[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: what do you say? good morning everybody. it is tuesday april 30. welcome to the "full court press," right here on current tv. we're coming to you live from our nation's capital. that's washington, d.c. in case you didn't know it. our studio here on capitol hill to all of you across the land, bringing you up to date on the stories of the day, the big news of the day and giving you a chance to weigh in, chime in

with your own comments by phone at 1-866-55-press, on twitter at bpshow or on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. lots going on over in syria even though the white house refuses to confirm or deny. president hamid karzai has confirmed for the last ten years or more, he has been receiving bags of cash from agents of the c.i.a. so we can no longer complain about the fact that karzai is corrupt because it turns out we are the ones corrupting him back here at home, president obama has appointed a new transportation secretary anthony fox, mayor of charlotte north carolina. and the nba's jason collins has stunned the sports world by becoming the first male professional athlete, at least of a major sport to come out of the closet. he was greeted with cheers at the white house and with jeers

by some bozo at espn. you see what's coming up, all of that and more here on current tv. john fugelsang: if you believe in states rights but still support the drug war you must be high. cenk uygur: i think the number one thing viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. i think the audience gets that i actually mean it. michael shure: this show is about being up to date so a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. joy behar: you can say anything here. jerry springer: i spent a couple of hours with a hooker joy behar: your mistake was writing a check jerry springer: she never cashed it (vo) the day's events. four very unique points of view. tonight starting at 6 eastern.

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: hamid karzai says yeah, i took the cash. so what? so what? delivering bags of cash? that's what this war is all about? oh, my god. good morning everybody. tuesday, april 30. can you believe it? end of the month already. here we go. with another edition of the "full court press." on this tuesday april 30. good to see you today. on a day where we've got just

tons to talk about. and some great guests to talk about it all with including all of you. great to see you today. thanks for being part of the program and thanks for joining the program by phone at 1-866-55-press. get that number down on your speed dial. 1-866-55-press. because we love to hear from you. give you a chance to express your opinions over the national airwaves. you can also have your opinions heard here on the national airwaves by giving us -- by talking to us on twitter at bpshow. that's our handle at bpshow. become our friend on facebook. we want all of the friends we can get at facebook.com/billpressshow. here we go on this tuesday morning. still little chilly here in washington, d.c. and a little rainy. but hope it's a good day wherever you happen to be. joining the team here, peter

ogborn and dan henning. >> hey hey hey. >> good morning. >> bill: contest to see who could wear the loudest plaid shirt today. i want to wait for igor, first before we vote because igor -- >> it isn't a loud shirt. >> that's a red plaid shirt. >> that's not a loud shirt. >> that is too. >> bill: in the eyes of my viewers, it is. we'll see what igor -- the plaid man himself half hour from now. we'll have a vote. >> okay. >> alichia cruz has the phones covered. cyprian bowlding has the video cam covered. president obama bouncing down five blocks down constitution avenue yesterday to the national academy of sciences. their 150th anniversary. >> that's amazing. >> bill: one of the oldest of our national institutions. they were formed during the civil war years by abraham lincoln who called on scientists

to help with a particular program that president obama had some fun joking about yesterday. >> obama: right off the bat, you guys were really useful. [ laughter ] in fact, it is fair to say we might not be here had you not -- certainly, i would not be here. laugh laugh. >> bill: you know what it was? the ships were made of iron in those days. it was a wonder they could float. they kept going off-course so they needed -- these guys came up with some -- i don't understand the tech -- some magnets which enabled the iron ships to stay on course. >> okay. god, that's -- >> bill: but the idea that president lincoln reached out to the scientists and said hey, we need some help with this and the one thing about those scientists and the members of the national academy of sciences which is a beautiful building by the way on constitution avenue, if you ever come to washington, i encourage

you to go down there. i've never been inside the building but in front of the building is this magnificent statue of albert einstein. a wonderful -- i think is the best statue in new york. outdoor sculpture in d.c. outdoor sculptures anyhow because he's just this big relaxed figure and kids climb all over him. >> really cool. >> bill: sit on his lap and you know, it is really great. he's wearing birkenstocks. >> it is very cool. >> bill: so the president said, the thing unique about all of these scientists who come and spend their time at the national academy of sciences is they don't get paid. >> obama: part of what's made the academy so effective is that all of the scientists elected to your elite ranks are volunteers which is fortunate because we have no money anyway. [ laughter ] >> bill: you know, i don't know scientists were such a good bunch of fun people but they

seem to be having a good time and laughing at all of the president's jokes. it is like the white house correspondents' dinner all over again. as we mention igor volsky will be here from think progress as he is every tuesday. in about 20 minutes or so. dave zirin sports editor for the "nation" magazine here a little bit later as well at the top of the next hour. julie mason from sirius x.m. p.o.t.u.s. channel will be here as a "friend of bill" in our third hour together. and yesterday the sports world got a big shockaroo but first -- >> this is the "full court press." >> other headlines making news on this tuesday. >> no team expressed interest in tim tebow after he was released by the new york jets but there is some interest north of the border in the canadian football league. "huffington post" reporting the montreal alouettes say they would welcome tebow provided he's willing to compete for a back-up quarterback position as

their starting quarterback is a 20-year veteran and isn't going anywhere. >> bill: does he still do the tebow? >> he didn't do it once with the jets. because he barely played. he royally screwed up. i do think that we may have seen the last of tim tebow in the nfl. i think he'll go somewhere else. >> bill: he'll start a chicken franchise or something. >> he could start a steak restaurant. tim tebow's t-bone. that would be perfect. already got the name for it. >> bill: next, dan. >> mitch mcconnell responded to president obama's "have a drink" comment about him at the white house correspondents' dinner. the senate minority leader's campaign staff tweeted out a photo of mcconnell drinking a bar saying cheers and greetings from coal country to the president. >> bill: mitch mcconnell having a beer? he might have been holding it but he wasn't drinking it. >> he looked as uncomfortable as a prostitute in church, sitting

at the bar with his weird awkward hand by the beer trying to make a joke. he's not coming close. >> bill: aren't you supposed to be drinking bourbon in kentucky? >> good point. >> virgin galactic space tourism plan take a major step forward yesterday when it conducted a successful spaceflight with its journey to breaking the sound barrier over the mojave desert. they've been working on this since 2004 but still no official date set for the first commercial flight. >> bill: 1500 people have signed up for this flight. obviously it won't hold them all the first time up there. it is amazing. they're going forward. he's going to get -- >> he's going to do it. >> bill: the first tourist in space. newt gingrich. will be there. one way ticket. exactly. i'll buy it. here we go. yesterday, sports world, shake

up yesterday went all the way up to the white house came up at our grieving yesterday. there have been a lot of rumors, a lot of stories that pretty soon we're going to see an nba player or an nfl player come out of the closet or an nba player come out of the closet as a gay man. yesterday it happened. the first one is jason collins. center for the wizards here in washington, d.c. wizards aren't a great team and i would have to say from what i've heard, he's not necessarily a star player. but he's a star today because again, coming out of the closet, he told george stephanopoulos in an interview that will be heard later this morning on gma, it was taped yesterday that he didn't intend to be sort of the jackie robinson of professional basketball. >> can you believe it hasn't happened before you? >> it is kind of mind-boggling. i think i talk about that.

i never set out to be the first. obviously you're sort of waiting around for somebody else to raise their hand and you know, i'm ready to raise my hand but you still look around like okay, come on, guys. >> bill: it is hard to believe after all of this time that he is the first and he said he didn't intend it to be that way but that's kind of the way it happened. no matter how you slice it, i think, this is -- well, i guess joe biden said it best, right? this is a bfd. it is a bfd because he is -- you know, we've had singers. we've had actors. we've had tv anchors. we've had plumbers and librarians and mechanics come out of the closet. >> sure. >> bill: brothers and sisters. but this is a big deal because

he's the first major professional athlete and there's always been this feeling in fact perpetuated by a lot of athletes, right, that we are all man, all male, all macho right? no gay people here. no we wouldn't -- just unthinkable that one of us would be gay. well, it is really not right? because you can still be macho and still be gay. you can still be a great baseball player or football player or athlete or whatever and still be gay. there's no contradiction. but that old image of the professional athlete, this is the first crack in that wall. there have been female tennis players but this is still a much bigger deal, i think than any of those famous women. >> martina navratilova, billie jean king. there was britney greiner going to the wnba just announced she was gay a couple of weeks ago.

but not to take anything away from them because they are groundbreakers and it is a big deal but it is kind of different when you look at the masculinity and macho world of sports as you were mentioning. it just is. >> bill: particularly the big three like the nba and nfl one of them. our friend brendan ayanbadejo who has been on and he said there are going to be some people soon we're going to hear from people soon and it turns out jason collins got a lot of -- i would like to know what you think about this. whether it is a big deal or should be considered a big deal. 1-866-55-press. the reaction when -- interesting. all the way up to the white house. it came up at the briefing yesterday and jay carney was ready. he said -- right from the president on down, they thought this was great news. >> here at the white house we view that as another example of the progress that has been made and the evolution that has been

taking place in this country. >> bill: jay carney saluted jason collins for his courage in coming out. david stern, the head of the nba, again welcomed this news and said he's one of us and we're proud of him. >> i think we're going to get past everything in a good way. it is going to become a nonissue. he's a great -- his family is great. he's a great member of our family. and after the immediate media frenzy because the media can be depended upon for a frenzy, it will be all right so what. we'll help the next athlete who wants to do the same thing. >> bill: i think it will help the next one. >> absolutely. >> bill: this is not the end of the road. i would predict in the next couple of weeks, we're going to see more people say okay, if jason collins could do it and people accept him and respect him, there were a lot of good

comments from other members of other nba stars around the country, a lot of them tweeted out congratulations. we're behind you 100%. his team, i think put out a statement. >> biggest names in the game, too. it is not like just supporting players. cobie bryant sent out a tweet. charles barkley supported him. shaquille o'neal supported him. >> bill: it wasn't universal. chris broussard an analyst for espn reflected the views of a lot of people, especially those born-again christians. it is bad! it's a sin. >> if you're openly living that type of lifestyle then the bible says you know them by their fruits, it says that you know, that's a sin. and if you're openly living in unrepentant sin not just homosexuality, adult -- i

believe it is an open rebellion to god and jesus christ. i would not characterize that person as a christian. i don't think the bible would characterize him as a christian. >> bill: i got four letters for him. stfu. notice how he throws everything in there together. homosexuality, premarital sex you know. god. who does he think he is. i would just invite chris broussard to bring the bible in here and show me where jesus christ says anything about homosexuality at all. other than people like that, i mean really, the bible-pounders who don't know what the hell they're talking about, they want to discriminate the same way they used to discriminate against blacks and claimed the bible told them to do it. they want to discriminate against gays and less buy --

lesbians. so for jason collins, it is a big day. for the sports world, it is a big day. for america, it is a big day and a good day. how do you read it? 1-866-55-press. let's talk about it right here on the "bill press show." >> connect with the "bill press show" on twitter. follow us on bp show and tweet using the hashtags watching bp. (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.

(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: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 25 minutes after the hour. jason collins first of our professional male athletes to

come out of the closet yesterday. hailed by the white house and jeered at by chris broussard at espn. what do you think about it? 1-866-55-press. before we go to the phones, peter? >> we're on twitter at bpshow, lots of positive comments for jason collins. we're seeing this morning. don says now that comes came out, it will be a race for other sports to be the first to come out now that the ice has been broken. and jim irwin says with regards to chris broussard's comments, jesus recognized sinners and condemned hypocrites. >> bill: yeah, he did. >> easy as that. >> bill: so you were saying earlier, you don't think he's a great athlete. >> well, he's not going to go down -- >> bill: not one of the greatest names. >> he's not one of the biggest names in basketball. >> bill: will he play again? >> i think he might. he will be a reserve center. he's been playing for awhile. he's 34 which is old in the nba.

and he's been around a couple of different teams. so does it look like he'll stay with the wizards we'll see who picks him up next. >> bill: tony is calling from brooklyn. good morning. >> caller: i just wanted to bring up that you talk about the machismo of the athletes who are gay, who are anti-gay. i'm a former marine and in the marine corps, you have plenty of gays that are out and fighting, doing impossible jobs. guys on the decks of aircraft carriers, most dangerous place in the world. they're gay there too. not all of them. >> bill: good point. >> you cannot make any comparison between the athletes which is an important thing i don't doubt that. their match ismo isn't important to them. but you don't know what the machismo is like in the marine

corps and yet they accept the gays and the gays do an amazing job. >> bill: excellent point tony. absolutely. that's why getting rid of don't ask, don't tell, was so important because gays have served with such pride and professionalism for so long. now they can do so openly. ron is in alexandria, virginia. hey, ron. >> caller: hey, good morning. i'm not a christian but i listened to your comments about how the bible does not speak about these issues when in fact, the christian bible is quite clear. >> bill: i said, if you were listening, i said jesus has never spoken about this issue. jesus never said anything about homosexuality in the four gospels. >> caller: you referred to the bible. >> bill: i said -- listen to the tape -- i said bring the bible in and show me where jesus says anything -- i have a degree in theology. i studied scripture in greek okay. if you really want to know. it ain't there!

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." 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: you bet. 33 minutes after the hour now here. it is a tuesday april 30. so good to see you today as we really through the stories of the day. the news of the day. and of course, get your comments at 1-866-55-press. we can't do it alone. it takes a village. the "full court press" and the center for american progress and think progress.

that's our morning village with igor volsky in every tuesday morning to help us along. hello, igor. nice to see you again. >> thanks for having me. >> bill: we've been talking of course, about jason collins. think progress was on top of this story yesterday as soon as it broke. what does it say about professional sports? is this the beginning of maybe a new era? >> i think so. we've come a long way. certainly he's the first male athlete. you've had women coming out since 1981. so it is about time. he would have come out a bit earlier but he was afraid of being a distraction to the game. a distraction to the sport. to his fellow teammates. and i think moving forward we're going to see less of that because you ask yourself what does it mean for a player to -- for who he is, to be a distraction, right?

that says a lot about what's going on in that team, what's going on in that sport. that people can't be who they are. that they have to hide. i think also the interesting interconnections you have here, he said he felt so uncomfortable listening to the supreme court debating the defensive marriage act just three or four blocks from the apartment where he lived. that kind of pushed him out of the closet. i wonder if the court is going to feel the same way when they reach their decision in june that now, you have acceptance in major league sports. kind of the last hurdle, i think in american society. >> bill: one of our earlier callers, tony, made the point that the analogy to the military. the military. where people -- men and women have served so well and for so long in the military. also lay professional sports considered to be, particularly among the men there the ultimate macho experience which i guess it is going on the front lines, right and putting

yourself underfire like that. >> one of his teammates yesterday, martell sent the perfect tweet. he said jason collins, you've made sports what it should be. that's open. i'm proud of you for being you. that jump shot is still a little weak though. it doesn't matter. it doesn't matter. do your job. ya know? >> bill: exactly. that's the question, right? >> how can you play? it is the military thing. doesn't matter if you're gay or straight. can you shoot straight? >> bill: in the words of barry goldwater. kim is calling from modesto california. >> caller: good morning. the only man smarter than my dad. [ laughter ] >> caller: i just wanted to say being lesbian and the hardest thing for me to do was come out to my parents but i'm so happy that he did it but it kind of sounds like he's fishing for

another job because if he was so proud to be gay, we don't blink at night. we don't glow. there's nothing special about us. we're just like everybody else. >> i glow. i don't know. >> i have glowed at times too. we don't do anything different. so how we could take away from the game. that's so silly. >> studio does light up. >> you do think -- it is a big deal for a professional athlete to come out i think. because again because there's this whole image created that we've all bought into, masculinity and who men are real men play basketball and real men aren't gay. so this sort of destroys that. which i think is great. and kim i'll tell you, i know modesto, california. modesto is no san francisco so being openly gay in modesto

california, is an act of courage as well. >> great thing on "buzzfeed" yesterday where they did the 17 gayest things that jason collins did on the basketball court and it was 17 pictures of just thunderous dunks that he dropped on people and it said see there it is not a putdown anymore. next time you see somebody drop an amazing dunk, maybe that was a little gay. not so bad anymore. it is classic putdown. >> bill: what is their batting average? what's their score per game. that's what really counts. igor, on another issue yesterday, i think it was -- which i read on think progress, sandra day o'connor -- >> oh, boy. >> bill: one of the five supreme court justices responsible for george w. bush being named president. not elected president. she now says god looking back, i think it might have been a big mistake. >> now she tells us. >> bill: about freakin' time.

can we go back and undo that vote? >> we're looking into it at think progress. i think -- you know -- >> bill: what did she say exactly? >> she said we never should have taken up the case. at the end of the day i think we never should have taken up the case. >> bill: what a novel concept. we should have let florida count the votes. >> i don't know what she's doing here. >> bill: they said florida could not do the recount. they had to stop the recount. could not count the votes in their own freakin' state. the supreme court would take up and decide who was president. >> in the end, bush became president. at the time, you remember, you had the legal folks the lawyers for bush were surprised themselves that this happened. surprised that their legal theory, based on equal protections, was accepted by the court. what scholars in the years since have said was this is such a bizarre ruling, they had to overlook their own past decisions, their own injure

jurisprudence. >> bill: all of the preaching about state's right the out the window for this case. if she had to do it over again she would not have voted to take the case. >> that's what she's implying. they shouldn't have taken the case. we should do a whole show imagining what that show would have looked like. >> bill: a whole show. how different things would have been. no war in iraq for sure. maybe if we had another -- if we had september 11th, i think most likely war in afghanistan or some way of getting the taliban. things would be so different. no torture no massive wiretapping. and i would have to say probably no deficit. >> certainly a different response to hurricane katrina. still, i think, one of the greatest failures of the bush -- last week, we saw -- with the opening of his library this

rose-colored view of president bush and all of the things he did and we did a post on think progress why you still should be glad that bush isn't president anymore and hurricane katrina the deficit you mentioned. the stuff on gays and going against, trying to get all of those and successfully getting all of those states to outlaw same-sex marriage, pain for years to come and putting conservatives on the supreme court which we're still feeling to this day. >> bill: i still think there ought to be a way she could change her vote then we can make it 5-4 the other way and instead of having an election in 2016, we just give al gore -- >> gore is available. what's he doing? >> bill: we know one thing. he's not running a tv network anymore. [ laughter ] hello. can't say he's running current tv anymore. no. now, speaking of people getting in trouble with the votes, think progress reporting yesterday

that those senators who thought they were doing politically the very smart thing by voting against background checks, several of them now have seen that they are in trouble at if you voted against 90% of what your constituents want, they wouldn't like you anymore. who would have thought that? >> bill: these bozos thought if they voted against the nra they might be in trouble. it turns out they're in trouble because they did not vote against the nra. who are they and what are they finding? >> you have folks like jeff flake from arizona. mark begich from alaska. lisa murkowski from alaska. dean heller from nevada. kelly ayotte from new hampshire. these are the folks who were -- >> bill: mark pryor from arkansas not on the list. >> not on the list. these are the guys you thought would maybe switch their vote. would maybe vote the right way. we're under a lot of pressure from the president and the vice president, from the advocates.

>> bill: newtown families. >> newtown families. they voted the wrong way. voted against background checks. again, this wasn't even a universal background check amendment. this was a very limited bipartisan compromise only at gun shows only online. a lot of different kind of compromises built into that. >> bill: right. joe manchin pat toomey compromise. >> their approval ratings these guys have dropped some 16 points in their states. >> bill: good. good. >> after the vote. >> bill: i would call that a good start. >> a good start. >> bill: meaning i hope it goes down even more. >> look, it is going to be a tug-of-war here because now you have the nra sweeping in and thanking these senators on radio, running ads on their behalf. we captured the ad for kelly ayotte the nra ad supporting kelly ayotte thanking her for

voting against quote-unquote gun control and saying, get this, that because she's a mother, she understands that the only sensible way to prevent sandy hook is by changing our mental health system. because she's a mother. >> bill: because she's a mother. it is because she's a mother. and to give every teacher a gun and every mom a gun too. you know, i don't think it will work. the american people are set on this. they recognize the need for it. they're going to keep the pressure on. i would hope that these senators will talk -- we'll talk more about it after the break will come back from their ten-daybreak, which they're in right now and say to harry reid can we have another vote because we want to vote the other way and get this monkey off our backs. we'll be right back here on the "full court press." >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

>> "viewpoint" digs deep into the issues of the day. >> do you think that there is president even say the words "carbon tax"? >> with an open mind... >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> ...and a distinctly satirical point of view. >> but you mentioned "great leadership" so i want to talk about donald rumsfeld. >> (laughter). >> watch the show. >> only on current tv. you know who is coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that

current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking?

current tv is the place for true stories. with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines. real, gripping, current. documentaries... on current tv.

>> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 12 minutes now before the top of the hour. take a look at a little survey of the news of the day here. igor volsky, the managing editor of think progress. don't forget to check this out thinkprogress.org. make it your home page and go there several times a day. peter, you've got some comments there. we talked, among other things about sandra day o'connor, now she tells us that it was a mistake for the supreme court to

stop florida from counting the votes back in 2000 and deciding the election themselves. >> on twitter at bpshow. rob says it is too late, miss o'connor, you reap what you sow. your legacy will not be repaired by your bush v. gore debacle. story for "60 minutes" says maybe she saw george w. bush in public again and decided she wanted to take no responsibility for it. and brewer on the hill simply says sandra o'connor feels guilt for the blood on her hands. >> bill: whoa. it is interesting that this did come out -- the timing. that it came out right at the dedication of the bush library. >> he's taking her out. >> bill: i'm sure she saw that and thought oh, my god, what did i do? what was i thinking? >> i thought the dedication was kind of sweet. i thought it was -- the whole thing was kind of sweet. made me feel so good about our

democracy, all of these presidents are together joking, talking. [ laughter ] he's not there anymore. only there for a day then he's gone. i'll take it. >> bill: it didn't make me feel better about george bush's legacy. if you haven't seen my column, check out billpressshow.com and my piece on the new bush library but the same old bush record. just for the record because too many people were running around saying it is time to re-evaluate the bush presidency and say it wasn't so bad after all. yes, it was. yes, it was. >> still is. we're living with it every day. don't give me that. >> bill: we're talking about jason collins coming out of the closet. and in washington state interesting comment on legislation out there to basically have an indiscrimination in hiring and renting. >> the country's moving one way which is growing acceptance toward gays and lesbians and all

parts of society. some lawmakers are lag behind, particularly here, the republicans in washington state. introduced a bill which would have seen before in different areas that would allow someone who sincerely held religious beliefs, prevent them from serving gay people, letting gay people stay in their bed and breakfast. eat at their restaurants, pump gas at their gas station. it would allow them to prevent gay people from doing so. keep them out. if that's their sincerely held religious belief. >> bill: this was proposed in washington. >> that's right. >> bill: what if their faith tells them they could refuse to serve black people? >> that's where it gets a little confusing. this is only -- this is only for the gays here. so now one person, this bill was

introduced -- washington state has marriage equality. it is a fairly progressive state. >> bill: absolutely. >> this is a bill in the minority. it is not going anywhere. one activist e-mailed the sponsor of this bill, a state senator, mike hewitt, state senator mike hewitt and asked him well, what would happen in a rural area where there may not be a lot of options for food, for grocery stores if an owner of a grocery store decided not to serve gay people and another store was miles and miles away? what would the families do? what options would you have? the staffer e-mailed back "well gay people can just grow their own food. grow their own food. >> oh, my god. what? >> yeah. become farmers. [ laughter ] small town farmers. this is a good thick. farmers are dying out. we need more farmers. peter, get behind this.

organic farmers. >> exactly. get back to the land. >> bill: you would have to have a cow, you would have to have a pig. >> it is a little bit of work but at the end of the day, you get a great product. >> bill: you would have chickens and the whole -- if you want the whole range of food, right? >> it is a lot of work, you know but it is how our ancestors did it. >> bill: what our legislators can sometimes come up with. >> i gotta plow the land when i got off of work. [ laughter ] >> bill: we didn't even get to the sequester. we'll talk about that later. you've been talking about that, the fact that we were able to work such a miracle. >> real fast for them to get home. forget about the guns or anything the public wants. get that done. >> bill: but they can really -- it proves the congress can act when they need to and they can do it fast and then get

the hell out of town. >> vacation coming up. >> bill: igor, great to see you again. thanks for coming in. it is thinkprogress.org. great work that they do. we thank them for that. and for your time here this morning. i'll be right back. >> announcer: like politics? like the "bill press show" on facebook. 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.

john fugelsang: if you believe in states rights but still support the drug war you must be high. cenk uygur: i think the number one thing viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. i think the audience gets that i actually mean it. michael shure: this show is about being up to date so a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. joy behar: you can say anything here. jerry springer: i spent a couple of hours with a hooker joy behar: your mistake was writing a check jerry springer: she never cashed it (vo) the day's events. four very unique points of view. tonight starting at 6 eastern.

i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. >> announcer: taking your e-mails on any topic at any time. this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: all right. it is a big day up in

massachusetts. this is a primary day for john kerry's senate seat. ed markey and steve lynch on the democratic side. we'll be watching that closely today as we are very closely watching your e-mails, talking about the congress acting fast to get rid of the delays in -- at the airports. richard maxwell says bill anything for congress. right. they are acting like ceos. their way or the highway. and on jason collins coming out barbara says the sad part is at least one of them, that few people as well as the bible care very much about women coming out. well, we're not putting down the fact that women have come out. i think we think -- i believe it is a bigger deal when a -- shouldn't be maybe but it is when a male professional athlete comes out of the closet.

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: hello friends and neighbors. great to see you this morning. welcome to the "full court press" right here on current tv. this tuesday, april 30. great to see you today as we take a look at what's happening around the country around the globe and right here in our nation's capital. that's where you'll find us at our studio on capitol hill and we will not only tell you what's going on but we want to hear from you about what you think about all of the news of the day. join us by phone at

1-866-55-press. join us on twitter at bpshow. join us on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. well let's start in syria. even though the white house refuses to confirm or deny president hamid karzai admits that for the last ten years or so his office has been receiving bags of cash carried in by c.i.a. agents. so certainly we can no longer complain about karzai being corrupt because it turns out we are the ones corrupting him. what's that all mean? by the way president obama has also named a new transportation secretary. he is the young dynamic mayor of charlotte north carolina. anthony fox who did such a great job with the democratic national convention down there in 2012. and here at home, nba's jason collins has become the first male professional athlete to

come out of the closet. all of that and more coming up right here on current tv. "carbon tax"? >> with an open mind... >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> ...and a distinctly satirical point of view. >> but you mentioned "great leadership" so i want to talk about donald rumsfeld. >> (laughter). >> watch the show. >> only on current tv.

you know who is coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking? (vo) this afternoon, current tv is the place for compelling true stories. >> jack, how old are you? >> nine. >> this is what 27 tons of marijuana looks like. (vo) with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines, way inside. (vo) from the underworld, to the world of privilege. >> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him.

(vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current. >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: president obama telling congress get back in town and get rid of the sequester. don't do it piecemeal. good morning everybody. what do you say? it is tuesday, april 30. this is the "full court press." we're coming to you live from our nation's capital and our studio here on capitol hill. good to have you with us this morning. as we take time to look out

there and find out what's going on here in our nation's capital around the country and around the globe. and then give you a chance to comment, you know. tell us what you think all of this means to you and to your family. you can do so by giving us a call at 1-866-55-press. join us on twitter at bpshow and on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow and that chat room still goes on as long as there is a current tv, there will be a current tv chat room. if you go to current.com, click on the chat room, you're in with your other "full court pressers." our team here in place to serve you. peter ogborn and dan henning. >> happy tuesday. >> good morning. >> bill: alichia cruz has the phones covered. cyprian bowlding keeps us looking good on -- as good as possible on current tv. he's got the camera duty. last night big political week. today is the primary up in

massachusetts. republicans and democrats both having their primary contest to see who will be the nominee for john kerry's senate seat. stephen lynch and ed markey on the democratic side. ed markey reportedly most polls showing favored in that runoff. we'll be watching that today. last night week from today is the election in south carolina for whoever is going to fill the seat vacated by tim scott who is now united states senator. last night was the long anticipated and awaited debate between elizabeth colbert busch and former -- and the former governor, former playboy mark sanford. and last night elizabeth colbert busch didn't hesitate to go there. everybody knows what sanford's

vulnerability is. his achilles' heel. >> we talk about fiscal spending and protecting the taxpayers, it doesn't mean you take that money we saved and leave the country for a personal purpose. >> oh. [ applause ] >> she went there governor sanford. >> i couldn't hear what she said. [ laughter ] >> i didn't hear it. i'm sorry. >> that's a pretty good trick. if you don't like what someone just said to you i'm sorry i didn't hear what you said. >> bill: do you think he heard? >> to be fair, to be fair, her microphone did go out on some of the stuff i was watching online. but i mean, they were right there. i don't know how he could not have heard that. >> bill: he heard -- he

knows -- he knew what she said. well i guess that's the issue. it will come down to whether people of south carolina like him or not. big news coming up here about -- big story of the day. jason collins, the first member of the nba took him out -- to come out of the closet. dave zirin here at the top of the show, sports editor for the nation about that. arthur delaney from "huffington post" will be along to talk about the sequester who's really getting hurt by the sequester and julie mason from sirius x.m. p.o.t.u.s. channel will be here as a "friend of bill" for the next hour. but first -- >> this is the "full court press." >> other headlines making news on this tuesday. the boston red sox yesterday saluted jason collins on twitter for becoming the first active american male athlete in a major sport to come out and invited him to throw out the first pitch at an upcoming game at fenway

park. collins most recently played for the wizards but he did spend time with the celtics in boston earlier in the 2012 season. >> bill: he's no longer with the wizards. >> he's a free agent. looking for a job. >> another high profile media personality spoke out against the white house correspondents' dinner yesterday. abc's barbara walters support for tom brokaw's decision to boycott the dinner saying "on the view" she didn't go because it had become more about the movie stars and less about the people in washington that journalists look forward to meeting. in a recent meeting with politico tom brokaw said the breaking point was when lindsay lohan attended the dinner last year. >> bill: oh, no, barbara walters isn't coming anymore? i'm not going. i only go to see her. >> hostess twinkies and hoe hoes will be back on store shelves by the end of july. the company which was saved by a couple of private equity groups announced yesterday it has started the hiring process and

will open four new bakeries by the end of may in indiana illinois, georgia and kansas. "usa today" reports the company is also trying to fight its anti-union image. they say they're happy to hire union workers land respect legal obligations associated with hiring them. >> bill: i wonder what the first lady thinks about hostess cupcakes coming back. >> let's move away. >> bill: yes, it hit the sports world. you know, like i don't know, fireworks yesterday when jason collins announced in an interview he gave to "sports illustrated" and part of that was leaked. he said he didn't intend to be the first but that's the way it happened and he is the first member of the nba to come out of the closet. is this such a big deal or should it be? dave zirin our good friend, sports eder -- editor for the

"nation" magazine joins us on our news line. >> great to be here. >> bill: good to have you back. is this a big deal and why is it a big deal? >> it is a massive deal. often times in the sports world hype takes the place of substance. it is like you get a package covered in ribbons and tinfoil you unwrap it and all you have left is ribbons and tinfoil otherwise known as tim tebow. this is a case where the substance is actually greater than the hype because it is historic. because you've never had in north american sports, an active male athlete. that's the keyword is active male athlete. who felt like he could come out of the closet while still in his playing career. that makes it history. >> bill: why is it more important than martina navratilova and billie jean king and other -- women who have come out? years ago? 20 years ago or more? >> it is a terrific question.

i think it's not that it's more important but one of the things is that it hasn't happened. it hasn't happened. martina came out in 1981. so you're talking about 30 plus years. of male athletes who would come out of the closet after they retired. but didn't feel like they could come out when they were actually playing. there are reasons for that that we can certainly delve into. certainly the one that makes the most sense to me is that historically women's sports has operated as a kind of safe space for lbgt women to be able to gather, to be able to have some form of community often it was done under the auspices of silence. but men sports, going back to when teddy roosevelt used to call people sissies who refused to play football, has been a place where heterosexuality has been policed and normalized to such a degree that the closet was seen as the ticket to entry.

it is something you would have to accept. this is a break from over 100 years of very bigoted tradition in the way u.s. sports is constructed. >> bill: do you think that he will be the last one we see this season? >> no. not at all. i don't because i've been covering this story for several years. and for years it's been the case of hearing rumors about certain athletes, about speaking to certain athletes, about athletes who are going to come out but then said it is not really the time. i don't want the burden. but once somebody's the first. it becomes a lot easier. remember when roger banister ran the mile in under four minutes. no one had been able to do it. when he hit 3:59, the floodgates opened. >> bill: nba players nfl players, what do you hear? >> i certainly hear as many people have heard that there are

four nfl players who have been waiting the right time to be able to come out but feel a great deal of nervousness about doing it, especially in a league that doesn't have guaranteed contracts, not a small thing. also nhl players because the nhl as a league just adopted a very aggressive policy against homophobia including counseling for closeted athletes who are looking to come out. there is a lot going on right now. i think we're going to see that take place over the next several months. >> hey what do you think happens to jason collins now? >> great question. it is a terrific question because he's 34. he's a free agent. mark stein interviewed 14 general managers yesterday. he's a very good basketball writer for espn. he interviewed them anonymously. six said absolute slam dunk he would be on a team next year. eight said no. but didn't say it was because of

him coming out. they said it was because he's 34 and his best days are behind him. but it is hard to imagine that he won't find a job next year unless there's frankly just an internal outpouring of bigotry in the front offices of the nba. i'm in no way saying that they have an obligation to sign him just because he came out. but i am saying that if you're 7 feet tall, 255 pounds and have a reputation as a pro's pro which jason collins does have, there's no reason why he shouldn't be able to find a job. >> speaking of great basketball writers, one that sort of made an ass of himself yesterday was chris broussard. >> sure did. >> bill: i want to play that little -- just a quick little clip here, dave. then you and i can beat up on him. >> openly living that type of lifestyle, then the bible says you know them by their fruits. it says that you know, that's a sin and if you're openly living

in unrepentant sin whatever it may be. not just homosexuality adultery fornication premarital sex between heterosexuals, whatever it may be. i believe that's walking an open rebellion to god and jesus christ. i would not characterize that person as a christian because i don't think the bible would characterize him as a christian. >> really quick, before the bulls/nets game last night shaquille o'neal said jason collins is the type of player we all wanted to be. charles barkley also said this is a good day for the nba but then he addressed broussard's comments and said people shouldn't be crucified for having a difference of opinion and so this starts the conversation. do you think it is part of the conversation that helps at all? >> no. i think it is actually -- this is a mark of shame on espn. actually, it is less about chris broussard and it is about espn. he's been public about those views before. very known to have those views.

he's on the board of an organization that has these views. and espn, let's be honest. they got caught flat-footed yesterday on the biggest story of the last several years. >> halfway through the day their front splash was tim tebow. >> that was embarrassing. so embarrassing that bob lee who is considered the absolute king of moral authority at espn, the outside the lines host, he tweeted out so glad we've moved off the tebow mania. several of the espn personalities actually retweeted the words. it was an embarrassment they went with tebow for several hours after this was announced. the fact though that then outside the lines which he was not hosting yesterday, chris broussard, the platform, knowing what he would say to me, stank of desperation. it stank of wanting to actually be a part of a story that they were shut out of and it was an

embarrassing display of media malpractice. >> bill: what a way to be part of the story right? >> yeah. >> bill: to put your most bigoted voice on the air. does he speak for a lot of members of the sports world? >> see that's the thing too. i think he does. i also think that there's a way in which you can have that conversation without providing a formal platform for a person to actually be harmful and to go off in such a way that people were feeling such a sense of celebration. it is very easy -- you know, one way to do it would have been chris broussard could have actually -- i don't know been a reporter yesterday and called his sources and spoken about what people are saying. about jason collins as opposed to saying well, this is my moment to throw shade on this entire day. which is clearly meant so much to so many people. so it is -- i do think it is going to be an issue and there

is certainly a big streak of evangelical christianity that exists in the sports world. i think the way we take that on and discuss it, i totally disagree with charles barkley like that now it is like chris broussard is now a martyr and free speech and he's being crucified. that's ridiculous. give me a break. these are opinions that have held slay for the last century. the idea we could have one day that celebrates the fact that jason collins was doing this i guess is too much. >> bill: i have to add any time any time cites the bible as a reason to discriminate against anybody for any reason, they're way, way wrong. >> also, it speaks to where the line is for espn, for goodness sakes. if someone got up there and said that judaism or islam or christianity was evil and not in accordance with god. i frankly don't think they would keep their job very long. >> bill: that's right. all of this is somebody expressing his opinion. dave zirin, always good to talk

to you. it is good to have you back. thanks for your time. >> my privilege, bill. >> bill: you're the best. dave zirin sports ederter for the nation. you can follow him at edge of sports on twitter. edgeofsports.com. >> announcer: go mobile with bill press. download podcasts and listen any time anywhere. this is the "bill press show." converstion started next. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv.

this show is about analyzing criticizing, and holding policy to the fire. are you encouraged by what you heard the president say the other night? is this personal or is it political? a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. staying in tough with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. not only does senator rubio just care about rich people but somehow he thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. but we do care about them, right? vo: the war room tonight at 6 eastern alright, in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one

party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. >> bill: arthur delaney here from "huffington post" about the sequester and the real impact on real people coming up in the

next segment. meanwhile, a couple of things are bringing you up to date on. chris christie, governor of new jersey appearing on msnbc yesterday morning. once again saying look, don't ask me to dump on president obama. i may be a republican but the man came through for new jersey. i'm going to thank him for it. >> the president has kept every promise that he made. the fact is that that's what i was saying at the time. what i was saying is i was asked about how is the president doing? he's doing a good job. he's kept his word. >> bill: kept his word. came through on every promise that he made. so, of course, why not thank him for it. and chris christie has and some of his fellow republicans are not happy about it. but tough. the other story that i just think -- i cannot believe this one. but remember we all remember some people want to forget, we'll never forget what happened, we'll never forget what happened in 2000 with the

supreme court saying oh, you know what? florida, you've taken too long. we can't give you any more time. you don't get to count the votes in your state. we, the five members of the supreme court will decide who should be the next president of the united states. yesterday, one of them, sandra day o'connor, came out and said looking back now she thinks that was a big mistake. she regrets. we took the case at the time, maybe she says the court should have said we're not going to take it. good-bye. now she tells us! and just think first of all what a horrible, tragic mistake that is. what an affront to democracy that was. and also think about how things might have been different because we know who won the election. al gore won the election. how things would have been so different for al gore, president instead of george w. bush.

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

you know who is coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking? (vo) this afternoon, current tv is the place for compelling true stories. >> jack, how old are you? >> nine. >> this is what 27 tons of marijuana looks like. (vo) with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines, way inside. (vo) from the underworld, to the world of privilege. >> everyone in michael jackson's

life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show," live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: what do you say? 33 minutes after the hour. tuesday, april 30. here we go. end of april. man, can't believe it. i'm not ready for the end of april. no choice. we're in it. good to see you today. it is the "full court press." and we know that congress, in a hurry to get out of town making sure there will be no delays on their flights. they did what people thought would be impossible but in one day, they passed a bill to exempt the faa from the

sequester, at least allow them to change funds around so they could put all of the air-traffic controllers back to work so there will be no delays on their flights home. is this the most important thing congress could do? does this mean we won't worry about the other cuts that the sequester has made to other programs? arthur delaney from "huffington post" is all over the story. he joins us to talk about it. hey, arthur, good to see you. >> good to see you. >> bill: the young mr. delaney. if you look at "huffington post" this morning sequester fester. devastating meals on wheels. cuts top story on "huffington post" today and it is yours. >> that's right. >> bill: congratulations. you get paid extra when you make the front page? >> if i have a story that doesn't get 100 comments, i'll get fired. so it is not -- [ laughter ] >> it is just my job. >> it is not positive reinforcement. it is negative reinforcement. >> bill: all right. so the gist of it is, you're

saying, that one of the cheap places that people are feeling the cuts for the sequester meals on wheels, what a place to start. >> congress changed the faa thing, essentially endorsing every other terrible thing that's happening as a result of the sequestration. i don't think there's any other way to look at it. what they did last week. and it's been sort of slowly building up but now the cuts that we've been anticipating are starting to happen. the magnitude of them remains to be seen but i went to roanoke virginia and the story on the top of "huffington post" right now is about the meals on wheels program that serves that area. as a direct result of sequestration, they've cut emergency meals. they are reducing their client list from 650 to 600. do that mostly through attrition. they've already shrunk it by 24 people. and i found this one client who

is 70 years old. gets about $1,000 a month social security and a veterans pension. >> bill: that's it. >> he's all alone in this mostly deserted building. meals on wheels was a big part of his diet. his daily social interaction. but he knows he's seen other people who are worse off than him and what happened is he saw the sequestration on the news and he raised his hand and said i'll volunteer to drop out. so someone else doesn't have to go without. an amazing act of decency in the face of what congress has done. so his name is willie mccormack. he lives in roanoke. >> bill: there are people who really could not do what he has done in the sense that they depend have no other resource, meals on wheels, correct? >> right. i went and distributed meals with one of the volunteers there and a lot of the clients we saw in the old southwest

neighborhood are people who are really stuck in their apartments. they are not healthy enough to jaunt around town and go to the store and it is a lonely life and meals on wheels part of it is the nutrition. it is good food and the other part of it is someone is checking in on you every day and making sure you're okay. that helps keep people out of nursing homes. it is not the greatest thing to be stuck on your couch watching tv but that's more dignified life than dwindling in assisted living facility, in a nursing home. so it's remarkable that congress has really come out and essentially said we're fine cutting this program which doesn't even cost a lot of money and essentially saves money. by keeping people -- >> bill: out of nursing homes. >> from having to be supported by medicare, medicaid and nursing homes. but we're fine with this. we're going to change the airplane problem. >> bill: are there other

social programs like this that you've looked at where again outside the beltway, inside the beltway, you couldn't even tell there's been a sequestration. real programs outside the beltway that are impacting real people? >> there is a plethora -- "huffington post" is really committed to keeping track of what happens. because you know, there were controversial predictions about what would be cut and what would not and what is required to be cut and what isn't. >> bill: a lot of claims that the administration was exaggerating, that it was no big deal. >> alternating between that and that they're doing it on purpose and they don't have to. but it's meals on wheels is one thing. there is assistance for poor people. unemployment insurance is being cut. head start for little kids. all of these different things. it is a year-long process that we'll be watching this shake out. it will be interesting to see if the elite opinion changes.

right now, they're pretty comfortable fixing the airplane problem that affects travelers including themselves, members of congress. but this other stuff they're going to let go on. >> bill: of all of the possible issues, right, that could prompt congress to act you know, it wasn't meals on wheels. it wasn't head start. it wasn't food stamps, right? it is the inconvenience of having your flight delayed. >> i was talking about this with jeff houser of afl-cio. if this were veep and there were a plot line, a writer was coming up with, they would say that's too comically evil. it is not realistic. they're going to fix the airplane problem the day before they all go to the airport because they're going out of town? no one will believe that that's something that would happen in washington. and i can't remember a story

where the most you learn about it the more outrageous it seems. who's written the explanation for why -- this is actually a good thing to do? i know people who fly aren't all rich and that getting stuck on the tarmac is outrageous and extremely aggravating but what's really the justification? for this? >> bill: the other side of this is so congress does this. i could almost -- and we talked about it here on the program. the risk of repeating myself. but you can maybe expect this -- i could from some republicans in congress. but what really got my goat was when the president said that he would sign this bill, that was rushed through. so i challenged jay carney about this arthur, i want you to know on friday. saying aren't you in fact, contradicting your own message because they've been preaching for a couple of months which i totally agree with. that the sequester was a bad idea and we've got to get rid of

it but now on top of that, they end up signing this one little special interest, special exception. so here's our exchange a little bit. >> at the risk of piling on, i think the problem is aren't you contradicting yourself and sending the wrong message by saying the sequester is bad. we'll sign this one bill carving out this one exception and aren't you inviting more exceptions? >> bill, i appreciate the question but there's no way for this practically to be done except in a broad action by congress to eliminate -- >> bill: it is my question. >> it is causing unnecessary harm to travelers around the country. >> bill: no, see he can't answer the question. they don't have an answer. so this here is the followup, right. which i -- look, well, let's listen to it. >> don't you accept that somebody's going to come down the road tomorrow with -- it could be small business, it could be farmers it could be

cancer patients. somebody else is going to come up with the same argument. >> bill, they may. what i'm saying is that this is not the answer. we were very concerned about the effects that these furloughs would have on air travelers. so much so that the secretary of transportation came here two months ago and warned the american people about it. >> bill: that doesn't answer the question of obviously why are they signing the bill. yesterday, four different reporters asked jay carney the same question. that you just heard. that i asked him on friday. who's next? right? who is going to be the next -- and you know, somebody will be able to make another bogus argument that this group like air traffic air travelers is so important we can't let them get hurt by the sequester. >> where is the counter intuitive, convincing -- where is the slate pitch to justify --

it is just not here. it is absent. it is so strange. >> bill: i do think that it undercuts everything the administration has been saying about the sequester and they keep saying well, it is just a band-aid. yep, it's just a band-aid but so band-aid here but no band-aids over here? look again who gets all of the special attention right? look at the people, you've been down there in roanoke talking to who don't have a voice in washington. nobody representing them in washington. they get screwed. >> literally makes poor people hungry. it is just -- it is too much. it is amazing. >> bill: you know what? but it is so important that you and our colleagues in the media focus on that, right? on the real impact of the sequester and we just -- the tip of the iceberg here. >> just getting started. furloughs were just beginning. to instantly fix that.

all of the other stuff is ramping up just like the faa's furloughs were. >> bill: arthur delaney from "huffington post" here. huffingtonpost.com. go to the site and read arthur's top story here. we'll talk more about this the sequester and you tell us how this sequester is impacting you and your community your family. 1-866-55-press. here on the "full court press." >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." now on current tv. just be grateful current tv does not come in smellivision. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv.

john fugelsang: if you believe in states rights but still support the drug war you must be high. cenk uygur: i think the number one thing viewers like about the honest. i think the audience gets that i actually mean it. michael shure: this show is about being up to date so a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. joy behar: you can say anything here. jerry springer: i spent a couple of hours with a hooker joy behar: your mistake was writing a check jerry springer: she never cashed it (vo) the day's events. four very unique points of view. tonight starting at 6 eastern.

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

press show." >> bill: here we go. 13 minutes before the top of the hour. we're talk about the sequester who's really getting burned and who's not and who's getting the attention of congress and the white house and who's not. talking about that with arthur delaney, reporter, crack reporter fore"the huffington post." got the lead story on "huffington post" this morning. back to arthur. your calls and your comments, as well. just a quick word about identity theft. another warning you ought to do something about it. here we are up in new york city. police have arrested a new york woman charged her with stealing the identity of -- god how low can you sink? steal the identity of her 83-year-old grandmother who suffers from dementia. she used all of that information to open a credit card account and use the card to pay for prescriptions to satisfy her drug habit. identity theft it strikes everywhere, even from some of your own family members. gotta be protected against it as i am with lifelock ultimate.

the most comprehensive i.d. theft protection ever made. but lifelock can't protect you or your bank account if you're not a member. call today and mention press 60. you'll get 60 risk free days of protection. if you're not happy cancel within 60 days for a full refund. see lifelock.com for details and call them at 1-800-356-5967 for lifelock ultimate. >> quick story on the faa legislation. there is one thing that's holding it up. >> bill: we've been talking about the sequester legislation. >> the president is expected to sign the legislation today but they had to fix something because they put this bill together so quickly that they had a typo in it. there was a missing s in the bill. and that was enough to slow down -- they put it together so fast. part of the legislation was handwritten so they had to go

through this procedural movement to fix this. get it taken care of. get it to the president and he's going to sign -- he's expected to sign it today. >> bill: so the senate did it in one day with no hearings, no process, none of this thing -- bills had to be up on line for three days. remember the big reform so everybody could read them and comment and none of that in the senate. then it went over to the house. the house did it in half a day. again, no public hearing. no posting. hand-written bill. you would think again keep coming back to this. what would be the one issue that was so vital. is it going to war? is it a cure for cancer? what is so vital that can get this sluggish congress to get its ass in gear and act that fast? right? somebody had a two-hour delay on the tarmac. oh, my god. your people that you talked to down in roanoke who depend on meals on wheels or head start or

food stamps or whatever, they got their ass in gear but they didn't get their s in gear. [ laughter ] >> bill: that's pretty hot for this early in the morning arthur. i don't know. eric is calling from phoenix arizona. hey, eric. >> how you doing? >> bill: what's up? >> caller: i was curious -- whose idea was the sequester anyway? >> you mean the obama quester? >> the thing i'm wondering about, i consider myself kind of an independent. i listen to both sides. i formulate my own little opinion. the thing i was wondering if he -- it was his idea -- >> eric, you know what? i get so tired of hearing that b.s. get the hell out of here. steve is calling from chicago. hi steve. [ laughter ] >> bill: because i don't care whose idea it is, it is a bad

idea. i don't care if it is obama's idea or mitch mcconnell's idea. i want to tell you something else, anybody who calls here and says i'm really an independent. i listen to both sides. you're some right wing zingo who listens to rush limbaugh and calls progressive talk radio shows trying to make a point. get the hell out of here. steve is calling from chicago. >> caller: net effect of sequester, zero, zilch nada, nothing. the problem with hunger here is obesity. people are dying of being fat. we are more concerned about violence gunshots, cleaning up the crap of daley and whether or not jackson will get sentenced to prison. there is no effect at all. >> thank god we went on to a better, more intelligence caller. >> should have stuck with the first guy. >> first guy was at least correct. whatever. >> bill: actually, he's not totally correct. >> well, it is not fair.

it is technically accurate at least. >> bill: the sequester was like 15 years ago they had a sequester. and then we know that the negotiations at the white house the congress, republicans were saying we gotta have something. we just can't do this thing and then somebody -- i think sperling -- not obama. it is ridiculous. >> if everyone in congress voted for it, i don't understand how that is even supposed to be an effective talking point. but there you are. i guess it is not effective. >> bill: it is a right wing talking point and it just keeps coming up by people who pretend to be neutral independent observers, right? >> i think they've had better. >> bill: right. on to steve's point, people that you saw down in roanoke they weren't really hungry. they don't depend on meals on wheels but they would just diet, that would be the answer, right?

>> it is like -- it is everywhere. the sequester is not actually happening. this is verging on info wars type garbage because they're look -- they can make technical argument that because social security and medicare are exempted the net federal reduction is smaller than what they say it is. but no, discretionary spending is being cut just like it was supposed to be cut according to the law and yes it is actually taking food away from old people. i saw it. >> bill: it is hurting real people. there is the man. he's got it. eyewitness to what's going on with the sequester. it is real. arthur delaney, thank you for helping fight the good fight. i need your help. >> thanks for having me. >> bill: i'll be back and tell what you the president is up to today. >> get social with bill press. like us at facebook.com/billpressshow. this is the "bill press show." >> has the time finally come for

real immigration reform? >> ...and a distinctly satirical point of view. >> but you mentioned "great leadership" so i want to talk about donald rumsfeld. >> (laughter). >> watch the show. >> only on current tv. you know who is coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were

they thinking?

current tv is the place for true stories. with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines. real, gripping, current. documentaries... on current tv.

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show". >> bill: sirius x.m. here as a "friend of bill" in the next hour p.o.t.u.s. president obama and the vice president and the first lady and dr. jill biden have a big announcement at the white house today. about jobs for veterans. that's been the first lady's about jobs, making that announcement at 11:45 in the east room. the president and the vice president meet for lunch and this afternoon, the two of them meet with defense secretary chuck hagel. briefings yet to be determined sometime today.

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: good morning fellow americans and welcome to the "full court press." right here on current tv. it is tuesday april 30. great to see you today. got lots to talk about. got lots of news happening today. both here in our nation's capital and around the country. and around the globe. a lot of news out of afghanistan. we'll tell you about that in a second. whatever's going on, we want to hear from you what you think about it all. give us a call at 1-866-55-press. join us on twitter at bpshow. that's our twitter handle at bpshow. on facebook, facebook.com/billpress show. yes, indeed. in afghanistan even though the

white house will neither confirm nor deny it, president hamid karzai admits now that for the last decade or so, they have been -- he's been receiving bags of cash delivered by c.i.a. agents. what that means, of course is we can no longer complain about karzai being corrupt because it turns out we're the ones corrupting him. what i want to know is what do we get for all of the money we gave karzai? president obama's named a new transportation secretary charlotte, north carolina, mayor anthony fox did such a great job with the democratic national convention in 2012 and the nba's jason collins has come out of the closet. the first nba player to do so. all of that and more coming up right here. good reason to stay tuned for current tv. iq will go way up. (vo) current tv gets the converstion started weekdays at 9am eastern.

>> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. (vo) tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >> you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. just be grateful current tv does not come in smellivision. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv.

this show is about analyzing criticizing, and holding policy to the fire. are you encouraged by what you

heard the president say the other night? is this personal or is it political? a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. staying in tough with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. not only does senator rubio just care about rich people but somehow he thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. but we do care about them, right? vo: the war room tonight at 6 eastern alright, in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us.

>> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: jason collins becomes the first nba player to come out of the closet. a phone call from president obama. wonder what they talked about. great to see you. it is the "full court press" here on tuesday april 30. good to have you with us today. we've got lots and lots to talk about. lots that you're going to want to jump in and express your point of view about. give us a call at 1-866-55-press. that's our toll free number. join us on twitter at bpshow or on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. can't do it alone. takes a village.

and so we need to reach out for help here and here's a -- good friend who does the same thing three hours every day just like i do. she does it on p.o.t.u.s. channel on sirius x.m. julie mason joining us as a "friend of bill." >> bill, i'm here to help. >> bill: thank you, thank you. and you know, that's a lot of help when you have three hours of your own and you still give us one hour. >> oh, whatever you need, bill. whatever you want. >> bill: how is it going? you look dapper at the white house correspondents' dinner. >> so did you bill, thank you very much. >> bill: we had a good time. >> it was fun. >> did i not look so good there? come on? >> oh, yeah, you were there. [ laughter ] >> peter was there. yeah, he was actually at the next table so you couldn't miss him. he's a tall man. tall man. >> i was the one person who didn't get obscured by chris christie when they had the shot of him on c-span, i was the only person you could see behind him

because i was big enough to not be blocked out by chris christie. >> bill: peter ogborn and dan henning, team press here. >> good morning. >> bill: alichia cruz on the phones. and cyprian bowlding who keeps us looking good on the camera. >> i liked how you dwelt that caller in the last hour, bill. i took some notes. awesome. >> bill: i'm always very gentle. >> you are. christ-like, really. >> bill: i want to ask you some people, i heard it again this morning. the president was awesome saturday night. he was i thought really on, really funny. timing. he does that so well. people keep bashing conan o'brien. somebody this morning say i heard conan wasn't so hot. he was really good. >> everyone loves to bash the comedian. jimmy kimmel got it last year. setting meyers the year before. part of the president is we're not used to the president being funny. we're used to the other guys being funny. >> bill: conan exceeded my

expectations. put it that way. >> most politicians are funny for politicians. obama is genuinely funny when he does these things. >> it is endearing too. i like the way he laughs at his own jokes. >> bill: he'll tell a joke and then he'll pause and chuckle. >> he's also laughing at the joke. >> bill: now, this is a big day. april 30. i want you to know for a big reason. here he is. ♪ on the road again ♪ ♪ just can't wait to get on the road again ♪ >> bill: celebrating his 80th birthday. we know what keeps willie going. and why he's lived so long. and it is called p-o-t. >> i think it is nice the two of you snuck off to the teacher's lounge earlier to celebrate willie nelson's birthday. >> bill: he's a great human being. a great individual. such a -- so many great songs. >> i loved him in "wag the dog".

>> holy cow. that's right. >> bill: i love the stories about his bus and the cops walk on to his bus. you talk about secondhand smoke man. he keeps this great big -- what do we call them? >> barrel. wheelbarrow? >> bongs? >> bill: yeah. >> what do we call them? i think you call that every morning. >> bill: on his desk. makes no bones about it. willie. we love ya. julie mason is here as a "friend of bill" the entire hour. we'll be joined by will dobson from slate later. we've got a lot of ground to cover. we'll get right to it but first dan? big stories of the day. >> other headlines making news on this tuesday. jason collins is credited for his college roommate for motivating him to come out. his stanford roommate, now

democratic congressman joe kennedy's participation in the boston gay pride parade last year motivated him to start thinking about coming out. collins wrote he was angry at the time that he couldn't be there in person to support his friend kennedy, but now he couldn't be prouder. >> bill: good for jason collins. most of the reaction yesterday was very, very positive. except the jerk chris broussard from espn. but everybody else -- even came up at the briefing yesterday. and jay carney said everybody at the white house was proud of the fact and admired his courage for doing so. >> i'm sure he's not the first gay nba player. >> no. >> bill: no. there will be others in other major sports that will come out now that he's broken the ice. >> with the white house correspondents dinner in the rear view mirror, it is on o to the radio and tv correspondents' association dinner. they announced yesterday that celebrity chef emeril lagasse will design the menu for the june event at the national building museum. it will be mardi gras themed.

the hill reports the cajun creole inspired dinner will have four new orleans based program bands performing and plenty of beads and masks. >> bill: that's a step up from the convention center where they have had the dinner which i thought was wretched. >> terrible. what a fun event though. also coming up is the white house news photographer's association dinner. that's a great one. >> bill: never been to that one. >> the best awards dinner in washington. >> can you get us an invitation? >> hook you up. sure. >> bill: i want to go to that one. >> it is the best part. they're great. they really celebrate each other. really pay tribute to each other. it is just about celebrating and congratulating each other on their work. >> bill: when is that? >> may 11th. >> bill: let's put it down. >> work it out. >> no nfl team expressed any interest in tim tebow yesterday after the second stringer was released by the new york jets but there is some interest north

of the border in the canadian football league. "huffington post" reporting that montreal alouettes say they would welcome tebow providing he's willing to compete for a back-up quarterback position with their team. >> bill: tim tebow going to canada huh? >> what happened? he was all the rage. everyone loved him. >> bill: only because he did this thing. not because he was such a great quarterback. >> he got a raw deal in new york. they didn't use him and when they did, they used him in these weird, wacky stunt plays and it ended up blowing up in their face. i look forward to him selling me my next car or real estate. or, as i said, he could open a restaurant. t-bones steakhouse. >> nice. i'm not against you. >> bill: there is a difference. okay. here's my favorite story of the day, julie mason.

we know what happened. we remember what happened in the year 2000. and there were five supreme court justices that said we think we should maintaining this case and stop florida from counting all of the votes and we'll decide who is the next president. one of those was sandra day o'connor. yesterday she came out and said looking back now, i think that was a mistake. a mistake, she said to take the case. maybe the court should have said instead we're not going to take it. good-bye. now she tells us? >> shocking. maybe you need hindsight to get clarity on that. that was a crisis, bill. that was a national -- you were there. >> bill: i was in front of the court with tucker carlson reporting that night of the decision. >> exactly. >> bill: it was cold too. >> i spent from thanksgiving to my birthday in tallahassee covering that story. it was grim! and there was no clear resolution to it. i think the supreme court had to step in but it is right now you don't think so? >> bill: no.

totally disagree. i really believe that states should be allowed to count their votes. if it takes another week, then fine but they should be allowed to count their votes. there was no national crisis that required that we know whatever that day was i forget the date of the decision. >> december 13th. i have that handy bill. >> bill: there was no national crisis that required that day we had no know who the next president was. >> but once the florida courts got involved, don't you think it was up to the supreme court? >> bill: no. >> would the nation be satisfied if the florida courts decided that decision? >> bill: i can't believe we're still having this debate but i can't believe, i think the nation would have been satisfied if the man who won the election actually won the election. but so let's not have that debate again. but here is the thing. there were only five of them. huge when one of them now says it was a mistake. which means they didn't take the

case. >> so would we have gone to war? >> bill: the war in iraq -- >> wouldn't have happened. >> bill: but there's no way to undo it. >> you can't undo it. look what it did to the supreme court. right after that their approval numbers, america lost faith in the u.s. supreme court. that used to be the unfallible institution. you could disagree with their rulings, ever since then, they've been struggling. they think is all partisan. >> bill: i don't remember justices, any other justice saying like scalia would never say i was wrong. >> about anything. >> bill: exactly. or maybe some of those who voted for roe v. wade, if they came out and said it was a mistake, i shouldn't have voted that way. but you can't go back and change your vote. >> right. they shouldn't have even taken up the case. not that she voted the wrong way. >> bill: huge. >> massive. >> bill: i've always admired

her. i admire her candor now. i just wish maybe she had thought it through twice before she did. the other favorite story of the day is so yesterday "the new york times" reported that hamid karzai, president of afghanistan, has been getting for the last ten years bags of cash. people walking in his office literally suitcases full of $100 bills. >> love that story. >> bill: backpacks plastic shopping bags, right? >> because here's the thing bill. if you're going to do something really sleazy, don't dress it up in a messenger bag. bring it in a plastic bag. cvs, dirty crumpled bills. >> bill: "new york times" said it was delivered by the c.i.a. so yesterday at the briefing -- [ laughter ] jay carney was asked about this and jay carney's response was i've had no comment on that story. check with the c.i.a. >> yes. >> bill: i laughed out loud. >> i'm sure they would -- that's

where you go for information. extremely forthcoming. bags of cash. >> bill: their job is to say nothing, right? that's what they're trained to do. not to talk. check with the c.i.a. i'm sure they'll be glad to help you out. >> you should call, bill. we'll see if you disappear. >> i was going to say. >> they'll shoot you. >> bill: so that was yesterday. this morning or overnight whatever karzai was asked about this. he said oh, yeah, we got all of the bags of cash. i'm glad we did because we helped it out and we used it -- what did he say? i love this. wait. he used it to -- you know, i underline -- they used it to give assistance to the wounded and sick, to pay rent for housing and for other operational purposes. >> right into the old pocket. >> bill: exactly. >> it is karzai. what are you going to do? >> bill: this is a guy we've been complaining about is corrupt.

guess why? we've been corrupting him. >> was there any other way? on the one hand, it is shocking. on the other hand, it is not even remotely shocking at all. the question is are they going to continue the payments because if you stop paying karzai, then what happens? things go bananas. you thought it was bananas before. >> bill: he was getting payments from iran at the same time. >> wouldn't you? >> bill: of course. he stopped -- iran stopped making -- >> they ran out of money. >> bill: we continue to make the payments. my question is when we look at the war in afghanistan right and when the pentagon -- here's what the war costs. and here's how we break it down. so much for tanks. so much for bullets. so much for food for the troops. so much for you know, armored weapons, carriers, whatever, then so much for bribes to karzai. how much was that little ticket item?

and what did we get for it? >> you know, you have to -- >> bill: this guy slams us every time he turns around. >> remember when he was going to join the taliban? >> bill: seriously what do we get for all of that money? >> nothing actually. he's going to be out soon and the question is what's going to replace him? >> bill: he will be a rich man, too with a villa in the south of france. that we bought. >> i'm not defending bribes to karzai but you have to wonder like they must have had a pretty good reason to do it. they didn't pay him because they liked him. >> bill: i think they thought they had a good reason. he used that to pay off the warlords who are now some of them, not cooperating if not killing our troops. unbelievable. >> there aren't enough world leaders with capes though. >> bill: true. he's the classiest dresser of them all. maybe that's what he used the money for. >> swirly capes and hats. >> bill: i want to know more

about this. i think i'll call the c.i.a. today. >> you should. find out bill. report that. >> bill: we're getting to the bottom of it all right here on the "full court press." you can join the conversation, we dare you at 1-866-55-press. >> announcer: connect with the "bill press show" on twitter. follow us at bpshow and tweet using the hashtag watching bp. this is the "bill press show." the issues of the day. >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> with a distinctly satirical point of view. if you believe in state's rights but still believe in the drug war you must be high. >> only on current tv.

you know who is coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking? (vo) this afternoon, current tv is the place for compelling true stories. >> jack, how old are you? >> nine. >> this is what 27 tons of marijuana looks like. (vo) with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines, way

inside. (vo) from the underworld, to the world of privilege. >> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: you got it! 25 minutes after the hour on the p.o.t.u.s. channel sirius x.m. every day. from 3:00 to 6:00 east coast time, you can hear julie mason.

>> little drive time, bill. how you like me now? >> bill: repeated -- >> 9:00 to midnight. >> bill: she's here as a "friend of bill" this hour. we'll be joined by will dobson from slate in the next segment. it used to be that if you voted for gun control you were in trouble with the nra and as a politician, and pretty likely you would have a serious challenge and may not be able to keep your seat. this latest story that came out yesterday shows this was in "huffington post," that maybe the opposite is starting to be true. don't want to jump to any conclusions yet. they did look at six republican senators, not all republicans one democrat here, jeff flake of arizona, mark begich, democrat from alaska, lisa murkowski republican from alaska. rob portman ohio. dean heller, nevada and kelly ayotte from new hampshire.

all six of them voted against background checks in the senate. all six of them have seen their poll numbers in their home state drop. because of that. so do you think we're going to see a revote maybe? >> i keep hearing that but it seems so unlikely. i don't think the result would change. i don't think this is going to change any of their votes. >> bill: you don't think so? >> no. >> bill: lisa murkowski is down 16 points. fell 16 points. you don't think she goes home and she takes a look at this and talks to people she says harry reid -- why don't we reconsider this bill. which they can do, by the way. >> he just put it on hold. he could still bring it back up. >> bill: you don't think -- they only need two more votes. >> hard to see bill. it really is. people who are -- who care about gun control, it is generally not their top issue. they care about it vaguely but they care more about jobs and the economy. and they say that's what they

want to see congress working on. but it is the people who are against gun control, that is their top issue. they're so much more passionate about it. >> bill: that has always been the case. i think things may be changing. >> this soon. this fast. >> bill: if they wait until 2014 and lose a seat over it, thane they're going to be like sandra day o'connor, oh, damn, wish i hadn't voted that way right? >> right. >> bill: julie mason here as a "friend of bill" this entire hour. we'll be joined by will dobson from slate. want to get smew syria because the administration finds itself between a rock and a hard place. talk about that next on the "full court press." 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: you got it. 33 minutes after the hour. on this tuesday, april 30. coming to you live from our nation's capital and our studio on capitol hill. julie mason's here as a "friend of bill" from p.o.t.u.s. channel on sirius x.m. and we are joined now by the foreign affairs editor, politics and foreign affairs editor, if you will for slate. will dobson. nice to see you again. >> thanks for having me. >> bill: that's a pretty impressive title. >> it is. i'm all jealous now. >> please don't be. please don't be. >> don't covet your job? all right. >> bill: where do we start? we have been talking -- talk a little bit about hamid karzai.

late start with syria because president obama said we have any evidence of chemical weapons use in syria. that's the red line. he said it. we didn't put words in his mouth. that will be a game changer. okay. we found him. now what? >> he said it five times in eight months. he made the red line comments and i think they would say right in the response of the administration, we're not sure if we found them. we likely found them. >> bill: or we found a little bit. systemic. >> we don't know. they're talking about the chain of custody of the sarin gas. they're saying look, we need to be able to prove a link from who disseminated it to who targeted it. it was there. we need to find samples in the ground, in the soil, showing that what gas was used and confirming who was responsible. they're holding a very high standard for this. >> don't forget, they asked assad to cooperate in the

investigation. >> it would be nice if he would hand over some samples. so what you're dealing with is the administration is asking for certainty. and the reality is that intelligence estimates generally there is no such thing as certainty so you know, there could be fair criticism that people would say look, you're trying to hold this system up to a standard that is just impossible to meet. on the other side, well, after recent history of failed intelligence estimates and assessments, it is not maybe the worst thing in the world to be very circumspect and careful about these things. when you say red line and you say the other party crossed it, it means you now need to do something. >> bill: which is where the administration finds itself right now. everybody expects them to do something and when you say do something, julie people expect military response. >> the only way this isn't a disaster for president obama politically is to do it libya style. go in with nato.

no u.s. troops on the ground. air strikes. do it that way. do covert. but if he tries to commit the u.s. to another quasi-invasion, it would be disastrous for his presidency. nobody wants that and he hasn't made the case for it. he has yet to explain to the american people why -- what his interests are in syria. why they should be investigated. >> bill: isn't there something even short of a libya-style operation. maybe just -- bill clinton i remember sending in cruise missiles. want you to know we saw what you did. we didn't like it. take that. >> the covert options and arming the rebels is an earlier step that hasn't been taken. >> bill: that's another step. >> they aren't being armed by the united states. there is much more the united states could do short of having boots on the ground. this is a president that is not going to be slow walked into a war. he's trying to be very careful and circumspect about it. but you have seen a change. it is important that earlier in

the week when the israeli intelligence estimates came out saying near 100% uncertainty of attacks, the u.s. government was sort of poo-pooing that a little bit. 48 hours later, you get the statement from chuck hagel. so that was a bit of a jump right there. even for them to say look, there are verrying degrees of -- there are varying degrees of confidence. >> bill: one other thing that's been suggested is creating a safe zone which means a no-fly zone. this is an area like we did in southern iraq at one point. >> what you have right now in syria, something sort of like a whac-a-mole where the syrian rebels are having to move and hold territories and move to other areas to launch operations there's an ebb and flow. the united states could create an area where essentially they could work and stage all operations from. basically, begin to carve up what is syria. >> what role do you think

secretary of state john kerry is playing in this? he's urged a lot more muss cularity on syria. >> it is an important role. what we don't know -- this is an important question we won't know for months is to what degree is the obama administration using this time to build diplomatic support for some greater action. to do so, it would require getting the support of key powers like turkey, for example. so that could be part of the beginning of trying to create some sort of coalition of the willing, if you will, to have a role particularly taking on parts of the job the united states doesn't want. >> bill: you alluded to it, too. having watched one president not take the time to really determine whether or not the intelligence was correct shouldn't we kind of welcome a president who's exercising a little restraint even though it hasn't happened fast enough for those of us in the media because we want everything to happen like that. >> we do.

>> he drew the red line though. holding him to his own standards. >> bill: i'm not saying he didn't. does that mean his first thing is to bomb before he thinks? like john mccain. >> that's the thing. from senator mccain and others, they're very quick to sort of urge military action and you know they're not going to walk out on that limb with president obama. as soon as the first mistake is made, they're going to say how could you have acted so precipitously. so he's not taking any counsel from the hill on this. they're not really -- to be held responsible. >> bill: also, a narrow window here. this cannot drag on forever. >> no. terrible. >> we're now talking about -- we're approaching 100,000 people who have been killed in the last two years. this is something else for the obama administration to think about which is that one of the greatest stains on their legacy could very well be the fact that they sat by and watch this all

happen. >> bill: we're five days or so since the pentagon said that chemical weapons were used. >> the u.s. takes ownership of the situation and they do get rid of assad as president obama wants then what pops up in his place. they don't look like they're really down with democracy. >> that's what's so amazing about the syrian story which i think is incredible is people forget so quickly that it was not that long ago it was very fashionable to say how shortsighted it was for the united states to be arming ha dean in afghanistan because those would ultimately become our enemies later. now you want to arm syrian rebels where there's not hardly a sec you on a list among them. is it really possible to have such shortsighted memory to think these weapons we would arm the rebels with wouldn't be used against us in short order. these are the hard realities that obama administration faces. when you make a red line, you kind have to fall through it. at the same time, using chemical weapons is something that has to

be addressed. the worst crimes a regime could commit against its own people. the obama administration is really -- trying to thread the needle here. >> i want to get syria behind us so we can go back to talking about gitmo and guantanamo bay which you have written about this morning. i think this is a real disgrace and a real shame on the united states of america. the fact that gitmo is still open and we have people there who have been cleared. the constitution -- we have people there -- noted this. people have been cleared. haven't been released. we've held people there for a decade with no charges. >> no charges. >> bill: no charges being filed. it is antithetical to everything we stand for. >> the united states has set up a political prison off of its coast to originally to do things that it knew was illegal and now that prison continues to exist so that we can escape accountability for the things

that we did. it is now a -- >> bill: what is the status of the hunger strike? >> now we're over 90. i think we're at 93 so more than half of the 166 are on a hunger strike. people i've spoken to told me they believe it is likely that someone will die and when that happens, expect the pressure on the obama administration on a whole new level. this is sort of a slow-moving catastrophe for the administration because -- we're now sending in reinforcements of doctors to try to keep these people alive. a detachment of 40 just went to gitmo. now we have to send in reinforcements to keep them alive. think about that for a moment. >> bill, what do you think candidate senator barack obama would have said about the force-feeding of prisoners at guantanamo bay? he would have been repulsed. it is happening under his watch. not much comment from the white house. >> bill: no. by the way nor from anybody in congress or the american people for that matter.

>> sure. everyone gives him a pass on it. >> bill: who was talking about gitmo anymore seriously. >> what we did today on slate just went up an hour ago we've just published excerpts from a book written by guantanamo detainee named salee. he's written a 466 page memoir of his torture at guantanamo. his lawyers have fought for six years to get this manuscript declassified. it has been declassified. and it is now -- you can now read it for the very first time at slate. >> bill: it is at slate.com. he's still there? >> he's still there. he's still detained. he won his habeas corpus petition in 2010. a u.s. judge said you must release him. the obama administration appealed and for the last three years, he's remained there waiting for his next hearing to argue that if you cannot charge me with a crime you must let me go. >> what is his story?

where did he come from? what was he suspected of? >> he came from mauritania, from a family of camel herders. he won a scholarship to go to germany to study engineering. while he was there he left the university to go to afghanistan to fight the soviets in 1990. while he was there when it was still -- hard for americans to remember but while it was still popular to fight the soviets he joined al-qaeda to fight the soviets. afterwards, he went on, had a family continued his studies. >> still in afghanistan? >> living in germany. going back to germany living in canada then he went to mauritania returned home in 2000 and in 2001, the mauritanians contacted him and said we would like to talk to you about the millennium bombing. they talked to him said you had no responsibility for that. they cleared him of that. after 9-11, the u.s. said we would like to have him picked up. the mauritanians said would you come into questioning? he drove himself to the police station. he said to his mother, i'll see you later this evening.

i just have to answer some questions. she's never seen him again. they put him on a flight to jordan. he was tortured there for seven and a half months. after that, he was sent to bagram air base in afghanistan. he then went to guan tea mow since he's been since august 5 of 2002. >> bill: this story is up at slate.com in three installments. we'll be back with will dobson and julie mason. it is pretty depressing. >> you know what? he's an incredible guy. his story -- he actually has a sense of humor about some of the things that happened. >> bill: "full court press" continues. stay with us. >> announcer: like politics? then like the "bill press show" on facebook. this is the "bill press show."

>> "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.

>> bill: 11 minutes before the top of the hour. in studio with us as a "friend of bill," julie mason from sirius x.m. p.o.t.u.s. channel. channel 124. every weekday from 3:00 to 6:00. covering all of the political news of the day. and i love being a guest on your show. >> we love having you on, bill. >> bill: friday, right? >> yes. >> bill: will dobson here, politics editor for slate. we've been talking about the issues of the day during the break. the white house announcing president obama will be meeting with reporters and taking questions from the brady pressroom at 10:15 this morning which means i have to get my butt out of here right after the

show down to the white house get dressed first maybe. >> you have a tie bill? because you know, the president. >> bill: i live close by. i'll get a tie. >> don't shame us. >> bill: what is this all about? you think he has something to say about syria? >> that's certainly a possibility. this is really short notice. that could be the type of thing where -- >> bill: he's not coming in to chitchat. >> no. he's got something to say. >> as a former member of the white house. >> i don't think it is jason collins. >> i don't think they have a deal on the sequester. the only thing he has to talk about right now is syria. gotta be syria. >> bill: there will be a question about afghanistan. i'm sure. but he is doing this because he has something to tell us. all right. >> if he didn't want to answer questions about syria, he wouldn't be coming out today. >> bill: right right. no. they want to make some news obviously on that. and that's coming up again at

10:15. now, we haven't gotten your take on will, what julie and i were talking about. the story from "the new york times" which the white house would neither confirm nor deny yesterday that president hamid karzai in afghanistan has been getting for over a decade now bags of cash. regularly delivered to his office by the c.i.a. white house wouldn't say anything about it. but karzai overnight said yeah, what's the big deal. we've been getting them. you get them, right? >> stacks of cash. >> not a lot of money. just tens of millions. yeah. no. i think on some level it is both not shocking and but still on some level this is disturbing. this is how afghanistan has worked for a long time. you know, even before there was a man named karzai, if you go back into the early 1990s when we were buying support from the hadine, that was done with bags

of cash and stockloads of weapons. we made some of the warlords by giving them this cash. so what's -- what it tells you though is nothing has changed. that after all of our time spent trying to put this countrien its feet. we have an enormous infrastructure we pay for trying to fight corruption in the society. make it quote-unquote normal country. the c.i.a. is giving out bags of cash. >> feeding that corruption. >> feeding that corruption. >> nurturing it. loving it. >> bill: julie asked earlier how many other people are we giving cash to? >> yeah. who else? >> that's a fair question. it is obviously -- i think in the case of afghanistan, it is in the rule book this is the way things can be done and we believed that we needed to do it. which also says something about what we think about our own influence there. we didn't think that we could just be persuasive. that we didn't think that after everything we had done for more

than a decade was enough. that actually, we had to continue to pay you know, karzai soprano -- [ laughter ] >> to do what we asked him to do. >> bill: here it is. and this is the guy that turns around every chance that he has and dumps on the united states and criticizes us. once this gets -- wants us to get the hell out of there. >> never a thank you note, bill. >> bill: no, never a thank you note. >> where's my cash? >> bill: unbelievable. you're right. it is surprising but maybe we shouldn't be surprised right? >> on some level we are undermining our own mission. i wonder how the people must feel right now because they've been risking their lives by working in that country and you know, they weren't -- they knew about the bag man. >> bill: oh, boy. will dobson, thank you so much for coming in. julie, great job. >> thank you bill. >> bill: colleague at the white house and on talk radio. we'll see you soon. thanks for coming in today.

i'll be back with a quick parting shot. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking?

(vo) 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: you know, for a long time now we heard reports of corruption in the government of afghanistan. and now we know why. according to "new york times," for more than a decade, a foreign government was secretly delivering piles of cold cash to karzai's office in suitcases backpacks and plastic shopping bags. and that foreign government was us. and the cash was delivered by agents of the c.i.a. and you think that's outrageous? what's equally outrageous is the white house tried to deny it at first and jay carney said we should check with the c.i.a. if we wanted anymore information. well, you know, sooner or later maybe this morning when the white house -- when the president holds his news

conference, the white house is going to have to talk about this. did they really give him money? how much money? and what did we get for all of that money? from the looks of things and comments by hamid karzai, it looks like we didn't get very much. that's for sure. all right. thanks for joining us today. have a great tuesday. i'll go down to the white house. we'll talk about what the president has to say right here tomorrow.

collins. [♪ theme music ♪]

>> stephanie: good morning tv world. oh, jacki schechner, it has been so lonely being the only basketball center that was openly gay in the country. thank you so much what is his name? >> jason collins. [ applause ] >> thank you. >> stephanie: was your game suffering? did you feel like you couldn't post up as usual. >> yeah, my pics were getting a little soft