>> john: good evening, america. ted cruz is the tea party superstar who could one day be the first american president to ever serve on an outpatient basis. "newsweek" and the "daily beast" michael tomasky explains to us tonight why a cruz nomination would be a gift to democrats and comedians. 500 prisoners some high-ranking al-qaeda operatives have escaped from abu ghraib prison in iraq. are they headed to battle americans or are they headed to battle in syria and why no republicans are ever allowed to complain about this. geraldo rivera proves still a narcissist at 70. still a narcissist at 50. but i must say he looks great in

a crypt keeper chiseled way. a new study says that 69 may be one of the two happiest ages ever experience. can you guess the other one? we'll discuss with the greatest panel in all of deep cable. today is the birthday of the most powerful man in the world justice anthony kennedy and woody harrelson and the great character actress edie mcclure. if you watched news today my friends, all you learned about a baby who will be a fake monarch in 50 years and an ex-congressman who can't stop sexting. won't you please allow us to fill in the gaps? this is "viewpoint." >> john: good evening i'm john fuglesang. this is "viewpoint." thank you so much for joining us tonight. now, imagine if you would a future america with republican majorities in both house of

congress and texas senator ted cruz running for president. while this might impress some as incredibly scary there is actually some good news in that scenario which we'll get to in just a minute. democrats currently hold an eight-seat advantage in the senate but upcoming retirements by democratic senators in west virginia south dakota and montana, not exactly left-leaning states, means an almost certain net loss for three seats for the dems next year. incumbents in louisiana arkansas alaska and north carolina are seen as highly vulnerable. don't worry democrats. all is not lost and our first guest will tell us why. michael tomasky is special correspondent for "newsweek" and the "daily beast" and the most powerful man in all of print and electronic media. mr. tomasky, always a pleasure. welcome back to "viewpoint." >> i didn't know that but i'm glad to learn that. thanks. >> john: you're one of the most readable guys out there. i devour everything you put out. you've been really firing on all cylinders in the last two weeks.

i'm really curious to get your take today on the current state of political coverage. as you know, michael all we're getting in the news this week are planes that almost crash on la guardia tarmac, anthony wiener in trouble again and the royal baby. so there are actually things happening in our government. i would like to ask why you think it is time for progressives to jump on the ted cruz for president bandwagon. >> because i don't think he can possibly be elected president of the united states. so i would like to seat republican party nominate somebody who i think can't possibly be elected president of the united states. he's not unique in that regard. i don't think rand paul could win a general election. i don't think paul ryan could win the general election but cruz is the most interesting case of the three i think. because even though he just became senator i think in many ways, he has the best shot of those three. he's really smart. he's not stupid. very smart guy. he's very savvy. very cunning.

he apparently wowed them out in iowa this week and really was spoken of favorably by this guy who is a big christian conservative leader and his endorsement carries a lot of sway in republican iowa caucuses. so he got game and you know, it would be good actually if he brought that to a general election because his positions are way too extreme i think for him to win a general. >> john: the tea party does love him. he got a rock star reception at the rnc last summer. but let's say governor chris christie can't connect with tea party voters and ted cruz gets the g.o.p. nomination and it is not inconceivable. if that happens michael, what would his chances be in the general election versus hillary clinton, considering the fact that ted cruz is, it's fair to say, a considerably better -- >> you can't hear me? >> john: are you there? can you hear me, mr. tomasky. well, while we're trying to get michael's audio cue up, how would ted cruz do versus hillary

clinton considering that most onlookers think that senator cruz is a far better public speaker than the former secretary of state? so mr. tomasky, have you heard the last question? michael, are you there? >> now, i'm here. i guess god really is on ted cruz's side. >> john: my question is lot of folks think he's a much better public speaker than hillary clinton. that may be her achilles' heel in a general campaign. do you think the fact that ted cruz, while completely insane, is rather eloquent, could help him in a general? >> he's eloquent. he'll hold his own in a debate against her and so on but people don't really decide on the basis of who won the debate. mitt romney clearly won the first debate. he made a surge then but he never really got ahead. and obviously he didn't win the election. look, cruz just takes so many positions and has said so many things. he has a very incendiary way of speaking sometimes too. that, you know i just don't see it. against hillary clinton his

chances, 1%. i mean, you know, unemployment could possibly be 9.5% in september of 2016 for some reason. that would give him a chance. maybe there's some bad news about bill clinton of the sort we once experienced. i don't know. some weird hypothetical. it would take something cataclysmic like that for cruz to beat hillary clinton. >> john: he would have to overcome his tea party turrets that makes him randomly scream the word benghazi. the daughter of sam nunn, michelle nunn announced she will be running as a democrat in georgia. what hope does she bring for the left for the senate there? >> well, first of all we don't know anything about what kind of campaigner she is. that's the first question i have when these people who have high profile names get into races. can they campaign? can they connect to people on

the stuff? so, let's table that for the moment. assume she's okay at that. if she is, i think she's got a really good chance at winning in georgia because the leading republican candidates in georgia, again are really extreme guys. probably even a little bit too extreme for georgia on a statewide basis. georgia, interestingly, viewers should know, you know, obama came semi close to mitt romney in georgia. i believe it was single digits. it was one of the closer of the southern states, aside from virginia and florida. i think it was -- and north carolina -- but it wasn't a big 20, 30-point blowout in the way that alabama and mississippi were. georgia has a large african-american population, urban population. incidentally, i think hillary clinton would beat ted cruz in georgia. so if she can take the democratic seat in georgia and take that republican seat rather and turn it democratic, that may save the democrats from loss in the senate.

>> john: her father is popular in the state. as the bushes and clintons have taught us, product brand name loyalty goes a long way in electoral politics. on the senate though, michael we talked in the opening about the coming retirements and the vulnerable seats the democratic party is facing. what are some other issues facing democrats in the midterms aside from the obvious concern about voter turnout? >> well, i guess the issue is that the republicans are probably going to try to drive home is obamacare. it will be semi-implemented by then. there will probably be enough horror stories enough stories of confusion and so on that the republicans are really going to try to push that. and the democrats are vulnerable in particular states where i think, that message will probably sell pretty well. the four incumbents you mentioned, you mentioned the state. the four democratic incumbents who are fighting for re-election in red states are the key here. kay haigen in north carolina.

mary landrieu in and mark pryor in arkansas. if the democrats can win two of those, they'll probably hold on. then of course, we should mention new jersey. new jersey now has an appointee. an appointee of governor christie who is a republican but cory booker, the democrat is the odds-on favorite to win that. that would be a democratic pickup as well. >> john: all we heard last november was this was a signal republicans should pass comprehensive immigration reform. we've been talking about it all year on this show. over the weekend, john boehner refusing to answer bob schieffer over whether he favored immigration reform. at this point michael what do they get about this issue? >> you know, in one sense i'll say this one thing to my own surprise in boehner's defense which is that even if he is for it, it may be a little bit early for him to tip his hand because that gives the opposition time to generate more opposition. but, it still will remain a huge question as to whether he will permit this to come to the

floor. the sort of gossip or open secret in washington right now is that if he does and if it passes and if the republican base is as furious as everybody expects them to be, that might be the end of his speakership. he would have to make that decision, knowing that, you know, his days as speaker might be be numbered. >> john: the g.o.p.-led house as you know, has passed the fewest bills since they began keeping track of this back in 1947. so, michael, what does it say about john boehner's leadership when he qualified his party's inaction by saying it is not how many laws you pass but by how many you repeal. they're only working nine days the entire month of september. >> absolutely shocking statement and actually, my column that will be up tomorrow morning on the "daily beast" is about that statement and what it means. the republican party in the house of representatives now is not just a party that can't find common ground with the other party. they're a party that's dedicated to dysfunction as its mission.

dysfunction as its mission. that's what they're about now. and it's a shocking and unprecedented thing. and it is all about boehner's inability to stand up to the extreme members of his caucus. >> john: i want to play a quick clip, mike bal. we had tom doherty on the show. he's a g.o.p. strategist who worked for governor pataki. he's ready to leave the party because of two big concerns. take a listen. >> we are now dominated by the fear of the far right. we cannot allow that to be the case. and john, you know, the fact is that on so many issues, i agree with my fellow brothers in the republican party but the happy worrier, ronald reagan, the guy shining city on the hill is long gone. we're down about everything. we dislike this. we dislike that. we're no longer the party of ideas. how do we fix immigration and education and public housing? all to make society better. >> john: now tom is proof

there are still moderates left in the party but their voices, as you know, get drown out by the fringes. right wing media skew to the right of them. it burned them last november. what are republican leaders prepared to do, michael to fix the hole they've dug? >> not much. not much. what does a politician want to do first and foremost? win the next election. they do whatever it is they have to do to win the next election. you look down the senate over the last couple of years. at some senators who are certainly conservative people. people like orrin hatch jumps to mind first from utah. there's no question he's a conservative. but he used to legislate remember? he used to work with teddy kennedy. one of his best friends in the senate. they used to do education bills. they used to work together on judges. they were both on the judiciary committee. et this a lot of stuff together. and you know, hatch was an example of a person who, as i say, certainly conservative but he did his job.

i pine for those days. i pine for the old orrin hatch. he actually did vote for the immigration bill. but mostly, orrin hatch is terrified of the tea party -- or he was. he won re-election. but a lot of the republicans are in that position. and i always -- it is a good time to invoke the great line that barney frank had in an interview with "new york" magazine last year. somebody asked him why they can't compromise much anymore. and he said how much compromising with michele bachmann do you want me to do? and the person said you mean they're all michele bachmann? he said no, half are michele bachmann and half are terrified of losing a primary to michele bachmann. >> john: we're almost out of time michael. i can't let you go without asking you about anthony weiner's continued use of the internet to find new friends. now with the danger. i'm a fan of gay porn as much as the next confused heterosexual. do you think that that hail mary pass of having his wife go before the press conference today is going to help and save

this candidacy? >> i'm really confused about his support in the first place. this is probably the most shocking thing i've ever seen to. come back and do this after that kind of disgrace and do it -- not once or twice for six months with a woman less than half of his age and then for her to stand by him. and you know, she knew about this all the time. in response to a question, he said that she knew about this all the time. and so she's in cahoots with him now in this very now grubby run for gracie mansion. he's the sociopath here. i don't want to put that on her shoulders but i don't have much feeling for either of them. >> john: the only d.c. sex scandal with no actual sex and it is creepy. who's the guy behind the cubicle? michael tomasky special correspondent for "newsweek" and the "daily beast," thank you for joining us once again. >> thanks a lot, john. >> john: up next, exposing the kind of abusive treatment to

prison inmates you might associate more with nazi germany and dr. joseph than with modern day california.

cenk off air alright in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks! i think the number 1 thing than viewers like about the young turks is that were honest. they know that i'm not bsing them for some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know i'm going to be the first one to call them out. cenk on air>> what's unacceptable is how washington continues to screw the middle class over. cenk off air i don't want the middle class taking the brunt of the spending cuts and all the different programs that wind up hurting the middle class. cenk on air you level, the state level and we have to fight hard to make sure they can't buy our politics anymore. cenk off air and they can question if i'm right about that. but i think the audience gets that, i actually mean it. cenk on air 3 trillion dollars in spending cuts! narrator uniquely progressive and always topical the worlds largest online news show is on current tv. cenk off air and i think the audience gets, "this guys to best of his abilities is trying to look out

for us." only on current tv! >> john: welcome back to "viewpoint." as we continue our on-going coverage of the hunger strikes by california prison inmates we're going to take a diaper dive into some of the most shocking abuses the strikers include as reasons for their protest. our next guest has been reporting extensively on the strikes and women's issues in prison. victoria law is an advocate for prisoner's rights and the author of "resistance behind bars." victoria, what a pleasure. welcome back to "viewpoint." >> thanks for having me again. >> john: we had you on the show recently. the information you gave us was so shocking, i felt we needed to go deeper. first, remind viewers what we know. at least 148 prisoners were sterilized by doctors under contract with the california department of corrections and rehabilitation from about 2006 to 2010 and that's without state approval. they also say that up to 100

more received tube bal lyingations going back to the '90s. what do they mean by coerced? >> women were pressured into agreeing to tubal ligations between 2006 and 2010. in some cases, they were told -- they came in already pregnant and told they needed this procedure to correct say cysts or tumors on their ovaries. >> john: so they were lied to. >> later they found out there were no tumors on their cysts or ovaries. they were not allowed to get a second opinion. in the prison medical system, you don't have a second opinion. you don't have the right to see another medical professional. and in some cases, women were given forms while they were on the operating table waiting to get a c-section. they had already been put under anesthesia and somebody would come up to them with a form saying this is for your tubal lyingation. one for two women stated they had the presence of mind to say

no, i never agreed to a tubal ligation. i don't want anything except the c-section. you cannot perform anything except the c-section on me. but for many other women if you're already under anesthesia and somebody comes up to you with a form that says you have to sign this, they may sign it not realizing they're signing a consent form for the tubal ligation. >> john: they had no idea. >> yes. >> john: it seems unconceivable in today's america. i was most shocked by this because federal law prohibits using federal money for sterilizing inmates in part because of the fear that women might feel pressure to comply. california, as you know, banned the use of forced sterilization on prisoners in 1979 so victoria, how is any of this legal? >> the california medical services are calling these sterilizations quote-unquote medical emergencies. so it's come out in the center for investigative reportings story that a lot of times the chief medical director would actually say well, if we call

this a medical emergency then we can get around the restrictions. so the doctors have actually had conversations with other staff about how do we get around the restrictions, around not forcing sterilization. we also have to remember, too that california department of corrections is not supposed to provide nonemergency medical services to people. so sterilization goes against what they're supposed to be providing. >> john: how do you in the center for investigative reporting, get this information. are you able to verify the stories? is it mostly through personal testimonials? >> in 2006, the advocacy group justice which works with people inside women's prisons there began receiving testimonies from women who said that they had been sterilized. often, against their will or without knowing or without any sort of informed consent. they were handed a piece of paper to sign. they started to investigate this in 2008 or 2010, they actually started filing requests for information from the state medical board and they found out

that even though the state medical board is supposed to approve all in prison sterilization processes they had not had any requests for such. >> john: are there lawsuits about this? >> there are not... yet. so far the california legislators are calling for an investigation. advocates and the women who have come forward with their stories and who are outside the prison system are hoping that it goes beyond just slapping a few doctors on the wrist but to address the systemic problem in which the prison system has been disregarding or attacking women's reproductive rights. >> john: the million dollar question is why would the doctors perform the procedures? what reason do they have other than they're incredibly cool people or it is just rank eugenics to keep female prisoners from reproducing. >> you hit the nail with the latter. this eugenics practice. we're not supposed to be sterilizing people in prison

simply as birth control. it is actually against the law. courts have ruled against it. but the doctors have said again and again and they even have said to investigative reporters that they're saving the state money by causing women to not be able to reproduce to have children that may or may not fall under the state welfare system later on. but that's their personal opinion. that shouldn't fall into what they're doing inside the prison system and it definitely should not be their reasoning for coercing women or pressuring women or lying to women so that they will undergo tube bal ligation. >> john: one would think the potential of lawsuits would cost the state a lot more. i would be curious to hear jerry brown weigh in on this. what are some of the other infringements you're hearing about on female prisoner rights concerning reproduction or prenatal care. >> one of the groups i've worked with here in new york is worth women on the rise telling history. many of whom have experienced pregnancy while in the prison system and a lot of their

efforts with their campaign behind bars has been around reproductive justice reproductive rights and in particular the shackling of pregnant women particularly while they're in labor and delivery and post-partum recovery. >> john: so they don't try to bust out. >> so they don't attack a guard run away. but also because it's standard procedure to shackle a person in prison whenever you move them from say the prison to a hospital or the prison to a courthouse and there's no exceptions made or considerations given so the fact that somebody is pregnant and is in labor or about to be in labor and is carrying not only these chains but a gigantic chain around their belly that's the weight of a bicycle chain. >> john: what are the biggest challenge you face and your organization faces in awareness that this is happening? >> the issue of making people care. like they want to -- people often want to forget women in

prison. they think you did something wrong, you're in prison. they're not look at what are the overall systemic impacts of locking people away and attacking their right to reproduce or attacking their right to safely carry a pregnancy to term. why should we be doubly punishing them by saying well, not only are you in prison but we'll take away your right to have a family later on. actually, the supreme court has actually said back in 1942 that you cannot sterilize a person as an additional punishment in addition to sending them to prison. as you can see in california, they seem to have interpreted that very differently. >> john: it is hardly a punishment. it seems like they make it a cost-saving measure. it is barbaric and shocking to think even if you think someone deserves to go to prison to pay their debt to society, you want to take atheir liberty to reproduce once they've paid their debt. i'm grateful to you for the work you've done. victoria law is the author of "resistance behind bars." thank you for being a patriot

and for the work you do. >> thank you for having me and thank you for covering this. >> john: my pleasure. up next, the most dramatic, captivating coverage of closed british hospital doors you've ever seen on all major american cable networks for hours and hours with nothing happening. this is "viewpoint."

(vo) later tonight current tv is the place for compelling true stories. >> jack, how old are you? >> nine. >> this is what 27 tons of marijuana looks like. (vo) with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines, way inside. (vo) from the underworld, to the world of privilege. >> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current. >> john: it's not all that often that all of the american news media decides at one time that one store is the most important thing at once to. grace all of your tv screens

this brings us to a little segment called so that hand. because today all the major news channels decided the one thing you needed to know more than anything else going on in the world was that this was happening. a couple of guards standing outside a british hospital awaiting the grand unveiling of a baby who in 40 to 50 years will be the future powerless figure head monarch fake king of england. it was pretty moving. you have to imagine what it was like for people actually in the hospital especially nonroyals. was there like someone saying excuse me, we have to close the front door. will you please exit toward the service entrance? i have six tvs in my office. i want to thank governor spitzer for leaving them behind. the media was crazy about this all day. we had an cnn a headline that said who will the royal baby look like? they look like an old man alien dwarf. on msnbc, i got to see russert talking about inherited power and no one smacked their head over the irony.

christiane amanpour breathlessly covered the unveiling of the royal baby before going back to her hotel room and weeping herself to sleep. wtf, america news corporate media! i love the royal family as much as the next guy. will and kate, great people. i'm sure one day this baby will be a great british king even though he's really german. but the fact is if you're going to shove this much coverage down our throats all at the same time, you should make it about really truly important people. people americans care about like kardashians! to the fire. are you encouraged by what you heard the president say the other night? is this personal or is it political? a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. staying in tough with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. not only does senator rubio just care about rich people but somehow he thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. but we do care about them, right?

vo: the war room monday to thursday at 6 eastern

>> john: after months of political sparring on capitol hill and cautious comments by military leaders over the possibilities for military intervention in the on-going bloody syrian conflict, lawmakers have now received their first public military assessment from pentagon leadership and it's not looking so hot. in a letter to the senate armed services committee, the joint chiefs of staff chairman, general martin dempsey offered a

bleak portrait of what u.s. military intervention in the syrian conflict would entail. dempsey wrote that setting up a no-fly zone over parts of syria would require hundreds of ground and sea-based aircraft, intelligence and electronic warfare support and enablers for refueling and communications, estimated costs are $500 million. for that kind of money, you could buy current tv. averaging as much as a billion dollars per month over the course of a year. that's a lot of money. that's no guarantees of success and guess what, no oil. here to discuss syria, egypt and all things middle east is my exquisite panel political comedian of palestinian dissent dean obeidallah. filmmaker, nikki and contributor of forbes.com, the most foreign man here because he's from l.a., rick ungar. so we have a jew a catholic and two muslims and later we'll all walk into a bar. dean, is syria a war that americans would ever want to enter and should we? >> no, i don't think it is.

if we were, we should have done it a long time ago. over 100,000 people killed. 35,000 civilians. literally 2.5 million displaced refugees. the only thing now, a house intelligence committee controlled by the republicans voted to give -- because to them -- they hate muslims but they hate russians. i think right now they hate russians more than muslims so they want to arm the rebels which are mostly sunni muslims. >> john: they must be sympathetic to the fact there's more than four million refugees, most women and children. considering how much bill clinton talks about his greatest regret was not intervening with rwanda, do you think this is the sort of human rights cot ast rophy where americans can sit it out? >> no, i don't. if you've seen the numbers that have come out it is crazy. this thing could cost as much as a billion dollars a month to do it right. >> john: as opposed to iraq which is a billion a week. >> so with that kind of money, i

don't think there's going to be a lot of popular support for that. i don't think obama has any support for that. imagine the number of steak dinners we could buy for the american people with a billion dollars a month. >> john: healthcare, public schools. >> we could make kids really smart and not obese and they could stop being like 38th in math and 52nd in science or whatever the horrible, abysmal numbers are. >> john: 52nd out of 50 in math and science. rick, on the one hand, you have this tyrranical leader who got the shop job because of his tyrranical leader father. on the other hand, we have this myriad rebel faction that john mccain thinks he can personally vet to separate the al-qaedas from the normal folks. is this a lose-lose proposition no matter what america and the world does? >> here's the problem. americans have this tendency to believe well, if we decide we want to go there, of course, we'll win. think about how amazing this is. when was the last time you remember the military telling congress not to go to war?

it doesn't happen. it's happening because every single scenario you push through here, it doesn't work out well. >> john: indeed. this is not popular. most people couldn't find syria on a map. the wild card is president putin who is steadfastly -- >> not going to be happy with the no-fly zone. he provided awesome missiles to shoot down our planes with. >> john: sunday night al-qaeda forces coordinated attacks on two iraqi prisons the notorious abu ghraib being one freeing 500 inmates, some who are al-qaeda operatives and killing 25 guards. we all remember abu ghraib prison's awful claim to fame when the photographs surfaced showing the american soldiers torturing iraqi prisoners. it is reported many of the escapees were high-ranking al-qaeda members. let's be honest. those who weren't are probably going to sign up right now. we have to assume a lot of the folks are, from the beginning innocent guys who got turned in by their enemies for bounties. can we assume they're all iraqi

terrorists and isn't it fair to say that there was no al-qaeda and iraq until we went there? >> there was definitely no iraq and because he was a threat to his control. he was against any kind of islamic state and any idea of it being islamist. what i was intryinged was after the first report came out they denied any prisoners. nobody had left. they really did. >> john: well planned well-executed. some republicans are already blaming the attack on who else, president obama. here's what john mccain had to say. >> john: rick and nagin, i don't know where to begin with how much john mccain has wrong in that paragraph. our failure to leave a residual

behind. that's bush's failure. >> it is also a ridiculous comment. howhow much of that residual force did he think would be stationed at abu ghraib. why would the result have been any different? if suicide bombers pull up in front of the door, blow up a truck and then the people who come in are wearing the belts do you think americans are going to fare any differently? >> john: then you have dead americans to blame on obama. >> exactly. it is stupid. >> this is a really good story to remind ourselves why we're not really great at war and we should kind of just cut it out already because what we really should have done, which -- what we should have started doing from the beginning, we should have also had a plan for nation building. because people aren't going to be susceptible to al-qaeda and suicide bombing if they have electricity or like running water or roads but we didn't do any of that stuff. we really, really messed that part of it up. so that made the country susceptible. we failed it at nation building

and that was a failure from day one. it is not obama's failure. >> one thing quickly, why isn't mccain complaining about what happened in afghanistan where the people, we spent millions of dollars on to go in there and lay down this grading which would have saved american lives prevented them from getting blown up by ieds -- >> john: dean, i want to give you the last word. if you supported the iraq invasion and if you voted for president bush after the photos came out of abu ghraib, you don't get to complain about this. >> no, you don't. we pulled our troops in december of 2011. troops should have been there all these years? >> john: we have a residual force already. they're contractors who we're paying with our tax dollars. so really this is to be expected. this is tragic and awful. when saddam hussein was there he was an evil guy but women weren't wearing burkas. he was contained. is that a fair critique? >> you're right. the result is leave unleashed. no offense to nagin.

if you're pro that -- >> john: look at her sitting right there. >> i'm very threatened, i know. >> john: at the end of the day, we know conclusively that george bush didn't know shiite. next up is one of the most controversial questions we've ever asked on this show. you don't want to miss it! compelling true stories. >> jack, how old are you? >> nine. >> this is what 27 tons of marijuana looks like. (vo) with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines, way inside. (vo) from the underworld, to the world of privilege. >> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current.

we have a big, big hour and the iq will go way up. (vo) current tv gets the conversation started weekdays

at 9 eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. 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. (vo) sharp tongue. (vo) quick wit. >> and yes, president obama does smell like cookies and freedom. (vo) and above all, opinion and attitude. >> really?! this is the kind of stuff they say about something they just pulled freshly from their [bleep]. >> you know what those people are like. >> what could possibly go wrong in eight years of george bush? >> my producer just coughed up a hairball. >>sorry. >>just be grateful current tv doesn't come in "smell-o-vision" >> oh come on! the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo)only on current tv. >> john: welcome back. we're going to move from syria

to some more serious matters. i'm going to ask a very direct, hard-hitting question to all three panelists. everyone at home should consider at what age were you the happiest. here to mull over their own existence, i'm joined by dean obeidallah comedian, naggen and rick ungar. at what age were you happiest? >> this age because i'm on current tv. >> john: you got three weeks to enjoy it. >> i was happiest at the age of 9 because once i turned 10 and it was double digits, i knew it was all downhill from there. >> john: you were with iranian kids growing up in the south. >> right now. every year gets better and better and since i'm only 37, look how much i have to look forward to. >> john: according to a new study by the center for economic performance at the london school of economics researchers have revealed life satisfaction peaks twice at age 23 and age 69. i wanted to cover this on this show. people in their early 20s

overestimate their future life satisfaction. so they then face decades of declining expectation before hitting their lowest emotional point in their mid-50s when they all face their regrets over all of their unrealized dreams like this person. but the good news is after that abyss in your mid-50s apparently things pick up. by 69 according to a study due to underestimated expectations, folks no longer face disappointments. what do we think of all of this here? this is a scientific study. they analyzed the happiness levels. they did happen to be german. don't have a sense of humor. ages 17 to 85. it is a rather substantial sampling. dean, what's your take? >> it is remarkable. 23 and 69. i can understand 69. there is a point when you get older in your mid-50s when you start wearing black socks and sandals. you just don't care. there's no pressure.

freedom where you can just be yourself. you don't have to care. >> john: that's really true. >> people get drunk at comedy clubs. >> john: look at any concert bob dylan gave in his 50s. he stopped caring. >> i'm surprised 23 was the early peak age because now especially since the great depression -- the great recession, sorry you graduate at 22 and at 23, you don't have a job. there are no options. nothing is going to happen. >> john: here in the first world, it is a tremend us oily optimistic age. you work at a crappy job. you can eat all you want, you never gain weight. you have tiny apartments and it doesn't bother you. there are plenty of happy 23-year-olds. >> i think it is depressing statistics. this was not my life experience. i don't remember 23. i never felt this great disappointment in the 50s. not at all. >> john: you were an exec making tv in hollywood. you were having fun. >> that's the point. you're supposed to always have

fun. i don't understand why people don't. >> john: speak of getting older, older seems to be the demographic for our friends at fox news. for six of the last eight years fox has had a median age of 65 plus for the average viewer in their daytime hours and 65 plus for the average viewer in their prime time hours. we're all friends at fox news. >> i happen to be a particularly good friend of fox news but listen, it's not -- fox certainly is at the high end of the rate. but anybody who doesn't understand that my generation began television and my generation will end television. distribution will be different. you're just missing the facts. i knew this would be the case the day they took boston legal off the air. if you looked at their ratings they were doing great with the older demo but they pulled it because it didn't have the younger -- >> john: you said your 50s weren't hard? my god. >> it was so silly. older people do change products,

buy different cars. this old thing of people won't change except for their socks and sandals after they're 50 years old is nonsense. >> john: i don't think fox is worried. they're never going to run out of old people. >> hard to predict, most people are white people, too, to be honest. they're a voice for the white people. older white people who feel a little sense of desperation. the country is changing around them. they want to know it will be okay. they watch the white conservatives say it is going to be fine there. is no racism. they're feeding their beast. i think people take comfort. >> we don't actually know if they're getting replaced with old people because nielsen stops counting your age at 65 so these are 65 plus. they could be in their 70s or 80s or dying off which means eventually fox will have no viewers. i say don't change a thing. >> john: there will be new 65-year-olds. >> we don't know if they're actually going to be replenishening into that. >> john: but there will be new seniors wrong about everything since the clinton impeachment

who want to be told they're always right. i do have to get your opinions on former congressman anthony weiner and his press conference today with the hail mary pass to his lovely wife. dean, what was your take on that spectacle? >> i love the fact that he used a nickname. i can understand why he would do that. he made eliot spitzer look like husband of the year. >> john: watch out spitzer's name is on that mug you're drinking out of. >> neglecten? >> i think people of new york gave him a fair couple of weeks of leading in the polls because it was funny. maybe this could work out. unless we want to have continually like a joke for mayor, i don't think this is going to work out for him. this is just too much. >> john: interesting. rick? he's not a joke to a lot of progressives who thought he was a dynamic fighter for healthcare reform and a hero on msnbc for a lot of folks. >> that's just it.

he was not a dynamic fighter. he was on tv pretending to be. that aside i predict he can go back to tweeting whatever part of his body he wants within a few weeks. >> john: did you think as i did it was a pretty shrewd move to put his wife in front of the cameras? >> for her to be there nice job. i love that weiner apologized for anyone he sent this to. he's spamming people with pictures. like he won the nigerian lottery. >> he's hoping no one else comes forward. >> john: if his wife forgives him, will that be the end of it? >> we've seen crazier things happen. mark sanford. >> david veeder. >> in south carolina. >> john: he's on the record as probably the most anti-palestinian democrat. >> no such thing as occupational in the west bank. >> john: i want to thank dean, negin and rick ungar. thank you all for being here. please come back.

we've got like 14 more of these. up next, guess which u.s. state is bringing back prayer in school. i'll give you a hint. it rhymes with mississippi and it is going to be hit hard in the f block. they should self-deport? >> no, they said "make us a turkey and make it fast". >> (laughter). >> she gets the comedians laughing. >> that's the best! >> that's hilarious. >> ... and the thinkers thinking. >> okay, so there is wiggle room in the ten commandments is what you're telling me. >> she's joy behar. >> ya, i consider you jew-talian. >> okay, whatever you want. >> who plays kafka? >> who saw kafka? >> who ever saw kafka? >> (laughter). >> asking the tough questions. >> chris brown, i mean you wouldn't let one of your daughters go out with him. >> absolutely not. >> you would rather deal with ahmadinejad then me? >> absolutely! >> (singing) >> i take lipitor, thats it. >> are you improving your lips? >> (laughter). >> when she's talking, you never know where the conversation is going to go. >> it looks like anthony wiener is throwing his hat in the ring.

>> his what in the ring? >> his hat. >> always outspoken, joy behar. >> and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking? >> only on current tv.

>> john: congratulations mississippi, it is your turn to be proud. a lot of people are hard on your state and i don't know why. just because you're ranked 48th in education and health. just because you're ranked 50th in economic well-being for family and community. 50th in child poverty with 31% of your kids living below the party line. 2011 poll showed that 52% of mississippi republicans believe barack obama's a muslim. which explains why he drone kills so many muslims never praised a mecca and likes gay marriage. 46% of mississippi republicans would support a ban on interracial marriage in this century. y'all also accidentally flew the

confederate flag over your capitol building, the flag of an enemy nation. it is cool you had one of those lying around. you also only got around to officially banning slavery this year. yes, it is fair to say the state of your state sucks so hard, alabama has a hickey. but none of that matters anymore because your governor, phil bryant signed a bill today that's going to bring prayer back to public schools which will totally fix your public school system as opposed to those awful liberal ideas like adequate funding. now this new law requires public schools to develop new policies that will allow students to pray over school intercoms at assemblies and sporting events as long as they include disclaimers of absolving the school administration. it is most pius way yet for publicly-funded academic communities to say hey, screw you, that one jewish kid. who am i kidding. this is mississippi. jewish kids are a myth like universal healthcare or the female orgasm. before we only had silent, private prayer in schools which has never been outlawed, never

could be, never should be. but now we get public group prayer on the taxpayer's dime. it is like the reese's peanut buttercup of schmuckry. you got your state in my church. you got your church in my state. i don't like how it tastes. shut up, lone jew boy. look past the fact it is not conservative. the founders adopted a secular godless constitution on purpose which means separation of church and state is really the conservative point of view. george washington resisted every attempt to make us an officially religious nation. thomas jefferson said no citizen shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place or ministry whatsoever. but of course, thomas jefferson was most likely really a kenyan. you have to look past the fact is not christian. in matthew 6:5 jesus christ comes out against praying in public. they love to pray standing in a synagogues and the corners of the streets they may be seen of men. he later goes on to say if you want to pray to god go into

your closet and pray in private. you're not about following jesus' teachings you're about expanding his unauthorized fan clubs. it is the subtle difference between christian and christian supremacist. best of all since this unchristian, unconservative, un-american and legal legislation is now on the books it will be hit by lawsuit after lawsuit before it is finally overturned in federal court which means mississippi taxpayers, the poorest in the nation, y'all get to pay for this law's defense again and again. i know somewhere right now in mississippi, there is a junior high kid or a high school kid watching this clip before current tv goes to meet its maker and he or she gets it. that mississippi teenage student will march up to their school's administrative office and ask if they can lead the next big prayer before the big game and a crowd will assemble. the principal will introduce the student who will lead us in a prayer and the kid go tog step to the microphone and clear his or her throat and declare there is but one god and mohammed is prophet. jesus and jefferson are going to

high-five in heaven. that's our show. thank you for joining us. please dean obeidallah, negin farsad. rick ungar. three more weeks. we're still here. good night, mom. >> reese witherspoon is in damage control mode following friday's arrest for disorderly conduct after her husband was pulled over for driving under the influence. joining me to talk about this story and more is senior editor for "in