[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: hey, good morning friends and neighbors. here we go. it is thursday, thursday july 25. oh, my god. summer is about halfway over already. can you believe it? you're not going to believe some of the stuff we've got to talk about today too. oh my god we'll cover it all from the royal baby to the royal pain in the ass up in new york city. it's the "full court press" coming to you live on current tv. bringing you the news of the day

and giving you a chance to sound off about it this early in the morning. you can do so by giving us a call at 1-866-55-press. we invite your comments as always on twitter at bpshow and on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. president obama bringing the focus back on the economy yesterday. we've got to -- the stakes, he said for the middle class could not be higher than they are today. he told crowds yesterday in illinois and missouri. today he takes the same message down to jacksonville, florida challenging republicans in congress to stop bhoking everything and get to work, helping create jobs in this country. meanwhile, the pope continues to wow them down in brazil. yes, anthony weiner vows he is going to stay in the race up in new york city but more and more people including the mighty

"new york times" are telling him he's got to get out and take care of his personal problems. we'll talk about that and a whole lot more here on current tv. (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. >>excuse me? (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.

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! >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: well, it didn't take them that long. they've named him george. yeah, king george. that worked out so well. the last time around. hey, good morning everybody. here we go. it is thursday, thursday, july 25. so good to see you today. in the middle of summer here, it is the "full court press" coming

to you live from our nation's capital and our studio on capitol hill. right in the heart of the action. well it's supposed to be the heart of the action. not a lot of action going on in this congress because republicans don't want to get anything done. that's why the president went on the road yesterday to try to get the american people revved up, to get congress to move. good to see you today. we'll tell you about the president's big speech yesterday. about a big vote yesterday in the house on national security and the nsa and our right of privacy, very important vote. we've got lots to tell you about today. we'll bring you up to date on all of the news and take your calls at 1-866-55-press. look forward to your comments on twitter at bpshow. love hearing from you on twitter and love having you as a friend on facebook, you know how you can like us on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow and

let us know what you think of the issues of the day. that's the way you become a member of the team here. the team in studio, of course, being peter ogborn and dan henning. >> hey hey hey. >> good morning. >> bill: yes yes yes. alichia cruz has the phones covered and cyprian bowlding back on the video cam. it looks like we're going to have a whole week, first time in awhile, all five days with the full team here. >> we still have one day left in the week. >> bill: that's right. >> anything could happen. >> bill: who knows what could happen tomorrow. yes, indeed. well, believe it or not he's still around. i'm talking about larry king. he's still around. he's still dragging in guests for interviews. last night, he had a very funny guy on. i've never seen his show. i would love to see his show some time. i understand he's really funny. >> you and i will differ on this. >> bill: oh, yeah? you don't like larry the cable guy? >> no, i don't.

>> i think he's hilarious. >> bill: i don't know. >> you and dan agree. >> bill: my brother joe and a whole group they rented a limo and went to see his show. he's been talking about that show ever since. >> the blue collar comedy tour is one of the funniest things out there. >> i cannot believe i have to spend time with you two. >> you are welcome to leave. >> bill: have you gone? >> no, i would love to. >> bill: we'll have a field trip. he was on larry king last night and he said ya know, if you don't like it, people ought to -- people in this country ought to mind their own business. >> that's one thing i can't figure out about the country lately is why can't people mind their own business? you know what i mean? remember the guy that sued kentucky fried chicken because there was too much trans fat in the chicken. well then keep your fat ass out of kentucky fried chicken. why do you have to ruin it for everybody else? >> bill: you know, by the way

he's a redneck so i probably should not like him. >> he's a fake redneck. he used to be a like normal stand-up comic who told regular jokes from the midwest and then when he failed at that, he cut the sleeves off his shirt and put on a fake accent and he tours the country as larry the cable guy. >> get er done. >> bill: making a lot of money. >> sure. >> bill: we have become, he says, a nation of babies and whiners. >> i don't know when we turned into a nation of 3-year-old babies but everything offends everybody, everything offends -- we live in the freest, greatest country in the world. that's why there's so many people bitching about stuff. there's other countries, you don't hear bitching because they've got to go out and try to find something to eat. that's why. we bitch about everything. you live in america. lighten up! >> we're free to bitch.

>> we're free to bitch. it gets ridiculous. >> son of a bitch. >> leave other people alone and just enjoy your life. >> what the hell. god. >> bill: lighten up. lighten up. i'll tell you one thing we can't lighten up about is nsa and the fact that they're still spying on us. they almost got their ass whooped yesterday. that's where we'll start this morning, a little bit later. congresswoman donna edwards will be joining us as well as a representative of the democratic governor's association, take a look at that race in virginia. and we'll have reporters from talking points memo and politico and "the hill." but first... >> this is the "full court press." >> other headlines making news on this thursday george h.w. bush has gone bald. the 89-year-old 41st president appeared at his house in maine with a completely shaved head yesterday. he wanted to be in solidarity

with a 2-year-old son of one of his secret service agents who has leukemia. not only did 41 shave his head, all 25 of the agents assigned to his protection detail shaved their heads as well. put out the photos yesterday. >> bill: i think that's great. >> it is a super sweet picture. >> bill: it really is. little baby on his lap. good for him. good for the secret service agents. >> jimmy fallon spent plenty of time on his late night show joking about the royal baby. he made no mention of his own baby. no one knew his wife of six years was even pregnant but "people" magazine confirms nancy gave birth to a healthy baby girl this week named winnie rose. >> that's the way to do it. you have a baby, nobody cares. it is not that hard to make a baby. >> bill: woman gives bit to baby. >> exactly. in sports, a gruesome injury in the atlanta braves/new york mets

game. the pitcher went down hard after making a play at first base when eric young of the mets stepped on the outside of hudson's foot, visibly breaking it on camera. >> oh god i hate those. >> young admitted he was upset after the game saying he knew he didn't touch the base at all. he had to be carted off by paramedics. he'll have surgery. no word on how long he'll be out. likely the end of the season. >> bill: broke his foot? >> snapped in half quite easily. >> thank you. >> bill: by the way the nats lost their sixth game in a row. >> not the worst losing streak but close. >> ever the optimist. >> bill: let's look for the silver lining. it could be worse. other teams have lost more than six in a row. >> since like july 8th i think it was they've gone 2-11. that's bad. >> bill: yeah.

doesn't look like we're headed to the playoffs. >> they still have a shot. have a great shot at the playoffs. they really do. they have a great shot at the playoffs. >> bill: if they start winning some games. >> if they keep losing, they won't make the playoffs. >> the toronto blue jays have lost seven in a row. >> bill: well, nsa almost lost a big one yesterday. we've gotta start here today. this is something we talked about ever since edward snowden released the information and told us what nsa was up to. seizing this big huge dragnet. seizing the information on every single telephone call made by every single american every second of every day and claiming that this is important to catch terrorists. you tell me why getting every phone call i make has anything to do with catching al-qaeda terrorists and i'll buy you dinner at the palm. it is just b.s. total b.s.

i've been saying that from the beginning. also saying from the beginning that if you really -- this should not be a partisan issue i guess is what i'm getting at. if you're really concerned about the right of privacy and all americans ought to be, if you're really concerned about the reach of big government and i also think all americans ought to be but tea partiers and conservatives, particularly say they are. well then you ought to be concerned about nsa and not just roll over and say we have to do this because you know, we don't mind. we have to sacrifice our privacy because, you know, we're in the war on terror and president obama, we can trust him. no we can't trust any president. i don't care who it is on these issues and should not surrender our constitutional rights. i've been saying that from the beginning. and i was really disappointed that the obama white house has been so supportive of what i think is a massive overreach on the part of the nsa. i expect it from george bush or

dick cheney. not from president obama. i was also very disappointed in the senate, that our leading senate democrat, senator feinstein and harry reid went along with this program. haven't raised a stink about it at all in the senate. but in the house it's different. in the house i love seeing this. the most liberal democrats seeing this. keith ellison two really good friends of ours, have joined with tea partiers in the house to challenge the nsa. james sensenbrenner who wrote the patriot act has said don't tell me that my patriot act enables you to do all of this massive collection of data because, he said, that's not what we intended at all. so these left wingers and right-wingers yesterday came together in support of an amendment that would have cut

the funding for nsa to collect this phone data and it was a close vote. mike rogers who is head of the house intelligence committee and part of the establishment he says no. this amendment is bad news. this nsa program we need it. >> 54 times, this and the other program stopped and thwarted terrorist attacks both here and in europe. >> bill: of course, they keep throwing that out there. they've never shown how collecting, again, the phone data on just one unnamed american innocent patriotic american sit ghen has led to arresting any one. they monitor his or her phone calls and make a connection. it is not finding the needle in the haystack at all. but on the other hand, john conyers yesterday, on the floor of the house was -- first of

all, ted poe, a republican, just to show you again tea party and liberal democrats,ed at ted pea of poe from texas. >> no more dragnet operations. get a specific warrant based on probable cause or stay out of our lives. >> bill: get a warrant. don't tell us well, the fisa court approved this. they approve everything. john conyers one of the most, if not the most liberal member of the house, of course, from michigan. >> all this amendment is intended to do is to curtail the on-going dragnet collection and storage of the personal records of innocent americans. >> bill: so get this, right. this amendment comes up. now, this amendment is opposed by the white house by john boehner, by eric cantor, by the nsa. all of those forces against it

and they barely won. the vote -- end of the vote was 217-205. came that close to stopping this nsa program. i think that is great news and it shows that we're finally seeing some backbone in the house, at least and some concern about our constitutional rights. but the american people are starting to get on to that, too. "the washington post" is out with a new poll this morning that shows 74% of americans when they're asked the question, do you believe that the nsa surveillance of telephone calls does intrude on our privacy 74% of americans now say yes. get this. do you think this nsa spying has made us safer? or not? 42% said it has made us safer.

47% of americans say it hasn't made much difference. 47%. it hasn't really made that much difference. i think the american people are starting to see through this and again, we're starting to see some leadership and some backbone in congress on this issue. this is great. we need this big debate. about how much of our privacy are we willing to surrender in the name of the war on terror. are we really willing to say whatever you need to do, you can do. we understand that. and we'll just roll over and burn the constitution. i hope not. and i would love seeing this vote yesterday in the house. 217-205. 1-866-55-press. let's talk about it here on the "full court press" this morning. and you tell me whether you think the nsa program has made us safer as a nation and whether

you think it intrudes on our privacy. thursday morning. "full court press." >> announcer: like politics? then like the "bill press show" on facebook. this is the "bill press show." (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.

this show is about analyzing criticizing, and holding policy to the fire. are you encouraged by what you heard the president say the other night? is this personal, or is it political? a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i'm given to doing anyway, by staying in touch with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. in reality it's not like they actually care. this is purely about political grandstanding. i've worn lots of hats, but i've always kept this going. i've been doing politics now for a dozen years. (vo) he's been called the epic politics man. he's michael shure and his arena is the war room. >> these republicans in congress that think the world ends at the atlantic ocean border and pacific ocean border. the bloggers and the people that are sort of compiling the best of the day. i do a lot of looking at those people as well. 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? >> bill: ta minutes after the hour. the "full court press" here on a thursday morning. and we're talking about the fact that critics of the nsa spying

program almost made it yesterday. came very close to shutting that program down, at least in the house. the white house had to pull out all stops yesterday lobbying against this amendment. sponsored by john conyers liberal democrat. and justin amash i think his name is. also from michigan who's a republican. the two radicals from michigan. peter, comments? >> you can find us on twitter at bpshow where julie says i don't know whether to cry or be happy that the president actually won a battle in the house. as rare as that happens. m zotti says since when does washington care about what the majority of americans think about any issue? you can find us at bpshow on twitter. >> bill: it is very important i believe that public opinion on this is shown by this

"washington post" abc poll has really shifted and they're not just -- americans are not just believing what they hear out of washington. we need this, we need this to keep you safe. we need this to keep you safe. more and more are saying what? rick is in scottsdale, arizona. hey, rick. >> caller: hey, first off, how many people voted to go to george bush's war. >> bill: too many did. yeah right. >> caller: you're thinking analog in a digital world. you cannot write a program that can look into something and say this is a terrorist. you can only pick out words. they have -- you can talk into a% headphone and do anything on your computer. you cannot write a program that can differentiate -- this is something they need to look at. >> bill: that's a good point. so you think another problem with the whole nsa thing it is

technologically outdated. >> you cannot write the program with the amount of data. one teenager can have 930 texts on a reality show. >> bill: i got it, rick. i sort of think that the technicians at the nsa understand that and have tried to adapt a program accordingly. lisa is in houston. hi lisa. >> caller: hi, bill. i have one solution for the nsa and then i have a question. so now that the black caucus -- i'm black so i'm going to talk from my experience has joined about the birthers and the tea parties, now they'll get a bill to get unemployment down from 13.5. we'll finally have a bill passed for women to have equal pay or are they joining together to take down this president? >> bill: that's a great question, lisa. it would be nice to see them come together on some fundamental issues. we could add student loans to that issue as well. and i guess the optimist in me

says maybe there's hope. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." 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 there is any chance we'll ever hear the president even say the word "carbon tax"? >> with an opened 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) >> cutting throught the clutter of today's top stories. >> this is the savior of the republican party? i mean really? >> ... with a unique perspective. >> teddy rosevelt was a weak asmatic kid who never played sports until he was a grown up. >> (laughter) >> ... and lots of fancy buzz words. >> family values, speding, liberty, economic freedom, hard-working moms, crushing debt, cute little puppies. if wayne lapierre can make up stuff that sounds logical while making no sense... hey, so can i. once again friends, this is live tv and sometimes these things

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>> bill: make it 33 minutes after the hour here on the "full court press." on a great big thursday morning. july 25. coming to you live from our nation's capital and brought to you today from the international association of ironworkers. good men and women of the ironworkers under president walter wiese. the sky is the limit for them

and their great work and you can find out more about the wonderful things they're doing and the great projects they're working on at their web site, ironworkers.org. we've been talking about the big vote yesterday in the nsa. president obama giving a big speech yesterday about the economy. we'll get to that in just a second. but first, i keep my eye out for stories about identity theft. this one out of connecticut. a man arrested on a drunk driving charge landed in a lot more trouble when police looked into what he had in his car and found personal documents belonging to another connecticut man who had claimed to be a victim of identity theft. they caught the thief right then and there. you read a story like that and it reminds you uh-oh i should be protected against identity theft. i am with lifelock ultimate, the most comprehensive i.d. theft protection available.

even monitors your bank accounts but lifelock services can't protect you or your bank account if you're not a member. of course. here's how to do it. visit lifelock.com or call and mention press 10. you'll get 10% off your lifelock ultimate membership. number to call, 1-800-356-5967 for lifelock ultimate. peter, start with you. >> we talk a lot about environmental issues on the show and we try to talk with people who are scientists. very interesting new study that joined scientists and climatologists with economists to talk about what some of the financial impacts of not doing anything about global warming and climate change could do. >> bill: a good way to look at it. >> if the health and safety of future generations isn't enough to make you worry maybe the financial concerns are. in the journal nature, they sat

down with the scientists and these climatologists and these economists and determined that in the arctic, as the icecaps melt it could cause as much as $60 trillion worth of damage to the global economy when you talk about not just flooding but gas emissions and all of the side effects, $60 trillion if we don't do anything about it. >> bill: well, i'm surprised it is not higher. >> that's just in one particular area by the way. >> bill: you lose miami. >> yes. there's that. >> bill: you lose half of new york city. you lose the new jersey coastline, you know, the north carolina -- all of that -- all those hotels, all of the tourism business, all of that fishing business. absolutely. when i was an environmental lobbyist in sacramento, as a teenager, it seems we used to

say you not only should do an environmental on the point -- on your point, you should not only require an environmental impact study on new projects. you should require an economic impact study on all projects because most often even on the -- looking at it from a cost dollars and cents point of view the economic impact, the economic impact will argue for doing the most environmentally sensible thing. because if you're destroying the environment, you're really destroying the economy. >> there you go. >> bill: this study proves it. back to the news of the day. not that that's an important part of it. that's another priority. by the way the two add together because you talk about the economy and environmental -- economic impact of not doing anything about our climate change, president obama was trying to get the focus back on the economy yesterday going up to galesburg illinois and to

knox college where he gave his first major speech as a united states senator from illinois. the president last year very successful against mitt romney saying our focus has got to be the middle class the middle class. not the top 1%. we have programs that grow the middle class. that is the engine of growth in this country. that's how we're going to bring this economy back. you know, we've gotten a little away from that recently, talking about that. the president trying to get it back on track yesterday and saying part of the problem is in washington, people get so easily distracted by things like a phony i.r.s. scandal or a phony benghazi scandal which they whip up to get people off track. the president said let's get back on message yesterday. >> obama: this endless parade of distractions and political posturing and phony scandals, washington's taken its eye off the ball. and i'm here to say this needs to stop. >> bill: it needs to stop. we've got to get back.

i think we can be honest. i think the white house took its eye off the ball at a certain point, too. they stopped talking about jobs and started talking about economy. the president again saying that the stakes for the middle class have never been higher. >> we need a long-term american strategy based onsteaddy persistent effort to revert the forces that have conspired against the middle class for decades. [ applause ] that has to be our project. >> bill: you know, jamal simmons in studio the other day made, i think an excellent point that this has got to be -- the president is so right about this. his priority, absolutely right. but the president himself and the white house has to keep hammering this home every and every speech. jamal was make the point that with george w. bush, when he was in the white house whatever you think of him and i don't think much of him as you know, he launched the war on terror. and he knew that he was going to be judged by what he did on the

war on terror after -- that's what he called it, he called it terror, after 9-11. and so everywhere he went, every speech he gave, he came -- he included that theme. it may not have been everything he talked about but he tied it in. every single time. and you know what? the american people bought it and they saw him as somebody they knew that that was george bush's priority. i'm not sure people understand. i think it is but people don't understand enough that that is president obama's priority so i hope that yesterday's speech is not the only one we'll hear on this and the president said look we're making some progress. again, thinking of the middle class. we're back from the brink. but we still have a way to go because these people in the middle -- where most americans are, haven't had any uplift.

>> obama: five years after the start of that great recession america has fought its way back. we fought our way back. >> bill: rousing crowd yesterday, by the way. very, very supportive audience. >> always nice to see him get back. >> bill: he is so good. big crowd like that. takes his shirt off, rolls off his sleeves. >> he doesn't take his shirt off. >> bill: i'm sorry. takes his jacket off. that was geraldo. if geraldo had been giving that speech, look at me! don't i look good? >> balancing the towel around his waist with no hands on. >> bill: he needled the hell out of the g.o.p. yesterday rightfully so. he said i've been trying to work on these things. i put some bills up there to create jobs and to help the middle class and the problem is republicans just want to block

everything without presenting any ideas of their own. where are your ideas president obama wants to know. >> obama: now, it's time for you to lay out your ideas. you can't just be against something. you gotta be for something. >> it's amazing how many times that line applies and how many times we've heard him say something very similar to that. >> bill: yeah. >> he's right. >> bill: absolutely right. i don't know whether he was watching "the war room" monday night but michael shure asked me about the president's speech, right? and about the republican opposition to it. and the republican playbook that they've come out with this summer for their members they're supposed to go back and tell their constituents that we are fighting against washington for you. and the point that i made on "viewpoint" was the problem with republicans is yeah, they say they're fighting against washington but they're not

fighting for anything, right? they're against everything but they're not for anything. i used that very same line. you can't just be against stuff. you gotta be for something. republicans are for nothing. all they want to do is block block, block. anyhow, very important speech yesterday. two of them. followed today by another speech on the economy at the port of jacksonville florida. and there are three more speeches down the road in the next couple of weeks. the president has planned. try to get the focus back where it belongs. up in new york city, anthony weiner is hanging in there even though there are more and more calls for him to step down. hunter walker is covering that race for talking points memo. he'll join us in the next segment here of the "full court press." >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show."

john fugelsang: if you believe in states rights but still support the drug war you must be high. cenk uygur: i think the number one thing viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. i think the audience gets that i actually mean it. michael shure: this show is about being up to date so a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. joy behar: you can say anything here. jerry springer: i spent a couple of hours with a hooker joy behar: your mistake was writing a check jerry springer: she never cashed it (vo) the day's events. four very unique points of view. tonight starting at 6 eastern. (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: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: all right. 13 minutes before the top of the hour thursday morning, july 25. hey, you think politics is lively where you live, you ought to live in new york city. it is a zoo up there. it seems that all anybody wants to talk about no matter what the subject of any news conference is supposed to be at the time, all reporters want to talk about is what's your take on anthony weiner. hunter walker is in new york covering this race for talking points memo. joining us on our line this

morning, hey hunter, how are you? >> good, how are you? >> bill: hey good to have you with us. first of all weiner, calls on him to resign from "the new york times." a lot of local politicians. what is wiener's reaction? any sign he's going to get out of this race? >> definitely not. there was some speculation leading into that sort of surreal press conference he had the other day that you know, he might actually drop out. but at that, he just sort of showed he's all in. and you know, he dismissed the idea that anybody would call for him to drop out as sort of, of course his opponents would like him to leave. implied there was no other reasonable person who would want to -- >> bill: were you at the news conference by the way? >> yes, i was. >> bill: the word surreal -- it certainly seemed that way.

and what was huma abedin doing? standing there with a glowing look of love or what? >> you know, it's funny. when we were walking out of the conference, she was absolutely the number one topic on the tip of everyone's tongue and you know i heard one reporter saying everyone's definitely going to describe her as having been ashen. and certainly you know, one thing that was interesting was she smiled which is actually pretty unique for her. she's been around awhile. she was an aide to hillary clinton. but she's very, very reserved. this was really her first major public speech and in general you know, she has a very expressionless demeanor. so i think it would be hard to read too much into how she was acting. that being said, i mean, she certainly seemed to catch herself a bunch of times. she admitted she was very nervous. so it obviously was not a fun

moment for her. i think the word pain would be pretty accurate. >> bill: the latest indiscretions, not only happened since he left congress but happened within the last year, correct? >> right. the timeline on this sort of digital dalliance is he began chatting with this woman in july 2012 and she claimed that he initiated this contact. after she sent him a facebook message sort of saying you know, i'm disappointed in you for what happened last year when he resigned in 2011 for similar behavior. their chats sort of continued through the end of 2012 and then she said she abruptly stopped hearing from him until april of this year when he, you know, participated in this kind of glowing profile for "the

new york times," the initial putting his toe in the water for this race. at that point, he reached out to her and was like what do you think about that? the "wall street journal" just reported that you know, now he's admitted very explicitly that after his june 2011 resignation the chats went on and he's also now said that there was more than one woman after his resignation. >> bill: huma abedin knew about this, i guess? >> that was sort of my question to him at the press conference. you know, he has defended this by kind of implying that -- and it is true that he admitted that more photos and chats were likely to come out. he did this -- about a day after announcing his campaign in may. he very strongly implied that more stuff would come out but it was all, you know, prior to his 2011 resignation.

i asked him at the press conference when did your wife find out that this behavior continued after you left congress? and he frankly stumbled. didn't specifically answer the question but indicated i've been honest throughout this entire process. his main defense has just been sort of that we're all fixated on this date of resignation from congress but that wasn't actually important to him and his wife and their sort of internal process. >> bill: what's he been doing for the last couple of days, just out there campaigning faiz nothing happened? >> yeah. he's had a public schedule. he's done events. you know i'm sure he's eager to move back to policy. what's said when he initially took off in may was you know, okay, i'm going to answer some questions. but i want to focus on issues.

but i think this time it is a little bit different in that sort of -- he answered some questions about the scandal. it dissipated. frankly, he's become a regular candidate. and now questions about why frankly on the timeline here. >> bill: what do you hear from people that you're talking to? people in the street. i saw one poll late yesterday that showed him still up a couple of points. what are the readings? >> well, you know, as far as the poll numbers go, we're not really going to have an indication of this until noon today when the marist nbc "wall street journal" poll comes out. the poll that came out yesterday was a quinnipiac poll and that poll was conducted from the 18th up until monday night. the night of the 23rd. so it lightly touched on the time limits news had broken but really this was not reflected in there. so that poll didn't really show

much of a change except that you know, weiner was actually in the lead in that poll but thompson, the controller had really closed the gap. it was a tight three-person race with thompson, weiner and quinn former controller thompson. so that was interesting. another interesting thing in that poll -- >> bill: hunter, i have to interrupt you. we'll come back and talk to you about that, i hope in a few more days but anyhow, i envy you being right in the middle of all of this. enjoy it and thanks for your time this morning. >> all right, thank you. >> bill: hunter walker from talking points memo. talkingpointsmemo.com. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

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>> announcer: take your e-mails on any topic at any time, this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: congresswoman donna edwards joining us in the next hour as well as danny tanner from the democratic governor's association. here's what's wrong with the american people. peggy williams sends in this e-mail about the trayvon martin case. bill, you are an idiot. mr. zimmerman was found not guilty. drop it. if your side had any inclination for the truth, you would know that trayvon was buying the soda and skittles to make a drug. i have never heard that before. that is insane! and peggy williams, you are insane! george zimmerman murdered

trayvon martin.

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: good morning, good morning, good morning and welcome to the "full court press." it's thursday, july 25. great to see you today. we're coming to you live on current tv across this whole land of ours. bringing you the news of the day and, of course, getting your comments at 1-866-55-press. that's our toll free number. getting your comments on twitter at bpshow and look forward to hearing from you on facebook as well at

facebook.com/billpressshow. lots to talk about this morning. where do we start? let's start with president obama bringing the focus back on the economy yesterday. the stakes for the middle class have never been higher than they are today. the president told crowds in illinois and missouri yesterday. today, he will take that same message down to jacksonville, florida, challenging congressional republicans to stop just trying to block everything and stop trying to create all of these distractions and get back to work rebuilding the economy and creating jobs. meanwhile, pope francis continues to wow them in brazing. anthony weiner refuses to step down and get out of the race up in new york city and baby cambridge has a name and that name is george. the big news yesterday republicans and democrats almost

succeeded in killing the nsa spying program in the united states congress. you'll find out more 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 there is any chance we'll ever hear the president even say the word "carbon tax"? >> with an opened 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) >> cutting throught the clutter of today's top stories. >> this is the savior of the republican party? i mean really? >> ... with a unique perspective. >> teddy rosevelt was a weak asmatic kid who never played sports until he was a grown up. >> (laughter) >> ... and lots of fancy buzz words. >> family values, speding, liberty, economic freedom, hard-working moms, crushing debt, cute little puppies. if wayne lapierre can make up stuff that sounds logical while making no sense... hey, so can i. once again friends, this is live tv and sometimes these things

happen. >> watch the show. >> only on current tv. >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: the baby has a name. his name is george. george alexander lewis the prince of cambridge right? >> i don't know. i saw what they were calling him. details coming up. i saw what his official title is. something so silly.

goofy. give me a break. >> bill: i understand the bookies did pretty well. hello, everybody. good morning, good morning. it is "full court press." sorry we're goofing off here this morning. great to see you. welcome to the program. the "full court press" live from our nation's capital. washington, d.c. that happens to be in case you missed it. and we're bringing you the news of the day not just from our nation's capital but all around the country all around the globe, whatever is happening we're on top of it. here's the best part. you get to talk about what it means to you. give us a call at 1-866-55-press. with your comments or your questions for our guests. also, you can join in the conversation, even if you are not near a phone. got your cell phone. talk to us on twitter at bpshow. that's easy enough. at bpshow. facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow.

lots to cover. lots to talk about with our team. you know the team here. peter ogborn and dan henning. hello, guys. >> good morning. >> bill: yes indeed. alichia cruz there on the phones. cyprian bowlding has the video cam covered. and david letterman came out with a -- with a guest at any rate making some big news. we've seen too many good people leave "saturday night live" lately. >> a lot of them left. >> bill: jason said ache is dropped a bombshell. >> how long will a person continue with this do you suppose. >> person in general or me specifically? >> whatever you like. either way or -- >> a person can go. lorne has been kicking butt for 33 of the 38 years. i'm done. i'm not coming back next fall. >> you won't be back in the fall. >> bill: that's tough. that's tough.

he's good. and that's the first time -- there were rumors he was on his way out. >> a lot of people thought he was going to leave. >> bill: first time he said i'm out of here this fall. >> it is very interesting. there was a mass exodus of good people 15, 20 years ago and snl went through a rough spot. >> for the first time in a really long time, "saturday night live" has been very, very good consistently. they had a really good cast. very funny. >> bill: jason sudeikis may be best known for his impression of joe biden. >> i love john mccain, he's one of my dearest friends but at the same time he's also dangerously unbalanced. [ laughter ] >> bill: i think that's true. a lot coming up this hour from congresswoman donna edwards and also danny tanner who is the communications director for the democratic governor's association. two big governors races coming

up this year. but first... >> announcer: this is the "full court press." >> other headlines making news on this thursday, the future king of england as you mention will be named george alexander louis what prince william and duchess kate named their 3 day old son yesterday. george was the name used by queen elizabeth's father. the royal baby's official title is his royal highness prince george of cambridge. yes, the bookies made money. he was going off as 3-1 odds for that name. >> bill: it is a tradition in that family. we remember george iii. that's the one that i remember. or know about at least. >> starbucks is jumping on the greek yogurt craze. the coffee chain has teamed up with dan none and will replace its current parfait with greek yogurt parfait starting next year. "huffington post" reports that greek yogurt which has more

protein and less sugar than regular yogurt accounts for more than a third of the yogurt market. >> bill: they're not going with chobani? they're going with dannon greek yogurt? uh-huh. that's not the real stuff. >> i don't agree. >> bill: we're the chobani caucus here. pomegranate by the way really good. >> u.s. postal service introduced a new plan to save more money for all new home construction, they will no longer deliver mail to the door. instead homeowners will be required to have on street mailboxes or go to neighborhood cluster boxes where there are a bunch of boxes in the same place. they're asking congress to approve a plan to get rid of all door mail delivery across the country requiring everyone to get an actual mailbox not just a slip in the door. door delivery costs them $350 per address per year where curb side service only costs $224 per

address per year. >> bill: did i hear you right? even in cities, they're talking about not delivering door-to-door? >> in new homes yes. so door-to-door -- you have to have a mailbox on the street. >> bill: yeah. >> so they don't have to walk up your long driveway to get up to your house and waste the time that it takes to walk through a neighborhood whereas they can just stay in the car and put the mail in the box. >> bill: who is going to pay to put the mailboxes up on the street? >> good question. >> i don't have that answer. >> bill: it will clutter the whole neighborhood. >> i don't think mailboxes clutter neighborhoods necessarily. >> bill: if you have one for every house. >> i think that's how most of society operates. everybody has a mailbox. unless you live in the city. >> bill: if you live in the city. >> most people don't live inside of a city city. >> bill: what do you mean? what do you mean? >> bill is wondering if he's

going to have to get a mailbox. >> bill: if you're looking at the population of this country most people live in cities. >> they live in -- suburbs and areas around the -- you live on capitol hill. downtown area. i expect it would be a real pain in the butt to put mailboxes in front of all of the houses because it is congested but neighborhoods have mailboxes. most people live in a neighborhood. i know i'm not wrong that most people have a mailbox in this country. >> bill: i think you're dead wrong. >> you think most people don't have mailboxes? >> we're going to debate this. >> i don't understand. >> i actually side with producer peter over here. >> bill: a slot in your door. if you're in an apartment house you have a mailbox. otherwise -- >> have you been anywhere besides d.c.? >> bill: i grew up in a small town. but if you go out in the

country, you see the little trucks that go along and they have mailboxes. we have a mailbox in front of the house. and not a post office. a mailbox. and you know, they drive along. put the mail in your box. to have all of the mailboxes along the streets would be crazy. >> i'm not arguing that they're not going to have it inside like big cities and congested areas big metropolitan areas but the surrounding areas people have mailboxes. >> bill: makes me suspicious. congresswoman donna edwards is arriving. let's take a quick break right here. bring her in and then we'll get into the news of the day with congresswoman donna edwards and ask her about the damn mailboxes. >> announcer: get social with bill press. like us at facebook.com/billpressshow. this is the "bill press show."

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>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: it is 19 minutes after the hour now. here we go on the "full court press." this thursday morning. july 25. she is at work early on her way to a big meeting just down the street here. stopping by the studio and we're so glad to see congresswoman donna edwards from maryland, one of our favorite people in the congress in studio again this morning. hey, congresswoman, nice to see

you. >> good to be here. >> bill: we've got a lot to cover here. let's start, yesterday, the house of representatives considering an amendment that would block funding for the nsa phone collection program. narrowly lost 217-205. the amendment was supported by john conyers on the left and justin amash and other tea party people on the right. how did you vote? >> well, i voted to support the amendment. i mean i think that the administration has to get the message that it's congress' responsibility to set boundaries on this program and to strike a proper balance between national security and civil liberties. and the way that this program is operating right now doesn't do that. >> bill: it was -- a lot of lobbying right on -- against the amendment. i mean you had the white house the house republican leadership and the house democratic leadership and the nsa all say

don't vote for this amendment. so it's amazing to me it came so close. >> look, i think more than anything else, this was about sending a message to the white house. so we also need transparency in this process. and there's been no transparency. there's been very little communication quite frankly. i don't care what anybody says, the depth of this program has not been general knowledge either with the public or with the congress. and it's congress' job to set those boundaries and if we don't do it, any executive whether it is in a democratic administration or republican administration any executive is going to seize as much control over operating a program like this as it can if we let them. our job in congress is to set the boundaries. >> bill: amen. yesterday also, the congressional black caucus heard from tracy martin. father of trayvon martin. must have been a very powerful

moment for you and what was his message and what do you think congress can do here? >> i think the consistent message really that's been coming from trayvon martin's family is that we need to work together to help change state laws. that's not the purview of the congress. we certainly as members of congress have some influence in terms of organizing and supporting efforts in our states to do that. and the other message -- >> bill: particularly the stand-your-ground laws and the self-defense laws, if you will. >> that's right. because -- the traditional notions of self-defense which you know, all of us understand, have been, you know, thrown way out of bounds and you know, so we have to get back again. this is another area where you have to get back to the balance. should you be able to defend yourself if you're under threat of harm? absolutely. but you shouldn't be able to

like stalk somebody to put yourself in harm and then stand your ground. >> bill: yeah. that's the thing. by the way, i have to say every time we've talked about this in the last few days, i don't know whether you've seen the movie "fruitvale station" yet but you must. >> i haven't. >> bill: talking about trayvon martin, this country should be talking about oscar grant. very powerful movie. very very -- eerily parallel to what happened to trayvon martin. oscar grant at this bart station out in oakland california. >> i'm going to take a look at that. i'm going to tell you something. if you talk to any young black person and frankly talk to their fathers, they're going to tell you what their experience is and their experience mirrors what the president spoke about. the clicked locks, the clutched handbags walking across the street. my son tells me that. i have a 24-year-old son.

when the president spoke he said mom, this is what we experience. my son brought his car back to my house said mom i don't want a car anymore. he doesn't want to be stopped anymore. fine young man stopped three times in just this last month going back and forth to work. at a congress member's office. so when i talk to -- you know, to young men and i talk to their fathers as i did this last weekend, i hear from them what their experience is. this country needs to get this right. >> bill: and the president spoke so powerfully to that last friday. >> i think that's -- because we just don't know. maybe these people are complaining about what the president said. maybe he wasn't talking to you. maybe he was talking to people like himself who have dealt with it. i've never had that experience. i know a lot of people have. >> unclear about whether i wanted the president to say anything at all but then when he did speak and the way that he

did and what he said, i don't care if he's not talking to me. he's talking to my kid. and he gave voice to all of those young men and older men who have -- and boys who have had that same experience. he finally articulated what they've been feeling. for me, that was power enough. >> bill: absolutely. he spoke yesterday in illinois and in missouri to -- back to -- trying to get the focus back on jobs and on the middle class. and he talked about the minimum wage which is something they haven't talked much about but you have lately. i'm sure you were glad to hear that push on the part of the president. >> it was great that hear that push from the president. in fact, i had just had a press conference with senator gillibrand senator casey with george miller about raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. the president echoes that message. it is amazing. >> bill: yeah. >> americans support it! >> bill: is there going to be any legislation this year?

isn't it one thing people could agree on that $7.25 doesn't cut it as the federal minimum wage? >> you would think so. when you look at the polling data, there is a new report issued by hart research that shows 80% of americans believe we need to raise the minimum wage. they're actually okay with it at $10.10 an hour. and so americans get this because people are working minimum wage jobs to support their families. and really what's happening is the rest of us are subsidizing really businesses who aren't paying minimum wage because we have to make up for it in nutrition assistance and transportation assistance and child care credit. all of those kinds of things because people have to be able to take care of themselves and their families. >> bill: on the economic agenda too, i know you were part of this and congresswoman rosa delauro was talking about the women's economic agenda that leader pelosi and several of you women in congress launched last week. very timely.

very important. very necessary right? >> very much so. and really, a corner thrave is about wages raising the minimum wage. providing for child care which is so needed in this country. quality, affordable child care by workers who are being paid more than the minimum wage. so it really speaks to an economic agenda for women. and you know the president's message about getting this economy rolling again is about an economic agenda for women. things like paid leave expanding the family and medical leave act so that people have paid leave to be able to take care of their children or other family members. >> bill: speaker boehner the other day said -- on sunday, one of the shows i think it was bob schieffer, "face the nation," that congress should be be judged by not how many bill it passes, by how many bills it repeals. what does it say to you? >> what it says to me is what the republican agenda is just not to do anything. so, you know, if that's what

they want to complete which is nothing for the rest of the congress, then fine. we should give them the opportunity to do that at home in their living rooms and elect some people who actually want to change law make law and strengthen our laws for american families. >> bill: finally, are we going to ged food stamps back? republicans only approve a farm bill. no money for food stamps. >> that's a good question, bill. i have no idea. it seems very extraordinary to sever the relationship we've had for 40 years between agriculture and nutrition. >> bill: yeah, you would think we could come together on that. congresswoman, we didn't have a lot of time with you this morning but we made good use of the time. so good to see you again. >> i'll make it up to you. >> bill: fight the good fight. you know, that 217-205 on the nsa -- >> quite a message. >> bill: maybe we could win it the next time. very strong message. congresswoman donna edwards. we'll be back and talk about the

virginia governor's race.

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 got to go to the local 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! >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: how about it. 33 minutes after the hour now. it is the "full court press" on a thursday morning, july 25. we're coming to you live from our nation's capital brought to you today by the united steelworkers and their international president, leo gerard. colorful, the outspoken leo gerard. united steel workers, north america's largest industrial union representing over 1.2 million active and retired

members, find out more about their good work at usw.org. you know those of us involved here in washington, in politics tend to get so focused on the congress and on the white house we forget where a lot of the action is taking place in this country and a lot of important decisions are being made and that is at the state level in the governor's mansions and in the state houses. i think we've taken our eye off the ball on that and we're suffering the consequences of that when you look at the redistricting, particularly, that has enabled republicans to take over a lot of congressional seats and going to be hard to dislodge them from them. well there's one branch of the democratic party here that's hits focus on the governor's races from the beginning and is getting a lot more attention today. that's the national governor's association. danny canner is the

communications director for the dej in studio with us this morning. it is good to see you. good to know you're on the job. >> absolutely. thanks bill. like you said, a lot of the action is happening in the states. >> bill: they're getting away with murder in these states. you've got the state house. >> you've got 30 republican governors and 20 democratic governors, a lot of those wins happened in 2010 where we saw huge wins across the country. what we have this year and next are elections in states that the president won twice who elected democratic -- who elected republican goffs in 2010, feel good about taking those states back. >> bill: do you know how many states there are where republicans have the trifecta? >> i don't know offhand. what we've seen is women's rights, on tax policy, on voting rights particularly in the states with republican legislators, we've seen them accomplish the things they can't accomplish in washington.

whether that's abortion bans, whether that's trying to mess with the electoral college. they've worked really hard. conservative movement should get some credit. they've put in a number of decades, the infrastructure so that when they lose national elections and get rejected in national elections they have the ability to go state by state. our job is to stop them. >> bill: basic bargaining rights. in wisconsin. >> they don't run on these issues. they pretend to be pragmatic job creators. scott walker didn't run on ending collecting bargaining rights. rick snyder said right to work wasn't on his agenda in michigan. the legislature passes it and he signs it immediately. so they're not generally honest. that's why voters in these states have buyer's remorse. you see in the republican states. >> bill: what is happening with alec? they're a major player, too, at the state level. >> conservative effort. last year, mitt romney's social and economic vision get

rejected. as soon as the election is over, starting in january you see bobby jindal in louisiana sam brown back in kansas, john kasich in ohio, for instance, seek to either completely eliminate or dramatically cut the income tax and pay for it by an increase in sales taxes consumption taxes that disproportionately hit the middle and working class. that's what mitt romney was promising, but they're doing it state by state which is why it is so important we elect democrats. >> bill: a lot of laws written by the american legislative exchange council they mimeograph them. e-mail them or something or hand them to state after state after state and they put in the hopper and they pass them and there you go. copycat like the stand-your-ground laws. >> the abortion ban in texas north dakota, the mandatory ultrasound walker and kasich signed. this is clearly concerted effort to do this state by state. and it's not good for women and

it is not good for the middle class which is why we have to elect more democrat governors. >> bill: two races this year. how many next year? >> 36. it is a busy cycle. we viewed this in a two-year cycle. we think we have some great pickup opportunities in states like i said that the president won twice that elected republican governors in 2010 and voters have buyer's remorse. if you look at rick scott in florida, tom corbett, rick snyder in michigan, iowa, we've got a great pickup opportunity in south carolina. so it's going to be a busy couple of years here but virginia and new jersey be at the forefront of people's minds. we're working hard to get mcauliffe elected. >> bill: in virginia, let's start with virginia. we know that bob mcdonnell is not on the ballot. >> no, he's not. >> bill: he seems to be the centerpiece of the governor's race. >> he is for now. and ken cuccinelli has sought to evade responsibility for the

same gifts not on the same scale but $18,000 in gifts from johnny williams, the star scientific ceo who's gotten governor mcdonnell in trouble. cuccinelli failed to disclose those gifts. he then slow walked a lawsuit against the company -- the company at one point in the state. in his capacity, representative of the taxpayers. it wasn't until he got caught he recused himself from the case. he's got his own issues on this front but i think what voters are going to decide this race on is who's the candidate who's focused on bread and butter issues transportation, schools job creation. mcauliffe is. conference call netschly has trav -- cuccinelli is focused on gays, it is divisive, in some cases, it is hateful. it is definitely out of step with virginia. >> bill: mcdonnell's problems do somewhat fairly or

unfairly reflect on cuccinelli because they're part of the same team. it has not helped cuccinelli, mcdonnell's problems. what you're saying is cuccinelli has problems of his own taking gifts from the same guy. >> yeah. the same guy didn't disclose the gifts until he got caught and clearly it impacted the work he was doing to represent the lawyer for the commonwealth of virginia. that will be a huge problem. >> bill: one of the things that surprises me about this race. i was talking with a friend who lives in virginia about this yesterday evening. is that cuccinelli is really -- he's not just a republican. he is an extreme republican. this is a state also that president obama has carried twice. >> absolutely. >> bill: that his brand of republicanism doesn't seem even to fit virginia. on the -- certainly he's

anti-abortion. he wants to defend the anti-sodomy laws in virginia. he hasn't backed down at all. he said homosexuals are soulless. >> destructive to the soul. >> bill: he also has supported anti-adultery legislation to make extramarital sex a crime in virginia. what else? he's about as extreme as you can get on these social issues. do most virgins know that? >> i think they're starting to learn it. because the most -- on women's rights, for instance, this isn't someone who's just anti-choice. this is someone who sponsored a personhood bill in the senate which would outlaw forms of birth control. >> bill: and contraception. >> he's called homosexuality destructive to the soul. just this past saturday at the debate here, homosexuality is a personal challenge. he is fighting tooth and nail using every power of his office

to make sure the anti-sodomy laws stand in virginia. he seems relatively obsessed with the -- what goes on in virginnian's bedrooms. they want someone who is going to focus on jobs and schools and infrastructure. >> bill: because virginia is for lovers. >> not anymore under ken cuccinelli. >> bill: they'll have to change the slogan if he's ever elected. >> who honestly agrees with him these days? i never hear that. even old-fashioned people like some good ole sex. >> look, the obama campaign talked about having mitt romney's social policies would take us back to the 1950s. this is a middle ages standard. it is totally out of step. i mean -- he used his office as attorney general, he sent a letter to state university leaders and said you have no right to enforce anti-discrimination ban against

your employees based on sexual orientation. someone that goes out of his way to promote a divisive, extreme agenda, not someone who just holds the positions. it is back and advocates for them through rhetoric. there's someone who fights tooth and nail to implement these policies. >> bill: and again what gets me too is running for governor, you know, we're used to politicians who say well, i said that. but maybe i shouldn't have said it. he does not deny it. >> absolutely not. he referred to the personal challenge of homosexuality on saturday in response to a question about whether he still believes that being gay is destructive to the soul and whether he was asked this but he's compared the fight against -- he's compared, for instance the fight against abortion to the fight against slavery. he said that homosexuality is the start of a slippery slope to

polygamy. official court papers, someone who holds incredibly extreme views, people in virginia are going to find out. i think they're already finding out. he has no interest. in 2008, he infamously said in order to end abortion, in order to fight abortion, you have to fix potholes. what he was saying is you have to pay lip service to do what you want to do which is to end abortion in america and to implement policies that are hostile to gay virginians, to middle-class families. people of virginia will know this and i think he will be rejected. >> if you like rick santorum, you'll love ken cuccinelli. >> one of his big supporters is foster freese. >> bill: from the democratic governor's association. joining us next. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

john fugelsang: if you believe in states rights but still support the drug war you must be high. cenk uygur: i think the number one thing viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. i think the audience gets that i actually mean it. michael shure: this show is about being up to date so a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. joy behar: you can say anything here. jerry springer: i spent a couple of hours with a hooker joy behar: your mistake was writing a check jerry springer: she never cashed it (vo) the day's events. four very unique points of view. tonight starting at 6 eastern. (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. tweet using the hashtag watching bp. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 12 minutes before the top of the hour. reporters from politico and "the hill" joining us in the next hour of the "full court press." we'll get back to the outlook at the state level particularly an important governor's races in just a second. but something you ought to consider and let's start this way. imagine you were in an accident. you're knocked unconscious emergency teams arrive but they can't find out any information from you because you can't communicate. here's one way to protect yourself against that possibility. it is called emergency link i.d.

what that is a small tag you attach to your key ring or put in your wallet or purse that will tell emergency responders everything they need to know. your medical history, your meds, your allergies your doctor contact info and most importantly, whom to notify. so sign up for this. it can make the difference between life and death literally. sign up for emergency links emergency response service. only costs $10 a year and you'll receive your i.d. kit free. that's $10 a year. your i.d. kit free. hurry to emergencylink.com now and enter press to take advantage of the limited time offer. enter press at emergencylink.com. enter press. danny kanner is in studio with us from the association.

>> kathleen says can you please help us get vaginal probe governor mike pence out of office in indiana. >> is he another one for that? >> yes he just won last time. >>'s and the g.o.p. have made my state a laughingstock. wanted to highlight how bad the governor is. brook asks what does your guest think about governor scott walker? please help us get rid of him. >> well, we tried. >> bill: he's up again when? >> next year. he's up next year. also when you look at every key economic indicator wisconsin is headed in the wrong direction and it is because he has brought the very policies that the national republicans advocate to the state of wisconsin but also because he's running for governor. governors take the attention off the people of their state and use them as a steppingstone to run for president. not only do the economic

indicators take a dip but their popularity does, too. it happened to bobby jindal in louisiana and scott walker now. so i feel cautiously optimistic about our chances there. >> bill: well, we tried to get russ feingold to run last time. maybe you can persuade him to run. >> i think he's got a new job. i'm confident we'll have a strong candidate who is going to make clear the walker agenda has not worked and is hostile to middle-class families and women. the mandatory ultrasound bill not only did he sign it but he did it on the friday of 4th of july weekend trying to hide this, the fact that he's totally pandering to caucus-goers in iowa. we won't let him get away with it. >> bill: a lot of democrats have given up on new jersey. should they? >> no. they shouldn't. we're under no illusions about how difficult this is. i feel cautiously optimistic there also. for this reason. which is that chris christie, everyone knows for the youtube video is screaming at teachers. he doesn't do that because he

disrespects teachers, which he does. he does it because he wants to distract from the clear point he's a conservative republican in a deep blue state. he vetoed a minimum wage hike. he vetoed marriage equality. he blocked progress on gun safety defunded women's health centers, the middle class is shrinking, 400,000 people remain out of work in the state of new jersey. and he likes to present himself as kind of this anti-washington republican but the truth is he's just the same. he's the poster boy for extremism and republicanism in a deep blue state. barbara is our candidate. she's articulating a vision that will rebuild the middle class and i feel cautiously optimistic again with no illusions about how difficult that is. >> bill: she's in the legislature? >> state senator. majority leader, finance chair. budget committee chair excuse plea. >> bill: will she have the finances to go up against christie? >> she's in a matching funds

program. governor christie will have a lot of money. he's made very clear recent book where he's bragging about how valuable his endorsement was for mitt romney. he's not everyone begging him to be president. he's not a humble man. he clearly desperately wants to be president. so he's going -- he's going to have a lot of money. look, democrats are used to being outspent. republicans will always outspend democrats. the key is having the resources to get your message out and i believe she will. >> bill: all right. it is great that you guys are on -- i think it is so, so important what happens. state by state by state. that's where we're getting -- we face some challenges today. we've got to correct this equation. we count on the democratic governor's association. thank you for coming in. thanks for your good work. >> thanks for having me. >> bill: see you again soon. i'll be back and tell what you the president is up to today. he's on the road again with his economic message. >> announcer: heard around the

country and seen on current tv, this is the "bill press show." you must be high. >> "viewpoint" digs deep into the issues of the day. >> do you think there is any chance we'll ever hear the president even say the word "carbon tax"? >> with an opened 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) >> cutting throught the clutter of today's top stories. >> this is the savior of the republican party? i mean really? >> ... with a unique perspective. >> teddy rosevelt was a weak asmatic kid who never played sports until he was a grown up. >> (laughter) >> ... and lots of fancy buzz words. >> family values, speding, liberty, economic freedom, hard-working moms, crushing debt, cute little puppies. if wayne lapierre can make up stuff that sounds logical while making no sense... hey, so can i. once again friends, this is live tv and sometimes these things happen. >> watch the show. >> only on current tv.

john fugelsang: if you believe in states rights but still support the drug war you must be high. cenk uygur: i think the number one thing viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. i think the audience gets that i actually mean it. michael shure: this show is about being up to date so a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing

anyway. joy behar: you can say anything here. jerry springer: i spent a couple of hours with a hooker joy behar: your mistake was writing a check jerry springer: she never cashed it (vo) the day's events. four very unique points of view. tonight starting at 6 eastern. (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: get social with bill press. like us at facebook.com/billpressshow. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: alexander burns from politico and ian swanson from "the hill" join us in the next hour to keep the conversation going here on the "full court press" this thursday morning july 25 with all of you. of course, president obama, he's got kind of a book end sort of day. busy time at the white house and busy time in between. he starts out this morning with a bilateral meeting with the president of vietnam and then he goes out to andrews air force base leaving andrews at 11:45 to go down to jacksonville, florida, going to tour the port of jacksonville then delivering remarks on the economy again and the need to get the focus back on jobs and the economy. then the president comes back up here to washington, arriving back at 5:30 on the south lawn

of the white house. and then this evening he will be hosting a dinner at the white house to celebrate the feast of ramadan which he has done for the last five years. there will be no press briefing at the white house today. instead, deputy press secretary josh ernest will be gaggling with reporters aboard air force i. more news of the day coming up. one more hour to go on the "full court press."

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>> bill: good morning everybody. welcome to the "full court press." right here on current tv. this thursday morning july 25. good to see you this morning. thanks for joining us as we gear up here for our last hour together on the "full court press." covering the news of the day on the political front the economic front, the environmental front, you name it. we've got it covered. and telling you what's going on. more importantly giving. >> chance to tell us what you think about what's going on. any way you can by phone at 1-866-55-press and on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. so, the president yesterday where do we start? we start with him on the road and saying -- trying to get the focus back on the economy yesterday. the president telling audiences in illinois and in missouri that

the stakes for the middle class have never been higher for this country than they are today. and he will take that message -- same message a little bit later this morning to jacksonville, florida. challenging republicans in congress to stop obstructing everything and creating distractions and get to work creating jobs. meanwhile, in other news, the pope pope francis continues to wow them down in brazil. anthony weiner refuses to get out of the race in new york city. and the royal baby has a name and his name is george. all of that and more on current tv. 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. >>excuse me? (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.

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"bill press show." >> bill: well, it didn't take them that long after all. they came up with a name, his name is george alexander louis. sounds like a prince, doesn't he? we've got a lot more important fish to fry here on the "full court press" and we'll do so this thursday morning july 25. great to see you. welcome, welcome welcome. welcome to the program. it's your program. we want to hear from you as we tell you what's going on here from our studio in capitol hill on washington, d.c. tell you what's going on in the nation's capital. don't expect much out of this congress. around the country and around the globe there's more going on. we'll bring you up to date and then open the phones, open the social media and take your comments. your calls welcome at 1-866-55-press. your nasty comments or helpful

comments welcome on twitter at bpshow and on facebook, get in touch with us at facebook.com/billpressshow. join the team. the team starting right here in our studio with peter ogborn and dan henning hard at work. alichia cruz hard at work on the phones. she's the one you talk to when you call and cyprian bowlding, a man behind the cameras keeping us looking good on the cameras on current tv. and, of course, we're coming to you mainly on your local progressive talk radio station. speaking about a radio talk show host, how about it. he's still out there, larry king. >> yeah. >> he's online on hulu. doing a daily talk show. >> i don't know how many people are saying we really miss larry king having a show. let's get him back on the air.

>> bill: he had larry the cable guy on yesterday. larry the cable guy who says you know we've become a nation of busy bodies and we would all be better off -- if people just mind their own business. >> that's one thing i can't figure out about the country lately is why can't people mind their own business? you know what i mean? it's like remember the guy that sued kentucky fried chicken because there was too much trans fat in the chicken. he sued kentucky fried chicken. my thought keep your fat ass out of kentucky fried chicken if you don't like it. why you gotta ruin it for everyone else? >> bill: what a redneck. he's funny. he had his own say about gay rights taking maybe for a redneck, a surprising point of view. >> i'm so sick of hearing about gay this and gay that. i could care less. >> if you stand by -- people can be what they want to be.

>> it doesn't affect my life at all. >> bill: you know what? that's what i never get right. how some conservatives can be so anti-gay rights. the real conservative position is the one that he took. let everybody be themselves. >> what do i care? not my thing but what do i care? that's the right redneck attitude. like a redneck myself. we'll start out this morning looking at the political scene this hour with alexander burns from politico. and then ian swanson from "the hill" will be joining us later. but first... >> announcer: this is the "full court press." >> other headlines making news, george h.w. bush has gone bald. the 89-year-old 41st president appeared at his house in maine with a completely shaved head yesterday. he wanted to be in solidarity with the 2-year-old son of one of his secret service agents who

has leukemia and has lost his hair. not only did 41 shave his head, all 25 of the agents assigned to his protection detail shaved their heads as well. they put the photos out. they're on our facebook page. >> bill: i think it -- first of all i salute former president bush for doing this. it was a great gesture on his part. it is going to be fun to watch his hair grow back. if he lets it grow back. fun noy watch. i don't think it should stop in kennebunkport. i have several friends who are secret service agents. i think all secret service agents should shave their heads in solidarity with their colleagues in kennebunkport. >> i think barbara bush should shave her head. >> bill: men and women? >> starbucks is jumping on to the greek yogurt bandwagon. the coffee chain team up with

dannon and replacing its current yogurt parfaits with greek yogurt parfaits starting next year and they'll also put them in retail grocery outlets with their logo on them as well. "the huffington post" reports that greek yogurt which has more protein and less sugar than regular yogurt accounts for more than a third of the american yogurt market. >> bill: i could not get through the morning without my greek morning. starbucks is making a mistake not going with chobani. they don't pay me a dime. i'm just telling you. damn good yogurt. >> all the same to me. >> oh, no! >> are you kidding? >> i rotate through. honestly i buy what's on sale. >> bill: you don't have any taste. chob be annie. >> some are better than others. i'm really into chobani. >> in sports, a gruesome injury in the atlanta braves new york mets game last night. tim hudson star pitcher for the braves went down hard after making a play at first base when eric young of the mets stepped on the outside of hudson's foot,

completely stepped on the foot, not on the bag and visibly broke on camera. young was very upset after the game saying he knew he didn't touch the base. hudson will have to have surgery. could be season ending. >> don't do what i did and go look for the video clip online. because it's cringing. it is so bad. it sounds horrible. it looks worse. >> bill: you don't see many injuries in major league baseball. right? >> you see -- >> bill: not compared to football. >> no, not compared to football. when you see them, a lot of them are really gross. turned ankles happen a lot in baseball. when they do -- never mind. >> bill: enough, enough. okay. here we go. it is 13 minutes now after the hour. big political season with liz cheney taking on mike enzi out

in wyoming. we talked about a couple of big governor's races. one of them, of course, maybe the ones getting most attention right now at any rate in virginia and joining us from richmond virginia, on the road and the virginia governor's race, alexander burns is senior reporter for politico. hey, alexander good to talk to you this morning. >> hi, bill. thanks for having me. >> bill: how are things down there in the capital? >> i'm on my way. not on the ground yet. >> bill: were you at the debate last week by the way? >> i wasn't. my colleague -- another colleague of mine got to go to that junket. >> bill: that was at the homestead resort, i guess. you had to have a special -- >> pretty fishy as these things go. >> bill: before we get to virginia, out in wyoming it doesn't look like liz cheney's necessarily getting welcomed with open arms. mike enzi still has a lot of friends left.

>> we've only seen the two polls, one from a republican firm, one from a democratic firm. both have enzi about 25 points over cheney. he's over the 50% mark. i think you know, one of the things that republicans said when she announced her campaign is she was really going to have to work pretty hard to convince people that there was a firing offense here for enzi. that maybe maybe liz cheney has an appeal of her own. what is wrong with mike enzi if you're a conservative. i think the polls bear that out. >> bill: isn't the real question, i guess whether people want a workhorse or a show horse. somebody who will work for people of wyoming or running for president? >> i think that's certainly mike enzi. writing his campaign message. the cheney view is do you want somebody who is going to be a workhorse or somebody who is going to be a conservative activist? and i think it is up for question in wyoming. the western states that are big

geographically, small in terms of population, they have a history of electing people as we do focus on delivering for the state more than big national ideological issues but last time mike enzi ran was a totally different universe politically. >> bill: i have to say she may be 25 points down but she's got over a year. she'll have a ton of money so she's not out of it yet. by any means. would you agree? >> no, she's not. let's remember, in the wyoming gubernatorial primary back in 2010, it was a big field of candidates but the winner who is now the governor had 30,000 votes. we're not talking about media changing a whole lot of minds. >> bill: yeah, that's right. in the state which has i think fewer than -- less than a million people for sure, right? now, looking at virginia, before we get into those who would like to be the next governor of

virginia, bob mcdonnell has done something unusual for a governor. he's in trouble by taking all of this money from johnny williams. he pays his loans back and then he takes off for afghanistan. how many governors go on a tour of their troops in afghanistan? >> certainly in the middle of a crisis like this. no. i mean politically, it is probably similar to back when bill clinton would get into trouble and meet with a group of ministers. you're not going to shout disrespectful questions about the president's sex life. these questions on bob mcdonnell's finances follow him to afghanistan. as you say, he did have to make a big announcement about paying back the loans before he left and he came out and he apologized which is not something he's done so far. >> bill: does that help cuccinelli or i guess is there any doubt that this trouble -- these troubles have hurt

cuccinelli? >> i don't think there's any doubt about that. it is not just cuccinelli. the concern among republicans is that up and down the ballot, there's just going to be this sense that something is not right in richmond. and at present republicans control richmond pretty much from top to bottom. someone like terry mcauliffe not a perfect messenger for a let's clean up government and get money out of politics message. but the bottom line is he's not from richmond. and he's independently wealthy. doesn't need to be taking these kind of loans and favors from political contributors. republicans don't think the race is over by any means. but the sense that mcdonnell is weighing him down is pretty significant. >> bill: we were talking last hour with danny kanner from the democratic governor's association about the question that when it comes to -- there has not been a lot of talk about the social issues yet in this race. but you know, when that comes out, i mean ken cuccinelli is about as far right wing as you

can get on these issues whether it's sodomy or homosexuality or certainly women's rights. even adultery. do you think that's going to become a major factor in this race? >> oh, sure. look if there's one thing that continues to give republicans hope in this race, it is that they think that mcauliffe's background is political deals will come back to bite him. democrats have been sort of equally or more confident all along that look, at the end of the day virginia is a swing state and as much as there may be this drop off in turnout in an off-year election, voters are still going to recoil from the idea of electing somebody who has said the things and done the things about gay rights, abortion other social issues that cuccinelli has done. the real challenge for cuccinelli is making sure the rest of his campaign message is compelling enough that it doesn't just get totally canceled out when democrats start running it saying he says

this. >> bill: we're talking again to alexander burns who is the senior political reporter for politico. politico.com. on the national level, i was surprised to see republicans in the house put out a 31-page booklet this week where they said okay, we're going on the august recess and here's where you ought to go. you ought to go back to your districts, hold town meetings and give speeches and everything on the theme we are fighting washington for you. in other words, we're not in washington fighting for you. we're fighting -- we're in washington fighting washington. it is an interesting message, i guess. it comes back to is it good enough to be just again something or do they have to say here's what we're for. >> well, so far politically house republicans being against something has been enough. but i remember right after the 2010 elections folks political

strategists for congressional republicans telling me that their plan for 2012 was continue to run against d.c. this is not typically what you think of, you know, being the prerogative of a party that's a majority in one house of congress. but so far republicans have actually been pretty successful at making sure that americans continue to believe that democrats are essentially solely responsible for managing the federal government. we'll see if that changes this time. i think some folks on the democratic side of the house campaign are optimistic that people are starting to get the sense that the house is dysfunctional and it's not just because of barack obama. >> bill: we'll see if that is right. it is kind of a classic tea party strategy right? we're against the government. we're against the government and that's why we're here. all right. safe travels today there alexander. and thank you so much for sharing part of the morning with us and taking a look particularly at that virginia governor's race. talk to you again soon.

>> thanks. >> bill: politico.com. (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.

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 got to go to the local 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! 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! >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 25 minutes after the hour. president obama giving a major speech, of course, yet. two of them on focusing on the economy. we'll take a look at what the president had to say and where it goes from here with antoine swanson from "the hill."

>> a quick story from kim who i love by the way. great food writer in "the new york times" today about dora charles. she was the main cook for the paula deen restaurant. she introduced paula deen to a lot of her recipes. paula deen called her soul sister. wrote about her in her books said she couldn't do it without her. >> bill: she became the star of paula deen's tv show. >> she's one of the people involved in these lawsuits against paula deen. the problem now is it turns out after paula deen became famous and got on tv, even though she told ms. charles if i ever become rich and famous, i'll make sure you get some of the credit. she never made more than $10 an hour. she's currently living in an aging trailer park. paula deen never gave her any -- shared any of her wealth with her. >> bill: disgusting. shows you what paula deen is all about. something else i wanted you to know, with all of this talk

about nsa and it looks like everybody's for whatever nsa wants to do. whatever the government wants to do to spy on us. we don't care because we've got the war on terror and we're willing to sacrifice our privacy. that's wrong. and i think that's turning around. very very significant. yesterday in the house of representatives, it was an amendment to block nsa from keeping records of all of our telephone calls. and it lost that amendment did but very, very close. the white house -- the republican leadership in the house and the democratic leadership in the house all lobbying against this amendment and they finally beat it by only 217-205. and what happened on this is the liberal democrats led by john conyers, keith ellison, donna edwards and others, they joined up with the tea party

republicans, led by like ted poe from texas and justin amash from michigan. and the left and the right together said no, there will have to be some limits on this. joined forces and sent a strong message to the white house and to the american people. they almost stopped that nsa program. this is good news, folks. people are starting to wake up! when we come back, the president and his economic plan. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." 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'm given to doing anyway, by staying in touch with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. in reality it's not like they actually care. this is purely

about political grandstanding. i've worn lots of hats, but i've always kept this going. i've been doing politics now for a dozen years. (vo) he's been called the epic politics man. he's michael shure and his arena is the war room. >> these republicans in congress that think the world ends at the atlantic ocean border and pacific ocean border. the bloggers and the people that are sort of compiling the best of the day. i do a lot of looking at those people as well. 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?

>> obama: quit this endless parade of phony scandals. i'm here to tell you this needs to stop. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: president obama at knox college yesterday in galesburg, illinois. trying to get the focus back on the economy. and away from all of these distractions like benghazi and the i.r.s. and all of that other stuff. good morning everybody. welcome back. 33 minutes after the hour now here on the "full court press." again, coming to you live from our nation's capital brought to you this morning by the american federation of teachers. yes, good men and women of the association making a difference in the classrooms of america every day under president randie weingarten. you can find out more about their good work at aft.org. president obama two speeches yesterday. he will continue with the same message about the economy and jobs. at the port of jacksonville, florida. in swanson -- ian swanson is the

news editor for "the hill" which covers everything in congress and at the white house. full disclosure, columnist for the "the hill," i have a certain bias toward it. it is a damn good publication. which i said even before i became a columnist. "the hill."com. >> great to be here. >> bill: so this is not the first time the administration has wanted to pivot the conversation back to the economy in the white house briefing room. it is either the fifth or sixth time. >> they're saying 19th. >> bill: is it going to work this time? >> this remains to be seen. i think we saw a clear signal from president obama they wants to move the focus away from a series of controversies that have been dogging his administration and look, the white house has seen obama's poll numbers fall. the "wall street journal" had a poll out yesterday that showed

him at 45%, i believe. he's hitting -- he's hitting the lowest in numbers of his second term. they want to get the conversation back on the economy and jobs which they think is a strong issue for them given where the economy has been going over the last few months. they're more confident about that right now. they want to portray republicans as not being focused on jobs and the economy. the things they think voters care about. >> bill: well, we were distracted as the president pointed out. we were distracted for awhile. three so-called scandals, right. benghazi and the i.r.s. and the nsa. >> throwing "the associated press" and -- >> bill: that was the third one at that time. before nsa doj. and their pursuit of reporters in the leak investigations. scandals have gone away. even though there is another

hearing on the i.r.s. yesterday. what's new from the white house this week is this idea that all of the scandals are phony. we've heard consistently, the administration accused republicans of ginning things up but that's been a little more focused traditionally, i think on the benghazi scandal. that's something the white house has long said republicans are trying to make more out of. they've been more cautious in their response to the i.r.s., "the associated press" and the nsa issues but that's starting to change. on tuesday the white house press secretary jay carney for the first time started talking about phony scandals without saying which one was phony. yesterday, he repeated that. i believe he called it fake scandals and then we heard it from the horse's mouth from obama during his speech yesterday where he called them phony. not specifying which one was phony but starting to send this message -- it is a clear change in tactics from the white house. trying to get people to understand or to believe that republicans are focused on the phony things, grouping them

altogether and not being focused on the important stuff. >> bill: i was at the briefing when he used that phrase phony scandal. i wonder what he's talking about. because initially, they always said benghazi was trumped up, right? but the white house was extremely defensive and critical on the i.r.s. stuff. which i must say not bragging here but i said from the beginning was a phony scandal. because the i.r.s. a was doing its job and they were looking at other groups. the white house has accepted that fact. >> the white house' actions would suggest they didn't think it was a phony scandal because they immediately got rid of some of the people at the top of the i.r.s. and they put someone they trusted in charge. they announced there would be a top to bottom investigation. i think that's happening but what's happened through that investigation is the waters have been muddied a little bit. we've learned that maybe the i.r.s. wasn't just targeting tea party and conservative groups. maybe they were also targeting

liberal groups, targeting groups that don't have a real clear political view one way or the other. there are some pro israel groups that got second looks. so you're starting to see hmm maybe the i.r.s. was look at a lot of people who were applying for tax-exempt status in a more substantive, serious way after the case, the citizens united case that sort of meant that they needed to look more seriously at these groups. >> bill: i was doing a little research on this yesterday evening. i have yet to find a conservative group that was denied tax-exempt status. there were three chapters of a group called -- i think it is emerging america. california. liberal progressive organizations. which were denied. tax-exempt status. >> that's interesting. that's what's muddying the waters. it is certainly true that a lot of conservative groups had their tax-exempt status delayed.

everyone agreed that things that were going on at the i.r.s. went wrong. you haven't seen a clear political controversy emerge from it. there are arguments over whether perhaps the chief counsel's office of the i.r.s. knew more than what we realized at the time. republicans will argue that the administration's first argument was look, this is just something that was happening in the cincinnati office of the i.r.s. there was nobody in washington involved. more information's come out that is muddied the battle. the bottom line is -- and this is why we heard what we heard from the president yesterday. it hasn't really stuck so they're feeling a little more confident that they can change their messaging. >> bill: chairman darrell issa said from the beginning and he said on cbs morning news that this was knicks sonian. this was president obama using the i.r.s. to target his political enemies. that's an explosive charge. is there any evidence of that that this was driven by the white house? >> there isn't any evidence of it yet.

there's certainly -- certainly republicans are still hoping that they're going to find it. they made a big -- >> bill: that's why they keep holding hearings. they keep asking people from the i.r.s. and people from the i.r.s. say no. >> i think the white house is starting to think hey maybe we can turn this around a little bit. and again portray republicans as just looking for a political scandal as overreaching and maybe that will help president obama, maybe that will boost the numbers up. he's been hurt by the controversies, that's why the poll numbers have dropped i think. whether it is the i.r.s. or the nsa or something else, that gets a little muddy too. >> bill: or just the bad news out of washington in terms of, you know, vote to repeal obama care. they vote to take food stamps out of -- i mean, the news from washington has not been very positive. i think everybody here has been tarnished with that. i want to come back to the president's speech yesterday.

in terms of the other -- the criticism of it that i hear is that he's got the right focus but there was nothing new in the speech. in terms from a policy point of view. is there anything new? did the president suggest anything or propose anything that we haven't heard before? >> i don't believe he did. i'm a little mystified by that criticism. i've heard some people say that in terms of policy, it was pretty boring. i think the fact is it was a political speech. this was a political speech that was designed to try to help president obama bolster his political standing and his political capital so he can go into the fall when we get into some major important battles over the economy with strength. he wants to go into the fight over the debt ceiling the fight over the government shutdown from a stronger position than he would have right now. that's why he wants to move on from these controversies and that's why he wants to bump up the poll numbers because that will give him a little more weight if he can hurt republicans in the process that's great too. the speech yesterday wasn't

about trying to put forward new ideas on the economy. i think it was about trying to set up the debate in the fall over things that could -- if they go the wrong way, they could really crush the economy. >> bill: get back on track and get the focus on the middle class which was the focus of his re-election campaign in 2012. so it is a winning -- seems to me it is a winning message. >> is certainly could be. as we've seen in the past in the fights over shutdowns and the debt ceiling, there are a lot of risks for both. the worst moment, i think one of the worst moments of president obama's presidency was in 2011 during the debt ceiling fight with the house when i think when that was over and they passed the bill, i don't believe his poll numbers had ever been lower than that. there was a sense that everything was going wrong. one strength he has and you've mentioned it a couple of times he's going up against a pretty weak opponent in president obama and the house g.o.p. their approval ratings are even

lower. people don't trust them. according to every poll that you read. we did a story a couple of weeks ago about how you have the weak versus the weak here. president obama's trying to get into this battle in a stronger position. >> bill: ian swanson is here the news editor for "the hill." we're talking about president obama, big effort now to get back on jobs, on the economy. make that the focus, get away from all of the distractions. where does immigration reform and obamacare fit into this whole context? we'll get into that when we come back here on the "full court press." and would welcome your comments at 1-866-55-press. let's talk about it here. >> announcer: go mobile with bill press. download podcasts at billpressshow.com and listen any time anywhere. this is the "bill press show."

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

>> bill: we're 13 minutes before the top of the hour. talking about what's going on here with the president's big economic speech yesterday. two of them out in galesburg illinois at knox college and one in missouri as well. today's going down to the port of jacksonville. ian swanson is news editor for "the hill." the hill.com. great way to keep on top of the events at both ends of pennsylvania avenue, the white house and the congress. ian, again, thanks for coming in. one of the big votes -- the

other big item on the floor yesterday, an amendment to the defense appropriation bill in the house which was supported led by liberal democrat john conyers and tea party republican justin amash from michigan. both from michigan. to block the funding for the nsa, the funding to do this massive phone collection, data phone collection operation that they've been doing. and it almost passed. it lost by 217-205. with the white house and the democratic leadership and the republican leadership all for it. they still barely won this thing. what message does this show? >> i think it shows that a lot of people didn't want to vote for it. i'm some of the people who did vote for it, voted for it not only under a lot of pressure but with possibly some regrets some worries that that vote will come up in some political contest

down the road. there is a lot of public outrage at these programs and i think people on both sides of the political spectrum were uncomfortable in supporting them. >> bill: it shows people are starting to question the validity of nsa that we have to do this to -- we have to get your phones and peter's and mine in order to chase down the terrorist. >> yeah, absolutely. i think that -- polls do show some support for these programs but i think if you put a question like the one yesterday of should the government fund programs that where they can do surveillance on people who are even not under investigation and that's what they did. there's going to be a lot of opposition to that. you poll people on that, they will be against it. >> bill: congresswoman dob na edwards was in studio with us in the last hour. she said she voted for the amendment. defied the white house and the democratic leadership to vote for the amendment. and she said she did so because she hopes this will send a message to the white house there has to be some boundary, some

bounds in this program. not do away with it altogether but have some limits. sanchez is calling from long beach, california. hi sanchez. good morning. >> caller: gentlemen, good morning to you. i wanted to agree with ian swanson about a couple of things. i disagree with you bill, about another thing. throw a third observation into what you're discussing here with the nsa. whereas that -- this all-important word that the tea baggers are always flinging about. it is one of the reasons why they were formed that all-important word is liberty. and as mr. swanson was just saying we have the elections coming up and i think that the tea baggers and the republicans were using this as the perfect opportunity to use it as pure sound byte recording for their upcoming elections. that way, they can say that they were battling in congress hard to fight for your liberties. and that's why they were allowing this bill to even be voted on. i was watching david last night and he was amazed that they

allowed this thing to come forward. so i don't know how this is a good thing. plus mr. swanson, you might know the passage of hr347 just passed which restricts our free speech rights and rights to protest. i wonder what you feel about that as well. thanks for taking the call. >> bill: thanks, sanchez. i don't know that bill. do you? >> i'm not familiar with that one. i think sanchez makes an interesting point in terms of the vote count. you had -- you actually had more democrats vote for the amendment yesterday than republicans. a majority of republicans actually stuck with their leadership and voted, i guess in favor of nsa surveillance. a majority of democrats voted against nsa surveillance. so if you do look at that vote as being a precursor to the midterm elections next year, i'm sure a lot of us house members sure do, that's something to watch. >> bill: i have to say if some of the tea partiers are able to make hay out of that, that's the price -- that's kind of the

democratic way. i think they're right on this issue. i said from the beginning, this is an issue which should not to my judgment, not be a partisan issue that this is something where the left and the right ought to agree that we should -- we've got to make sure that no matter who's in the white house right, our constitutional rights are being protected and we're not just seeding them in the names of national security. >> right. i tell ya, those are some of the most fascinating votes you'll cover. some of the debates you watch in the house can be pretty depressing actually. that wasn't the case with yesterday. you really had the sense people were saying what they believed on both sides and you had a real free spirited debate that put people in both parties against each other. >> bill: here would be the perfect outcome for this, ian. if having realized the left and the right -- the liberals and the tea partiers that, they can get together on something like

this nsa thing to fix it, why can't we get together on food stamps and on minimum wage and on student loans and on immigration reform? wouldn't that be -- >> that would be something. that would be something. there, i'm not as hopeful because they're such polar opposites. >> bill: neither am i. nice to entertain the thought for a moment. nice to have you in studio. thank you so much for coming in. >> thanks for having me, bill. >> bill: "the hill."com. >> announcer: with mobile with bill press. download the podcast at billpressshow.com. listen any time, anywhere. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: i'll be back with my parting shot. >>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 fugelsang: if you believe in states rights but still support the drug war you must be high. cenk uygur: i think the number one thing viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. i think the audience gets that i actually mean it. michael shure: this show is about being up to date so a lot

of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. joy behar: you can say anything here. jerry springer: i spent a couple of hours with a hooker joy behar: your mistake was writing a check jerry springer: she never cashed it (vo) the day's events. four very unique points of view. tonight starting at 6 eastern. (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. >>current will let me say anything.

>> announcer: the parting shot with bill press. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: my parting shot for today, when is a scandal not a scandal? here's my rule. whenever fox and darrell issa say it is a scandal, you can be pretty sure it is not one. take a look at the i.r.s. so-called scandal. for weeks fox fanned the flames reported as a fact that the i.r.s. had deliberately targeted right wing groups. meanwhile, darrell issa held at least four congressional hearings so far accusing i.r.s. officials with zero evidence of going on a tea party witch-hunt, conservatives were being singled out, he said. and shamefully most of the mainstream media went along with it. we know the truth. it was a big fat lie. yahoo! news and politico have

done investigations revealing that, in fact, the i.r.s. looked at both conservative groups and lib beral groups, which applied for tax-exempt status and asked them both for all of the same information. the i.r.s., in other words was only doing its job. there was no scandal. my parting shot for today. our congratulations go out to our current tv producer courtney ford in los angeles who just announced that she got engaged over the last weekend. good for you, courtney.

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>> stephanie: all right. current tv land, well this is new. jacki has gone missing. >> i know. [ laughter ] [ crickets chirping ] >> she is up near brainerd. >> stephanie: i don't know if there has been any malfeasance, there is just a little tumble weed where she used to be. and swinging barroom doors. no, jacki is off today and tomorrow. so we're doing this -- this is