[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: hadello friends and neighbors. a great big welcome to the "full court press" right here on current tv. we're coming to you live everywhere in this great united states of america on current tv. this thursday morning. bringing you up to date on whatever's happening today here in our nation's capital, around the country or around the globe and giving you a chance to talk about it. join the town hall here by giving us a call at

1-866-55-press. that's our toll free number. we pay for the call. you give us your comments. go to us on twitter. join us at bpshow and on facebook, become our friend and give us your comments at facebook.com/billpressshow. of course, the big story in washington yesterday was the great big benghazi hearing. you know, this was the one that was going to destroy hillary clinton, destroy barack obama. mike huckabee said ahead of time that after this hearing president obama would never complete his second term. he would be driven out of the white house. lindsey graham said the dam is going to break on benghazi. darrell issa himself said this testimony would be very damaging to hillary clinton and disgrace commentator dick morris even said this was the beginning of the end for obama and for hillary clinton and they had the big hearing and nothing

happened. it was a big bomb and we'll tell you why. that and a whole lot more coming up next on current tv. >> 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.

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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 dinner with leading democrats last night at the jefferson hotel. one of them comes in here this morning to let us know what was on the menu. wow. good morning everybody. here we go on a thursday. thursday may 9 2013. can you believe it? it is the "full court press." this is current tv. this is your local progressive

talk radio station. this is sirius x.m. this hour only. i'm bill press. it is good to have you with us this morning. lots to talk about. lots happening here in our nation's capital. lots happening around the country and around the globe. we got it all covered here on the "full court press." we'll not only tell you what's going on, the exciting thing is we'll give you a chance to talk about it yourself. give us your opinions, join the conversation whatever way -- whatever way is convenient for you. either by giving us a call on the phone at 1-866-55-press, our toll free number. join us on twitter follow us on twitter. put it this way if you're not following this show on twitter you're not getting my tweets from the white house every day. >> let me just say your tweets from the white house are really something. >> bill: if i must say so myself. at bpshow is how you join us on twitter. on facebook, become our friend.

we want all of the friends we can get at facebook.com/billpressshow. great to see you this morning. great to bring the team back in here again. peter ogborn and dan henning. >> hey hey hey. >> bill: with alichia cruz rounding out here on the phones. cyprian bowlding, of course, keeping us looking good on current tv. good morning cyprian. our new hero, of course, more details -- the more details that come out about this kidnapping decades -- decades-long kidnapping of these women and their imprisonment in this house in cleveland, it is unbelievable this guy could have pulled that off number one. department going for three years. no way they could escape. imagine the conditions that they lived in. the physical abuse the sexual abuse. the mental abuse. you know what gets me is how they could just release those women -- they go from being a

slave, hostage and a captive for ten years right back to their families. i mean no transition -- they must have mental issues galore. >> you gotta think -- they've gotta get some counseling and serious therapy. how they even relate to people. i'm not being critical. lose any sense of proper relationships. so i think it is going to be a long haul for them. i couldn't believe they didn't send them to some rehab -- reunite with the families. they send them to some transitional facility and slowly re-emerge. >> they still might do that. it was interesting yesterday they said amanda berry was going to come out and talk to the media which made me very uncomfortable. and so the vultures were all there outside of her house. instead, her sister came out and said she's not ready to talk to you guys right now. >> bill: hello! i certainly understand that.

i'll tell you who is ready to talk, that is our hero, charles ramsey the neighbor, the guy who kicked down the door. anderson cooper tracked him down in his backyard but ramsey says nope, i did that but i ain't no hero. >> i could have done this last year, not this hero stuff. just do the right thing. >> do you feel like a hero? >> no, no, no bro. i'm a christian and an american and i'm just like you. we bleed same blood. put our pants on the same way. >> eat the same mcdonald's. >> bill: charles ramsey and anderson cooper. brothers from another mother. that's for sure. and we knew it was going to happen. taking ramsey's comments, particularly the comments on the first day and there have been several out. here is dead give away. >> i knew something was wrong

when a little pretty white girl ran into a black man's arms. dead give away. we eat ribs. but we didn't have a clue. ♪ dead give away, dead give away ♪ >> bill: i hope he gets a royalty on that every time it is played. send him a check. send that guy a check. >> i love that guy. >> bill: he's got a job. he's a dishwasher. >> is he? >> he could sell their mcrib with all of the ribs that he eats. >> bill: coming up, rosa delauro, fresh from dinner with president obama last night to breakfast with us this morning. how do you like that? jackie speier, congresswoman from california will be here as well and reid wilson from the hot line joining us later in

this hour. big hearing. big bust on benghazi yesterday. but first... >> announcer: this is the "full court press." >> other headlines making news on this thursday. prince harry comes to washington today. politico reports the british royal third in line to the throne will visit arlington national cemetery, also walter reid army medical center to spend time with wounded soldiers. then he flies to colorado and new jersey to tour hurricane sandy damage later this week. there is no scheduled stop in las vegas. >> bill: yeah, that's all right. he can play strip poker anywhere. billiards. >> i have a feel he might sneak in a trip to good guys. >> one hollywood heavyweight who led her star power to president obama on the campaign trail said we'll never see her run for politics. eva longoria. while she enjoys fighting for

important causes, she thought she was tough-skinned but there are too many mean people in politics and she doesn't want to be a part of that. she's not a fan of the no holds barred vicious group of people in washington. >> bill: silly question to ask her if she would run for office. where would she run from and why would she consider it? >> but she's famous. >> she's done a lot of lobbying and campaigning. in sports, the miami heat evened things up against the bull in the nba playoffs, destroying them. 115-78. the team's biggest post-season win in team's history. lebron james put up 19 points. in texas, golden state warriors beat the spurs 100-91. also at one game apiece now. clay thompson putting up 34 points to help stop a 30-game losing streak in san antonio. >> bill: what happened to the

bulls? what happens to a team like that when they lost so badly. >> they lost a bunch of their players. >> they're playing hurt. and there's a whole conversation about derek road, their star player who went out a year ago with an injury. derek rose. he's been cleared to play since february. but he hasn't made yet. so he's taking some heat from a lot of people about your team is in the playoffs. you're one of the best players in the nba get in there and help your team. >> bill: it isn't up to him is it? it's up to the coach. >> he's been cleared to play. he get the say whether or not he wants to. he doesn't want to. >> bill: all right. yes, indeed. i gotta tell you, i think finally, time may be running out on the republicans on benghazi. i don't know. maybe they can milk another hearing out of it. they certainly tried yesterday. this is a big hearing. this was the big news.

this was the time we've been told -- we have been told for weeks this was going to be the killer hearing on benghazi. yes. allegedly it was to get the truth about benghazi. no no, no. it wasn't. the hearing yesterday was all about stopping hillary clinton from running in 2016 and maybe also chasing barack obama out of the white house. that was the agenda yesterday. and you know what? i know. all of our right-winger friends are going to say oh, look, oh, look, bill press totally misrepresented what the hearing was all about. no no, no. i just read what the republicans said before the hearing even. mike huckabee said that after this hearing, barack obama would never finish his second term. okay? he was going to be driven out of the white house. mike huckabee. dick morris -- i got a copy of it right here.

dick morris in "the hill" says this hearing, the beginning of the end. for obama and clinton. it is going to destroy dick morris said, destroy one presidency and possibly prevent a second presidency. that's what the agenda for the hearing was. they let the cat out of the bag ahead of time. lindsey graham said after this hearing, the dam is going to break on benghazi, right? lindsey graham said this hearing would prove that benefit gazy was nothing except political manipulation. then darrell issa, the chairman of the hearing said ahead of time that this was going to be very damaging to hillary clinton. this is the same darrell issa, by the way who really got egg on his face last week, couple of weeks ago now when he showed -- he had this telegram from april 2012, a request for more security funding for the

consulate in benghazi and it was turned down and that cable was signed personally by hillary clinton, the secretary of state. he was waving this cable around. then somebody pointed out that every single cable that comes out of the state department, even if it is nothing more than rejecting a request for more postage stamps or maybe it is saying happy birthday to somebody who works in our consulate in mexico city every single cable that comes out of foggy bottom is auto signed by the secretary of state. so issa had to withdraw that. they said we're going to get her. we're going to get her. this is the hearing. we're going to get her. forget about susan rice. now they're going after hillary clinton because they're afraid she's going to run in 2016. they held a big hearing yesterday. in fact, let's listen to elijah cummings, the ranking democrat on the committee who points out

you know, the problem wasn't with witnesses the problem was with the republicans who are egging them on. >> i am not questioning the motives of our witnesses i am questioning the motives of those who want to use their statements for political purposes. >> bill: and remember, remember this started the night of the attacks before we knew even that ambassador chris stevens had been killed as part of the attacks. the night of the attacks why they were still on-going when mitt romney put out a statement accusing president obama of sympathizing with those who were attacking our embassy. sympathizing with the terrorist. mitt romney. that very night. this has been a political football used by the republicans ever since september 11th, 2012. it continued yesterday at the hearing. all right. so here it is. what have you got? let's see it. what have you got? what is all of this evidence that will destroy obama going to destroy hillary clinton?

there were two things that came out. this guy greg hicks disgruntled state department guy. he testifies hey i asked for fighter jets to come in and the pentagon turned me down. well, leon panetta pointed out right, that the nearest fighter jets -- he said if they had flown fighter jets in, flown over, that could have stopped -- the killing stopped the terrorism. stopped the attack that was going on underneath. leon panetta pointed out the nearest jets were in aviano air force base, italy. they were not on stand-by. maybe they should have been. they were not. it would have taken at least nine hours to round up the crew, get the jets ready get to libya. meanwhile, the tankers needed to refuel them for that mission. were not available because they were over in england. so panetta said it was impossible. mission impossible. then another guy testified and

he said well, i ask that this -- it is called fest, it is an elite striker fight force be sent from tripoli to benghazi and that was turned down by the pentagon. and the pentagon did point leon panetta -- there were four people on the squad. they were busy, all that night in tripoli moving people out of% the embassy and destroying some -- the equipment and files that were there. they were not available until the next morning to fly to benghazi. there were only four of them anyhow. by that time the attack was already over. i want to point out one other thing. both of those requests were turned down not by hillary clinton but leon panetta the defense secretary. no one was attacking leon panetta because they don't expect him to run for president in 2016. >> you don't hear leon panetta's game at all. >> bill: it is clinton and

obama. it is a whole political operation. i see through it. i'm sure you see through it, too. 1-866-55-press. let's not forget what a fundamental fact here that darrell issa and all of those house republicans they're worried about security at the embassy? they should be. they voted -- darrell issa voted, paul ryan, john boehner eric cantor, they voted to cut a half a billion dollars out of security funding for our embassies and consulates in the last two years. a half a billion dollars. maybe that could have made the difference in benghazi. this hearing yesterday total political witch-hunt. 1-866-55-press. don't you think? let's talk about it. >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv, this is the "bill press show."

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>> announcer: like politics? then like the "bill press show" on facebook. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: the big showdown yesterday, supposedly on benghazi. didn't prove nothing. just proved to me how scared the republicans are of hillary clinton who may or may not run in 2016. by the way, this was by my counts hearing number 11. on benghazi. now, you would think -- actually they plan to have another hearing next week but there is no time because eric cantor has scheduled an important vote next week to repeal obamacare for the 34th time.

the whole thing is such a circus. your calls welcome. first, let's check the social media. >> on twitter at bpshow, karen says fast and furious blew up in their faces let's try it again with benghazi. >> bill: how many hearings did they have on that? >> the same people who screamed about jobs for years act like they're not important now. another tweeter says all of the g.o.p. outrage over four people sadly dying in benghazi and yet not a peep about the other 60 who died in embassies under w. >> bill: nor about the 3,000 who died under w on september 11th. i mean this idea that for mitt romney to say that president obama sympathizes with the enemy, what if a democrat had said that about george w. bush on september 11th? it is the same category. lamont calling from maryville indiana. hello, lamont, good morning. >> caller: hey, bill what you

doing? my comment is if politics were sports, then the democrats play touch football and the republicans play all out football. >> bill: you got that right. >> caller: reason being is basically, they have a match and they stick it. bush had what, three plans that they were going to attack. obama didn't have anything. they did an attack on american soil and yet instead you're going to drag him over the wringer over three people. no one said anything about bush or anything else when 9-11 happened. all of the fumbling after that. how we went to war for nothing. republicans always want to impeach or get a democratic president out of power. >> bill: lamont, you got it. absolutely right my friend. absolutely right on every count. yeah. the way democrats pulled together after september 11th,

with republicans. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking?

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show," live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: here we go. 33 minutes after the hour now. this is thursday morning. thursday may 9 on the "full court press" talking about the big bust yesterday. the big bomb, the hearing on benghazi. which clearly was nothing but an effort on the part of republicans to drive president obama out of the white house if possible and prevent hillary clinton from ever getting there. did they succeed?

1-866-55-press. you tell me. back to your calls in just a second here and other news of the day. but just a quick word on identity theft. doesn't matter who you are. you cannot escape it as a member of the florida state attorney general's office learned. he's been there for 15 years. but he has been -- had his identity stolen. stolen by 11 different people who used his information to get everything from mortgages to loan approvals. i suggest he should have done what i have done and what you should do which is get the protection of lifelock ultimate. the most comprehensive i.d. protection ever. it can't protect you or your bank account if you're not a member. visit lifelock.com or call and mention press 10 and you'll get 10% off your lifelock ultimate membership. call 1-800-356-5967.

again, for lifelock ultimate. peter? >> quick story. same-sex marriage is having a very good month already. it is only the 9th of may. delaware and rhode island have voted to approve. >> bill: number 10 and number 11 states. >> today, the democrat-led legislature in minnesota is advancing their vote. they're scheduled to vote today to make same-sex marriage recognized in the state of minnesota. so we might actually get the 12th state today. >> bill: governor dayton says he will sign it. the senate has already passed it. the democratic leader of the house says they have enough votes in the house. it should go through. >> 73-61 majority. >> bill: we have every state now in the northeast. every state in the northeast. let's start in the midwest with minnesota and get every state in the midwest. boom.

there you go. back to benghazi. the other thing that gets lost in this whole benghazi debate is remember, there was an accountability review board appointed. it was headed by former ams ambassador thomas pickering and admiral michael mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs, it held a long -- interviewed over 100 witnesses, talked to everybody. put out a scathing report which blamed the pentagon and the white house and the state department and the congress all for contributing to failure of adequate security at benghazi and made 29 different recommendations about how to improve the situation. so, in effect, this case has been closed a long time ago and those 29 recommendations, every one of them, is being worked on right now to put into place by the obama administration. so again republicans ignore all

of that. they just keep beating this drum for their own political advantage. sheila from reddingburg alabama. what do you say? good morning. >> caller: good morning. i would just like to say i was looking at hannity and he was talking about should some criminal charges be filed. i say why don't he go and get some of the families of those troops that was killed on the bush and ask if criminal charges should be filed against him. >> bill: yeah. criminal charges filed against whom? against hillary clinton? is that what he's saying? >> caller: yes and also i think the whole administration. president obama. >> bill: that's crazy. sheila, i have a little suggestion, right to help your blood pressure, right? don't watch sean hannity. >> caller: i know. i watch it -- i look at it because i just listen to how ignorant they are. >> bill: you can do it once

and then you know. [ laughter ] >> caller: no kidding. >> bill: all right sheila. love ya. thank you for calling. it is don out in albany, oregon. >> caller: good morning, bill. it has been too long. >> bill: how are you? >> caller: doing great. i thought you might like to know, first of all i had a checkup yesterday morning came through with flying colors. benghazi something is telling me the president and hillary clinton are going to come through the whole thing in good enough shape. the other side has been making it sound like the president wanted the people in that embassy to die which is totally insane on their part. >> bill: yeah, no, no, no, that's the impression you get. romney saying he sympathized with terrorists, right? >> caller: yeah. >> bill: all right don glad you came through. our little family here in the morning. little community in the morning. we all want to know how we're all doing healthwise.

>> absolutely. >> bill: don had his checkup. i'm feeling pretty good myself. >> good. >> bill: all right good. there is a transition. speaking of which there's something else that came up yesterday. that just wanted to make sure you're aware of. they started -- jay carney started our white house briefing yesterday by bringing in todd park, his name is, who is -- i never heard of this group before, it is the federal center for medicare and medicaid services. they just put out a new report which i found to be -- and we all did in the press corps stunning. the findings. what they did was they surveyed hospitals across the country and put out a report on the huge variations in price that hospitals charged for the same

procedures. okay. same procedure. here's todd park from the hearing yesterday giving just the example for one example hip and knee replacement. >> average inpatient charge for hip and knee replacements can vary from $5300 at a hospital in oklahoma to a high of $23,000 at a hospital in monterey park, california. >> bill: now, you talk about comparative pricing. same procedure. $5300 to $233,000. in new york, in the metropolitan new york area, a joint replacement runs anywhere from

$15,000 to $155,000. in los angeles two hospitals in the same greater l.a. basin right, the difference for the treatment of pneumonia varies by $100,000 according to this database. in the new york area, the hospital that charges the most is out in bayonne new jersey, the bayonne hospital center. charges the highest prices for everything. for example, it gives an example here. major joint replacement at that hospital comes in at $155,769 which is almost three times the local average and more than nine times the price you would pay for -- at the lincoln medical and mental health center in the

bronx. for the same procedure. i mean i don't know what you can draw out of this. first of all i ask this question. yesterday. i was relieved to hear the answer. that medicare or medicaid only pays x amount for -- they have a given limit price on any procedure. it doesn't matter what the hospital charges. but certainly, what you can get out of this, it seems to me is you gotta shop around and thanks to this information now, you can shop around. in fact, peter maybe we ought to put up a link online to this federal database. >> yeah. >> bill: it's gotta be in this article somewhere. put a link up on our web site. this federal database is available. you gotta shop around. and i think the other thing -- it points out is the importance

of having healthcare and health insurance and the importance -- it is all the more reason why we need obamacare plus more than obamacare. because people who don't have any health insurance are screwed, right? they may just not have the option. at all. at least, you know, if you're in an area where you have little choice of hospitals but you've got health insurance maybe you can afford to pay that difference between what medicare would pay and what the hospital would pay. you don't have any health insurance, you know what? this is what happens. people will just not have the operations or procedures. they won't have the kind of -- take care of themselves. get the kind of healthcare that they need. they'll end up getting worse. >> it's sick. that's how big of a difference it is. they're just trying to take

advantage of your awful situation. >> bill: why do they charge so much? because some people will pay it. $5300, right and $253,000. wow! unbelievable. when we come back, reid wilson from the "national journal" hot line joins us for a little roundup of the politics of the day. >> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv. this show is about analyzing (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.

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>> announcer: live on your radio and current tv. 13 minutes before the top of the hour. mark sanford the comeback kid from south carolina. governor's race, ken cuccinelli and terry mcauliffe neck and neck it looks like in virginia. big hearing on benghazi yesterday. so much going on, reid wilson is the editor in chief at the hot line at the "national journal" back from a little break and joining us again here on the "full court press." welcome back, reid. >> how are you doing? >> bill: i'm doing good, thank you. don't you think it would be kind of fun after the national republicans or republican congressional campaign committee told mark sanford they were going to help him out and he wins anyhow? fun to see the first meeting between sanford and john boehner and company right? >> i compared this to the kobayashi -- they know that it was the no-win situation that of

course james kirk found a way to win. but in this case, this is like the political no-win situation for republicans. on one hand, this he could have lost the race and the national media would have read way too much into it as we all do with special elections and said this means republicans will lose the house. even though, of course, special elections don't mean that much. the other option was they win and now as they're trying to rebrand their party in the not todd aiken and not richard mourdock vain, here they've got mark sanford in the house republican conference. it was sort of a -- well, a kobayashi maru. >> bill: i don't know whether you live in virginia or the district or maryland but this governor's race in virginia intrigues me. i'm really surprised that the polls show neck and neck. i thought the way virginia's been trending, that terry mcauliffe would be way ahead

in the polls. how do you read it? >> what i think we're going to see come november is the voters choosing between two candidates that they really don't like. i think in both cases democrats and republicans are going to beat the living bejesus out of the other guy in this case. there's so much to go after terry mcauliffe on, the democratic candidate. so much to go after ken cuccinelli on. i think what you're going to see is democrats attacking cuccinelli more on his record and his background as sort of a -- bill called him a right wing extremist. there is the preview of their fall message that he's -- >> bill: he's provided a lot of -- ammunition. >> certainly has. and you'll see republicans taking on terry mcauliffe not only for his career as a politician. he calls himself a snake oil salesman in his book which by the way is providing a lot of fodder. >> bill: yes.

>> as in letting people know that he left the delivery room while his wife was giving birth to go to a fund-raiser. a little hint for aspiring politicians out there, if you do that, don't write about it. and you know, beyond that, there's this sort of on-going talk about this company that he founded, a card company based in mississippi and it is not clear whether or not it is going -- it's actually going to deliver what it's promised or what he has promised. >> bill: took it to mississippi, not in virginia, of course. >> both of these guys are going to be very unpopular come november. so yeah, i'm not surprised it is a neck and neck race. also, let's not forget the turnout in virginia in a presidential year is very different from a turnout in a nonpresidential year. in a midterm. even year. here we are in an off-year election so the turnout could be lower. this is still a challenge for democrats. virginia is by no means a blue

state. >> bill: talking to reid wilson editor in chief of the "national journal." reid, you posted this morning an article about the koch brothers, one of my favorite, two of my favorite americans. i've written a book about them myself. "the obama hate machine." what are they up to now? buying newspapers all over the country. >> my story today is a look at the two -- both the koch brothers and american crossroads. after the 2012 election, there were a lot of donors who had given them a lot of money. $380 million the koch brothers spent on the election in 2012. the donors didn't feel like they got a lot. you can understand why. they lost every race they played in. both organizations sort of tried to act like a corporation and do a what worked, sort of post-mortem. what worked, what didn't work. this is really like the moment

at which outside groups are here to stay. sort of solidifying themselves as here to stay over the long run. they are professionalizing sort of figuring out what worked, what didn't and how to do better next time. now, of course, the democratic groups are doing the same thing. one of the interesting things the president of american crossroads told me was that you know, there are great things to be learned from 2012 and those great things that republicans need to work on and need to fix were the same great things that existed in 2010. it was just so different that nobody bothered to learn the lessons then. democrats should take that advice and learn what they can even though they won. sort of figure out what's next and how to make it better. >> bill: what amazes me is that people will still give money to karl rove despite all the mistakes he made the last time around. >> i think rove gets a lot more blame than he should. there weren't -- i don't think

crossroads made that many mistakes in terms of their message or their -- sort of their approach. the one thing that they did tell me that was -- i thought was fascinating was the numbers on what they -- on what they advertised about were there. healthcare obamacare was unpopular, the economy wasn't getting better. government spending is a bad thing. people agreed with them on those points. those aren't the messages people wanted to hear. they wanted to hear about the funeral and what was next. that was the message obama was offering not that crossroads was offering. >> bill: great stuff as always. reid, great to you have back. >> thanks a lot, bill. >> bill: talk to you again soon. nationaljournal.com. reid wilson. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." 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 you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking?

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>> announcer: 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. when we come back, congresswoman jackie speier at the top of the next hour. talking about hearing on benghazi yesterday and charges of sexual assault in the military. on that topic, perry points out civilian companies can be held liable in court if they fail to address any sexual harassment that creates a hostile work environment because of this, most trained extensively and have a zero tolerance policy. that's the difference, he points out between private sector companies and the military.

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[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: good morning. welcome to the "full court press" on this thursday, thursday february -- february? wow! may 9. let's start over again. it is the "full court press" here on current tv this thursday morning. thank you so much for joining us and being part of the program. where we take a look at all of the news of the day happening here in our nation's capital around the country around the world. bring it to you and take your calls at 1-866-55-press.

look forward to your twitter comments at bpshow and look forward to your comments on facebook. be your friend on facebook/billpressshow. the big story in washington yesterday, of course, the big hearing on benghazi, you know, this is a hearing mike huckabee said was going to end the obama presidency and of course, prevent any hillary clinton presidency. lindsey graham said, after this hearing, the dam would break on benghazi and chairman darrell issa promised that this hearing would be very damaging to hillary clinton. didn't quite turn out that way. nothing happened. there were two charges one guy said that he asked for some fighter jets to be sent into benghazi. leon panetta pointed out it would take him at least nine hours to get them there all the way from itsly. another charge that they wanted

special forces sent in but they weren't available until the next morning after everything was all over. bring you up to date on that and a whole lot more. stay tuned 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. >> if you believe in state's rights but still support the drug war you must be high. >> "viewpoint" digs deep into >> 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: president obama today off to austin, texas to talk jobs and the economy. and education. good morning everybody. what do you say? great to see you today. it is thursday. yes, indeed. thursday, may 9. we are here for you on the "full court press." good to you have with us as we tackle the big stories of the day and take your calls take

your comments, your calls at 1-866-55-press. your comments on twitter at bpshow. your comments on facebook at facebook.com for all of our friends, facebook.com/billpressshow. good to see you today. lots going on here in our nation's capital. lots going on around the country and around the globe. and all issues that you're going to want to talk about. we got the entire team assembled here this morning as always. raring to go. peter ogborn and dan henning. hello, guys. >> good morning. >> bill: alichia cruz somewhere there has the phones covered. cyprian bowlding has the cameras covered for current tv. indeed. this thursday morning. on a -- on a busy day and a little sad. the caps lost last night. washington caps but the nats won. so we split it up a little bit.

>> yes. >> although right now, the caps are more important because they're in the playoffs whereas the nats are in the early part of the season. >> i have a bad feeling about the playoffs at this point. they're falling apart. they do it every year. >> this is a repeat. they're playing on par. >> yep. >> bill: pessimist. >> guilty. >> bill: right. okay. we've got a big line-up for you. congresswoman jackie speier is going to be joining us here at the top of the hour. congresswoman rosa delauro in the next hour. she was there with the with the last night at the big dinner, at the jefferson hotel. and little bit later in this hour rosie gray from "buzzfeed" is going to be joining us. rosie gray reporting yesterday on "buzzfeed" at the -- on the big hearing on benghazi. and a member of that government oversight committee yesterday there for the hearing on

benghazi. one who has been most outspoken and a real leader on the drive to get some kind of new policy regarding sexual assault and some attention to this problem in the military, our good friend from california, congresswoman jackie speier joining us on our news line this morning. congresswoman, good to you have with us. >> it is great to be with you, bill. >> bill: let's start with the hearing yesterday. darrell issa, mike huckabee, lindsey graham, they all telegraphed ahead of time. this hearing is just going to probably end the obama presidency and destroy any chances that hillary clinton would ever run. what happened? >> well, it was -- it was not the fireworks that they were intending and they were scooped somewhat by the court decision in the arias verdict coming in and of course, the arrest of castro. there are some issues that we do have to deal with in terms of security of diplomats in our embassy in hot spots.

of benghazi and really rise to the level of threat and really require us to have the protections in place which we did not have in place which do require a secretary of state waiver not at the secretary level but from the state department. and i think that in an effort to try to create some stability in libya, we moved in and you know, created spots that really are not as safe as they need to be. >> bill: yeah. but clearly -- would you agree that there was -- look, there have been ten hearings on benghazi, at least that's what jay carney told us at the white house. plus the accountability review board investigation. >> right. and there will be more hearings. they're going to beat this down for as long as they think they're going to get any traction on it. >> bill: that's what i was going to ask you. is this the end of it? i guess not.

>> no. >> bill: did we learn anything really new yesterday? >> we learned incidental things from the -- eyewitness. mr. hicks was not in benghazi but he was in tripoli. he got the call from the ambassador who says you know, we're under attack. but they weren't relevant to really -- the actual board that did the accountability review called an accountability review board, had some blistering criticisms of the state department. and our focus should be have those recommendations been implemented? our job has got to be that doesn't happen again. we've got to make sure that our diplomats, across the world are not in harm's way. or certainly are protected to the point that we can feel somewhat confident that they can be placed in those posts. >> bill: one thing for sure, congresswoman, there won't be another hearing on benghazi next

week because eric cantor has scheduled a vote to repeal obamacare next week. >> yes. every couple of weeks. i gotta tell you bill, it is so discouraging to be in this environment right now where what we do is vote on journals. we vote -- the previous day's journal is one of the major votes of the day. and then we go through these bills. and they're all -- fund-raising tools for the other side. that's what we're doing. >> bill: this is, by my count at least the 34th vote. will be the 34th vote to repeal obamacare right? so just kind of shows you i guess, what the focus is over there. i must say congresswoman, i'm begging you ahead of time not to comment on this but i was talking to a republican member of the house a couple of nights

ago who told me that john boehner is the worst speaker in the history of the house of representatives. in his opinion. but just shows there are even some republicans who realize they're not getting a lot done over there i guess. enough said. i do want to ask you about an issue -- you've been here in studio several times. you've been a champion on this issue. raising the question about what the military's response to all of these charges of sexual assault is and yet the survey came out this week that showed the situation is getting worse not better over there. don't they get it? what's going on? >> actually, they don't get it. that's why this horrific situation continues. the actual numbers of sexual assault and rape in the military climbed 33% in this last survey and the number of complaints that were filed actually dropped as a percentage of that number to less than 10%. the reason why they don't report is because they know they're not

going to see justice. and that's a travesty. it is a travesty that congress has not taken steps sooner. they've known about this issue for 25 years. and what has typically happened is there's one scandal or another, rapes in the academies tailhook lackland air force base we have a hearing. brass comes up to the hill. they say all of the right words. zero tolerance. everyone nods their heads. they forget about it. well, you know, two years ago i said i'm not forgetting about it. i'm going to beat this issue until we get the kinds of changes and the resolutions that will stop this absolute epidemic. so i've introduced legislation in two congresses now that would take the reporting of these crimes out of the chain of command. right now, you report it to your commander who has no legal

training. and they make a decision whether or not to send it to court-martial or investigation or whether to just sweep it under the rug give nonjudicial punishment or no punishment whatsoever. the result is that you know, the predator is allowed to continue in the military unabated. >> bill: imagine if that same policy applied in the civilian workplace, right? when a ceo could overturn a jury verdict. >> right. exactly. >> bill: it would be the same thing, correct? in fact, i was going to ask you what are the lessons we've learned in the private sector that could be applied to the military? >> well, in the private sector, typically rapes don't happen on the job but sexual harassment happens all the time. what happens when it does is the individual is fired. they are terminated. and the military, they get a slap on the hand. not even that. lasts november, the air force

did a sweep of all of their computers and servers. they gave out notice to everyone that they were going to do that. you would think people would take that stuff off their computers. no uh-huh. 30,000 documents were identified as being you know, either hostile work environment pornographic sexual. i asked the vice chief of the air force what kind of actions were taken. you know what he said to me? i'll have to get back to you. >> bill: whoa. yeah. this is the same, i believe same general right perhaps who testified that you can't really blame the military. this is all part of the hookup culture of the united states? >> it wasn't the same one but it just goes to show you -- at the highest ranks in the military, they don't get it. and if you're going to give leadership and direction from the top down, it's not happening. >> bill: both you and senator

kirsten gillibrand working together on this to take this out of the chain of command. i also understand the pentagon right now their official position is they oppose this, of course right? >> absolutely. they oppose it. congress is going to have to impose it. on them. because they are not going to change. now, what's interesting, code of military justice is based on the british system. in the british system, they have taken these cases out of the chain of command. >> bill: really? >> back in 1995 and they've had very good results from doing so. and they seem -- the incidents decline. prosecutions rise. and you know, it is handled much more like it is in the civilian world. >> bill: jackie speier here on the "full court press." before we let you go, there is a post -- big story on "huffington post" this morning. jackie speier alerts marines to

a certain facebook page. tell us about that, if you can. >> well, we got a whistle-blower call tuesday that identified a number of pages went on facebook, that was absolutely grotesque. misogynistic sexual. and we reported it to facebook. we also -- a letter to secretary hagel and to the chief of staff of the marines and i said you know, do something about this. we already found out these are sites that are run by active military. and on taxpayer servers and on taxpayer time. so if heads don't roll on this, then help me! [ laughter ] >> bill: the timing of this, right, couldn't be worse.

also that air force officer who was arrested right after this report comes out, right, the guy in charge of sexual harassment arrested for sexually harassing a woman in a parking lot. the day after, i guess -- >> sexually assaulting her. that was the allegation. he sexually assaulted her. >> bill: then the day after the survey comes out, these facebook pages come to light. right? >> here's the kicker on that. evidently, the inspector general of the marines has been monitoring the site for three years. so they've known about it for three years. and have done nothing. i found out about it on tuesday. facebook took it down yesterday. but it is one of many sites. >> bill: unbelievable. i don't know. i don't know how you keep your head or keep your calm in working on this, congresswoman. well, you're doing great work. we appreciate your taking time this morning to bring us up to date on all of it. >> my pleasure.

>> bill: jackie speier, congresswoman from california. representing the south bay, we call it, in the san francisco bay area. >> announcer: get social with bill press. like us at facebook.com/billpressshow. this is the "bill press show." 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.

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>> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right. here we go. 24 minutes after the hour. the "full court press" here on a thursday morning. one of the stories that's just dominating the news and understandably so is the situation out in cleveland charges filed yesterday against

ariel castro, charges of rape and kidnap. keeping these three women kidnapping them and keeping them captive for ten years. the two brothers who had been arrested, the police authority -- authorities announced yesterday that there would be no charges filed against them. i don't know about you. i find it impossible to believe that his two brothers knew nothing about what this guy was doing for the last ten years. >> i couldn't believe it. >> bill: just -- how? and also, there are so many aspects of this story. he was known in the neighborhood. he associated with neighbors. he played in a band. musicians came to that house and practiced with him. he marched in actually some of the marches to bring attention to these missing women. and all at the same time, pretend for years. they were held in that house and never had a chance to escape.

unbelievable. how many times had the police been called to the house for various reasons walked around the house looked inside, banged on the doors and walked away. such a bizarre story. such a sad story and a tragic story for those three women. and then of course, they were released yesterday two of them back with their families. one is still in the hospital. but imagine the mental problems that these three women are going to have for the rest of their lives. imagine how difficult it is going to be for them to make the transition from their captivity to -- you can't just do it from one day to the next. >> you think about the lack of education, no schooling that they've missed out on. >> bill: this little girl, what does she know for the first six years of her life? that's all she knows? but you can't go from oh, today you're a slave you're in a hold. you're chained up and you can't

move and you've been that way for ten years tomorrow, go back to your family, have a good time. go shopping, you know, go out and get a job. watch television. no. unbelievable. and meanwhile our hero, charles ramsey next door, he says he's not a hero. he told anderson cooper anybody would have done this. i wish i had done it a long time ago. >> i could have done this last year. not this hero stuff. just do the right thing. >> do you feel like a hero? >> no, no, no, no, no bro. i'm a christian and an american and i'm just like you. we bleed same blood. put our pants on the same way. >> bill: i love this guy. >> me, too. >> bill: anderson says how about if there is a reward offered, do you think he should get the reward? >> bill: he said no. i got a job. i've got a paycheck. >> folks been following this case since last night, you been

following me since last night you know i got a job anyway. just went and picked it up. my check. >> i don't have my classes. 2203 seymour. right next door to this paycheck. >> one of the coolest guys in the country. one of the nerdiest guys, anderson cooper. i don't have my glasses. >> bill: you put the two of them together. i don't know. i don't know what's going to happen to charles ramsey but i hope that -- this may not be a good thing to hope for but i hope that mcdonald's gives him a gift certificate for life. he can go to mcdonald's every day and eat all he wants, damn it. he deserves it. >> 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: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: how about it. 33 minutes after the hour now. here it is. the "full court press" on this thursday may 9. coming to you live from our nation's capital brought to you today by ullico, incorporated. good men and women of ullico proudly serving the union workplace for more than 85 years, providing specialty insurance and risk solutions. investment products and services. you can find out more about the good work under president ed smith at www.ullico.com. ullico.com. we're getting into all of the stories of the day on many fronts, especially that big hearing on benghazi yesterday.

but first peter a couple of other issues here. >> you remember a couple of years ago, the about the who plays basketball, was playing ball and he got elbowed in the face and he got several stitches on his upper lip. well, "the boston globe" caught up with the man that elbowed the president finally all this time later. it's been a year and a half since it happened. it has been two and a half years since it happened. >> bill: because he's been on the loose? >> he's been out. >> bill: wasn't he on the fbi's most wanted list? >> not exactly. the man's name is reynaldo. he's 40 years old. and "the boston globe" sat down and interviewed him about it. >> bill: how did he end up playing ball with the president? >> he was invited to play by arthur jackson, the founder of a group called one on one basketball in washington, d.c. the president invited arthur jackson to play and he brought this man along. he's played with the president twice. once before and then the second time and that's where he elbowed

the president. it's never happened before. he never elbowed anybody which let's face it, it happens sometimes when you're playing basketball. he said the president was very cool. he says he could play basketball. he's got hang time. very good. however, mr. rainaldo has not been invited to play with the president ever since he elbowed him in the face. >> surprise, surprise. >> i don't think you get invited back once you go upside the president's head with an elbow. i don't think you get invited back. >> bill: he lives in boston, huh? >> yeah. he is speaking out on the incident. i don't expect him to be playing basketball with the president any time soon. >> bill: he played golf with two republican senators. he didn't get hit in the face playing golf either. thank you peter. the big story of the day of course is the hearing yesterday

on benghazi. republicans promised ahead of time this hearing was going to be very -- chairman, very damaging, he said. to hillary clinton. what happened, what did we find out? where do we go from here? is this the last hearing on benghazi or one in a continuing series. rosie gray is a reporter for "buzzfeed." our good friends at buzzfeed.com. she was there at the hearing yesterday. joining us in studio this morning. hi rosie. nice to see you. >> how are you? >> bill: i'm good, thank you. did we get the fireworks that were promised? >> i think that the testimony for the -- that the witnesses gave was pretty emotional. >> bill: it was? >> but in terms of there being a smoking gun that came out of the hearing, there wasn't any. >> bill: there were two big charges. one was that from mr. hicks i wasn't at the hearing from what i read, right that he had

requested this whole thing could have been resolved and people -- if people had done what he asked. he asked that they send fighter jets over. the buzz, the scene and therefore, people would have fled and we might have avoided the deaths of the four americans. what's the reality of that? was that realistic? >> from what i understand of the situation, only available jets were in italy and wouldn't have been able to make it there within the time that they would have needed them to make it there in order to save the people involved. >> bill: leon panetta said nine hours because the jets were not on stand-by. >> right. i don't know about nine hours. i heard two or three. >> bill: that's what he said. he was told two or three hours leon panetta said nine. the tankers needed to refill them were in england or someplace. >> right. so the set-up wasn't really there to get there within the time that this all happened. >> bill: and the other charge by -- either mr. hicks or

mr. thompson, i guess, was that there was a strike team, it is called fest, f-e-s-t i've never heard of that before. they were in tripoli and they asked that they be sent to libya and that was turned down by the pentagon as well. could that have done the trick? do we know? >> i don't know whether it could have done the trick because these things didn't happen. it is impossible to say what could have worked or what could not -- have not. the first attack, i believe the first attack is the one that killed chris stevens right? that one happened and then um after that, the second mortar attack, i think happened about two hours or two or three hours after that. >> bill: then they were finished. >> that was basically it, i think. >> bill: this team was still in tripoli and couldn't get there. so do you know -- jay carney yesterday said at our white house briefing that the white house had already -- people from

the administration had already testified in ten hearings before yesterday's hearing. >> sounds about right. >> bill: on benghazi. now we have number 11 yesterday. is this the end of the line or can we expect more? >> darrell issa specifically said it isn't the end of the line. after they finished the hearing he held a short press conference outside. and he said this hearing is over but this investigation is just beginning. i took that to mean they're going to be doing other things. >> what's the end of the line with this? when do they get what they're looking for? what is their goal here? >> well, it depends on who you talk to. if you talk to republicans, the end of the line is when they finally get the answers that they're seeking and finally figure out who did what wrong and who's responsible for what happened. and if you talk to democrats the end of the line is when they have managed to damage hillary's

2016 campaign. which is a cynical way of looking at it but i did -- i do think that's at least part of what's going on. >> bill: well, i tweeted out yesterday from the white house listening to reporters questioning jay carney about this that it was pretty clear to me that the entire purpose -- from the comments of republicans, ahead of the hearing, mike huckabee, lindsey graham dick morris, darrell issa, that the whole purpose of the hearing was to discredit hillary clinton and hopefully prevent her from running for president in 2016. >> yeah. >> bill: am i wrong? >> i don't think you're wrong. none of them would really cop to that publicly, i don't think. but you know, i think that that is at least part of the motivation. i think that there is -- i don't want to believe that they're just out to do that.

maybe that's the case. i think there is also an element of just wanting to know who messed up here. but yeah, part of it. they know that hillary is likely to run in 2016 and if she does, she will be president. >> bill: dick morris' column in "the hill" newspaper yesterday. >> a must read. >> bill: dick morris. fired by fox news. you gotta be damn bad to get fired by fox news, right? be a conservative and fired by fox news, you've really gotta be bad. dick morris says it is only a matter of time until the blame filters up to obama and clinton ruining one presidency and preventing another. >> yeah. well that seems -- >> bill: he cops to it. >> that's just dick morris. but yeah i think that is part of the motivation but they manage to successfully put this incident a little bit closer to

her yesterday. because cheryl mills long-time clintonite and who was hillary clinton's chief of staff at the state department, her name kept coming up because she personally called one of these -- if you want to call them whistle-blowers or witnesses to be upset that he had met with a congressional delegation. so that did bring the investigation a little bit closer to hillary herself. >> bill: that's a good point. because i thought further evidence of the fact that this was all geared toward embarrass or to -- hillary clinton or destroy her chances for 2016. two main items that we talked about. just a little while ago. sending the fighter jets, sending the elite strike force. both were denied. for, i think legitimate reasons, i don't question when the chairman of the joint chiefs says this was not realistic, you know, i think he knows what the

hell he's talking about. both were denied by leon panetta. the secretary of defense. >> right. >> bill: the name that kept coming up in the hearing yesterday. no one mentioned leon panetta. it was all focused on state department, hillary clinton, hillary clinton, which again, i think underscores the fact that it was politically, in large part politically motivated. when we come back, rosie gray is here with us from "buzzfeed." buzzfeed.com. you mention getting the answers and fixing this problem. there was an accountability review board hearing. and they came up with some pretty damming conclusions about the state department, the defense department. the white house the congress, everybody. what's happening with that. we'll find out when we come back here on the "full court press" here this thursday morning. >> announcer: connect with the "bill press show" on twitter. follow us at bpshow and tweet using the hash be tag watching bp. this is the "bill press show."

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>> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 13 minutes before the top of the hour, congresswoman rosa delauro joining us in the next hour. she had dinner with president obama last night. she'll have breakfast with us this morning. hey, keeping pretty good company, huh? she is, i mean. >> right. >> bill: we are, too. we'll also be talking about the roberts court at the top of the next hour. author of a new book taking a look at some of their important -- four of their

important 5-4 decisions and what it tells us about the most conservative court in our lifetime. right now, we're taking a look particularly at the big hearing yesterday in the house government oversight committee on benghazi. rosie greer covering that hearing -- >> gray. >> bill: close. rosie gray covering that hearing and foreign policy issues in general for "buzzfeed" in studio with us this morning. sorry about that. >> that's okay. >> bill: this accountability review board chaired by thomas pickering and michael mullen did a full, extensive investigation of benghazi, what happened. it was hardly a whitewash. pretty damming report, right? and said the state department screwed up. the white house screwed up. the pentagon screwed up. the congress screwed up by cutting funding and came up with 29 recommendations for how to

fix it. >> also ended up -- >> bill: shouldn't that kind of be the end of the story? >> well, it depends on -- this story has become so removed from what the original story was back in september. now it is a completely different animal. it is a very -- it is much more politicized than it used to be. so like for republicans whatever the answer they're looking for like has not been found and the arb report didn't turn it up somehow. >> bill: the answer that they're looking for will never be found because what they're look for is obama out of the white house. as mike huckabee said, this will drive president obama out of the white house. >> he actually said that? >> bill: yes, he did. >> there is a sense among republicans they have something bigger than watergate here. >> bill: that was exactly what huckabee said. which shows how delusional they are. before we move on to other issues, i want to give jerry a

chance here. he's calling from stockbridge wisconsin. hey, jerry, good morning. >> caller: good morning, bill. thanks for taking my call. briefly touched on one point that i wanted to enumerate and brought it to the front that during the hearings, that congress should be held to account that they should be told that they are partially responsible for the death of these four people. they refused to request -- to increase funding for security for these embassies themselves. and i think it would be wonderful if any members there particularly the republican leadership step forward. man up. and resign their seat. they should note they're responsible and they should be held accountable. >> bill: resign the seat, i wouldn't hold my breath on that. it is true -- thanks so much, jerry for making that point. i made it earlier in the show, it should be repeated every time we talk about benghazi. "the new york times" reported,

too, that the ryan budget, which darrell issa himself voted for cut the funding for more security at our embassies around the country by half a billion dollars. >> well and that's true. that's actually an underdiscussed aspect of this whole thing. one of the lessons we should be learning from this is that we don't properly protect our embassies. the state department doesn't have the funding to do so. >> bill: oh, yeah. we need more security at the embassies. yes, we do. then why the hell did you vote against it when it was requested and now you're blaming again that, lack of security on hillary clinton rather than taking responsibility for themselves. jerry made an excellent point there. covering foreign policy, i can't let you go without asking you what is happening on syria? john kerry in russia talking with russian leaders -- soviets -- russian leaders

starting with president putin trying to get them to join us in stepping up our support of the rebels there or what do you hear? >> well, that's what kerry's goal is. i don't know how successful he's going to be, especially because i think russia agreed to send some sort of air defense system to syria. but you know, i think that the administration in general is starting to edge more toward intervening in some way in syria. they start to sort of ramp up the rhetoric a little more like a senior white house official said earlier this week that when they said that there was a red line, that it will be crossed by any use of chemical weapons. not just a significant use or whatever it is that they said originally. >> bill: systemic. >> systemic. exactly. obama said the other day he compared the situation to libya and to the bin laden raid, two of his big national security success. >> bill: so you think --

particularly because of the use of chemical weapons we might see some actual military engagement on the part of the united states and syria or arming the rebels or what? >> we're never going to see american boots on the ground there, i don't think that's going to happen. an air strike even, i wouldn't -- nobody should hold their breath for that. arming the rebels though, that's something that i think has much wider support even than it used to in congress. i could see that being a step that they might take sometime soonish. but it is hard to put a timeline on anything. >> bill: you do get the sense things are moving in that direction. >> maybe slightly. it is still hard to tell. they're being really cautious but i have noticed that a little bit of what they're saying has started to indicate sort of more of a willingness lately. >> bill: we'll see how this goes. it is every day you know. you just wonder -- everybody expected when the red line was crossed, right, it would be an immediate reaction.

instead, the president is taking some time, i guess we ought to be grateful he's showing little restraint unlike george bush and wmds. rosie gray, good to you have here. >> thank you for having me. >> bill: come back again. when i come back, i'll tell you what the president's up to today. a big trip out to austin, texas. texas. i wonder why. hmm. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv. john fugelsang: if you believe (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.

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>> only on current tv. >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." now on current tv. >> bill: fresh from her dinner with the president last night congresswoman rosa delauro in studio with us in the next hour as well as marsha coyle who's written a new book about the roberts court. president obama today leaves the white house about 10:00. and then on his way to andrews

air force base and from there to austin texas where he'll be talking education and jobs at the manor new technology high school. then over to a company called applied materials incorporated. president leaving austin, texas about 5:30 this afternoon. he will be back at the white house at 9:45 p.m. jay carney, no press briefing today. jay carney will be doing a gaggle with reporters on air force i. we will be back here. another hour of the "full court press" so stay with us.

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>> bill: hello friends and neighbors. good morning, good morning. it is thursday, may 9. great to see you today. welcome to the "full court press" right here on current tv. we are your morning news program. your morning town hall. your morning conversation stop. your morning coffee shop where we tell you the news of the day bring you up to date on what's happening here in our nation's capital, around the country around the globe and give you a chance to talk about it. 1-866-55-press. that's our toll free number. 1-866-55-press. you can join us on twitter and give us your comments on twitter at bpshow and on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. all of the talk here in washington, d.c. about the big hearing on benghazi. yesterday, you know, this was a hearing, according to mike huckabee, it was going to bring down president obama. the hearing according to lindsey graham, when the dam

would break on benghazi and the hearing, according to darrell issa, chairman that would prove "very damaging to hillary." well, they had the big hearing and nothing happened. the number one charge, one man saying he had requested that fighter jets be sent to benghazi. leon panetta turned them down explaining it would have taken at least nine hours to get them there from italy. and the tankers needed for refueling were not available anyhow. but that won't be the last hearing on benghazi. we'll tell you about that and a whole lot more right here on current tv. 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.

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"bill press show." >> bill: president obama off to austin, texas to talk education and jobs. good morning, everybody. it is the "full court press" on a thursday thursday, may 9. can you believe it? great to see you today. thanks for joining us. this is your morning town hall where you want to know what's going on? we'll let you know what's happening here in our nation's capital. around and across this great country and the united states of america and around the globe. but we'll not only tell you what's going on, we'll give you a chance to comment about it or to ask questions. 1-866-55-press. our toll free number. join our conversation at any time. we'll pay for the call. you can also -- it may be a lot easier for you to go on twitter give us your comments on bpshow, our twitter handle. become our friend on facebook. facebook.com/billpressshow is

how you do that. we need all of the friends that he we can get. join us on facebook. it is a busy day in our nation's capital. we'll start out this hour focusing on the supreme court. the roberts court. and then get some comments and the latest from rosa delauro congresswoman, one of the democratic members of congress who had dinner with president obama last night at the jefferson hotel. joining us to talk about the roberts court from the national law journal chief washington correspondent, marsha coyle who has been covering the court for some 20 years. you know your way around there marsha. >> i hope so. >> bill: thanks for coming in. marsha has a new book out called "the roberts court." congratulations. >> thanks. >> bill: peter ogborn and dan henning. >> hey hey. >> bill: with alichia cruz on the phones and cyprian bowlding who has the tv cameras covered here the video cam. so you know, politics, you get

so frustrated and so discouraged sometimes. keep hoping maybe some new faces will come in, you know, and just change the whole landscape. well, one of the new faces we might have been hoping for but it doesn't look like we're going to see after all is eva longoria. she, of course, actress active in a lot of different causes. she was on with katie couric yesterday and katy asked her about her running for office. >> do you think you would ever consider running for office? >> no. [ laughter ] >> really? >> they're mean people in politics. and i thought i was tough-skinned. when they take a bad picture of me on the beach and call me fat i'm like i can take it. in politics, there is like no holds barred, really vicious -- you know, group of people there. >> bill: so she's not going to save the day. i guess we're going to have to -- who shall we hold out for?

>> tom hanks is the most trusted name in america. >> yes, he is. >> according to that poll we had yesterday. >> bill: hold out for lindsay lohan. >> yeah, right. >> bill: marsha coyle starting us off. rosa delauro coming up. we'll get right to the roberts court. what have we learned from the 5-4 decisions so far and what can we expect coming up. but first... dan has the big stories of the day. >> other headlines making news on this thursday. i heard screaming, i'm eaten my mcdonald's is one of the most famous lines we've heard this week from charles ramsey, the ohio neighbor credited with helping save those girls held hostage. now the fast food chain wants to get in touch with him. mcdonald's announcing they'll be reaching out to ramsey in private in the wake of him helping rescue the girls. no word on what they want to talk to him about. he was eating a big mac at the time of the rescue. >> bill: every interview he

gave, he talked about eating mcdonald. when he went over to kick down the door, he took his big mac with him. they owe him big time. >> popeye has spinach. charles ramsey has mcdonald's. >> tiger woods and lindsey anderson hasn't been together that long. the pro golfer had too much to drink at a gala in new york city monday night. he got very awkward on the dance floor as the night went on and then when he tried to go up a flight of stairs, the stairs won. the look on von's face was not great. they quickly got in the car and sped away. >> bill: not good. >> and who is america's favorite tv mom of all-time? a new harris poll reveals that june cleaver of "leave it to beaver" is the tv mom that americans would want most to be their own mother. she was played in the 1950s by barbara billingsley. number two on the list is clair huxtable of the cosby show followed by carol brady of "the

brady bunch." they're the same top three from the last time they did the survey which was five years ago. >> i'm stunned that june cleaver is still number one because there's a whole generation of people who have never seen that show. >> bill: i voted for "married with children," peggy. >> peg bundy. >> bad. >> bill: my favorite. 11 minutes after the hour. marsha, had a chance to read a little bit of your book. the roberts court, just out tuesday, yesterday. wow! really! hot off the press. >> hot off the press. exactly. >> bill: the roberts court the struggle for the constitution. why did you focus on their 5-4 decisions because not all of their decisions are 5-4. >> no, in fact, i make it clear in the book that more than 60% of the court's decisions are either unanimous or by 8-1 or

7-2. >> bill: we don't hear about those much. >> we don't because they're not the hot button issues that the media in particular likes to focus on and that people want to talk about. but there is a lot of consensus across this court even though you have an ideological divide, you have five republican appointees and four democratic appointees. but i pick those four cases for a number of reasons. i wanted 5-4 decisions because that's where we learn the most about the justices and how they approach interpreting laws or the constitution. i also wanted cases that had really good back stories. what i think makes this book a little different from other supreme court books is that i don't just focus on the justices. i tell the story of how these cases got to the supreme court. the reader is going to meet seattle mother kathleen who sued the school district because it was using a racial tiebreaker to assign students to high schools

that were oversubscribed. they're also going to meet very smart, conservative lawyers libertarian lawyers who framed these cases pushed them to the supreme court. like allen who took the second amendment case, challenging the district of columbia's gun laws. then you will also hear from the justices. so that's why i picked them. and i wanted cases that people really cared about and that they talk about over the dinner table. >> bill: now, you cover the court. and i love this anecdote -- i didn't know there was this tradition, you talk about, at the court where they all shake hands. >> yes. before every conference meeting and also before they step through the red curtains behind the bench to hear oral arguments. >> bill: they make -- each justice shakes hands with every one of the other justices. >> right. i think that helps keep them collegial. >> bill: do they get along? >> yes absolutely.

they really do like each other. even though they can divide and divide bitterly like they did in healthcare they do overcome it. the court works. unlike congress today. it seems to be working. >> bill: right. that is a good point where they can differ but still get along. >> they get their work done. >> bill: just like on crossfire, bob novack, pat buchanan and i good friends even though we disagreed strongly and still do on the issues. so the four cases that you -- well, before i get to that you do conclude, right early on, that this is the most conservative court in our lifetime. right? no doubt about that. >> well, i think it is. it is more conservative than its predecessor, the rehnquist court. and the rehnquist court was more conservative than the berger court. i think it is more conservative. studies say it is slightly more

conservative than the rehnquist court -- >> bill: is that because of alito and roberts being at it? >> mainly justice alito. he's more conservative than the person he succeeded justice sandra day o'connor. >> bill: by far. >> she moderated in a number of areas like abortion, church and state. campaign finance. that has changed with justice alito coming on the bench. >> bill: you mention sandra day o'connor, i was stubbed a week or so ago when she said looking back at bush v. gore, not that they shouldn't have voted the way they did they shouldn't have even taken the case she believes now. it is kind of too late. >> it's long late. but it's not unusual that justices will have second thoughts. you remember, bill, justice powell, last year, he left the bench. he said he regretted what he did in bowers versus hardlick, the

case where the court upheld georgia's sodomy law and the supreme court later overruled that. so with hindsight sometimes they feel they made mistakes. >> bill: so the cases that you pick out, i love the fact you just kind of -- guns, money race and healthcare. >> try to keep it simple. >> bill: but those are four blockbuster cases. we learn from each one of those cases, not all of which have been decided so far. start with money. some have called citizens united the second worst decision in the history of the supreme court. >> in fact the lawyer who won that case thinks it is the most hated decision since bush v. gore. >> bill: is that right? >> he admits that it is. >> bill: and this was -- this was really john roberts' baby, wasn't if? >> you know, it has been portrayed that way but i have to tell you that i think this is

justice kennedy's baby. he, for a long time, he and justice scalia, disliked the case that they overruled in citizens united, the austin case that put a ban on corporate contributions. and he also dissented in mccain feingold. they made their views very clear and they had the votes that they needed to overturn those. and eliminate the ban on corporate independent expenditures which also applies to unions, by the way. so i think it was justice kennedy who led this -- chief justice roberts, you know, he had to really think whether he wanted to take that big step because with only a few years earlier that he had upheld those bans. so i really think it was kennedy who led the march on this one. >> bill: are they done with campaign finance? >> no, they're not. >> bill: there are still limits and rumors they would like to get rid of all limits across the board.

>> i think the court is really on what we call a deregulation, they want to, because the conservatives, in particular, think the first amendment really mandates this, they want to lift a lot of the restrictions on money and campaigns. they've got a big case next term involving the republican national committee. so that issue is alive. race is alive. guns is alive. and healthcare. we're going to see other cases coming to the court that push the envelope on those issues. >> bill: with roberts on healthcare, do you subscribe to the theory that this happened because john roberts is really thinking about his legacy and the legacy of the court? >> i think with any chief justice, there is a concern about the institution of the court and it legitimacy and its credibility. i take -- you have to decide for yourself if you read roberts'

opinion, whether he convinced you or persuaded you. a lot of people think because we focused on under the commerce clause, that the taxing power issue wasn't in the case. but it always was from the very beginning and it was argued in the supreme court by the obama administration. so i think he felt that that was -- that saved the mandate. the individual mandate. but i think probably also because he's chief justice. he probably did have in the back of his mind, that he really didn't want the court to be drawn into -- the presidential campaign. we won't know until years after he's left the bench when we get a peek at his working papers, what he really thought. >> bill: the roberts court. some powerful decisions particularly these 5-4 decisions on guns, money on race, on healthcare. and now they face the big challenge of marriage equality and same-sex marriage.

marcia coyle covers the county for the national law journal. author of the new book "the roberts court." your questions or comments welcome. join the conversation at 1-866-55-press. we'll be right back. >> announcer: go mobile with bill press. download podcasts at billpressshow.com 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.

>> announcer: like politics? then like the "bill press show" on facebook. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right. now 25 minutes after the hour. we're talking the roberts court. the most conservative court in our lifetime, for sure. marcia coyle with the national law journal in studio with us. marcia the constitutionality project did a report last week. we had the author in. maybe it was earlier this week.

who also says that the roberts court is the most pro business court. do you buy that? according to the decisions they made and the cases that they -- >> i think that this court is one very interested in business cases. and maybe that has to do with the background of some of the justices but the chief justice handled a lot of business cases when he was in private law practice. i think you have to look at the individual cases. i would say is it pro business? i would say -- and some of the justices in my book say maybe more anti-big litigation. and that often works against the little guy who is suing and needs a lot of other little guys. >> bill: class action cases. >> absolutely. the five conservatives on the court narrowly interpret our civil rights law. our job discrimination laws. with the exception of maybe

cases involving retaliation by employers. so i think there's a lot of hostility to big litigation. they think it costs a lot of money. maybe not always effective. so there's truth to it but then you also have to look at individual cases. >> bill: the book is "the roberts court," the struggle for the constitution. we'll have a link up, of course, on our web site. say a quick hello to bill calling from clifton new jersey. hey, bill, good morning. >> caller: good morning. i wanted to find out why the house of representatives, which does have rules over the supreme court, they could make rules regarding their conduct why they're not allowed -- not made to adhere to the judicial rules of conduct at all -- that all federal judges have to adhere to. in other words conflict of interest like with thomas and scalia -- >> bill: okay. got your question. in the interest of time.

marcia? >> the justices say that they do follow those rules but you're right, bill, they are not required to follow them. they judge their own conflicts. they don't give reasons for why they may step out of a case or stay into a case. and they rarely comment when, you know, they're criticized for, you know, having conflicts. that erupt into the public's attention. but they're the supreme court. they make their own rules. >> bill: we only have 30 seconds. what do you expect on same-sex marriage? >> everybody asks me that. i don't think the court based on the arguments i heard is going -- i'll be shocked if they announce the constitution guarantees a right to marry by same-sex couples for every nationally. i think the defense of marriage act is in serious trouble. and they may very narrowly rule on the california's ban against same-sex marriage. >> bill: then leave it up to each state to decide.

>> yes, i think that may be where they're headed. >> bill: sort of that middle of the road approach. fascinating institution. you do great work there. marcia coyle, you've been covering the court for 20 years. put it all together in this book. "the roberts court." congratulations. >> thanks. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> ...and a distinctly satirical point of view. >> but you mentioned "great leadership" so i want to talk about donald rumsfeld. >> (laughter). >> watch the show. >> only on current tv.

>> announcer: this is the "full court press." the "bill press show." live on your radio and on current tv. >> bill: here we go. 33 minutes after the hour. this is the "full court press." here on current tv. and on your local progressive talk radio station. brought to you today -- coming

to you live from our nation's capitol, brought to you by the national education association the good men and women teachers of the nea under dennis van roekel their president creating great public schools for every student in america. you bet they do great work. this is teacher appreciation week and so we're all the more grateful for their support for this week. and so grateful and so pleased to welcome back to the studio, a neighbor on capitol hill and a good friend, representing the people of connecticut. particularly new haven here in the united states congress. the honorable rosa delauro. congresswoman, nice to see you. >> wonderful to see you. good morning. >> bill: we're so honored you had dinner with president obama last night and breakfast with us this morning. >> amen. what could be better? i hit the jackpot. >> bill: we hit the jackpot. so what did you have for dinner? >> we had several choices. food was very good. >> bill: did you get the lobster? >> no, i did not. >> bill: was that offered?

>> yes i think there was a lobster thermador and a lamb which is what i had with vegetables. it was really -- >> bill: just about eight of you, right? >> eight or ten of us. >> bill: with the president. >> with the president. you know, it really is quite an extraordinary experience. you know, i think i would have to say to myself, you know my background. daughter of an immigrant family whose family could dream that her daughter would serve in the united states house of representatives. you know, last evening having dinner with the president of the united states. but it was a -- informal. which was great. and everyone, gregarious and the president, he engages. it really was -- it was an excellent meeting and to be able to meet in that small an effort to talk about -- the challenges that we're facing. >> bill: what did you talk

about? >> primarily the issue is jobs. and how we move to create jobs. and how to get our economy back on track. and look to long-term growth. and what are the ways in which we can do that? president talked about his initiatives with infrastructure, interested in moving forward in that area and you know that that's an issue that near and dear to my heart. the national infrastructure development bank. over the years. but looking at a way to put us on a path to growth. and obviously in order to do that one then talks about budget issues. and you know, his sincerity in trying to find the common ground that's necessary. with our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to move forward. and we talked a little bit about that. we talked also about some of the issues that have -- you know, come to the fore in addition and

primarily, you know, he started with jobs and job creation as did leader pelosi and our whip, steny hoyer about that needs to be our central focus. but in the meantime, you know, we do have other issues. the issue of gun violence. >> bill: i was going to ask you whether that came up. because you from connecticut we've talked about that. newtown. >> i thanked him. i thanked the president really, the care that he has taken and the time he has devoted to connecticut and to the families in newtown. we so much appreciate it. i mentioned to him just a week ago, i was at an event in new haven on behalf of the clifford behrs clinic which deals with mental health issues in children. i met the parents of one of the children that was murdered and i just said to her, how are you doing?

she said today has been a better day. so it is day by day. still the emptiness and the tragedy of that. he's been focused on that. also, present last night at the meeting was our colleague mike thompson from california. leader pelosi charged with the task force on gun violence prevention and he's done an outstanding job with a piece of legislation which actually mirrors what was done in the senate. manchin and toomey. and has about 130 cosponsors. >> bill: whoa. >> so far. you were a student of the institution. which is, you know really outstanding. but meek is going to be in connecticut -- mike is going to be in connecticut tomorrow morning. i'm going to go up later today. he's going to do, at the behest of our colleague, he's going to do a hearing in hartford. he will be there for that. mike has such credibility on these issues because he is a

hunter. he served in the military. he has -- he has guns. and he's talking about -- background check is -- really is something that we can all rally around and the public is rallied around. 90% approval rating. we never get that. in anything that we do. >> bill: yeah. mike is a great guy. i'm proud of the fact that when i was democratic chair of california i campaign for mike. i helped him. >> that's right. my gosh. >> bill: in his first run for congress. representing -- he represents napa valley and that whole -- >> beautiful area. >> bill: absolutely. >> we also talked about immigration. i will just mention that. that is coming up and obviously the senate has a bill. the house is still in negotiations. but you know and -- let me go back for a second because i think with regard to the gun prevention effort, this is my

own view. this wasn't the nature of the conversation. i think if there is the opportunity in the senate, to get that bill passed and i take the optimism of joe manchin. >> bill: he says he has a couple more votes. he's working at it. >> if that can happen there then i believe we have a chance in the house. and again, my own view, that i think if that doesn't happen, then i think that we're not going to be able to move in the house. i think also the senate is leading on the immigration reform effort. i think that, you know, we'll see what the deliberations are there and to move forward. but i think we will see immigration reform. >> bill: i just want to mention, we had a chance to mention this earlier on the show. on this issue we saw last week down in kentucky, the sad case of the 5-year-old boy given his

first gun this cricket bought by his grandmother and shoots and kills his 2-year-old sister. there are three stories this morning, congresswoman. i want to read the headlines. they say everything. 13-year-old florida boy shoots 6-year-old sister in chest. a florida 3-year-old fatally shoots himself with his uncle's gun. headline. third one, texas boy 7 shot by his younger brother. i mean what is going on? >> it is staggering. you know in newtown -- >> bill: kids killing kids with guns. >> the president said it. i won't forget these words. he asked the question, that sunday night in newtown and he said are we doing enough to protect our children? and he answered the question and he said no. we have to be honest with ourselves. the answer is no. that must change.

we have to keep moving at this to change this effort. the simplicity of a background check with 90% approval. again, my own view, this is a no-brainer. it should have been done. quite frankly, i don't care which side of the aisle you're on. that is a bill that should have passed. i am optimistic we can get it passed in the senate and then we can do battle in the house. >> bill: one would hope we can come together on that and come together on keeping guns out of the hands of children. congresswoman rosa delauro with us. you're worked up also about something that's coming up today. we'll take a quick break and come back. republicans are pushing something they call -- sounds good doesn't it -- the working families flexibility act. we'll find out what the real story is from congresswoman rosa delauro when we come back. >> announcer: connect with the "bill press show" on twitter.

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>> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: it is 14 minutes before the top of the hour. congresswoman rosa delauro from connecticut here in studio with us. and let's take a look, congresswoman, people say that the congress is not getting anything done. i disagree. i mean yesterday eric cantor

announced he was scheduling a vote next week to repeal obamacare. >> my god. it is groundhog day. one more time! i think this might be the 38th time. >> bill: 34 maybe. >> 34. i'll double check. >> bill: yeah, but it is ridiculous. >> it is ridiculous. it is going nowhere. just another one in a series of sham votes. >> bill: now yesterday, not maybe a sham vote but a sham issue, at least the name of it. republicans are pushing something called the working families flexibility act. how could you be opposed to anything like that? >> doesn't it sound wonderful? >> bill: it does. >> except it is just the opposite of flexibility. let me give you some context. working families today are struggling. they're struggling economically. very economically insecure. has to do with stagnant wages and lower wages no jobs, no healthcare benefits. the whole nine yards. so what we want to do is to try

to do something to mitigate against this economic insecurity. this bill that they were brought up -- and by the way it is another -- the senate -- there is no prayer for this bill in the senate. >> bill: so it is going nowhere. >> it is going nowhere. what it essentially does, it guts the 40-hour work week which says that you must pay overtime after 40 hours. they would say well, we are offering comp time but the fact of the matter is you don't decide when you need the comp time. your employer will make that decision. so it may -- you know, you may have something to be at but you can be told no. and then you have no recourse. there is no enforcement mechanism. it is just one more attempt really, to cut back on what our

worker protection, worker rights and in essence not provide people with what they need in terms of increased wages. you know, families rely on overtime. and it is -- the dollars. so many families today need to have the money in order to be -- in order to take care of their families. >> bill: absolutely. instead of getting time and a half for overtime, they say -- they decide you get comp time and we tell you when you take it. >> you can say i would like it now and your employer can say sorry. that will disrupt the work schedule for this week or for next week. so you can't take it now. in addition to which if you refuse to take it, what is to stop an employer from -- these are hourly workers cutting back on your hours making sure you don't have great shifts, you know, that you get the graveyard shift or whatever.

so it is not flexibility. it is flexibility for the employer. but not flexibility for the employee. do we want to do something about working families and these difficulties? certainly. let's move forward and pass the healthy families act. i know something about the healthy families act because i've introduced it. this is about paid sick days. today, almost half of the individuals who work in the private sector do not have one paid sick day. not one. they wouldn't give this bill a hearing. so you want to do that? it is up to seven days. you earn it. it is not a month. and that you can take care of a sick child. take care of yourself, an ailing relative. but they refuse to look at this piece of legislation. and it is -- makes workers more productive. the studies show that it is good for businesses. to be able to offer this effort.

they also want to do something minimum wage. help working families today? increase the minimum wage. do you want to help working women today? make sure that we have pay equity and that women are paid for the same job and the same pay that a man receives. many ways in which to address the issue not one that would remove that 40-hour work week and overtime pay. >> bill: did this pass the house? >> it passed the house. it was a 220-202. and the 202 was -- you know, it is a good vote. it is a good vote. it is not a good vote if you don't win but it is 202. that means that there were some republican members who crossed the aisle to vote with us because there are only 201 democratic members so there were a few republicans who voted for it. >> bill: you mentioned it got some republican votes. you mentioned mike thompson has

picked up a very impressive number of signatures on a -- joe manchin, pat toomey background check in the house. is there any bipartisan effort in the house on immigration reform, do you see any hope there? >> well, there are negotiations that are on-going. even as we speak. you know, over the last several days. it is -- you know, four democrats, four republicans. coming together to address the issue. so i don't know any of the particulars yet. we haven't seen the results of these negotiations and hope to see that in the next several days. we obviously have seen the bipartisan effort in the senate. and i think if the senate can move forward then, in fact, that puts -- that gives us impetus in the house and strength in the house to move forward as well. >> bill: one other issue, it is great just to be able to -- ask about any of these issues because you're on top of all of them, the senate passed something called the marketplace

fairness act which is the internet sales tax. and some people -- grover norquist and saying they'll never get it through the house. never get it through the house. what's your take? >> i'm not so sure. i think that we can. i think there is significant support, you know, on both sides. now, we're in the midst of the conversation about it. one needs to take a look at the places. i'm supportive of the effort. i believe as it is going to pass. i think we have to be mindful of the businesses that are out there to make sure their needs are taken care of and that we're not putting people out of business. my sense is that there is support in the senate and passed in the senate and i believe it will pass in the house as well. >> bill: congresswoman, great to you have here. thank you so much. again, congratulations and i'm glad you had a good time last night with the president. shared the stories this morning. >> it was. always a thrill. when i believe that that is no longer there it is time for me

to leave the house of representatives. >> bill: and you're welcome here anytime. thanks so much for coming in. >> thank you so much. >> bill: congresswoman rosa delauro, you can follow her on twitter at rosa delauro. i'll be back with a parting shot. >> announcer: go mobile with bill press. download podcast at billpressshow.com and listen any time anywhere. this is the "bill press show." 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 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. >> 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: all right. on this thursday, may 9, my parting shot for today, she is the most powerful woman on the planet. no doubt about it. i'm not talking about queen elizabeth, angela merkel or oprah winfrey the most powerful woman is hillary clinton. if you don't believe it, look at yesterday's hearing on benghazi. in the house. there have already been ten congressional hearings into the attack on our consulate in benghazi but house republicans staged yet another one yesterday. importing a couple of disgruntled state department employees to give their own account of what happened. we learned absolutely nothing new. all we heard was a string of attacks on former secretary of state hillary clinton as if she and not the terrorists were responsible for the murder of four americans that night in benghazi. they called it the learn about benghazi hearing. they should have called it the stop hillary clinton hearing because clearly, that was its sole purpose to beat up on hillary and try to scare her out

of running for president in 2016. yes, she's the most powerful woman on the planet but if republicans are afraid of her now, think of how afraid they're going to be of her when she finally makes it to the white house. have a great one. see you tomorrow.

[♪ theme music ♪] >> stephanie: good morning, oh jacki schechner. what did michelle malkin tweet?

hillary clinton's tower of lies is tumbling. [ laughter ] >> stephanie: back here in the real word, marcia clark is comi