[♪ theme music ♪] >> stephanie: here we go, the day we have been waiting for what do you say folks? it's friday, yes, indeed friday, april 26th good to see you here on current tv. thank you for joining us for the "full court press" this friday morning. lots going on, lots to talk about, lots you are going to want to express your opinion about, and the good thing about this bam here on current tv

coming to you live all across our country from our studio on capitol hill is we give you a chance to sound off by phone 866-557-7377, on twitter at bpshow and on facebook at facebook/billpressshow. five american presidents joining together at smu yesterday for the dedication of the george w. bush presidential senator. isn't it's in to know no bad of a president you are, how many lies you tell, how many wars you start, you still get your own library. meanwhile here in washington, d.c., we learned what priorities are yesterday. when the sequester crippled head start, congress did nothing. when it cut food stamps congress did nothing, but when it cut flight -- it meant flight

delays for a lot of americans, congress passed a special bill yesterday. find out more about it right here on current tv. ♪ dlooer >> 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.

we have a big big hour and the iq will go way up. (vo) current tv gets the converstion started weekdays at 9am eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. (vo) tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >> you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. just be grateful current tv does not come in smellivision. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. 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 monday to thursday at 6 eastern ♪ >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation, on your radio, and on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: flight delays may soon be no longer because the senate acted yesterday to fix the problem. talk about priorities. what do you say, hello everybody, good morning. guess what we got it. it is a friday. ♪ hallelujah ♪

>> bill: yep, friday april 26th our favorite day here on the "full court press" ♪ hallelujah ♪ >> bill: love getting to the end of the week. friday it's good to see them roll around, and man we got the big -- the big washington, d.c. high school prom this weekend, the white house correspondence dinner tomorrow night. the president and first lady will be there. celebrities from hollywood will be trooping in. of course we will be there representativing all of you and

just want you to know you hear about all of the big-name guests that various people bring to the dinner, our guests are the president of the american federation of teachers the president of the teamsters, and congressman keith ellison from minnesota. >> that's a really good guest list. >> bill: very pleased and proud of them. i'll take that with sharon stone any day. >> i would take any of them over kim kardashian and lindsay lohan any day. >> bill: that's right. we'll let you know what is going on and give you a chance to

sound off on it at 866-55-press at twitter at bpshow and you can still friend us on facebook and then let us know what you think about the issues of the day at facebook/billpressshow. yesterday the one party we did miss was the dead a decision decision -- good morning team, by the way. dan henning, peter ogburn alicia and siprion. the one party we missed was the dedication of the george w. bush presidential center. president bush said boy, surprised to see me here, huh? >> there was a time in my life where i wasn't likely to be found at a library, much lesing found one. >> bill: i miss him.

>> it's like a warm blanket to hear that. >> bill: we have some old george w. bush saved, don't we? >> yes we do. >> bill: and he said how happy he was to have his daddy with them. dad showed me how to be a man and 41 it is awesome to have you here today. >> bill: they call each other 41 and 42 and leave it to bill clinton to go there, where i think nobody else except maybe anthony weiner would go. of all of the things you could talk about that george bush has done or is now doing, bill clinton has to go to painting -- doing nude paintings. >> i probably shouldn't say this but i'm going to anyway.

your mother showed me some of your landscapes and animal paintings, and i thought they were great, really great, and i seriously considered calling you and asking you to do a portrait of me until i saw the results of your sister's hacked email, those bathroom sketches were wonderful, but i -- i think i should keep my suit. [ laughter ] >> bill: not be in my birthday suit. yeah, bill don't go there. all right. cindy boren, our own sports queen is going to come in here in studio a little bit later. bad news out of syria, joe will be here to let us know what to expect. and we'll check in on the latest in the investigation of the

boston marathon bombing suspects. but first -- >> announcer: this is the "full court press." >> the nfl draft got underway last night and for the first time in five years, the first pick was not a quarterback. kansas chiefs getting the first pick. the second pick also an offensive tackle, the jaguars picking him from texas a&m. manta te'o still without a girlfriend and still without a job. >> that was a weird draft. there were some big names that didn't get picked in the first round. and speaking of the former offensive linemen, i say bravo. >> it's different than in years

best past. >> it also talks about how weak this crap is because when the number 1 draft pick is as exciting as an offensive linemen. >> bill: i could care less. >> these guys are the future of the game. >> bill:. oh, okay. next please. >> the oldest living baseball player celebrated his 102 birthday yesterday. he played and coached and cuba for the rest of his career. to celebrate, he had cake a beer, and a cuban cigar. >> bill: 102. cuba, notice. >> yeah, cuba cigar. if you live to be 102, you should be able to smoke crack gate away wa it.

>> bill: yeah. >> speaking of smoking crack, more trouble for just inbieber. police raided his tour bus and found marijuana, and other narcotics, and a taser. no word on who it all belongs to. >> bill: yeah, justin bieber, well -- is he coming to the party this weekend? >> i don't think he is on the list. >> greta would bring him, and great is not coming. >> bill: that's right. all right. yes, indeed i think we got a good object lesson yesterday in what priorities are around washington, d.c. we talked a lot about the air traffic control -- furloughs of the air traffic controllers, and the subsequent delays in flights, up to some 2500 flights delayed, the faa says because of the sequester and people having to wait on the tarmac or gate

for two or three hours for flight delays. well, yesterday -- the senate is not known for acting very fast, to say the least, right? >> that's an understatement. >> bill: it may take like ten years to get a piece of legislation through the senate it certainly doesn't happen in less than one year, maybe two years. yesterday the senate considered adopted, and moved out legislation -- brand new legislation in one day. no hearings no nothing. they just got this idea, they rammed it through, democrats and republicans voting for it in one day. and that legislation was to carve out an ex-search shun to the sequester for air traffic controller controllers and the faa, so the faa could shift $253 billion -- $253 million

from one part of their budget to another part of the budget get around the sequester, and put all of the air traffic controllers back to work so there won't be any flight delays. now notice -- and i know you are going to want to talk about this. you may think it's a good idea. i think it's a horrible idea. i can't believe that so many democrats voted for it, fell for this, bragged about it. i can't believe that the white house is supporting it. because notice what happens. the sequester has really kicked in, in many ways to hurt a lot of people out there. right? the sequester had kicked in and thrown i don't know how many millions of kids off of head start. headquarter demolished. what does the congress do? nothing. meals on wheels, a lot of people thrown out of meals on wheels

what did the congress do? nothing. food stamp programs reports across the country, state after state after state have to cut their food stamp program the poor depend on what did the congress do? nothing. the military has said we have had to delay sending new substitutes, new recruits, new blad to -- blood to iraq and afghanistan, new troops over there, the pentagon has had to delay those. what did the congress do? nothing. the navy has said they couldn't deploy ships to the middle east. what did the congress do? nothing. but people get caught in these flight delays flying from here to new york, and the senate acts in one day, and guess what the house is going to act today

before they go home for their next ten-daybreak, and so we're going to have a special little exemption for flight delays a special little exemption for the faa, and the house with is supporting it. i think this is a horrible idea. 866-55-press. number one i think it makes a joke of the sequester. so the sequester isn't really that serious after all, i guess, if you can keep carving out special exserveemptionxemptions. why would the white house go along with this? they allow an exemption for air traffic controllers. who is next, farmers? small business people maybe? i don't know. you could make the argument with cities with less than a million people or less than 500,000 maybe get hurt more so you all have an exemption for small

towns, i mean you could just make it up go down the list if the faa, why not the sba, right? i think it's matter of priorities. so you know what the members of congress were just afraid that too many people would complain, too many of their constituents who have a lot of money would complain about getting held up when they are flying across the country, right? but the poor and middle class, and the people who can't afford to send their kids to preschool, defend on head start may be out of work for months if not years, and depend on food stamps or seniors who depend on meals on wheels, those people that don't write the big checks and don't have a voice in washington, d.c. or in the congress, when their

programs are cut congress couldn't careless. couldn't care less. and for the white house to go along with this -- so what happens to their claim that the sequester is so bad, right, and that we have no flexibility on the sequester? i think that argument goes right out the window with this. 866-55-press. this is -- this is a slippery slope at best ladies and gentlemen, not -- not good news but it really does show they can get something done when they want to get something done. they can get something done when their priorities are really screwed up as they are in this case, if you ask me in my humble opinion. what is yours, 866-55-press let's talk about it here on the "full court press" this friday morning. >> announcer: on your radio, and on current tv, this is the "bill press show."

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

>> if you believe in state's rights but still support the drug war you must be high. >> "viewpoint" digs deep into the issues of the day. >> do you think that there is any chance we'll see this president even say the words "carbon tax"? >> with an open mind... >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> ...and a distinctly satirical point of view. >> but you mentioned "great leadership" so i want to talk about donald rumsfeld. >> (laughter). >> watch the show. >> only on current tv. you know who's coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys who do like verse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. >> she gets the comedians laughing... >> that's hilarious! >> ...and the thinkers thinking. >> okay, so there's wiggle-room in the ten commandments is what you're telling me. >> you would rather deal with ahmadinejad then me. >> absolutely! >> and so would mitt romeny. >> she's joy behar. >> and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking? >> only on current tv.

♪ >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: twenty-five minutes after the hour. talking about the senate man, they got their ass in gear yesterday. you ever seen the senate act in one day on anything? >> no. >> bill: and here is susan collins, oh she is so giddy. >> i am so happy that we were able to work together across the aisle in an bipartisan way to

resolve this problem. >> bill: she is a nice lady but come on. yeah, i was just looking at the recent column about the sequester. what about 175 workers fired down at the army garrison in rock island illinois, who cares. what about the 60 employees at the head start program in allegheny, pennsylvania? no, who cares. what about up in east providence, rhode island 8,000 rhode islanders faced with a 12% cut in benefits. nobody cares about them but have a flight delay for one hour getting from here to los angeles, no way. we have to carve an exemption for those flights. >> people are pissed. dl who cares and who doesn't.

>> people are pissed online on twitter, rob says why is the democratic party collapsing? this is their time to shine, the carve out should have included food programs. and the president should veto the exemption for air traffic controllers. >> bill: he white house should say this proves what we have said all along, that the quest sequester is bad news now get rid of the sequester. her is arnold down in west memphis, arkansas. hey, arnold. >> caller: hey, bill i'm on this side of the mississippi river. >> bill: well, good. >> caller: it's okay to starve little kids, but [ inaudible ] managers from getting to their destination, heck no we can't

do that. the republican and democratic party, i'm beginning to believe there is not a dime distance between either one of them. they are nothing but hood ornaments for these corporate giants. but let some poor person get in the way, oh my god, we can't do it. >> bill: yeah, i would like to see the senate jump through hoops the way they did yesterday for somebody who doesn't make a million dollars a year right? >> that's right. it's a sad situation in this country, bill. >> caller: it is arnold. have a good weekend any way, man. i understand -- i understand the republicans getting all upset about this, and wanting to do something, and demanding that we're going to have a special interest legislation for air traffic -- for -- for flight delays, but why did democrats go along with it?

we'll talk more about it. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." compelling true stories. >> jack, how old are you? >> nine. >> this is what 27 tons of marijuana looks like. (vo) with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines, way inside. (vo) from the underworld, to the world of privilege. >> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current.

♪ >> announcer: is the "full court press," the "bill press show," live on your radio and on current tv. >> bill: here we go thirty-three minutes after the hour. we'll check in up in boston with a reporter from the "boston globe" on the latest in the investigation in -- with the bombing suspect up there. right now we're talking about the fact the senate acted in record time yesterday. in just one day passed

legislation which will carve out a big fat exemption to the sequester for the air lines, so there won't be anymore flight delays for those poor travelers. one more reminder about something you ought to be worried about, and that is identity theft. a woman in mississippi got a bank loan in somebody else's name and then spent the proceeds. she got the information while working as a bank teller. so many ways people can get your id, you have to be protected against it. i am with lifelock ultimate. even monitors your bank accounts for fraud, but lifelock can't protect you or your bank account if you are not a member.

call now and mention press 60 get 60 free days of lifelock ultimate identity protection. if you don't like what you see, cancel within 60 days and get a full refund. call them at 1-800-356-5967. i think this headline, if we can pick it up, siprion, from the "huffington post" today really says it all, with a little -- passenger jet in the middle. senate saves the airports underneath it says priorities head start, meals on wheels and cancer patients are still grounded. >> there it is. >> bill: get out of the way. that kind of wraps it up right? what are your priorities?

priorities are the people on the planes, not the people on the ground in bad shape. jody from tempe, arizona. >> caller: good morning bill. the sequester was kind of a percentage all across the spending, right to bring everything down, right? >> bill: it was supposed to be across the board cuts -- every agency had to cut, you know, whatever percent it was, right? boom. >> caller: okay, now -- >> bill: and even inside the agencies it -- it like says what they have -- where cuts have to take place too. >> caller: okay. so [ inaudible ] we can't like -- they -- let's say they -- [ inaudible ] has a job

making 5 or 6-figures, whatever that could be effected, but we have to trickle it down basically. and basically, the average -- shoot -- the average senate makes -- senate -- >> bill: senator. >> caller: gets $174,000 a year out of their salary. was their salaries effected? >> bill: no, congressional salaries were all exempt and so were the salaries of house staffers as well. some white house personnel were affected but not the president, not the vice president, and not his top aids as well. so they took care of themselves. again, they took care of themselves before they passed the sequester.

why should the rules apply to members of congress right? yeah. david calling from chicago. >> caller: good morning, bill. i couldn't agree with you more. this whole thing is getting me so fired up. the democrats are going to turn around and hand the republicans the next election again. >> bill: it looks like it. they are on their way yeah. >> we did not lose in 2010 because of republican ideology we lost because we didn't show up. we didn't show up because we were mad as hell at president obama and the rest of the democrats. this is going to divorce more and more people from politics and they are just not going to show up. >> bill: yeah. >> caller: [ inaudible ] separate entity from the people. >> bill: excellent point, david. and again, i think it undercuts

the basic message -- again, which i have heard at the white house now for the last month, right, or more; that the sequester is a bad idea it's the wrong way to govern. it's no way to govern. even alan simpson former republican senator said you would never run a business this way. so you criticize, you criticize, you criticize, and then when it kicks in and talk about what real harm it is doing, and then you support carving out one exemption for one industry? it just doesn't add up. i don't see -- again, i understand why republicans would want to do this for sort of special interest legislation because these are the kind of people that they care about, but why democrats would go along with it i think big mistake, big mistake, and wrong priorities. ron calling from fayetteville

georgia. hey, ron, what do you say? >> caller: hey, yes, i'm not for cutting their hours, just cut their pay. >> bill: who is that the members of congress? >> caller: well them too, but i'm talking about the controllers. >> bill: they cut their hours, meaning they have to take one day of furlough every pay period, but they don't get paid for that, ron. >> caller: well, here is the thing when i worked for an airline and we started going into the red they started taking money out of our paychecks but we still had to work 40 hours a week. >> caller: >> bill: yeah, in this case it is both. they cut their hours they cut their pay, but under this special legislation passed by the senate in one day, i repeat, air traffic controllers will go back to full-time so there won't be any flight delays.

you know what it is? it's i the inconvenience of having to wait because there aren't as many air traffic controllers on duty. that's why the senate acted yesterday. people flying are inconvenience. again, it doesn't matter that kids are kicked off of head start, it doesn't matter that cancer patient who need it are not going to get their care doesn't matter that seniors are not going to get the delivery of meals on wheels what matters is they are not inconvenience when they show up for their flight today. >> it's kind of fitting just as they are going on another vacation, and they are all going to be heading to the airports that now they got really serious about getting something done. >> bill: right. lila is in crawford georgia.

>> caller: good morning, i'm just so upset -- >> bill: me too. >> caller: now we're going to take the whole deficit and let the poor carry that on their backs. more cuts for the poor and the down trodden, and the people that actually need it. who are these people we're electing in congress? >> bill: i don't get it. again -- here is the deal. i move it when members of the senate can work across the aisle, democrats and republicans working together to solve problems. that's what it is all about. i love it when they can get their butts in gear and get something done fast so it doesn't drag out. but on this issue? this is what finally gets them to act in a bipartisan matter and with speed and efficiency and get something done. why? what is so important under the

sun to get the miracle of miracles out of the united states senate? you know what it is? yeah, because united airlines had a one-hour flight delay because of the sequester. that's it. that's what they care about. mate maddy in marion, south carolina. >> caller: hey, bill. i just don't agree with what they are doing, and i don't think the president should sign it. >> bill: i don't either. >> caller: i think you stay in the same boat that you were in with the sequester, and how can you change a rule for a few and -- and not for all. >> bill: you should not be able to. absolutely. >> maddy just made me home sick after hearing that south carolina accent.

>> bill: yes indeed. but she said it right. we all should be in the same boat, and the boat is called the sequester. and we all are in the same boat and if you start making some excerpt exemption exemptions, pretty soon only the poor and middle class will be in that boat, and that boat is going to sink. all right. what is the latest on our boston marathon bombing suspect? we'll fine out from brian becker from the "boston globe." >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪ that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. 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. >> 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.

>> she gets the comedians laughing... >> ...and the thinkers thinking. >> okay, so there's wiggle-room in the ten commandments is what you're telling me. >> she's joy behar. >> and current will let me say anything. >> only on current tv. ♪

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: thirteen minutes before the top of the hour. in the next hour cindy boren "washington post" sports blogger will be with us as with joe to talk about syria. to talk about syria did use chemical weapons to some extent. but first to boston. brian bender one of the reporters for the "boston globe" doing outstanding on this story from the beginning, and brian it's good to have you back on the program. >> good to be back. >> bill: the latest we understand with the younger of

the suspects the remaining brother, he is out of the hospital, correct? >> yeah, that is the breaking news this morning. he has been moved from the hospital to a prison, at least according to the u.s. marshall service. >> bill: is he able to speak now, do we know bryan? >> that's a good question. as of a couple of days ago he was not able to speak. he was able to nod and communicating with investigators mostly through writing, but it sounds like he is making a pretty good recovery, if he is able to leave the hospital. >> bill: is he still being questioned? i know he has been read his miranda rights but apparently he is still communicating. >> yeah, he is still communicating even though he has been given a public defender

and has been read his rights, but yeah he has a lawyer. apparently he is cooperateing. >> bill: and the last word at least reported yesterday was that he and his brother decided that their next target was going to be new york city and time square. is this part of their advanced planning, or did they just decide, that worked so well let's pull off another one. >> yeah, this appears to be a pretty haste illy put together plan b. they apparently attacked and killed this mit police officer because they were looking for another weapon, but they did have several of these improvised explosive devices, at least one weapon, and they apparently according to the brother were

headed out of town and thought they would drive to time square and try to watch another attack. but i don't think this was some long-term plan. i think it was sort of they were on the run let's get out of town and basically go out with a bang. >> bill: the older brother that bought the guns -- do we know where he got the money to buy all of this stuff? do we know? >> that's interesting. i think that's one of the things investigators are trying to figure out is what was their funding stream. one thing that the globe has heard mainly from the younger brother's friends and classmates, is apparently the younger brother is a fairly big pot dealer -- >> bill: on campus? >> on campus. he was selling quite a bit of marijuana, and that can be pretty lucrative. so that's one angle they are

looking at. >> bill: and a lot of the focus -- again, we're talking to bryan bender at the "boston globe," bostonglobe.com, excellent reporting on this whole series of events. bryan a lot of focus lately has been on the fact that tamerlan tsarnaev, went to russia, spent six months there, came back. he was interviewed, but the fbi had him on one list and the cia had him on another list. does it appear that one agency or another blew it here. that this guy was certainly potentially trouble and they failed to keep a watch on him? >> we know he was entered into two different terrorist suspect

databases. and it was the cia that originally recommended that. it's not clear that they were not sharing information about him because these databases were linked. it's more of a question of whether the databases mean anything. one had 540,000 suspects on it. so that's not much of a list at all. >> bill: yeah. >> i think the question is what -- what action did they take as a result of knowing he was on the list? was there a follow-up when he got back from russia? were they aware he went to russia? and should they have requested him when he came back? there are two anti-terrorism units in massachusetts, one run by the state and another one in boston that is local law

enforcement, these so-called fusion centers that were set up with the idea that they would disseminate information from federal local state officials about potential terrorists. they tell us they were never even told that this older brother had been interviewed and investigated back in 2011 by the fbi, so that also raises question. >> bill: it sure does. a lot of the questions about sharing information that we discussed and, you know, such part of the news right after september 11th, as well. bryan we have to run along, but appreciate you taking time for us this morning. and again, good work on up there. i see a pulitzer coming for the "boston globe." >> oh, yeah. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪

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

♪ >> announcer: taking your emails on any topic at anytime. this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: all right. on the sequester, bob says what else is new? do you expect anything different coming from the white house. after all this president is in reality a moderate republican, and paul adds here is how it makes sense for why obama and the dems are going along with this carve out for the airlines because both parties are for the rich, and neither party has the strength to stand up and cut us

all off. cindy boren coming up next.

[♪ theme music ♪] >> bill: hey, good morning, everybody, it is friday, april 26th, what do you say? great to see you today, welcome to the "full court press" coming to you live all the way across this great land of ours studio on capitol hill in washington, d.c., and airing on current tv of course. we will give you a recap of all

of the big stories of the day and give you a chance to join the conversation by phone at 866-55-press, on twitter at bpshow, and on facebook at facebook/billpressshow, as we have been talking about all five living presidents -- four former presidents and our current president gathered together at smu university yesterday in dallas for the dedication of the george w. bush presidential center. isn't it's in to know that no matter how bad of job you do as president, no matter how many lies you tell or how many wars you start, you can still get your own presidential library. here in washington, d.c. about what happened in the senate yesterday, when the sequester cut thousands of kids from head start, congress did nothing, when they cut thousands of seniors from meals on wheels

congress did nothing. but when there were delays at the airports then congress acted yesterday with all due speed to get rid of the sequester in that area. that and more right here on current tv. 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 monday to thursday at 6 eastern

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alright, in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. >> 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. ♪ >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation, on your radio, and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: white house confirming that syria has used chemical weapons. now what does the white house plan to do about it? woe, with that ominous question we start the "full court press" this friday, april 26th. good to see you today. actually we're rolling into our second hour of the morning, good to have you with us whether you are listening on progressive

talk radio or watching us on current tv, we're glad to have you with us on the radio side tv side, whatever to tackle the big stories of the day to tackle sports politics and beyond and take your calls at 866-55-press and on twitter at bpshow and on facebook at facebook/billpressshow. speaking of sports we have our own -- well we just steal her from the "washington post" every now in then. cindy boren in studio with us. one thing i like about sports people they get up early -- >> they don't sleep. they eat garbage. >> it's not that she gets up early, it's just that she is always up. >> bill: you had to be up late

for the nfl -- >> for the nfl draft. >> bill: i was going to call it the lottery or the auction. >> auction is actually pretty close. it was interesting. it was fat guy's draft. last year you had the sexy quarterback, andrew luck and rg3. and this year you had the guys that enable them to do their jobs better. the big fat linemen. and i love linemen, they are my favorite. >> having been a former offensive tackle i'm happy to see the topics -- >> bill: all right. we'll get more into the draft but good to have you with us. our team here. peter ogburn and dan henning as always. >> hi there. >> and alicia cruz has got the

phones and siprion bolling. and on the political side the five presidents gathering at smu. you don't usually hear the white house -- like at the white house you hear, ladies and gentlemen the president of the united states. this was a little different. >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states barack obama, president george w. bush -- [ cheers ] >> president bill clinton, president george h.w. bush [ cheers ] >> president jimmy carter. >> bill: you would have thought the crowd could have been a little bit more bipartisan. but the best thing was an interview that barbara bush gave to matt lauer on the today show. the question was okay your

husband was president, your son gorge was president what about jebby? >> he is by far the best qualified man. but no, i really don't. i think it's a great country. there are a lot of great families and it's not just four families or whatever. there are other people out there that are very qualified, and we have had enough bushes. [ laughter ] >> bill: we have had enough bushes. >> do we believe it? >> i don't believe it. i think if he ran she might be saying -- >> i think she might be saying run jeb run. >> bill: she means the opposite. >> i do. >> she has been known to throw a heater here and there. and speaking of barbara bush on our facebook page facebook/billpressshow, we have got a terrific photo of her and barack obama together that you

can give your -- your caption to, which we have again, facebook/billpressshow, siprion is going to try to get a shot of it. you'll have to see it. it is tremendous. >> bill: all right, good. take a look at that. what was interesting is w said yesterday absolutely my brother should run. and barbara was saying yes, we have had enough bushes. [ laughter ] >> bill: i agree with her. anyhow, we have gets to get into with cindy boren and more. we have joe coming in from the plowshares fund, and we'll talk about the immigration reform that the eight senator have cobbled together. but first -- >> overhead lines making news on this friday could we ever see president obama try his hand at

gymnastics. if the olympic gold medalist has her way, then yes. she told the hill she would love to see the president try gymnastics, and she would teach him too, but she thought michelle sasha, and malia would pick it up faster. >> he is too tall. >> he is too tall and it's a young person's sport. >> the news anchor who was fired for dropping the f bomb was hired yesterday. it was a one day show. he has always been on the today show, david letterman, and numerous other appearances. >> can i just say not what he

said. >> bill: yeah. >> it's funny that he did what he did, but i don't know that people should be rewarding him with jobs. he screwed up. he wasn't good at his job so why give him more? >> bill: i still don't understand how he could have done what he did. >> it wasn't completely his fault. they started 30 seconds early without telling him, and he didn't have an ear piece in -- >> when your fannie hits the chair -- >> what is the rule. the mic is always on. >> bill: yes. >> and coming up -- [ laughter ] >> what? >> he said huh oh. >> conan o'brien toured around

d.c. last night. the weekend got underway last night on a washington roof top hosted by foreign affairs magazine, and most of the celebrities roll in to town tonight and tomorrow. >> bill: our guests this year are the president of the union of teachers president of the teamsters, and congressman elson of minnesota. so we'll be partying it up saturday night. before we get to this draft, cindy, what happened to the nets. they did okay last night. >> they are back. they have a one-game winning streak. >> as long as they are not playing the red sox -- >> exactly. >> bill: or the cardinals. >> yeah, they were swept by the cardinals. it's april and if you look back at the word series of winners over the last five years, you

are going to find that they are all about .500 in april, so get back to me in july. >> bill: okay. >> i think that's a smart take i also think that to sort of stop people's concerns they have to beat teams that they have to beat. >> that's true yes. >> like the braves and cardinals are teams that they have to beat to sort of regain -- >> you can't play the marlins over and over. >> exactly. they looked really good when they played the marlins. >> strasburg will improve as it heats up. i just think they will get better as the weather gets warmer. >> my fear is that the team is virtually the same -- i mean they made some moves, but a lot of the key players are still

intact, and last year no one expected them to do as well as they did so now they have had a season to see how they play and now teams are ready for the nats. >> and that is true. you see a pitcher more and more you learn what he does. ryan zimmerman is having some trouble with his throws. some of the fundamentals have been surprisingly poor for me defensively. but they seem to think we can let that slide. >> bill: but what are we 20 games into the season? >> yeah. it's ridiculously early. >> bill: so did we learn in the fat boy's draft last night? >> that they are really really fat. eric fisher an offensive tackle the first pick overall of the chiefs. that's interesting. >> bill: like you say they

didn't go for any quarterbacks. could they have? >> oh, sure people just don't think this was a marquee class for quarterbacks. you have the quarterback that went to buffalo, and the syracuse quarterback, nobody took him. >> nobody gook geno. i thought that was amazing. >> i was just going to get to him, because every couple of years there is some poor guy who has to sit there and just look at his cell phone and it's just -- he is in the seat of shame for like four hours, and they keep cutting to him and the picks go by and no one takes him, and that was geno smith last night. >> bill: it's like the girl that stands against the wall at the dance and nobody asks her to dance. >> yeah, and it's not like a troll. and the poor guy left and said he was going home tomorrow

night. i said you are not coming back tomorrow? he said no. i feel bad for him. >> bill: and my guy mana te'o. >> yes. >> bill: how long did it take for him to get picked? >> he didn't get picked. >> no girl and he didn't get picked? >> yeah, and she's dead. but he stayed in honolulu very low-key under the radar. i mean -- >> this whole draft is so weird that way. you have these marquee players that don't go as high as you think. >> well, i think -- >> like him or not he was a finalist for the heisman trophy. >> he was but some of that was hype too.

te'o had the horrible championship where he just disappeared. >> yeah. he wasn't the only one that disappeared. >> bill: was it his lack of playing skills or the girlfriend controversy -- >> it's the skills. if he could play that would not be a problem. and then in the annual scouting combine, he was slower than a snail in the 40. he wasn't fast enough -- they thought he might be a little more successful laterally, but the ravens passed on him in that first pick. >> there was that great shot of harbaugh at the combine where when te'o was running the 40 and the camera went to the ravens head coach, and he just

shakes his head like he was disgusted. >> bill: really? >> yeah. >> bill: what percentage of new players picked up at this nfl draft? >> most of them -- >> bill: they can go out and recruit on their own can't they? >> yeah and there are always a couple of dozen players that the teams will look at on saturday and say we can pick this guy up for nothing. let's get him. and sometimes they make the rosters. >> did washington have a pick last night? >> they did not because they traded it last year to the rams for robert griffin the third. >> that's right. >> bill: there was a big sports event last week that we suddenly stopped covering as a sports event, and are still covering as a news event. but let's talk about the boston marathon when we come back here on the "full court press" this

friday morning. cindy boren, the sports blogger for the "washington post." washingtonpost.com. we'll be right back. >> announcer: this is the "full court press," the "bill press show," live on your radio and on current tv. ♪ >> she gets the comedians laughing... >> that's hilarious! >> ...and the thinkers thinking. >> okay, so there's wiggle-room in the ten commandments is what you're telling me. >> she's joy behar. >> and current will let me say anything. >> only on current tv.

(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: radio, meets television, the "bill press show," now on current tv. >> bill: hey, twenty-five minutes after the hour now, here we go. we'll be talking syria chemical weapons in the next segment. right now we're talking much more pleasant topics with cindy

boren, the lead sports blogger for the "washington post." pretty exciting finish to the masters. >> it was wild. on friday you saw tiger woods have the difficulty at the 15th hole, when he hit the flag stick with his shot and the ball goes into the water and he has a little bit problem with his drop, and was nearly disqualified. >> bill: and the fat guy's draft, peter was pulling for the argentinian -- >> oh, yeah oh geez. who was it that was in the playoff with adam scott. >> oh angel cabrera. the guy who is smoking --

>> yeah he smokes he is overweight -- >> everybody also roots for angel. >> yeah, it was great. so on the boston marathon, it was -- it's a big sporting event, and it does raise the question about, doesn't it public accessibility to a sporting event, especially to like a marathon. what is the future for marathons? is this going to cause any changes? >> i think clearly there will be more security cameras. there is also the habit that runners get into of dropping off their bags and sweat clothes, and marathons are going to have to clamp down on that. you know, i don't see it going away. these are big important events. >> bill: but 26 miles, i talked to a friend of mine who ran the boston marathon he said in the

beginning everybody is bunched up and at the end you have to go through a tunnel but in between there is all of that territory. >> yeah they are very fortunate that the end is downtown boston where there's all of his security cameras. in addition everybody there shooting their friends and relatives, oh, look he is coming across the finish line -- >> bill: shooting you meant with a camera. >> with a camera yeah. and videotaping. >> bill: it wasn't until two or three days later that i saw somebody report who won the boston marathon. >> well, it's all -- there are also the elite runners who come in, and they are the kenyans or ethiopians, and they are not really known to americans. and that was the case again.

>> bill: cindy thank you for coming in, and thank you for being who you are. >> thank you. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." (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: chatting with you live at current.com/billpress, this is the "bill press show," live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: here we go thirty-three minutes now after the hour. the "full court press" this friday morning coming to you live from our nation's capitol. check our website, you ought to do that frequently any house at billpressshow.com. if you go there you will find my

latest column posted there. the bush library. we have also tweeted it out or sent it out to our facebook and twitter followers, peter correct? >> correct. >> bill: there you go. i'm glad i opened that column because i opened the "washington post" and there are all of the conservative columnists today with just the opposite. about this is a time to reflect back and think about what a great president george w. bush was. no, he wasn't. >> a quick story from mark sanford -- >> bill: you mean congressman sanford? >> not exactly. he has not had a very good week. earlier in the week mark sanford

tried a stunt where we brought out a cardboard cutout of nancy pelosi and tried to pull the old clint eastwood debating a -- an inan nate object, and tried to have a conversation. so what he did in an effort to try to show people how relatable he was, he took out an ad and put his personal cell phone number in the ad and told readers to quote, call me if you have further questions. so people did call him. [ laughter ] >> bill: yeah. >> and they did have further questions. so what somebody did -- a democratic political action committee put out a new ad with

his number in it so what sanford decided to do is put out another ad with screen shots of all of the numbers that had called his cell phone. he put his number out, acted up upset that people called him, took pictures of the people that called him and then put that out in an ad. >> bill: insane. anybody that would put their personal cell phone number up on like anned a -- >> yeah. >> bill: doesn't deserve to be elected to the united states congress. there are more serious issues going on in the world. particularly it has been confirmed use of chemical weapons in syria. joe cirincione comes in this morning under the cover of

darkness. is that a jerry garcia tie? >> yes, it is. >> bill: it's a beautiful tie. >> i was in boulder, colorado % two weeks ago, and you are big in boulder. i literally got stopped on the streets by several people saying i see you on bill press all the time. he is great. >> bill: oh, wow. >> i said what about me? he is great so you have big fans in boulder. >> bill: we love you boulder, colorado. the secretary of defense getting off of a plane yesterday. he tells what they have learned. >> the u.s. intelligence community assesses with some degree of varying confidence that the sirrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in syria.

>> bill: what does that mean? >> there are differences among the agencies. they have low to moderate confidence. low means maybe. moderate means probably, but i wouldn't go so far as to say this is proof or it has been confirmed. the intelligence agencies believe this has hand. someone like john mccain is saying here it is, this is proof, let's go to war. and ten years after he wants to go to war again on some scanty intelligence. we have reports of several incidents incidents of others possibly being killed by these. what is the evidence? it's physiological says the white house. that means probably soil samples. a trace biproduct of sarin was

detected in the soil but that can be produced by fertilizer. there are victims in the hospital foaming at the mouth, but that could be caused by disease? and it's hours after. they are still foaming -- sarin one drop of your skin and it will kill you, so the evidence is just not conclusive. >> joe hit the nail on the head yesterday on twitter when you were talking about mccain's comments, own a day when all eyes were on the george w. bush library. >> that tweet got rocketed around the twitter universe. >> bill: and it was? >> celebrating the opening of bush 43s library, senator mccain urges war with the middle east nation he is absolutely certain has used -- >> bill: yeah. >> so it's the same mo.

so this is what happens, you see mccain and lindsey graham going up and erasing the caveats, erasing the qualifiers and twisting the intelligence from concern from evidence to proof, and therefore we have to go to war. so you see the -- the links that they make -- that the white house aren't making and the most experts aren't making. most experts are saying wait a minute, what we need is more proof. how do we get the proof? do what the president is saying, call in the united nations inspectors. send them in -- so before you make -- a decision as -- as potentially catastrophic as starting another war in the middle east, you better be damn sure you know what you are doing. >> bill: israel and england both have said categorically chemical

weapons were used. >> a general in israel said this, and some officials in britain and france. but again they are concerned and want further investigation. >> bill: why would the white house make this statement yesterday if they weren't -- if they didn't have -- what you suggest they don't have, solid evidence? >> the political process is pushing it. secretary kerry is set to testify today before congress. they wanted to get out of front of that. also leaks. the intelligence services do have these assessments they are out there. especially the dia is known for leaking its intelligence for political advantage. and certainly any senators would use this. so the white house put all of the cards on the table and let the american people and the congress know what they have got. >> bill: what makes this tricky -- and i have been there at the white house when the

president and jay carney has said this is the red line -- >> yes. >> bill: if we find that they used chemical weapons then this is a game changer. they won't say what they might do, but clearly the president said we're going to do something if we discover that they used chemical weapons. so hasn't the white house set it's a up. >> yes, and classically this is a commit trap. in order to deter somebody from doing this you have a commitment trap, you say if you do this, i'm going to punch you, and if you don't hit them -- >> bill: yeah, it's just like the parent saying if you do this, then ten days in your room or whatever -- >> and the wall street journal is saying marty mcfly what are you chicken? you are calling out obama.

what is wrong obama? chicken? and you hear them say this. now you have to act. obama when he first made this in august, he talked about large numbers. and this is like something saddam hussein did where he used sarin to kill hundreds of thousands. step one is to bring it before the un inspector. and decide exactly what the military action can be. there's a number of options. >> bill: so you don't think we will have missiles raining down

on syria tonight? >> i don't think so. i think this will play out for a couple of weeks. >> bill: there's no doubt about it that john mccain if he were elected president, we would be at war with iran and syria. >> we never would have pulled out of iraq and we would be bankrupt. >> bill: right. joe cirincione here from the ploughshares fund. what do you think? should we will responding to syria's alleged or suspected or whatever -- maybe a little evidence of use of chemical weapons? join the conversation at 866-55-press. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪

you know who's coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys who do like verse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. >> she gets the comedians laughing... >> that's hilarious! >> ...and the thinkers thinking. >> okay, so there's wiggle-room in the ten commandments is what you're telling me. >> you would rather deal with ahmadinejad then me. >> absolutely! >> and so would mitt romeny. >> she's joy behar. >> and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking? >> only on current tv.

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♪ >> if [ inaudible ] used chemical weapons, it would be a game changer, that it would cross a red line. i think it's pretty obvious that red line has been crossed. >> announcer: this is the bill press. >> bill: twelve minutes before the top of the hour john mccain saying what more evidence do we need bomb them right? that's what he is saying. joe cirincione here from the ploughshares fund. pretty hot headed and irresponsible for mccain to say that's all i need to know. >> people have to be wary that

people have a preexisting decision. he will leap on anything. there is also this other element going on. the republican party has pretty much shattered its credibility on national security issues and they are trying to claw back in, so they are using the tragedy in boston as one issue, and now the sirrian aledged chemical use as another. >> bill: is -- so what is the administration do now? >> yeah. >> bill: they have to buy some more time, right? >> well, you have to build support. you do not want the united states going alone into something like this. there are some europeans, particularly britain and france that want to do more. so you could step up overtly arm some of the rebel factions. as we talk on this show many times, that could blow back at you.

you don't know who could end up with the weapons. you could declare a no-fly zone. but this is a big depreciation. syria has the fourth best air defense system in the world. >> really? >> yes. they have been arming for years. they have soviet now russian supplied air defense units, so you have to take those out. but dozens hundreds of bombing raids, that means hundreds of civilian categories. are you ready for that? is that really going to help you? so that even a no fly zone is not the blood less depreciation you -- bloodless operation you think it is. you could declare a safe zone and maybe use military there but all of this you want to do with an international coalition,

that's why stop number 1 is the un security counsel. and get get russia involved in this. >> bill: you alluded to it a little earlier, this really does have so many echos of george bush saddam hussein, weapons of mass destruction, where we have the evidence let's go. >> right. in iraq ten years ago it was mushroom clouds. we now know there was no nuclear weapons, nothing nodda, zip. all wrong. and now a few dozen people may be killed maybe by sarin and saying this is a risk of mass

proportions. so they are using it to scare people into doing something they want to do anyway. >> bill: i think the last time you were in we were talking about north korea. what happened to north korea? >> boston happened to north korea. north korea on sunday was the number one story, on monday they were off the pages. the media eye turned to the real tragedy. and once the attention diverted from north korea there really wasn't any more of a story. they are still making the kinds of threats they were making, they just made one yesterday. talking about they are ready to push the button. it would have been on the front pages two weeks ago, now it's on page 10. >> bill: well. >> so kim jong un is going back in his box. >> bill: we recognized him for

what he is which is to just be in the headlines and generate publicity and make his people feel good. >> what is what are you taken? he is just trying to taunt us. the chinese are also working with us to cool things down. as you just heard, general dempsey, the chairman of our joint chiefs just came back first high-level discussions in several years, and he said the chinese are just concerned as we are. >> bill: the media almost wants to see some confrontation with syria, because that makes for good copy. >> it grabs eyeballs on the screen. you stop if somebody says war, tragedy, chemical hundreds killed, dozen -- that's what they want. they want to grab you so you can see the competition of eyeballs

has hyped-up coverage to our detriment. >> bill: i'm going to be at the briefing today, and i would be willing to pet -- bet money is when are you sending the missiles in? >> yeah, man up. >> bill: yeah. oh, boy do you want to go with me? >> that's your job. that's why you get the big bucks. joe cirincione from ploughshares.com. we'll see you in boulder, california, joe. [ laughter ] >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪ just be grateful current tv does not come in smellivision. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso.

(vo) only on current tv. this show is about analyzing criticizing, and holding policy to the fire. are you encouraged by what you heard the president say the other night? is this personal or is it political? a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. staying in tough with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. not only does senator rubio just care about rich people but somehow he thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. but we do care about them, right? vo: the war room monday to thursday at 6 eastern

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>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: three minutes to go before the top of the hour. i was at the united states senate hart building yesterday, and there was a lot of extra security around because the king of jordan was coming in to meet with a couple of senators and the president will be meeting with him this afternoon in the oval office at 2:00. afterwards he'll be meeting with a group of u.s. business leaders to talk in advance of his trip down to mexico and central america next week. but the president starts the day with an address to the planned parenthood gathering at the washington marriott wardman park hotel at 11:20 this morning. jay carney will be holding his daily press briefing at the white house at 11:30, and we'll

be there and we'll find out what is up with syria.

[♪ theme music ♪] >> bill: hey, good friday morning everybody. this is the "full court press" coming to you live on current tv, all the way across this great land of ours. coast-to-coast we are there with you letting you know what is going on this morning, here in our nation's capitol around the country and around the globe and taking your calls at

866-55-press, take your comments on twitter at bpshow and looking forward to hearing from you on facebook at facebook/billpressshow. down on the campus of smu yesterday in dallas five american presidents s gathering for the dedication of the george w. bush presidential center. isn't it's in to know no matter how many lies you tell or how many wars you start, you still get your own presidential library, and here in washington head start was cut by the sequester. congress did nothing. meals on wheels cut by the sequester, congress did nothing. but once there were delays at the airport. congress yesterday the senate in one day passed legislation to carve out an except

-- exemption for the faa so there will be no more delays. talk about the wrong priorities. we'll have that and a whole lot more coming up. stay with us. >> "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's coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys who do like verse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. >> she gets the comedians laughing... >> that's hilarious! >> ...and the thinkers thinking. >> okay, so there's wiggle-room in the ten commandments is what you're telling me. >> you would rather deal with ahmadinejad then me. >> absolutely! >> and so would mitt romeny. >> she's joy behar. >> and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking? >> only on current tv. (vo) this afternoon, current tv is the place for compelling true stories. >> jack, how old are you? >> this is what 27 tons of marijuana looks like. (vo) with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines, way inside. (vo) from the underworld, to the

world of privilege. >> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current. ♪ >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation, on your radio, and on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: the white house says evidence that syria did use chemical weapons, at least they think they got the evidence that they think they used them a little bit. no word yet on what action the administration might take. we're keeping our eye on that and a whole lot more. good morning welcome to the

"full court press," this friday morning, april 26th. good to see you this morning and thank you so much for joining us got a lot to talk about as we go into the weekend. and we -- we'll bring you up to date on what is happening around the globe and the country, we invite you to call at 866-55-press, join us on twitter, at bpshow and on facebook at facebook/billpressshow. we have got the regular team here this morning as always. peter ogburn, and dan henning. >> haye haye haye. >> good morning. >> and alicia cruz has the phones. and siprion bolling as always on the video cam. >> siprion doing a great job today. >> bill: what is siprion doing? >> he is doing a fine fine job.

>> bill: like every day. >> he has taken a notice to dan -- dan went full bro on his outfit today. he has the backwards baseball cap and then his name on his jacket, presumably so he doesn't forget it. >> yeah, so i don't forget my i have it on my sweatshirt. >> cool hat, dan. >> thank you. >> bill: all right. we needed some help to keep track of it all this morning, we turn to a brand new member of the buzzfeed team, kate nice to see you. >> good morning, how are you? >> bill: thanks for coming in. >> thank you. >> bill: you join john stan tonight at buzzfeed -- >> the d.c. bureau is turning pretty wild with john and evan.

>> bill: and buzzfeed is having one hell of a party tomorrow. >> we are. we couldn't get tables for the dinner, so we decided to have our counter programming party, so we're going to have a party during the dinner. >> bill: so people can go to the buzzfeed at the jack rose -- >> at the jack rose salon. >> yeah, it is going to be awesome. >> so everybody come. [ laughter ] >> crash it. >> bill: you couldn't crash it because you don't need an invitation to get there anyhow. >> it's going to be fun. >> bill: yeah, i'm sure it will be. buzzfeed does a good job so welcome. >> thank you. >> bill: it will be fun at the jack rose salon -- >> you keep saying it. they are going to kill me. >> bill: but not as much fun as it was yesterday on the campus of smu where they dedicated the

george w. bush presidential senator, and the president himself -- former president bush said you might be surprised to find me around a library. >> there was a time in my life when i wasn't likely to be found at a library, much less found one. [ laughter ] >> bill: we were saying this morning how much we missed george w. bush. >> can you imagine if there was twitter during the time of george w. bush. i think about that all of the time. what would have happened. >> thanks god we didn't have twitter back then. >> bill: but w was glad to see his daddy, whom he calls 41. >> dad told me how to be a president, and before that he showed me how to be a man, and 41, it is awesome that you are here today. >> bill: the way he says words --

>> i'm going to make my kids start calling me 41. >> bill: the funniest comment came -- former president bill clinton, giving george w. bush credit for his painting skills. right? >> i probably shouldn't say this but i'm going to anyway. your mother showed me some of your landscapes and animal paintings, and i thought they were great. [ laughter ] >> really great. and i seriously considered calling you and asking you to do a portrait of me until i saw the results of your sister's hacked email. those bathroom sketches were wonderful, but my -- i think i should keep my suit. >> speaking of twitter, thank god bill clinton didn't have twitter. >> bill: oh, yeah. only clinton would talk about the nude sketches in the

bathtub. >> he is really the only one who could. >> bill: it is just too much. they had a good time yesterday a. we'll talk about immigration reform at the half hour, but first -- >> announcer: this is the "full court press." >> overhead lines making news on this friday, ea sports announced it will grace the cover of the next madden nfl video game. former detroit lions player. it seems this can't affect his playing career since he is not playing anymore. fans got to vote on who should be on the cover. >> is it because of the -- >> because it's 25 years, they opened it up to fan voting, and

the fans said we want barry sanders, and they put him on. >> bill: there you go. >> mark sanford has been very busy on his phone over the past few days. he published his personal cell phone number in a newspaper ad and the democrats took full advantage. he had thousands of people calling him to ask about his previous spending on luxury travel. sanford said not all of the calls he received were hostile. >> just give your phone number out bill. >> bill: yeah. >> and that north dakota news anchor who was fired for dropping the f bomb is making the rounds and even got a one-day job. he has made the tv and radio rounds over the last couple of days he has been on letterman

and the today show among others. >> f this kid. i'm tired of this kid. >> bill: we were thinking we needed a new intern. >> i'm not really comfortable with him getting a job over screwups. >> bill: yeah. kate i had an unusual experience or opportunity yesterday. i was invited to give a little talk at noon yesterday in the capitol in the senate to the republican senator chiefs of staff. >> really? >> bill: yeah. >> how did that go? >> bill: well i walked out without any rotten eggs or tomatoes having been thrown at me. and it was held in the strom thurmond, little private -- used to be his private office in the

capitol. they call it the strom thurmond research room or something like that. but to gave a talk in front of number 1 chiefs of staffs of the republican senator, right, me? and with a statute of strom thurmond staring at you. >> what did they want to ask you? is it a secret? >> it's a secret. it was off the record. >> okay. >> bill: no, they were a good crowd. we had a good time. and we talked about linda ron ronstt and other things. marco rubio's chief of staff was there, and he is having a hard time on this issue, and being given a hard time not by

democrats but by fellow republicans. >> yeah, a lot of conservatives have targeted rubio and only rubio. schumer a little bit too, but it has been kind of interesting to watch. and a lot of the other republicans i have spoken to it's like we're eating our own. we don't this. we have got to support the guy. at least go after the democrats if you are going to go after someone. but rubio seems to be their top target. >> bill: does he see this as sort of his ticket to ride? >> i actually don't think he feels that way right now. i really think he believes this is good policy that something needs to be done about immigration. i don't think he thinks this is going to win tons of republican votes. john mccain said yesterday at a breakfast, i don't think that immigration reform is going to

get republicans votes at all, but it will at least be on the same playing field, and if we don't do this, we'll never be able to make that argument. >> bill: right, but on the opposition, so far i think has been -- assume marco rubio and the gang of eight, has been from the right-wing talk shows. >> yeah levin has been pretty supportive of him. they are definitely giving him a lot of time to make his arguments. and they think he makes pretty compelling arguments. breitbart has been really aggressive against him. there have been other -- limbaugh that have gone pretty hard against him. >> bill: do you still think the bill passes? >> i think it will. >> bill: it does look like it has a head of steam. >> it does. and i don't know how -- how many

votes it will get. i think they want 70 or 75 votes. >> bill: schumer said yesterday i think 70. >> yes, but then what happens in the house? we don't know. >> bill: yeah, the other issue in the senate that these chiefs of staff -- and again, they were really good people, i enjoyed meeting with them, was the so-called marketplace fairness act. >> that's right. >> bill: opponents are calling it the internet sales tax, which it is. >> right. >> bill: it also looked like it is wired, and that it's greased, and that it is going to pass. >> it does appear to be that way. it is actually max bakken and ron widen that were really

objecting to this bill. they must have worked out some kind of deal because at 5:30 reid came to the floor and said we'll vote on cloweture and it passed. >> bill: and this would require retailers online to charge a sales tax to customers who buy things and live in states where there is a sales tax. >> exactly. >> bill: and we had dick durbin on the air yesterday who is one of the chief sponsors of this -- defending it and he said he is pretty confident they had the votes, but the other issue that came up yesterday is -- we have never seen the senate move with such pace as they did yesterday, in one day they passed the bill to carve out a little exemption for the airlines. >> that's right.

>> bill: and that bill moved out of the senate yesterday, could be taken up by the house today. what prompted the senate to move so fast on this? >> i think there were a lot of outrage about the long lines, they were hearing from their constituents, and probably experiencing it themselves and when they smell the jet fumes and it's time to go to the airport, they have to take planes too so that's part of it. >> bill: none of them are on head start meals on wheels in the military where there have been cuts, but when you get lines at the airport, the senate has to act. >> i think it has taken a little while for the sequester to kick in. >> bill: right. >> people are just starting to see the furloughs and feel the cuts, so that momentum and

anger, people hear from folks in their states about people getting laid off, i mean that's -- that's going to have an effect -- >> bill: yeah, but my point is so far the only thing that they are taking action on are the delays at the airport. they are letting all of these other cuts stay in place. >> i think people waiting in line at the airport are probably the most vocal. i don't know if you have ever been stuck in an airport, i certainly have, i spend a lot of time on twitter complaining about it. so it might just be that people are talking more about it calling their senators saying this is unacceptable senator are feeling it themselves. i here what you are saying, but this is probably the loudest, most immediate effects of the sequester that we're seeing. >> bill: we're talking lots of issues here. what is happening on capitol hill as congress gets ready to

take another yes, ten-daybreak. oh, they work so hard. 866-55-press. we'll be right back. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> the troops love me. 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. they think this world isn't big enough for the both of them. but we assure you - it is. bites. little greatness.

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 monday to thursday 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: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: hey, here we go twenty-six minutes after the hour now on friday april 26th. we'll find out more about immigration reform and how it stacks up in the next segment of the show. right now we're visiting with kate who now covers the hill for buzzfeed. great, great site.

great people. check it out at buzzfeed.com. are you still inviting the world to your party tomorrow night. >> no, i really need to clarify that. >> bill: okay. >> there's no universal invite. it's full. there's a guest list. i need to say that or our -- >> bill: and you have to be on the guest list and peter ogburn and i are, and we thank you very much. >> we used to be anyway. >> bill: you mentioned there was a big surprise this week for a lot of people senator max baucus from montana announcing he was not going to run for reelection. >> he is retiring, yeah. >> bill: and there have been a lot of comments kind of from both sides somement democrats and some republicans saying, man that's good news. he is friend of mine and i

don't think it is, but what are you hearing on the hill? >> the interesting thing i kept hearing over and over again from specifically progressive members of the house was oh thank god. maybe we can actually get something done now. right now he's fighting with reid over the marketplace fairness act because he feels like he was circumvented, and the finance committee, and it's jurisdiction, and reid just brought it right to the floor. so he has been brawling with people, he missed donors off he pissed folks off because he said i'm 100% running, and now he's not. >> bill: i don't know how you keep up with all of those clowns, but i'm glad you are

there. and thanks for coming by to tell us about it. >> thanks for having me. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪ >> if you believe in state's 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.

♪ >> announcer: stephanie miller. chatting with you live. this is the "bill press show," live on your radio, and current tv. >> bill: thirty-three minutes after the hour here. friday april 26th. immigration reform it is probably number one on president obama's list of to do things in this session of congress or maybe number 2 right behind gun safety, but it's right up there. and it's one issue where unlike

gun safety it looks like we might see some action this year, what is going on and is what the senate is proposing, really worth getting behind. one person that has been following this very very closely is larosa, and the director of immigration and international campaigns joins us. carissa not to see you. >> nice to see you. thanks for having me. >> bill: how imperative do you think is the need for immigration reform today? should it really be that high of priority? >> well, there's many reasons why it is a high priority. one is our immigration system has not been overhauled in

overthree decades, and our economy and population has changed since. so those numbers have contributed to the number of undocumented immigration. >> bill: can i ask you to move a little closer in -- >> sure. >> bill: thank you. >> and we actually have about a thousand people being deported every day from this country. the majority of whom have lived here for over ten years and the majority of whom live in families with legal permanent residents or citizens. so imagine the instability that that creates, not only for the families, but the communities where they live. >> bill: so you are talk about the proverbial knock on the door. >> that's right. >> bill: but these are people

who are here. they may have jobs probably have jobs. >> that's right. they committed a civil offense. they came in without authorization and sometimes overstayed their vie -- visas, but the majority of americans don't support the notion or believe it is practical that we are going to hunt down and deport 11 million people so what are we going to do with it. >> bill: 11 is the number that -- >> i think -- well there's a lot of different organizations that are completely neutral that have calculated that number. it think it used to be around 12 million before the recession, and obviously people's statuses change. and there has been a slow down in undocumented immany

-- immigration kicked in because obviously the biggest factor is jobs. >> bill: and traffic at the border has slowed down considerably under this administration hasn't it? or enforcement of the border has increased exponentially. >> there are several things happening. not a lot of immigrants coming. immigration from mexico is at a net zero. the other thing is that enforcement has been ramped up so in terms of more boots on the ground and more investments. it was calculated that we spent more on immigration enforcement at the tune of $18 billion in the last year than on any other federal enforcement agency combined. that means the cia, fbi, atf, all of those -- >> bill: at the border.

>> just on immigration enforcement. it's broader than the border but compared to every other agency. >> bill: that's wild. you have seen what the so-called gang of eight has come up with, and does this solve the problem? and do you support it? >> one of the things that is incredibly notable about this bill is that as you were noting earlier, in a highly partisan environment this seems to block movement on anything. if this were the kind of bill that i was looking at individual provisions that are part of this package, there are some that my organization has been opposed to in the past. our immigration system works in tandem, the different pieces. one effects the other. and second nobody digs in their heels on one particular thing.

but we keep in mind this is in the best national interest and everybody is going to see the benefits. >> bill: let's talk to the path to citizenship. it is not an easy path. >> no it's not. >> bill: my fear is it will be made so onerous that it may make it more difficult for some people. i hear it could be eleven years, learn english, pay a fee or fine, pay back taxes, go through a criminal background check, which i think we all understand might be necessary, but it is going to take people a long time. >> it is going to take it a long time. it is long and it is hard, and i think -- in the senate proposal by the time people get to the door of citizenship, where they

can apply to be considered citizens, that's likely to be 12 years at a minimum for many of them, right? >> bill: yeah, and then how long does it take to become state sin once you apply. >> one if you pass it, it could be six months to a year. but what is important to know is -- and also given recent conversations by the time that happens that would be like the fourth, probably background check, the immigrants in this category are going to go to. but i think for the community, they also understand that they will make restoration for that immigration offense, and in the meantime, they will be able to get a work permit and be able to work aboveboard in a way that help those immigrants as well as american workers who are now going to be pitted against each

other by unscrupulous employers. >> bill: so they have a quasi legal status and they don't have to worry about the knock on the door. >> that's absolutely right. it's a provisional status. the step right before citizenship. and again, during this time not only is it high cost in terms of time, but there is an application fee, there is a background check fee right? and this is going to happen several times during this period. >> bill: yeah, how about the guest worker program? >> so there's a couple of things there. one of the things as part of the debate is that some people try to paint the fact that because we have an undocumented -- because we did a legalization program in the '80s is the reason why we have an undocumented population. the overwhelming reason why we have an undocumented population

is because there are jobs and employers who have been hungry for those workers and are willing to take them. >> bill: and there are whole industries that depend on them. >> exactly. so the senate bill is talking about let's widen the legal immigration channels where people come in vetted and with rights, and let's shrink the illegal immigration channels. so what they try to do on the employment side is increase the numbers of visas for low-skill workers, it used to be 5,000 a year, so increasing the numbers for low-skill, high-tech, and also for a program on the agricultural sector with some safeguards that take into account, what is the level of unemployment in the united states and various industries. >> bill: and these would be

seasonal workers? >> no, no. there has been an argument about whether seasonal programs are abused, and these workers are really more permanent workers. and that has been more the case on the seasonal side and farm work worker's side. so there are provisions for those workers to have a path to permanency in the future. once it is clear that they keep coming back those employers keep bringing them back, and they'll be able to apply for permanent status down the road. >> bill: trying to tackle this issue, and whether the bill is the right approach 866-55-press is the toll-free number. join the conversation, it's an important issue, and it used to be an issue that just places like texas and california were concerned about, but right now it's really a national problem, and getting a lot of national

interest. i guess the question when we come back whether what happened in boston should have any impact on immigration reform legislation. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. ♪ >> 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 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 monday to thursday 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: heard around the country, and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right thirteen minutes now before the top of the hour. a lot of talk about immigration reform from the national council of larassa, clarissa martinez

here with us. is there any movement in house? >> there is a lot of movement in the house. >> bill: bipartisan? >> by partisan. there is a group of eight in the house. it has been one of the best-kept secrets in a town of washington, d.c. that i have been surprised about, but when the gang of 8 in the senate had their press conference last week they put out for the first time an announcement with all of their names signing on -- encouraging the forward movement and talking about they are also working on something. >> bill: so there were some voices after the bombing at the boston marathon this proves immigration reform, these kids came here as immigrants with their parents, we better slow this whole process now and maybe

even, you know, just take it off of the -- off of the -- off of the calendar. do they have a point? >> well, there's a couple of things to say about that. first of all is that boston should be about boston, and what happened there and the people of boston, and not try to use it as fodder for something else. but what i would say is that a lot of the comments that have been made since -- and we talked about it, right, any immigrant that is here these 11 million folks, the secretary of homeland security has said if they have to come out of the shadows and go through criminal background checks and we know who they are, that would help law enforcement more. and one simple way i would put it is, if you are looking at a needle in the haystack taking hey out of the stack makes a lot of sense.

so from that perspective it's a logical way to go forward, but the other thank i would say is this, the same exact voices that said let's slow down and not go forward when boston happened have been saying that for probably the last decade in many cases, so i think at some point we have got to figure out if they are trying to use anything that comes up as an argument to -- in action or if there is a real concern, or where there are legitimate concerns there must absolutely be debate on those. >> bill: yeah, it's the question about legitimate concerns that i at least i wonder about. let's say hello to a couple of callers and viewers. richard from chicago. good morning. >> caller: good morning, the boston thing was islamic terrorism and should haven't anything to do with immigration reform. zero.

>> bill: i totally agree. >> caller: second is my wife and i lived in a labor camp in santa cruz california so i'm intimately knowledgeable of immigrants. but when these people get deported i don't think this administration or any other immigration are doing anything wrong. my mother came through ellis island in the '20s, and she was the only one allowed to stay because they had diseases -- billion but the question now is there are 11 million people here who somehow have come here not legally so what do we do about them right? >> but how many millions of people can america absorb and financially stay healthy. >> bill: all right. richard, i got your question.

in the interest of time, what is the answer? >> that's the thing. part of the reason for doing this overhaul in tandem is there are very big investments in border security in shoring that up. there are measures to make mandatory systems that would deter employers from hiring unauthorized immigrants. and that's part of what is bringing them here. and number 3, which you mentioned is even at the tune we are doing right now we're deporting a thousand people every day, most of whom have u.s. citizen children or spouses, and there's nothing they can do about getting those folks on the right track, right? so what do we do about that? do we just continue at that tune? knowing that at that tune is going to take 20 years or so, or do we figure out a system where they are able to make

restorations and come forward, pay fines, pay taxes, learn english, and get good with the law in a process like you said is going to long and hard. >> bill: when ronald reagan did this in the '80s, was -- what was the number? >> close to 3 million. but we didn't really like at our legal immigration system to make sure that it could respond to a growing, changing economy. so it has been 26 years. when that hand hardly anyone was walking around with a cell phone, and those who did had a cell phone about the size of my head, there were no dvds so imagine all of the changes, the system needs to have some flexibility and have the regulations that are going to protect our workers here. >> bill: well, in california this is an issue we have been

dealing with for a long, long time. and it is long over due to fix the system and it looks like we might get it done. thank you so much for coming in and thanks for you good work on this. >> thank you. >> bill: i'll be back with today's parting shot. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." 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's coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys who do like verse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. >> she gets the comedians laughing... >> that's hilarious! >> ...and the thinkers thinking. >> okay, so there's wiggle-room in the ten commandments is what you're telling me. >> you would rather deal with ahmadinejad then me. >> absolutely! >> and so would mitt romeny. >> she's joy behar. >> and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking? >> 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: well in the senate supporters call it the market place fairness act. opponents call it the internet sales tax. whatever you call it i think

this bill makes a lot of sense. it would require paying sales tax on stuff you are buying online. i didn't always think so as a consumer, i buy a lot of stuff online, especially books, so for a long time i thought why do i want to pay extra sales tax. but i have come around on this bill for a couple of reasons, one it is an important source of revenue for cities and counties that are hurting, and it's unfair for small businesses small bookstores or clothing stores whatever to have to charge sales tax when their big competitors online do not. why give the competitive advantage to a mail order operation located in some other state. so i think it's a good idea. it just creates a good level playing field, which is in the end good for everybody.

have a great weekend, friends. we'll see you back here again on monday. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

♪ [♪ theme music ♪] >> stephanie: hello, happy friday, everybody. wow, darren criss from "glee" is going to be on the big show today, along with richard belzer -- jacki schechner. >> stephanie: what is that? >> can you hear me? i'm a little echoey. >> stephanie: that's all right. >> we met darren at the inauguration. we saw him trying to get into the green ball but they didn't know who he was, and he was having a little bit of