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tv gets the converstion started weekdays at 9am eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. (vo) tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >> you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. just be grateful current tv does not come in smellivision. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv. >> if you believe in state's rights but still support the drug war you must be high. >> "viewpoint" digs deep into the issues of the day. >> do you think that there is any chance we'll see this president even say the words "carbon tax"? >> with an open mind... >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> ...and a distinctly satirical point of view. >> but you mentioned "great leadership" so i want to talk about donald rumsfeld. >> (laughter).

>> watch the show. >> only on current tv. >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: hey 25 minutes after the hour. yes, indeed, i want the i.r.s. to be tough. i want the i.r.s. to go after tax cheats. i would suggest the i.r.s. might want to start with the companies that take jobs overseas then don't pay tacks on the profits

they're making overseas. i would like to start with the oil companies and the big cruise lines and the big banks that are recording record profits and not paying any on profits. the way they're doing it. going after these -- conservative right wing political organizations. some of whom may deserve -- but making that their sole purpose going after groups that have constitution somewhere in their title or -- they just -- there's no defending it. there's just no defending it. >> we're on twitter at bpshow. you can find us there. rahm says the i.r.s. is out of line. but so are the tax-exempt statuses where are the whistle-blowers for that nonsense? >> bill: i agree. you can't target one side of the political aisle. >> dynamite guy says maybe the tea baggers should quit with all of the anti-tax, anti-government talk. what did they expect? >> bill: anti-tax then they

want the tax break of course. yeah. you know what? it makes -- it makes obama look bad. he's got to deal with it. it just gives him one more headache and i just hate the fact that the dumb asses at the i.r.s. handled it this way. roy in -- for stupid fit not anything else. roy is down in north carolina. >> caller: hey, bill, can you hear me? >> bill: i hear you. >> caller: you're not too loud here. you coined the phrase obama derangement syndrome right? >> bill: yes. i don't know if i kind it but i use it. >> caller: you're the first i heard it from. you just said karl rove should be shut down. all of the various t. p. organizations are little karl roves. social welfare organizations are you kidding? these are fascist money laundering organizations. and the reason constitution was used as a name to look at, they

didn't get persecuted because of it, because every one of them is an anti-liberal american-hating fascist. that's why. >> bill: certainly some of them are. i made that point earlier. it is laugh out loud funny to say that karl rove's 501c4 whatever the name of it is, is not a political operation. it definitely is a political operation. and karl rove is skirting the law. i even say he's cheating if he wants a tax -- i don't want karl rove to get a tax-exempt status. but you can't defend the i.r.s. when they go on their crusade to crack down on political organizations that are not really what they pretend to be. you can't defend the fact they only looked after conservative or republican or right wing organizations and not democratic. that turns the i.r.s. into a

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

>> announcer: chatting with you live at current.com/billpress this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: yes, it is. it is 33 minutes after the hour here on the "full court press" this tuesday morning may 14. coming to you live from our studio on capitol hill here in washington, d.c. brought to you today by the international association of machinists, good men and women of the machinists union under president tom buffenbarger sharpening the edge on the economy. after the show, i will be over

at the hyatt regency talking to a big conference of the machinist union. we is salute them for their great work and thank them for the support of the show and we thank igor volsky, managing editor of think progress. sort of the research public information arm whatever, communications wing of the center for american progress. in studio with us again this morning. igor, thank you. and you get the prize again for coming in early. >> thank you. good morning, good morning. >> bill: nothing going on. >> no. >> bill: not much to talk about today. >> tiger won something. >> let's talk about golf and hockey. >> bill: or how about o.j.? oh, my god. he should have sent his attorney out and not appeared on camera himself. >> new book, too. amanda knox has a new book, too. >> bill: well then forget

about the big issues. starting with benghazi. yesterday, dan if you can help us out here. chairman darrell issa says that -- 11 hearings on benghazi is not enough. we need more hearings on benghazi and we're going to go after president obama because he refuses to call it a terrorist attack. here is issa's little wordplay. >> so i think when you look at official correspondence from the president through the acting ambassador, to the president of libya which came out in our hearing and was testified to under oath, the words that are being used carefully like you just said, act of terror and act of terror is different than a terrorist attack. the truth is this was a terrorist attack. this had al-qaeda added. >> very delicate distinction. belle you guys reported on this yesterday. so what is -- the question i would like to have asked darrell issa, what is the difference

between a terrorist attack and an act of terror. >> might want to ask george w. bush who on september 13, two days after the september 11th attacks, called it an act of terror as well. so there may have been a cover-up with bush that issa has to investigate. but look, it is getting really complicated with benghazi. really really complicated. >> bill: he used that phrase? >> he visited a hospital in the days after in washington and said that they'll pay for this act of terror. so now that obama said act of terror instead of terrorist attack even though four days later, you had the administration official saying publicly before congress it is a terrorist attack, you know, the thing is they claim that there's some kind of great conspiracy, great cover-up, it was the administration's -- to portray

the president ahead of the election as strong on terror, as winning and having big success and defeating al-qaeda and that story line of the attack would have undermined their narrative for re-election. which is one theory but the problem is it leads you to believe that the president somehow thought that if he slowed down the response to benghazi, that if he didn't do everything he could, that if more americans died as a result, that would somehow improve his chances. when you boil it down, when you break it up, it doesn't make any sense at all. but the hearings will continue. >> bill: also, what seems to me particularly outrageous, certainly the republicans have -- they believe this is how they're going to bring president obama down. >> not just about obama. it is about hillary in 2016. >> bill: it is also about -- i think clearly a double focus

here, right? bring obama down as hike huckabee has said. he will not complete his second term. >> this is the watergate. >> bill: jim inhofe, the one thing you can play is republicans will overplay their hand. huckabee the end of the obama -- presidency and james inhofe is already saying people will start using the "i" word. >> impeachment. >> bill: yeah. so, of course, let's prevent hillary from thinking about running for 2016. so now they're talking about bringing her back to testify. bringing ambassador thomas pickering and admiral michael mullen who headed up the accountability review board hearing, bringing them in to testify when they offered to testify before and were refused the chance to testify by darrell issa. it is a non-ending saga. >> the sad part here is there's actual real investigation that could be done to find out who these killers are.

who killed for americans. and that's what they're politicizing. that's what they're undermining with this witch-hunt. >> bill: i must say i think -- i'm sure nobody's more frustrated about this man president obama is. as he showed yesterday. but i'm frustrated that we haven't been able to -- not that it's easy in libya to track these people down but we haven't been able to find them and bring them to justice. i think one way to put this issue to rest once and for all just like getting osama bin laden, president obama could go on tv tomorrow and say we got him. here they are. these are the ones who did it. who fired the mortars? these are the ones responsible for chris stevens death. i think darrell issa would finally shut up. >> maybe. bin laden was caught. it was a scandal that obama was taking too much credit. >> that's right. >> you're giving him too much credit bill. >> the number one target of maybe of all time.

stop bragging about. >> bill: i keep coming back to if you really want to play games with the response, with americans getting killed by terrorists, four people were killed in benghazi. 3,000 people were killed on september 11th. so if you really want to play that game, i think republicans are on very, very thin ice. let's talk about something else. that was the first -- that's the first of our triple scandals. the second is the i.r.s. nobody is more angry about them yesterday than president obama. rightfully so. >> look, this is a problem. it is a problem for the i.r.s. but it is a bigger problem for the country and here is why. in the aftermath of citizens united, you saw this rash of these c-4 organizations who are social welfare groups in name only. and spend a lot of money on elections, try to influence these things with money that comes from who knows where.

>> bill: they're political organizations. masser -- masquerading as goody-goody groups. there are a lot more on the right than the left. >> you saw after the 2010 decision, a spike in applications the i.r.s. mishandled in trying to identify them. but the irony here is they went after the tea party groups, the local tea party chapters who really don't raise the money. they're not big money raisers. the big problems are groups like americans for prosperity. crossroads that abuse the status. because of this scandal you're now going to have the i.r.s. in -- on a weaker footing in a weaker position to go after this kind of abuse. you're not going to have any appetite in congress to reign this in, to talk about things, disclose act to go after citizens united. repeal that decision.

you're going to have no momentum for this kind of thing. and that's i think a big big problem. >> bill: that's why we should all be pissed at the bunglers at the i.r.s. >> we should be and everybody who knew about it from folks in washington knew about it, we now know to folks in cincinnati, folks in other offices in the i.r.s. they should be held accountable. >> bill: so they've given -- by their ineptitude or stupidity has created a big problem. >> really frozen -- >> bill: obama administration. one other scandal has broken out which may be the most serious of all. again, we talk to igor volsky from think progress, managing editor. we now know that the obama administration has been particularly aggressive in trying to crack down on leaks to reporters. one story that leaked -- was leaked to "the new york times" which the current justice department is now investigating

is a story about a drone strike in yemen that killed anwar al-awlaki. at least it was a drone strike in yemen one of them. and in their zeal to find out who leaked it, we know now the justice department went after the phone records of reporters for associated press here in washington and a couple of other bureaus, a massive invasion of privacy on the part of these reporters. "the associated press" yesterday loudly loudly protested this could end up being the biggest problem of all for the obama administration. >> well, it is a problem also because it looks like -- and we don't know yet but it looks like eric holder, the attorney general had to approve this kind of undertaking. this was extensive. it bugged their home phones, their work phones, their cell phones. everywhere without letting them know apparently. and so it could be a problem for him. but politically though, it could divide republicans also because

remember again during the election, you had republicans accusing the obama administration of leaking national security information to bolster obama's credibility on national security and so they demanded all of these investigations holder announced the whole task force in june. these leaks, we don't know for sure but they appear to be part of that effort to, again crack down on where the leak came from. through "the associated press." and so i wonder if you're now going to see this division kind of rand paul on one side, john mccain on the other again as we saw during the drone debate. mccain saying we gotta crack down on leaks. and, of course, rand paul taking the libertarian line although he doesn't like to be call ad-libbertarian -- called a libertarian, it violating the first amendment. the way it looks like, it is very vast and big and could be problematic. >> bill: doesn't look good. the question i have, is there anybody that eric holder hasn't pissed off?

as an attorney general he's gone out of his way. >> whole week left. >> bill: all right. here we go. so we've got associated press. we've got benghazi. we have the i.r.s. we've got more to come with igor volsky here. your calls plus your calls at 1-866-55-press. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv.

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

>> bill: we're talking to michael calderone about this whole a.p. story then getting into united students against sweatshops talking about the situation in bangladesh. the death toll is up to 1100. every time you turn around, it goes up every day. we're talking with igor volsky think progress managing editor. make it your home page. thinkprogress.org. igor is here and we are talking about the big stories of the day. one of which is the i.r.s. and peter and they're targeting of right wing groups hasn't always been that case. >> we're on twitter at bpshow. we're seeing your comments, reading your comments as we go through the show and a lot of people have mentioned the naacp had a problem with the i.r.s. in 2004. that is true. the naacp was hit with an audit

over accusations of being too political. it was during -- in 2004, the convention in philadelphia. the note from the i.r.s. to the naacp said we are received information -- we have received information information that your organization distributed statements in opposition of george w. bush for the office of presidency. that's what they wrote the naacp in their audit. because they got too political they were targeted by the i.r.s. >> bill: that was back in 2004. so in 2012, when they were going after organizations that were created as a result of citizens united, if they had been, you know, back and forth right that would have been -- nobody could have complained but it does look like they target groups on the right. igor, i want to ask you about the heritage foundation. they have a new -- jim demint, the mr. tea party in the senate.

now head of the heritage foundation has really turned what was a right wing -- a right wing research organization. >> legitimate. >> right wing political attack machine now. >> he's really taking a turn to the right with heritage. didn't think that was possible. >> bill: exactly. he's really all the way there. you know, i think if anyone is excited about different news this week, it has to be demint and heritage who had a very bad week last week. they released that immigration report which found that reform is going to cause some $6.3 trillion. it was discovered that the report was co-authored by a guy who believes that hispanic and latino people have lower i.q.s. he has since resigned. and we at think progress -- >> bill: he was forced to walk the plank. >> after like four days, this

wasn't immediate action. they were struckelling what to do with this racist. and we went through all of the other things that heritage staffers, including jim demint believed that are not only conservative but way outside the mainstream. and it is a pretty long list. let me just go through some of this. children of undocumented immigrants should be allowed to starve. they shouldn't have access to food stamps or any other kind of programs and low-income families because you know, they're undocumented. >> bill: one way of solving the problem. >> gay people and women who are sexually active but not married shouldn't be allowed to teach in public schools. the voting rights act -- this was jim demint. he said this in 2010 running for re-election. they shouldn't be allowed to teach. bad influence on the children if they're gay or unmarried because they talk about all of the sex they have in class. clearly.

the voting rights act is a racial entitlement. this is on the heels of scalia's claim this past couple of months ago. during the voting rights act. demint stood up for todd aiken, the missouri representative who lost the senate race for the legitimate rape comments. they have at heritage this entire way of thinking that poor people aren't really poor and thus don't need government help because they have a lot of kitchen appliances. they have refrigerators microwaves and laptops. tvs. so why are we giving them any kind of government assistance? government aid at all? of course the price of those things has dropped with mass production while cost of living and wages have not. and so you know, it goes on and on and on. this is the heritage foundation. you know, they have these kinds of beliefs but i think when you put out a report that is written by a racist, it kind of pushes

all of that to the forefront. it gets a lot more scrutiny and -- >> bill: they really had egg on their face after this report came out. >> some other conservatives too >> bill: republican leaders in congress working on an immigration plan. again, it shows what jim demint has done to this once proud organization. shouldn't trust him anyhow. only people to trust in washington, d.c. other than the "full court press" is think progress and the center for american progress. igor volsky, managing editor. thinkprogress.org. good to see you man. >> thank you. >> bill: see you next week and i'll be back with a very quick look at your e-mails. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> 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. >> if you believe in state's rights but still support the drug war you must be high. >> "viewpoint" digs deep into the issues of the day. >> do you think that there is any chance we'll see this president even say the words "carbon tax"? >> with an open mind... >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> ...and a distinctly satirical point of view. >> but you mentioned "great leadership" so i want to talk about donald rumsfeld. >> (laughter). >> watch the show. >> only on current tv.

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

>> 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: more on "the associated press" and the justice department and on bangladesh and the sweatshops in the next hour. robert says if republicans want to bring me into their fold, why don't they try telling the truth. clyde says hey, on saturday, fox news reported that only 25% of nonprofit groups had terms like tea party and patriots in their name. that doesn't sound like targeting to me. the issue is that they're only going after right wing groups. they are targeting. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: good morning everybody. tuesday, may 14. it is the "full court press." you're watching right here. welcome to the program on current tv. we're coming to you coast-to-coast, live from our nation's capital and our studio on capitol hill. right in the middle of the action. and a lot going on, lot to talk about here this tuesday morning. and a lot you're going to want to comment on. you can do so by giving us a call at 1-866-55-press. you can do so by just giving us your comments on twitter. love to hear from you on twitter at bpshow. you can do so by becoming our friend on facebook. facebook.com/billpressshow.

that's how you befriend us. triple trouble for the obama administration today. first of all on the benghazi front, republicans aren't satisfied with 11 hearings so far. they demand more hearings on benghazi. they won't let up until hillary clinton says okay, i won't run for president in 2016. more serious news that the i.r.s. has been targeting conservative political organizations to make sure cheating on the tax code. president obama very, very upset. it looks like the i.r.s. has only been going after conservative organizations. we don't want that from an institution that is supposed to be politically neutral. and finally news that the justice department has been seizing phone records of reporters at associated press. we'll get into that right here at the top of the hour. all of that and more here on current tv. support the drug war you must be high. cenk uygur: i think the number

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.

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>> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: triple trouble for the obama administration. benghazi the i.r.s. and associated press. when it rains it pours. good morning, everybody. hey, what do you say? it is tuesday may 14. good to see you today. on this tuesday edition of the "full court press." welcome to the program whether you're listening on your local progressive talk radio station or watching us on current tv. good to have you with us. lots to get into today. going to need your help. want to hear your comments. by phone at 1-866-55-press. we make it easy for you. we pay for the call on twitter

that's it. may be the easiest way to get us. go to twitter at bpshow, give us your comments. on facebook, we need all of the friends that we can get. go to facebook.com and become our friend. you are in. yes, indeed. the triple trouble for the white house today is continuing republican efforts to make a big deal out of benghazi and to try to blame it all on president obama of course and former secretary of state hillary clinton. we've got also the news that the justice department has been seizing the phone records of journalists at the associated press in their zeal to track down somebody who leaked a story about a drone strike in yemen. the i.r.s. was targeting political organizations on the right and -- in their zeal to crack down on tax cheats, make

the president angry yesterday. we've got it all covered. we'll tell you about it with the help of our team. peter ogborn and dan henning. alichia cruz on the phones. cyprian bowlding on the video cam. i'm o's back in the driver's seat today after being out in las vegas with president jim hoffa and the great men and women of the teamsters union. had a great time in las vegas. very powerful meeting with the teamsters there yesterday. and good to be back. >> personally, i'm stunned that you actually made it back. >> bill: because? >> because it was vegas. it's vegas. not everybody lives to tell the tale. >> bill: i have a good time in vegas. but then i get the hell out of there. >> you can't have a good time and behave yourself in vegas. >> bill: i love vegas. i love walking the strip.

one of my favorite things to do southbound looking at the people. you see more weirdos. it is like a circus. a walking circus. some of the outfits that people wear unbelievable. i was walking -- i was just walking. here is an elvis impersonator but he wasn't like performing. he was just walking down the street. nobody even turned their head. he had the whole white suit on, the whole thing you know, the glasses. total and just walking like anybody else. >> somewhere that elvis impersonator is telling his friend, vegas is so weird, i was just walking down the street and there was bill press. >> bill: no. you know, all of us, we have a short life in the media and at some point, all of us are going to have to say good-bye. i have no plans to retire by the way. that's not what i'm building up to. but barbara walters announced her retirement yesterday and so did paula white on the bbc.

maybe you don't know paula white on the bbc but she went out with a blaze of glory. when i do ever announce my last day on the air, it will not be like paula white who went out first to have a little entertainment, let's say, before she announced her final day on the air and here's what it sounded like. >> for the last time, let's say -- play the music. oh yeah. i'm not drunk. i've had a couple of drinks. i'm not drunk. paula, we'll miss you paula. wishing you all of the best in your future. [ laughter ] >> holy cow! >> bill: if she's not drunk i don't want to hear her when she is drunk. [ laughter ] >> she's bombed.

>> bill: totally totally bombed. pull the plug. michael calderone from "huffington post" joining us here to talk about "the associated press" and the justice department. we're also going to be talking later in the hour about what we can do about the sweatshops in bangladesh and the horrific death toll climbed to 1100. then the next hour, reporters from the "national journal" and politico. but first... >> announcer: this is the "full court press." >> other headlines making news on this tuesday. a major revelation from angelina jolie in "the new york times" this morning. the hollywood heavyweight writes in an op-ed she underwent a preventive double mastectomy after she learned she carried a gene that sharply increased her risk of developing breast cancer. her chance of getting breast cancer now have dropped from 87% down to 5%. she says she "feels empowered that i made a strong choice and that no way diminishes my

femininity." >> this is a remarkable story. >> bill: i just hope she made the right decision. there is a lot of controversy about women who make that decision and some doctors may be pushing women in that direction where they don't have to. but just hope she made the right decision. >> another high powerball jackpot for tomorrow night's jackpot after no one picture the right numbers on saturday night. it swelled to $350 million. that's the third highest jackpot in history. tickets for each game cost $2. there is a one in 175.2 million chance that any ticket will hit that. >> just made myself a note. >> all you need is a dollar and dream. >> bill: $2. >> atlanta georgia, has been named the most redneck city in the country according to a study done by the real estate firm. criteria used in the study of

cities includes the proximity of gunshops taxidermists, walmart locations, nascar stadium tracks, country music radio stations and the percentage of the population that has not completed high school. number two on the list is kansas city followed by oklahoma city nashville and tulsa. >> bill: those are not cities i would think of as redneck cities. >> let me tell you they're not far -- i come from redneckry. atlanta's not far from some redneck cities. atlanta is not a redneck city. it's just not. >> bill: i've been to atlanta a lot. i didn't think it was a redneck city. >> not even close. >> bill: want redneck? talk to ogborn. the latest flap, headline in "the new york times," justice department secretly seized phone records from "the associated press." michael calderone media reporter for "the huffington post" joins us on the phone this

morning. hey, michael. >> hey bill, how is it going? >> bill: good to have you with us. so what do we know about why was the justice department looking into phone records of associated press reporters and is there any way you can defend it? or one can defend it, not you personally. >> i don't think i will be the one to defend the records. but they did not tell the a.p. that they had obtained phone records for 20 different phone lines, both land lines and cell phones from the month of april and may of 2012. but it is fairly clear why they did it. the ap. in may of 2012 broke a story about a c.i.a. plot foiling a plot in yemen for an al-qaeda affiliate looking to bomb an airliner. so the a.p. broke the story on may 7 2012, and they

acknowledged they had some discussions with the government about publishing or not publishing. the government wanted the a.p. to hold off. they said they held off for a few days but decided to publish when the obama administration was going to reveal this thwarted plot anyways. there was discussion about whether they should publish or not publish. what we saw in the seizure of records is it is basically pitting those two months, april and may and is targeting several to reporters who worked on the story and editor of the story. >> bill: just the washington bureau or across the board of a.p.? >> they've targeted phone lines in the washington bureau including the phone line that the a.p. uses in the house of representatives. they targeted the new york office and surprisingly, the hartford office and all i can figure out from that is one of the reporters who co-wrote the story used to work in the

hartford office years ago. i don't know if that's exactly why. doj didn't give any explanation about why they were targeting specific phone lines but that's the only one i can come up with. >> bill: how do they get the phone records? they go to the phone company and say we're the united states government, we demand the records? >> presumably that's how they did it. they only found out in a terse e-mail on friday that these were seized. it is not as if the a.p. was involved in a protracted -- they got them from the phone companies and they already had them on friday when they told the a.p. they had them. >> bill: do we know how high up in the justice department it was given? >> supposed to be signed off by the attorney general. but the doj has not said either way whether holder -- ever -- eric holder had signed off on this. what's so jarring about this one

is that the justice department, when they are investigating something like this, a leak investigation, they're supposed to go through all reasonable attempts to get information that's needed without resorting to this type of measure. and no one whether civil liberties groups or press freedom advocates, no one has ever seen any sort of sweeping seizure of records like this where so many reporters and so many phone lines are targeted for such a long period of time. usually, they're expected to be much more narrowly focused to try to get a specific information. i think that's what's gotten the press really riled up about this. >> bill: so there's no doubt nobody denies the voracity of the story, right? >> no. i don't believe so. it was more a question about revealing c.i.a. plot. >> bill: and they had kept it secret for a couple of days. i know the white house had asked them at one time to keep it

secret. so this is really -- the focus here is on who leaked to the a.p. correct? >> right. >> bill: that's how they got into this. part of the story here is that the obama administration has been particularly aggressive in trying to track down leaks. more so than any other administration. >> that's correct. they've been incredibly aggressive. they prosecuted -- they brought six leak prosecutions which is more than -- far more than the bush administration. they have -- you know, they have been very aggressive in going after certain whistle-blowers and they have been very aggressive in seeking sources to the news media on specific leaks. now, in other instances, for instance the killing of osama bin laden, a lot of classified information about that mission has gotten out to the press. the obama administration hasn't

targeted any leakers for that. they seem to target leakers when there are unsanctioned leaks things the government did not want out there or wouldn't be happier out there. this is one instance where the government did not want the a.p. to publish this information and the a.p. suggested that they only did so because the plot was over and the government was going to announce it publicly, anyway. so they made a decision that they didn't feel there was still any threat to national security and that they already held off for a few days. but it is something the government didn't want out there at that time. >> bill: the president of "the associated press" yesterday gary prewitt called the seizure of the phone records an unprecedented intrusion. it seems to me that into the field of journalism, i guess the work of "the associated press," it seems to me that it certainly is and particularly

since the effort to thwart this plot right in yemen that effort was successful. "the associated press" was merely reporting what happened, right? and the obama administration has really -- not so much going after the reporters who reported it as the people who leaked it. that's supposed to be the focus i guess. >> right. the a.p. has said one of the reasons it was significant to report about this instance was the government had suggested, i believe, that there were -- there wasn't any credible threats about any al-qaeda affiliates looking to stake any attack around the death of osama bin laden. this was in early may of last year. the a.p. is reporting something that seems to go against what the government is saying in terms of not having credible evidence.

he was reporting that al-qaeda and the arabian peninsula is still looking to bomb an airliner. so the a.p., i think felt this was a very legitimate story in the public interest and shed light on the fact that these threats may still be out there. >> bill: i gotta tell you it is hard to see any other side of this other than it is a massive i think overreach of the government. and i think eric holder is going to have to have a lot of splaining to do. it doesn't look good. thank you so much for your time. >> thanks for having me on. >> bill: michael calderone "huffington post," huffingtonpost.com. there's no way you can defend. i don't want them snooping into my phones or anybody else's phones. sometimes the stuff that's leaked ought to be leaked.

we deserve to know about that. >> announcer: connect with the "bill press show" on twitter. tweet using the hashtag watching bp. this is the "bill press show." i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us.

we have a big big hour and the iq will go way up. (vo) current tv gets the converstion started weekdays at 9am eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. (vo) tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >> you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. just be grateful current tv does not come in smellivision. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only 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. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 26 minutes after the hour. we're talking bangladesh and what american firms might be involved in it in the next half hour here on the "full court press." a couple other stories we want to make sure you know about today. minnesota governor mark dayton, this afternoon will sign the legislation ok'ing same-sex marriage. major equality in the state of

minnesota, that's state number 12. good for minnesota. and disturbing, i think disappointing decision by the supreme court yesterday. unanimously siding with agribusiness, particularly monsanto in this case where a farmer said he had gotten some seeds from monsanto and then he collected some seeds from the plants when they went to seed and replanted them the next -- out in indiana replanted them the next year. monday santos -- monsanto sued him. if you buy our seeds, you cannot collect seeds, you have to buy seeds from us the next year. i think is outrageous. supreme court went along with monsanto. >> we've talked about monsanto and how they're getting special treatment from the government. >> bill: totally. >> if this is a farm they're bought the seeds it is in his best interest, businesswise, to do what farmers have always done. >> bill: you plant seeds so

things grow and then they go to seed and you get the seeds. that's the way it works. monsanto is trying to stop that whole thing. you've got a couple of other quick stories. >> interesting story because in the last three years we've created -- america has created about 6.2 million jobs at a rate of 160,000 jobs per month in the private sector. a new study says that 80,000 jobs per month, in other words half the jobs that have been created have been low-paying jobs. >> bill: whoa! >> the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. >> bill: not necessarily something -- it is good that there are new jobs and that they have a job. it is not good that they're close -- >> this should factor into the minimum wage. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." to me now? you know the kind of

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

>> bill: 33 minutes after the hour. the if you court press continuing on this may 14, live from our nation's capital. brought to you today by the national education association the good men and women teachers all of the nea under president dennis van roekel. you can find out more about their good work at their web site nea.org. we salute teachers of america and thank you all for your support of the "full court press." it has been almost two weeks now since the collapse of that building in bangladesh called the rama plaza.

they're still digging through the rubble. every time you turn around, it seems the death toll climbs higher and higher and higher. it is now at 1100. that's the latest reporting this morning which is just unbelievable. outrageous. i keep thinking what if something like that happened here in the united states of america? imagine the outrage and why isn't there more outrage or more demand for action on the part of americans about this tragedy. well one group has been on top of this issue long before the collapse of this rana plaza. we tracked down this organization. their national organizer joins us in studio this morning. garrett, nice to see you. >> thanks so much for having me on bill. >> bill: thanks for your good work on this. you're the international organizer of the united%

students right? >> yes, that's right. >> bill: first of all let me ask you so who are the black hats in the story? is it the government of bangladesh or the companies that employ these workers or the safety inspectors over there? who gets -- who's to blame? >> really, the party to blame is the western brands and retailers who, so far have refused to sign on to the binding bangladesh accord on fire and building safety. and this is an accord that will require brands to put money on the table to renovate their factories to make them safe. right now a lot of the factories lack basic infrastructure like fire exits protections for wiring, things that will make these workplaces safe. and the brands are the ones that are paying the factory owners such low prices and demanding orders on faster and faster timelines that it is no surprise

that factory owners cut corners on safety, resulting in huge industrial disasters like rana plaza. >> bill: peter, before the break, you were talking about low salary. most of the jobs created in the united states have been at a low salary level. the salary -- "the new york times" reporting this morning that the average salary for workers in these garment factories, sweatshops, we should call them. you do. in bangladesh, $37 a month. $37 a month. are there american companies that having their products, clothing made in bangladesh? >> oh, yeah. >> bill: which ones? >> the gap walmart jcpenney, children's place. actually jcpenney and children's place, they were found in the rubble of rana plaza.

out of all of the american companies, they have the blood of these 1100 workers on their hands. over the last couple of weeks they have been targeting the gap in particular. >> bill: usap is your organization. united students against sweatshops. usas.org. >> you mention walmart. i think a lot of people equate walmart with bad working conditions. but the gap is not one that i would have immediately thought of. they also -- banana republic is part of that same group. >> yeah. banana republic and old navy are their subsidiaries. >> bill: benetton were involved over there. they're not an american firm but they have a big presence here. could these companies plead ignorance? could they say well, we have -- we signed a contract but you know, we don't know what the working conditions are like over there. we look for the garments.

>> no, i think that they know where they're sourcing from. they know, you know, what the garment industry in bangladesh is like and made an intentional decision to, you know, set up the supply chain such as you have suppliers over 4,000 factories in bangladesh that compete with each other for orders. and you know, all of that downward price pressure between the factories results in workers making $37 a month. so i think they know what they're doing and the reason we're going after the gap is in particular is in 2010, 29 workers burned alive in a gap factory called hanin. >> bill: where was that? >> that was in bangladesh. >> bill: also in bangladesh. >> yes. following that tragedy usas and a bunch of other organizations in bang bangladesh called on the gap to sign a binding fire and building safety agreement to

make sure that industrial disasters would never happen again in bangladesh. >> bill: here we go. >> after two years of negotiations, they pulled out. and instead, they chose to announce their own go at it alone, voluntary self-regulatory program that has no binding legal enforcement mechanism and does not include workers or their unions. and so it is no surprise that you know, more workers continue to die when companies like the gap refuse to -- >> bill: okay, so what are the united students, what have you been doing about this? >> we've been hitting the streets, bill. we've been doing a bunch of actions at gap stores. doing picketing fliering. we're going to be at the gap shareholder meeting coming up here next week and we're going to do everything we can to mobilize students and consumers to take action against gap

stores. >> bill: gap stores all around the country? >> there is a gap store in every city i've ever been to. they're usually in the mall. that's a big big company. >> we were down in connecticut here doing a picket at a gap store. >> connecticut avenue in washington, d.c. >> exactly. >> bill: i don't think americans realize what's behind these products and the fact that these people slave labor kind of conditions but particularly the unsafe conditions. what i read about this building is very shotty construction and they put three floors on top of it and they have all of this heavy equipment. and all of these people jammed into there and no way for them to get out. >> how can you tell -- because -- i was -- i'm not so shocked like i said to learn that walmart might be up to some not so great activities when it comes to their workers but when you mention a company like the gap, i don't know that a lot of

people equate that with sweatshop labor. how can you tell if you're shopping, what's to tell us to stay away from a company with sweatshop labor? >> what we're asking consumers to do right now, i don't think it is really about trying to refuse to purchase anything made in bangladesh. what it is about is actually going to the producers that we know the bad guys. we know the guys that are refusing to sign this agreement and make a real commitment to workers and going to the stores and delivering letters, doing actions and that's what's really going to catch their attention. >> bill: first of all are you asking people to boycott gap not to buy at gap not to buy at walmart? >> well, we're asking folks to do, we're asking them to take action. in our experience, that's been -- we're asking them to do these letter deliveries. you can actually go to

gapdeathtraps.com which is a web site we just launched last week where you can find information about the gap and about their fire safety record and you can actually download letters. you can sign a petition. you can do all sorts of stuff that will go directly -- >> bill: in terms of taking action, why don't you tell people, just don't shop at walmart or don't shop at the gap until they're either no longer in bangladesh or they sign this accord on fire and building safety. >> well, you know, certainly we would encourage people to -- to, you know, take action any way they feel they would like. not shopping at the gap is one way to do that. that's good. but we're actually not asking folks to -- we're not asking the gap to pull out of bangladesh. in our opinion, that would be a totally defeatist move on their part and they've reaped profits on the bangladeshi workers for decades.

instead of pulling out what they need to do is they need to actually invest in the safety of these factories where workers toil away in sweatshops. >> bill: "the new york times" is reporting this morning that there are many global retailers who had signed the safety plan now for bangladesh. they've agreed which means they would put money in to have safer buildings and safer working conditions. hopefully even raise salary level. what you're saying is these -- american companies so far have not agreed to that. correct? >> the only american company that has agreed is pbh which is the parent company of calvin klein and tommy hilfiger. but so far yeah, it has been really notable the absence of american companies who are stepping up and -- >> bill: i think it's important to get the word out as to who the good guys are and who the bad guys are. i would go farther with all due

respect, than united students against sweatshops. i would call for a boycott. one way to avoid this program is to abide by clothes made here in the good ole u.s. of a. not that i'm trying to tell you how to run your business. garrett strain is the international organizer doing great work with the united students against sweatshop the only organization that's bringing any attention to this totally unacceptable horrific situation in bangladesh. what do you think we ought to do about it? do you mean care? do americans even give a damn? we should. we'll be right back. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

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

>> announcer: heard around the cup and seen on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: bangladesh, the sweatshops and what we can do about it, our focus here on the "full court press" this tuesday morning with garrett strain from united students against sweatshops. back to our conversation and to your calls in just a minute. quick story caught my attention on identity theft. down in louisiana this poor guy -- guy went out to buy a house. and he went out to buy a house and discovered that he already owned a house and a car and multiple loans that he knew nothing about! somebody stole his identity and used it to buy those things. took him years to straighten it

out. don't let yourself get caught in the same mess. protect yourself against identity theft with lifelock ultimate the most comprehensive i.d. theft protection out there. it will even protect you and your bank accounts but it can't protect your bank account or you 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 for lifelock ultimate. peter, quick comments? >> just a reminder because we tweeted out, you can go to gapdeathtraps.com to learn more about what they're up to. js and a couple of other tweeters compared what happened in bangladesh to the fertilizer plant explosion in texas. >> bill: 14. which was horrible. >> and there were a lot of problems there that were

overlooked and regulations they'll look into that. france r said garrett strain is a fine example of young people making a difference. francis is a fan. >> bill: it is usas.org. who says students today aren't out there. ronald is calling from out in monterey california. what do you say? >> caller: well, hi, you know, i think what we need is a worldwide minimum wage. and they mention bangladesh, the wages workers -- the garment workers $37 a month. >> bill: can you imagine? >> caller: i'm suggesting something like $3 a day minimum wage because i spent a lot of time in thailand. thailand, the minimum wage is now about $6 or $7 a day. vietnam is a little lower. they want to make burma a little lower. $3 a day i think for any country that has any connection with an

american company at all. any connection. obama could come out for this. africa and the dominican republic. they're making $1. >> bill: got your point ronald. there's no organization and there's no way to impose a worldwide minimum wage. it is a nice idea that we could all agree to, the united nations could agree to but you couldn't force companies to do it. i still say -- that doesn't solve the problem though about fire safety and building safety. right? >> yeah, i mean really for us, we believe that the ultimate answer is workers having a union. and having a voice in the workplace because we know from experience that the best fire safety the best safety program you could possibly have in the workplace is a collective voice for workers through a union which is why, in addition to asking brands do this agreement the bangladesh fire and safety

agreement we're also demanding that they allow unions access to the factories to train workers on fire and building safety. >> bill: amen to you. nancy is up in buffalo new york. >> caller: hi, bill. i wanted to ask you and your guest, what about the idea of our government, our government putting tariffs on goods that are imported from countries which don't have reasonable occupational health and safety and environmental pollution standards. >> bill: all right. good question, nancy. i was going to ask what our government is doing about this or could do about it. garrett, what do you think? >> yeah, i mean there is a role that the bangladeshi government has to play. >> bill: our government. >> i'm putting pressure on the bangladeshi government to allow workers to organize to allow workers to form unions. up until very recently, if you were a worker at a factory in bangladesh and you wanted to form a union the government wouldn't grant you a

registration. you couldn't even register your union to collectively bargain with the boss. absolutely the u.s. government should, you know, take steps. >> bill: could we make this -- if you don't allow -- if you don't improve conditions or don't allow formation of unions, we'll put a steep tariff on anything being imported into this country from bangladesh. >> i think that is a good idea. there are folks in the labor movement that are currently talking with politicians in d.c. about, you know, ways that we can put pressure on the bangladeshi government and one of those ways is through that. >> bill: garrett, thank you for being out there on this issue. for bringing it -- making more americans aware of what's going on. what we might be able to do about it. united students against sweatshops. usas.org or you can also go to -- gapdeathtrap.org.

don't shop at the gap and don't shop at walmart. thanks for coming in, garrett. great to see you. >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." now on current tv. not come in smellivision. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only 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 >> ...and a distinctly satirical point of view. >> but you mentioned "great leadership" so i want to talk about donald rumsfeld. >> (laughter). >> watch the show. >> only on current tv.

(vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers

thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. (vo) she's joy behar. >>current will let me say anything. >> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: in the next hour, from the "national journal," jill lawrence talking about benghazi and the associated press -- "the associated press"

and i.r.s. flap and we'll be joined by lauren french from politico. president obama getting his briefing. then he and the vice president will be meeting with defense secretary chuck hagel. the defense secretary poised to announce this afternoon that the pentagon is furloughing 800,000 pentagon employees for 11 days as a result of the sequester. that was rumored before. it is going to happen today. the sequester rolling on. jay carney with his regular briefing for the white house press corps at 12:30 today. i'll be there trying to get a couple of questions in. tell you all about it tomorrow. be back with what's up with the i.r.s. what the hell are they doing? >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." i'm phil mickelson, pro golfer. when i was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis my rheumatologist prescribed enbrel for my pain and stiffness, and to help stop joint damage. [ male announcer ] enbrel may lower your ability to fight infections.

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[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: hey, good morning everybody. what do you say? here we go on a tuesday. may 14. great to see you today. thanks for joining us here on the "full court press" on current tv. all across this great land of ours from our studio on capitol hill in washington d.c. right in the heart of the action. we got lots to tell you about this morning and lots that you're going to want to talk about. you can get your comments in. get your -- let your voice be heard by giving us a call at 1-866-55-press. that's one way to get in. we'll pay for the call. or you can join us on twitter at bpshow at no cost. or become our friend on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow.

and talk to us on facebook as well. the obama administration fighting brushfires today on several fronts. first of all republicans continue to beat the war drums over benghazi. i guess they have decided 11 hearings on benghazi are not enough. they're still going to have three or four more. second, there is news this morning that the i.r.s. has been targeting uniquely targeting conservative political organizations like karl rove's crossroads and the tea party. that from an institution that we thought was politically neutral and should be. and finally news that the justice department has been seizing phone records of reporters at the associated press. whatever happened to freedom of the press? remember that old idea? that and a whole lot more in this last hour together on current tv.

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.

(vo) this afternoon, current tv is the place for compelling true stories.

>> jack, how old are you? >> nine. >> this is what 27 tons of marijuana looks like. (vo) with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines, way inside. (vo) from the underworld, to the world of privilege. >> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, alright, in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us.

>> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: triple trouble for the obama administration. on the i.r.s. on "the associated press" and still on benghazi. we got it all covered. good morning everybody. here we are. the "full court press" this tuesday, may 14. coming to you live from washington, d.c. our nation's capital and our studio right here on capitol hill. booming out to you live on your local progressive talk radio station and on current tv. whether you're listening or watching good to have you with us today. thanks for joining the program and get ready to sound off. let us know what you think about the issues. either by giving us a call at 1-866-55-press or joining us on

twitter. send your comments on twitter at bpshow. or join us on facebook. become our friend on facebook. facebook.com/billpressshow. it is one of those days, there is so much going on, we couldn't possibly get to the news of the day all by ourselves. we need the help of a friend this morning. and in terms of this field of journalism and somebody who knows this town and has covered it better than anybody else for a good, long time. jill lawrence joins us. she's national correspondent for the "national journal." jill, nice to see you this morning. >> good to be here bill. >> bill: thanks for coming in. joining our team, peter ogborn and dan henning. >> bill: i'm back to -- i was supposed to be here yesterday but you know how it is when you go to vegas. >> what state in vegas? >> he's just now sobering up. >> bill: whatever state of vegas still there. alichia cruz has the phones.

and cyprian bowlding on camera as always. you would appreciate as i did yesterday, real giant in our profession. barbara walters announced she's actually stepping off the media stage after a good, long run. this summer going to be her last official show. not going to do anymore of "the view." she said occasional things. we don't know what that means. >> will she still do her -- most beautiful people? the ten most fascinating. >> she will do a special edition of the ten most fascinating of the last 20 years in december. >> bill: anybody who's had more depth as we call them, in terms of major interviews. >> more pioneering, gigs and more reinventions. she's been so inspirational to women. seriously. >> bill: no, i believe that. i think to all journalists. she has.

as the profession -- the industry has changed or journalism has changed she has -- continues to move on to becoming -- from co-anchor of abc news to an afternoon kind of light show. >> doesn't she have her own "saturday night live" parody? >> bill: no, she does. >> to stay as relevant as she has as long as she has is amazing. >> bill: david letterman even had to recognize this as a major event last night on his show. >> big news from the world of broadcasting barbara walters is retiring. [ applause ] apparently i can't take a hint. [ laughter ] but barbara walters is retiring. her own decision. she was not forced out like regis. [ laughter ] but she announced her decision on "the view" this morning that she was retiring and she was smiling. she seemed to know where she

was. [ laughter ] >> bill: that's mean. she's a legend. she really is. maybe we can bring her down to the white house correspondents' dinner and really honor somebody who deserves to be honored. wouldn't that be good? for a change. jill is here with us to talk about benghazi and the i.r.s. we'll be joined by lauren french from politico a little bit later and we'll get right to the stories after. but first -- >> this is the "full court press." >> a quick check of other headlines making news on this tuesday. add insult to injury in the penn state scandal from last year, turns out the former university president, gram ham spanier, forced out to resign because of the jerry sandusky scandal, earned more money than any other public school president for the fiscal year ending in june of 2012. the chronicle of higher education is reporting spanier took in $2.9 million. ahead of number two on the list,

auburn's jay gough earned $2.5 million. four public university presidents total earned over a million dollars in paychecks. the leaders of ohio state and george mason round out the top four. >> bill: top university -- >> public college president. almost $3 million. >> bill: look what we got for it. a new cupcake shop opened up in new york city over the weekend. it made a mockery of the calorie counting mayor michael bloomberg during its grand opening. "huffington post" reporting the house of cupcakes baked a 25 pound cupcake with an image of bloomberg on top of it clocked in with 36,000 calories thanks to 12 pounds of sugar five pounds of butter, four pounds of flour, six cups of cocoa powder. 24 eggs and two cups of milk. >> bill: but you could only have a 14 ounce drink with it. >> exactly. >> dennis rodman tells tmz he's headed back to north korea this summer because president obama is not doing his job.

the former nba player said in an expletive-laced interview that we can't repeat here that president obama isn't doing anything about getting the american citizen out of north korea who is imprisoned over there. he's going to go see his friend kim jong-un to get the guy out. he does realize it will be a difficult undertaking. >> bill: this is just what we need. dennis rodman as our ambassador. >> maybe he could take over the i.r.s. too. >> bill: i think he has been running the i.r.s. >> maybe so. >> bill: let's start with the i.r.s. you have written in the "national journal," provocative headline, with the benghazi and i.r.s. probes do more damage to obama or to the g.o.p.? really? you think this i.r.s. thing could look bad for the republicans? how? >> well, it reminded me of the clinton era.

all of these investigations piling up. and it seemed back then that the republicans went a little overboard and with impeachments and voters punish them in 1998. they defied history by losing seats in the house. that doesn't usually happen. now, i should say since i wrote this piece things have just gotten far far worse for the obama administration. when i wrote the piece, we had republicans harping on benghazi and other republicans worried that they were overdoing it. we had supposedly low level i.r.s. employees in cincinnati going after tea party and patriots groups. now we have a report in "the washington post" this morning that it was also -- i.r.s. officials in washington and we also have the justice department going after the phone records of associated press reporters. so i'm seeing more opportunities for the g.o.p. to have relevant hearings as opposed to political hearings. i think it was benghazi that was -- had the potential to be damaging. to the g.o.p.

and i think now they have other things to focus on. >> bill: i'll come back to benghazi in a minute. maybe we can touch on the a.p. as well. on the i.r.s., i could never defend the i.r.s. because what is pretty apparent is they went exclusively after right wing political groups, right? >> right. >> bill: now people -- some have pointed out that the emergence of the groups is a direct result of the citizens united case which said you can have these quasi political groups and you can get a tax exemption. apply for a tax-exempt status and you're just doing education. you're not really doing political work. and to just -- there were more groups conservative groups that applied for that status, a lot more than progressive groups. >> a lot of progressive groups have status, also. but in 2010 with the passage of the affordable care act and with

obama in office, there was a surge of conservative activity. i mean if you look at these groups which are called social welfare groups you have aarp, the aclu. you have plenty of liberal groups too. but they're already in existence with the tax-exempt status. so you had this flood of conservative groups. you might have had occupy groups. 99% groups. there's really no excuse for not looking for a whole bunch of tells in the names of these groups. >> bill: that's -- that's where the i.r.s. went wrong correct? that they targeted groups that had patriot in the name or constitution in the name or bill of rights and they ended up being almost exclusively right wing groups. >> yeah. i mean what they did was put a lot of burden of paperwork and scrutiny ons they groups. if we heard they were looking for progressive groups, that would have been different. i'm sure it was because of the times, because of the surge in

these groups. the whole system is completely nutty. they're supposed to try to figure out are you more political or more educational or -- >> bill: first of all, it is nutty when, i believe somebody like karl rove who is clearly a political animal gets a tax-exempt status for his organization which ran an ad against hillary clinton saying she's responsible for benghazi, right? >> complaints filed. people are trying to change the system because right now groups think they can do 51% social welfare work and 49% political. and that's pretty political. >> bill: people are calling this nixonesque. what's the difference -- in your opinion, shades of richard nixon all over again? >> well, there are some people throwing around words like impeachment which, it seems premature. [ laughter ] >> bill: not far-fetched. >> right. we have to see where it leads. this is one of the things that -- prominent republicans are counseling.

let's see where the facts lead before we start throwing around words like impeachment. >> bill: isn't there a big difference between richard nixon and barack obama. we know that nixon told john ehrlichman and hank -- >> john halderman -- >> bill: john halderman to go after these groups, right? >> right. we haven't found that. i don't think we're going to find that. i don't think we're going to find any connections like that. but you know there will be investigations. let's hope they are clear head and not crazed. and get to the bottom of it. the i.r.s., no democrats are in favor of what they did. just all kinds of democratic investigations going on as well as republicans. >> just to put a cherry on that. yesterday, dan president obama at his joint news conference, david cameron asked about this. no doubt about he's not happy with it. >> obama: this is pretty straightforward. if, in fact, i.r.s. personnel

engaged in the kind of practices that had been reported on, and were intentionally targeting conservative groups, then that's outrageous. and there's no place for it. >> bill: i think you can count on him to crack down on that. i would be willing to bet the farm that obama had zero identify what the i.r.s. -- >> that may be true. you have an acting i.r.s. commissioner -- you don't really have somebody high profile who can take the hit for this. it would be helpful if obama would be more specific about what he plans to do. maybe he will in coming days. >> bill: i think they want -- the story -- the full dimensions of the story have just broken. he wanted to get the full facts before he takes action. but we also -- you mentioned benghazi which does continue. they've had 11 hearings so far. by my count. but darrell issa yesterday

announced they're going to have yet more hearings on benghazi. is this a case you believe of republicans overreaching? >> i think they're in danger of that. this tick car case because there have been so many investigations and there's polling scott rasmussen who is often accused of having a conservative tilt in his polls even he says this is a nonstarter. it is a nonstarter with voters. they still -- some polls show they still trust hillary clinton more on benghazi than they do republicans. so it is not going anywhere. it is a series of judgment calls that were bad but not criminal. which is -- that's what the investigations have found. >> bill: talk about overreach. mike huckabee has said that because of benghazi, obama will not complete his second term. this will drive him out of the white house. james inhofe has talked about use of the "i" word, impeachment word. i thought to most extreme darrell issa yesterday still trying to make the case that the

president has not called this terrorism, using that word. so here's darrell issa on fox news yesterday. >> so i think when you look at official correspondents from the -- correspondence from the about the to the president of libya which was testified to under oath the words being used carefully like you just said, act of terror and act of terror is different than a terrorist attack. the truth is if this was a terrorist attack, this had al-qaeda added. >> bill: this is where president obama is soft on national security because he used the phrase act of terror rather than the phrase terrorist attack. >> i gotta say "the washington post" fact check agrees with darrell issa on this one. that it is not the same. however, it is -- it is semantics. >> bill: it is nuts. you know what president george w. bush calls the attacks on september 11th, 2001? >> what? >> bill: act of terror.

two days later maybe it was two days later he used the exact same phrase, act of terror. >> this is what we mean by overreach. people are listening to this thinking this has nothing to do with my life. >> bill: yeah. just to hold that, right. this is the proof. it just seems to me that they're crazed on this thing. they ought to be grateful that the i.r.s. came along because they can get into -- >> they kind of shot their wad. they should have waited. >> bill: get into the i.r.s. or the a.p. which we'll get into next here on the "full court press" with jill lawrence, national correspondent for the "national journal." your comments can about the i.r.s. or benghazi, either one we're talking about. 1-866-55-press. >> 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.

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

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: all right. 26 minutes now after the hour. talking with jill lawrence, national correspondent for the "national journal" whose latest piece this morning, moving on to the third of the trifecta here for the obama administration, bad news this morning. talking about "the associated press." joe, you've written -- at least the headline writer, why the a.p. phone records bombshell could threaten eric holder's job. we learned that the a.p. has been seizing the phone records of -- for may and april and may of 2010, i believe of "the associated press." as part of a leak investigation.

>> well, it is kind of amazing actually that eric holder has lasted this long. he's been the center of so many controversies, guantanamo, the bin laden raid the killing of the american citizen in al-qaeda. he's all over the place. he's in the middle of fast and furious. so many people are annoyed with him. now we find out the justice department has gotten ahold of the a.p. phone records which they say is on its constitutional right. he is a high profile person who could take the wrap if holder decided this was the time to leave. there is really no one else in these other controversies who's still around. they've retired or i guess the acting i.r.s. commissioner is one person. holder seems kind of ripe to leave maybe. >> bill: also, it is hard to defend what they were doing.

>> oh, yeah. >> bill: "the associated press" reported this story. nobody denied they got the story right. so they're trying to find out who leaked it to them. >> right. we assume this was what's going on. this is what the phone records incidents are all about. but there was no notification. they didn't follow any procedures. and it just seems very abusive. >> bill: yeah, i mean it is chilling for those of us in the business to think you know, that our cell phones, our home phones our business phones are tapped as to who we're talking to when we're doing a good job of reporting. i wouldn't be surprised if you're right about eric holder. and no great loss. jill lawrence, thanks for coming in. >> thank you bill. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

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

>> announcer: this is the "full court press." the "bill press show." live on your radio and on current tv. >> bill: you got it. 33 minutes now after the hour. on a tuesday. tuesday, may 14. it is the "full court press." that's the bill press -- we're coming to you live from our nation's capital. bringing you the big stories of the day. and brought to you today by afscme. the good men and women of afscme. the largest public employee and healthcare worker's union in the entire country. under president lee saunders doing a great job making america happen. check out their web site, afscme.org. that's afscme.org. president obama yesterday little joint news conference with prime minister david cameron from the u.k.

he was asked about reports the i.r.s. has been targeting mainly targeting political groups on the right. showing a partisan binge which we don't expect from the i.r.s. president obama saying he was outraged by this. once he got the facts if it's true, what was reported. he would certainly take action and make sure that those people who made that decision would be held accountable. lauren french is a tax policy reporter for politico pro. joining us on our news line this morning. hey, lauren, thanks for being here. >> thanks so much for having me. >> bill: so, first of all what is the i.r.s. accused of doing? >> it is accused of targeting conservative groups that use the word tea party in their tax -- but it is also -- expanded that targeting. wanted to educate the public on public government spending or

public debt and in some cases that had ideals that were anti-the government policies. all of these groups were set aside for extra review and in some cases asked for their members or donors list which isn't a standard i.r.s. practice. >> bill: first of all, these were groups who were applying for tax-exempt status, correct? >> yes. so they wanted to be a 501(c)(4) which is a tax event -- they get different tax breaks because they're doing social advocacy. that's why they get the nice breaks. the i.r.s. should be reviewing them. i don't think anyone saying that the review is bad. it is just the conservative groups were pulled aside because they were conservative groups. >> bill: and do we know were they targeting any liberal groups, any progressive groups at the same time? >> it has come out they were targeting a few pro israel groups. we reported on that yesterday. but as of right now, there hasn't been any liberal groups

coming out and saying we were also targeted. so it is really kind of focused mainly and solely on conservative groups. now, if there are liberal groups out there that were targeted, we expect them to come out saying we were asked for donor lists. that's not acceptable. as of right now solely based on conservatives. >> bill: do we know who some of the organizations were? was karl rove's group one of them? >> karl rove's group we don't have a list of which organizations they were. but we know that they were targeted between march 2010 and about mid to last year. so going on for about a year. the list hasn't really come out. the only names that you -- are available are the groups that are coming out and saying i was asked. last night i reported on a group called true to vote. a conservative voter outreach organization. that they said that they're still actually delayed in getting their 501(c)(4) status and they were asking for what

they deemed to be overly broad explanation. >> bill: i would have to say that there are -- first of all americans don't want tax cheats, right? we don't want people who should be paying taxes not paying taxes, who should be paying taxes. i'm convinced that some of the organizations that have a 501c4 status are really very close to the line if not over the line. they may call themselves social welfare groups or whatever but they're really political organizations. but i guess the beef here is that if the i.r.s. is going to be investigating such people who are playing games maybe with the tax code, they should be investigating both the right wing and the left wing groups and not exclusively right wing groups, is that the rub here? >> absolutely. you do want -- most people should want their government to be investigating those groups because they're getting taxpayer money or at least not paying

taxes into the tax pool. you hit on a very good point. a lot of these groups really do kind of cross that line or at least are accused of crossing that line between doing social advocacy and backing candidates or backing right or left wing policies. but you know, the whole thing is that it can't just be one side of the spectrum, right? if you're going to investigate you have to investigate everyone. there are absolutely left democratic groups that probably cross the line just as much as the right wing groups do. >> bill: now what's going to happen -- first of all, who in the i.r.s. -- is do we know that knew about this and made this decision? >> so the decision was made according to the i.r.s. low-level officials in a cincinnati office, this is where all of the 501(c)(4) applications go through. so these are the real experts when it comes to granting taxes and status. but the low level field employees apparently made the

decision. but that is kind of crumbling in the sense that apparently a lot of senior officials knew about it as early as 2011. this is lois lerner who heads that division. she said that -- she found out -- she implied to reporters last friday that she found out when news reports were coming out that the conservative groups were complaining about it in the run-up to the 2012 election. but a report set to come out later this week said that's not true. she knew about it as early as june 2011. >> bill: so people in the i.r.s. both in cincinnati and in washington, knew about this. is there any evidence that the white house had any idea what was going on? >> it doesn't appear. so the white house general counsel's office we learned in april, jay carney told reporters yesterday. but president obama said he only learned about it friday when the news broke. and what lois lerner and other i.r.s. officials have said

throughout the entire time is that really, it was only an i.r.s. thing. they didn't tell the treasury. they didn't tell the white house. it was kept solely within the -- not super top echelon of leaders, doug, the commissioner at the time didn't know. but kind of the mid rung of i.r.s. leaders. >> bill: what can we expect -- what kind of response can we expect of hearings in the congress for starters? >> there are going to be plenty of hearings in the congress. they're going to be testy. steve miller who is the acting i.r.s. commissioner now on two occasions to lawmakers in both the senate and the house not mentioning this program at all. despite having specific knowledge of it. so lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are pretty upset that he responded to them. did mention this program despite very specific inquiries. and now he's scheduled to testify before the house ways and means committee on friday. that's dave camp's panel in the house. then senate finance chairman max

baucus along with house oversight committee chairman darrell issa have also both promised they would be reviewing it. >> bill: of course darrell issa has to hold a hearing because he hasn't held enough hearings on anything else. i've also read -- we're talking with lauren french, tax policy reporter for politico pro. at politico.com. lauren, i've also heard some of tea party groups are thinking of suing the i.r.s. can you sue the i.r.s.? >> it is really difficult to sue the i.r.s. when it is not a straight up tax matter. but yes, you can sue the i.r.s. in civil or criminal court and i know that at least one tea party or lawyer representing tea party groups told me yesterday that they are -- at least not closing the door on litigation. i heard from a source late last night that they're going to make a final decision this week about whether or not to go into the legal realm. so it is definitely possible that these groups who feel that they were in there appropriately

and -- probed to go in and seek damages. >> bill: what's the connection to citizens united? is there any connection? >> citizens united is the supreme court case that really helps flourish this dark secret money that we hear about. money and politics. when you're hearing -- you're hearing about the citizens united case. that's what created these kind of -- are they social advocacy groups political advocacy groups that traded the distinction of early bread to the programs. it is not directly connected about tut is all connected when it comes to money and politics. >> bill: they allowed them to get as much money as they can and not have to identify their sources. >> their donors. >> bill: well, i gotta tell you, it looks bad. it is complicated but it still looks bad and i mean nobody likes the i.r.s. to begin with. well then you do stuff like that, it gives you another reason not to like them, i guess. and hard to defend and president

obama didn't even make an attempt. didn't even pretend to defend them yesterday. hey, lauren, i know we had a little metro problems this morning. sorry you didn't make it into the studio. we're glad to catch you by phone and we'll get you in again soon. >> thanks so much for having me. yeah metro gosh. >> bill: yeah, i know. when it works, it's great. when it doesn't, it is a real pain. lauren french, tax policy reporter for politico pro. this i.r.s. stuff this is really bad news. look again some of these phony organizations pretending not to be political when that's really all they are. but the i.r.s., they gotta be right down the middle. they're going after political chief. look on the left and the right. when they're only looking on the right, it's wrong. it makes everybody look bad. your take at 1-866-55-press. is this unlike benghazi, is this a legitimate political scandal

and a legitimate problem? for the obama white house? 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." 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.

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

(vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. (vo) she's joy behar. >>current will let me say anything. >> announcer: connect with the "bill press show" on twitter. follow us at bpshow and tweet using the hashtag watching bp. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right. we know benghazi was just a republican political side show. as the president called it yesterday. is the i.r.s. a real problem for

the obama administration? 1-866-55-press. 12 minutes now before the hour. on this tuesday morning. we'll get back to your calls and your comments in just a second here. but first, this story out of -- out of georgia. a college in georgia one guy one student was able to hack into the system and took social security numbers dates of birth and other personal information on more than 8500 people and was using a lot of that information to enrich himself. he was caught, good for him. but that's the kind of thing that can happen to you if you're not protected against identity theft. best way to do so is with lifelock ultimate. the most comprehensive i.d. theft protection ever. but of course, lifelock services can't protect your bank account if you're not a member. visit lifelock.com or call and mention press 10 and you'll get 10% off o your lifelock ultimate membership.

call 1-800-356-5967 for lifelock ultimate. network does not cover all transactions and scope may vary. bank account takeover alerts require lifelock ultimate membership. peter, comments on the social media. >> quick story i wanted to get in because we say farewell today to the toronto suns founding editor peter worthington. peter worthington he is the founding editor of the toronto sun. he is dead. beautiful obituary published today written by himself. >> bill: no. >> he said that when one of his colleagues died a few years a ago, he had been working there so long that nobody knew him well enough to write a proper obituary so he wanted to write his own. in this morning's paper it reads if you're reading this, i am dead. how's that for a lead? guarantees you read on, at least

for a bit. that's how the obituary starts. he tells his story in his own obituary in the toronto sun. >> bill: i think there's something creepy. >> a little weird to read those words. >> bill: how about that. okay. so the i.r.s., it turns out they were going after tax cheats but they were only going after -- nobody has denied it. they were only going after tax cheats on the right. does that mean the only tax cheats are no tax cheats on the left? i don't think so. do we want the i.r.s. as a kind of a political -- on a political witch-hunt? i don't think so either. president obama not happy when he heard about it yesterday. what do you think? jw is calling from crestone, colorado. hey, jsmw. what do you think? >> i wanted to point out there is that $10,000 mark for each one of us if we go to buy a car

and we spend $10,000 in cash. they're legally obligated to report us to the i.r.s. >> bill: i didn't know that. really? you're not allowed to spend cash? >> you can spend cash but if you hit the $10,000 mark, they're legally obligated to report you to the i.r.s. no matter what you buy. no matter what you buy. >> bill: okay. >> caller: they investigate everybody for everything. it is not -- there's nothing new about this. like they investigated the black panthers in the '70s for i.r.s. -- >> bill: right. somebody pointed out that in 2004, they went after the naacp. >> caller: right. >> bill: but this was in the 2010 elections where apparently they were going after -- conservative republican right wing political organizations alone to see if they were

violating the -- or if they deserved a tax-exempt status. >> they're able to donate under unanimity so what does it matter if they're investigated at all anyway? >> bill: no. i think -- you're missing the point, jw. the idea is you want -- we don't want tax cheats, right? and by the way, i would have -- the i.r.s. is going to start going after tax cheats, there are better places to start right? there is a lot more tax cheating, a lot more money that's being stolen from us by corporations that put their business overseas, make all of the money and paid zero in u.s. taxes on all of the profits made overseas and these are american companies. there are bigger tax cheats with oil companies reporting the biggest profits they've ever made and paying almost zero in federal taxes. so we want them to go after tax cheats. when they go after tax cheats in the political realm should they be going after only people on the right? no. ann's calling from texas.

>> caller: good morning. >> bill: good morning. what do you say? >> caller: well, from what i understand of the reporting and i understand that reporting is all over the map on this one -- >> bill: yep. >> caller: only 25% of "those targeted" had tea party or patriot in the name. that leaves 75% others. so i don't see how you can make the case that they were only targeting the right wing groups. those groups were proliferating like mosquitoes on a hot day. >> bill: they were proliferating, ann. but again there is -- whatever the other groups were in terms of political groups, there is no evidence they were targeting any political groups on the left. all the political groups they were targeting were right wing groups and look, some of them are tax cheats. i don't want karl rove to get a tax-exempt status, period.

but i want the i.r.s. to go after and i think we all do, to go after people on the right and on the left. go after tax cheats. it doesn't matter what their political persuasion is. sorry we have to move on. parting shot coming up next. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." the middle class. but we do care about them right?

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

>> announcer: the parting shot with bill press. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: president obama yesterday said that he's very unhappy about reports that the i.r.s. targeted right wing political groups during the last campaign as we've been talking about. actually, she be so unhappy because the news of the i.r.s. knocked benghazi off the front page as it should because one of these is a real scandal. the other is not. benghazi is nothing but a political side show. the i.r.s. matter is another

story. true, there are a lot of political organizations that sprung up after citizens united. most of them on the right wing. but that doesn't excuse the i.r.s. from singling out conservative organizations anymore than we liberals would tolerate the i.r.s. singling out progressive organizations under a republican president. we all want the i.r.s. to go after tax cheats so why don't they start with the big banks and the oil companies who are making record profits and paying nothing in federal taxes. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

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>> stephanie: hum, hum hum. shuffling through papers jacki schechner and that's sort of bad news for the obama haters the head of the irs, a bush appointee, and the women ahead of the benghazi scandal? a cheney advisor. >> hum. >> stephanie: we need a health care