[ music ] >> bill: hey, good morning, friends and neighbors. what do you say? happy monday morning. hope you enjoyed a great weekend, had a chance to relook and now ready to tackle the new week and the stories of the new week. this is the full court press. we are coming to you live on current tv this fine monday morning, april 29th, ready to bring you up to date on the news of the day and give you your first chance of the week to talk about -- talk about what's going on, what it means to you and to

your family. now that we know that syria has crossed the line with the limited use of chemical weapons, pressure is building on the united states to act, either creating a no fly zone or creating missiles or the marines. obama is exercising a little restraint before deciding how to act unlike george w. bush. doesn't look like he is going to start another war. in other news, before rushing to the airport on friday for air traffic controls an exception to the sequester putting air traffic controllers back on the job, still no action however, on cuts in headstart or cuts in food stamps and president obama wowed them at saturday night's consider spont events dinner

although some folks from cnn was saying it was too tough on them. whatever is happening, we will let you know. we will tell you all about it right here on current tv. 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? tonight at 6 eastern

(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. [ music ] >> broadcasting across the nation, on your radio and on current tv this is "the bill press show." >> bill: all right. now that we know syria has crossed the line, is it time to rush into another war? god, i hope not. hello. what do you say, everybody? wake up. get to it. rise and shine. monday morning, april 29th. may not be ready to jump into another week but no choice. here we are coming to you live

from our nation's capitol, very lively place indeed overed weekend. we will tell you about it. great to see thou monday morning. we are talking to you on your local progressive talk radio station. we are talking to you on sirius xm. we are reaching out to you on current tv, all across this great land of ours with the news of the day and your opportunity to talk about it and join the conversation. >> that's what's so fun about the full court press question get to hear from you, 866, and on twitter @bpshow. twitter followers, growing exponentially by the day. and our friends on facebook piling up as well. befriend us on facebook and let us know what you think about the issues we are talking about. as long as there is a current tv, there will be a current tv

chat room. join it. get in there. see if you can talk about the issues you talk about with all of your fellow "full-court press"ers across land. click on the chat room and you are in. you are in and we will be following your comments in the chat room, peter ogburn and dan henning. good morning. >> good morning. >> bill: how was your weekend frpts good. not exactly a restful weekend. >> party, party, party the don't complain. alicia cruz has the phones covered and cripyprian boulding has the covers off of the cameras so ug actually see us >> peter: for better or worse. >> bill: president obama on friday before starting the rounds of parties and all kind of events leading up to the white house correspondents

dinner went out to the hotel and became the first president ever to actually speak to a gathering of planned parenthood. he has long been a supporter of their democratic -- other democratiffic presidents have. but no president has ever taken the time to actually appear. the president did friday morning and left no doubt where he stands on the issue. >> 40 years after the supreme court affirmed a woman's right to privacy, including the right to choose, we shouldn't have to remind people that when it comes to a woman's health that she gets to decide what kind of care you get. the only one to make decisions about your health is you. >> that's why we fought so hard to make healthcare an every dayability reality. >> bill: putting it on the line will to to an appreciateative

group. susan page, washington bureau chief for u.s.a. today will join us. michael tomasky will be here in studio. also, our one congress woman for the district of columbia. those and other guests and we will get to the big party saturday night and what you thought about it. but first the full court press. >> the city of sandiagoying a sand diego is making a bid and the mayor is looking to get some help. mitt romney. u.s.a. today reports mayor bob milner plans to ask the former governor and failed presidential candidate to be the honorary chair of the city's bid.

romney oversaw the 2002 winter games in salt lake city. >> by most people's account, he did a very good job, and i think that should probably be the top of his resume from here on out. don't mention running for president a couple of times. >> darryl isa signed a lot of autographs over the weekend. not because of who he is. rather of who people think he is. he regularly is getting from mad machine. he says he signs the autograph and doesn't say anything because, he says quote if you are mistaken for somebody popular, as a politician, take it. >> he looks like john hamm?

>> yeah. >> signed his name or john hamm? >> you would have to be pretty drunk to confuse isa and hamm. they beth have black hair. >> at the dinner a lot were drunk. >> that's true. even still my god. >> if you are looking to get out of town memorial day weekend, there is a little bit of good news. airfares are down two % lower than last year. travelocity reporting it's because of a softening in demand and airlines are doing anything to get those planes full. washington d.c. have seen a steeper price down, down six % from last year. >> bill: going down? >> somewhere. >> bill: all right. wanted to start off this monday morning. i am sure a lot of you watched

him on c-span and saw a lot of crips from the white house correspondents' dinner saturday night. we were there, the full court press team represented by me and peter ogburn joined by steamster president jim hoffa, by congressman keith ulcerson from minnesota and by the president of the aft, randy weingarten alongside chris kristi's table. it's become a rite of spring and it's a mix of the 2700 people packing that ballroom, a mix of media. after all, it is our dinner for members. white house press corps like myself and politicians and remembers of the administration and sell ebbrities. not as many this year as before but in the media category,

everybody was there. we saw george stephanopolous brian williams t wolfe blitzer, chris matthews. >> peter: bill press was there. we were next to ariana huffington's table. >> among the politicians. chris christie of course mentioned, eric cantor. here i am talking to eric cantor. stenney hoyer. >> we have pictures, cleaver was there. >> bill: the administration i had a chance to talk to kathleen sebelius, ray lahood. and among the sell bebrities, the two that i was most excited

to see, kevin spacey and barbara streisand, had a good conversation with barbara streisand, whom i knew from my california days and there were other celebrities scattered about. >> my geekout home was when i got up to use the restroom and patrick stewart, sir patrick stewart in star trek but professor x was coming up and sir ewen mckown who played the bad guys were coming up statement. i have to get a picture with you 2. i got a picture with the two of them next to each other. >> bill: all about scholarships. we bring money for scholarships as well. but it's a chance to schmooze, if you will, for the media to schmooze one night of the year. do you think it's getting too

buddy buddy? do you think it's too cozy? 866-55-press. i would love to hear how the dinner appears to all of our good friends and neighbors who live outside the beltway. we did have good times. the entertainment was first-class class with the president of the sglunths with a very good self-deprecating mirror about what he sees when he looks in the mirror. >> that look i am mott this strapping young guy i used to be. >> bill: a funny line coming. he took some whacks if he media starting with cnn? >> cnn has taken some knocks lately but i admire their

commitment to cover all sides of the story, just in case one of them happens to be accurate. >> bill: the president's also into the news media, of course. he knows who they are and he knows what it all means. >> the problem is that the media has been changing so rapidly. you can't keep up with it. i remember when it was something i did in college. >> i can't believe he said that. he was really on saturday night. he was also very funny when he talked about the republican party, how they have to -- they need a little outreach. >> bill: i know republicans are still sorting out what happened in 2012. but one thing they all agree on is they need to do a better job reaching out to minorities. look, call me self-centered, but

i can think of one minority they could start with. hello. hello. hello. >> bill: hello. in terms of reaching out >> bill: of course after i have do all of this some don't think i have spent enough time with congress. why don't you get a drink with mitch mcconnell, they ask. really? why don't you get a drink with mitch mcconnell? [applause.] >> bill: that was so good. one guy, i would rather have a drink with lipped see graham than mitch mcconnell. >> that dower sour pus. >> conan o'brien was the

entertainment this year and i thought he did an excellent job. he also had some real zingers including the pzinger to the president of the united states. >> seriously, mr. president, your hair is so white, it could be a member of your cabinet. >> bill: our neighbor who was a good one, all night long governor chris christie. >> this evening, there was some confusion with the seating chart. someone accidentally sat governor chris christie with the republicans. that was awkward. i apologize. >> bill: huffington post table, a liberal blog he was there. ray look hood was there. >> and xon jovie. he could have had jokes, he made

a ray lahood joke a bon jovi e6789 and ariana huffington. >> bill: saturday night, it was broadcast from c-span. was a fun event, but you think maybe it goes over the line? i don't think so. i think for one night, people with get together and have a good time. i don't think any reporter in there is going to say, oh i am never going to criticize those people because i saw them at a dinner because i had had dinner in the same ballroom with 3,000 people and they were there, too. i would say we need more of those dinners, 866-55377. maybe that could take a little bit away from the edge of reading too much into economics. monday morning, let's talk about it. >> this is "the bill press show" live on your radio and 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.

(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. you know who is coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking?

>> bill: plans for the obama library, in my birthplace, but i would rather put it in the united states. >> this is "the bill press show." >> bill: you know i think that's kind of humor is the self deprecating humor. people appreciate it. people like it. nobody has better at it than obama. >> i have never seen a public official deliver the humorist remarks as well as he does.

>> bill: take your calls about saturday night's white house correspondents' dinner and what you think employ this kind of event and how does it look like out of the belt awareness, we are ceiling out, members of the media by having this big -- it's not a love feltst. it's like a good time where everybody enjoys humor. >> on getter twit -- twitter twitter @bp show. it's good tore see obama a good friend, accidental twit says why don't they invite scientists to this instead of the celebrities. and the story about darryl icea said no one would confuse him

drunk or not. find us on twitter @bpshow.com. >> linda what do you say? good morning? >> caller: i say that they should have them quarterly. >> bill: turn your t.v. or radio down. >> caller: i'm sorry >> bill: we can hear you better. >> caller: turn you off. i think they should have them quarterly. >> bill: why? >> caller: get together quarterly. >> bill: do you think it would help? >> caller: ask some serious questions, too. >> bill: we do that at the news conferences >> caller: a gathering like they had. yes watch it. i think they should have them quarterly. >> bill: i will take that message to the president of the white house correspondents'.

brad? what do you say? >> caller: all california hockey teams are in the playoffs. i am with you, bill. in this a good thing. part of the reasons is humor is one of the great characteristics of human beings. this is an example of not only, you know, doing what humans really do well but it reminds me of steven colbert's big show that there is a chance to really get to the truth through the humor. i think one of the thins that happens is there isn't enough working together. greatla times on elizabeth warren, how she is sort of a hybrid of wellstone and kennedy where she is a little bit after firebrand and a little bit of, you know, work. >> bill: excellent point. she is proving to be a remarkable senator as we all knew she would be. good point, brad.

nothing wrong with it. let's have more of it. >> this is bill press show. you owe 00 aeio

[ music ] >> chatting with you live at current current.com/bill press, live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: thirty-three minutes after the hour, from the nation's capitol, brought to you by the utility workers' union of north america, the did men and women of the sglut worker's union. for a writer future. we thank them for their support. we are talking about the news of

the day and of course the latest from the congress is they decided they are going to cause a big fat exemption out of the sequester for air traffic controllers. we will tell you all about that on friday. a word about identity theft. it's happening all across this great land in every state. here is a story out of south dakota. police arrested add woman and three or adult children for identity theft following theft of bank funds following unauthorized account information, they were able to obtain bank accounts social security information for a number of local residents. when you hear a story like that you realize you need to be proceeded against identity theft. i am with life lock ultimate.

but of course life lock can't protect you or your bank account if you are not a member. call now and mention press 60. they will give you 60 risk-free days of lifelock ultimate identify thing protection. if you are not happy, you get a full refund. see lifelock.com for dames and make that important call to 1-800-3565967 for lifelock ultimate. 1800. 3565967. peter, before we move on what's going on? >> a quick leftovers on twitter. irish boy said, i didn't watch. i don't care. if you ask me d.c.'s politicians partying with the press is indicative of the problem. bill people say that nathan ryan says the nerd prom fosters the

perception of it as a show. let us know how you feel on twitter @bpshow. >> i don't think there is one member of the media worth his or her salt who attended sought night's denner who would do anything different because they attended sought night's dinner. ed henry sat at the head table. i doubt ed henry is going to be soft on president obama in his next report for mox news. >> as long as he is working for fox news. >> on the other side poor guy was michael clementa vice president of fox news. i happen to no him. he's a nice guy but it's fox news. i don't think fox news is going to change their tune and go soft on president obama because they sat alone side him at dinner? no. right. on the other happened you had a

lot of people there from msnbc. do you think msnbc is going to change and be tougher on president obama? no. i don't think people have to worry employ that. one thing i am more worried about is i still think it's a big mistake for president obama to say he will sign this bill. in this hypocracy. members of congress who voted for the sequester, you are right, president obama signed it. but then he voted for it. he couldn't have signed it if he hadn't first voted for it. they watched the sequester kick in. we talked about this. they watched cuts to headstart. they didn't do anything about it. kids thrown out of headstart. so what? was their attitude. they watched cuts to food stamps. didn't do anything. cuts to meals on wheels and

watched teachers and first responders and cops and fire fighters getting fired by many cities and counties. they didn't do anything. but cuts in the penta goodeon or military didn't do anything. but when air traffic controllers were furloughed and the very first day of the furlough there were flight delays of up to two hours in some major airports and members of congress knew they had to go home for the weekend for another 10-daybreak, which they don't deserve and they might have to wait around the airport for an hour, boy, they got their ass in gear. on thursday the senate in one day passed a bill carving out an exception to the sequester for the faa so they can put all air traffic controllers on the job. the house of representatives,

which wasn't scheduled to take this up, took it up friday morning, before noon no regular process or anything, rushed that baby through before noon. by noon they were all out to the national airport to get frights home. the president said he will sign it, which i think as i said to jay carney on friday at the briefingly sends the wrong mention. here's my question to jay carney. >> at the risk of sending the wrong message by saying the sequester is bad, you ought to address it across the board instead of carving out this one exception. >> bill, i appreciate the question but there is no way a baud section because this is

causing unnecessary harm to travelers across country. >> bill: forbid. the travelers have a delay, be inconvenienced by having to wait for the flight. right? >> at least he appreciated your question, bill, like you said. >> bill: a dag are >> bill: i appreciate your question. he doesn't get the point that they are making this one exception. he should say, who is next baby? >> bill: somebody is coming down road, small business farmers. as you said cancer patients. >> going to come up with the same argument. >> they may. what i am saying is this is not the answer. we are very concerned about the effect this would have on air

travelsers, so much so that the secretary of transportation came here and warned the american people about it. >> he makes your point. he makes your point for you. >> bill: it was pitiful watching him try to answer on this one but notice said, this is not the answer. that was my point. this is not the way to go. i think it is a royal mistake for the president to sign it because what he is saying to congress is, all that i -- everything i said about the sequester, about the sequester being so bad and the sequester hitting so many programs in an across-the-board way being so wrong that we have to get rid of the sequester entirely. right? all of that talk goes out the window when the president agrees to a band-aid approach taking one program and making an exception for that one program.

by the way, if you are going to pick out a program, and i must admit, i fly as much as many of you. i am, you know just my travel i fly a lot. i hate when there is a flight delay. i can't stand it. it drives me crazy. i don't want -- i want my plane to be on time. i'm sorry. but is that the most important program? is that the one thing that's so important that congress could not let it stand without passing a special bill? i mean, again, "s in the military, cuts into in training for new recruits and new forces to go to iraq and afghanistan to provide some relief for the troops there are there right now? don't you think that's a little more important than an hour delay at, you know hobby field or atlanta or some other

airport? don't you think that this is what gets congress's attention and blame it on congress. fine but now the president is going to sign it. i think it makes it a lot harder to make the argument that we have to get rid of the secquister because it's so bad for this country. i tell you, mark my words, bill press is right, there is going to be another argument single-focused argument, single exception, special interests exception coming up. >> peter: why wouldn't there? >> bill: farmers, oil companies, cancer patients. it's going to be somebody. probably somebody who makes a lot of money. >> peter: yeah. >> bill: right? it's going to come up. they are going to make the same argument. they are doing to pass nor bill and the president will have stosign that one after he side this one. slippery slope bad move.

a washington bureau with u.s.a. today will joining us next for a look at the headlights. >> this is "the bill press show." you know who is coming on 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. 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. you know who is coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers

thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking?

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. [ music ] heard around the country and seen on current tv this is "the bill press show." bill thirteen minutes before the top of the hour monday morning april 29th. you know, the downside of having such a party weekend here in washington is you've got to go to work >> peter: yeah >> bill: got to go to work monday morning.

washington bureau chief is on it. here she joins us early on this monday morning. hi susan. >> hi bill >> bill: did you enjoy the dinner saturday night. >> i did >> bill: it was a good. >> i thought conan o'brien was good. it was a nice evening. >> bill: one of the better ones. they were in real form. there was nobody spared? >> it was a enough night to be in the print press. conan o'brien said the reason the print press was at the dinner was free food and shelter. >> bill: it was a tough night to be at one of the cnn tables? >> cnn took some hits for coverage and wasn't spared either. i thought one of the best lines was on npr where conan o'brien was likening the whole all room to a high school cafeteria and

npr was a table for people with a peanut al edge allergy. >> i thought it was good for the president to salute the boston globe at the end of his remarks. >> thetial bombing was a matter of how much we rely on a reliable mainstream news source to sort out what is happening on an ent like that. >> bill: there is so much going on this morning. i don't know whether you have had a chance to see the story. if you can't you -- if you haven't, i apologize. i am not trying to blindside you. have you heard about karzai getting bags of cash from the cia? >> on the front page of the new york times. >> bill: the story is for 10 years, people have been showing up at his office with backpacks

and plastic shopping bags full of cash. >> what's impress biff this story, we called it ghost money, he says, kahlil oman. not at blind story where there is not a single source. someone who was serving karzai at the time these suit cases and bags of money were showing up. >> bill: what did we get for that money? here is a guy, every time he turns around, he is slamming the united states saying get the hell out. get the hell ute. right? >> the sgruns has spent years complaining about the corruption of the karzai government. we were part of it. >> bill: as you say, one american official is not identified. the biggest source of corruption was the united states.

>> americans, we know from polling americans are ready to have u.s. forces out of afghanistan. this stories reinforce that inc. instinct it's time for us to go. >> bill: a lot of pressure building on the president, susan in syria where the president did say if there is any evidence of chemical weapons he used words like game changer, the red line. have we crossed the red line? and what do you expect? >> the trouble with saying there is a red line is when you cross the red line people expect you to actually do something. no good options here the administration says we crossed the red line but there are different assessments, different level with certainty about the assessments. some of our allies israel, france and britain say it has been crossed, chemical weapons have been used. the administration made it clear

that they were not getting the options here any of the options ofsponding in backing the syrian rebels, national security issue the president faces. >> it's nice to see him exercising restraint but his own words say we have to do something. >> look at what we were talking about, the war in afghanistan. the war in iraq which helped elect president obama initially in 2008. there are lessons from both of those wars about the risk of acting. >> yeah. >> as i said before, also risks from not acting. >> indeed. in terms of acting scaling over surface but there was so much i wanted to ask you about. the congress acted with remarkable -- in fact, mir aclas

haste thursday and frit to carve out this great big fat exception for air traffic controllers. >> why do you think they were suddenlyability act with almost unanimity? >> because they were getting out of town on friday. i think it makes the congress and the president signing this look bad. what about the other programs that have been cut? you know, of course, not only members of congress but a lot of donors and voters are being inconvenienced by the slowdowns at the airport. it's a sign that congress responds in some cases, but, you know, you don't hear the people who have been hurt by the cuts in social programs. they don't have the same voice. >> cuts in head start, in meals on wheemz and whatever. right some? >> right. >> food stamps. doesn't get the attention. >> yeah. >> susan, you have a big

interview tomorrow in u.s.a. today with amanda knox. i haven't seen her give any interviews before. so what did she tell you? >> she gave u.s.a. today the first sit-down interview she has ever done with a reporter. harry book is coming out tomorrow. i went to seattle, spent five hours interviewing her. i went out to seattle about it t the retrial she in case italy. >> will she go back for that trial? >> it was interesting. her lawyer has said she does not need to go back. the law doesn't require her to go back. her lawyer made it clear she will not go back to italy for that retrial >> bill: will we extra diet here? >> that's an issue that is now being debated. if she is condition convicted will italy seek extradition? this is a story that will be with us. >> bill: we will see that story, interview with susan

page. thanks so much? >> thanks bill. >> this is "the bill press show." >> (laughter). >> watch the show. >> only on current tv. this show is about analyzing >> 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" about donald rumsfeld. >> (laughter). >> watch the show. >> only on current tv.

(vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. (vo) she's joy behar. >>current will let me say anything.

>> bill: here we go. david martin with the cbs news at the top of the next hour about syria, about the sequester, robert asks, i wonder if they fund meals on wheels. what if people had to wait for lunch? wait. there won't be any lunch with meals on wheels. george bush library says just putting the words of george bush and library together is called

an oxymoron. stay around with us.

intel my fellow americans, great to see you today. happy monday april 29th. here we go. it is the full court press. we are booming out to you live from our nation's capitol at our studio here on capitol hill down the street from the united states capitol building. nothing will happen this week because the house and the senate worked so hard the last two weeks that they had to take another 10 days off. good to see thou morning. we hope you enjoyed the weekend

and are really to tackle the stories of the day. we will tell you what's going on. >> not only that, we will give you a chance to get the part of the conversation, invite your comments by phone at 866-55-press. invite your comments on twitter @about thebp show.com. become our friend at facebook.com billpressshow. syria has indeed used at least to a limited extent chemical weapons. pressure is building on president obama to take some action. he is creating a no-fly zone or hushing in with cruise missiles. president obama says i want to take time to figure it out, exercisetion a little restraint. congress meanwhile before rushing to the airport on friday passed a great big fat exception to putting air traffic controllers back to work.

president obama says he will find that legislation. a big night. we will tell you all about it right here. stay tuned. current tv. [ music ] converstion started weekdays at 9am eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. (vo) tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >> you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. just be grateful current tv does not come in smellivision. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv.

(vo) current tv 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. >> broadcasting across the nation, on your radio and on current tv this is "the bill press show." >> bill: no doubt, syria hastudes chemical quips. the big question is: januaryweapons. the big question is: what are we going to do about it? the big question of the day, let's get on to it on the top of this hour on the "full-court press," welcome, everybody. good to see you today as question come to you live all the way across this great land of ours from our studio on capitol hill in washington, d.c.

we are movebombing out to you live on your local progressive talk radio station and on current tv bringing you up to date on the news of the day, giving you a chance to talk about it. hope you enjoyed the weekend, had a great time. if you want to kick back and relax a little bit. no relaxing here in washington, d.c. over the weekend. those of us in the white house press corps, it was party, party and party the next day. it's all behind us right now. and congress has gone home >> and we are back to work looking forward to hearing from you about the stories of the day on our phone calls at 866-55-press. look forward to your calls. on twitter @bp show. look forward to your comments as well on facebook at facebook.com/bill press show. team press in place ready to serve you. peter ogburn and dan henning. hello, guys.

>> everything over the weekend? >> yes, sir. >> don't know what you are up to sfwfrnlths. >> great weekend. >> yeah. uh-huh. alicia cruz here on the phones. >> cyprian boulding on the video cam for current tv. peter and i at the dinner with congressman keith ellison and president jim hoffa from the teamsters and randi weingarten. the president was in rare form. a lot of self deposit prick indicating humor. he got a lot of criticism not basketball court. he didn't have his sneakers on. he had his dress shoes on. he took a few shots. he didn't make too many of them but he said there was a message there for nbc. >> then there are these: which is supposed to be a nice fun event for the kids, you go out

on the basketball court. took 22 shots. made two of them. that's right. 2 hits, 20 minutes. >> that was one of the many jibes at members of the media. he had a few funny things to say about the republicans, including one comment he should reach out more to republicans in particular one republican. here is president obama on that suggestion. >> of course even after i had done all of this some folks don't think i spent enough time with congress. why don't you get a drink with mitch mccome they ask. really? why don't you get a drink with

mitch mcconnell. >> bill: i love that line. when you think about that douer mitch mcconnell. have a drink with him? >> i would rather have a drink with lindsey graham than mitch mcconnell. >> chuck grassley. >> sue me. >> a good story dominating the summed talk shows yesterday, of course, what do we do about syria? why hasn't the president already acted? david martin for cbs news joins

us on our news line this morning. david has been doing excellent report okay this story as on everything else with cbs news. hey, david, how are you? >> good morning. >> what is the evidence we have and what are the options that we have, david? >> well, the evidence is the most convincing evidences are so-called physiological samples. those are blood and tissue samples at these attacks and analyzed in two separate laboratories. they both showed signs of exposure for the nerve agent serin. >> does that mean we had some cia agents in there? or how did we get the samples? >> that's the problem. a muddy chain of custody on

these samples. there are basically smuggled out of syria so they go through many different hand before they actually reach the intelligence community. you cannot be sure that they haven't been somehow contaminated or degraded in their travels. >> uh-huh. >> so i don't think of this yet because no have an air tight case and i have been if you had an air tight case would this be systemic use of chemical weapons? i don't think in his mind and

telling everybody what happened in iran when we were so sure. are they now every time there is a claim of chemical weapons, you try to get the samples. then you try to get them in a way that you can trust the chain of custody and get a positive result. you also have the u.n. inspent-offs which would be the

way to they can't go in unless the assad regime let's them in. >> i spoke with susan rice at the dinner. without, i don't think, compromising her comments, she gave the president unlikely -- she did not expect the u.n. to be able to move in. >> yeah. they have had the team standing buy in cypress and the head of the team came back to new york for quote, unquote consultations which i think is another way of saying back to square one. >> if there is evidence that there has been, the president, i looked at things comments the other day as you pointed out,

stematic use of chemical weapons but if we get to that point, what do you think we could be talking about? what are the possible options? >> listen to the sunday talk shows. there is no political support for putting u.s. troops on the ground. i don't think there is the slightest desire in the obama administration to put troops in on the ground. i think what you are talking about is crating safe zones for syrian civilians which would still be an enormous undertaking because you have to establish a no-fly zone overhead and you have to make sure none are in

artillery range of weapons. you are talking about a fairly big zone and a so far i felt indicated air defense you would have to neutralize. i don't think the obama administration has any interest if doing it by itself. >> wouldn't you need maybe not military but some personnel on the ground to help create that you can establish a no higher go zone for the from the air. we did that in iraq between the first and second gulf war. you come across a line and you will be subject to air attacks.

>> and arm the insurgents there? >> sure. but people have done that's studies what's holding them back. it's not the weapons that's holding them back. what's holding them back is the lack of organization. we have been giving them night gear but i think what they need

more than anything else >> bill: with david martin at the pentagon is the timing of this, the timetable he willing. this has been ongoing now for two years in syria. does there come a time when we have missed the opportunity or the insurgents have missed the opportunity? >> well, the opportunity to over slow overthrow and get rid of assad still exists. he is extremely vulnerable if they can -- if they can get their ability together. but, of course if the opposition gets their act together and assad is truly desperate, that again just ups the likelihood that he will resort to chemical weapons. it's hard to come up with a good

scenario on how syria plays out. they all just seem varying modifications of worst-case scenarios >> bill: do you think this -- this may be one you care not to comment on. i brief that if that's your response. but do you think maybe the administration or the president went a little too far in his comments about red line and about game changer, which sort of sets him up almost forced to do something now we have some evidence of chemical weapons? >> well i think every time you establish a red line, you are asking for trouble because your audience is the other guy. so he is trying to tell assad, this is a red line but the electorate hear it, too. and assad is not a dummy.

he knows how to turn a red line into a pink line and make it it -- i mean, a red line. it was a big deal the first time several months ago that syria used one of its scud missiles. it was a test. the last time i checked, they were averaging two scud missile launches a day. so this is, you know he tests what the western reaction is going to be. i believe that's what these chemical weapons were, a test. if he doesn't get a scary reaction, he goes ahead and pushes the envelope further. the question is: has he been scared by this last reaction? and only he knows the answer to that. >> bill: again, you make us proud, david. every night on cbs news, thank you for your work and your time this morning. i appreciate it. david martin, he does an outstanding job on cbs news. he is sort of like pete williams

is another one. bob orr from cbs news, too. excellent. these guys, you know you can take it to the bank when they report. >> yeah. good reporting. >> herd aroundheard around the country and seen on current t.v., this is "the bill press show."

>> this is the bill press show live on your radio and current tv >> bill: 45 minutes after the hour here, "full-court press," vice president of the center for

american progress will be along in studio for the next half hour here on the full court press monday april 29th talking about the lead story in the new york"the new york times" today, you know, all of the corruption in afghanistan and we talked about this with susan page in the last hour hamed karzai we can't trust him because too many people are being bought and soiled. it may be one of the biggest source of corruption in afghanistan is us for the last 10 years, the cia has been delivering bags of cash. agents showing up with backpacks and suitcases even plastic

shopping bags full of cash money which he used to pay off the land of war lords and everything. drug fravenling irides around the country, saying we called it ghost money. it will came in secret. sure. ghost money. no more complaints about him being corrupt. we were the ones doing it. one shocker of a story. you have another one. >> you say congress can't get things done. the army has a tank called the abrams tank, a september-ton tank and a couple of years ago, congress voted to put this into production and buy these tanks, and they allocated $436 million

to building these thanks for the army. it turns out the army doesn't need these thanks. the army doesn't want these thanks. said we would use that money in a different way. he said that to the ap earlier this week. congress has said, too bad. you have allocated the money and willing to build these tanks. one of the problems is, they promised their con doesn't went that these fact odors will be giving jobs and making money for the town, et cetera. congress is saying forget it. >> bill: they promised the defense contractors to write checks -- who write checks to their campaign they would get these. the military is trying to do things the right way. congress is saying we know betten you do. $436 million. classic, classic.

here on the "full-court press."

>> heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the bill press show. bill how about it? 33 minutes after the hour. here we go, if you will court press this monday morning, april 29th, brought to you today by the national association education. good men and women of the nea providing a great education for every public school student in the country. you bet they are. god bless our teachers, for more information about their good work, go to their website,

nea.org. president dennis van roekel we thank them for their support. congress rushing to the airport on friday, they wanted to be sure they didn't have any flight delays. they took care of themselves by passing a great big fast exception to the sequester and a whole lot more. the senior vice president for american values and new community wrshings complshlths rsa billboard for a buzz card? >> very small profit. >> welcome back. >> yeah. >> good to see you of all of the programs cut by the sequester and it has barely kicked in like a month and a half two months,

let's say. it's interesting the furloughed air traffic controllers that got the attention of congress. what's going on? >> of course. there are a couple of things. it ist it is a little self-serving. they don't want to have any delays themselves. people were traveling and some pie pilots were getting on the air and saying we were delayed by president obama and they heard from constituents. there is a long national nightmare of delayed flights. i know a lot of people who flew and i am glad that's over but there are a lot of other things this should have fixed, too. >> what about the stories we have of kids being cut from head start. >> and cancer patients not able

to get treatments. faa being fixed to if you are lows. nothing seems to rise. main they don't have powerful lobbyists but the airline industry does. >> they write the big checks. >> when the sequester first started happening and it was like it's not a big deal. i was going it is affecting people outside of the beltway bubble and because it's not affecting you doesn't mean it's not happening. the mainstream media, with airline travel was oh, my god. >> here is what i don't understand, that why would

president obama sign the bill? i tried to get an answer out of jay carney on friday to this. they keep saying, you know it's a band-aid approach. we don't like it. it's not the way to go but they are going to sign this bill. >> had a lot of discussion about that last week, and my understanding is that there were enough votes to congress to override a veto. the question, i guess, for the administration is do you want to be seen as a person who is trying to stop getting people back to work even if you don't agree to the approach and they don't i think they felt like their hands were tired things this for air traffic controllers today. if congress were in session this week -- let's not demand too much. but were they in session or when

they come back you know that somebody else is going to come along and say tobacco farmers are being hurt. we have to carve out a special exception or i don't know. you mentioned cancer patients or small farmers or somebody else. >> yeah. >> once you carve an exception for one group of workers, one group of people, somebody is going to use that same argument to say this group is equally important. >> yeah. >> truck drivers. you name it you could make the case for it. i think that's the risk here of approaching it piecemeal. >> my smart budget company. it may not be possible for hinges like head start like there is this bucket of money but for a lot of cuts there no real supply.

somebody has to fix the whole thing or it's not going to get fixed? >> we were told there was no room to play with the faa and somehow they found room to play within the f.a.a. i wanted to ask you about this question the association press has come out with a study looking at voter turnout in 2012. november 2012. with a pretty surprising finding regarding african-american vote. >> yes. >> which is? >> it passed rights which is pretty remarkable. >> not the raw number? >> right. the personnel. >> of population and if it had been what it had in 2012 rom glory have won.

>> black turnout in 2004 was lower. >> the latino vote but this shows the african-american vote was equally important in getting president obama elected. >> and getting out the vote. >> ground game is very important. >> i haven't had a chances to look at this in any detail. but it's probably true that in 2010, right? if democrats had turned out in numbers that they had had in 2008 we would not have lost the control room of the house. >> yeah. probably not. and, you know, there is always a drop-off in off-year elections. democrats have got to figure out how to stem that tied because republicans have obviously

figured that, you know formula out. >> somebody told me that without this study the turn out in the african-american community, the ethnic group in this country that had the highest percentage of voter turnout appeared said what do you think? i would say latino vote. >> really? >> i would have said the white vote. >> it may be minority. >> because everything, we all talk about the emerging ratin 0 vote. it's the fasting growing segment of the position. >> emerge something that key word. there is a huge potential there with the latin 0 vote. there are tons who for whatever reason are not coming out to the poles. if whatever group maximizes those votes it will be a huge game changer they are not voting at their maximum strnt.

>> what do you think explains that barak obama first brack president, sprains the turnout in 2012? >> i think that's part of it. i think mitt romney being on the other side of it was definitely a part. a lot were like you are going to take away my vote? no, i will get my friends and family to vote and we will stand in line for however long it takes. i was working that day. because of what's been going on around the country. if there weren't the problem with the state of florida -- >> yeah.

>> turn out. >> definitely. >> yeah. amazing. >> this is the is noter for american progress. interesting comment. gun control, gun safety leanlylation. some people are saying we are never going to see it again until after the mid-term e elections in 2014. does that have to be the case? we will do that and more here. give us a call. join the conversation at 866-55-press on this monday edition of the "full-court press." >> this is the full court press, "the bill press show" live on your radio and on current tv.

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

>> bill: radio meets television "the bill press show," now on current tv. >> bill: 13 minutes before the top of hour, michael tomaski from the daily beast in studio, ab friend of bill the next hour. joining us. in studio with us at this time the vice president for american values, the think tank here in washington. peter? >> on the sequester. >> the f.a.a. on the secquestersequester,

we are tweeting @bpshow. liberal says dems should hang their head in shame over this. no one else spoke out on it. >> jim says why wouldn't the sequester prevent us from being involved in syria? a sequester war. >> you asked about the gun safety. writing about it. >> it's sedentary until after february, 14, the mid turn election depending upon how the election goes.

a vote afterward, joe manshon was one of the shows yesterday. in doing the co sponsor. this deal, they are going to work it where people just if you are a criminal, you probably won't like it. so they are waiting to see. it may be that they have heard from some constituents. there might be a couple willing to change their votes. how do you read it? >> i have to applaud senator mancion for being a tree profile in courage. come from a red state where the

nra nra can make a difference in his next election has stuck his neck out here and pat toomey too. i think there is hope. what's different for the gun bill than from the others is there is a palpable anger out there. someone said the support, maybe 90% for background checks but generally itself support. congress, not to let the nra. >> that's different now. going on. people are calling here? they are yelling at her. and started pushing the bill. i don't think that's an issue. people voked against it i think it's going to be hard to look at

the parent of the sandy hook victims and other victims of gun laws across the country who will start publically shaping these people. maybe i am being too optimistic. i don't want they will wait. i think they will bring it back up again. >> the senator who made the point that the politicians have lost interest perhaps in the media a lot faster than the members of the public have. >> yeah. >> there really is a bill. so many in aurora california and down the list.

>> yeah. >> so non-controversial. it's not an assault weapons ban. it's not like a magazine clip ban or anything like that. this is the thing that has bi-partisan support. these numbers are so scared of the nra leadership. >> has the center for american progress made any decision on the internet sales tax leanlylation? >> i don't know. >> that's a good question. i don't know. i have been very curious to see the back and forth. >> yeah. the republicans are divided in there. >> the vote in the senate to move forward. detailers to collect sales

taxes. selling product. free. they easily cleared the 60 votes and that's just to consider. >> uh-huh. >> it's accepted when the vote comes up on the bill on the floor, a lot more even than 63. republicans, the grover norquist. >> they are showing losing the battle. >> yeah. republican co-sponsored. at the house. >> i think it's, you know, creates a level playing field. >> yeah. >> across theboard. >> yeah. >> concerned at a basic level.

they will sign those legislations. it could be a crack. >> yeah. >> lose this one? it will be a squeaker next time around. thank you for all of your good work at the center for american progress. when we come back. >> this is "the bill press show."

mented didrb going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. not only does senator rubio just care about rich people but somehow he thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. but we do care about them, right? vo: the war room tonight at 6 eastern

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

>> "the bill press show," live on your radio and current tv bell in the next hour, michael tomasi from the daily beast will be here as a friend of bill, we will be joined in the studio by congress woman eleanor homes norton from the district of columbia. president obama kind of a kickback schedule today for the most part. he and the vice president will receive their presidential daily briefing. at 10:15. after that, the president will take off down constitution avenue, the national academy of sciences, the 150th anniversary. whoa of the national academy of sciences, and ter celebrating down there. the president will deliver remarks at their celebration. jay carney holding his daily briefing to the at 12:30. i will be there for all of you and tell you all about it.

>> this is "the bill press show." s zros

>> bill: press . >> hey, good morning everybody. welcome to the "full-court press" this monday april 29th. good to see you today. thank you for joining us as we come to you live coast to coast from our studio right here on capitol hill. kind of quiet the house and senate are out of town. there is a lot going on. a lot they did before town we want to talk about. for example, now that we know

that syria has used limited chemical weapons pressure is building on the president to do something to take some action either creating a no-fly zone or sending in cruise missiles or maybe sending in u.s. marines. president obama is saying, slow down hold your horses, you know they may have used some. this is is not a continued extended use of chemical weapons. we want to take some time and do a little more investigation before we act. exercising a little restraint in other words, which george bush never did in the buildup to iraq. in other news before rushing to the airport on friday members of congress rushed through an exception to the sequester for air traffic controllers but still no action taken on cuts to headstart or to food stamps or to meals on wheels. pom president o'connor -- president

obama and conan o'brien wowing them at the whitehouse correspondents' deninner, saturday. all of that and more coming up right here on current tv. iq will go way up. (vo) current tv gets the converstion started weekdays at 9am eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. (vo) tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >> you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. just be grateful current tv does not come in smellivision. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv.

shall about railroad

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

(vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking? >> broadcasting across the nation, on your radio and on current tv this is "the bill press show." >> bill: it looks like syria has crossed the red line. now pressure being on president obama to actually do something about it. good morning, everybody. what do you say? it is the full court press right here on friday friday. >> what am i saying? >> where are you? >> this must be monday.

monday april 29th, we know. >> shortest weekend we have had in a while. i love it friday is our favorite day. we like to rush it along. great to see you today. this is the full court press. i am bill press, i think, and we are coming to you live from our nation's capitol and our studio on capitol hill where we do nothing but get in trouble, it seems. more importantly, open the phones and our twitter accounts and facebook and hear from you. join us at 866-55-press. join us on twitter @bpshow and facebook.com/bill facebook.com/billpress facebook.com/billpressshow. peter ogburn and dan henning. >> yes, sir >> bill: thanks for being here as allegation.

alicia cruz is standing by to take your calls and peter ogburn, i am -- i have lot it lost it totally the. cyprian bold something our videographer. >> we look a lot alike. i understand where you are coming from. >> a brother from another mother. smic he will is here as a friend of bill, a columnist for the daily beast. >> pleasure. >> editor and publisher of "democracy." and he makes a review of books and he is sort of the sectioniest, most popular friend of bill we have in the studio. >> we had some love for bill king last week.

>> did you make the white house correspondents' dinner. >> i did not. >> by choice? >> probably? >> by choice. i had a family commitment that i was happily engaged in and i came home and watched some of it until i fell asleep. >> the president did a var good job. he was very much in form. >> he was good. >> so was conan o'brien. yes -- he was better than i expected. a couple of people thought it was the best of the dinners they have been to so far. nobody was spared, not even the president, himself mr. sirius your hair is so white, it could be a member of your cabinet. >> that got a response out of

the president the mayor of north carolina, mr. fox, the new secretary of transportation. ray lahood who was at the dinner saturday night, that was his last hurrah. >> it was. ray lahood got a joke i noticed. >> he got a name check. >> doesn't matter what they say if you got name checked from the podium. conan o'brien, someone who was sitting at the table next to us governor chris christie got a name. >> i would like to acknowledge, for a moment some accidentally sat governor chris christie with the republicans. that was awkward. i apologize. chris christie was at the huffington post table. >> not a very republican table. >> although ray lahood was at

that table. he is a republican or was in a former life. they tried to diversify the huffington post table. >> the kind of republicans who would sit at a huffington post table. >> michael is in this entire bill, eleanor homes will join us later. we will get into the news of the day and michael what you have been writing about. >> first, this is the full court press. >> other headlines making news sarah palin was no fan of the white house correspondents dinner. she launched into a rant saying the event was pathetic. there is no need for politicians and media members to make fun of each other to give americans get the real joke. she referred to those attending as clowns. >> sarah palin, who cares what she thinks about anything? i remember two years ago sarah palin was at this dinner in all of her glory at the parties,

getting her picture taken with everybody. you know what? i will tell you, if she had been invited this year, if she had been invited this year she would have been there. >> in her sweet tweet, she talks about how the rest of america is working their asses off. what the hell is she doing? she was on a reality t.v. show. her husband was on a reality t.v. show. >> she had a job and she quit after a year and a half. >> you don't think she worked hard for fork for that million dollar a year? >> olympic gabby douglas also attended the dinner and said she wants to have a sleep over with the obama daughters. she met the president and the first lady and wants to hang out with malia and sasha. no word when they may set up a play date. >> come to think of it. who was there with ken wear. >> i didn't see him. >> i didn't see him. >> he would have been easy to

spot with the crutches. >> i got stuck in one of the revolving doors with gabby douglas. >> who won? >> she is very tiny and i am not. no. 23 got married over the weekend, michael jordan tying the knot with yvette. >> 23rd wife? >> entertainment provided by issuer. 300 people including tiger woods, patrick uewing and spike lee. he has three kids with his first wife. they divorced back in 2006. >> thank you. before the white house correspondent's dinner it was the dedication of the george bush center in dallas which was an occasion prompting a lot of people saying it's time we re-examine the bush legacy and realize he was not as bad a

president as we once said he was. true or false? >> i guess a lot of people said that but not me and not you i am guessing. >> not i for sure. people who read my column at billpressshow.com about the new bush library, same ol' bush record. >> i was down there. >> you were? >> yeah. >> why the hell did you do that? >> they asked me to. my superiors. when they ask me to do something, i do it. it was interesting to be there. i think they over estimated media interest in this thing. there was -- it was on the cable nets wall to wall, the sar hope e. so it was all on t.v. all morning last thursday, but there weren't that many reporters

actually there there was this library center and they had 500 seats and there were about 20 seats filled. >> no kidding. >> there were more journalists outside but even outside i would say when i was out there, there were like 60 or 70. they had seats for 500. they weren't saying he walked on water either? right? everything was a little tempered? and i understand that the library, itself, kind of is you know. >> i guess. yes get examinig rated what a great president. >> right. yes get to go in. but i gather it does acknowledge that the weapons much mass destruction were never found. >> basically what would you do?

a little game of it. >> gee, i probably wouldn't start a war against a country that didn't have anything to do with the attack on us. >> the latest piece you have posted. get this peter at 4:45 a.m.? >> i never stop man >> bill: before we went on the air, michael tomasky pivoted piece, shame on americans for ignoring gitmo. we are. now, the big hunger strike going on down there some of the any hope of closing this puppy? >> well no. it's the same ol' story, the administration are doing the stance. i think it's more the republicans and congressman

fault there is a waiver in a recent bill that permits the defense department to release people but they have to promise that the person released will never do anything bad. so what kind of waiver is that? um, that puts tremendous political pressure on the defense department and the administration they are not going to stick necks out. it's a terrible situation. there is this one guy who wrote this op-ed piece a couple of weeks ago, been there 11 years plus. no trial, no charge, no charge, you know, he is not an american citizen but no charge. eleven years plus. it's just a shameful shameful

situation. >> it totally is. i am so glad you wrote about this because there are so few of they will. they are not americans. we look the other way. the idea that we have held people 10, 11 years. how turns? 60 something? >> 166. >> still there. right? held for that long. most, no charges filed. very few trials. they are monkey trials anyway. the idea of holding them there all that time, it's antithetical to everything we stand for. >> what is the sense to that? >> when you say 11 years, no charges, just teriyaki terror. >> i talked to a lawyer yesterday who represents 17 clients down there and he told me 86 have officially been cleared. >> yes. >> 86 have been cleared. so they are judged officially not to be a threat to the united states any more but they are still being held.

>> why? >> because no one will take the chance of releasing them because if this guy goes back to yem en and gets involved with al-qaeda and the arabian peninsula or whatever it is. >> there is that 86. then the remainder, where there may be some charges and they want to keep them until they at least clear that up? >> right. >> maybe take them to trial, the problem is they can't closed it because where would they take them? they would have to come to the united states. congress has a past leanlylation which would prohibit biringing any of those prisoners to american soil. >> that was the big situation where the republicans demagogued it. obama tried to close it. the republicans did all of these commercials saying obama wants to put terrorists in your neighborhood as if they weren't gol to be in some super max false's facility president obama said syria uses chemical weapons

they have have crossed the red line. it will be a game changer. what are we going to do about it? >> not much for the time being actually. bill is that the right course? >> there are options but the options are diplomatic, it seems to me. the options involve talking to russia andshine and trying to get the u.n. security council to pass something and try to do it that way whether it's tougher sanctions or, you know some kind of arming of the free syrian army although that carries a lot of rifshingsz too. i was stushld when obama said those things about game changer and red line because i thought that committed the united states to a course of action that was potentially really damaging. most of us agree we don't want another war. when when you say red line, when you say it's a game changer and do not do something, you are

considered a wuss and people read into that, cruise missiles or marines or something real. >> that's right. >> and physical. >> that's what sets -- between a rock and a hard plates the administration finds itself today. michael tomasky with us. join the conversation at 866-55-press on this friday. here we go again. >> you have to stop with the friday. >> monday addition. >> put me in a bad mood. >> monday edition of the "full-court press." >> this is "the bill press show." actually care. this is purely about political grandstanding. date, staying in touch with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. in reality it's not like they actually care. this is purely about political grandstanding.

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. 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. [ music ]

>> this is "the bill press show." >> 25 minutes after the hour here the full court press congress making sure they could get out of town without any flight delays. we will talk talk with michael tomasky here as a friend of bill. michael, good to have you on board. 866-66. >> breaking news on this monday morning, breaking news from the sports world. the new york jets have confirmed it. tim tebow has been released from the team. >> oh. >> jesus. >> should have prayed a little harder. he is on the market. we will see where he ends up.

>> pat robertson. >> jerry fault well. they have a football team in college. >> back there. he can be their back-up. >> by the way, on twitter, i have to mention this while we have tomasky. we are on twitter @built p show. francis r says it's great to see him on my t.v. he is a very sexy liberal. >> come on. >> i am wide awake now. >> every time you come in here. >> hello francis. good morning francis. nice to see you too. >> okay. get a hotel room. >> not like that. has the gun issue gone away forever? >> no. it has' gone away forever at all. mancion wants to bring it back

up. i went to a breakfast two days after it went down. here in town and heard him talk about it he wants to do this. i think, you know, as i wrote it up saying as a red state he has figured out how to do this. it will cost him some support at home but is not up it's not going to send his poll numbers down through the floor. he is doing this respect bring and, you know i don't agree with all of these people who said embarrassing defeat for obama. got to bang at the wall. bricks will come loose and come loose. >> the biggest mistake, i think president obama would have made would be to walk away from it. he hasn't walked away.

eleanor homes norton has not walked away. >> this is "the bill press

show." cantion corporate group? >>

[ music ] >> chatting with you live at current.com/billpress, this is "the bill press show" live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: three three minutes now after the hour the full court press coming to you live this monday morning, april 29th. in our studio on capitol hill in washington, d.c. brought to you today by the international brotherhood of teamsters, the good men and women of the teamsters' union under president jim hoffma. find out -- you can find out more about their good work at

their website, teamster.org and we thank them for their support and here on capitol hill. it's quiet on capitol hill because the senate and the house are out on another 10-daybreak. but she is not. she is hard at work during this break already here on a monday morning. congress woman eleanor homes norton in the studio with us. >> thank you bill. >> thank you very much. we have been talking to michael tomasky as a friend of bill we were talking before the break about the good safety leanlylation that got shot down if i could use that word. >> senators joe mancion saying he is not talking about running

away from it. maybe the city of washington, d.c. knows about gun violence. this is not something we should walk away from? d.c. knows the nra. but for the nra dc would now have a vote in the house of representatives. we were able to get when the democrats were in power. the house, passed amendment that with eliminate all of the gun louisiana in d.c. we have a background check. we have the -- i can't think of

anything that d.c. doesn't have. they rebe at their gun laws and have virtually everything that is now before the house and the senate and we are sure it's constitutional. >> that's not the problem with the house and the senate. the problem with the house and the senate is tism merity. >> because of that amendment, d.c. never got voting rights? >> never got voting rights. here you have a city that is growing at the rate of 1,000 people per month now has ballpark 150,000 people action all of whom pay federal income taxes, go to war, they have a representative, by the way, who can do everything any other representative can do. that's me. except when that final vote is cast on a house it floor, i cannot say yea or nay for the tax paying members, people like you from the district of

columbia. my heart is with you. yeah. we are here, right here on capitol hill. now, taxation without representation still exists in this country right here. it's just like we are members of a colony might as well be living in puerto rico. >> by the way, if you live in puerto rico, you wouldn't have to pay federal income taxes. they don't complain because of the quid pro quo. >> i know you and several friends in the house of representatives and i do want to express my sympathy that you had to work so hard last week. i know you had to gear up for a big vote on the helium bill. so why is this country in the business of producing helium. >> before we get into hot air.

apparently, it's because for the private sector which apparently congress wants to do the job won't do the job. there will be no supply for healium. here you had an overwhelming vote of the anti-government house to make sure the government is producing helium >> bill: i didn't know we were in this business. >> i didn't know it until the vote came up. i think they had to look around to say what can we vote on? so man things we ought to vote on that we won't vote on, let's give them something to vote on at least. >> bill: bingo. all of the themselves like climate change and gun safety and immigration reform and you name it. right? that we should be working on. right? >> the economy. >> infrastructure, creating jobs, no. instead we are talking about producing helium.

are they afraid there will be a kid's birthday party and they won't be able to fill the balloons? >> that's what they have left themselves open for. i am sure there are uses for helium. we don't fly dirigibles. >> when you walk into a hospital, that's what you see. >> kids, yeah. >> but then, the house did come up, however, with something else to vote on, and in less than one day, in just a few hours, took the bill that came over from the senate that the senate miraculously passed to carve out a great big fat exception to the sequester to put air traffic controllers. >> we finally, found an issue that not only gets bi-partisan support in one house, in two houses and two houses act presto. >> yeah. >> this is embarrassing. you can make a case, and i am

going to try to be fair here you can make a case that the economy demands and you can sort of back-ups that you don't have 10% of controllers furloughed every day. your whole economy a large part of which depends upon air travel would come collapsing around you. but i can make that case for the sequester, itself. what about the 750,000 jobs that the cbo, the congressional budget office, arbism ter of all of the economy, what about the 750,000 jobs that cbo says that we will lose? i think there is a case to be made, everybody t seems to me

talking about those who can't make their case. the most pitiful example inand the one that is my favorite is a 600,000 women, infants and children who are now off of wic. you know, wic has a central place in our lives. it's there because of these children, if they don't start out with enough food and nourishment and what it takes to start out with pregnancy and goes through to the early years of infancy 600,000 gone. and by the way, bill this 82 billion carries over into the next 10 years. the difference is it's spread out. we have already done 1.2 trillion out of no revenue. it's spread out so it wouldn't be quiet as painful. democrats, i think, have rightly argued do what the president's budget does.

he gets rid of the sequester and gives you still cuts. i argue, yes do that but if we had a meeting now that both houses have passed a budget bill, let both houses come together had what it took to get the controllers back what happened, not one sent was added to the budget. this was not about cuts. they found operating funds, the one being used and use them to relief the controllers. now, if you had a budget meeting, to be sure, you would have to have some adjustments. there would have to be some money put back but the kind of compromise you might expect is some money would be put back for some agencies, and other agent sees, they would do what they did for the controllers. >> that's kind of the way they do.

most of the time i have been in congress t this is, you know yes, we want the whole sequester going. >> right. >> they have already shown with the controllers that even without adding money you can indeed, deal with some of these. who got through? who got through were the ones that got money moved around for them, pentagon homeland security. always defense related agencies. who didn't get through? always domestic women can children, education, transportation, the parks that the american people feel strongest about today. >> i want to jump ahead to debt ceiling. it's going to be may in a couple of days and may 19th or thereabouts is supposed to be the date. so what's going to happen? >> well i am beginning to feel a little better about the debt ceiling. i could be wrong because every time i feel there is at least

one reasonable man or woman in the -- of my colleagues on the republican side, i get disappointed but fwi begin a process that seems to be in its -- even beyond its startup phase of working on reform of the tax code, a lot of the problems that we who are democrats raise and, for that matter, many republicans raise would dissipate because you would find revenue that way and you would certainly get cuts that way and in the house, there is serious business now going on, on tax reform. >> tax code reform would mean having to close some of the loopholes which don't make any sense any more. right? >> which is exactly what would

happen. maybe we would have fight over which those would be. everybody knows that's when are money is. >> governor homes norton in the studio with us as well as michael tomasky as a friend of bill talking aboutthe hot issues of the day. our conversation continues and you are welcome to join us at 866-55-press, here on this monday april 29th. we will be right back. >> this is "the bill press show." about them, right? t tonight at 6 eastern criticizing, and holding policy to the fire. are you encouraged by what you heard the president say the other night? is this personal or is it political? a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. staying in tough with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. not only does senator rubio just care about rich people but somehow he thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. but we do care about them, right?

vo: the war room tonight at 6 eastern >> 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.

(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. s [ music ] >> this is the bill"the bill press show."

>> why on don't you get a drink request mitch mcconnell, they ask? really? why don't you get a drink with mitch mcconnell? >> bill: eleven minutes campfire the top of the hour. the president was in rare form at the whitehouse correspondents' dinner. that was one of his best lines. congresswoman, i don't mean to be mean but if all of the mirrors of the united states senate that i would like to have a drink with, mitch mcconnell would be at the bottom of the list list. >> he had issued that from the president. >> during the break here, a little announcement from the white house. the president's schedule has been updated. at 2:00 o'clock this afternoon, he has a person -- he is going to be making a personnel

announcement in the east room of the white house. we know that look the new secretary of transportation mayor of charlotte north carolina. >> yeah. deep concern. s extraordinary, i must say, appointment. >> i have to say i was impressed in charlotte at the convention by that light rail system. i have no idea how much this mayor had to do with it. it was a heck of a nice system that extended all the way down. >> i was impressed with that city. got to meet the mayor down there. he is go to be good. related to that congresswoman, the associated press last week

the you highest percentage of voter turn out in twouf at a time fact that it's the first black president? >> i don't think it was that fact. in fact, he rose to the occasion. after all, actually, i think it was a decision the way which for four years, people were saying why did they go after this president?

blacks perceive whether this is true or not, and i have never made any objective comparison blacks perceive he was being ham erd in a much worse way. they looked that he couldn't get through congress. they heard what they perceived as that. they perceive there is a lot of racism out there. i love this. long lines somebody tweeted all around the country stay in line, brother. stay in line it was a tweet. they think you will get out of line. this is what mitt romney thought. mitt romney's analysts told him you don't have to campaign in

the hispanic community. make sure you wake up white folks. blacks and hispanics and calm out. there is a new voting america. it doesn't look the same even as it looked four yards ago >> bill: -- four year ago >> bill: it showed the importance of voter turnout. >> they were called everything in the primary. can't we have our permits on the other side of the table rushing, rushing to try to make a deal except in the house. i am a little concerned about the house even as we are -- >> bill: immigration reform? >> we have been talking about immigration reform. the brack caucus, we have been talking about support, like in the senate and democrats and you

have been focusing on the grid. i call it the grid and where they are getting, you know, the so-called diversity category. instead of that, they are using the grid. maybe that grid will work out just as well as how many people will come. but the man who is chief among those who draw the immigration reform says he doesn't want a comprehensive bill. he wants it a little bit at a time. >> we are out of time. we are counting on you to move that bill through the house once we get something out of the senate. michael tomasky, congresswoman, thank you. we will be back with a quick, real quick parting shot. >> this is "the bill press show." you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were

they thinking? 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.

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

>> the parting shot with bill press, this is "the bill press show." >> bill: well, if you think that this economy may still have a little ways to go the numbers came out over the weekend. in terms of wages, according to labor department, since 2000, wages of those in the top 10% of wage earners went up nine pours. wages of the median income workers were up only one % and wages of the bottom 10% of wage earners in this country went down 3%. it's an old story. isn't it? these numbers prove it. in this country today, the rich are getting richer. the poor are getting poorer.

the gap is getting wider and wider. >> this is "the bill press show."

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> stephanie: happy monday morning, everybody. wow! look at our show today. rude pundit, eric boehlert as usual and reverend jim wallace live in that chair in hour number three. >> we've never had him in the studio. >> stephanie: he's going to bless the studio. captain america's underpants. jacki schechner. listen this is not what it sounds like but jacki schechner spent the night at my house for the second weekend in a row. i don't want to start tongues wagging. >> any p