>> bill: good morning, everybody. what do you say? it is thursday, april 11. this is the "full court press" on current tv. welcome to the program and thanks for joining us this morning. thanks for being part of the conversation about the issues of the day today. you can join our conversation, of course, by giving us a call at 1-866-55-press. by following us on twitter join the thousands and thousands and thousands on twitter at bpshow

and on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. lots happening around the country, around the tbloab and here in our nation's capital yesterday president obama unveiling his budget. i was there in the rose garner when he did. it has unfortunately some bad stuff in it like the chained cpi which will mean cuts in medicare and social security but it has good stuff in it like raising the minimum wage, like money for infrastructure and jobs, like universal preschool. there's also big news on the gun front. democratic senator joe manchin republican senator pat toomey announcing yesterday they've made a deal, reached a compromise to provide universal background checks on all gun sales, all advertised gun sales either at gun shows or online or from newspaper ads. that means there will be 60

votes to have a big debate on gun control on the floor of the united states senate. we'll bring you up to date right here on current tv. 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

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gripping, current. >> occupy! >> we will have class warfare. (vo) true stories, current perspective. documentaries. on current tv. >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: the president's budget is out and believe it or not, it's actually got some good stuff in it, too. saw it yesterday. heard it yesterday. hello, everybody. happy thursday. here we go. our second most favorite day of the week. thursday. because it is the day before friday. thursday, april 11. great to see you today. oh boy oh, boy. lots of news.

lots going on here in our nation's capital. that's where you'll find us right in the heart of the action of capitol hill right here in washington, d.c., keeping our eye on what's going on down the street from us. yesterday, a lot of action on the gun control front with joe manchin and pat toomey announcing their breakthrough compromise on background checks and then just about a mile down pennsylvania avenue, president obama coming out in the rose garden yesterday to unveil his budget and talk about the priorities found in his budget. we've got it call covered not only what's happening here, around the country around the globe. we'll tell you about it and most importantly, we'll give you a chance to talk about it. 1-866-55-press is how you get in line, get in the queue to talk. that's our toll free number. but you can join us on twitter. we want you to at bpshow and on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. yes, as long as there's a

current tv, there's a current tv chat room. go to current.com. click on the chat room and you are in. man! beautiful day. another summer day here in washington, d.c. it was 90 degrees yesterday. unbelievable. peter ogborn and dan henning enjoying the warm weather. >> good morning. >> happy thursday. >> bill: short sleeve shirt first time this year. >> i love it. >> bill: alichia cruz has the phones covered for us and cyprian bowlding here on the video cam gets the big wave this morning as well. so it's just unbelievable, the weather, huh? >> it is freaky. >> bill: and the number of people -- there's something like -- once word gets out that the cherry blossoms are in their full glory man washington just gets -- >> gridlock. >> it is when we make all of our money behind july 4th in this

city. you get one million tourists in three weeks during the cherry blossom -- >> bill: word gets out. boy, do they come in? >> do you know how bad it was? >> bill: how bad was it? >> the nationals game last night, the baseball game starts at 7:05. they had to delay the game because the umpires got stuck in traffic. they didn't throw out first pitch until after 7:20. >> bill: that's how bad it was. i'll tell how bad it was. you want to know how bad it was? >> how bad was it! >> bill: because i got on the metro to come back from the white house yesterday. i had to stand the entire way to easter market. >> oh, my god. >> oh, no! what a rough day. >> bill: normally in the middle of the day on the metro nobody there, right? jam, jam jam-packed. there you go, by the way so we do have to, once in awhile, recognize and salute the

accomplishments, the progress that we have made as a country and one of the ways that -- one of the reminders of that recently is this new movie the jackie robinson movie 42. david letterman saw it. he talked last night about what a powerful message that this new movie has for every one of us. >> it's about jackie robinson break the color-barrier in major league baseball. you think thank goodness. take a look at things now, for god's sake. we have a president who is black. we have a supreme court justice who is latino. and we have a speaker of the house who is orange. [ laughter ] >> bill: there it is. we've come a long way. all right. got quite a line-up for you today. congressman keith ellison from minnesota. congresswoman jan schakowsky from illinois. jim wallace the head of sojourners and john nichols

washington correspondent for the "nation" magazine, all with us this morning. what a great line-up! most importantly you're there as well. and anthony weiner just shaking up the political establishment yesterday by saying he's ready to make try. should he get one? but first... >> announcer: this is the "full court press." >> other headlines making news on this thursday, chris christie is coming to the white house correspondents' dinner this month but it is a very interesting to note who is bringing him as a guest. it is the "huffington post." soft an odd couple pairing for the conservative new jersey governor. but he's not not the only new jerseyan they're bringing. "huffington post" bringing john bon jovi and shaquille o'neal. shaq and chris christie and bon joe i -- jovi. guest of abc lavs year.

huffington post this year. >> mtv has canceled the reality show buckwild after the death of cast member shaneandy and the producer is not happy. j.c. williams tellingter he is surprised that a network that has no problem with a show about pregnancy, has a problem with the death of a man who loves off-roading in his truck. he plans to keep producing episodes and will look for other outlets to air them. >> bill: it is tragic that that kid died but i don't think that's why they canceled the show. i can't believe they canceled the show because one cast member died. accidents do happen. >> it wasn't anything controversial. >> bill: he was by himself. he was not filming -- he didn't i don't while filming an episode for the series.

>> right. >> there's more to that story. if they can find a way to make a lot of money -- >> bill: probably wasn't getting any ratings. >> they would have made money. >> the masters gets underway at augusta, national today with a major rule change designed to allow more players to have a chance at playing through the weekend. "usa today" reports that the top 50 players plus those who tie will make the cut after tomorrow's round meaning they can play through the weekend if they're within ten shots of the lead. this is up from 44 players in the past. tournament chair billy payne says offering more playing opportunities over the weekend is a positive for everyone involved. >> bill: are you allowed to move the ball with your foot? >> no. >> bill: what do you call that? >> the tap-in? >> it is called cheating is what it is called. >> bill: new rule. i was waiting to see. all right. here we go indeed.

i'm telling you. especially in new york. but not just in new york. the political establishment shaken yesterday. now, this sunday, "the new york times" magazine cover story is a profile and a long interview with former congressman new york congressman anthony weiner and his wife abidine who was the top aide to secretary of state hillary clinton. and in that interview, anthony weiner dropped a nuclear bomb into the democratic political establishment by saying yeah, i'm thinking i might want to take a shot at mayor of new york. now, he was always headed to run for mayor. he made no bones about that when he was in congress. everybody knew that was his career goal. he was doing a lot toward that when he got in trouble. but you told "the new york times" "i think i want to ask

people for a second chance." he also said "now's the time to make that decision" because he said "now or maybe never for me" in terms of running again. and this comes in light of -- it's been two years now since that big scandal when anthony weiner finally fessed up to sending pretty salacious texts e-mails and twitter comments to several women. they included a photo of him from the house gym with his bare chest and another photo of him in his underwear with his briefs, you could easily see what was inside of them, shall we put it that way? >> well put. >> bill: at first, remember he said uh-huh, that ain't me. >> i did not send that tweet. my system was hacked. i was pranked.

people make fun of my name all the time. >> bill: i do give him credit for that. i would foye him everything having to go through life with the name of wiener. press is bad enough. i had "full court press". but wiener? >> doesn't get much worse than that. of. >> bill: he said right away, as a member of congress, we're going to call out the u.s. marines, if necessary. we're going to find out who's behind this. >> we're going to try to find out the source of the photograph. try to find out if it was manipulated, something that came off of my account or something that was dropped in but frankly you know we're treating this the way i think, you should treat it. it is a hoax. it was a joke. >> bill: pure hoax. pure joke. pure hoax. and then just about a week later, he had to say like pogo, we have found the enemy and he is us. >> last friday night i tweeted a photograph of myself that i intended to send as a direct

message as part of a joke to a woman in seattle. once i realized i had posted it to twitter i panicked. i took it down and said i had been hacked. >> bill: and ten days after that, a raucous news conference in new york, he threw in the towel and resigned from congress. >> i'm announcing my resignation from congress. so my colleagues can get back to work. my neighbors can choose a new representative. and most importantly that my wife and i can continue to heal from the damage i have caused. >> bill: so, that protestor there in the background, i don't know who that was but at any rate, his wife stood by him. she forgave him. they've reconciled. they've had a kid. he is saying maybe it's time to come back and the question, i ask you today is does he deserve a second chance?

1-866-55-press. you know, as far as i'm concerned, damn straight he deserves a second chance. look, first of all you gotta admit, anthony weiner was one very good, very effective great member of congress. not just for new york but for the people of this country i think. he was right on the issues. he was a real fighter. he was an in-your-face kind of guy. he never backed down. he would get on the floor of the house and give him holy hell on all of the issues. if he were around today man there is nobody, there is nobody in the house today who has taken his place in terms of being in boehner's face and in eric cantor's face and in paul ryan's face. they would never get get away with half the crap. >> people do miss him. there have been a handful of issues we'll talk about on the

show. every so often someone will say, man wouldn't it be great to have anthony weiner during this debate? his absence is felt. >> bill: absolutely. i gotta tell you. look at the other people who have had a second chance on both sides, right? and i applaud the fact that they have. i love the fact that they have. let's start with bill clinton. i'm head of the bill clinton fan club right? defended him all through the monica lewinsky years. he's the most popular person on the freaking planet. we know his little scandal which was, i might say a little worse than what anthony weiner did. look at mark sanford. he's now the republican candidate for congress from north carolina. look at david vitter, the united states -- mr. prostitute king calling up the -- lining up -- call the bordello from the floor of the senate. he's still in the united states senate representing people of louisiana. our good friend, eliot spitzer

has his own show, had his own show here on current tv, a show on cnn, former governor of new york. all of those are really good people. they did some dumb things. they would be the first one to say it but they've come back. they've got a lot more to contribute. i think anthony weiner does, too. yes, i would -- i would welcome him back and welcome him back as speaker of the house of representatives. somebody who will not take any crap from these republicans give it back. as hard as they give it to us. 1-866-55-press. congressman weiner, you want to run again? got my blessing. hell, i'll send. >> check. let's talk about it here on the "full court press". >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv, this is the "bill press show."

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

>> 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. >> bill: 25 minutes after the hour. anthony weiner shaking things up. "the new york times" this morning, the headline on the story, here we go. weiner jolts mayor's race by saying he may enter it. shaking everything up. everybody else in new york and around the country are assessing this former congressman's intentions, is he really going to do it and what does that mean? can he make a comeback from how far he had fallen? peter? we're saying on twitter? >> we're on twitter at bp show where jim says why not weiner. david vitter is still a u.s.

senator. nathan ryan says the difference between weiner and others like clinton and vitter is that weiner resigned his public office. that makes it tougher to return. >> bill: so did eliot spitzer. >> that's true. karen simply says i love the weiner. thank you very much for your comment. >> bill: oh, here is our roving ambassador, arnold with his finger on the pulse of the american public calling from cincinnati ohio. hello, arnold. >> caller: brother how you doing? >> bill: doing good. what are you doing up north? >> caller: well, i'm sitting over here in the volvo truck facility. my truck broke down last night. >> oh, no! >> caller: yes, yes, yes. it happens every once in awhile. >> bill: we'll send a crew out to help you here. >> caller: oh, no, no. i'm waiting for them to open up the gate. i'm going in to get this truck fixed. >> bill: what do you think? anthony weiner? >> caller: the democrat party is to far left, there are so many

guys in democrat party that's always in front of the microphones acting real lippy can't talk with themselves. this guy spoke up. he's a fighter. every time we get a fighter like that, we lose in some kind of way. bring him back. let him get up in the congress -- i know you still got that -- i won't sit down. i won't yield the floor. i'm going to say what i'm going to say. that was beautiful. and i mean the guy -- i'm just saying he messed it up like that. >> bill: we need somebody like that. you gotta get really in your face because they're not nice guys, why should we be nice guys? weiner is smart. he knows his stuff. you know in a sense, i would hate to see him be mayor of new york because i would rather have him here in the congress fighting for all of us than dealing with potholes in new york. michael is up in hartford, connecticut. what do you say?

>> caller: i don't think he should run. >> bill: really? why? >> caller: he lied to the american public. never trust a man who cheats on his wife. >> bill: well, that is sort of what is easily said but bill clinton? michael? i guess michael's gone. see, we heard that all the time under bill clinton. i was on crossfire when all that happened. it sounds nice. i wish i could say the word. it is just b.s. it is total b.s. i'm not saying it is the right thing to do. i'm saying if you make that the test the only test that people should be judged by, then first of all, it is stupid and you're rejecting a lot of good people. it is not an exaggeration to say if you empty washington -- if you had that test in washington, anybody who cheated on his wife would be out of office. this would be a ghost town. >> announcer: this is the "bill

press show." 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: 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. the "full court press" coming to you live from our nation's capital and our studio on capitol hill. brought to you today by the united steelworkers and their international president leo gerard. you know, the united steelworkers are america's largest industrial -- north america's largest industrial union representing 1.2 million

active and retired members. their web site, you can find out more at usw.org. we're talking about anthony weiner shook things up yesterday when -- in advance going to appear in the sunday "new york times" but it was posted online by "the new york times" yesterday. really shook up the political establishment when anthony weiner says two years after disgracefully resigning from the united states congress, i'm ready to see if voters will give me a second chance. should they? back to your comments and calls in just a second. a second worker at a southern illinois hospital has been arrested convicted and sentenced to federal prison for stealing personal information from her patients. she stole information, social security number and all of that kind of stuff from elderly patients' charts and opened up credit card accounts in their

names. they got her but there are other identity thieves out there. of course, preying on you. you've got to protect yourself with, i suggest lifelock ultimate. the most comprehensive i.d. theft protection ever made. but lifelock can't protect you or your bank account if you're not a member. if you call now and mention press 60, you'll get 60 risk-free days of lifelock ultimate identity theft protection. if you're not happy call within 60 days to cancel to get a full refund. go to lifelock.com for details. give them a call at 1-800-356-5967 for lifelock ultimate. >> bill: peter online comments? >> before we get to online comments abc news talked to some political consultants and strategists to see whether or not it would be a reality if anthony weiner could come back. they, for the most part all

agree, yes it's possible. mitchell moss is a new york political analyst. he said in the story people are much more forgiving of errors relating to sex than those of money. when you look at all of the corruption flying around this town and in politics, the sex sort of seems a little tame in comparison. >> bill: i think that's a good point. americans are. by the way on that last -- whatever, michael, i guess it was who said you shouldn't trust a man who cheated on his wife. maybe it's a distinction that's not worth anything but anthony weiner said and i believe him he never cheated on his wife. he never had sex with any of these women. he was sending them photos. he sent them suggestive, if not explicit photos. but did not actually ever get together physically with any of them. arlene calling from philadelphia. hey, arlene, good morning. >> caller: hi, bill.

thank goodness you're there. >> bill: thank you. by the way, we had a great time in philadelphia over the weekend. what a great city. >> caller: good town. >> bill: yes. what do you think about this? >> caller: i think the man is terrific. i wish he were from an area where i live because i would vote for him in a heart beat. but since he's not i really wish he would go back to congress. we forgive people. i don't know. i wish he never left. but he can run and become mayor of new york, good for them because he will be a good mayor. he's a smart man. >> bill: yep, he is. he's just full of energy, right? and is a real, real fighter. thanks, arlene. so good to hear from you. robert in salinas california. hey, robert. >> caller: hi, how you doing? listening for awhile. >> bill: sam farr's district.

salinas, california. >> caller: yep. feed everybody all the lettuce and strawberries. >> bill: great area. what do you think about anthony weiner? >> caller: i think he should go. he did tell the truth after all and then like you said yourself, there was bill clinton. but we do need more fighters in congress because right now congress is really bad. really, really bad. i think -- i think we don't have enough fighters in congress because congress is holding up america from flourishing and doing what they really -- what we really need to do. >> bill: yeah, i agree robert. too often too many democrats who are going to roll over and don't fight back and don't respond. don't call out -- don't call the republicans out on the lies that they're telling. let them get away with it. which is something that anthony

weiner never did. lots more calls on that. i just want to move on a little bit because it is important i think to talk a little bit about -- we'll be doing this throughout the show. in this hour, about the president's budget. i was there in the rose garden yesterday when the president came out and talked about his priorities defending his budget. making the point that the budget document is basically a policy document and here are the things that i believe in. and then attended a -- oh, god it seemed like it went on forever and it did, almost an hour and a half, briefing by the president's budget directors if you will, led by jeff from the office of management and budget, who laid out with charts what was in, why they did what they did and then they took a whole round of questions from the white house press corps. now, i know and i've said this myself, as a progressive, as a liberal, i'm not really happy with this budget because it does

contain some stuff that's and an ath ma to us. it does contain this chained cpi. there's no way to get around it. the chained cpi will mean cuts for -- in social security benefits for seniors who are now on the program. $675 by the time they're 75 and $1,000 by the time they're 80, a year. that's a lot of money for someone on a fixed income. it will also mean cuts to veterans benefits and the president's budget will mean cuts to medicare recipients. so there's some stuff in there. the president says, and his people said yesterday to defend that well, you don't have to worry too much about it because that would only kick in if the republicans agree to all of our new revenue and closing all of the tax loopholes. still, the president puts it in there. it is on the table. it should not be on the table. he promised it would not be on

the table. having said that, where i think some liberals and progressives are missing the boat is there's also some good stuff in the president's budget. that we should know about and we should recognize. the president's budget does increase the minimum wage. that's a policy priority of his. he pays for it in his budget. that's good. that's worth saluting. the president's budget, overall does replace the sequester the dumb cuts, with smart cuts. instead of across-the-board cuts, he shows in which programs we should be cutting including the pentagon. but doing so in a smart way which is the only way to really run a budget. that's a good part of the president's budget. president's budget includes following through on something that he talked about. remember in the state of the union. which is universal preschool. president promised and said we should -- and i couldn't agree more. as a priority, as a nation,

every american child from the age of 4 up, should have access to preschool not just those families who are lucky enough to be able to afford it. and the president has that in his budget. he pays for it by a pretty hefty increase in the federal tax on cigarettes which should jump up almost double to $1.95 per pack of cigarettes. now, that would mean, of course, because of price elasticity, that fewer people would be smoking cigarettes but they've already factored that in and even with fewer people smoking because of the higher price that would still pay for universal preschool. the president's budget also includes the buffett rule. so that millionaires and billionaires would pay a minimum income tax of 30%. and the president's budget includes about $100 billion for

jobs. for rebuilding our broken down infrastructure, our roads highways bridges and sewage treatment plants and what generally goes under the name of infrastructure. so that kind of gets lost when people complain about the social security and about the chained cpi and about the cuts to medicare. just want you to know overall i'm still sorry the president put those chained cpi and cuts to medicare in there even -- even admitted he would consider them in return for new revenue. i don't think you should have to consider return for new revenue. don't forget the good stuff in the president's budget as well. came out yesterday. and it will be now part of the -- now we have a house budget. we've got a senate budget. we've got the president's budget. let the games begin. when we come back, rachel smol kin is the deputy managing editor for politico. tell us all about the big compromise announced yesterday

by joe manchin and pat toomey on background checks. >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." now on current tv. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv. 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.

this show is about being up to date, staying in touch with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. in reality it's not like they actually care. this is purely about political grandstanding. >> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right 13 minutes before the top of the hour. congresswoman jan schakowsky and congressman keith ellison both joining us in the next hour here of the "full court press." yesterday, big news on capitol hill and boy the tide is

certainly turning it looks like, on the issue of gun safety legislation. just a couple weeks ago everybody was saying there wouldn't be a bill come out of the united states senate because so many republicans including the minority leader mitch mcconnell had vowed to filibuster any gun control legislation to prevent debate on the senate floor. then yesterday it all kind of broke open when democrat joe manchin and republican pat toomey held a news conference to make a big announcement here starting with west virginia's joe manchin. >> we have an agreement on an ammend to prevent criminals and the mentally ill from getting firearms and harming people. >> bill: and republican pat toomey added, you know, this is not really gun control. i wouldn't vote for it if it were. this just is a good thing to do. >> i don't consider criminal background checks to be gun control. i think it is just common sense.

>> bill: common sense. will this win the day? rachel smolkin is joining us for politico. hi rachel. >> hi. >> bill: joe manchin gets the credit for this deal. >> joe margin and pat toomey both, very much a bipartisan effort and it has been striking in the last couple of days, we have -- gun safety legislation going on. gun control legislation. we also have the immigration legislation, so-called gang of 8. after hearing that gridlock for years on capitol hill, certainly, you know, gridlock during the election period, we're suddenly hearing about a bipartisan deal so the two of them really came together. senator manchin has been a leading voice somewhat of a lone voice among conservative democrats on this issue since the tragedy in newtown. >> bill: what is interesting to me is both of these guys, they're conservatives, one democrat, one republican --

>> right. >> bill: they both have an "a" rating from the nra. >> that's right. >> bill: they're both gun owners. >> absolutely. in a way that makes them have more credibility on this issue. the hope among democrats who want to see this passed was that senator manchen would be able to reach out to republicans because of his strong nra credentials. somebody who has been strong on second amendment issues and is seen that way. so, in a way it gives more credibility, more cover for other conservative red state democrats and for liberal republicans if these two senators can come up with an agreement. at least that's the hope of people looking to get this law passed. >> bill: right. as we know, this is not a perfect deal. no compromise ever is. but it does cover gun shows. it does cover advertised sales on the internet, newspaper ads magazine ads. it doesn't cover if you sell one to your brother, family connections.

99%, 98% of what is needed here. so let me ask you this. what happens now to the filibuster threat? >> right. now the real drama begins. if you thought it was over, i've got news for you. it is just starting on capitol hill. today, there is going to be an important, procedural vote, as you know republicans, you know, have said they would filibuster that. many of them, including senator mitch mcconnell key player in all of this. it looks like maybe up to 12 republicans could join 50 or so democrats to shut off this filibuster that would block debate and actually get to debate on a bill. now, once they start debate, it is anybody's guess, at this point, where that goes and how that ends up. we could be looking at a week or two. expect lots of amendments on this both from the republican side and the democratic side and then they're going to need to get to 60 votes to insure the final measure could pass because

there is likely to be another filibuster effort to block that vote and pass it. so really, an interesting test of senator harry reid's leadership coming up here in the next week or so in the senate. >> bill: yeah, so you have one vote to whether or not there's going to be a debate. it looks like they'll have the 60 votes necessary to go to the senate floor. wouldn't you agree? >> it does look that way. cloture vote. we'll be watching that closely today. at this point, they do think they'll be able to start debate. >> bill: whatever bill comes off the senate floor so then the big question is, we didn't get much insight from john boehner yesterday. okay, we get a bill out of the senate. does it have a prayer in the house? right. >> that's right. so we're assuming two things here. assuming a, they can get a bill out of the senate. that's still an open question. >> bill: good point. >> then there is another big hurdle. what happens in the house. john boehner is going to be facing this question and it

looks like on two big issues. he's got guns to figure out how to handle and he's going to also have immigration assuming something gets out of the senate there, the gang of eight says they should have something to announce, end of this week or early next week. so it looks like that's going to be moving forward. now, there is a longer period with that. they're not planning to take it up until may. but there are two big issues coming down that will test john boehner's leadership as well. >> bill: is it an exaggeration to say that without this compromise announced yesterday there might not have been any gun safety legislation at all? >> i don't think that is an exaggeration. we might have seen something come out. maybe gun trafficking, for example. so that was one area. but when you look at the three big areas that president obama laid out that he wanted to see action on, the assault weapons ban, limits on high-capacity magazines and background checks,

the other two were pretty quickly off the table. the senate will likely vote on an amendment for those but they're not going anywhere. so the only one that was really -- you know, an open question that could get through was this issue of background checks. so without this agreement, it wouldn't have gotten through either. so that was the test. they got this agreement. now, we'll see if they can get the votes in the senate. again that, part is very much unclear at this point. >> bill: rachel smolkin great to have you with us this morning. deputy managing editor for politico. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." i felt like my feet were going to sleep. it progressed from there to burning

to like a thousand bees that were just stinging my feet. [ female announcer ] it's known that diabetes damages nerves. lyrica is fda approved to treat diabetic nerve pain. lyrica is not for everyone. it may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing rash, hives, blisters, changes in eye sight including blurry vision, muscle pain with fever tired feeling, or skin sores from diabetes. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain, and swelling of hands, legs, and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who've had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. having less pain... it's a wonderful feeling. [ female announcer ] ask your doctor about lyrica today. it's specific treatment for diabetic nerve pain.

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>> 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: congresswoman jan schakowsky and congressman keith ellison in the next hour of the "full court press." on the president's budget. wayne says president obama's cutting social security, medicare and medicaid. a democratic president is cutting these social programs to make this mythological grand bargain. i'm now dead to the democrats' third party. here i come. and scott says hey bill, i will say this as nicely as i can you are an idiot! you and your side keep referring to banning assault rifles. sorry but you have no idea of the actual definition of an assault rifle. we hear that all the time. you know what? scott, i'll take the definition in senator fienne stein's bill.

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: good morning everybody. it is a beautiful thursday, april 11. and we are off and running on the "full court press" here on current tv. so good to see you today and thank you for being part of the program. that's the important thing about the "full court press." we don't just tell you what's going on. we involve you give. >> chance to get involved in the conversation. about the news of the day here from our nation's capital from around the country and around the globe.

you can join the conversation by phone at 1-866-55-press. on twitter at bpshow and on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. big news in washington on two fronts yesterday. first of all the budget. i was there in the rose garden when president obama unveiled it yesterday. and then in the old executive office building for a long briefing by his budget directors. it does contain some bad stuff that chained cpi which will end up with cuts to both medicare and social security. but it has also got a lot of good stuff in it, increases the minimum wage, provides universal -- for universal preschool, includes the buffett rule and about $100 billion for creating new jobs by rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure. so also on the gun front some big news with democrat joe manchin and republican pat toomey announcing yesterday a compromise on universal background checks.

big vote in the senate today on gun control. we'll tell you all of that and more right here on current tv. going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. [ male announcer ] this is the age of knowing what you're made of. why let erectile dysfunction get in your way? talk to your doctor about viagra. ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain; it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects include headache, flushing upset stomach, and abnormal vision. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away

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>> 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. 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: president obama unveiled his budget yesterday and got some good stuff in it. not all good but it's got some good stuff in it. hello, everybody. what do you say? happy thursday, thursday, april 11. good to see you today. this is the "full court press." yes, we're coming to you live on your local progressive talk radio station and on current tv. good to have you with us today. it is a beautiful summer day here in our nation's capital.

cherry blossoms in full bloom and it is about 85 or 90 degrees or will be today. come on down and join us. jump in the pool. water's fine in our nation's capital or wherever you happen to be. hope you're ready to tackle the stories of the day which we do here every morning here on the "full court press." we give you a chance to sound off about it. give us a call at 1-866-55-press. join us on twitter at bpshow. on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. peter ogborn and dan henning leading team press this morning. >> hey hey. happy thursday. >> bill: good morning dan. >> good morning. >> bill: all right. you've got a microphone, use it. alichia cruz -- alsheesh -- alicia bolding -- what am i saying? alichia cruz on the phones and

cyprian bowlding. >> there is only one mrs. bolding and if she saw that, she wouldn't be happy. >> bill: cyprian didn't mean to get you in trouble. the masters starts down at augusta. >> it is a tradition unlike any other. >> i'm excited. >> bill: speaking of tradition, billy payne says well, we broke tradition a couple of years ago -- eight months ago but we're happy with those girls. >> at the time we described that welcoming conde and darla as members of augusta national represented a joyous occasion for the club. this week, that's truer than ever. and i hope the experience for conde and darla as members of our club has been every bit as rewarding and enjoyable for them over the last eight months as it has been for their fellow members. >> bill: how condescending can you get? right?

bfd after all of these years they finally allowed two women in the club. >> yeah. >> bill: yeah, look at us. we've got two girls in here. >> we got us some women folk! >> bill: so sad. what a great line-up we have for you today. we'll kick off this hour with congresswoman jan schakowsky from illinois. congressman keith ellison from minnesota will be joining us after that. and in the next hour, john nichols here as a "friend of bill" from the "nation" magazine and jim wallace, the head of sojourners here to talk about what's happening on the poverty front and the gun control front. we'll get into all of that. starting with jan shockowski. but first... >> this is the "full court press." >> a quick check of some other headlines making news on this thursday, mike tyson has resurfaced and he's looking better than ever before. the heavyweight champion chatted with oprah yesterday. he's lost 100 pounds because he's gone completely vegan. did that a year ago. he said he needed an opportunity

to live a healthy life and was so congested from doing cocaine and other drugs he had high blood pressure could hardly breathe and bad arthritis and felt like he was nearing death. he very much enjoys now being on the up and up. >> bill: talk about going from one extreme to the other. >> in fact, he's a vegan now. he had an ear of corn. [ laughter ] >> major league baseball yesterday announced the new plan to reverse a 20-year decline in diversity. this year, the league saw a record low 7.7% of african-americans on opening day rosters, down from 27% in the 1970s. "usa today" reports they're launching a task force to try to figure out how to bring more african-americans back into the game. it likely starts at the college level. several agents saying the ncaa needs to step up its game first. >> bill: that's -- particularly with 42 coming out.

>> absolutely. finally, maury poaf itch might be interested in what they're doing it he national zoo in washington. they have artificially inseminated one of the giant pandas with semen from two different male pandas so if and when the panda gives birth they'll conduct a paternity test to determine who the father is. one possible father lives here at the national zoo. the other at the san diego zoo. >> bill: why would maury povich -- >> he does those episodes on the talk show. you are the father. are you not the father. the dna test. >> to all of the parents listening, i look forward to your next five minutes of explaining that story to your children in the car with you. >> bill: that's what we do. we inform. >> it is a real story. just saying. >> bill: first lady michelle obama yesterday giving a very -- out in chicago. speaking to a luncheon organized -- business leaders organized by mayor rahm

emmanuel. she gave a very powerful talk yesterday about her experience dealing with the family of that little 15-year-old girl who came here, marched in the inaugural parade and went out to a park with her friends a week later in chicago and was shot in the back by a gang member who thought that she might be another gang member. a really, really -- sort of like the newtown tragedy really had an impact on the first lady yesterday as she described talking about hadiya pendleton. >> hadiya pendleton was me. and i was her. but i got to grow up. >> bill: and that was the difference. congresswoman jan schakowsky also representing the city of chicago. very active on this issue of gun safety. joins us this morning on our news line. congresswoman, it looks like, in the last couple of weeks the tide has turned on this gun

safety issue. would you agree? >> i would agree. i would say even in the last couple of days. >> bill: yeah. >> the republican senators who had pledged to filibuster the bill, i think that filibuster effort is crumbling in the face of the newtown families that came to washington and this relentless pressure to do something and a good number of republican senators who say they will not block a vote on the bill. >> bill: it is impressive, the newtown families they flew down here. i thought it was a very powerful statement in itself, flying down here on air force i to confront the members of congress. and it just became impossible for some of the hard-liners right, to sit down with them and look them in the eye and then say no. >> the president has engaged in a really terrific campaign. he started out, all of this sort of denigration of his being a

community organizer years ago. you know. it pays off. knowing how to use the strength you have with ordinary people. >> bill: so now it looks like -- would you agree that with this breakthrough yesterday and really was significant, the breakthrough with joe manchin and pat toomey and lots of credit to them, that this probably does mean that we will definitely get a bill out -- of some form out of the senate. >> well, you know, we're not at the 51 votes yet in the senate. i think so. you know. unlike other times the republicans or the nra had talked about the connecticut effect that if you just wait, that the enthusiasm will ebb and this will go away just like columbine. just like you know, all of the other times there's been mass shootings. this time it doesn't going to go

away. so i do -- i am feeling optimistic that we're going to get that bill out of the senate. but regardless, this is a winning issue for americans. we're going to get some sensible gun safety legislation and it is really different. >> bill: and then, if we -- i'm optimistic that there will be a vote. there will be a debate that today, the big vote, of course, is cloture right? it looks like enough republicans will vote with democrats that we will move on to a debate on the senate floor. i'm optimistic there will be some kind of bill at least with background checks, hopefully more off the senate floor. but yesterday when he was asked whether or not there's even going to be a debate or a vote in the house speaker john boehner, you know, wouldn't go beyond -- dan if we have that quick clip, here is the speaker yesterday. >> we'll wait and see what the senate does. one thing for two members to come to some agreement.

it doesn't substitute the will for the other 98 members. we'll wait and see what the senate does. >> bill: not a lot of enthusiasm there congresswoman. >> what a snippy comment anyway. you know really. i don't think he does himself any good. you know what? here's the thing bill. the republicans are hanging on to a disappearing electorate. and a disappearing coalition that they could rely on to elect them. even in some of the most rock rib republican districts women there is a gender gap when it comes to guns. women want their children to be able to go to school and to the theatres safely. i think that this is going to be a losing issue for them. if they grip on to this phony idea of the -- that the second amendment is in jeopardy which

it is not that they're going to continue to lose the constituencies that they're losing already. immigrant population, the minority groups, the women. this is a -- an issue i think mainly embraced by white men. romney won white men by 60% and you know, this is not going to be a successful strategy for them short-term or long-term. >> bill: they just seem to be tone-deaf, as you point out not only on the gun issue but on so many issues. that comment this is a very, very important issue facing the american people and for boehner to say -- we'll wait and see. >> 91% of americans support this bill. >> bill: yeah, right. 91%. they're representing, again what, the 9% or maybe the 2%,

right? i don't get it. i don't get it. i've got to ask you congresswoman, you saw we've talked before about fiscal policy and economic policy. we have the president's budget to the extent you've had a chance to take a look at it, what do you think? >> well, you know, there's plenty to like in the president's budget, early childhood education raising the minimum wage, some investments that would create jobs. and then there's some things that are troubling to many of us. the chained cpi some additional cost sharing and in medicare that will, you know, raise the rates for many seniors and cut benefits in social security. so you know, i think there is a considerable pushback but the only way that the president's recommendations become law is if

it's part of a grand bargain that the republicans would agree to and despite the concessions on entitlement programs, john boehner has already said a flat-out no. >> bill: mitch mcconnell as well too. >> right. >> bill: whereas before, they were saying some of the tax loopholes that don't make sense anymore and we ought to really consider them. when push comes to shove and the president gives them the opportunity to get the cuts they have been demanding, as long as you give up some of the revenues again holding the line. >> i think it's important to remind people that the chained cpi was a boehner/mcconnell demand last december in the negotiations. and you know, it was a bad idea then and it is a bad idea now. but still, it was a republican idea. now, we're hearing them trashing the democrats for -- or the president for recommending cuts to social security and medicare. the utter hypocrisy is

astonishing. >> bill: final issue quick question, is there anything going on, yesterday was a big demonstration and big rally in front of the capitol on immigration reform. >> huge. >> bill: the crowd was immense. we hear about the gang of eight in the senate. anything going on in the house in a bipartisan way on immigration reform? >> i think we're going see a senate bill next week, early next week. that will be offered. and you know, like the gun issue, i think we are -- it is all gelling and coming together. and once again the battle, i think, will be mainly in -- the harder battle anyway in the house of representatives where republicans seem to be sticking to their old ways. their outdated ways. >> bill: keep the pressure on. i know you do. keep up the great fight congresswoman. thanks for taking time this

morning. >> thanks, bill, as always. >> bill: you're great. love ya. jan schakowsky representing the state of illinois in the united states congress. keith ellison from minnesota will be here in studio with us in a few minutes. we'll continue our conversation here on the thursday edition of the "full court press." >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. (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.

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 >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 25 minutes after the hour now. congressman keith ellison joining us in the next half hour

of the "full court press." hey, you won't hear it anywhere else but by the way we do want you to know, the economy keeps rebounding both the dow and the s&p, standard & poors, yesterday, setting new record highs. both indexes. and that happened again last week where they set a new record high. i mean it is getting maybe to be old news but it is good news and you know, if the market dropped 200, it would be leading the news everywhere when the market keeps going up, up, up, up, up. nobody talks about it except us. so there you go. >> it is a big story. >> bill: it is a big story. here is a big story. remember some time back, the post office said look, congress saddled us with all of these demands that we have tho pay pensions years and years and years ahead of time. making it impossible basically

for us to balance the budget. so we found a way, maybe we can save some money and get back to running a mean, lean operation. we're going to end service on saturday. delivery home delivery on saturday. congress raised hell about it. so yesterday, the postal service had to announce they are dropping that plan. here is dave, the spokesperson for the post office. >> the board believes that congress has left with us no choice but to delay the implementation at this time. but the board wants to ensure our customers with the postal service are not unduly burdened by growing uncertainties as to whether we'll be able to move forward with the new delivery schedule or not. >> bill: he makes i think the most important point is you could run the post office like a business and actually run it efficiently and make money if congress would only get out of the way and let them do it.

>> postal service can't return to long-term financial stability and avoid becoming a burden to the american taxpayer. the only thing that's required is for congress to provide the postal service with greater flexibility to adapt to changing marketplace. one of those things is a new delivery schedule. >> bill: yep. they could have saved $2 billion a year. so it's a catch-22 with congress and the postal service. again, they place all of these demands, which no private company has to put up with in terms of paying their pensions way ahead of time, preventing the postal service from ever balancing its budget and then when they try one step, didn't necessarily like. we could live with, try one step and congress says no, you can't do that either. all right. keith ellison coming up.

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>> bill: 33 minutes after the hour. it is thursday april 11. it is the "full court press" coming to you live coast-to-coast all the way across this great land of ours, from our studio on capitol hill and booming out to you on your local progressive talk radio station and on current tv. so you can listen, you can watch. you can stream us. whatever. join us and get in the conversation here, particularly this half hour with one of our

good friends not only congressman from minnesota but the cochair of the progressive caucus in the house of representatives, which i understand is still the largest of the caucuses, correct? >> amen. we're stretching out man. >> bill: i like that. more progressives than anybody else. bigger than that tea party caucus. >> we're way bigger than those guys. we're also, bill, trying to increase our capacity to reach out, to progressive partners across america like yourself and others and we're trying to really make sure that we're a force to be reckoned with on capitol hill. >> bill: all right now i'm going to start this morning with a curveball on here. >> i'm ready. >> bill: you ready? one of your former colleagues, anthony weiner yesterday -- he is thinking about maybe coming back into public life and running for mayor of new york. we know what happened two years ago. does he deserve a second chance? >> yes.

anthony's a good guy in my opinion. he should have came clean once he got busted, you know. i'm sorry he didn't do that. he's sorry he didn't do that and his wife is sorry he didn't do that. look man nobody here is perfect. anthony was a great congressman in my opinion. he's dealt with his issues and everybody has issues. so i would like to see anthony weiner be mayor of new york. i hereby endorse anthony. >> bill: all right. i would love to see him come back into congress. you know -- firebrand. he would get in people's face, fast! >> but here's the thing. he's a man of great passion. i heard somebody say weiner's angry. he's not angry. he's passionate. he believes in what he's doing. he was so into making sure people got a chance to go to the doctor. he was indispensable voice on the issue of healthcare.

and i just, you know, he and i had some disagreements about some middle east stuff but he was always congenial in terms of discussing it. so i like anthony weiner a lot. i think his wife is an awesome person. he would do the city of new york a lot of good, i think. >> bill: all right. there it is, the endorsement congressman keith ellison here on the "full court press." >> unsolicited. >> now, speaking about getting in people's faces we know at the democratic retreat i guess it was you got in the president's face over chained cpi. the president's budget, in the rose garden yesterday when the budget was rolled out. there it is, chained cpi in the president's budget. what's going on? >> well, i don't know. i think that the president thinks that there are certain inducements he can offer to get the republicans into a grand bargain. the only problem is sacrifice in

the beneficiaries of social security low income seniors is not going to be acceptable. he can propose whatever he wants but he's got to pass it through congress. if he wants the support of democratic members and i can't speak for the democrats nancy does that. but if he wants to support a progressive caucus, he has to do better than he's doing. that's just it. let me just say i've had some people say i'm not supporting the president anymore and i'm so disappointed. that's the wrong position to take. >> bill: yeah. >> look, the president the stuff on education is good. raising the minimum wage is good. but this social security thing and chained cpi is no good. and we're going to oppose them on that but we're not going to fall all the way out with the president because we don't like this. but we definitely don't like this. so we're going to fight it. and i see myself as trying to

help the president protect his legacy. i think he could be a great president. but this will undermine his legacy and i'm going to try to get him to not do it. >> bill: all right so i was at the -- not only there when the president spoke about his priorities but then there is a long briefing by his budget people and of course, they're challenged on this. when they are, what they say is look, you don't have to worry about this because it ain't gonna happen unless boehner and mcconnell change their stripes, wink, wink, and you know they're not going to. so you know, the old line, i hate to use it, some of our callers do all the time and it driest us crazy maybe the president is playing chess and we're playing checkers, got a great strategy here which is just to -- you don't give anything up. you look like you're willing to give something up. >> yeah, but here's the problem. what if they call his bluff? they say okay, you got it! we'll take it. >> bill: then we're screwed. >> then we're messed up. the point is -- look, it is a bad way to go.

i think that the president needs to earnestly sit down with everybody say look, we're not going to dismantle the safety net. we're going to invest in kids and infrastructure and groundbreaking research. what do you guys need? and then we try to work to there. i think you can gain and outsmart yourself. sometimes you ought to just be cards on the table and negotiate in good faith. and i know that there are people thinking well, the republicans don't negotiate. fine, that's them. but the american people are on our side. the american people agree that we do need to have a balanced approach. we need more revenue. income inequality is extreme. the president has the wind at his back on these issues so why would we try to, you know, play -- i don't know, some sort of slick game that isn't going to work. everybody sees through it. >> bill: it does look like you're saying we can be tougher on the oil companies but, for

example, only if seniors are willing to give up $1,000 a year. >> what kind of symmetry is that? i mean look, there are different issues completely and so the oil companies, here's my question. say you are -- i don't know, a coffee shop. you're not getting any subsidies from the government. why should chevron get all of these subsidies and you and your little coffee shop aren't getting anything except for a hard way to go. >> bill: are we as progressives, as liberals, i walked out of the white house the other day, there was a big rally there and bernie sanders was there. and mark tech anno, the new congressman from california, we're not going to accept this budget. my question to you is are we as liberal -- as you mention, there are good things in the budget.

you got the buffett rule which is good. you've got universal preschool which is good. you've got the minimum wage. there is spending for jobs and infrastructure which is good. you get rid of the sequester and replace it with smarter cuts. that's good. so are we focusing too much on the negative and not on the good stuff in there? >> we're focusing on the real problem in the budget which is what i think our focus should be at this moment. look social security is perhaps the oldest, best program in this country to help stop people from poverty. seniors -- >> bill: and has. >> and has. helped stop seniors from poverty. helped keep people who had a dead parent, you know, stay out of poverty with survivor benefits disability. i mean this has been an awesome program. this is an american program. and it has value beyond its material value which is symbolic value. now if the right wing can trick

our president into helping them hurt this awesome american program, then nothing's safe. i'm worried about -- they're already going after the post office. they're trying to wreck the nlrb on a vote today and tomorrow. all of these institutions which have helped working people climb the ladder of success in this great country of ours are under attack. so look, it is right to stand and fight for social security right here, right now. the president has clearly anticipated that those of us who, you know, the democratic wing of the democratic party are going to not like it. he's signaled that. he said it. and so he's right. we don't like it. and we're going to be loud and proud and opposition and in so doing, we're going to organize americans to remember why we love social security. >> bill: i was surprised yesterday to see leader pelosi

come out with a statement basically saying the president's budget is an attempt to have a balanced approach to solving our fiscal problems or something. did not blast him for including chained cpi and social security. were you disappointed in her response? >> you know, so nancy pelosi has been fierce defender of social security for 30 years. i have no doubts about nancy pelosi. she's a team player. she's also a cat herder, if you know what i mean. [ laughter ] she's trying to keep us all under one tent. but i have no doubts about where her heart is on this stuff. and she needs to be able to, you know keep an open door to the president and so she's got to be diplomatic. but let me tell you. don't ever bet against nancy pelosi. she's there. >> bill: i also saw mel nutter came out with a statement praising her too. i figured that -- mel was in the

same boat. >> michael nutter. >> bill: michael nutter, philadelphia. this is something he had to do. i think we know where he stands. know where she stands. >> they need us to be loud on this. >> bill: we also know where congressman keith ellison stands on every issue. no doubt about it. he's right here. in studio with us. 1-866-55-press. courage! 1-866-55-press is our toll free number. join the conversation here. cochair of the progressive caucus on the "full court press." >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us.

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>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: all right you got it. 13 minutes before -- make it 12 before the top of the hour. in studio with us, congressman keith ellison from minnesota. we're talking particularly about the president's budget here. congressman, peter follows the social media. >> indeed. we're on twitter at bpshow. love keith ellison. as a proud progressive he always speaks the truth and speaks for me. and echoing that is margaret who says i respect and admire congressman ellison. thank you for fighting for the working class along with senator sanders. you can find us at bpshow. you can find the congressman at keith ellison on twitter. >> bill: what is this? the keith ellison fan show? this is supposed to be the "full court press."

we're supposed to be talking about the issues here. [ laughter ] >> oh bill, you're great too man! [ laughter ] >> bill: no more guests in studio! hey, let's say hello to bill calling from thompson, ohio. what do you say? >> you guys are talking about that chained cpi. everybody talks about that but they never give any alternatives. what about raising the cap being at $113,000, that's very low. he had no problem saying $450,000. why don't we just raise that? that solves the whole problem. >> bill: thanks, bill for the question. >> i think bill's right. i agree with him. i think that's the better way to go. raise the cap. that's what we've been saying all along. scrap the cap. you know, we could raise the thing. we could even do it in a graduated stepwise fashion. but there seems to be what we need to do. let's just remember one thing. you know, social security is

solvent right up until 2033. it kind of varies based on how the economy is doing. the better the economy is doing the more solvent it gets without changing anything. we need to be putting people back to work. that would really solve the problem. social security is not in any kind of immediate crisis. there is no reason to have a radical thing introduced on social security. what we should do is look at it on its own merit and evaluate whether or not what we need to do to strengthen social security. what i don't like, bill, is evaluating social security in the context of a larger budget fight because it looks like we're trying to do this fake balancing thing between oil company loopholes and social security -- and seniors. >> bill: false equivalency kind of -- a question, if you can't answer it, i understand because i get lost on this stuff, too. chained cpi or the -- there i am

again. consumer price index. if you go there it not only means that social security benefits are going to be cut. they're going to be cuts to other programs. across the board. not everything but veterans benefits? >> the answer to your question is absolutely, yes. and here's another thing that it means. it means you're going to have bracket creep. now, what is bracket creep? what it means is that your real income is going -- is going to be -- is going up because we have -- your real income may not be going up because that's income minus inflation. but let's just say the chained cpi is going up and the bracket is going up slower than your income is which means that you could get pushed into a new higher tax bracket. without having anymore purchasing power. so that's a tax increase right

there. >> bill: so it is not just -- point i want to get out of this, it is not just social security. >> exactly. it is veteran's benefits, the whole range of things and it could apply to the tax code which means, you know, that you could end up in a higher tax bracket even though your purchasing power has not increased. >> bill: with the progressive caucus so we've got budget. we're dealing with all of the issues which are important. what are the other priorities for the progressive caucus? >> thank you for asking us that. protecting social security and medicare and medicaid is a primary priority. democracy is a key issue for us, too. we're working hard to overturn citizens united to have a fair election system, to introduce publicly financed campaigns so that we can get the money out of politics. another key priority for us is just basic income inequality. we're working on trying to make sure that there are -- that working people can have better income, can have higher wages. can have more jobs.

one of our key things that we introduce is the back to work budget which was a budget that invests heavily -- >> bill: we talked about that, right. >> in job creation, infrastructure and education things like that. you know, we're still advancing the cause of doctors for all right? medical service for everybody. and many of us are still in favor of single payer healthcare and, of course, the public option. so these are just a few of our key things that we're standing for. the real idea behind the progressive caucus is that we're for the american working people and the middle class folks and the low income poor folks too. >> bill: you know what's great? you talk about back to work budget. this is a real progressive agenda. this is what we want to achieve. this is what we want to build and grow and build a better america. rather than saying our goal in life is to cut the debt. that's all he talks about.

what kind of a legacy is that? you want to be known for somebody who cut $100 billion out of the debt? no, you want to be known for somebody who builds something. create jobs, put americans back to work. >> wouldn't you want to be a member of congress, you know, when we were building the erie canal, when we were building the intercontinental -- the transcontinental railroad, we were building the interstate highway system. when we were putting americans back to work. making this country stronger. wouldn't you want to be a member of congress, passing civil rights legislation that makes more americans participate in the democracy. >> bill: that's the leadership you're showing today. thank god you're there congressman. i'm with your fan club, too. thanks for coming in. >> take care bill. >> all right peter cyprian. >> bill: we'll be back, tell what you the president is up to. >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." now on current tv.

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>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: busy day today. daily briefing with the president, president will be meeting with members of the financial services forum then holding a conference call with 100 elected officials to discuss youth employment. this afternoon, a very moving ceremony in the east room. he will be awarding the medal of honor, posthumously to chaplain amill from the u.s. army. big story about him in "the washington post" today. a chaplain who is a real hero in the korean war. then he's meeting with the head of the united nations later this afternoon.

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[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: hey, good morning everybody. what do you say? it is thursday, april 11. this is the "full court press." we're coming to you live on current tv from our nation's capital and our studio on capitol hill in washington, d.c. where there is -- well, for the first time in a long time, a lot going on and for the first time in a long, long time, actually, some bipartisan cooperation on some issues. let's start with a budget. i was there in the rose garden yesterday when the president

rolled out his budget. it has some bad stuff in it, the chained cpi, cuts in medicare, cuts in social security we don't like and shouldn't. it also has good stuff in it. it does raise the minimum wage. it provides for universal preschool and it has the buffett rule in it and about $100 billion for new construction meaning new jobs. on the gun front big news with democrat joe manchin and republican pat toomey announcing their breakthrough compromise on universal -- almost universal background checks, announced yesterday which does break the logjam and all of the republicans who were threatening to filibuster the gun safety legislation now or starting to back off it looks like today there will be 60 votes to open up debate on gun safety legislation on the senate floor. so on that front and many fronts, we'll bring it all to you with the help this hour of john nichols from the "nation" magazine and jim wallace from

sojourners. lots of good reasons to stay tuned right here to current tv. 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.

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 (vo) this afternoon, current tv is the place for compelling true stories. >> jack, how old are you? >> nine. >> this is what 27 tons of marijuana looks like. (vo) with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines, way inside. (vo) from the underworld, to the world of privilege.

>> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current. >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation, on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: president obama releases his budget for 2014. we've heard about the bad stuff. believe it or not, there's some good stuff in it, too. what do you say everybody? good to see you today. it is thursday, april 11. welcome to the "full court press" this thursday morning. and we're coming to you live from our nation's capital and our studio on capitol hill. and booming out to you on your

local progressive talk radio station and on current tv. you can watch us, you can listen and join the conversation any time by giving us a call at 1-866-55-press. that's our toll free number. you can follow us on twitter. talk to us on twitter at bpshow and on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. lots to cover today. lots of action on the gun front on the budget front. on mitch mcconnell still insisting that his office was bugged by those nasty democrats on the left down in kentucky. nobody better yet to run through it all than our good friend, my soul brother from the "nation" magazine john nichols washington correspondent for the nation. good to see you. >> it is good, man. soul brother. >> bill: redressing there? >> can i say, i was taking my jacket off because it is a little warm in the press studio.

>> bill: it is. >> your staff is running around in shorts. >> one of them. >> hey summer's here. >> bill: it is summer. 90 degrees. you realize it is 90 degrees in washington. >> bill: did you have snow in madison? >> snow in wisconsin and in minnesota. ellison's home state, they were calling out the national guard because of a winter weather emergency. >> bill: no! >> not kidding! don't ever let them tell you this is one country. >> bill: it is crazy indeed. so you mention our -- partially dressed team press this morning. peter ogborn. >> hey hey hey. >> bill: alichia cruz has the phones covered and cyprian bowlding as always with the video cam. speaking of the heat and speaking of global warming you know john, that's why you come to washington, i'm sure as often as you do because if you hang around the congress, you learn a

lot. like we learned yesterday from texas congressman joe barton, you need to put your -- ifb in here. >> i apologize. >> bill: congressman joe barton tells us that global warming is not new. it's been around a long time. here he is. >> i think you could have an honest difference of opinion on what's causing that change without automatically being either all in that it is all because of mankind or it is all just natural. i think there is a divergence of evidence. i would point out that if you're a believer in the bible one would have to say the great flood is an example of climate change. that certainly wasn't because mankind had overdeveloped hyrdrocarbon energy. >> bill: so noah -- appropriately named noah is the first down say beware of climate change.

i'm building the arc. >> can i just suggest though that -- and i don't want to picket mr. barton too much but i think he may have some biblical challenges there. if he's thinking it is climate change, i believe that the true believers might suggest there was actually some intervention. it is very -- >> bill: that's the theory. >> has barton deviated from the plan here? there will be some serious discussions in some baptist churches. >> bill: i think he and his pastor will have a long talk. go back to the bible and say look here, they parted the red sea, too. >> you know, the thing about barton too, is that that was actually sort of a moderate statement from him. because he said some of it might be man-made. like a little bit of acceptance. the thing that's important to remember about barton is he's not louie gohmert.

he's a very high ranking -- >> bill: he's not a keith king. >> he's a high-ranking player. >> bill: in this crowd, doesn't make him smart. john nichols is here with us as a "friend of bill". we'll be joined by one of our favorites, jim wallace who is great leader and head of the sojourners who will be joining us at the half hour. john, we've got lots to talk about. we'll get right to. but first dan has the stories of the day. >> chris christie is coming to the white house correspondents' dinner later this month. very interesting to note who is bringing him as a guest. that would be the liberal "huffington post." sort of an odd couple pairing for the two but they are going on new jersey this year. they're also bringing to their table john bon jovi and shaquille o'neal. >> bill: yeah, so i got to say about chris christie, i've seen him at the last two white house correspondents, i think he shops around for an invitation. i think he would go anywhere for

an invitation. >> christie is fun although i do wish they would bring his democratic challenger who has raised a hell of a lot of important issues. the only problem i got and i don't mind chris christie being out there. i think he's a fun guy. but there is an awful lot of progressives who are so all in. they forget, he's actually a very right wing governor. he's got a good opponent. she's solid. >> major league baseball yesterday announced a new plan to reverse a 20-year decline in diversity in the league. this year, the league saw a record low just 7.7% of opening day rosters were out african-american players down from 27%. >> bill: isn't it funny? >> so they're launching a task force to figure out how to bring more black players back into the game. and it likely starts at the college level. they say the ncaa needs to step

up its game first. >> they're right about that. a lot of colleges have dropped baseball which is a bad idea. i can tell you one other thing. let's open relations with cuba. >> oh boy. >> you would have quite a few players -- meet a black standard, whatever skin color you're looking for but cuba has a heck of a lot of good players ready to go. >> and a new study finds social media is making people ruder. two in five people have now ended friendships after virtual altercations on sites like facebook and twitter. 78% of respondents to a vital smart survey reported an increase in incivility online as people have no problem being mean behind a computer screen. >> bill: do we get mean comments on twitter? >> you? no, of course you don't. no, no no. >> whole villages of trolls. the name press imprinted on

them. >> bill: some of the stuff -- it is a good thing i'm thick-skinned, all i gotta say. you learn that in this business. i learned that a long time ago. all right. well, let's start with twitter. i wasn't sure where to start. >> there is a transition. >> bill: dan gave us the tran sition here because anthony weiner, whom i think was a phenomenal member of congress, a real in your face kind of guy impassioned guy he told "the new york times," he's thinking about two years after he resigned, coming back and asking people for a second chance. should he get one? >> sure. i mean with all due respect i think everybody ought to have a second chance. i'm not a big believer in this thing if we put some scarlet letter on folks and push them out. i don't favor term limits, for instance because i don't like barriers to democracy. somebody wants to run for office great. let them do it. if they've got the skills, they've got whatever, let them

go for it. i also think weiner represents a fascinating dynamic here. you had, at the roughly same time mark sanford. down in south carolina. >> bill: he's back. >> going on the appalachian trail. he's really in argentina. he's lying. he had 74 ethics violations related to all of this. >> bill: he actually cheated on his wife unlike anthony weiner. and dumped his wife. with weiner, dumb, yeah. admittedly. but stuck with his wife, they got a kid. i believe they recently had a child. a lot of evidence of -- back together. and you know, and then, we haven't even brought up senator vitter. so bottom line is -- >> bill: i do all the time. >> but what i'm saying here is if weiner wants to try to come back, it's hard because unlike, you know, south carolina and

louisiana, be very blunt here, new york has what we might call media. and it is very aggressive and so weiner coming back would have both the blessings and the curse of being a celebrity who's been through a lot of stuff. but in the mayoral field up there, it is a field that has not fully jelled. there are a lot of people who think there is a space for him. if he jumped in, it would be very exciting. i've covered a lot of new york politics. this is not something new. we had a lot of history in new york going back to the '50s of people make last-minute entries into these races, using a lot of celebrity new york is a tight city. you can move around it fast. you can do a lot with media there. so it would be fascinating if he did. >> bill: i would love to see him do it. i would love to see him back in congress because there was nobody better than anthony weiner to get up on the house floor and just not take any guff. >> i think that's where this may be headed. >> i know we're talking about the mayoral race. my gut tells me that maybe headed toward a congressional. i will mention also that mayor

race, you have people like blassio, superb candidates. >> bill: good friend of the program. been on many times. doing an outstanding job as a consumer advocate up there. >> bill: that's the big political news in new york. the big political news here, john, in our nation's capital that's probably why you're in town is mitch mcconnell now is saying that -- accusing democrats of bugging his office because mother jones by the way, great job. >> mother jones great job. >> bill: another tape released here. the last one was the 47% tape from romney. we don't know whether it was a bartender that took this tape or not. somebody took a tape of a little meeting in mcconnell's office where they were deciding how are we going to go after ashley judd. this was in february when they thought she was still going to run. they said well, let's go after her and say she's mentally unbalanced right? mcconnell says those dirty democrats planted a bug in my office. no evidence of that.

but do you think he's going to get away with it? >> first off if you listen to the tape, you'll note that when mcconnell is speaking or his aides, including legislative aide -- >> bill: which is against the law. >> his aides are speaking, they're a little vague. when a consultant was speaking, the person who is in there it is very clear. this suggests to me this was not a bug that was placed in some corner. this was, in fact, a tape recorder that belonged to someone in the room. >> bill: i think you're right. i say that not accusing anybody of anything but saying the audio of it suggests it is very, very close to one person. and that leads me to believe that mitch mcconnell may have a trip up coming here on this that could be quite interesting. but beyond that, mitch mcconnell and his people have used the term watergate. this is a watergate style thing. here's the interesting thing. the bugging in watergate was

generally bugging of the white house. it was nixon listening to himself, right? again, where the tape came from. here's what watergate was really about. it was richard nixon using staffers who were paid by the taxpayers to attack political enemies even going to the level of -- we have accusations of going into daniel elsburg's psychiatrist office to attack him on mental health issues. so if we're going to talk watergate, i think the u.s. senator sitting around with people paid by the taxpayers talking about going after a political faux on political health, that's a full nixon. >> bill: full nixon. i love that. so much to cover here. the president's budget. real quick take on this. >> actually, look, i'm a huge critic. like a blistering critic of chained cpi. i think it is a terrible thing.

i note that even conservative republicans are starting to attack the president for balancing the budget on the backs of seniors. it is bad politics. it is bad policy. i don't think it should be there. once we get beyond that, and i'm sad the president put it in there because it would really extend from his inaugural and state of the union address which are very progressive. there is a lot i like in the budget. you've gone through it already. you talked about some of the things they're doing with taxation. i very much approve. minimum wage increase. and lots of other -- job creation which i think is rightel. the thing i'll highlight in this, one of my big passions of the last year, i think there are social security, medicare, medicaid and the post office. these are long-term american institutions that are under attack by the austerity agenda. >> bill: yep. >> we had a great progress yesterday in the post office. board of governors backed off. said they're not going to take away saturday delivery.

inside the obama budget is a good plan to save the post office. they actually talk about dialing down this onerous requirement. health benefits. 75 years into the future. they allow the post office, under the obama plan, flexibility. which is the key here. this post office is barred from competing. the obama plan in the budget really opens things up. it is not perfect but this is the first time in years the president's done the right thing. >> bill: it is important. i'm glad you mention it. important, i didn't know and important to talk about that. the people know there is really good stuff in the president's budget. let's not get totally blown out by the chained cpi. john nichols is a washington correspondent for the "nation" magazine. he is here as a "friend of bill" this entire hour. he's thick-skinned like i am, too. you can call and tell him he's full of hot air if you want. or you can be part of this fan club at 1-866-55-press. we'll be right back.

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." for true stories. with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines. real, gripping, current. documentaries... on current tv.

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

>> bill: 26 minutes after the hour the "full court press" this thursday, with john nichols here as a "friend of bill." washington correspondent for the "nation" magazine. a chance for me to put in another plug for the "nation" magazine. i've told you i don't -- can't tell you how many years i've subscribed to the "nation" magazine. love it, read it. depend on it. >> learned about franklin roosevelt from the "nation" magazine. >> bill: for progressives, it

is the place to go. and really find out what's going on. and so john, thank you for your work there as well as everywhere else. we've got a lot of calls. let's start with alan from bedford, mass. hi alan. >> caller: good morning, bill. >> bill: i'm good. what's your point? >> caller: so much for obama holding the line. you know. as far as you know, social security, as far as the taxes that he wanted to get. you know, he ran on $250,000 and ended up with $450,000. nobody i know in the middle class makes $250,000. per year. which actually comes out to basically around $5,000 a year or even $450,000 a year which comes out to almost $10,000 a year. >> bill: and now with the social security and the chained cpi, i'm sure, alan, got your point. so john, that is a

disappointment. >> it is a big disappointment. i think it is politically dangerous. i think this is -- i could see republicans running against the president saying he tried to balance the budget on the backs of seniors. totally cynical. have we ever seen cynicism in politics. this is the thing that really concerns me. we're talking a lot about seniors with chained cpi. that's certainly vital thing. the biggest victims of chained cpi will be the long-term disabled. people who, at a very young age go into social security and need it for a long, long time. cost of living increases over decades. really going to get hurt. >> bill: bernie sanders has been talking a lot about that and veterans benefits, too from the v.a. >> a democrat should not be doing that. >> bill: i don't understand why. i know he says well, it may not happen anyway but even to put it on the table bad politics and bad policy as you said. john nichols stays with us. we'll be joined by jim wallace from sojourners coming up next

on the "full court press." >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> 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 >> (laughter). >> watch the show. >> only on current tv.

>> announcer: chatting with you live at current.com/billpress this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: here we go. 33 minutes after the hour on a thursday morning april 11. good to see you today. thank you for being part of the "full court press." live on current tv and in your local progressive talk radio station, all the way across this great land of ours. coast-to-coast. coming to you live from our studio on capitol hill in washington, d.c., brought to you today by afscme. you know the good men and women of afscme, the largest public employee and healthcare worker's union in the entire country under president lee saunders.

another great progressive. for more information, you can find out more of what they're doing, go to their web site at afscme.org. john nichols here from the "nation" magazine in studio with us as a "friend of bill" this hour. and we welcome another "friend of bill" for this last half hour together on a thursday morning. the reverend jim wallace is head of sojourners, an outspoken leader in this country on so many issues. we've talked recently about poverty and the need for the united states government and our faith leaders to make that a priority. he's out in front on the gun safety issue. he has a new book out on god's side just out. hot off the press as they say. what religion forgets and politics hasn't learned about serving the common good. jim wallis, great to see you. >> great to be back as always.

>> bill: congratulations for the new book. >> thank you. >> bill: i want to hear about this. and your themes here. i want to ask you first about an event you are part of today. i thought, in a very dramatic and meaningful gesture the president brought when he went up to hartford, connecticut on monday, he brought back with him the families of the victims of those 20 little angels at sandy hook elementary school and they came to washington with the president to lobby congress on gun safety and are you carrying that forward today with an event on the washington mall. tell us about it. >> well, most americans probably haven't done the math but 3300 people have died of gun violence since newtown. >> bill: whoa! >> 3300. >> bill: that was december 14. so we're talking -- january february march. four months. >> today clergy from newtown and around the country are planting 3300 crosses and stars of david on the mall to remember

those who have died. bill that's 86 people today will i don't. eight more children will i don't. today:eight more children will die. the politics of guns versus the morality of the common good. it is very simple. children should bury their parents. when parents are burying their children, something has gone terribly wrong in a society. clergy, we should be burying our older congregants. we've got to pay attention to what the common good says versus what the old politics of guns are saying. >> bill: how powerful a message that is for these members of congress if they look out from the united states capitol and look out on the mall and see the crosses and the stars of david and to realize, again, this isn't like the last

ten years right? this is since newtown. i find that just absolutely stunning. they've got to be struck by that. >> visually, it will be a very powerful powerful thing. and the votes may begin today. so the timing on this may be very prov dense. the votes are coming soon. this nation has to take a vote on this. when you're a pastor and you're burying a teenage kid you're not sitting there thinking about the second amendment. before the second amendment is fine. you are thinking about the pain of the family that has lost their child. >> bill: you know, this came through yesterday thinking of michelle obama. she was in chicago yesterday. >> right. >> bill: we know she was really struck by the one more case we can pick out of so many victims of gun violence. 15-year-old hadiya pendleton from chicago came here, so full

of pride with her high school students, marched in the president's inaugural parade and a week later, she was mowed down in chicago in a public park, just standing with her friends. the first lady yesterday talking about how struck she was by meeting with hadiya's family and that whole experience. >> hadiya pendleton was me. and i was her. but i got to grow up. >> bill: and she didn't. 15. so many stories like that, aren't there? >> when i heard that speech and i heard her voice, you could feel in her voice, she was -- she was feeling like this little girl could have been her. and that's what most americans are missing. the mass shootings have gotten our attention. but every day day in, day out in poor communities of color in particular kids are dying and too many other americans are not

identifying with those kids. the book talks about the foundation for the common good. is when jesus says we shall love our neighbors as ourselves. that's in all of our faith traditions. but when i wrestle about that, writing this book, here's what i figured out it meant. it means i can love my son luke, my 14-year-old and my 10-year-old, jack, more than i could ever love anything or anyone but that religious instruction means i've got to love other people's kids as much as i love my own. and that is a transformational ethic and it was supposed to be. >> bill: and it is one john, we do a separation of church and state. john nichols. but that's a message that should inform our politics as well as our faith. wouldn't you agree? >> you know, look, people are going to be informed by many different influences. it is certainly not inappropriate that religious traditions are a part of that. and the interesting thing is

that many of the great religions that we practice in the united states revert back to the old testament, to psalms where we have these wonderful questions if the foundation is destroyed, what would be the righteous do. shortly thereafter in psalms, it says the stone which the builders rejected is now the headstone at the corner. ie, there are points where, you know, things start to fall apart. and what do we go to? what touchstones do we go to try to rebuild? all of our faith traditions teach us that we can't look away. we can't -- you know, when something falls apart we can't say oh wow, that's how the cookie crumbles. so when you have an incident like newtown you can't simply walk away. there is no faith tradition. no moral tradition. that says you can step back from this. our faith traditions, our moral traditions, all of our ethical traditions tell us we have to respond and so now we're at one of those pivot points, critical

junctures. are we going to do it? >> bill: it seems to me it has to transcend politics. >> theology this morning. >> bill: i'm impressed. i didn't realize he had this old testament -- >> i'm more of a new testament guy. >> paul was doing an interview with me yesterday about the book. he pointed out something worth mentioning. he said jim, this book, the front cover is the lincoln memorial and your favorite quote from lincoln is here. it says my concern is not whether god is on our side. my greatest concern is to be on god's side. so paul says you know, jim lincoln didn't go to children much. what do you make of that? it got me thinking about that. it may be that lincoln was one of the first, none of the aboves those who click that place on religious surveys clearly, he was wrestling with what it means to be on god's side but maybe he looked around at religion and said i'm not sure i want to of affiliate. a whole bunch of young people.

the book is writ tonight young people. they're none of the aboves. i think what people -- like john is saying, when we say and do the things that our faith says we should say and do, two things happen. it surprises people. second, it gets their attention. so when clergy are on the mall today, we're not just, as you just said, we're saying we're clergy and this is about our children. this is about our safety. this is about common sense. they won't be experts on all of the bills. they're saying this is a moral issue here. it is time not to look away. just as john said, not to look away, and deal with this. >> bill: i just have to say on lincoln, you know, there is this whole controversy about -- he was not a regular church goer. he said things about organized religion. at the same time, he was probably our greatest theologian. american theologian. >> that's exactly the point. >> bill: if you look at the

second inaugural address etched on the walls of the lincoln memorial it is the greatest theological document -- an american ever wrote. >> you're going to get me going here. >> bill: seriously, it is. >> when i was tutoring inner city kids, all right with inner city kids, we would sound out syllables and sentences for the second inaugural because that is, to me, the speech i wanted to learn. inner city kids. they're getting it straight with malice tort not. with charity tort all. i went there to do this book. that's my favorite monument. that's where king delivered his famous "i have a dream" speech in '63. this was a divided nation. family against family. children against church. and he called for not triumphantism. he called for the kind of humility in this quote.

to be on god's side. that would bring the nation back together. we're divided now again. and that's a time to talk about the common good. >> bill: come back to that message. the common good. what is it? let's talk more about that when we come back here on the "full court press." former seminarian, we have a pastor. >> from wisconsin. go to church a lot. >> bill: your calls are welcome. join the conversation this morning at 1-866-55-press with jim wallis on god's side, indeed. >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv, this is the "bill press show."

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

>> bill: 13 minutes before the top of the hour on this thursday, what a treat to have in studio, two good friends and two real leaders jim wallis is head of sojourners. president of sojourners. you can follow all of their good work and they're involved in so many great causes at sojo.net. john nichols is a washington correspondent for the "nation" magazine here in town from madison, wisconsin. and just bringing a breath of liberal midwest air here to washington, d.c. which we need every once in awhile john. >> i hope we do. >> bill: the nation.com is where you can follow john. >> it is good to be on with jim and to talk about these -- i value you so much, bill, for your ability to deviate into an

actual moral discussion. and the fact is that most of our media is uncomfortable talking about morality and politics. and because of that discomfort, i will be very blunt because of that discomfort, we leave a vast area of the emotional connections, the deep, emotional connections off the table. now, michelle obama went there yesterday. and it hit us. this gun debate is not about technicalities. this gun debate is about an emotional connection. you have to have that moral discussion which jim leads us into. >> bill: it's tricky, jim. i've always felt with my involvement in -- as a former seminarian and person of faith involved in politics, you don't want to enforce your morality on anybody else but at the same time, for certain issues, there is a moral dimension to these issues that you can't avoid and shouldn't avoid and maybe that's what we're talking about when we're talking about the common good.

>> that's right. >> you're both raising really important questions here which we should unpack for a minute. first of all as a person of faith, i want to say religion has no monopoly on morality. i want people to hear me say that. >> bill: amen. >> when dr. king, when dr. king spoke, he didn't say i expect to win because i'm a christian in a judeio christian country. that's not what he did. he said i have to win debate. about the common good. i have to explain why a civil rights law in 1964, voting rights '65 is necessary not just for black baptists or jews but for the common good. so when religion wants to control to use the state power -- power of state to enforce its doctrines that's when it is doing the wrong thing. we lead by example. king injoked ver maya, jesus but he had to win the debate. the common good is found in our

democratic secular traditions as well as our religious ones. so the common good can be a common ground where we can have a conversation. but as john says, it does bring in the moral question which the media is often afraid to raise. >> bill: we talked about the common good and of course, on this gun safety issue. what other issues do you see where we can find common ground and serve the common good? >> it's interesting. washington, d.c.'s getting most things wrong. these days. but i'm going to predict we will have comprehensive immigration reform by the august recess. that's an example of the -- same political leaders and the common good. they will tell you that it is the pressure from the outside from the faith community in particular that is pressing them on this question. how you treat the stranger. you've got evangelical

christians coming to town next week who have been converted by their own bibles on this. where they say jesus says will you treat the stranger -- way you treat the stranger is the way you treat me. two signs up at the border. one says no trespass. one says help wanted. in between those signs 11 million undocumented people are trapped and vulnerable and all of these evangelical christians have been converted to their neighbor who is a stranger and it is providing both what politicians need. more courage and political cover. a group that's got $10 million out there trying to overturn immigration we form. -- reform. they went after lindsey graham for his leadership. we had ads up the next week, evangelicals doing ads in support of lindsey graham's support on immigration. he was pleased with the corg he got from evangelicals in south carolina. so this issue like the black church's role in civil rights, the faith community may play a political game changer role on immigration because it is the

common good. exactly. >> may i speak to one element of that which is, i think quite remarkable. i have a friend and i think you may know him. the head of the farm labor organizing committee an heir to the tradition of cesar chavez and organized the east coast farm workers. still does it in the carolinas and ohio. born again. very, very deeply christian. he goes before very mainstream evangelical audiences and he says what part of the stranger don't you understand? i mean what don't you get about taking care of the stranger? and there have been people who have been working this, working on this for 20 years. as this immigration debate comes to a head. we will see very unexpected coalitions because people like jim and slad mere velazquez who have been out there working to get them to understand. >> bill: i want you to know, the book is "on god's side,"

what religion forgets and politics hasn't learned about serving the common good. boy, what a message we need today. jim wallis, thank you so much. great to see you. >> my pleasure. morning meditation here. >> bill: come back any time. both of you. john nichols always good to have you here. i'll be back with a quick parting shot on the "bill press show."

this show is about being up to date, staying in touch with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. in reality it's not like they actually care. this is purely about political grandstanding. >> announcer: the parting shot with bill press. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: okay, so i was in the rose garden yesterday when the president unveiled his budget. i listened very carefully.

tried to like it but i gotta admit, i really don't. look, it does have some good things in it. it is important to say that. raises the minimum wage. pumps $50 billion maybe $100 billion into rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure. raises taxes on cigarettes to pay for universal preschool. it has the buffett rule. all of that is good. at the same time, if ever adopted, it would unnecessarily and wrongly make things a lot worse, a lot tougher for seniors, veterans and the middle class. senator bernie sanders points out, the chain chained cpi would mean a 65-year-old retiree would lose more than $650 about i his 70th birthday. $1,000 a year by 85. veterans would have their veterans administration benefits cut. of course, president obama says he would only accept those cuts if he gets new revenue. seniors should not have to pay to get millionaires to pay their fair share. have a great day folks. we'll see you back here again

tomorrow.