull rank over a police officer over a parking ticket earlier this month. congressman louie gohmert was cited for parking in a reserved spot while touring the lincoln memorial with his family. politico reports the congressman told the issuing officer his congressional placard lets him park basically wherever he wants to then he went on to point out he sits on the committee that

oversees the national parks service and the police officer reported that gohmert was rude, irate and ranting. >> what a jerk. >> bill: pay the ticket. >> exactly. >> they took the ticket back and it was only for $25. >> don't you know who i am? >> exactly. finally, big congratulations to nbc weekend today show anchor jenna wolf. she announced yesterday two things. a, she's pregnant and b she came out as a lesbian and she works with her partner nbc news correspondent stephanie got. they announced the news of their relationship and the upcoming baby on "the today show." it is due early this summer. >> bill: good for them. both damn good reporters by the way. good people. >> big news day for her. >> bill: a big news day for her. i'm married. i'm coming out of the closet and i'm pregnant. boom boom, boom. all three at one time. all right. hey, you know me as a californian and you also know

that i was born in delaware. so those are my kind of top two states. close runner-up my wife carol is from the state of rhode island. grew up in providence, rhode island. so spent a lot of time in rhode island, too, which is why i'm particularly happy to welcome to our program this morning, congressman david cicilline, former mayor of providence representing rhode island's first congressional district. hey, congressman, good to have you with us. >> good morning. great to be with you. >> bill: thank you. >> and you're a wise man to marry a woman from rhode island. >> bill: well, thank you. joe, former mayor of providence, another good friend of mine up there. lot in common. and then the legendary buddy too. >> now a talk show host. i actually read his book. he certainly had a checkered career. so congress then, you watching

from rhode island, i want to ask you about the issue of marriage equality. first, what's your take on the last two days watching as an openly gay man watching the supreme court from your perspective? >> well, i mean, i think you know, it was very exciting to listen to the arguments. i think the court -- i think the first thing is just to acknowledge the context. in many, many ways, we as a country have really moved so far. the polling shows the majority of american people support marriage equality. we look at young people. it is over 80%. it is really generational. i think really the task is how quickly the court will catch up to where the american people already are. and i think yesterday's -- the last two days of arguments reveals that they're likely to say that the proposition 8 case should not be before them. it sounded like they were almost

irritated they've taken the case. you wonder like you guys voted to take this case. didn't just show up. but i think it sounds like they're likely to dismiss that by some mechanism and that, i think is a good thing. it would mean the lower court decision validating proposition 8 and it would come to the state of california again. i think it is pretty clear they're very likely to find that doma is unconstitutional and that the federal government must recognize when a state says a couple is married they're married. that has always been the case. doma was unconstitutional and strike it down. i think it will be a huge victory for those of us who believe in marriage equality. i think it is inevitable. it is a question of at what pace it is going to happen but i don't think there's any question it is already happening. >> bill: on that issue of doma, leave it to justice ruth bader ginsburg, right to sum it up in terms that everybody could

understand. just a quick clip here for our listeners and viewers this morning. you've heard it before, of course. >> really diminishing what the state has said is marriage. you're saying nope, state says two kinds of marriages the full marriage and then this sort of skim milk marriage. >> bill: skim milk marriage. >> also what was great was the response of the attorney who says oh, no, no, the reason doma was enacted so that all gay couples would be treated the same. unfairly. the same. it is such a ridiculous argument. >> bill: they didn't have a good argument, either day. the opposition did not have a good argument. so this morning evan wolfson you probably know -- i know you know is the founder of freedom to marry, told us that even before june, he thinks there are four states where they can achieve marriage equality before the justices would rule. rhode island is one of them.

what's your take on that? >> i think he's right. we have a very supportive governor. he supports marriage equality. our house of representatives passed overwhelmingly unanimous fiduciary committee it is now before the senate judiciary committee. there is tremendous momentum. we're the only new england state that doesn't provide for marriage equality and the time has long passed for us to join our new england states. i think this will be the year it will happen. >> bill: well, i hope you're right. counting on your leadership up there. i hope also the justices make marriage equality legal again in my adopted state of california. by the way delaware, my home state is one of the others that evan is working on right now. he think there is a good chance for delaware before june, too. we'll keep working on that. congressman, you've also been an open critic of the ryan budget.

i guess my question is they tried this budget, you know, two years in a row. it didn't go anywhere. they didn't change it at all. they brought it back a third time, you know. what the hell. what's going on? >> they did change it. it is actually worse. the ryan budget on steroids. it is really shocking. i'm serving on the budget committee now. this is a budget which you know, follows so many of the same principles but makes the cuts even deeper. ends the guarantee of medicare in terms of voucher. provides a gigantic tax cut by moving the tax rate from 39.6% to 25% for the richest people in this country. and then says it's revenue neutral which means other folks middle class and working poor will make up the revenue. it makes deep cuts in education and pell grants and infrastructure and preserves subsidies for big oil and billions of dollars in subsidies. tax breaks and incentives that ship american jobs overseas. it is like we saw this already. it was rejected by the voters

who re-soundingly in these elections, it is as if they were not around on november 4th. there was actually public discussion about this approach which was rejected. but it has not prevented them from trying it again. i think so long as they're in control of the house, they have to keep trying it. i think it is so important for us to take back the house and bring some common sense and good reason to public policy. >> bill: from your lips to god's ears. i was amused and also annoyed last week when the republican national committee issued this big report, they called it the autopsy on what went wrong. you wonder if some realized there was an election and they lost. they said we have to stop being the party of corporate welfare. when you look at the ryan budget, when you look at john boehner says no, we won't close tax loopholes they are the party of corporate welfare

aren't they? >> it is also that they are fighting ferociously to preserve corporate welfare and the tax loopholes that benefit big corporations and the wealth yers americans. they're doing it in order -- they're doing it so that they can, at the same time, make deep cuts in the social safety net and as important very deep cuts in the things that we have to invest in to grow our economy and get people back to work. so they say you know, we have to end the guaranteed medicare. we can't afford it. so they can finance another tax cut for the people at the very top. it is immoral. that document -- i think if anyone has a question of what is the difference between democrats and republicans in the house come to the budget committee and see these two documents. the democratic alternative which reduces the deficit in a responsible way by cutting spending but at the same time, recognizes we need to grow the economy and create jobs. and invest in things that will do that like infrastructure and education and research and science and all of the things we

know are necessary to continue to lead the world and to grow jobs. >> bill: we're talking with congressman david cicilline from rhode island here on this thursday edition of the "full court press." and congressman, i saw that the rhode island delegation recently held a meeting or a seminar on the issue of gun violence. and what steps we might take. where do you see the congress on this issue? will they have the courage to do something this year? >> i hope. so when i worked in the state general assembly this is one of the issues i worked the most on. i'm a founding member of mayors against illegal guns. so this is something i've worked on for a long time. it is incredibly frustrating to me that we are not have -- haven't already passed common sense, responsible gun safety legislation. no one is suggesting -- we have a responsibility and an obligation to be sure people who are criminals or seriously mentally ill don't have access

to firearms. we should pass universal background checks. we should ban the most dangerous assault weapons which are weapons of war. from the neighborhoods of our cities and towns. we should ensure that every single sale goes through background checks. we should close the gun show loophole. the fire sale loophole which is the legislation i've introduced. if you're a federally licensed gun dealer and your license is revoked because you've engaged in this conduct your entire inventory is deemed a personal collection. are you then free to transfer and sell it without any background checks. so we actually reward -- >> bill: oh, no! >> we reward bad behavior. my bill says if you lose your license, you are required to sell your inventory to a federally licensed gun dealer so that all of the rules will still apply. these are common sense provisions. we lost, you know, 20 first

grade children were slaughtered by gun violence in this country. this most recent horrific violence doesn't cause us to do something, shame on all of us in congress. >> bill: shame on us indeed. congressman, so good to you have with us this morning. when you get back in town, come on by and see us in the studio. >> i would love to. >> bill: we'll have some cake for you. >> thank you. take care. >> bill: congressman david sis sis -- cicilline. >> what is johnny cake? >> bill: you've never been to rhode island. this is "full court press" on a thursday. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

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this show is about analyzing 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

>> announcer: this is the "full court press." the "bill press show." live on your radio and on current tv. >> bill: hey you got it. 26 minutes after the hour now. here we go. the "full court press" on a thursday, march 28. couple of other stories we wanted to get to. alan st. pierre will join us to talk about maryland taking a big step toward decriminalization of marijuana in the next segment. but a couple of stories that we haven't had a chance to spend too much time on today president obama in a special ceremony in the oval office yesterday, standing by as vice president joe biden issued the -- administer the oath of office to the new director of the united states secret service. she is julia pierson the first

woman to head the secret service and the president says she is the right person for the job. >> obama: break the mold in terms of directors of the agencies and i think that people are all extraordinarily proud of her and we have the greatest confidence in the wonderful tasks that lie ahead and very confident that she will do a great job. >> bill: good friend of mine is a secret service agent told me yesterday that she's got a great reputation among the officers of the secret service and they think that she'll do a great job as their new leader. meanwhile, vice president joe biden yesterday who has really become the point man for the administration, meeting with the mayors against illegal guns and talking about -- something really very exciting, i think. a whole new technology that is being explored on this gun safety issue. here's joe biden.

>> imagine what it would be if every weapon purchased could only be fired by the person who purchased it and everyone who purchased the weapon was entitled to have that weapon. they had passed a background check. it could be a game changer. >> bill: it could be a game changer. i had never heard of this before. >> no. >> bill: but it is only -- the person who bought that gun was the only person who could fire it right? just like maybe you could do that with a car too. the only person who bought it, or key in the people who could drive, you and your spouse or whatever. so the stealing of guns or the passing on of guns, you know, however people who shouldn't have them, get their guns illegally, they wouldn't be able to fire them. that would be huge. it really could be. >> that's like out of a james bond movie, by the way. really cool that's here. >> bill: i want to find out more about that. but this could be a big part of the puzzle.

>> announcer: 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.

>> announcer: chatting with you live at current.com/billpress. this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: 33 minutes after the hour. it is a thursday morning. march 28. 2013. good to see you today. we are brought to you today coming to you live from our nation's capital, our studio on capitol hill. brought to you today by the international brotherhood of teamsters. we all look better thanks to the good men and women under the

teamsters union under president jim hoffa as you will find out when you go to their web site and see the different things they're involved in at teamster.org. teamster singular, teamster.org. alan st. pierre will be joining us here shortly from normal to talk about what's going on with pot laws in the various states. >> peter? >> quick story. next week in just a little under a week, wednesday of next week, the president is going to newtown, connecticut. to the 100-day anniversary of the shooting there. he's going to go. he's going to talk to law enforcement officials and talk to mothers of some of the victims. and that will, of course, as all of the events the president has done around newtown, be a very emotional event i'm sure. >> bill: he's going down to miami on this friday. i think it is an immigration event. >> bill: one troubling story. there is a study put out yesterday by the -- you might

have heard of it. the society of actuaries. you know, the people who figure out who has to pay what for insurance. that they conclude that under the affordable care act under obamacare, some people are going to have to pay more, not less, more for their insurance. according to this study insurance companies will have to pay out an average of 32% more for medical claims under obamacare and the reason is because more sick people since they're now able to buy health insurance, will have health insurance, will be making more claims for insurance companies to pay out more. the study concludes if you're uninsured or you buy your policy directly from an insurance company, you should pay attention to this. if you're like most workers and their families and have an employee or employer/employee health insurance plan, you don't have much to worry about.

the obama administration says they're not sure that they buy the conclusion of this report. we'll talk more about it probably tomorrow with someone from the administration to see what the actual facts are. the fact is that in some four states recently, hawaii, maryland new hampshire and new jersey there have been -- there's been legislation to ease penalties for minor marijuana offenses making them noncriminal violations. alan st. pierre is the executive director of normal. joining us in studio again this morning. hey, alan, nice to see you. >> how are you? >> thanks for being here. >> bill: coming in with your gold leaf on your lapel there. >> if you ever want a prostate exam, travel with me. >> bill: when they see that, they think uh-oh. >> over to this line over here. >> bill: this is big news. maryland is the latest state. >> i will be testifying later today in annapolis on the decrim

bill. >> bill: they haven't passed it yet. they're moving in that direction. >> that's right. >> bill: what do they want to do? >> >> a legalization bill, one of ten states looking at legalization. a decrim bill and a medical bill. it is a trifecta. >> bill: they'll pass one of the three hopefully right? which one are you pushing for? >> we would love to see legalization. for us, this is great triangulation. if you don't want legalization, give us at least decrim, at least medical. >> bill: you can have decrim and medical at the same time. >> connecticut passed both within a two-year period. >> colorado, it's legal. it is legal. what are your chance of getting that done in maryland? which, by the way is where i live. >> big stakeholder potentially. >> not a great chance for legalization. but definitely decrim and medical. medical has passed through the senate. so it's got a chance.

>> bill: where is the governor? >> governor says he will sign a medical. ambivalent on decrim. definitely going to stiff us on legalization. 18 states? the district of columbia have medical marijuana laws. 15 states have decriminalized it. of course, two have actually legalized it. >> bill: they're washington and colorado. only two decrim and 15 -- >> two legal identified. -- two legalized. right now, the states that are in play that look like they're going to pass and join the groups are new hampshire illinois and potentially new york. on the medical marijuana side. >> bill: uh-huh. >> on the decrim side, we're look at least two or three other states who could join those ranks. you mentioned them earlier new jersey, some of the others. so i would not -- >> bill: i would not say that this issue is moving as fast as same-sex marriage.

>> no. >> bill: but it seems to be moving pretty fast. particularly lately. >> it is indeed. four years ago, my home state of massachusetts was the only state that had a massachusetts legalization bill. now there are ten states. there were no bills in congress to reform marijuana laws. now, there are seven including two legalization bills. >> bill: isn't there a pot caucus in the house? >> i describe it as a cannabis caucus. there are about 35 members who now represent 3500 marijuana businesses that are licensed by the states. pay taxes. >> bill: that's who they represent. their goal is to get medical marijuana or decrim? >> legalization. >> bill: legalization. yeah. wow. tell us about -- we talked a little about this before. what are we seeing in colorado and washington? are the feds staying away? >> they are. governor insley and governor hickenlooper have kept them at

bay by saying we're doing this responsibly. we're laying this out publicly. it is done very transparently. we're involved as stakeholders. they've got consumers and law enforcement and public health officials, pediatricians everybody you would expect to be at the table. ultimately, they're moving forward without federal intervention. >> right. >> one of the things we talked about after it became legal was how they market this. they've sort of embraced the pot tourism. >> colorado, inity very first report out on legalization came out and said answered the question will out-of-state tourists be able to come and use marijuana. the answer is yes. washington they haven't resolved the question. the answer is yes. >> in colorado, the whole issue of -- you had to have a colorado driver's license to use it. they said no, they want people coming from everywhere. >> that's right. >> so we'll be going to colorado next week, right bill? >> on the road. >> bill: field trip.

but again the parallel to marriage equality. >> absolutely. >> bill: which proved to be -- pardon me, a real economic plus for the states that are legalized. people coming into new york and people coming into district of columbia in order to get married and the same thing they'll come in order to have the opportunity to enjoy cannabis. >> these two states look like they'll have a two to four year head start on all of the other states to be able to establish these, get tens of millions of dollars in revenue. >> bill: do you have -- the koch brothers have this group called alec, right? american legislative exchange council where they take bills around and push them on state legislatures. are you writing some good cannabis bills and taking them around the state legislature? >> there are 25 states entertaining 45 different marijuana law reform bills ranging from legalization like i mentioned earlier to decrim to

industrial hemp. we're going to keep putting upward pressure on the government. >> bill: are you providing the states -- if you want -- you're thinking of -- i'm a state legislator in georgia. i want to move this thing -- >> absolutely. that's one of our major functions over 43 years. >> bill: then you show up to testify and -- >> testify on the bills we help to write. you know how it works better than anybody. it is an incestuous circle. at least we're on the right side of the circle this time. >> bill: it is amazing what's happening here. >> what's on the horizon in terms of -- i like the decriminalization stuff, i like the medical marijuana thing but the legalization is where we are as a country. a lot of people want to see it happen. what's the next step? we've seen it in colorado. what's the next step? >> reformers are focused mainly on four states looking out to

2016. california, of course is the big, big target. one out of eight americans live there. we only lost by 3 percentage points in 2010 trying to pass the legalization. >> bill: i voted for it. i voted several times for that. going back to the 1972 lamar, probably. i voted in 2010 several times for it. [ laughter ] >> bill: i cheated for that one, baby. >> couldn't put it down. so the four states are definitely california at the top of that list joined by oregon, massachusetts, and maine. all of these states are now in our focus and polling groups coming in the 55% to 65% percentile in favor of outright legalization. they all have the process. >> you talk about the poll numbers about the outright legalization, how does that look across the country? i mean as a nation, where are we on legalization? >> when normal began in 1970,

10% of the public supported legalization. now it is up to 52% nationwide. but there's no doubt new england and anywhere where the salt water touches the west coast, you get into the 55% to 60% percentile. southeast united states, middle, middle part of the country still around 45%. that's where we have to make up the deficit. >> that's still really high. >> bill: that is good. it is just because they haven't tried it. allen st. pierre here with normal. we've been talking a lot this morning about it. marriage equality issue which has moved very far very fast. and i think right on its heels is the move for at least decriminalization if not legalization of marijuana. let's talk about it. 1-866-55-press. your experience in your state. tell us about it. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show". live on your radio and current tv.

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>> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: here we are. 12 minutes before the top of the hour. we're talking about moves in more and more states to decriminalize, if not legalize marijuana. certainly make it available for medical purposes. allen st. pierre is the executive director of normal and you ought to sign up to be part of their network at normal.org.

norml.org. no a. >> we're on twitter at bp show at bp show. dw17176 sides if you're for smaller government, then stop the war on drugs. something all sides are working on. danny asked, we talked about this a little bit. what's the status of weed laws in california? where he lives? >> in california, it has been decriminalized since 1976. we started this entire medical marijuana revolution by voting for prop 215. and i describe it as 50% of the state counties allow for the retail access, l.a. basin coastal communities, east bay area. no problem. you have retail access to it. get up in the mountains go out in the desert area or the grove alleys. you can grow your own. but you can't go out and buy it at the retail level. >> bill: right. and we did have an initiative in 2010, would have legalized and

just barely, barely lost. let's say hello to marie. marie is calling from minden, louisiana. hey, marie. >> caller: hello, bill. >> bill: good morning. what's up? >> caller: well, like i said, i'm a fourth stage breast cancer patient and i've smoked weed. my doctors -- i've told them i smoke weed and they didn't tell me not to. but they can't legally tell me that i can. >> bill: does it help? >> caller: if they do a urine test on me and i pop positive, they can take my medicaid away from me and if they do that, that's just a death warrant for me. >> bill: well, i never thought about that. of course, allen. that's a real argument for -- >> for individuals who are using medical marijuana if they're in section eight housing medicare, if they're in the v.a. and

they're getting -- in a pain medication program. if they pop on a marijuana test, they can lose the government benefits. >> bill: ridiculous. marie, that's why we have to get the legalization or at least medical marijuana in louisiana. thanks for your call, marie. and emmett is out in sioux falls, south dakota. hey, emmett. >> caller: hello. >> bill: what's up? >> caller: hey, i'm wondering what allen might have to say i have an experience in south dakota where we had a medical marijuana bill lose by one vote in the state house and it was sponsored by a former police chief who is a bigwig republican and we learned that this can become a conservative issue but i want to know what my friends out in capitol hill have to say when they're dealing with conservatives and republicans. >> bill: good question, emmett. >> excellent question, emmett. another point regarding how close south south dakota came.

they lost by one point to have medical marijuana. so the question is how do we get the republicans to come to the dance? the small government discussion. to be able to lower taxes by bringing in revenue that otherwise is being left on the table right now. >> bill: right. >> to reduce the problems on our borders. we destabilize our borders more with the drug war than immigration. >> bill: is there still a war on drugs? >> i describe it as a war on some drugs. the idea that -- partnership for a drug-free america. there is not a drug-free mountain top or desert anywhere in the world. a total -- >> bill: are we still spending money on the phony war? >> i'm glad you're sitting down. the drug czar's budge set $26 billion a year. >> whoa, whoa! >> bill: even under this administration? >> regrettably so. >> bill: i don't know who the drug czar is. >> used to be cabinet level.

>> he's a former seattle police chief named gil kerlikowske. for all intents and purposes, he's the invisible man on this discussion. >> bill: imagine $26 billion. they're ranting and raving about the deficit and saving money and getting rid of government programs that don't work. that are a total waste. and have been around a long time. long enough for us to know that it is never going to work. >> the omb which is pretty nonpartisan, omb gave the d.e.a. an f. the only bureaucracy in all of the bureaucracies in this town to get an f. basically saying it can not achieve its basic mission statement. >> bill: i want a politician with enough balls to say the war on drugs from the days of nancy reagan has proven to be a total bust. i'm not going to fund it. i'm going to get rid of it. >> obama evolved on gay marriage. he could evolve on marijuana. >> bill: he better get on the stick fast. not much time left.

allen st. pierre, you're out there, man. i love it. deliver the state of maryland then come back and tell us about it. >> make the free state a little freer. >> bill: it is norml.org. i'll be back with today's parting shot. >> announcer: heard around the country and scene on current tv, this is the "bill press show." little did i know that one week later i wasn't smoking. [ male announcer ] along with support chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. some people had changes in behavior, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. tell your doctor if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems

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(vo) current tv gets the converstion started next. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv. >> announcer: the parting shot with bill press. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: well, as all of the veteran court watchers remind us starks a mistake to read too much into the oral arguments we hear from the court. nonetheless, looks pretty clear where the supreme court's going

to end up on the issue of same-sex marriage. there is almost no doubt they will strike down the defense of marriage act as unconstitutional which is a big deal because that will make same-sex couples eligible for the over 1,000 benefits that heterosexual couples now enjoy under federal law. in california's prop 8 it looks like the court will stop at just overturning prop 8 only for california making same-sex marriages legal again in california. but not extending that same freedom to gay couples across the nation. which means the court will, if that's the case, not only not affect public opinion on this matter. lag behind public opinion. they won't be doing their job which is to make sure the constitutional guarantee of equal rights and equal opportunity under the law applies to all americans in all 50 states. let's hope for better. have a good day, folks.

we'll see you back here again tomorrow morning.