[♪ theme music ♪] >> bill: happy thursday morning, everybody. welcome to the "full court press" here on current tv. so good to see you today. thank you for joining us. thanks for being part of the program, look forward to hearing -- not only bringing you up to date on what is going on but hearing from you at 866-55-press, that's our toll-free number. look forward to hearing you on

twitter @bpshow, and on facebook at facebook/billpressshow. the spotlight today first of all on dallas, texas were five united states presidents, four former, of course, and the current president will gather for the dedication of the george w. bush presidential center. nice to see them together but % too bad it's for the dedication of yet one more unnecessary presidential library. the spotlight also up in boston where more questions are raised about why the older brother had not been placed on a watch list after he got back from six months in russia particularly in the chechnya territory, and also questions about police opened fire on the younger brother when he was hiding in the boat, and it turned out he didn't have a gun. and the spotlight here in washington, d.c. with eric cantor, trying to improve the image of the republican party

passed a bill that would allow people with preexisting conditions to get health care, but the tea partiers shot it down. no doubt about it who is in charge. that and much more here on current tv. now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking?

(vo) current tv is the place for compelling true stories. (kaj) jack, how old are you? >> nine. (adam) this is what 27 tons of marijuana looks like. (vo) with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines. way inside. (christoff) we're patrolling the area looking for guns, drugs bodies ... (adam) we're going to places where few others are going. [lady] you have to get out now. >> lots of terrible things happen to people growing marijuana. >> this crop to me is my livelihood. >> i'm being violated by the health care system. (christoff) we go and spend a considerable amount of time getting to know the people and the characters that are actually living these stories. (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. >> 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: today's the dedication of the george w. bush library. george bush asked, what is a library? hey, everybody, it's already thursday april 25th, so good to see you today and so good to have you with us here for the

next three hours as we tackle the big stories of the day, try to make some sense out of it and we'll tell you what we think about what is going on but more importantly, we'll give you a chance to tell us what you think about it all. we have several ways of doing that, you can join us by phone at 866-55-press our toll-free number, love hearing your voices and getting those voices on the air. join us on twitter as well and talk to us on twitter @bpshow, and be our friend on facebook and come on into the program at facebook/billpressshow lots of ways to get in the important thing is that you join the conversation of the morning. coming to you live from our nation's capitol and booming out to you on your local talk

progressive radio station, booming out to you this hour only on sirius xm ask them i can't tell you why they are so dumb as to only carry the first hour, and booming out to you for three hours on current tv. lots going on today. but we have the team in place, peter ogburn, and dan henning. >> hey hey hey. >> happy thursday. >> alicia cruz on the phones and siprion bolling on the video. the cardinals decided to make at it sweep yesterday. it wasn't just siprion's fault, it was peter ogburn responsibility as well.

>> i take full responsibility. >> bill: and mr. strasburg is off to a slow start this year. >> that's one way to put it. they have all of the elements of having a good team i think part of the reasons they did so well last year is there were no expectations, they came out of nowhere, and when you come out of nowhere, it's hard to know how to play against you, and now people know how to play against the nationals. >> bill: i think they are just not getting enough runs. >> yeah, there's a lot more that goes into it though. and peter is right, they are basically the same team as last year. >> bill: it's like asking the politician, how did you lose that vote? well, the other guy got more

votes. the dedication of the george w. bush library yesterday. president busch gave an interview to steve skully ahead of time. and he asked what is your relationship like with dick cheney. and george bush said well, it's chordal. jay leno has a take on that. >> he said it was cordial. that's better than being good friends with dick cheney they get shot in the face. so keep it chordal. [ applause ]

>> bill: coming up we have got senator dick durbin coming along as our guest a little bit later. joe courtney congressman from connecticut will be here as well, and then michael duffy from time magazine has written a book about the president's club giving us his views on the historic event down in texas today. but first -- >> announcer: this is the "full court press." >> president obama has quite this parenting technique ready should his girls want to get tattoos. he and the first lady told sasha and malia if they ever do that

they will get matching tattoos in the exact same place, and then put out a youtube video of the family tattoo to embarrass them. >> bill: i always feared the earring and nose ring and for whatever reason neither of our sons did either one. >> i'm stealing that tactic as parent of young children. >> bill: i just figured there would be nothing i could do about it. >> an nfl player is in hot water after getting caught in a prostitution sting. he agreed to pay her $100 an hour for sex acts but then the

woman revealed herself as a prostitute and took him into custody. he just signed a new two-year $2.8 million contract with the browns. >> bill: those sting operations stink. come on. >> and people magazine has named gwyneth paltrow as the most beautiful woman for 2013. >> oh come on. >> she is family oriented, close to her mother and looks great. she just released a new health food -- >> you read that health food cook book and you tell he how

relatable she is. >> bill: oh, really? >> she is a millionaire several times over. she can afford to live a very very comfortable life that many people can't lead. >> bill: health food cook book is an oxymoron -- >> that's right. >> bill: the faa now saying some 2700 flights now being delayed because of the sequester. and the whining gets louder and louder every day from people who have been caught up in these flight delays. people come playing and members of congress are responding saying this is terrible. this is terrible. how dare -- how dare the faa furlough these air traffic controllers, and how dare they delay our flights or cancel

flights. hey, listen bow -- bozos you caused this. the sequester was designed to be so outrageous impossible unthinking, that nobody in their right freakin' mind would ever vote for it. well they voted for it. and john boehner said he got 98% of what he wanted. and the tea partiers called it a home run. as john carney mentioned at our briefing yesterday look they put this burden on the ffa. >> the loss walls off three-quarters of the budget and does not give them any

flexibility. why? because it was written to be a bad law. >> bill: now there are a couple of ideas on the table in congress. again, notice what congress has responded to about the sequester, okay? they didn't respond to all of the cuts in head start around the country. they didn't respond to all of the cuts in meals on wheels for example, or other programs that would help the poor or middle class, emts getting laid off they didn't respond to the furloughs for pentagon employees. no. but white house tours, oh my god, right? or now flight delays. oh, my god. the sky is falling. the sky is falling. some republicans have come forward and said they want to sponsor legislation which would carve out an exemption to the

sequesters just for airlines just for passengers who happen to be flying that day. you know what? no freakin' way. no way. why should they get any special treatment? see the problem is -- and i wrote a whole column about this. "huffington post" identifyied some 200 real life cuts real pain from real people from the sequester for people that live outside of the beltway, but you didn't hear any whining and gnashing of teeth until the sequester started being felt inside the beltway. how? especially flight delays because these people fly a lot, and members of congress fly home every weekend. so suddenly they want to create an exemption. harry reid majority leader, has

proposed that maybe we could have a -- use money that we've saved now from drawing down our depreciations in afghanistan and use that money to have a five-month delay in the sequester and get back to the business of trying to work out a solution solution, some balanced approach to our spending and deficit problems. the white house supported that yesterday. jay carney saying it is not perfect, but at least it might bring some people to the table, and i guess that's all right too, but still, i'm not convinced that giving another five months, here we go kicking the can down the road again, that giving them another five months they are going to come to an agreement. >> this was even on the table so that they couldn't kick the can down the road again. >> bill: exactly. >> of course they will. >> bill: yeah, sorry no

confidence in that. yesterday you may remember we talked a little bit about this, and i said, my response to these air traffic delays is great. i would hate to be on one of those planes and i may be soon but i think it's great. i want to see people suffer. why? not because i want to see people suffer, because i want to see these damn members of congress to get some pressure to do the right thing, and it's only when the sequester starts impacting people who have some power, who have some juice, who have some influence on congress or members of congress themselves that are going to get any action. here is how i put it yesterday -- news buster this conservative website attacked me yesterday, saying bill press wants people to feel pain.

at some point america is going to be down on their knees saying please get rid of this sequester. you cannot do these across the board mindless cuts without having impacts. you know what? i hope they continue. i have a flight coming up to las vegas, and a few other places i don't want to have two or three-hour delay, but i hope it becomes unfreakin' bearable in every way, and then let them cry uncle. what do you think? should i apologize to that? i didn't say anything wrong. i repeat the same wores today. i want more flight delays more people in pain and you know it's going to get worse and it's going to take that to get this congress to do the right thing. it's going to take that like a two by four between the eyes

before these people say what the hell did we do? they haven't seen it yet, % because the cuts are just starting to be felt. it is going to get worse and worse and worse and worse, and i want more pain suffering, embarrassment, humiliation and then maybe we'll get some action from these dumb jerks who passed the sequester in the first place. tell me if i'm wrong at 866-55-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.

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

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

twenty-five minutes after the hour, michael duffy, off of the president's club on the bush library coming up in the next segment, right now the right-wingers are saying that i am anti-american, basically. i want people to -- to suffer and i am part of the democratic conspiracy to use the sequester for politics right? and -- and -- and part of this political campaign that -- of the obama administration to -- to really make people suffer through the sequester in order to get some things done. i plead guilty. >> yeah, exactly. we're on twitter at @bpshow, where danny says hell no don't apologize, bill. it's time to knock the senator who voted for the sequester out

of office. and rob says let the sequester make more americans suffer. why? so americans learn what a stupid ass government the tea party has brought us. >> bill: my feeling exactly. ike calling from charleston, what do you say, ike? >> caller: good morning. the sequester is just another example of what they have been doing across the board. there are cancer people that can't get treatment, there are post offices that they want to close down and privatize, they want cheap labor, but i have a bone to pick with your billy boy. >> bill: oh, okay. >> caller: i heard the show yesterday buddy and all i can say is you have got a signed contract that when you kick off, i'm coming in there to take over that show, don't be nosing up to

katherine. >> bill: yeah, ike. [ laughter ] >> caller: you are busted brother, i heard it. >> caller: yes indeed. ike any day you want to take a microphone you got it. >> yeah, come on up. >> bill: how about the ike and katherine show? >> i can live with that. you guys need a producer. >> bill: that would be big time i got to tell you. steven aurora illinois. >> caller: bill the republican legislationture excerpted themselves, so i would love to see the democrats politicize it last year when obama was trying to push the democrats to raise the taxes on $250,000 or more. they finally said okay we'll only raise taxes on the millionaires, the republicans said we'll shut the government down, we can't hurt the

millionaires. >> bill: excellent point. no apologize here. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪ going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us.

♪ >> announcer: chatting with you live at current.com/billpress this is the "bill press show," live on your radio, and current tv. >> bill: how about it? thirty-three minutes after the hour. it is thursday april 25th for the "full court press" good to have you with us today. we are coming to you live from our nation's capitol, and our studio on capitol hill just down the street from the united states capitol building. buzzing with activity yesterday

as both the house and senate were back in session. and we're brought to you today by the good men and women of the machinist union. for more information about the machinists go to their website, go iam, g-o-i-a-m, dot org. the president and first lady went down on air force one last night. he spoke and they both appeared for a fund raiser at the dnc last night. and today he will join four former presidents of the united states at the opening of the george w. bush presidential senator, yes all jokes about coloring books and my pet goat accepted. you can email us or give us your jokes at bpshow.

>> yes. >> bill: the question about george bush's legacy this is driving me crazy. everybody thinks because they are opening the george w. bush library that you have to go down there and say nice things about george w. bush. i'll -- bear with me as i get to the right page here in the -- in the "new york times" this morning. but we remember what president bush -- president obama said about president bush during the campaign, right? he said -- the "new york times" has it all wrapped up this morning -- the failed policies of george w. bush wiped away a budget surplus, squandered the

legacy of bipartisan policy, lead the country away from our values, and crashed the economy. i think that's right on. but instead you know what you are going to hear today from president obama and from president clinton, and from a lot of reporters is you know, george bush doesn't such a bad guy after all. it has already started. the wall street journal reported that george bush's approval rating is higher today than it was when he left office. big headline. so you think oh man, bush is back. >> wow. >> bill: you know what the truth is? the truth is his numbers are higher favorable numbers are higher than when he left office. when he left office 31% approved of his job at president. today 35%. >> a whooping 35%. >> bill: woe, man, bush, he's

coming back. and then you have others like ron fonier who writes an article saying come on admit it, he says -- let me get the headline right, go ahead, admit it george w. bush is a good man. right? well . . . all right. i'll make a deal with ron fonier i'll admit that george bush is a good man, if he will admit that george bush was a total failure as a president. and that's the thing. this legacy -- we have to focus on the legacy of george w. bush. as everybody said, he looks like he would be a lot of fun to hang out with, a lot of fun to have a beer with, as if he would ever have a beer. >> yeah. >> bill: fine i'll grant that point. i'm not saying he beat his children, beat his dog or his

wife. yeah, let's stipulate he's a good man. he's a nice man. he's fun in the locker room. all right? or whatever, or on the golf course. but look at what he did to this country. where do you start? where do you end, right? have we forgotten about -- i don't think we have -- i think that's why his rating is only 35% because americans haven't forgotten. they haven't forgotten that he took office with a $236 billion surplus, turned around and gave tax cuts to the wealthiest of americans and turned that surplus into a huge deficit. he took us into two wars, one of them justified, the war in afghanistan, at least for a short time, and the other one totally illegal war in iraq. wars that were not paid for that just were added to the -- added to the deficit.

they were financed by adding to the deficit. took us into those two wars and then we don't -- haven't forgotten the fact that -- by the way one war of course built on a whole pack of lies -- we haven't forgotten about the fact that george bush after september 11th launched a whole wave of illegal phone tapping here at home, and illegal torture and water boarding at these black sites around the world, which really hurt the image of the united states and generated more terrorist acts against the united states. we haven't forgotten about the fact that george w. bush's administration basically destroyed fema cut fema to the point where fema could not respond and was too slow to respond to hurricane katrina,

and we haven't forgotten about the fact that george w. bush his economic policies brought about the crash of 2008, which we're still trying to recover of, and which caused the loss of 8.5 million jobs here in this country. those are the facts. that's the legacy of george w. bush, right? so why does he deserve a library, number 1? but he has got his library. my only point is let's not reinvent history here. let's not pretend that he was anything more than a mediocre president. and let's not try to sell that to the american public. let the facts stay where they are. by the way, and yesterday george bush did give an interview to diane sawyer he was asked by diane sawyer about iraq of

course and he still insists hey, the right thing to do. >> i think the removal of saddam hussein was the right decision for not only our own security but for giving people a chance to live in a free society. >> bill: and diane sawyer says what does this mean for your legacy? and he says you know, that's not up to me. >> as far as i'm concerned, the debate is over. i did what i did. and -- and historians will ultimately judge those decisions. >> bill: that's so classic bush. the debate is over. i did what i did. so shut up. >> the debate is never over. >> obama: >> bill: the debate is not over about the war in iraq although i do think he has lost that debate. let's talk about it 866-55-press. are we being too tough on bush? is it time to reevaluate his presidency, and say you know

what, looking back he wasn't so bad after all. i say looking back he ought to be in jail right? or at least he should have been held responsible for breaking the law. and number 2 we're still digging out from the economic mess that he left us in. so i don't think we have to look back and start saying nice things about george w. bush just because he has got his library. 866-55-press, you tell me what you think. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show," live on your radio and current tv. ♪ bodies ... (adam) we're going to places where few others are going. [lady] you have to get out now. >> lots of terrible things happen to people growing marijuana. >> this crop to me is my livelihood. >> i'm being violated by the health care system. (christoff) we go and spend a considerable amount of time getting to know the people and the characters that are actually living these stories.

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

>> announcer: radio meets television, the "bill press show," now on current tv. >> bill: so fifteen minutes before the top of the hour. celebration and opening of the presidential library, george w. bush library presidential center they are calling it down in dallas. the tendency is that now we have to say nice things about george w. bush. no, we don't. i say we continue to tell the truth. we don't have to attack him personally, just talk about his policies and the disastrous policies for this country. might be a nice man, but still doesn't escape the fact that he was at least i believe, a mediocre president. i think history will tell that.

>> on twitter, don griffith says i'm still waiting for the warrens to be written up for george w. bush and his staff for war crimes. >> bill: yeah. neither he nor bush cheney were held responsible for breaking the law. the constitution report came out this week saying what they were doing was against domestic and international law. >> mc says george bush is the hinge of cliff notes on international security so which the reply is he couldn't even read cliff notes. >> bill: put two wars on credit card, led the country away from our values and crashes the

economy. that kind of sums it up. valerie is in indianapolis. good morning. >> caller: hey, bill i just feel like people have such short memories. it's so scary. i think -- like just yesterday all of the talking points, all of the republicans were saying that we were never attacked during the bush -- >> bill: yeah, right. they always -- they always want to forget who was president on september 11th, right? >> caller: yes. >> bill: he was warned ahead of time and did nothing about it too, by the way. >> caller: right. i personally believe it was the cheney presidency. >> bill: well, it was to a charge extent. it really was. and i think george bush's presidency might have been better -- whatever happened to the compassionate conservative he campaigned as he might have had better policies if it weren't for dick cheney, because

i think dick cheney was calling the shots. donald is in oakbrook illinois. >> caller: hi, bill. this is kind of scary, i think they are setting the stage for his brother to run in 2016. and if we don't learn our lessons from history we're going to end up making the same mistakes twice with his brother. >> bill: hey don, we'll make the same mistake three times. remember there was another bush before that one. >> caller: that's right. i forgot about that one, geez. how easy i forget. the truth of the matter is too, from what i recall -- and correct me if i'm wrong -- he ignored everything that was being told to him about 9/11 that there was going to be a strike, and he completely ignored it and when they had hurricane katrina, he kind of like sat on his hands with that one. >> bill: no, you have got it totally right. it was august 6, 2001 where

president bush then on vacation yet again down in crawford was giving a briefing -- i forget the exact words, but the title of the briefing was something like al-qaeda poised to attack inside the united states, and it was all about the fact that there were rumors that they might use planes to attack sites in the united states and it's -- and it was widely reported at the time well after september 11th, that george bush got the briefing said thank you, and then went out fishing for the rest of the day. and did nothing about it. and for the nine months up until september 11th, where people had been -- i'm blanking on the name, richard -- the security guy there under clinton -- >> clark. >> bill: richard clark wrote a book about it, that he begged the president, vice president,

and condoleezza rice to hold meeting about al-qaeda and osama bin laden that whole nine months and there was not one single meeting. and then we get hit. all part of the legacy. jeff out in chicago. >> caller: hi, bill, i have a list of good things i would like to say about george w. bush. number 1 . . . number 2 . . . [ laughter ] >> caller: number 3 . . . >> keep going. >> bill: yeah, right. >> caller: it's really sad that we have a country that feels like we have to say something good about this guy instead of admitting that made a misive mistake. >> bill: yeah, just let the facts stand where they are, right, jeff? >> caller: exactly. >> bill: i will say one good thing about president bush, since he has been out of office he has stayed on the sidelines

and stayed out of the headlines, and unlike dick cheney and dick cheney's daughter, liz cheney i give george -- seriously i give george bush credit for that. >> that's pretty sweet of you. >> bill: i think that's the role of a former president, to realize you are a former president, so get the hell out of the way. >> i'll give him some credit. he had a very cool dog. >> bill: that died. >> well, yeah. but he had a cool dog. >> bill: two cool dogs. one is still alive. >> yeah. >> bill: see we are compassionate liberals. good morning, tim. >> caller: morning bill another thing was not allowing stem cell research. just think of how far behind the medical community was because of

that. >> bill: i forgot about that. that was one of the first things he did too tim. significant and vital medical research was really shut down. i'm so glad you mentioned that. that has got to be -- that has got to be on the list -- the list is -- is a lot longer than the one that i -- that i had -- that i had come up with. and by the way, i'm working up a column on this issue today. because really i hate seeing the media now fawning over george w. bush just because they are opening the library. don't fall into that trap. and again, we don't have to get personal, ugly, or mean. i'm willing to admit he is a nice man, a good family man, they did a good job raising their daughters, and as peter said, they did a good job raising their pets okay? [ laughter ] >> bill: but in terms of how good of president was he?

not. >> announcer: this is the "full court press," the "bill press show," live on your radio, and on current tv. ♪ tonight starting at 6 eastern. alright, in 15 minutes we're in states rights but still support the drug war you must be high. cenk uygur: i think the number one thing viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. i think the audience gets that i actually mean it. michael shure: this show is about being up to date so a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. joy behar: you can say anything here. jerry springer: i spent a couple of hours with a hooker joy behar: your mistake was writing a check jerry springer: she never cashed it (vo) the day's events. four very unique points of view. tonight starting at 6 eastern. 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.

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

drug war you must be high. >> only on current tv. ♪ >> announcer: taking your emails on any topic, at anytime, this is the "bill press show," live on your radio, and current tv. ♪ >> bill: here we go. here we go on with our emails. a lot on the bush library.

i would like -- bella says, oh i get it the george w. bush, lie-bury. like in burying the lies. how about that? but rose lee says hey, you people are jealous because bush is a republican and the greatest president ever. >> oh, my god. >> bill: i have to tell you, no we are not jealous about george w. bush's library. diana says hell no bill, you should never apologize for stating the truth, and i need to know what is tom delay still not in prison? yeah, i want to know that too. i mean somehow he just got -- i tell you why, he has got enough money to afford some very smart lawyers who have been able to dae -- delay, delay, delay's

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

♪ >> bill: good morning, friends and neighbors, happy thursday april 25th, good to see you today, welcome to the "full court press" here on current tv wherever you are in this great land of ours we are there with you to bring you up to date on what is going on here in our nation's capitol around the country and globe, and we'll give you a chance to sound off

about it and let us know what you think about what is going on, what these issues mean to you and your family. you can give us a call at 866-55-press. you can join us on twitter at bpshow and be our friend on facebook at facebook/billpressshow. in dallas president obama will join four former presidents for the decade of the george w. bush presidential center. and will this improve -- well force people to think nicer things about george w. bush's failed presidency. spot light also up in boston where questions are being raised about why after that trip to russia, the older of the tsarnaev brothers was not placed on the permanent watch list by

the fbi and cia, and questions here in washington, d.c. about whether republicans, some of them will be able to derail immigration reform. we'll bring you up to date on all of the above right here on current tv. ♪ 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?

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documentaries that are real, 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: it's the big day in dallas dedication of the george w. bush presidential library. george bush asks what is a library. good morning, everybody. great to see you this morning. >> oooooooooh that's sad. >> bill: it is the "full court press." off to a good/bad start here on a thursday morning, april 25th.

thank you for joining us. good to see you today. good to have you on board as we tackle the big stories of the day, let you know what is going on. more importantly take your calls and comments. your calls welcome at 866-55-press. your comments always welcome on twitter at bpshow and on facebook at facebook/billpressshow. there's so much to talk about this morning, we decided we couldn't do it on our own, we needed a help of a friend of bill this morning. and she is back one of our favorite guests, meredith covers the hill for cq roll call we have to call it now -- >> you can call it whatever you want. >> bill: i hear they are pretty touchy with that. we don't want to get in trouble with your bosses. >> nor do i.

>> bill: and we have the team, peter ogburn dan henning alicia cruz our new screener -- >> hi alicia. i just met alicia for the first time. she is cool. >> bill: indeed. and siprion bolling as always on the video cam. and a big wave from siprion as well. everything is good? >> everything is good. i went to three consecutive games to watch my white sox plays, and they lost all through. so statistical sample i guess -- >> bill: so then go to more national's games. >> from your lips to my ears -- to my boss's ears. >> bill: we have ordered peter to stay home. as one who covers members of congress and former members of congress, i'm sure you will be glad to hear the news not only is anthony weiner coming back, and maybe even running for mayor

of new york but he has now told us we might even expect more photos from his last twitter adventure to come forward. he gave an interview -- >> okay. >> bill: to rnn tv -- >> and then i have a comment. >> i'm not going to participate in that anymore. if reporters want to find more, i can't say they are not going to be able to find another picture or another person who may want to come out on their own, but i'm not going to contribute to that. the basics of the story are not going to change. it is behind me it was a huge mistake, and it is something i regret. >> here is my take on this and if i were running a rival campaign, which i'm not, the first thing i said when i saw that "new york times" magazine piece that expensive profile of

him and huma, his wife, was if i'm running the campaign i don't touch any of the sex scandal stuff, i let the "new york post" do that. i think the biggest problem is he didn't do anything legislatively in his entire career, all he did was -- no offense -- go on liberal talk shows, so what qualifies him to be mayor. so if i'm running a campaign this is what the "new york post" is for, they wrote this scathing op-ed based on the sex scandal alone, and then attack him on the campaign issues because he doesn't have any. >> bill: i disagree. i want to see the twit pics.

>> he does have an incredible set of pectorals. >> oh, stop. >> bill: we'll talk to david jackson a little bit later, and then number 2 democrat in the united states senate, dick durbin will be joining us in the next hour here of the "full court press." but first. >> announcer: this is the "full court press." >> overhead lines making news on this thursday, kevin spacey is glad he just plays a politician on tv and is not one in real life. in an interview this weekend, the netflixes house of cards star says being a politician would make him frustrated for the rest of his life because he actually likes to set goals and achieve them, something that is tough to do in congress. >> have you watched that? >> it's such a bad show. >> i thoroughly enjoyed it.

>> it's a bunch of dude who don't even work in politics and then they have the young lady -- >> i still find it to be very entertaining. >> bill: i just saw the first segment and loved it. >> it's like if a messed up farris farris buler becomes a politician. >> nbc has started millionaire second quiz, and will air live for 12 days straight. contestants will be stuck in an hour-glass like structure for a million seconds, which is 12 days, and their endurance will be tested through various bouts of trivia, they are filming 24 hours a day, and affiliates will be able to check in at anytime, the grand prize apparently is $10 million. >> so it's the [ inaudible ] pub

quiz? >> exactly. it is started -- >> this honestly sounds like an idea dreamed up by my five year old. he could totally come up with this idea. if i told him to come up with a game show idea it could be like that. >> and the federal reserve will finally release the $100 bill. ben franklin will still remain on the bill -- >> it won't be george w. bush now? >> it will not. it's the final bill to undergo major changes since they started this process 20 years ago. george washington has not been touched and there are no plans to upgrade the $1 bill because it is not counterfeited very often. >> bill: i probably have had a

hundred dollars bill in my hand or wallet maybe twice in my life. i never -- see them handle them or use them. do you? >> i'm an entry-level reporter so the answer to that question is no. >> bill: in fact i remember the only time was when you go to las vegas, and this says something about las vegas, and you go to the atm -- >> most atms give you five 20s. >> bill: right. and when you go to las vegas you% get one bill. >> you can't say you don't want the world to be a better place when there is more paper being used. >> bill: exactly. there has been a lot of whining suddenly about the sequester. why? because it finally kicked in for air traffic controllers, and the

resultant flight delays. meredith on the hill there's a lot of talk now -- some republicans want to pass legislation to ex-search -- excerpt the faa. and then harry reid has said he has a different plan, which would be to delay the sequester for five months so they can go back to the drawing boards and figure out a better plan. is either one of these ideas going to go through -- >> because the delay worked so well the first time for the white house. >> bill: exactly, and the white house by the way, endorsed the harry reid approach yesterday. >> of course, because they forced the senate democrats into it in the first place. of all of the complaints strategically i have heard about anything in the past few years, i think the worst strategy ever was the strategy the white house employed at the end of the year

last year, with the, quote unquote, fiscal cliff because by delaying the sequester for two months and letting the republicans off of the hook they now have nothing to negotiate with so maybe this faa stuff starts to bring people to the table. but they delay it for five months and then what is going to happen? you are going to push into it the next debt ceiling fight. i don't see how really delaying it is going to put anyone in a better position and republicans have rejected and/or pushed back against harry reid's strategy to do this which was to use funds from the -- like war savings. >> bill: yes, which republicans have used in the past. >> of course. >> bill: and we are saving money

because we are winding down the war in afghanistan, and have already done so in iraq. i guess the question is -- >> uh-huh. >> bill: and i share your scepticism, so you give them five months and what will they get done? >> nothing. at least for better or worse with the nuisances of flight delays, which isn't in the grand scheme of things a serious, serious problem, when people start noticing that will put more pressure on them. to delay it just eases off that pressure. >> bill: plus if there's going to be any agreement, republicans are going to have to agree to some new sources of revenue, like closing those tax loop holes. i agree with you. don't do it let the pressure build and let things get worse

and worse and worse, and let it impact more people who live inside the beltway, as opposed to kids on head start, they obviously have zero influence, sadly. >> the people between d.c. and new york are very important people. >> bill: exactly. and members of congress who are going home for the weekend should not be trifled with. >> that's right. >> bill: eric cantor had an embarrassing moment yesterday. he is trying to show the party is really a party that cares about people and is a compassionate conservative party so he introduced a plan that would allow people with preexisting conditions to still buy into obamacare. he brings it up for a vote yesterday, and house republicans, right? tea party republicans shot it

down. >> well, they pulled it from the floor before there was a vote -- >> bill: but he was moving toward a vote. so what does this say about who is in charge? >> that's an interesting question. i think it's funny because we have seen this a lot with this particular house caucus is that they are very bad at getting the votes to bring anything to the floor. if you remember -- not to go back to december again, but there was that boehner plan b to raise taxes -- or raise taxes on people making more than a million dollars, and he couldn't even do that and so when nancy pelosi was leader for better or worse, whether you thought her policies were good bad, indifferent, whether you thought she should have brought the climate change bill to the floor or not, when she brought something to the floor she was going to have the votes to move it. with eric cantor -- people have been taking a lot of his, quote

unquote, rebranding, in terms of lasting power within that caucus, you can't become the guy just by not being that guy. and for a long time that's what he was. he was the alternative for people who didn't want to be on boehner's side but i don't think it was because he was that good at building loyal advertise or allegiances -- >> bill: doesn't this prove that it is the tea party members of that caucus who are in charge? i mean they killed this. >> i guess it depends on how you view where you want to move your political capital, right? >> bill: no, let's just talk votes. boehner wanted this and the tea party caucus said hell no. and they won the day. eric cantor was forced to retreat. so why don't you just admit that

the tea party is in charge. >> in a lot of ways they are. they have driven the conversation of that particular party to the right, but the one place i would like to give john boehner credit is that in times when the bill needs to get done -- >> bill: i'm talking about yesterday's one attempt to get this passed. who won who lost yesterday? >> the leadership lost. >> bill: right and the tea party won. that's my only point -- i don't see how you can deny that. >> i think that that is fair. >> bill: yeah. >> but the question of who is in charge is i think -- i -- i just think it's fair to say that in times where votes have been needed, whether it's to keep the government open or keep our country from going into default john fugelsang has been able to muster enough votes at the end with democratic help to do all

of those things, so there has never been a lapse in that regard. >> bill: there is a key phrase with democratic help. >> sure. >> bill: we have more to talk about, in fact -- one member at least of the senate is showing that her poll numbers went down after she voted against those background checks. what does that say about the others? we'll get into that and take your calls at 866-55-press. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪ the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv. 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 about them, right? vo: the war room tonight at 6 eastern

alright, in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. ♪ >> announcer: heard around the country, and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right.

twenty-six minutes now after the hour. meredith shiner is here from cq roll call. the congress is back in town, which doesn't mean they will get a lot done. >> they are going away soon. >> bill: yeah, next week. meredith it was reported yesterday that kelly iott voted against the universal background checks. she has seen a 15-point drop in her approve rating in new hampshire for that vote. new hampshire which is known as a pretty gun-friendly state. what do you think that vote in the senate -- is it going to play across the board that way? >> kelly is an interesting case because she is one of the few republicans who is still on the board for democrats in the final 24 hours of the vote so she was

someone who was in play. there is a lot of craziness with this vote. i don't know when they bring this vote up for again. it is still on the calendar but i think the closer they get to the 2014 election the more difficult it will be politically. and i just don't know exactly what will change the calculus. if you see sustained numbers like this for a while that you can conclusively tie back to the gun issue, then maybe you will. but i don't see a clear path forward. >> bill: so if more people lose a lot of points like this they might want to have a vote before the 2014 election, huh? just to get on the right side of it. >> yeah, depending, but if it's about a bunch of republicans losing point then maybe harry reid doesn't want to do that. >> bill: indeed.

david jackson joins our conversation with you and meredith -- >> 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 >> 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.

♪ >> announcer: this is the "bill press show," live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: hey hey, hey. thirty-three minutes after the hour. what do you say? it's the "full court press" coming to you live from our national capitol and our studio on capitol hill and brought to you today by the nea, yes, the good men and women of the national education associate, under president dennis van rokel. for more information about the

work our teachers are doing, you can go to their website at nea.org. in studio with us today, meredith shiner covers the hill for cq roll call. david jackson, covers the white house for usa today. >> it's your big week white house reporters. >> yes, indeed. >> bill: and david knows. >> congratulations of not being president of the white house correspondents anymore. >> that was one job i was not sad to leave. >> bill: all five living presidents are in dallas today. president obama had some pretty critical things to say about former president george w. bush during the last campaign but today it will be sweetness and light, right? >> absolutely. it is the dedication of the

george w. bush library. president obama gave kind of a preview of his speech last night at a fund raiser in dallas. he said whatever our political differences, president busch loves this country and its people. so i think that's the kind of tone you will hear from him today. >> bill: did he get any boos? [ laughter ] >> it was interesting because he also said you have to work with republicans. so it was an interesting speech. >> bill: you were around during -- i don't know if you were around for all eight of the george w. bush -- >> i was. >> bill: what is the difference between -- let's just talk about accessibility to the press when the bush years and obama years. >> oh boy that's a hot potato.

it was probably more during the bush years, but over the last 20 or 30 years, press access has declined with each president. i don't think it has anything to do with party or personality, it's just kind of the way of returning to doing things in secret. there used to be a time when you had unfettered access. >> bill: yeah i had to renew my hard pass last week, and i wanted to walk across the street, but you can't do it. you have to go out the gate walk all around the block, to get to the back -- it's crazy. >> it's not like meredith and her colleagues. >> and yet you still get the cell phone treatment from senator.

i think the way the media has evolved has changed the way the white house interacting with reports. but an interesting point on transparency in the white house is your next guest, senator durbin had the first hearing on the constitutionality of drones. and they invited the white house to president and the white house refused to send a witness on this. and they were the ones who made this big push about transparency. if you don't want to be transparent with reporters you are not being transparent with your own members of congress. >> bill: this issue has come up at the briefings, right? about when they are going to come forward with their policies and guidelines on these drones. >> george [ inaudible ] was hammering carney on this issue.

and carney said it is basically a national security issue. but that's one subject they haven't opened up about, and it's been how many months now since the state of the union when president obama said he would be talking about drones. and we haven't heard anything since. >> bill: another issue that has been big this week and a lot of time spent on whether or not the president is really satisfied with the job the fbi did. in the big picture -- up in boston, right? the big picture they got him, right? but at the same time with the older brother's trip it looks like the fbi might have missed the boat right? >> right. >> bill: on recognizing the danger this guy represented. >> that's true. i think -- the vibe i get in the white house is -- i think it has a lot more to do with the friction between u.s. and

russia, i think that is their biggest concern. the fbi is saying that they asked russia about this and never got a response. that's the take i'm getting at the white house. i don't know what meredith is hearing about it. >> wasn't it that the cia was the one that had flagged the older brother, and somehow there was some sort of miscommunication -- [overlapping speakers] >> bill: yeah, i think that was reported in the "post" this morning. so there's questions about -- and the pinged and janet janet napolitano said he pinged one list but not the other list. >> yeah. we're saying we never heard back from russia -- and excuse me -- there's concern in the white house that there has been a lot of differences with the russians over the last several years, and there is some concern that that might have played a

role in this particular case. >> bill: the other thing david -- do you have a glass of water there -- >> no i'm fine. thanks. >> bill: i was surprised to hear jay carney support the delay in the sequestration. because it doesn't do away with it, and it doesn't include -- at least no guarantee of any now agree to new revenue on the part of the republicans. why is the white house going along with this? >> they are only concerned about this band-aid regarding the faa, they say they are basically making a deal right now with no taxes on the faa. and people tend to blame the president more than the 535

members of congress over this thing. and i think there is political concern over there. >> bill: how can the white house square then, right being so concerned about the flight delays and not concerned about all of the kids getting cut out of heard start or people getting cut out of meals on wheels? >> good question. >> bill: i'm surprised the white house -- >> but they -- again, you have to remember that when they were originally negotiating on this they were the ones who suggested the delay in the first place, so that they are now supporting another delay isn't that surprising, because this has been an approach that they used. >> bill: is the white house saying we'll support the delay as long as we get new revenues at the end of it david? >> carney leads off with saying we still want a long-term debt deal that includes new revenues, but if they look at this faa patch, if you will that reid is talking about, they are trying

to confine it to the airport issue, but they are still looking for the long-term deal. >> bill: woe. i'll focus as meredith did here in the beginning of our exchange, this weekend and the white house correspondents dinner, you have seen many of them, and lead one of them. have they gotten better or worse? [ laughter ] >> it depends on how you look at it. >> define better, and define worse. >> it does seem this year there's less celebrity aspect of it this time around. >> bill: doesn't it david? >> there's a fair group that is coming. i don't know that clooney is coming, but -- >> i don't believe that there is a kardashian coming this year. >> oh let's hope not. and [ inaudible ] from the artist is not going to be there either. >> oh, that's right. >> the dog from the artist. >> someone tried to get an

actual seat at the table for the dog from the film "the artist," and we said snono i'm sorry. >> bill: i saw that dog on the red carpet. >> so spirit of disclosure, i'm not cool enough to be a participant in any of these festive advertise, but i got a view of the list that were invited, and it's like business executives. i would much rather scarlett johansson be sitting at a table then the vice president of goldman sachs. >> bill: there is some pretty heavy corporate wall street presence. >> yeah, i a lot of networks are having the business cover sources, and that's where you get your wall street types. there is also a lot of news

organizations that bring advertisers in order to try to promote themselves. i don't mind glitz but the net effect is to push out real reports, some of them who actually cover the white house, and now they can't get a ticket and that's my concern. >> bill: mine too. there are people who come to those meetings every day with you and me who cannot get a ticket. famously buzzfeed got shot down this year. >> yeah. >> it's just another example of why this town is the most high school town in america. >> bill: this is a high school town and this is our program weekend. >> very true. >> bill: we'll see you later -- no, no briefings today. >> no. >> bill: hey, david thanks for joining us.

>> thanks bill. >> announcer: radio meets television, the "bill press show," now on current tv. ♪ 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. john fugelsang: if you believe in states rights but still support the drug war you must be high. cenk uygur: i think the number one thing viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. i think the audience gets that i actually mean it. michael shure: this show is

about being up to date so a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. joy behar: you can say anything here. jerry springer: i spent a couple of hours with a hooker joy behar: your mistake was writing a check jerry springer: she never cashed it (vo) the day's events. four very unique points of view. tonight starting at 6 eastern.

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

♪ >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: here we go twelve minutes now before the top of the hour. it is the "full court press," covering the issues of the day with meredith shiner in studio with us from cq roll call. we talk about identity theft a lot, and one aspect is called friendly fraud, that's when your identity is stolen from somebody in your family. deputies have arrested a woman

for stealing the identity of her grandmother. she bought more than $100,000 worth of goods, including a truck, mini van, motorcycle appliances, and a truckload of sod. protect yourself against identity theft as i have with lifelock ultimate. of course lifelock can't protect you or your bank account if you are not a member. call now as mention press 60, you'll get 60 risk-free days of lifelock ultimate identity-theft protection, and if you are not happy you can give them a call and get a full refund. give them a call at 1-800-356-5967. meredith, you have also written about a bill that has been in

the congress for sometime now, the employment -- >> non-discrimination act. >> bill: it's back up and there is pressure again on looking for votes among republicans. >> uh-huh. >> bill: rob portman came out and flipped on same-sex marriage, what is he saying about nda? >> jeff merkley is one of five cosponsors of this bill. it is going to be introduced today and has two republican cosponsors. tammy baldwin, along with tom harken who is the chairman of the health education labor and pensions

pensions committee, and then mark kirk -- >> i didn't hear portman on your list. >> he is on the list -- he is not on the list of named cosponsors, but he hasn't decided whether or not he supports the bill. you look at me -- >> bill: i'm just thinking he supported marriage equality because he has a son who is gay and he says i want my son to have the same opportunities that every other american has, so why would wouldn't that follow -- >> i think he probably will, but one of the things he points to is whether or not it would interfere with state laws. right now there are 21 states that have good non-discrimination laws on the

books. >> bill: yeah. >> there was a study done by the center for american progress the progressive think tank here in washington and they have suggested that those states have good laws. ohio is one of the states that they categorize as having weak laws. i think that that might be one of the issues that ultimately swings the senator. but the truth of the matter is is that this bill won't get marked up until maybe june at the earliest, and won't come to the floor until next fall fit was. so he doesn't need to come out and support it now, because who knows when it will actually come to the floor. >> bill: uh-huh. we'll continue to watch that. i agree in the end i think he is going to have to come around. >> yeah. >> bill: you have also written about marco rubio who seems to figure -- looks to me like he is

saying i'm going to ride this immigration reform thing all the way to the white house. >> he did -- he started doing something that is really really fascinating. he is in that group of eight -- you can talk again -- a member of that gang, and within his senate staff he is up to eight staffers who are entirely dedicated on doing rapid response on misinformation in the media. and so every day multiple times a day, you will get myth versus fact emails that look in form very, very similar to the obama for america emails and they take down brightbart and ann coulter, and they are this is what they are saying -- >> bill: so this is directed against members of his own party. >> they will say it's opponents

of the legislation, but those opponents skew highly to the right. when they had their formal press conference to announce this bill last thursday, jeff sessions and david bitter had a counter programming anti-this bill press conference, and there were three myths very fact rapid response emails that day, and there were something like 17 in the first 5 days. >> bill: i would say that's smart of him to do. >> uh-huh. >> bill: and shows he is serious. >> he has a lot of skin in this game, and democrats are really impressed with the kind of depreciation he is running. >> bill: thanks meredith for coming in today. >> always great to be here. >> bill: you can follow her at roll call.com or on twitter at meredith shiner. >> announcer: this the "bill press show." ♪

you know who is coming on >> 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. 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?

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♪ >> announcer: this is the "bill press show". >> bill: two big events on the president's calendar. both in texas. this morning in dallas he willed a tend at deliver marks at the dedication of the george w. bush presidential senator, joined by the four living former presidents of the united states. then the president and first lady will travel to waco texas, where the president will deliver marks at the memorial service at baylor university for the victims of last week's explosion in west texas at that fertilizer

plant. and arriving back at the white house at 10:00 tonight.

♪ >> bill: hey, good morning, everybodying, what do you say? it is the "full court press" on thursday, april 25th so good to see you today. thank you so much for joining us and being part of the program. we'll bring you up to date on the news of the day, and more importantly, we'll let you join the conversation any time you want, any way you want by phone

at 866-55-press on twitter at bpshow, and on facebook at facebook/billpressshow. be our friend on facebook at facebook/billpressshow. or you can just show up at the studio, except we won't tell you where it is, it's just somewhere in washington, d.c., somewhere. but come on by. we would love to see you. spotlight on three different areas of the country, first in dallas where five presidents of the united states president obama and four former presidents will gather for the dedication is little bit later this morning, two hours from now, dedication of the george w. bush presidential presidential presidential center. and spotlight on boston also on why the fbi and cia both pick up on the travels and some of the

writings of the older brother, and of course here in washington, d.c., spotlight on what is happening with immigration reform. we'll bring you up to date on all of the above right here 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

question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. ♪ >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation, on your radio, and on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: what do you know dedication of the george w. bush presidential library, and i wasn't invited. that's all right. five -- four former presidents and the current president are going to be there. big celebration in dallas and here on the "full court press." we are coming to you live from our nation's capitol right here on capitol hill bringing you

the news of the day and most importantly, giving you a chance to comment on what is happening today here in washington up in boston, around the country, out in dallas and other parts of the world. give us a call at 866-55-press. join us on twitter at bpshow and be our friend on facebook at facebook/billpressshow. and one of the things about when you are on capitol hill because the congress is right here and members of congress just pop in and out all the time. we are pleased to welcome back a good friend of ours, welcome back to the studio and welcome back from afghanistan, congressman joe courtney. good to see you. >> we have a little time on our hands -- >> bill: i realize that john boehner gives you so much free time, so we want to help you

fill that time. [ laughter ] >> bill: exactly, and the team, peter ogburn and dan henning, with our newest member alicia cruz on the phones and siprion bolling as always on the video cam. congressman you have children right? >> i do. >> bill: grown? >> one just finished college, the other is about to enter. so the student loan affordability issue is very fresh. >> bill: indeed. and so we i and peter and we identify with a question that was asked at the white house, now your daughters -- teenage daughters now what if they say, hey, we decided we're going to get a tattoo. the president has that all figured out. here it is. >> bill: michelle and i have used a strategy when it comes to things like tattoos, what we have said is if you guys ever decide you are going to get a

tattoo, then mommy and me will get the exact same tattoo in the same place, and we'll go on youtube and show it off as a family tattoo, and our thinking is that might dissuade them that that is a good way to arerebel. >> that is a stroke of genius. >> bill: is that not a good idea? if mom and dad have the same thing, it's not so cool after all. i love it. indeed. by the way, senator dick durbin will be joining us just a little bit later in the broadcast as well, who outin front with part of the member of the ang of eight on immigration reform. and holding a big hearing on drones also in the senate. congressman back from afghanistan, why did you go and what did you find? >> i'm on the armed services

committee, and this still should be our number one focus, 66,000 troops still deployed over in afghanistan. they are coming down to 34,000 by february and total end of combat in addition by december 2014. >> bill: right. >> so -- but, you know, the -- the downward trend started already, because we were at about roughly a hundred thousand troops at the end of last year, so couple of things -- number one just to give an update on what the plan is. i think there is positive feedback we got, but cold-eyed realism coupled with it. the -- you know, fighting season, which always coincided with warm weather in afghanistan is really just about to go into full pitch and the transition plan now for this year is that

basically the afghan military which is at about 350,000 strength is going to be completely in the lead. there will be no partnering with u.s. forces. there will be a train and assist backup. but this summer they are going to have to ride the bike without training wheels, and again, we met with the head of the 101st airborne, and he made it very clear that they are not going to just respond to every call for help out there from the afghan troops. so while there still are forces there, you know, it is going to be kind of a test run in terms of their capability. the other thing i have to share with you, that is quite tangible proof of the drawndown is we went to the depo where all of this equipment is just flowing in from the operating bases that

are being closed -- >> bill: oh, right. >> we're talking massive parking lots full of humvees, striker vehicles warehouses with everything from air conditioning equipment, communications equipment, tents -- you know -- >> bill: so what happens to all of this stuff? >> they are packing it up and starting to bring it home. >> bill: they are going to have a fire sale or just store it for future operations or what? >> the statute says the military gets first dibs in terms of claiming it. but there are things like firetrucks, state and local governments by law have a right to claim it. but there's no searchable database out there. and it's funny there was one story in connecticut which i

talked about this a little bit our office has gotten swamped with calls from local governments who are looking at their own capitol budgets -- this may sound mundane, but we're talking billions of dollars of material that is going to be coming state side -- >> bill: sure. sure. >> 12 years of equipment and material that has piled up over there. >> bill: is any of it ever going to go open to the public -- sometimes you see used government vehicles they have an auction and people can go buy them. >> that's right. because at the end of the day, they are just going to cut it up and scrap it. and it will be a terrible waste. and we're not talking about junk. they pretty much sort out the stuff that is not worth the cost of transportation because obviously taking a boat from pakistan to california or whatever is not cheap,

but -- but again, containers full of stuff is already actually flowing back here. and, you know, i mean it's -- these guys are amazing in terms of -- the system that they have set up to handle this is really impressive. >> bill: did you have any -- come away with any confidence that when we move out that the government of afghanistan is going to be able to step up and govern the entire country, not just the city of kabul >> first of all we went to the south where there has been some pretty heavy fighting in the last two years there. it is actually pretty stable right now, and clearly the governance is -- is pretty extensive there. you know, the other thing they have been focusing on is the afghan local police program, which is a way to localize

security and not tie it so closely to the national government in kabul, but the big -- the really -- i guess to get to the heart of your question, there's an election coming up in afghanistan. karzai is not running again, despite rumors that he might try to say -- i mean that's not happening. and that's the other part of the transition as you pointed out, it's just governance. it's not just enough to have guys in uniform -- >> bill: right. and they have never had a central government in afghanistan. >> certainly that has had full reach. >> bill: right. >> but again i would say that there has been some improvement in terms of that issue, but the election is really going to be, you know, critical question, and obviously -- >> bill: what kind of a presence will we have after december 2014? >> the president has really not spit it out yet in terms of what they are talking about. again, there are different

scenarios, one would be just like iraq where you would have virtually zero. we're not going to have 34,000 troops, which is where we'll be in 2014. some speculation is roughly five to 6,000, maybe couple thousand special forces, some support logistics, and some trainers after 2014 and, you know, the tokyo conference basically -- there was pledges by a lot of western nations, nato nations to provide some fundings for the afghan government, because it is still going to need external help. this is not a country who's economy can sustain a tax revenue for a full government. >> bill: right. were you able to move around freely? did you see people -- >> absolutely. >> bill: is this an open

society? markets open restaurants open? >> absolutely. fourth trip over there. this time suvs, no helmets, in some parts they asked us to put body armor on, but in past trips it was much more intense. pulling out of kabul that night, we came around the corner and there was this massive wedding center with huge lights -- i mean, it looked like something in vegas. it is still a very poor country, but there is no question that there was some vibrancy to the downtown. >> bill: yeah, good to here. and you got to go over there to see for yourself. >> it helps. some people are like why are you doing this? but i actually think -- particularly with mark-up happening, it's a good thing. >> bill: sure. i want to ask you something about coming back home.

congressman joe courtney our guest in studio today. yesterday eric cantor announces he is going to bring to the floor a measure to show that republicans really do care about poor people and people who need health care, and this measure will allow people who have preexisting conditions to buy into obamacare without getting into all of the details. and then he ended up pulling the bill. what happened? >> it just shows the governing caucus in the house of representative is incapable of fashioning any kind of agenda even as something as minimal as a high-risk pool which is really not a good solution for people who have preexisting conditions -- >> bill: they have to buy into the high-risk pool to get coverage. >> yeah. anyone with basic insurance principles, when you concentrate

someone with high risks the cost go through the roof. the premium is about $400 a month for a single person. and republicans -- mark my words here -- you know, when -- when the exchanges go online in the fall, they are going to be screaming about rate shock, high insurance premiums none of them will be as high as the high-risk pool that cantor was pushing yesterday. it's really not a good solution but even that minimalist attempt collapsed. >> bill: because of democrats or -- >> well, it was prevention primary care which is -- everyone knows is a smart way to bring down health care costs, but -- so the democrats were, you know, totally, you know, off limits as far as supporting it, and dozens of tea party republicans rebelled and

club for growth, and all of the sort of usual suspects lined up against it, and they pulled the bill. >> bill: another way of kind of proving that the tea partiers don't go along with the leadership even when they were trying to look reasonable here -- it was a bad plan -- but trying to look reasonable and shows who is in charge over there in the house. >> a gang who couldn't shoot straight. >> bill: i know. it is. congressman joe courtney is with us. when we come back, he is the man who took on the entire entertainment industry in steven spielberg. how is he doing in that battle? we'll find out from lincoln joe when we come back. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪ to fill you up and keep you moving, whatever your moves. payday. fill up and go!

the issues of the day. >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> with a distinctly satirical point of view. if you believe in state's rights but still believe in the drug war you must be high. the natural energy of peanuts and delicious, soft caramel. to fill you up and keep you moving, whatever your moves. payday. fill up and go!

you know who is coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials? those types are

coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking? (vo) this afternoon, current tv is the place for compelling true stories. >> jack, how old are you? >> nine. >> this is what 27 tons of marijuana looks like. (vo) with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines, way inside. (vo) from the underworld, to the world of privilege. >> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current.

♪ >> announcer: this is the "full court press," the "bill press show," live on your radio, and on current tv. >> bill: twenty-five minutes after the hour here on the "full court press," in connecticut they call him three-sub joe, in hollywood we can't repeat what they call him, because he dare challenge a major factual inaccuracy and misrepresentation in the movie lincoln, congressman joe courtney. >> if you are not a fan of george w. bush, today might not your day to watch tv, because every show is talking about him

and his family. barbara bush was given an interview, and someone asked her about her son jeb. and she said no we have had enough bushes for president. >> wow. >> so even his mother doesn't want him to run. >> bill: his brother does. >> but mommy doesn't. >> bill: congressman what happened with lincoln -- first of all, they misrepresented that the people in connecticut -- when you saw a movie you were shocked to learn that connecticut voted against this amendment. >> right. >> bill: they voted for. so you demanded a correction. did you get it? >> we did not. we got an acknowledgment that i was right. and this was back in february -- although the movie

had been out since october, and my wife and i were watching it in an almost empty theater at that point, and the roll call which was really the climatic scene in the movie, it was about abolishing slavery -- and connecticut had abolished slavery itself back in the 1840s, and emancipated children of slaves and -- so anyway, i'm sitting there and going -- even if like there were sympathizers in connecticut politically voting against the 13th amendment, and lincoln who carried connecticut twice. that makes no sense. and i'm home on wikipedia and google, and my wife is like go to bed. >> i can't let this go! >> yeah. and the whole delegation voted

yes. and the wall street journal did a profile of the members who were there. and one guy was a police court judge who had emancipated a slave in the 1850s when he was brought before the court. so it was just a silly mistake. >> i normally think when movies make these mistakes and people demand a retraction it can be kind of silly, but this was fact and you have to get that right. >> bill: and they could have corrected it before the dvd came out. >> absolutely. and >> bill: but hollywood refused to do it? spielberg did? >> he did. and we're going to do a companion piece for schools who show this movie -- >> bill: good for you.

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

♪ >> announcer: heard around the country, and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: here we go thirty-three minutes after the hour, what about it? it is a thursday april 25th. this is the "full court press," and we're coming to you live from our nation's capitol, our studio on capitol hill and brought to you today by afsme, the largest employees and health-care worker's union in the entire country, under president lee saunders kind out more about their great work at

afscme.org. here in our nation's capitol, a lot of action on several fronts these days. particularly on the issue of immigration reform, where a plan put forward by four republican senator and four democratic senators the so-called gang of eight seems to be picking up a lot of steam, and one of the leaders of the gang of eight and leader of democrats in the united states senate senator dick durbin joins us this morning. welcome back. >> it's good be with you, bill. if i join anymore gangs, i'm going to have to get a tattoo. >> bill: remember what president obama said about tattoos. >> that was great. in fact when my daughter got a

nose ring, and i spent the next year never ever mentioning it. drove her crazy. >> bill: that was another good move. >> that's right. >> bill: how do you read prospects for immigration reform this year senator? >> good in the senate and i think it's because we have put together an incredible alliance here creating this bill. if there are any moderate or liberal republicans left in america, you won't find them in this group. these are very conservative republicans and they have come forward with us and crafted this bill. we kind of represent the spectrum of democratic votes, so i think we go into this in a pretty solid political position. >> bill: what is the timetable? >> we had the hearings over 20 witnesses starting last friday

and then a couple of days this week, then we'll start to mark up the bill when we return in the first or second week of may. that could go on for a couple of weeks too, and then to the floor for more amendments and debate. there is a complete openness here. the bill has been able to the public, there has been ample hearing and plenty of opportunity for amendment. >> bill: senator it has been democrats want it and republicans need it. but you alluded there may be some problems in the house. shouldn't the same dynamic work in the house once you get there. >> the difference is that in the house you have largely gerrymandered congressional districts that insulate incumbents, and it's different in the senate. we're dealing with a statewide

population. so the question is whether or not the house republicans will feel as sensitive as the senate republicans did to what happened on november 6th. many of them say romney went down to defeat, but we survived it. we're back. we lost net eight seats in the house even though romney went down. so i'm worried that the republicans in the house may not be as open. but paul ryan came to chicago this week with congressman luis gutierrez and announced his support for this bill. >> bill: yeah that is encouraging. i guess we keep hope alive in that area. senator another issue, the marketplace fairness act, getting the support of the white house, and also moving through the senate. you have been very involved in that. why is this so important.

>> in the quill decision said it was up to congress to decide if remote sellers, people who were mail order houses -- they didn't talk much then about internet retailers, are going to collect sales tax from the consumers when they buy a product. and the supreme court said it's up to congress. well in lightning fashion, 20 years later, we are now debating the matter on the floor. and it basically requires internet retailers to select sales tax based on the sales tax of the home state of the purchaser, and we are in pretty solid shape. we have about 49 or 50 democrats, and more than half of the republicans supporting it. we have some amendments to consider today, but i think it is going to happen. >> bill: i know the chamber of commerce, i believe is still opposing it is as is the heritage foundation. there are some senators from

states where there is no sales tax like new hampshire saying this is unfair to the businesses in our state because they are going to have to collect sales taxes from other states. there's no way around that is there? >> no, there isn't. if this bill passes, the residents of several states will still not pay a penny in sales tax. for sales over the counter or over the internet. but if there's an internet retailer, and for example, there are three in new hampshire that would be required, if they want to sell in new york in california, in illinois, they would be required to collect the sales tax, remit it back to the state we're providing the software to them free of charge and the states have to work with them to make this as easy as possible, but the residents are still protected from ever saying sales tax. >> bill: that's an important

distinction. if there's no sales tax in delaware today there will not be tomorrow when this bill passes. >> the delaware senders see this differently. they are not opposed to what we're trying to do because they believe they will be a no sales tax haven, and people from pennsylvania, new jersey, and maryland, will drive up to delaware and make some purchases to avoid a sales tax. so they think it is probably a good thing that sales over the counter and over the internet will be subject to the same tax. >> bill: as a chair on the subject of drones senator, you have a very interesting hearing, yesterday -- or the day before why didn't the -- were you disappointed the administration -- >> i was bill. >> bill: -- to testify. >> i'm a friend of this president. and i talked to his national security

security advisors, and we thought they would be there. but we did have a good hearing and a pretty diverse group. we allowed ted cruz to pick a witness or two so you can imagine the spectrum of political thought seated at that table. and we had a young man from yemen who flew out to explain what happened when his village innia -- yemen was hit bay drone. and he tried to explain what happens when these drones kill innocent people. keeping america safe yet building the issue up overseas

is a challenge. i would add that it was 12 years ago when i voted for this authorization for the use of military force to go after those responsible for 9/11, al qaeda and it's a associates. i could not have imagined -- no senator could have imagined we were voting for the longest war in american history, and the language of this use of military force would be used 12 years later, for military efforts in yeman, and other places. so we need to revisit that basic authorization. >> bill: absolutely. and what about drones here in the united states? are you looking at that as well? >> it hasn't come up.

but if we're dealing with video cameras, all around chicago, washington, new york, and other places that monitor what is happening as they did in boston if we're dealing with new technology, this is a new technology. the question is what is the limitation for use? if you can use a gun, can you use a drone to accomplish something in the united states. if you can use a drone for surveillance is that much different than using a video camera at an intersection. so we have to put this in the context of due process in the united states. the trickier question is the american overseas who is an enemy combatant of the united states. >> bill: i'm glad you are on top of it, senator. we'll let you go but first one last question and that is the disappointment -- national disappointment -- and i know, which you share over the vote on

background checks and gun safety in general last week in the senate. we know it's not dead but what do you think -- what lies ahead now, and when do you think we might see another vote? >> bill i can tell you, everybody knows we lost four democratic senator and we saw it coming days before. 90% of the democrats voted for universal background checks 90% of republicans voted against it. we needed more help from the other side of the aisle. and the bottom line is this, this was up to the electorate. they have got to decide if they want to make this an important issue in the next election. they have to hold members of the senate accountable as to how they voted, and if they think they voted the wrong way, that's an election is all about.

harry reid took some unwarranted criticism at the outset. he set the stage for these votes and made it very clear where he stood at these things and at the end of it when we fell short on the universal background check he changed his vote and filed a motion to reconsider to he could bring this issue up again. if the moment arises where we have the 60 votes necessary to break the republican filibuster then i know harry is going to call it for another vote. >> bill: you got it. senator durbin you are on top of all of the important issues. so thank you so much for your good work and your time this morning. >> thanks bill. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪ "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 >> 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?

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♪ >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: here we go, eleven minutes before the top of the hour here. it is thursday april 25th and the "full court press," back to the news of the day and news that i made yesterday about the sequester. first in -- another story about identity theft that caught my attention. this one out of mississippi. a woman -- who can you trust, right? she works in a bank. as a bank teller she gets information from customers. this particular woman used the social security number and date of birth of a customer to obtain a loan without the customers knowledge or consent.

they nabbed her. she is arrested. and she is serving time in prison now but it shows again how widespread identity theft is. and how it's important to protect against it as i am with what is called lifelock ultimate. lifelock can't protect you or your bank account if you are not a member so sign up now and mention press 60, and get 60 free days of ultimate protection. see lifelock.com for details and give them a call at 1-800-356-5967, again for lifelock ultimate 1-800-356-5967. yesterday here on the show we talked about the sequester, and the fact that the sequester has started to kick in and pretty

badly for a lot of people who live outside the beltway, and people who are dependant because of hard luck on their part on some government programs kids who have been tossed out of heard start, meals on wheels for example that have been cut libraries have been closed clinics and other health facilities with reduced hours. cuts in the military training programs delayed, deployments for replacing some of our men and women serving in iraq and afghanistan delayed, some ships that were supposed to go out sent to particular trouble spots in the world are still in ports here in the united states so the cuts are real but they hadn't really impacted people inside the beltway until they hit the faa, and air traffic controllers and flight delays started up to two, and three hours, and suddenly now people

in congress are whining and saying oh, no this is terrible. we got to do something about this. we can't have people experience flight delays. well, yesterday, i spoke about that, and news busters, the site here which says it's mission is to expose the liberal bias in the media, news busters said here -- i'm reading from their site, ad liberal host bill press to the list of liberals who want the sequester to hurt americans in order to prove a political point. no, i want the sequester to hurt more americans so they will put more pressure on congress to do away with the sequester, because it is a dumb ass idea in the beginning. here is how i said it yesterday. at some point americans will be down on their knees saying please get rid of this

sequester. it's got to happen. you cannot do these across the board mindless curt -- cuts. i hope they continue. i have a flight coming up to las vegas, i don't want a two or three-hour delay, but i hope it becomes unfreakin' bearable in every way, and then let them cry uncle. i repeat that today, i want more flight delays, more impacts of the sequester on people who live inside the beltway, or have pressure inside the beltway, or members of congress themselves when they have to fly home for the weekend and experience what real people are experiencing, then maybe they'll realize what a stupid ass thing they did in adopting the sequester, and get rid of it and then come to the

table with a reasonable balanced plan. but meanwhile, the sequester is a bad idea to begin with. it is only going to get worse, and i hope it gets worse and i'll be back with another parting shot. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪ iq will go way up. (vo) current tv gets the converstion started weekdays at 9am eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. (vo) tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >> you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. just be grateful current tv does not come in smellivision. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv.

(vo) current tv gets the converstion started next. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv. ♪ >> announcer: the parting shot with bill press. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: so today's the opening of the george w. bush library. i hate to be a party pooper but i think there are two things wrong with that. one as i said yesterday, we

don't need another damn presidential library, but two for the next week or so, everybody is going to be obliged to say nice thing about george w. bush. there was a headline, go ahead, admit it george w. bush is a good man. all right. i'll make a deal with you, i'll admit that george bush is a good man, as long as you admit that he was a lousy president. his presidency was a disaster so let's not try to rewrite history. remember the tax cuts for the rich? remember the war in iraq all based on lies? remember hurricane katrina? remember the fiscal crash of 2008? yes, george bush is a nice man, but a mediocre president at

best. have a good thursday folks come back and see us right here again tomorrow. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

[♪ theme music ♪] >> stephanie: hello, tv world. hour number one. karl frisch right out of the box. jacki schechner happy george bush libary day. >> i'm going to read a book. a short book, but a look. >> lots of pictures and big letters. >> stephanie: like that animated thing of the ex-presidents. >> on "saturday night live." >> oh, yeah. >> stephanie: all of the super heroes.